Someone's getting another year older.....

Ethan's 3rd birthday is in a week, and I'm in full-swing party planning mode. At first I thought I'd make it small and simple. Just family. Maybe pay Chuck E Cheese a visit. It is after all, for him. Then I started looking into having it elsewhere -- where all it requires is making a deposit -- and inviting a few more people to celebrate with us. But when it came down to it... I wanted to pick the theme, and the color scheme, and make the invitation and have a jumper and decorate cupcakes and shop for party favors and streamers.

Crazy, I know.

This comes in the middle of a super busy week at work. But it's his first birthday in California... and we didn't do anything special last year when he turned 2.

So here's the invitation that's supposed to go out tomorrow, if I can get my act together. I actually had a pretty emotional time making it.... I just kept thinking about how fast the time has gone by and how much he's grown right in front of my eyes.

Look at my Ethan... all grown up.



We didn't have a party for him last year. But these were the photos I took on his birthday.


I had such a blast shooting this and making the invite.

Only a mother can turn a joyous and momentous occasion to a sad event. As an adult, it's easy to forget how much of a big deal turning 3 is. He's not a toddler anymore. He's a preschooler now. He came home last week reciting the days of the week. He's started to write his letters and numbers. He now colors inside the lines and problem solves seems like years away from only a few months ago. He understands how a polite word will go a long way towards getting what he wants, and knows that apologizing promptly when he does something wrong shortens his time in the corner. He knows Lola is more likely to give in when mommy and daddy tells him no.

And while I continue to reflect on my less than stellar parenting techniques, I am amazed at how he's turned out -- especially since we didn't get instructions when he came along -- and I can't wait to see what else is in store for us.

For now, my goal is give him the best birthday party ever!