Wesley's 3rd birthday!

Wes is three!

Every year we say we're not going to have a big party. But then, who can we not invite? It's a fantastic opportunity to extend love to our neighbors, and we appreciate all of them! So, we tell them when the party is and see who shows up. Also, I've had the privilege of meeting and getting to know some amazing women and their children over the past year! So we were happy to have some of them over for Wes' birthday as well.

You may have already seen this cool invitation that Joe designed, but I wanted to post it here so I can praise his great design skills! Yes, you guessed it, we had a train-themed party! He pretty much spends all day every day playing with his train set or making trains out of other toys, making sure his train is at the table with him when he eats, in bed with him when he sleeps, watching Thomas the Train movies, or just singing the Thomas song to himself. So, having a train-themed party was a no-brainer! We knew how to throw a party our three year old would love. :)

I used some of our boxes left over from our move to make this big cardboard train for Wes! I had it hidden in our spare bedroom which was transformed into my "workshop" for those nights when I could stay up to work while he was sleeping, and then keep the door closed during the day. The result was a VERY happy and excited boy when he saw it all set up, right as his party was starting! We also gave him a flashlight for his birthday, so he and the kids can explore the inside of the train, color on the inside walls, and hang up their train coloring pages inside. I was pleasantly surprised that the train actually withheld all of the abuse of excited toddlers and didn't end up collapsing on anyone!

 

This is the cake and banner. With Joe decorating the cake, it frees me up to have fun with other things! We still have the banner hanging up and the train for him to play with. The yummy cake, however, is long gone. ;)

And here is a close up of Joey's amazing 3D train cake creation! All totally edible! Don't ask me how he did it. He had planned to decorate the cake the night before the party, but couldn't because the cake was WAY too moist to frost. So he froze it and got up early the morning of the party, before any of us was up, and by the time I saw it, this was about what it looked like! I have such a creative husband! One of these years I'll learn how to bake a cake that doesn't come out of the pan in pieces. Then the possibilities for Joe's creative cake decorating skills will be unlimited! Seriously, he loves it, and I am stress free. win-win.

A group shot of the party! Not everyone was in this photo, but you get the idea.

We really missed our family members, but are grateful for new friends here that all love on our children, too. We are blessed to have such special people in our lives!

Since you couldn't make it, here are a few videos and photos from the party:

'

oooh, it's SO HARD to not touch the cake...especially when there is so much candy AND a new toy train in plain view!

Sweet friends, Matt (a fellow Canadian!) and his beautiful wife, Nary. We love them and their 3 daughters!

Wes gets a little overwhelmed with crowds sometimes. Especially when they are in "his" territory. With so many other kids playing with his toys, he needed to just escape for a bit. He hardly wanted to come and blow out his candles! And he loves blowing out candles! (he's blown out the candles on other kids' birthday cakes on more than one occasion!) It's okay, though, although he tried his hardest, other kids got to help HIM blow them out this time! It was cute. I didn't realize it was caught on film! It was a fun surprise to discover it!

Wes was a little overwhelmed here. Sometimes you just need some mommy time. (Which I am more than happy to offer!)

Wes is into puzzles lately! Not difficult ones, but he's starting to get the hang of simple ones!

Here is a Thomas the Train puzzle I made for him. I put numbers on the pieces and he likes to put them in order to see the picture.

Dear sweet Bria. She enjoyed getting passed around and gooed over by people at the party. She doesn't mind attention at all! Wes can be grateful she has joined our family so his cheeks aren't pinched quite so frequently. Even with a social baby, Mommy loves snuggles, too.

She escaped to the kitchen for her own private dining experience. 

Some of our guests eating, playing, and visiting!

I found Wes hanging out by the candy bowl...and the bowl was empty! OH NO!

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that he hadn't eaten all of the candy, though, he stuck them all on what was left of the train cake! Another cake decorator in the family? :)

2 VERY handsome guys.

On his actual birthDAY, you got it, he played with his trains (toy train, box train, train movies) as well as some other cool gifts from friends (including a remote control car from Auntie Kim, our housekeeper!)

And then when we were all together as a family, we opened up the big box that arrived from Papa & Gramma Martin! WOW...this is one happy and very loved-on boy! The gifts, cards, pictures, and artwork are amazing! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Something else that made him laugh a LOT on his birthday were some special video messages from his Papa & Gramma Eby, and another one from his Auntie Chelle! He watched them over and over and OVER and laughed each time, and tried to tell them about his birthday. I caught part of it on film so you can see how much he enjoyed the messages.

Thanks, everyone, for loving our son SO much and making this birthday a special one for him, either from near or far. He has brought so much joy into our home and we love his developing personality! He's such a tease, LOVES to play, shows incredible joy in life with his contagious smile sparkling eyes, and heart-felt laugh, he is tender with his sister and rough-and-tough with 10 year old boys and doesn't know what to do with kids his age, and oddly enough one of his favorite foods is still tomatoes. He is now 41 inches and 46 lbs. He is starting to surprise us with the things he says, "What's wrong Mommy?" when I was blowing my nose; "Why not?" when I tell him not to go down the stairs by himself, or spray water on his sister, or take off his pants outside. We're starting to frequently hear phrases like, "No, I'm not!" but we're also hearing consistent phrases like, "Daddy! pee pee!" So, new stages are upon us! He has expanded from Curious to George to now include Dinosaur Train (whoever invented that show is a genius! 2 of his favorite things in 1 show!) and Peppa Pig (if you hear him snorting, you know he's quoting Peppa). He'll wake up saying, "swing ride!" and go to sleep saying, "'Buddy!' (his stuffed monkey) and then 'train!' and then 'more apple juice'" and ever since our trip back to North America last summer he still sleeps in our bed and insists on Daddy being with him till he falls asleep. He shushes every lullaby I sing for him (or Bria) except for ABCs, and will sing that song to himself so many times throughout the day. He yells "Hey, hun?" to get Joe's attention. He likes to find treasure in the sandbox or on the beach and can count to 31 and backwards from 5. I have a feeling he'll be starting to read this year. He loves his letters SO much. What a kid. :) We are so happy to experience each day of him being 3!

Happy birthday, Wes!

love, Daddy, Mommy, & Bria