We made it through Christmas and New Years and before we have time to catch our breath, it's time for Brady's birthday! Now, I want it in writing that I love celebrating my kids birthdays. I may sweat, get stressed, complain, etc but I really, really do love everything about celebrating each of their little lives. To me, these children are miracles. It is inconceivable to most people that know me that I have three, healthy children after having a transplant. It is inconceivable to a lot of doctors out there. So celebrating their lives is more than cake and presents. It's a party full of love and gratitude for their existence. It is days full of tears and joy that I get to focus on them, stand back, and smile knowing that Heavenly Father sent them to me. So, I really do LOVE celebrating birthdays! Having said that, I am an over achiever. I am a self-proclaimed, type A control freak. When I get my mind set on something, I will make it happen no matter what. We only do big, friend parties on their even birthdays so, knowing that Brady would be turning four, the wheels starting turning. Next to angry birds, the thing Brady loves the most is Lightening McQueen. So I started planning his party around this theme down to the tiniest of details. I wanted him to walk in the room and be completely blown away. Doing that takes a lot of work and I am not a mother that has a lot of time. Between the three itty bitty's, I also, at this point, was teaching 15 students(I now have 18). These are my choices, so I am not complaining, but I only have spurts of time to get things done and I almost always have the kids in tow. So, getting this party together the way I wanted to do it was kind of stressful. But Brady is worth it to me. He is the kind of kid that makes you want to squeeze him to death because he is either bringing you so much joy you can't stand it or he is frustrating you to no end. He is very smart, a thinker, and he talks non-stop. LITERALLY!!!!! He questions everything in the world around him which intrigues me and drives me batty! But he's mine and I love his guts and I want to make him happy. I want to create moments for him and all my kids. So we were going to have a Cars party and it was going to be AWESOME!!! But more on that later!
On his actual birthday, he woke up and got to choose what he wanted for breakfast. I always ask the day before, of course, so I actually have what he wants. Brady boy wanted pancakes with strawberries and whip cream. Smart boy!! So I made him some pancakes, cut berries and started his cake for later while he talked to us about all his birthday plans/wishes. Here's a cute little video of our boy!
Later that evening, my parents came over for cake and ice cream and gifts. I made a confetti bundt cake with cream cheese frosting. Nick's favorite cake is a bundt cake so now Brady asks for the cake with the hole in it! It's pretty cute! We sang, we ate, and he got to open a couple gifts from my parents.
Now for the party..........we had it in my parents basement because it's just a great space. It's big and open, has a kitchen a bathroom....it's basically a great party space. So the day before, between piano lessons, I went to my mom's and made a "pit crew" area using trash bags and yellow duct tape. I found a ton of printables online for the food signs, etc.
Flo's V8 Cafe
- Stoplight Brownies
- Dipsticks (Chocolate covered pretzel rods)
- McQueen's Meatballs
- Francisco's Fruit Platter
- Mater's Mac 'n Cheese
- Sally's Salsa & Chips
This is the food table of or "Flow's V8 Cafe"
Mater's Mac 'n Cheese
I made Brady's cake. I opted for a texas sheet cake instead of making a cake in the shape of Lightning McQueen. Super easy, super cute!
Here's our pit crew
Brady & Mommy
Harris Girls
Watson's
Magee's
Jamison's
Aunt Becca & Brooklyn
Savannah Cook
Ruby Dickson
Kids waiting for their goodie bags. Red cellophane bags with cars stickers and cars candy. Super easy, super cute. (Do you see a theme here?!?!?!)
We did play a couple of games. Of course, we had to play red light/green light. I put the dad's in charge of that outside. Then in side be played musical cars. Basically, I gather a bunch of Brady's matchbox cars, put them in the center of the room. Then I played "Life is a Highway" and when the music stopped, the kids had to grab a car. Whoever didn't get a car was out and so on and so forth. It was a party favorite. I think we played 17 millions rounds of it! The party was awesome and fun and Brady had a blast. That's all the matters, right?
At four years old, Brady is bright, happy, smart as a whip, talkative and kind. As this is my families record, I want to jot down some things about my boy that I don't ever want to forget.
- Tells me at least once a day how beautiful I am and that he loves me.
- His preschool teacher said that he sets the tone for the entire class and his kindness is the defining characteristic.
- At parent/teacher conferences, Brady was already trying to read and could spell and write his name, recall our phone number and address, and struggled with writing numbers.
- He loves being a big brother and takes great pride in caring for them.......that's when he's not trying to wrestle them to the ground and bug them incessantly!
- He loves dinosaurs. He loves learning about them to the very minutest details like how big their eggs are.
- He's very social and wants to get to know everyone. Not just say hi, he wants to get to know you, as much as he can! It's pretty amazing!
- At his wellness visit he was fourty inches tall and fourty pounds.
We love Brady so much. He is sweeter than I can take credit for and fills our house with laughter. Happy Birthday to our big boy!
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