She's a berry bitty girl with berry big possibilities...

...and fruit filled fun is the secret to her recipe.

She may be small, no task it to tall.

She'll be your best friend just give her a call!

Sophia woke up Monday morning, immediately ran into our bedroom and announced, "I'm going to be three today!"

The anticipation of her Strawberry Shortcake themed birthday party had reached an all time high. She's been talking about her birthday and her party for the last two weeks to anybody and everybody. I have been busy planning this party for months, spending many days pinning ideas and writing down thoughts and plans in my party book. I wanted to be sure her birthday was berry sweet! And it was.

THE INVITATIONS

I started with her invitations which I made back in March or April. Fred thinks I am crazy for having started so early, but it really paid off in the end. I used the colors red, pink and green throughout everything.

THE DECORATIONS

The night before, I put up all the banners and party decorations so when Sophie came down she would be surprised. She loved it! Running from room to room, pointing at the banner and saying, "It's beautiful!" Showing us the tablecloth and yelling, "Look, Strawberry Shortcake! I love it!"

The fabric for the banners I bought at Hancock Fabrics. I measured a template for the pennants at 5.5.x7.5 inches, folded the fabric in half wrong side up and traced the template. I then pinned the lace in place for the border and stitched them together with a simple straight stitch on my sewing machine. When I ran out of the lace I had a minor panic moment until I realized that I had a lace pattern border punch. So for the second pennant banner I punched white card stock with the lace border, pinned it in place and sewed it all together. After it was all done, I kinda liked the one with the card stock better. The scallop banner is made of 5.5 inch circles. I cut the circles and folded them in half, ironing them to stay folded and stitched them around the edges. I then finished each banner off by stitching ribbon to the top for hanging. Each scallop banner has 6 scallops and each pennant banner has 8 pennants.

The birthday banner I made using two shades of pink card stock and rounding the corners of the inner color. Then I used my big flower punch on red paper and put black polkadot sticker letters on white circles. I finished it off by sewing a red ribbon to the top.

We blew up all the balloons the night before and strung them using a technique I saw on Pinterest. I threaded a needle with balloon ribbon and then threaded each balloon onto the ribbon using the tongue part of the balloon (the loose part you tie the balloon closed with). This made it way easier to spread out the balloons to fit the space. We put 10 balloons on each string and hung them up around our screened in deck the mooring of the party. Though we were unsure if we would even use the space as the temperature was set to hit 92 degrees. We figured we'd play it by ear as they day progressed.

THE PARTY FAVORS

The favor baskets were one of my favorite things with this party. I found woven baskets, similar to the berry baskets you see at farmers markets, at the dollar store. I filled each basket with items representing each character from the show. I ended up not including the newest member, Cherry Jam, as the baskets were already overstuffed. No one was the wiser. Before placing in each item, I filled the bottom of the baskets with paper grass filling I bought from the dollar store. (The filled favor baskets are pictured in the collage above, with other decorations).

1. For Raspberry Torte, who runs the Fresh Fashions Boutique, the boys got sunglasses and I made paper flower hair clips for the girls. I used this tutorial for the hair clips and then hot glued them to hair clips I bought at Walmart. 2. For Plum Pudding, who teaches at the Sweet Beats Dance Studio, I couldn't think of anything dance related for both boys and girls. So, I went with a set of crayons and coloring page of Plum dancing. 3. For Lemon Meringue, who runs Lemon Salon, the boys got berry scented body wash in various boy themes and the girls got mini bottles of nail polish in various colors. 4. For Orange Blossom, who runs Orange Mart, I gave each child a mini strawberry grow plant to start their own garden.

Each item I got for $1 or less so even though it looks like a lot, the overall cost was minimal. I then created little tags for each item with a picture of their associated character.

For Blueberry Muffin, who runs Blueberry Books, I thought it appropriate to make bookmarks for each child. The quote is actually one of my favorites from Dr. Seuss' I Can Read With My Eyes Shut book. I think I got the most praise for this item.

They were pretty easy to make. I started by creating a canvas in photoshop that was 2x6 and proceeded to put my design together. I flattened the image and put two of them onto a 4x6 blank canvas. I then had them printed out at Costco in lustre finish. Now I had two bookmarks per 4x6. I just cut each one out and rounded the corners with my Crop-a-Dile corner chomped to give them a finished look. It was super cheap too. Costco has a 4x6 for .13, which made each bookmark only like .06 cents and some change.

