december 29th? january 4th? whats the difference?

thankfully the answer is "NOTHING" to a two year old.

this year i decided to bypass the "regular" bday party and have a family dinner instead.  its already a crazy-hectic time of year and we are going to start throwing bennett real bday parties on his half birthday, starting at two and a half {we want to make sure he gets his own time and doesnt ever feel like his birthday is just an "afterthought" after christmas}.  

the more i thought about it, though, the more i wanted to do something.

so, bennett's birthday party this year was as easy a birthday party as i could imagine.  we have playgroup playdates usually on  monday or friday mornings, so i just said i would host this one and it would be bennett's birthday playdate.  i invited a couple more close friends and neighbors with babies and called it a day.  the kids played their hearts out and i didnt pull all of my hair out.  win/win.

i took bennett's "benney woe cihmas tee" {bennett roe's christmas tree} out of his room and moved it to the dinning room for decor.
photo by erin kennemer

i stuck with the same blue and silver theme from last year...making things that much easier.

since it was a 10am party, i only needed a few snacks.  goldfish, grapes, chips and salsa.  i made {boxed} yellow cake cupcakes and used blue food coloring to tint some white {boxed} cream cheese icing.
voila


for party favors i {per usual} came up with an idea when i was trying to go to sleep one night.  i made bennett a birthday crown this year {template per this book} out of felt


and combined with the left over felt from the different crayon roll ups i have made, i had plenty to work with.  pair that with a teensy bit of stuffing and some cute ribbon and you have initial ornaments/door hangers/toys

they also made nice party decor :)

we sat all the kiddos around the table to eat their cupcakes.  they all sat perfectly still while we sang "happy birthday".  since bennett had only allowed stephen and i to sing it to him once in the car on the way to shreveport, i didnt think he really got the whole "gist" of it.  i was wrong.  he sat there looking at everyone and his cupcake with an embarrassed look on his face during the singing.  can two year olds get embarrassed?  anyway it was kinda cute and then when we were done he started ferociously clapping and screaming "YAY!!!!!"

after bennett blew out his candles, all crazy broke loose and we had around ten two year olds devouring blue cupcakes.

mae

camille

photo by erin kennemer
most just ate the top off theirs but oooooooh NO - you better believe bennett sat there long after everyone else had lost interest and finished every last crumb of that buttery blue cream cheesey goodness.
{look how electric blue the icing looks! and this pic is straight-out-of-camera}
we even attempted present opening with a room full of two year olds {brave i know}.  i didnt know if we were even going to visit it until i walked in the living room and saw this

so i figured what the heck lets do it.  bennett had a lot of help from his friends, but we managed to get through all the presents. there were lots of "tank-uuu!!"'s and "oooooo!"'s from the birthday boy.  i think he could get used to this present opening thing.  the gifts were all so bennett specific and right up his alley.
he had a blast.


this party was {in my book} perfect.  it was anti stress, anti fuss, easy people, easy babies, just the right amount of time {under two hours} and bennett was happy as he could be.  definitely the way to go.

and since we were in shreveport on bennett original birthday, we moved his family dinner celebration to the 4th, too.

this year i was insistent on baking my baby a cake.  last year amidst all the crazy "first christmas" and "first birthday" jitters i just ordered one, which ended up being more of a pain and taking up more time than it would have to just bake one to begin with.

i decided on the good ole family favorite: the carrot cake.
with homemade cream cheese icing
photo by erin kennemer
after a dinner of belgian beer and beef stew {let me say that i made 24 servings and this was devoured by eleven people. seriously good stuff} we sang happy birthday againbennett clapped and screamed "YAYYYY!!!!" again
and he happily blew out all of his candles again
photo by erin kennemer

man i love me some carrot cake.
speaking of, hold a moment while i run to the kitchen and cut me a slice.

....ok im back. and, in keeping honest:
{fork and knife for quick and easy bites-on-the-run.  bc you do that a lot with carrot cake btw}
{did i really just say "btw"?? hello aol instant message.  oh the days...}

there was more present opening and oooooo's and tank-u's to be had.  we love golden books

between christmas and birthday, bennett is now an avid golfer, basketball player, and baseball player.  not to mention pianist, doctor, racer, rock climber, dancer, and bookworm.

again, easy peasy breezey fun for all.  and this made me really happy and excited about next year :)

{this picture had to be black and white bc the lighting made us look GREEN! and, i love you stephen, but you were in your own little world looking off into the great beyond somewhere so i respectfully cropped you off.  i hated to do it, bc all i want is a good family picture, but it had to be done.  i know you understand.}



and, in case you were wondering, this is what happens to a two year old when he has cake so close to bed time
 


aaand scene