A Pirate Party

Four years ago tonight, I was laying in bed (after eating a huge bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream for dinner) and praying that the baby would come soon. It was my due date and I was soooo uncomfortable and so disappointed he hadn't come yet. Then I felt a weird "popping" sensation and our bedsheets were soaked.... my water had broken!

Four years ago my first baby boy was born and he made me a mommy.

I love him so much.

Tomorrow is his actual birthday (as I spent 17 long hours in labor with him!!! Thanks for that, buddy!) So I'll save some of the gush for tomorrows post.

Today we had a party.  A real party. A friend party. For his past birthdays is always been a BBQ at our house with our friends and a smattering of kids who belonged to our friends. This year we invited his preschool class and had a pirate theme and a pinata. It was amazing. Despite the fact that it was 100 degrees and we had the party outside in a park, and despite the fact that I spent the morning freaking out about not having enough food/party bags/water etc..... it turned out pretty perfect.

Its funny how kids really just don't care what the weather is. These kids played and ran and were all soaked in sweat as parents bribed them to pause for a second to get a sip of water. L loves his school friends and it was nice to be able to chat with their parents.

Our "theme" this year was pirates. L is really into Jake and the Never land Pirates right now, and I figured (being eight months pregnant and not wanting to take on too much!) that it would be a relatively easy them, with lots of options. It was. A few trip to Party City, Target, Hobby Lobby and the grocery store and we were set. The party didn't start until 2, so instead of a sit down lunch we just laid out a bunch of snack for both kids and adults. I also made cute "name tags" for the food to go with our pirate theme. For example, we had fish and chips (goldfish crackers and chips) "Seaweed" spinach dip, Peanut Butter and "Jellyfish" sandwiches and so on. I think it turned out cute!

After we did the Pinata (way too hard for 3 and 4 years olds to break on their own... they needed some parental help!) and cupcakes it was present time! Of course this was one of L's favorite parts, but it was awesome to see how truly excited and grateful he was to receive each one. He got genuinely excited each time and thanked his friends each time. I was a pretty proud mama.

L2 did pretty good too. He's been a little cranky the last few days, I don't know if it's teething or a cold coming on or just growing pains, but I was a little nervous. The party also fell right when he normally naps so his schedule was off today, but he did great. He got a little fussy towards the end, but for the most part he wandered around and played and got people to keep giving him food!

It was a long day, but a great one. I am exhausted and my feet hurt, but I am also happy. And I'm excited that tomorrow we get to celebrate L's actual birthday as a family!