Lastly, for Strawberry Shortcake, who runs the Berry Bitty Cafe, I gave each child a smoothie recipe they could make with their parents at home. I downloaded this free image from fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org, then found a simple smoothie recipe and wrote it out on the card using photoshop. To finish it off I signed it from Strawberry. She is always whipping up one of her fruitastic smoothies in the show. I placed it onto a 5x7 canvas, which was bigger than the image but that is OK, and printed them at Costco. A 5x7 is only .39 cents, so again cheap. I then trimmed off the excess from the edges.

I finished the baskets by making Thank You tags. They read, Thank You for coming you made my birthday berry sweet. I punched each one out with my 2 inch circle punch and glued to a punched 3 inch flower before gluing them to popsicle sticks and sticking them in each basket. Mason especially loved seeing the baskets come together. My overall cost per favor basket was only around $4.50.

THE FOOD AND REFRESHMENTS

For the drinks, I kept it simple. Pink lemonade and Raspberry Beer Cocktail. I also bought cases of mini water bottles from Costco (thinking the smaller bottles were better for little hands to hold) and created labels to wrap around them. The funny thing was that I miscalculated how many were in a case. I only planned on labeling 35 of them but instead my husband peeled off 70 of the labels, which he insisted I make 70 labels because he went through all that hard work. We now have an over abundance of Strawberry Shortcake water bottles in our pantry. LOL. They came out really cute so I don't mind.

I planned a simple buffet and thought it best to set it up on our dinning room table instead of squeezing it all on our small kitchen island like we usually do. This turned out to be an excellent idea. I labeled all the food with chalkboard garden steaks I bought in the dollar bin at Target. They worked perfect. I just placed them in extra plastic cups filled with fish rocks.

We had a turkey ring sandwich, chicken salad wreath, mini pizzas and mini cocktail franks for the main food. The fruit salsa with cinnamon chips was a hit and really tasty. I would totally make this again. And the Strawberry Shortcake Kabobs came out nicely. My only regret was that we ended up not having enough food. Those who should up last got the slim pickings. I felt horrible and now know that I should have bought some bread rolls from Great Harvest and set out the extra turkey meat and cheese to make sandwiches. Usually we have too much food so I kept it simple and easy, but somehow didn't calculate good enough. Oh well. You live and learn.

Instead of a cake, I made red velvet cupcakes and frosted them with the new Duncan Hines frosting creations, Strawberry Shortcake flavor. One again I miscalculated. I'm not sure what happened this year, but as those of you who really know me, math is not my best subject. Luckily, I think ahead and we had an extra box of cake mix and some cream cheese frosting in the pantry. I didn't let it bother me that the cupcakes were different frosting colors. They would still be tasty. To top the cupcakes I made flags, using Photoshop, with each Strawberry Shortcake character on the front and Happy Birthday Sophia on the back. It was the kids job to put the flags in the cupcakes and they did a great job. For the cream cheese frosting ones, we sprinkled each one with sugar crystals in pink, green, orange and blue. It all turned out awesome in the end. However, I was kind of upset that people staring eating the cupcakes before we even sang happy birthday to Sophie, but took a deep breath and moved on.

THE ACTIVITES

I had planned so many activities for the kids. We had a horse shoe toss, a "Going Fishing" game (with our inflatable pool, butterfly nets and some animal water bombs), a lemon roll, and bean bag toss for outside. But with the weather being so hot, we cancelled those activities. Inside, I had planned our usual indoor activites with Pin the strawberry on the vine and Pinata. But, the best activity I had planned for the kids were the Strawberry houses.

The day before, we put together these little cuties. What started out as a craft for me and kids, turned into Fred, Nana, and I putting all 16 houses together while the kids played with their toys. We used graham crackers and a royal icing recipe I got from Wilton. I had never made royal icing before (we always buy the pre-made gingerbread house kits), so I was surprised with how sticky and thick the icing was. It worked great though and our houses came out better than I expected. We glued each house to a paper plate, so that the candy would fall onto the plate and we could label them with each child's name.

We had them decorate their houses out on the deck. We placed Skittles, marshmallows, mini gummy bears, and Smarties in upside down origami fortune tellers and put the icing in bowls with plastic knifes. We placed these around the table and had the parents help the kids icing the roofs. This was the best idea I have ever had. The kids had such a blast and the houses came out wonderful! Well those who didn't just eat the candy.

