It's hard to believe that my little Siah is 5 years old! I remember my own mother often telling me, "I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday." And it's so so true for me with my own kids. It seriously feels like yesterday that I met him for the first time... that I held him physically close to my heart and felt his heartbeat against mine. As I felt his chest go in and out on my chest, it was proof that he was ALIVE! After our first delivery with our twins and the memory of heart-wrenching silence as our first two sons were born, the sound of Siah's first cry will always be a memory at the fore-front of my mind. We had prayed deeply, sometimes we even found ourselves begging the Lord to bless us with a healthy little baby. And when he answered that prayer on the day that Siah was born, I remember thinking that this day, April 28th, will be a day of great celebration, a day that I will boast to anyone who is willing to listen about God's faithfulness!!! For me, my kids birthdays are so much more than just birthdays. They are 3, soon to be 4, of the absolute best days of my life and I LOVE to go above and beyond to make sure that they know how much I cherish them and how blessed I feel that the Lord has picked me specifically to be their mom and for them to be my treasures.
So all this to say, each year I find myself wanting to do something extravagant for my treasures on their birthdays... but this year we are only four weeks into living in our new home, in our new State, in our new city, with some new friends. But, like always, the Lord, who never fails to bless us more than we could ever expect provided a perfect day of joy and blessing and friends, just for Siah's milestone 5th birthday!!!!
We started the day with a few gifts... Papa picked out a big boy bike, and Aunt Jennifer sent some fun things for Siah to open as well. Papaw and Granny got all the kiddos a zoo pass... and Gramma and Grandpa Jim and Las Vegas Grandma so generously sent enough clothes to cloth Siah for the entire summer! (Oddly Siah asked for clothes. He told me that when he woke up on his 5th birthday, he would be so big that none of his clothes would fit him anymore and he was going to need all new clothes. I love this kid. :)
The total truth about the bike is that it took most of the morning to convince Siah that his new bike was an awesome gift... He was frustrated with the kick stand cuz he couldn't figure out how to move it up and down... and getting started and reaching the ground took some getting used to since he was used to riding his old bike which is much smaller than his new one. But once he got the hang of it, he was super stoked!
We went to donuts for breakfast in our pajamas... like we do on every treasure's birthday... Siah got chocolate with sprinkles... Hal got "pink" with sprinkles and Reesie, crazy of all crazies, doesn't really care for donuts (which we discovered on Hal's birthday a few weeks ago), so she ate a poppy seed muffin and some fruit that I had brought for her from home.
We came home from the donut shop and got ready for the day. Tara had found some parks online, so we went to one of them and met a few new friends from church. Who by the way have been the amazing blessings to us since we met them the first weekend that we moved out here.
Reesie was having a bit of trouble with her joy... what a sad face...
Siah's friend, Campbell's birthday is just a few days before Siah's, and he got a new bike too. So the boys rode their bikes as fast as they could around the park.
We had cupcakes and candles (that didn't stay lit very long because of the crazy winds out here in crazy weather country). We sang happy birthday and Siah soaked up every second of it! (He asked me several times on the drive to the park if we were all going to sing happy birthday to him. :)
Everyone blew their party favors a zillion times...
Reesie blew hers... but she just might have been the saddest party favor blower I have ever seen... Not sure what was going on with her attitude... but she definitely was not her joyful self at the park.
Campbell got Siah a rocket, shooter thing which entertained ALL the kids at the park for the next hour.
Tara made Siah a super hero cape for his birthday and now all the kids have their own personalized cape with the first letter of their name on it. She also got him a mask which he has worn almost everywhere for the past two days. (Which by the way I must admit is one of my most favorite things ever... when my kids wanna wear their dress up clothes out in public. :)
We ended the day with our great, great friends, The Peeks, at Fargos Pizza. Then a scoop (or two for me :) of ice cream for only 31 cents at Baskin Robbins 31 cents a scoop, ice cream night!
It was such a sweet day with my (not so little anymore) man. Five years old is a big deal in a little guys life. He starts school this year. He can now take a shower by himself. He can zip up his own jacket. He takes out the trash everyday all by himself. He makes his own bed and brushes his own teeth. And today, he got to chew gum for the very first time. It was hilareous. We told him to chew it but not swallow it and to spit it out into the trash when he was all done. He put the first piece in and chewed it for a few minutes. He started making a spitting sound then he gasped, "Oh no!! I swallowed it!! What's going to happen to it in my stomach?" So cute!
Today I thought that he was doing so good just chewing his gum and then spitting it out into the trash... that is... until I was cleaning out the car this afternoon and I found his "stash" of at least 15 pieces of chewed gum stuffed between his car seat and Reesie's car seat, along with all the wrappers and some other snack items that I guess he no longer wanted. Let's just say that we had a nice little chat about where we are SUPPOSED to put ABC gum when we are threw with it. :)
Well, little buddy... I am so blessed by you and the zillions of ways that you make my heart light up each and every day! I sure do love you and I will never cease to thank the Lord for bringing you into my life!!!
Happy 5th Birthday Josiah Malachi!!!!!!
