The Birthday Cake

The birthday cake was my favorite part of the birthday party, which surprised me a little bit.  I think it was because for the first time that whole day I didn’t have to do anything but sit back and sing “Happy Birthday” to my kids.  And I was standing there, singing, and watching my kids gaze at their birthday cake and lit candles with little smiles on their faces and I couldn’t help but just think a little bit.

I thought back to when I was not even 23 weeks pregnant and was hospitalized for preterm labor.  I thought back to all those weeks in the hospital when we were terrified that we were going to have our kids too early.

I thought back to the day when I actually had them, and how everyone was running down the halls with me just laying there on the bed and the nurses kept telling me not to move just in case I accidentally had a baby before we got to the operating room.

And I thought back to those days in the NICU when Rosemary was getting a lumbar puncture to check for infection while I sat outside the NICU crying and waiting for a report from the doctor.  Then there was the rest of the time in the NICU when things were going okay but we were on edge all the time knowing that in a matter of seconds things could be not be okay. 

And I wished that someone had shown me any of these photos back then.  Just one photo to reassure us that things really were going to be okay and that we could stop worrying so much. 

While I standing there taking all this in, I was trying not to cry because how do you explain crying during the “Happy Birthday” song?!!  And with the three big kids there celebrating their third birthday, and my husband standing nearby holding our fourth child, I was just quite simply happy, and the happiness has stayed with me since then.  It was a powerful moment.

And then we ate cake.

Again, thank you Cathy and Amanda for the awesome photos.

The People at the Party

We were very lucky to have many of our family and friends come to our party.  Of course, the six of us were there.  Plus we had grandparents, aunts, uncles, and many friends and their families (our blog friends present at the party were Auntie Ann, the Boudreaux Trioux, the Turners, Cathy, and Amanda).

The bouncy house was a big hit.  Piper and Rosemary especially loved it on the party day!

Henry was a little less impressed with the bouncy house (but loved it the next day when it was just the six of us kids playing on it).

I think that of all of the kids, Rosemary liked it the best.

A special thank you to Cathy and Amanda for the photos in this blog post!!!

The Party Stuff

I’ve decided that it’s going to take probably four blog posts for the whole party.  So, the first post will be about the “party stuff”!  Last year we just had a small family birthday celebration for the kids because I was on bedrest while pregnant with Penelope.  This year we knew we wanted a bigger party, but I also didn’t want to let it get out of control so that we were stressed out instead of having fun.  The whole time I kept limiting myself and saying that I was NOT going to let the party get out of control.  About a week before the party I realized that I had gone a little overboard.  I panicked a bit in the couple of days leading up to the party, but somehow it all fell together and turned out perfectly.

Here is a stack of sombreros we had at the front door for our guests:

And here is the dessert table. . . .

We also had an adult beverage section!

The food and drinks were on the back porch. . . .

. . . and the bouncy house was in the back yard.  (The kids were thrilled that “Dorie’s House” stayed with us for a few days.)

And last, but not least, here are the “Backpack” treat bags that Gary and I made.  It was probably at some point during cutting out all the mouths, eyes, and eyebrows and rolling up “Map” that we realized we may have let the party get a little away from us. . . .

But, we don’t regret a single thing we did!

Thanks to Cathy for the awesome photos used in this blog post!!!

THREE

Today, the kids turned 3.  And we had a big birthday bash.  It was great.  In a way it’s hard to believe that it’s been three years since the kids were born, but in a way it also feels like we’ve earned the right to say that we have three 3-year-olds. 

The kids had a really great time today, and we are so thankful for all of our guests who came out to celebrate with us.  I’m very lucky that Cathy and Amanda were at the party and took photos for me.  As much as I love taking photos, I think it’s impossible to host a party and take photos.  I’ll post the photos that Cathy and Amanda took in a few days. . . .  I’ve seen some of them and can’t wait to share them!  Even though I had hoped to take some photos before the party got started, I didn’t take a single photo until after everyone was gone and everything was destroyed.  But those photos are also important in their own special way, and tell part of the story.

A few times today I’ve really been hit by how extremely lucky we are to have these three wonderful, happy, and healthy children.  I think back to when the kids were born and there were so many questions about what the future held, and I think back to everything we’ve made it through to get to where we are now.  In between the party preparation and fun, it’s been a day of true reflection.

I’m just really happy.  And really proud of my husband and kids.  And really thankful for our great family and friends who celebrate with us.  It was a great day. 

Father’s Day

Gary is an awesome daddy, and that is clear in everything he does.  So Father’s Day was pretty important in our house this past Sunday.  We started out with breakfast of pancakes and bacon, then followed it up with a little gift opening.

One of Gary’s gifts was a book that I bought for him a while back.  Our kids have what I believe is an unusual obsession with Pat the Bunny.  Every night they want to read Pat the Bunny.  Every night.  But every night Gary tries to convince them to read another book.  Gary cannot stand Pat the Bunny.  So, I thought it was awesome when I found Pat the Daddy one day on Amazon.  I had no idea what the book was about, and even though I was taking a bit of a risk, I had to order it. 

For those of you who know what happened to Gary’s manroom, you’d understand how funny this one page was in the book:

  Awesome.  Great details.  Right down to that freaking deer head.

Then we went hiking at Tannehill State Park.

We got home and I told Gary to turn off the baby monitor and take a nap.  We had dinner, and I made Gary a banana pudding.  I think that Gary had a great day – he certainly deserved a great Father’s Day!