The birthday girl busily, and creatively, decorating her house.

And, the end results.

This is Mason's house,

and this one is Sophie's.

They did such an awesome job. Everyone did. I loved seeing all the creations and just how much candy could be crammed onto the space that was provided. Such creative kids we all have.

Later we sung happy birthday to her, and I grabbed the first candles I could reach out of the cabinet. Not realizing they were the trick candles from Mason's party, they didn't go over well with the birthday girl. She was terrified of the fire and Fred had to work hard to blow out the candles before the paper tag caught on fire. Oops! At least the adults got a good chuckle out of it.

Enjoying her cupcake.

Next, we had the Pinata. We always make sure to successfully sugar up the kids before sending them home with their parents. :-)

We didn't end up getting to the Pin the Strawberry on the Vine game, but whatever. The most important thing was that the kids had a blast and Sophie loved her party. She loved everything about it.

At the end of the party I made sure to grab a photo of me and the birthday girl. She insisted on wearing her Strawberry Shortcake Halloween costume and even managed to keep all parts of it on for the majority of the party. I attempted to dress like plum pudding, wearing a blue and purple dress.

Even made myself some ponytail holders to help people know who I was suppose to be.

I was so happy that pretty much everyone showed up even though her birthday fell on a holiday this year. I wish I had been able to spend more time talking with each and every guest. I don't think I sat down at all, or stood still for any considerable amount of time. I barely had a chance to eat my lunch. But, it wasn't about me. It was about my little girl. My little girl. That is so odd to say. I can't believe my baby is 3 years old! Heading off to Preschool in the fall. She has really grown up so much. Just like Strawberry Shortcake, Sophia, you truly are a berry bitty girl with berry BIG possibilities.

Transforming

Mason turned five years old last week. FIVE! Oh my gosh I cannot believe it has been five years since I first became a Mom. How fast the years go by and even faster, how you settle into your new routine. The ease at which you transform from a daughter, to wife to a mother and never look back. So it is only fitting that he chose to have a Transformers themed birthday this year.

I had quite a bit of fun planning this party. O.K., I have fun planning all my kids parties, but this one was especially fun. Mostly because of the age of my son and his party guests. I was able to do so much more, be more creative and actually plan some fun activities to go along with our traditional pin the tail, pinata and cake. Even more, it was fun because I kept it simple.

Yup, that's right, I said simple. The decorations, the favors, and the food, all quick and easy. It really helps to make early preparation a priority. Establishing that theme early on and then buying things like streamers, balloons, and tablecloths weeks before the party; even before I made the invitations. I scored them pretty cheap thanks to sales and coupons. Of course I could not go shopping for any of this stuff without my co-planner. He has been a part of the process from the very beginning. Since he could talk (which was two) and had an opinion, I've respectfully run my ideas through his approval. He usually agrees, but every once and while we butt heads. Still, it's fun to get the kids involved.

Having a Transformers theme, it was pretty easy to pick the colors. I assumed we'd pretty much be doing black and yellow for BumbleBee, Mason's favorite character, but he insisted we have blue, red and grey as well. Representing Optimus Prime and Ironhide, respectfully. We split the five colors up between the streamers (Red, Blue, Black) and balloons (yellow, black and silver). I then made two banners. One that says Happy Birthday, replicating the yellow and black stripped Camero that is BumbleBee. The second, a blue and grey banner to represent Optimus with alternating Autobot and Decepticon images. I hung them up the night before his birthday so when he woke up that morning and came downstairs he saw them and immediately said, "I love it Mom. Especially the Transformers letters."

For the favors I made yellow and black playdough. After having made my first batch of playdough last year, I have never looked back. The batch you get is huge and it a lot softer and stays moist for way longer than the store bought brand name dough. I packed them in cheap tupperware containers, printed out the recipe on sticker paper and wrapped them in ribbon.

That night after everyone was in bed I stayed up way too late and decorated the house. I am a bit of a night owl. I work best, creatively, when I am alone with no distractions and it is quiet except for my music or latest podcast I listen to while working. I think it was 2am by the time I finally crawled into bed but I had the satisfaction of having everything that could possibly be done, done. Weekends are my days to sleep in so thankfully I got to sleep later than everyone else after pulling the all nighter. I missed Mason's reaction when he walked downstairs, but my heart soared when Fred told me that he went on and on and on about the decorations and how, "this was the best birthday ever!!" And "Daddy, isn't this great? Isn't this the best birthday ever? How are you not more excited?!" I guess I got it right. If everything else fell apart or didn't go as planned, I could be happy anyway.

