The Big 5!

So I am finally finding time to blog my 1st baby's 5th birthday!!

This year seemed to be the hardest age for me to accept.  I still don't like saying I have a "5 year old."  It seems like such a big number.  Like he's no longer little any more.  *He still likes to snuggle.  I'll hold onto that for as long as I can. :)

My big boy kicked off his birthday weekend with a Chuck E Cheese birthday party with his buddies.

Sidenote:  Chuck E Cheese was not my first choice for a b'day venue.  It really wasn't my 2nd or 3rd either.  We had our hearts set on a Pump It Up birthday this year (and thought it'd be easy to let Connor go off & bounce while I tended to a newborn), but with our outstanding luck, Pump It Up closed at the end of October!  We searched high and low for places that would be weather friendly (whether it was cold, warm, or rainy outside), as well as affordable & easy to tackle with a baby in tow.  Chuck E Cheese met our needs and actually turned out to be quite nice!  C was in heaven with his buddies from school, as well as his cousins.  

Each child was supplied a cup full of tokens, so they ventured off together & had a blast!

He was all smiles!

Noah made himself comfortable while big brother partied!

The boys were hardcore racers (little boys pictured are Coen & Billy...Connor's current BFF's from school).

Nana is master 'baby bobber.'  Noah was sound asleep on her before we knew it!  It was great relaxing and tending to my oldest baby knowing my littlest guy was comfy on his Nana.

Did I mention he had a blast?!

Don't get my started on the cake dilemma!  Let's just say I ordered a Batman cake from Publix, which turned out to not be at Publix when we went to pick it up on the way to the party, which made us slightly late to Connor's party, since we were stuck in dreadful traffic with a screaming baby, which caused this 'Mom that likes everything perfect' to have a slight meltdown...

But Chuck E Cheese saved the day with their cake...and we just topped it off with a Batman toy to help it fit our theme.  C didn't seem to mind a bit.  It was vanilla cake, with no chocolate.  That's all that mattered to him!

C got some one on one time with Chuck E during the party.  I know he enjoyed it, although they did bust out in a dance party/air guitar thing which was a little much for Peewee (he hung in there, but he had an overwhelmed blank stare on his face like 'why am I doing this air guitar with loud music and everyone staring at me').

My little Batman and his buddy, Billy.

Cake time!

We were surprised to find out Connor got to go into the ticket blower machine (along with a few of his buddies) to scoop up as many tickets as he could!

The boys collected quite a bit and were so cute to watch in action!

The little Nugget was passed out.

C's real birthday was Monday, so C had school during the day as well as a family party that evening.

Remember the Publix cake dilemma I mentioned already?!  Well, to continue the cake nightmare...

Turned out the cake was called into the other Publix on Six Mile Cypress (we have 2).  I called to see if they could freeze the cake from Friday, so I could use it for our b'day festivities on Monday.  The bakery lady couldn't guarantee freshness, so told me it'd be no problem to make another one.  I told her I felt really bad having to throw out a cake they made already, but she reassured me it was no problem since they'd donate it to a local food bank.  I thought that worked out good, since I really wanted cupcakes for Monday (some to take to C's school and the rest to use for our family party that night).  I asked if they could just make yellow cupcakes with a light airbrush of black & I'd add the Batman toy details (since Publix can't do anything Batman since it's a copyrighted).  I emphasized the fact that I did not want black frosting (I could just visualize a classroom of 4 and 5 year olds with a stained faces, hands, and clothing...and his teachers wanting to kill me)! 

 Matt offered to pick up the cupcakes for me on Sunday, since I'd be on the other end of town for the day.  When I got home that evening, I was greeted with the biggest cupcake box I'd ever seen from Publix.  Inside was this...

Thick. Black. Cupcakes.

(in a mis-shaped bat layout)

I was overwhelmed (remember I'm that Mom that wants everything perfect)?!  It was too late to take it back to Publix, I had two boys to get to bed, and a birthday dining room to decorate!  I did have to text my Mom for help, since there was no way I could carry this ginormous cupcake box into C's school in the morning with Noah in one arm.  The box was seriously as wide as the doorway.  I had to unload my trunk to get it to fit into my car.  I'm a cake person.  This was the first time I had been fed up with Public cakes!  I sent in extra wet wipes to C's class, emailed his teacher an apology in advance in case they were extra messy, and just accepted this black cupcake ugliness as 'awesome' in the eyes of my birthday boy.  Don't sweat the small stuff, right?!

Monday morning rolled around and my birthday boy was excited to open a few gifts before school!

*I love his sleepy eyes in this picture.  He was half awake, but he was so excited it was his birthday!

Fast forward to that evening.  More Batman fun with family!

We now own everything Batman that was ever created.  I have one lucky little 5 year old!

Thank you all who celebrated with us, sent special packages, and shared their love for C's birthday!