Yet Another Birthday Party!

This is it for a while, until Jackson turns 1 in April (already - how can that be?).

We started the day with the opening of presents... usually we do this during breakfast, but Caleb decided this year (finally!) that he wanted to go out to breakfast - that's my boy! So we let him open his gifts beforehand. We had gotten a few small things - two Ben 10 toys, some mini-skateboards and the big gift - a Nintendo DS. Don't get too excited - we bought it used, ridiculously cheap, from Caleb's cousin Madisyn who has since upgraded to a newer model. Oh, and it is PINK... but my sweet, gracious boy was so excited to get it and didn't seem to mind one bit that it is the color of bubble gum. He also got a Lego Indiana Jones game from his siblings and his Uncle Austin bought him a Ben 10 skin to put on it, so the pink isn't as blatant as it could be.

After breakfast we headed to the bowling alley for his party, then home where he played with his new toys all afternoon. His favorite for dinner - meatloaf, followed by leftover Sam's cookie cake for dessert, rounded out the evening.

My intent was to post birthday pictures from the last 5 birthdays, but I couldn't bring myself to look at the old pictures of my baby boy. This birthday has taken a toll on me emotionally and I can't figure out why... maybe having a baby boy now and realizing how quickly we will be at this age with him or seeing how big Caleb is all of a sudden - I have been a nostalgic mess for the last few days!

I can remember every detail leading up to his birth - where we ate the day before; what I wore to the hospital when they admitted me the night before he was born; sleeping through a scary night of a bad reaction to Cervadil that Scott would love to forget; anxiously awaiting the arrival of our sweet firstborn; being so excited to learn that we had a boy; seeing his precious face for the first time and feeling his soft skin on my chest. I remember taking him home on Christmas Day and spending day after day those first months just staring at him and letting him sleep in my arms all the time - you can do that when you only have one! Like I tell Caleb all the time, there will always be a special place in my heart for him, my firstborn. He is an amazing kid and I am so honored to be his Mommy. Thank you Lord for the blessing of our family and for giving me my dream job!