Over the weekend we celebrated Ian's fourth birthday. It was awesome! It was also a little sad, of course, because I'm pretty sure he manages to have birthdays with more frequency than any child of mine should have. This year's party was a space theme. Ian loved it, I loved that he loved it, and every single guest loved it because it was inside this year.
After the awesome party, we drove over to Fairview Heights and went to Build-A-Bear and then met up with Uncle Ross during our trip to Monkey Joe's. The boys were absolutely EXHAUSTED by the end of the day, as was I, so we were back in Flora by 8:00 pm with two boys, sound asleep in the back seat.
Cole later told me that he and Ian had the following exchange earlier in the day:
Cole: Well, you won't actually be four until tomorrow.
Ian: No. Today I'm four.
Cole: No, buddy, today's your party and tomorrow you'll be four.
Ian: Do I get an even BIGGER party tomorrow?!?!
Cole: You're four today.
When we got back to Anytown late Sunday night, I carried my sleeping little boy into his room and sat down with him in the rocking chair. (Yes, we still rock every single night.) I just held him and rocked and rocked and rocked while he slept on my lap. I thought about how for the first, oh, three or four months of his life once he woke up in the morning, usually around 7:00, I didn't put him down until his afternoon nap around 1:00. I had a rocking chair in the living room and one in his bedroom and I would just hold him and rock all through his morning nap and play time and snuggle time and feedings.
Cole and I then finished out the night with our birthday ritual: watching all of the videos of the day Ian was born. Nothing graphic, I swear! Every time I hear those newborn cries I just bawl. We then moved on to first belly laughs, learning to crawl, learning to walk. Everything Ian. All in all, just a fabulous day!
The invites. This year I wised up and bought scrapbooking punches for the construction. Smartest. Move. Ever.
I decided to be crafty for the goodie bags.
It took HOURS of painting, but...
...it was worth it. Little outer space play scenes to remember the party.
My first attempt at decorating with fondant
Everything came together in the end
Themed snacks, of course. Milky Ways, Star Crunches...
...and ASTRONAUT ICE CREAM!!!!!!!!
Alien goodie bags. The little rocket shooters to the left of the bags were Ian's "must have" for the goodie bags, and they were the absolute favorite of all the kids' treats!
Stupid stars. All but one fell apart on the trip to Flora and then the glue dots holding them together stuck to the plastic bags I was carrying them in. Total mess, handled beautifully by Aunt Jess.
I was pretty happy with the cake.
He asked me, "Did you put Play-Doh on my cake?"
It didn't matter; he's still the most perfect little boy in the world!
Big wishes for the fifth year of life
Ian named his bear, wait for it......Ian Matthew.
Ian also named Eli's rabbit for him. The rabbit's name....Eli Matthew.
Ian's FAVORITE part was the bathtub.
Ian: "It's like a travel pillow!"
Brand new Build-A-Bear.....nah, I'll just snuggle with this giant piece of hard plastic.
On our way back home: Eli in jammies, a Burger King crown, holding a train whistle, and his new Build-A-Bear bunny, while snuggled in a pillow case.
No comments:
Post a Comment