Three years past

Where did our precious little baby boy go?

He's now an energetic, inquisitive, sensitive, thoughtful, funny, and often wild & crazy three year old! My, my, how the time flies.

We celebrated Koen's third birthday for several days in a row this year. The festivities began with a 'kids' party on Friday. Grandpa Dan and Grammie Pat arrived the night before and, immediately, I put them to work. Danny did a fabulous job draping blue streamers all over the living room. And my mom so kindly blew up 12 giant balloons. She had to have been light headed afterward! I failed to get a picture of the decorations, but trust me...it truly looked like a PARTY around here!

Many of his little friends came over to help him celebrate Friday morning. Since the party was the day before Halloween, we highly encouraged costumes. And much to my delight, Koen quite willingly put his giraffe costume on and posed with the others for a picture. (If you read my post last Halloween, you would know that Koen had no business modeling his costume with the other kids).

Of course we had to snap a shot or two of the babies in attendance. They were pretty darn cute. This is their first Halloween!

During the party, I ran around like a headless chicken tending to our guests. Danny took care of Finn and helped coral the kids from one room to the next. My mom took charge of the party 'project' I had prepared ahead of time. I dyed a bunch of uncooked pasta and set up a table for the kids to make 'noodle necklaces'.

What really happened? The kids stormed the scene, plunging their tiny hands into the noodle containers, spilling out noodles everywhere, giggling as they admired all the brightly colored pasta stuck to their sticky little hands. None of the kids was quite able to push the yarn toothpick through the noodles either. It was quite chaotic and in the end, grandma resorted to stringing the necklaces for each kid that wanted one. Oh well, it was a good idea in theory...maybe wait until the fourth birthday, however! :)

Grammie Pat also spent time reading some books to the kids. She sure had Hannah's undivided attention!

Koen felt like a little king, opening his birthday presents in front of everyone. Mind you, this was his very first birthday party with little friends. He was totally into it and KNEW that he was the focus of the morning. It was fun to see him feeling so special.

My favorite part about a birthday party with 3 year olds...they completely understand the 'opening presents' thing now....but they haven't quite grasped the idea that only one kids gets to do it. As each little friend approached Koen to hand him their gift, he or she managed to unwrap most of it on the way over. One little girl, Zoe the pink princess, couldn't even wait that long. Within seconds of arriving at our house, she yanked a new book from it's gift wrap and ran up to Koen with it saying, "Here, Koen! This is for you!" We laughed so hard. She was so excited and sincere.

I attempted red velvet cupcakes with an additional small cake for Koen. But in the spirit of the holiday, I traded red for orange. Wouldn't you know that recipe is made red for a reason? The cocoa powder overpowered my orange coloring...they ended up being brown velvet. Next year, I'll just leave the cupcakes to the professionals...since there are quite a few around these days.

This was taken right after Koen blew out the candles...he had several helpers as you can imagine. Don't mind the dangling baby in the corner. :)

We spread the gift opening out over the space of three days, letting him have a good couple of hours to enjoy each gift. Our plan was to keep him from getting overwhelmed and it worked like a charm.

From Aunt Jenny, an awesome photograph of the two of them cuddling. It now sits on Koen's dresser and he admires it every day.

Do you think he was thrilled to get these Hot Wheels cars and race track? Ummm....yep.

Aunt Jessy made him the coolest little hemp bracelets with beads of his favorite colors...white, pink and blue. She also made a 'nature necklace' for him. It hangs around his neck and holds the treasures that he finds on our walks...rocks, flowers, beetles, whatever! She even thought to drill holes in it so the bugs can breath. So adorable.

On the evening of Koen's actual birthday we invited Collin and Shandy over for dinner and more celebrating. They helped Koen get his new Lego set started after dinner. Oh, and we had one of Koen's favorite meals...homemade mac 'n cheese with garlic bread, spinach salad and roasted squash!

Boy, was Finn excited to try on Koen's pirate hat, or what?

Koen requested a 'car cake' a few weeks before his birthday...so I knew I had to pull through for him. So for cake #2, I made Martha Stewart's Versatile Vanilla cake (so scrumptious!), decorated with Paula Dean's cream cheese frosting. Yeah, it wasn't a low fat treat. But it turned out pretty cute, huh? Thanks for the help, Mom.

Anyway, the weekend was perfect in so many ways. We were surrounded by loved ones and good friends, the weather was absolutely beautiful, and none of us was sick...amazing!

Koen and I took a little walk one day to try out his nature necklace. He filled it so full he could hardly close the lid! We also found a ladybug the next day and kept him for a short while before setting him free again.

Koen has been wearing this little box ever since. He loves it!

We felt so lucky to have my mom and Danny staying with us for such a beautiful, eventful weekend. They played and snuggled endlessly with the kids. Our time with them went by way too quickly...I wish they could stay for a month!

Grandpa actually got Koen to take a nap (a gigantic feat these days) right here on the living room couch! He truly lives up to his occasional nickname...'The Sandman". He can put any baby or child to sleep...he has a magic touch. (Unless that child is throwing a fit in his car seat, right Danny! :)

We love you guys and hope you can make it up to the Northwest again soon! It meant the world to us to have you here...all to ourselves!

Due to popular demand...and Danny's recent permission...I'm posting our 'Goodnight Gorilla' group picture. Don't my mom and Danny make the BEST zoo keeper and elephant you've ever seen! Danny made that costume all by himself, by the way. Everyone loved it! All night, we kept hearing, "Look at the elephant!" I might commission him to make my costume next year. :)

And Happy Birthday, big boy! Mommy and Daddy love you like CRAZY! You've turned our world around and upside down in the best way possible. You're the coolest, cutest, sweetest three year old we know!