Party #3

Saturday, we celebrated Andrew's 4th birthday for the third and final time. We decided to have separate friend and family parties this year, and it was so much better that way. Andrew was actually able to visit with his grandparents this way. Gigi and Papack, Nana and Pop-O, and Granny and Grandaddy came Saturday for lunch. That morning Andrew and I were in the kitchen getting things ready, and he asked, "Do we always have three birthday parties?" I told him, no not usually.



We had homemade subways, chips and pretzels, slaw, and cake and ice cream. Except for the slaw, those are all some of Andrew's favorites.





This was his third cake this week! I made a simple chocolate sheet cake with chocolate buttercream icing. We had Blue Bell homemade vanilla with it. We are very glad to be back where it is easy to find Blue Bell!

After the cake, he opened his gifts. He also got a Lite Brite from Aunt MerMer and Uncle Roger, and some spending money from Grandma and Uncle Hugh. He's going to take his money with him to the circus next month!

a hotwheels fire station from Nana and Pop-O

Coleman got Tokyo Mater from Gigi and Papack

Lightning McQueen from Gigi and Papack

a fire chief's car from Granny and Grandaddy (and a little something extra inside the card)

Lincoln Logs from Gigi and Papack

Whew! Turning 4 just about wore us out! But he sure had fun!

Party #2

Wednesday we celebrated Andrew's birthday with his friends at Monkey Joe's. MJ's is a bouncy place here in Gainesville where you can have birthday parties. It was our first away-from-home parrty, and it was a lot of fun! It was quite a change from the last five parties we've had for Andrew and Coleman. All we had to do was pick up the cake, show up, party, and leave. They did everything else! They even gave me invitations to send to our friends. I don't think we'll do all our our parties off site from now on, but it was perfect for this year with a brand new baby. Here are the pictures from Party #2.


Andrew outside our party room


We had pizza for our friends. Andrew got to eat in this big monkey chair/throne thing. He was so funny sitting up there in that huge chair.

After lunch, we had cake. Andrew LOVES the movie Cars right now, so Publix made a super cute cake. It was funny to watch all the little boys eyeing Lightning and Mater while we were singing and cutting the cake. After they ate, they all shared the new cars.

Gigi and Papack came for the party to keep Jonathan so that Brent and I could enjoy Andrew and his friends. Thanks! I know you really hated to do it, and probably had something much more fun planned for Wednesday morning. ;)

opening gifts with Grace

How many monkeys do you see in this picture?

Emelia, Caroline, and Hannah-Banana

We jumped a little before we ate, and after we finished the festivities, we jumped some more. It was pretty hard to get pictures of everyone, and even harder to get pictures in focus. Preschoolers are hard enough to catch being still, but it was practically impossible at this place.

Here's Luke, Coleman, and Hannah jumping.

Brent and Coleman coming down a slide

I wish I had videoed so you could hear him laugh and squeal as he came down the slide. He loved it!

One more party to go. . .

Party # 1

When Andrew woke up on his birthday, we immediately began celebrating! He had balloons on his chair and a special birthday breakfast on the red plate. I had planned to make him blueberry pancakes, but he asked for waffles instead. So I had to get a little creative.

After he ate, he got to open his first present of the day. A new birthday shirt to wear to school!

I had asked Andrew's teacher if we could bring cupcakes to class to celebrate, and she said of course. So Coleman, Jonathan and I showed up after lunch with the treats for the class. Andrew was wearing a special birthday crown when we arrived!

Here are some of his classmates enjoying their cupcakes.

Coleman was super excited about sitting with the big kids to eat his cupcake. Of course, Andrew had to give him a few pointers.

Andrew and his sweet friend Grace. They are big buddies. We hear about Grace quite often!

That night, Andrew got to pick where we ate for dinner. He chose Stevie B's. It's a pizza buffet place that is really pretty good.

After we ate, he got to get some tokens and try the games in the back. Ski ball with a four year old is quite hilarious, and can even be a bit dangerous if you don't watch out.

They both enjoyed the basketball game, and even made a few baskets!

When we got home, we had cupcakes and ice cream.

opening gifts

He got his first remote control car. It is a HUGE hit with both Andrew and Coleman!

They each got fireman pajamas and bedroom shoes.

It was a super day, and we're just getting started celebrating!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Four years ago today, we met the most incredible person. His name is Andrew and we had no idea just how much we could love him. We'll be celebrating him several times this week, so be watching for more pictures to come. For today though, I picked just a few to share.

Here we are on our way out the door to St. Vincent's Hospital at 5:30 am. One of the very last pictures of us when it was just the two of us.

January 19, 2006

just a few minutes old

1 year old

2 years old

3 years old

January 19, 2010

4 years old