The most exciting part of the planning, and the party for that matter, was the activity I had planned.

Are any of you familiar with a show called Dino Dan? It is a show about a boy who is really into dinosaurs and you get to learn all about them and see them in action. It's a neat show as we have stumbled upon it a few times. On one particular day we watched an episode in which Dan was having a birthday. As one of the activities, his mother created a hunt for the kids with clues to find out which dinosaur was on the cake. Mason turned to me and immediately suggested a hunt to figure out which Transformer was on his cake. For months, he would mention this idea to me. However, I soon realized that finding a Transformers cake, much less getting a say as to what character was on it, was extremely difficult. So the plan had to be altered. I thought back to my childhood and remembered the summer reading programs my Mom would drag my sister and I to, as her helpers. One summer, the program had a pirate theme and she did a treasure hunt with the kids. I remembered how much fun that was for the kids, and despite the fact that at the time, I hated being there, it was actually a lot of fun for me too.

So our cake clue idea became the Hunt for the Allspark. Mason immediately thought this was a cool idea. However, we needed a way for each kid to get their own Allspark to take with them and how in world would I make 14 Allsparks? As I searched for ideas, we found ourselves at Walmart, shopping for who knows what, and ending up in the party isle where they have all those little trinkets for favors. You know the ones that are like $1 or less. There we found these cubed erasers, that are a puzzle, and immediately said, "this is our Allspark". They were perfect.

I then spent the next week leading up to the party, creating and coming up with clever clues to hide around the house leading the kids from room to room and ultimately the Allspark. The morning of the party, I hid all the clues in their appropriate places and anxiously awaited for the time to start the game. Below are the clues I created.

I started off by explaining the deal with the war between the Autobots and Decepticons, for those who are not familiar with the Transformers. I then explained that we needed to "find the Allspark before Megatron and save our planet from the evil forces of the Decepticons. Who is with me?" All the kids started jumping up and down, raising their hands and screaming, "me! Me!" The funniest part was after all the kids got quiet as I was about to read the first clue, Sophie runs up to the group and yells, "me too! " (Have I mentioned how much I love this girl?) This actually might have been more fun for me, but I think I got the kids excited enough. I watched as they ran from room to room, looking for the clue and getting so excited once it was found, ready to hear where they were heading next. Once they found the cubes, they were rewarded with a pinata. What an excellent way to get rid of excess Halloween candy.

After some more playing, it was time for cake. Being the family documentarian and always having my camera, my only regret was not having taken pictures throughout the party. No images of the kids all hitting the mark on the pin the symbol on BumbleBee, no images of me reading the clues to overexcited kids, no images of them pulling the strings on the pinata, no images of them them just all around having a blast and playing. However, I did grab my camera long enough to take a photo of the cake and Mason blowing out his candles. Which was a fun event, because jokingly I told Mason was going to use those trick candles on his cake and he then convinced me to actually use them. So two of them, no one knew which ones, were the trick ones and it took him a few tries to blow them out.

All in all, it was a fun day. I think it could have potentially been more chaotic, especially if more people were invited. I am learning that at this age most parents assume parties are drop off. I ran into this last year with Mason as well. I don't know about you, but I would not drop off my 4 or 5 year old preschooler at someones house for two hours, especially when I do not know them that well. Though this does not seem to be an issue for the majority of the parents at our preschool. A few of the kids got dropped off, which was fine, as we had a sufficient number of parents who did stay, but if it had been all 12 kids in my house just me and my husband, I would have lost it. Knowing this, and knowing it was only going to be expected for next year, Fred and I decided that future parties for Mason will be held somewhere other than our home.

I'm glad Mason had a great time with his friends, I'm glad he loved all the planning that went into it and I am especially glad I have gotten to see him grow from year to year. When it comes to transformations, this past year has been the biggest for him. Baby fat is gone, and his skills are expanding. With that, since he is learning to write, this year I am having him write his own Thank You notes. I created fill in the blank cards and he has been busy writing them out this week.

