Nathan's birthday week... 4 years old!!!

So in all my pregnant wisdom and clear thinking, I (the crazy mommy) thought that as Nathan's fourth birthday approached, we would try something different this year :) I have a friend from college who loves to celebrate birthday weeks for those she loves (i.e. her hubby and kids). Sounds like fun right? And it really was so so so much fun, and it actually did help to spread out the fun over a week as opposed to having all the craziness in one day. My stamina is not great these days :)

So we started on Monday after Nathan got home from school and celebrated all week long... birthday signs, birthday balloons, a present everyday, cupcakes (for his school party that we didn't have since he was under the weather that day), birthday cakes for church and a team birthday party to wrap up the week.

I love that everyday he got to remember how much he is loved and cherished... how much we have loved watching him grow over the past 4 years... and how much we are trusting God to continue to grow him into the man he is meant to be. Nathan has been such a great first child for Gary and I, teaching us so much about ourselves, how to be parents, and even better how to understand God's love for us as we grow in our love for Nathan. He's a great big brother who really looks out for Grant (when he's not stealing his toys :). He gets more affectionate as time goes on (which this mommy loves) and is really growing into his personality. We pray that God will continue to guide us and show us the best way to raise him so that one day we will not only call him our son, but our brother in Christ... thank you to those who have helped us along in this journey of parenting Nathan and celebrated with us the joy of our firstborn!

Opening our first day's present.

This is what happened when I said... Nathan, hold up your present and smile... not exactly what I was going for :) but in his defense... he is smiling from behind his airplanes!

One of the things I love about Nathan... When he saw that there were four planes he said to me, Look Mommy, one for you, one for Daddy, one for brother and one for me! Sweet boy!

And even though we didn't get to take our cupcakes to school, that didn't keep us from enjoying them at home :)

Even Grant got in on the action!

More birthday present fun from Nena and Papa!

Since his birthday was actually on Sunday we made cakes to take to church... they definitely evolved in the decorating process :) but I think they turned out good and he liked them, so that's all that matters! :)

And to round out birthday week we had our team birthday party Sunday night with (yes you guessed it...) more cake - ok, actually brownies, and alot of energy and fun in our apartment. Nathan's Nena and Do-Do picked out these fancy party decorations and when Nathan woke up from his nap to a table ready for fun... he was in heaven!
And last but not least... having some fun with mommy and our new birthday presents... talk about some cool bead bugs... the fun has just begun! :)