Happy Birthday Cheese Puff!

Our little Jacob Nikolas turned 2 on December 10th. I woke up and sang Happy Birthday to him very softly and he smacked me in my face and screamed "NO!!!". He woke up knowing he was two!
Our ward Christmas party was that morning. We went and had a yummy breakfast and the kids had some fun crafts and games to play.

Later that night we had our friends/neighbors over for dinner and cake. We used our Thomas and Friends decorations from Jackson's second birthday. We brought the train table downstairs and the kids had a blast.

While Jacob was napping and I was making his cake, John and Jackson went to the dollar store because Jackson wanted to buy Jacob a birthday present and card with his money he's saved in his cowboy bank. I asked John to get some balloons and specifically asked him not to get any character balloons like Elmo. Why are men allergic to listening? :) It wasn't a big deal at all, it's just funny because it's such a typical guy thing!

We had Jacob's very favorite meal. Taquitos and green sauce.

Jacob and Peyton waiting for dinner and playing with the trains. These two play so well together. They are about a couple months apart.

Jacob's Train Cake. I had a lot of fun making this. It's not cake boss but I did my best with the time I had.

It was really sad. We sang Happy Birthday to him and instead of blowing out the candle he reached over and pinched the flame with his little fingers! There's his lesson on fire. Thank heavens for our Lavender oil. We rubbed some on his sad little fingers and he was good to go. I lit the candle again and he pushed himself away from the table and yelled at the candle. So all the other kids blew out the candle for him :)

Jacob actually ate some of the cake for the first time. Usually he just eats the frosting. I made Golden Butter cake with a raspberry filling and whipped cream butter cream frosting.

Everyone enjoyed the colorful frosting!

How adorable is that?? Melissa needs to teach me how to get my boys to pose for pictures like this. All I did was tell them to smile! So cute!

Jacob is becoming SO much like his older brother. He was so upset that his hands were dirty from the green frosting. It was pretty funny.

This birthday hat has now made it through 5 birthdays. I hope it keeps going and going.

Jacob was very excited to open his present from our friends.

And he couldn't be happier about his new car! He immediately played with it on the train table.

The kids played and played and were all kind of on a sugar high. But it was really sweet toward the end of the night. Logan, who is 6, read books to Jackson. Jackson was in heaven.

Jacob was so hyper all night and then so exhausted that he didn't even get to open his presents from mommy and daddy that night. So the next day after church we all got comfortable and he opened presents.

This picture makes me cry. I'm not just saying that. I actually had tears in my eyes when I saw this. My baby looks so big in this picture! I don't want him to look like a handsome little boy. I need him to stay a baby!

The boys both got Optimus Prime costumes. They were so excited!!

This is Jackson transforming.

He is SO into transformers.

Happy Birthday baby Cheese Puff!!

This was his very favorite toy. I am so proud of it too. I got the stable at a second hand store for 50 cents! It makes animal noises and I just washed it.

Jackson got Jacob a Transformer birthday card and a dinosaur with his own money. He was so excited for Jacob to open it.

I know I tell everyone this but I want Jacob to know this and read it when he is older. We were not trying to have another baby. Not even close. Jacob was an April Fool's joke that backfired on me. I called John on April Fool's day and acted all dramatic. I told him I was pregnant. He took it surprisingly well which made the joke lame. I told him "April Fool's!". He told me I was a nerd. Then a couple weeks later I found out I was actually pregnant. It was a huge surprise to me since I was taking birth control and we were not trying to have another baby. Jackson was just 8 months old at the time. John was excited. I cried. But I am so grateful every day of my life that we have this precious and perfect baby that I love with every bit of my heart. I don't think I can ever kiss him enough and cuddle him enough. He has brought our family so much happiness and added so much love to our home. Jacob has helped me so much in my journey for peace these last couple of years. I needed him and I know that the timing was perfect and was planned. Just not planned by me :) His name is very precious and sweet to me. We named him really fast. Once we found out he was a boy we knew it needed to be a J. John suggested Jacob and I loved it! Then John suggested Nikolas as the middle name after Nikki. I, of course, cried and was so touched. It was set in stone! That was his name. We used to tease Nikki when she was younger and call her Nikolas. Jacob is a very lucky boy to have been with his Aunt Nikki before this life and then to have his middle name after my sister. Later when his adorable and silly personality started showing my older sister, Kelli, gave him the nickname Cheese Puff. It really could not be more perfect. If any child in this world should be Cheese Puff it is Jacob! We are so blessed to have this happy happy boy in our home and I am grateful to be his Mommy. I have my days where I feel like I'm not doing good enough but I am trying every day to be the best Mother for him and to raise him righteously to be a good person and to make a difference. I know that Jacob will always make people happy. We love you Jacob Nikolas West and hope you enjoyed your second birthday!