He has been doing such a great job, though I know even those few words are a challenge for him. I am so proud of my little man and the progress he has made in such a short amount of time. I'm not sure what I would do without his smile, laughter, sense of humor, logic and reasoning and all around truly caring spirit.

Thanks for Transforming my life buddy.

31 Candles

This is what 31 candles on a cake looks like. Only a minor fire hazard, as Fred was screaming at me to blow them out right now. No seriously blow them out!

Despite the close encounter with the fire alarm. We enjoyed the beautifully delicious m&m chocolate cake picked out by my son. The kid has great taste.

It was a great way to end a birthday spent with my sister and two nieces.

Oh yeah that and the wonderful flowers my son carried in for me, that he personally picked out from their trip to the store. Do I have the best kid or what?

thirty something

Growing up I recall a show called Thirty Something. How adult they seemed. My sister, my friends and I longing to be there; would emulate this life. Playing office (I can still close my eyes and see perfectly the briefcases we borrowed from our parents. The phone we unhooked from the wall) or restaurant (heading down the basement stairs in my parents house, you can still see the chalk writing, CAFE) or just pretend we were thirty. Oh how cool it was to be thirty.

Today I officially entered the thirty something club. And I honestly have to say I don't feel as cool and I thought I would 20 years ago. But I also don't think being in my thirties is anything to get depressed about either. Age is just a number. Still, with each passing year as we get older, birthdays don't hit the top of the important list as much as they did when we were say 10, 16 or even 21. So I find that when I wake up in the morning a little sad that I don't get a party, cake, cards/presents and time to celebrate with friends; I do find it a bit of an ego boost to log into Facebook and see who has wished me a happy birthday.

Whoo's one?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!

We love you.

All Aboard (a birthday celebration)

*Using PSE 4.0 I made this invite by scratch. The photo is from our trip to Strausburg for Day out with Thomas.

So the day finally arrived. So much preparation and planing. It was well worth it. It started with Mason's actual birthday. We spent the day dancing to Black Eyed Peas I got a feeling and KC and the Sunshine Band Shake, Shake, Shake. Mason's favorite song. Then he rode his bike to the park across the street. For dinner we headed to Red Robin, his favorite Restaurant. Got to meet Red Robin, give him a high five, and was sung to by the staff. He LOVED it.

We arrived home where he opened two presents. One being what he calls the eight o'clock, eight o'clock car. It's one of those cars from Target that makes noise and dances. It plays the song Rock around the clock. Of course I had to listen to that all week.

Saturday.

I woke up early and picked up the balloons for Mason's party. Then attached them to the party favors, wooden trains I found at Target. So fitting for the Thomas theme party.

I stuck with the colors red and blue throughout. Including the cupcakes. I made 24 chocolate and 24 buttercream the night before. As Fred and I debated on how to frosting them (see post below), I think mine turned out better and Mason agreed. I then put flags on the ones for the kids. I made the flags by using Thomas stickers and then cutting them out using my coluzzle and attaching them to tooth pics using my xyron machine.

Pin the tale on the donkey was a popular game. Each kid got to take a turn at least twice and even I gave it a try.

After the kids made a sufficient mess and making a lot of noise running around the house we brought out the pinata. Below is the video.

Then after the pinata, as if all that candy wasn't enough of a sugar rush we decided to have the singing of Happy Birthday and cupcakes. I was impressed that Mason actually blew out all his candles. See video below.

Then we opened presents. Of course he had to do it himself. When I asked him later what his favorite present was, he ran over to the Billy Fun Wheels remote control car and he and Fred proceeded to run around the house with it. *sigh* Boys. Gotta love 'em. Thanks Adrian, you got the #1 gift.

After all the chaos ended and we cleaned up a bit I was overly exhausted and ready for bed.

And now I get to take a breath before we have to plan for all the festivities of Christmas. It never ends.

On this day

Three years ago, on this day, my son was born. And I became a mother.

Seeing his face for the first time, I fell instantly in love. Unaware of the adventure ahead of me.

A year later and I still couldn't believe I was a mom, or how much my son had changed over his first year of life.

Two years and entering toddlerhood. Looking so big, getting so smart and being so funny.

Now he is three. I can't believe my baby boy is three. Such a little man and STILL amazing me every day.

