Birthday Boy: Noah edition

Our baby boy turned TWO this week. Yes, I’m actually posting pictures within days of taking them. I know. Wow.

After having a busy week away in Washington D.C. and then coming home and going directly on a church camping trip, we decided to take it easy and forego a birthday party.

Noah’s young, and he won’t remember. I think.

Thomas the Train was the theme of most of his presents this year. Our little (big!) Noah is obsessed with trains and there is nothing he likes better than to drive them around. I seriously think his first word (after Mama, Dada, and No) were: Choo-choo TRAIN!!

So Noah received several Thomas t-shirts, puzzles, trains, and an extra set of tracks. He loved them.

The funny thing was that Noah would have been completely content with his showering of gifts. But the older boys weren’t.

In fact, Isaiah and Joshua actually started crying when we told them we weren’t doing a party this year. Neither of them could imagine Noah having a birthday without a party. They were completely distraught (yes, tears and all) at the thought of their youngest brother not having a “real birthday.”

Being a birthday person, I completely understood. And Nick had Easter Monday off, and it was gorgeously sunny and warm… so we bit the bullet and in the course of a few hours we pulled a party together for our two year old.

I texted & called 5 or 10 close friends/families figuring that most would not be able to attend a last minute birthday party. We were delighted and amazed when everyone could come. Haha. Well, two families didn’t make it, but we still had 35 guests and 20+ children attending a last minute BBQ. Not a poor showing by any means.

Normally I would plan and prepare way ahead for an event this size, but this time, supermom really came out working with what I had. I went to the freezer and found one package of frozen chicken breast, one package of pork chops, one package of top sirloin and it hit me. Shish Ka Bobs. Threw together a quick marinade and chopped up squash, green pepper, onion and pineapple that we had in the fridge and bad-a-bing. Main course, done. I also found frozen chick peas and pita bread for hummus (and I only have one small freezer connected to my fridge, so this was quite the jackpot). I pulled out a package of quinoa in the pantry and had fresh tomatoes and herbs in the garden for taboule. Score. So before we knew it (and without shopping) we had piles of food put together for a great Mediterranean feast. (okay, so we did go to the store for trifle ingredients (raspberry poke cake, vanilla pudding, and whipped cream layered in a trifle bowl) and also cooked up 30+ hotdogs for the kids, and all our friends brought side dishes).

So Noah had his birthday party and loved every minute of it.

He was a bit afraid of the flames on the cake, but his family was glad to help out.

And a great time was had by all. So thankful for my little big boy.

God is good.

 

**For two year old remembrances. Noah loves trains, trucks, and any kind of vehicle. He loves listening to stories and choosing books at the library (he’s quite popular among the librarians). His vocabulary is budding and blossoming and he speaks in (in)complete sentences: “Snack, please, Mommy” and the like. It’s so sweet. He cut his 2 year old molars the week before he turned two. Yes, all 4 of them all at once. Not really a very happy kid while we vacationed in D.C last week. But oh well, such is life when you are in the process of growing teeth. Noah loves to pray, and is especially mindful to thank God for his brothers. It touches my heart to hear him ask God to ’give my sints.  (forgive my sins). Noah is a little sweetheart and loves everyone once he’s had a chance to warm up. But he loves his mama the most. And because this is my blog I can say that. Haha.