This little boy is 2! I made James his little '2' shirt using a freezer-paper stencil method. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. This is still the best 'smile' I can get out of him when I ask for it....a rather squinty, pained look, isn't it? What a turkey! The afternoon of his party started with grandparents, cousins, and aunts and uncles arriving. James was racing around, so excited about the balloons, snacks, presents, and firetruck decorations.
The party started at 5:00pm and the pizza party menu included pizza, corn dip with chips, salad, yellow and red fruit (pineapple and strawberries), dipped pretzel sticks with sprinkles, red/white/yellow cupcakes and party favors where little baggies of homemade gourmet popcorn.We ended up with about 22 guests.
The cupcake toppers and banner were such fun to create. I'm glad I'd made them weeks in advance, because I definitely ran out of steam the week of the party!
My brother Jeff and his darling girlfriend Anna helped to pick up the pizzas!
The tradition continues! We skyped with Joel and Elizabeth so they could have a glimpse of the gift-opening excitement.
So many gifts! James was a tad overwhelmed with everything but loved all his presents. The firetruck we got him was a definite big hit!! 
James blew out his candle twice...the first time he was too quick for the photographers! :) Funny thing is, he didn't actually eat any cake that night because he was SO PUMPED to play with his new toys!
I tried hard to to get a good family picture before it got too dark...the weather and lighting was so weird that evening, stormy and greenish skies. We sure love our James and had such fun celebrating two years of life with him!! The next day (his actual birthday) we got to visit Uncle Chad at work....he's a firefighter!! More pictures to follow....