Quick Catch-up, Alex's Birthday

Wow, did I seriously skip ALL of November?  Life has been busy, but wow... I didn't think it was that long ago.  Time flies.

Here's a few quick updates/highlights to get you up to speed...


Halloween was fun...

We've spent time catching up with old friends...

Jacob is constantly in cabinets, climbing, walking (Yes! First steps happened on Black Friday), etc.

Thanksgiving was nice... and so was Black Friday.  Christmas gifts were bought before Thanksgiving, so it was really a day for our own selfish purchases.  With everything 40-70% off, we made out well.  But the best deals were internet buys- where we combined Ebates with sales to save even more.

But even more recent and exciting is what we did today!  Alexander has spent the entire day celebrating his 4th birthday!

Yes, four years ago today I was at the hospital with my new baby boy wondering if I would be able to let the nurse take him to the nursery to sleep.  DH convinced me that it was ok but that didn't last long.  Soon after, I asked him to bring my little one back to our room where I would spend the entire night checking to make sure he was breathing, attempting to nurse him, and wondering if he was really as fragile as first-time mom's think baby's are.

... by the way, he's still breathing, eats fine, and no, babies are not super-fragile-porcelain-objects-that-break-at-the-slightest-of-wrong-touches (seriously, have you ever seen how postpartum nurses handle babies???  And they see A LOT of babies).

So four years later, he's now sitting on the sofa playing Xbox with his father as his baby brother sleeps on daddy's lap and I type away.  He is such a big boy, it blows my mind.

He spent his day doing everything he wanted.  At school they celebrated with a large decorated cookie cake (he was the snack leader - a title held very seriously in his class).  Afterward, we went to B&N where Jakey bought his big brother a very cool bug book and Alex picked out his complementary Kid's Club birthday cookie.  Next up was Chuck E. Cheese, "Where a kid can be a kid."  After about 3.5 hours of games, ski-ball, ticket counting and prize choosing, we headed home for a nap.  Once the kids were up and after Alex wrestled down his dad, we went to dinner at the ultimate family restaurant - Red Robin (Yumm!!).  Last stop in our ever-so-busy day was the local video game store where a new Sonic game was purchased, leaving us where I mentioned earlier... playing Xbox (and me typing).

The festivities continue this weekend as we expect to entertain approx. 60 of Alex's family and friends.  He's excited for the taco guy (me too!), playing with kids, cake, bugs (it's a BUGday party) and, of course, gifts.  Ah, to be four!

His festivities leave DH and I with a to-do list that we hope to accomplish tomorrow and Saturday morning.  Thanks to the help from my totally awesome cousins, we are in good shape.  Dust, paint, put up trim, paint, caulk.  That's Friday's to-do list.  Saturday it's preparing the food, shopping for the supplies, etc.

Beyond the birthday fun, we'll be heading back out to FL after Alex's Christmas Program at school.  It should be a good time - especially because we will have our peeps meeting us down there and will meet up with some friends on the way home.  The whole 80-degree weather doesn't sound so bad either right now. :)  I'm looking forward to shopping.  Such a girl, yes, I know.

I hope to write sooner than later.  Thank you to those who have been on my @$$ about missing my blog entries - hopefully this will suffice until the next one.  It's awesome knowing you're reading!  Until then, happy holidays!!!