Party Hard.

Party Hard.

That was our motto for Carter's birthday weekend.  In years past, we've had the whole clan over for one big party.  And we spent the whole time containing Carter, instead of letting him enjoy his day.

Ridiculous, right?  Right.  So this year: separate, smaller parties.  And one flippin' happy boy.

The morning of his birthday, Jake had an early meeting, so it was just me and this snuggly, smiley, sweet six year old.

  

 

Of course we had cinnamon rolls with frosting and sprinkles and a little melty green candle.  It was a good start to the birthday weekend.

And then.

Carter knew it was his birthday.  He knew we had family coming later.  

Rookie Parent Mistake #1: Telling your kid about exciting stuff that will be happening more than 4 hours in the future.  I think 4 is the magic number here.  We made the mistake of telling him more than 20 hours in advance.  This gave him time to sleep on it.  What were we thinking?!

I don't think I even need to explain this scenario, but I will:

"Carter!  Toys stay inside!" (he was throwing them out the door)

"BIRTHDAY!!"

"Carter...water off!" (he was turning it on, hoping for bath #2)

"BIRTHDAY!!"

"Carter, let's go make your bed...again..." (he was pulling his bedding off and dragging it around)

"BIRRRTHDAAAAYYY!!!!"

You get the idea.  

I survived, and so did he (barely, just barely).  

Finally, everyone was here.  And guess what?  Carter behaved like a little gem.  

My Grannie is the family photographer, as you can see :)

Love when this sweet boy takes a second to rest on his mama's lap.  It doesn't happen too often anymore, so when it does, I'm glad to have a picture.

Sometimes, it's the most random toys.

Carter really impressed me with his gift opening skills.  He was so....mature.  No ripping wildly and jumping from gift to gift.  He gets how this stuff works.

Except for the cards.  They are just a useless barrier between Carter and the goods.

:)

No, I didn't make the cake.  Are you kidding me?!

It's awfully nice to have a cake decorator wannabe in the family!! 

Fun Fact: My Grampie always seems to pop up in the background of Carter's birthday cake pictures.  I love this!

Jake, I'm sorry.  I know it's not your best shot.  But look at our kid!  Let me caption this for everyone else who doesn't live inside Carter's head, like we do:

"Girl! Why are you takin' my pitcher when I'm tryna eat my cake?! Get outta here, girl!"

All good stuff.

++++++

Jump ahead two days and we're at round two.

I did all the food for the first party, and Jake did all the food for this party.

He's a keeper...I know :)

I'm not sure why I have hardly any pictures from this party.  Maybe because I was zonked from the crazy weekend?  I don't know.  But here's what I do have.

Yes, he's in a pool.  It was one of his gifts!  We were really, really hoping he would get one.  Now when people drive by, our kid will be in a pool instead of a big Rubbermaid container.

I wish I was kidding.  What can I say?  We improvise.

Can you tell he liked the truck?  He had to take a nice, close look :)

And then there's this.

You may know that Carter is playing baseball this year.  He is playing on a Miracle League, which means he will have a buddy to help him.  But not just any buddy!  Because he has the best Uncle in the whole world, he'll be running the bases with Uncle Ben by his side.

So, of course, Uncle Ben bought Carter all the baseball stuff he could :) The shirt is his actual jersey.  The pants, cleats, and a mitt are all from Uncle B.

Is that sweet, or is that sweet?

Awww :)

++++++++

That's it.  Birthday Weekend, 6.0.  And now we have a big six year old.  Jake said "Do you feel old enough to be the mom of a six year old?".

NOPE!

Think about this: next year, he'll be seven.  What?!?

And here's something even crazier - in an hour, I'll be leaving to visit him at school for "Popsicles with Parents" - as he finishes his last year in Early Childhood.

Which means next year, it's Kindergarten.  Huh?!?

How did this happen?!

"When are you having more kids. though??".

More on this later.  Maybe.  Or maybe not :)

One Thing I Know For Sure: So proud of our big six year old!