Tatum's Birthday!

This wasn't just Tatum's birthday, it was her birthweek.  It started with her swim party on Sunday, birthday eve dinner at PawPaw's house and a big family pizza party tonight.  

Last night was really fun at PawPaw's.  Dad and Kay had some great food and fun gifts but what I thought was the coolest was her birthday cake.  Dad does for Tatum what he wants for himself...so he gave her the entire birthday cake!  We put some candles in the top, blew them out and I was looking for a knife to cut the cake.  Dad said "no, just give her a fork!".  We kind of looked at him to see that he was joking and in fact he was very serious.  So we did.  Tatum had a fork and an entire cake and she went to town.  It was so fun watching her.  We all ended up grabbing a fork and eating what we liked...and to tell you the truth, it was probably the best way I've seen to enjoy your cake...you get to eat the exact pieces you want.  Here's a few pictures from his house...

PawPaw's Birthday Cake...

The entire cake all to herself...

Chasing Bobbies...

Her own new "house"...

Thank you guys for a great "Birthday Eve" dinner/party...

Today...what a day!  I don't know that I've ever been so exhausted.  I've been looking forward to today for so long.  When I was little Mom and Dad would always put presents at the foot of my bed.  I remember waking up at 3 or 4am and hearing the wrapping paper rattle as my toes felt for the boxes through my covers.  After my eyes adjusted through the pitch black I'd make out the size and shapes of each box and spend the next several hours imagining what was inside.  I could never sleep I was so excited to tear in to them.  I wanted to share that same tradition with Tatum so both last year and this year I have snuck in her room at 1 or 2am and left my presents for her just outside her crib where she will see them when she wakes up.  I always put a few balloons in too so she'll know it's a special day.  This morning I woke up to hearing Tatum on the monitor yelling "boons" (balloons) over and over and over.  As soon as Anne was out of the shower we both raced down the hall to greet her and give her a big birthday morning hug and kiss.  She was more excited about the bag with Monkeys on it than what was inside and seeing her curious little eyes unravel the gifts was all a Dad could ask for.  

Tatum has been really in to "ra ra's"...monkeys.  It started with a picture in one of her books of a gorilla.  We tried to get her to say "gorilla" and she could only muster up "ra ra" and now every relative of a monkey is called a "ra ra."  In honor of the RaRa, we decided to take Tatum to the Austin Zoo for her 2nd birthday.  I told my office to consider it a National Holiday and no calls or anything...today was entirely dedicated to Tatum! We shot for a Zoo arrival of 10am so it wouldn't be hot yet.  It's the middle of August in Texas...it doesn't matter what time you get there, it's hot.  The zoo was better than I expected.  I hadn't been in years (like 20) and remembered that they had 4 or 5 cages with animals.  I called ahead to make sure they had RaRa's and we were safe to make the journey.  The place is really pretty special.  They rescue a lot of animals that were privately owned and care for them.  They had 3 tigers, 4 lions, probably 50 monkeys, huge Tortoises, a Jaguar, a black Panther, a Leopard and then a bunch of tame animals you could hand feed like Goats and Llamas and Deer.  I felt so bad for Anne...there she was in her always fashionably conscious outfit (at least she wore flip-flops and not heels) and 8 months pregnant walking with us through the baking sun.  I was hot and couldn't imagine what it would have been like in her shoes.  She was a trooper and was dedicated to the cause and made it through without a complaint.  Tatum really seemed to enjoy herself and we got a lot of delight out of being able to show her a real life RaRa.  On the way home from the Zoo she enjoyed a Sonic Slushie and a great lunch at Pok-e-Joe's...one of her favorites.  Here's some pictures from the Zoo...

Tatum checking out some of the animals...

A "kitty"...

A RaRa....

More RaRas...

2 of the tigers playing w/ each other...

Check out this lion!  Awesome...

One of the Billy Goats you can hand feed...

Hot and tired but a great adventure...

Tonight around 6:00 both Anne's and my family came over to our house to eat pizza and open presents.  I thought we were pretty tame this year but it ends up we still overflowed our living room with presents.  She got all kinds of goodies from "bobbies" (bubbles) to clothes, bathing suites, a tent, a kitchen, a tea set, bath robes, a play house, a mini-trampoline and countless other toys.  I made the mistake of putting her mini-kitchen in with all the other gifts and we couldn't pry her away from it to enjoy opening the other gifts.  Lesson learned.  I now understand why they save the bigger stuff for last.  All 3 of Tatum's cousins were there and it was so neat to see them all playing in circles around one another.  

Tatum crashed to bed around 9:00 and I was about 15 minutes behind her.  I don't remember being that tired in a long time.  I got an awesome 2 hour nap in and will probably be up the rest of the night as a result.  I want to thank all our families for making it such a special day for Tatum. She adores every one of you and we appreciate all the love you have for her and for all the wonderful things you do for us.  Thank you!

A few pictures from tonight...

Tatum and Natalie in Tatum's new tent...perfect colors!

My birthday cake for Tatum...

Tatum diving right in...

Thank you Uncle Cole and Aunt Tara for the most perfect dress!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TATUM!  I LOVE YOU!

DaDa