Our family has completed "Birthday Season 2007." Between mid-October and the beginning of November, we have five birthdays, which makes for a whirlwind of cake and presents (and hopefully explains why I've not been blogging much lately). Here's how the celebrations go:
October 17 - My sister-in-law, Ashley, has her birthday. Ashley is such a sweet spirit and gathering with her friends was a relaxed, fun evening and a great kick-off for Birthday Season.
November 1 - My birthday. I really had a great day. My mom took the boys for the day, so I went for a bike ride on the Loveland Trail, met Matt for lunch, did a little shopping at TJ Max, then came home and slept through Oprah. Mom made us meatloaf and mashed potatoes for dinner -- yum! Then the McKee family came over to eat birthday cake that evening. It really was a great day.
November 5 - Matt's Uncle Donnie's birthday. This was the first year we've lived near Uncle Donnie and have been able to celebrate with him. Uncle Donnie has really added a lot to our family in the few weeks he's lived up here and we're so glad to have the chance to get to know him better, especially Patriot, who really adores Uncle Donnie.
November 6 - Azlan, my youngest son, celebrated his first birthday this year. I don't
remember Patriot's first birthday being as emotional for me as this one was. I really struggled with making this day appropriately significant, but I think it turned out nice. The Saturday before we had the family over for an Elmo-themed party. Azlan loves Elmo. I mean, really loves Elmo. It is so funny the way his face lights up when he sees Elmo. So we decorated with all of our Elmo toys and made some Elmo cupcakes, which he greatly enjoyed (as you can see). Everyone wrote Azlan a letter that we'll keep in his memory box until he's older. That was nice. He opened presents and generally had a good time.
The day of his actual birthday was again filled with family. Azlan and I got to spend the afternoon together, which was kind of full circle for me, remembering where I was and what I was doing a year ago. All in all, I feel really good about the big first birthday. See more pics from Azlan's birthday here.
We ended our birthday celebrations with a trip downtown to see The Wiggles live. Let me tell you about big times: this was a big night for our family. Patriot studied every movement, every word, every song at this concert. He is an observer and takes weeks to process the things he sees. Azlan enjoyed every moment in the moment. He danced and clapped, pointed and laughed, as if the whole show was put on just for him. Matt and I actually enjoyed the show, too. It was witty and fun, plenty of slapstick and even a few jokes for the adults (at one point Murrey started playing "Stairway to Heaven" instead of "Play Your Guitar with Murrey" -- it was a riot). This concert was a great way to wind up Birthday Season for our family.
In some ways I really like having a Birthday Season. Logistically, it's kind of nice knowing that for a few weeks I will focus on birthdays, and then have a break before the next birthday rolls around. However, I discovered a danger this year: It is far too easy for me to lump all of these birthdays into one sum of a few weeks instead of giving each birthday the individual attention it deserves. I think I'll do better as the years go by.
October 17 - My sister-in-law, Ashley, has her birthday. Ashley is such a sweet spirit and gathering with her friends was a relaxed, fun evening and a great kick-off for Birthday Season.
October 18 - Patriot, my oldest son, turned 3 this year. The Saturday before his 
birthday we had a "Go, Diego! Go!" themed party for him. A few of his little friends came over and pretended to be "Animal Rescuers" through the different games we played. It was a good time for all, especially Patriot.
The day of his birthday we had special birthday waffles with candles in them. He got to choose what he wore that day, so he was dressed in his Chad Johnson uniform. He also got to choose what we did for dinner, so the whole family was off to Chuck E. Cheese. We ended up having a great time! See more pics from Patriot's birthday here.
birthday we had a "Go, Diego! Go!" themed party for him. A few of his little friends came over and pretended to be "Animal Rescuers" through the different games we played. It was a good time for all, especially Patriot.The day of his birthday we had special birthday waffles with candles in them. He got to choose what he wore that day, so he was dressed in his Chad Johnson uniform. He also got to choose what we did for dinner, so the whole family was off to Chuck E. Cheese. We ended up having a great time! See more pics from Patriot's birthday here.
November 1 - My birthday. I really had a great day. My mom took the boys for the day, so I went for a bike ride on the Loveland Trail, met Matt for lunch, did a little shopping at TJ Max, then came home and slept through Oprah. Mom made us meatloaf and mashed potatoes for dinner -- yum! Then the McKee family came over to eat birthday cake that evening. It really was a great day.
November 5 - Matt's Uncle Donnie's birthday. This was the first year we've lived near Uncle Donnie and have been able to celebrate with him. Uncle Donnie has really added a lot to our family in the few weeks he's lived up here and we're so glad to have the chance to get to know him better, especially Patriot, who really adores Uncle Donnie.
November 6 - Azlan, my youngest son, celebrated his first birthday this year. I don't
remember Patriot's first birthday being as emotional for me as this one was. I really struggled with making this day appropriately significant, but I think it turned out nice. The Saturday before we had the family over for an Elmo-themed party. Azlan loves Elmo. I mean, really loves Elmo. It is so funny the way his face lights up when he sees Elmo. So we decorated with all of our Elmo toys and made some Elmo cupcakes, which he greatly enjoyed (as you can see). Everyone wrote Azlan a letter that we'll keep in his memory box until he's older. That was nice. He opened presents and generally had a good time. The day of his actual birthday was again filled with family. Azlan and I got to spend the afternoon together, which was kind of full circle for me, remembering where I was and what I was doing a year ago. All in all, I feel really good about the big first birthday. See more pics from Azlan's birthday here.
We ended our birthday celebrations with a trip downtown to see The Wiggles live. Let me tell you about big times: this was a big night for our family. Patriot studied every movement, every word, every song at this concert. He is an observer and takes weeks to process the things he sees. Azlan enjoyed every moment in the moment. He danced and clapped, pointed and laughed, as if the whole show was put on just for him. Matt and I actually enjoyed the show, too. It was witty and fun, plenty of slapstick and even a few jokes for the adults (at one point Murrey started playing "Stairway to Heaven" instead of "Play Your Guitar with Murrey" -- it was a riot). This concert was a great way to wind up Birthday Season for our family.
In some ways I really like having a Birthday Season. Logistically, it's kind of nice knowing that for a few weeks I will focus on birthdays, and then have a break before the next birthday rolls around. However, I discovered a danger this year: It is far too easy for me to lump all of these birthdays into one sum of a few weeks instead of giving each birthday the individual attention it deserves. I think I'll do better as the years go by.
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Azlan is awesome, love that pic.
If the Wiggles came to Moldova, we'd totally be there!