Happy Birthday Nate! (Yes, Another Birthday Post)

This weekend we had Nathan's party!

I've never been much on planning events or hosting parties...until kids. Did you know you can make an almost-three-year-old sublimely happy by spending 8 bucks on balloons? You can. Add a couple of Thomas shirts, some cake and two sets of grandparents and it's the child-equivalent of winning the lottery. I like having that kind of power.

I planned a Thomas theme because it's boyish and because Brooke loves Thomas. I'm sure Nathan will, too, when he's old enough to care about things like that. He'd better, considering the small fortune we've spent on trains and such, and then there's the ginormous train table in my dining room... Anyway, we bought balloons, set up trains and tracks on the dining room table as a centerpiece, and did some chalk-art on the driveway.



The grandparents came over Saturday morning. Should we make homemade ice cream? Yes, please!


Then we grilled out. What did I serve? Nathan's hot dogs, of course!

I'm quite the gourmet, I know. But who doesn't like hot dogs? (Does that say 15 grams of fat?!? Sheesh.)

Next up was the cake, courtesy of my mom.


You MUST have a special little cake for the guest of honor at a first birthday party. It's a rule. How cute is this one?


And now, ladies and gentlemen. Drum roll, please. Watch as the baby obliterates the cake and literally hundreds of pictures are taken in a 5-minute time period...

Don't forget to share...

Awww...

Brooke relived her first birthday (and second and probably third).


And now for the presents. Brooke was dying to open them and Nathan couldn't have cared less, so it all worked out fine.

Thank goodness we got some more toys. We were dangerously close to being able to clear a path through our living room. :-) Kidding. These were some seriously happy kids and we appreciate every bit of it.

I made a video of Nathan's first year. After gifts, we all sat down together and watched it. I gave DVDs of the video as party favors. Click here to see it.

Later on, dinner and off to the park.



And then we were all totally and completely exhausted.

It was a perfect day. Really, I thought it was absolutely perfect. The kids had a blast, and I think the grown-ups did, too. They have the best grandparents ever. I think they're already starting to figure that out.

Thank you all!!