Monday, August 1, 2011

Welcome to Candyland! Happy 4th Birthday Lindy, Will, and Adam

The kids’ 4th birthday was Saturday July 30th.  Where in the world have the last 4 years gone?  How can my babies be 4 years old?  I feel like I just birthed them (well, had them by c-section) yesterday. 

They have turned into such neat little people.  Will is one of the kindest, sweetest little boys in the world.  He just melts my heart when he comes up and tells me loves me or that I’m his best friend.  He has been so happy for Lindy during this summer of potty training and so sad when she has accidents.  He is a seriously smart little boy and is so inquisitive.  His new favorite game is asking us to spell words for him.  All day long (until I tell him enough) he’ll ask us to spell different things.  I know he’s soaking it all up too.  He is a beautiful, blue-eyed boy and I’m blessed to be his mama.

Lindy is still our little miracle child.  She is doing so well in all areas.  He vocabulary astounds us.  She talks all the time now!  She runs and rides her scooter and tries her hardest to keep up with Will.  She can be the cuddliest child and she gives the greatest hugs.  She hugs you tight when she gives you a hug.  She has recently been a mama’s girl, which is a good and bad thing for me!  She has done so well with potty training this summer.  She’s proving to us she can be a big girl!  Lindy is such a funny little thing.  Most of it is unintentional though.  She just does funny things.  She can make the funniest faces that you can’t help but laugh at.  We call her our spirited child because she never stops moving and she has a lot of her own ideas about how things should be.  She is my beautiful girl with gorgeous hair and I’m so blessed to be her mama.

Of course I can’t forget my sweet baby Adam.  This time of year is such a strange time for me.  It’s such a festive time because we are so thankful for Lindy and Will and how far they have come.  When we celebrate their birthday we are truly celebrating that they lived, they persevered and they prospered into amazing four year olds.  So while being excited about Lindy and Will – we mourn Adam.  We mourn that he should be here celebrating his 4th birthday with his brother and sister.   We mourn that we only knew him for 12 hours.  12 hours that he spent fighting for his life.  We miss him.  A lot.  I’ll never understand why we struggled to get pregnant, finally got pregnant (with three babies), and then lost one. 

We had a Candyland party for the kids on Saturday.  When we were deciding on a theme I was thinking how much the kids like to play games these days.  I thought the Candyland could be fun to decorate with so I picked it.  Then I started looking on the internet and found pictures of the old Candyland characters.  When I saw they were a little boy and girl I knew I had to do Candyland! 

LindyWill

The party was fun and I think the kids had a blast.  The only bad part was that our air conditioner could not keep up with the 35 people we had in our house.  It was so hot in here.  I’ll let the pictures tell our day.

Happy Birthday Will!DSC_1462Happy Birthday Lindy!DSC_1465Special birthday breakfast cinnamon rolls.DSC_1466DSC_1468DSC_1475Opening presents from Nana and Papa!  Bikes!!  DSC_1476DSC_1479Welcome to Candyland!  The walkway leading up to the door.DSC_1514DSC_1515The dum-dum wreath!DSC_1510Lollipops in the hallway.DSC_1508Candy on the doorways.DSC_1505DSC_1506A Candyland rug for the playroom!DSC_1769The Candy Shop!DSC_1501DSC_1502DSC_1504The Candyland cake.DSC_1530DSC_1525My sweet birthday girl in her Candyland birthday shirt!DSC_1757My sweet birthday boy in his Candyland birthday shirt.  DSC_1533DSC_1761Our party guests:  My friend Anita and her girls Lily and Edie.DSC_1556Aunt Joan and Uncle Curtis.DSC_1582Anna and Brian.DSC_1583Minu and Aditya, who goes to school with Will.DSC_1659Jared and his dad Jeff.  Jared also goes to school with Will.DSC_1663Janice.DSC_1682Brett, Wendy, Riley, and BerkleyDSC_1684Carrie, Anna, and Rebecca.DSC_1688Jasmine and EliaDSC_1690Kris, Katie, Micah, and Claire.DSC_1695Mimo.DSC_1698GrandBob and SuzetteDSC_1728Ed, Jamie, and Molly.  We witnessed the second Christmas miracle at the party – Ed smiling in a picture and showing some teeth.  (The first Christmas miracle being my brother-in-law Lee smiling in a picture at the beach!)DSC_1730

We started the party off by playing a Candyland DVD game.  It was really cute and had three little games on it that had the kids up and moving around.  DSC_1561DSC_1563DSC_1570DSC_1571

Next we turned it up a notch with some hard-core Candyland Bingo games!DSC_1588DSC_1590DSC_1592DSC_1593

Next we moved on to cake and ice cream.  Oh wait, I forgot to get the ice cream out so we didn’t have any ice cream.  So we had cake and some snacks!  The kids loved it when we sang happy birthday to them.  As we’ve done each year, we sang to Lindy first and then Will.  DSC_1594DSC_1597She got so excited!  She was slapping her legs and waving her arms.DSC_1599DSC_1602He got this devilish grin when we started singing to him.  He loved it!DSC_1605DSC_1609DSC_1610DSC_1611

We moved onto opening presents.  They got so much stuff.  It was like Christmas around here!  It took me all Sunday to go through everything!DSC_1622DSC_1637DSC_1656DSC_1638DSC_1710DSC_1713DSC_1717

After presents the plan was to send the kids out to bounce in a bounce house that my friend Anita brought with her.  Unfortunately it rained during the party so no bouncing for the kids.  So sad.  We struck up some more bingo games and the kids got to play in the playroom. 

As the guests were leaving they got to go to the candy shop.  They got a candyland bouncy ball, a candyland ring, a candyland sticker and then their choice of candy.  DSC_1658DSC_1660

It was a fun party for the kids. We enjoyed having our friends there to help celebrate with Lindy and Will.

Wendy, Carrie, and I.  High school friends!DSC_1669Me and Anita – college friendsDSC_1673Me and Katie.  Katie is married to Kris – who was Drew’s roommate in Divinity school.  We met through our husbands but we’ve become great friends.DSC_1674Our family - missing one special boy.DSC_1733Seeing off their friends as they left.  That’s a wrap!  DSC_1691

3 comments:

Andrea said...

Wow Jamie!!! What a great party!! Love this idea! It looks like the kids had a ball!

Happy 4th Birthday Will and Lindy!!

I can only imagine the bittersweetness you feel Jamie! I am thinking of you! Take care, Andrea

The Buckley Family said...

Happy Birthday Will and Lindy! I can only imagine that it is a bittersweet time for your family. I also cannot believe how fast these 4 years have gone!?! Super cute party idea!!

Jamie

lauren said...

Love the theme - that's adorable and you did an awesome job!!