Tonight we plan on taking him out to his favorite restaurant, Red Robin, and giving him a present or two. How much he has grown in those few short years, in height, character and vocabulary. Can't wait till your party this weekend, buddy. You're such a goof ball.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE MAN! I love you.

Celebrating Milestones

A week ago on June 28th, I said goodbye to my young twenty's and turned thirty years old. I woke up that morning to my son singing, "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Mommy." Could there be a sweeter way to start the day? We celebrated by going out to lunch at our favorite restaurant, Not Your Average Joe's and saw The Proposal with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. Which by the way is wickedly funny and one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Totally recommend seeing it. When we got home we shared in the cake Mason so kindly spilled the bean about the day before. "We got you a cake Mommy. It's chocolate." I love my son. So here are a few random facts about me at 30:

• I am a mother of two kids: Son 2.5 years and Daughter 1 month.
• Arachnophobia doesn't begin to describe my fear of spiders.
• I recently celebrated four years of marriage.
• I hate cleaning especially doing the dishes and bathrooms.
• I am a natural blonde even though I dye my hair blonde.
• I need my cup of coffee every morning or I get nasty headaches. My favorite summer coffee is Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino.
• My favorite color schemes are blue/brown & pink/brown.
• Our new house doesn't feel like "home" yet, making me miss our little home in Leesburg
• I prefer candid shots and my photography tends to be mostly close-ups (and of my children solely).
• I drive a mini van and I am soooo not a fan of mini vans.
• My scrapbook style has become more simplified and I am loving it. I tend to enjoy the smaller size layouts like 6x6 or 8.5 x11 than my usual 12x12.
• My inner critic is my kryptonite.
• I have become a social network junkie. You can find me on Twitter, Facebook and of course Blogging 24/7.

Our little Sophia, you turned one month old on my birthday. Still so small and seemingly fragile. Here are just a few facts about you right now:

• you hold your head up briefly when having "tummy time"
• are wearing newborn or 0-3 month clothes, and size 1 diapers
• you love being held constantly, I think it's the warmth. So I enjoy the Ultimate Baby Wrap to carry you around the house. Allows me to be hands free and calms you.
• your baby acne flairs up on most days but the doctor assures me it will go away by four months
• you don't cry, you scream at the top of your lungs and mostly during the wee hours of the morning. So much that Mason seems to think you don't like him because you "crying all the time."
• you cluster feed right before bed time and because of this I can't figure out how to get you on a schedule. This is frustrating because you tend to sleep very well during the day and not so much at night. The most you have gone is 5 hours in one stretch at night. Left wondering when you will learn to sleep through the night so we all can get some rest.
• not a big fan of the pacifier. Acting as if I just put the most foul thing in your mouth every time I try. I fear now that you can't self soothe and use feedings to do so.
• you are eating around 30 ounces a day and it is showing because you now weigh 9lbs. 12oz. and 21.75 inches long.
• you handle Mason's attempts at being the best big brother; picking you up and trying to calm you, with mild tolerance. He wants to be so helpful and I love that desire in him. I was nervous that he wouldn't want anything to do with you, but find he is very protective of his little sis.
• since you were born you've been such a squirmy little thing, making our preferred burping technique fairly difficult to execute.
• you have started to smile and it gives me joy. Bonding hasn't exactly happened with us yet, so much is going on I don't get time with you alone so those little smiles touch my heart.

While it is a struggle to transition from our secure family of three to a chaotic family of four I am feeling so blessed. I am thankful every day that I get to spend this time with the cutest kids in the world. *I'm not biased or anything*

Another Birthday Wish

A wonderful thing happened 32 years ago today. My husband was born, and the world is better for it. He is such a wonderful man and excellent father. Since he does not like his picture taken I don't really have any of just him, and none that are recent. So here is my favorite of the love of my life. 

The day was mostly spent preparing for Nana's visit. That meant cleaning. But he went down for a nap and me, the kids and my mom went out to Target to let him sleep. Also wanted to buy him a cake. Mason decided that cupcakes with sprinkles daddy would like better. Then we told him it was a secret but of course the first thing Mason said when we walked in the door was, "Daddy we got a birthday cake for you!" *sigh* After dinner Mason sang Happy Birthday, we had the cupcakes and then Mason had a bath. 

It was a busy day and I know it's been an exhausting couple of days recently with the birth of our daughter and just getting home from the hospital. None the less. Happy Birthday, Babe.  I hope it was a good one.