Birthday wishes and CARS dreams

Happy Birthday Connor!!!

There are alot of pictures here of the big party.

(I will share my thoughts at the end)

Look at me- I just turned 3

The set-up and cake

Obviously it was a CARS (the movie) themed party and I now believe we own EVERYTHING CARS has available. We had the invitations, balloons, cake, arts and crafts, wore the T-shirt, got the gifts...all CARS!


Cake Time

Colton enjoyed pizza and cake also

You think he liked it?

Milla (our neighbor) helped blow out the candle


The arts and crafts

We had foam cars to decorate with stickers, coloring pages out of all the characters, and race tracks to decorate with more stickers. All the lightening bolts ended up on 1 car!! A couple of the kids enjoyed it.

Ilan-sat and "watched" the cake

Milla-enjoyed our boy toys


The Gifts

Connor got Cars pj's which he changed into right away-SHOCKER

Aunt Amy (godmother)

Good ol' Pappa Lou

I must first say, I can't believe my baby is 3. And I have never seen anyone so excited about a birthday. He woke up at 6am on Sunday (his actual birthday) telling me "I'm 3 now". I went through all the bitter sweet emotions; sad he is growing up so fast; excited to watch him enter this next stage of life and learning. He amazes me more everyday. I looked at my baby pictures and remember his birth. However, I failed to tell him any 12 hour labor stories, figured I will need to save those stretched truths for when he is a bit older and I need to guilt him into a hug or kiss. Will it ever work?

So the party...

The plan in your head, the execution, and the guests acceptance don't always jive and I certainly felt this way with this party. I had some really great ideas that didn't come to life the way I expected. My table scape did not work out-I had planned to make a race track runner (but ran out of time and energy when shopping for supplies) and I had some great decor to use on it that I will now return to the store. I opted for arts and crafts instead of the usual goody bags. I envisioned the kids sitting around the table coloring and placing their stickers. Yeah right, what was I thinking? They are 2 and 3 years old, and while my child loves that sort of thing when you are a child in someone else's house with different toys-that trumps stupid stickers. I debated long and hard on the cake. I ended up last minute ordering a cupcake cake (cupcakes decorated all together). It was OK, a little messier to break apart than I was aware of but the kids didn't seem to mind at all. All that really matters though is that Connor had a blast and he did! All but 1 friend showed up (his parents were out of town) and he was so playful with all the guests he had.

His guests....

Milla and her parents Ronnie and Johnette and baby sis Amelie

Ilan, whose parents couldn't come but he spent the day with us

Haley (K) and her parents Jeff and Elizabeth

Leah and her parents Louis and JoAnn and baby brother Alex

Uncle Jon, Aunt Charlene, and chunky-monkey Carson (7 months and 25 lbs)

Aunt Amy-best godmother

Nanna and Pappa Lou, Aunt Barbie, Uncle Bob

And Nannie

The gifts...

CARS, CARS, CARS!!!

He got a Lighting McQueen that shoots out of a track, bubbles, Tow Mater, a book, a pop up car track, stickers, Lincoln logs, pajamas, a gas pump, and a CARS bicycle and helmet (it will have it's own post with lots of pictures and video and hopefully no stories of broken bones). I hope I didn't leave anything out..hard to remember right now.

His actual birthday...

The party was Saturday morning because we had plans to spend Sunday as a family. All Connor wanted to do was go to the bookstore. We never made it. We went to the toy store first so he could pick out a gift from us. He chose 3 CARS cars. His collection is now almost complete. Then we went to McDonald's, his choice, for lunch and playtime. After nap we took his new bike to the park so he could ride around the trail. He did great and had a fun day. The only thing he did not get was another party. We also took cupcakes to his school today to share with his classmates for his big day. He thought he had another birthday. I hope every year he does not expect 3 days of celebrations.