Logan's Third Birthday

This is late.... very late. But better late than never!

This year, I decided to give Logan a birthday party he deserved, regardless of whether I could afford it or not! Boy, it was SO worth it to see Logan enjoy this special day of his.

We had his birthday at Chuck E Cheese. This was his first "real" birthday party. His first birthday was for family only. His 2nd birthday - we didn't really have a party for him. A friend and I took him and his sister to Chuck E Cheese to play games. We held a very small party after church the next day.

So... this year, I decided that I owed him a party he'd remember (hopefully). It felt amazing to see Logan enjoy his party. He was all smiles all the way through the party. He KNEW this party was all about him and he KNEW that this was HIS special day. No words can describe how it feels to see your children happy. The only way to understand the feeling is to be a parent yourself. It's awesome.

It was fairly small if you consider the number of children that showed up. It was just Logan, Becki, their two cousins (Ava and Callie) and just two friends from church. The others couldn't make it. But that didn't matter.... not to Logan.

I got him a huge cookie cake. I am forever indebted to whoever invented the cookie cake. It's one of the best desserts around - sure wish I came up with the idea first.

A funny story about the gift I got him. Earlier in the week, I stopped over at Target, Wal-Mart and Toys R Us trying to decide what to get my special little boy. He's crazy over a couple of things and it was hard to decide which to get. I was out of a job for about 7 months at the time so the cash was running a little bit low. I had to decide whether I should stick to my budget and get him a $10 gift or get him something nice that I thought (and hoped) that he would enjoy.

I contemplated for at least an hour over what to get him. It all came down to a wooden train set or just some clothes that he needed for school. I had to decide between fun or practical. I finally decided that I was going to splurge on the train set. Who wants clothes for their birthdays (or Christmas)? I know I never did....

So... I brought it home and wrapped it all up before Logan could even see it. He knew I had a gift stashed away for him but he didn't know where. Thanks to his sister, who has a big mouth, he found out where the gift was. He was a VERY good boy and treated the package tenderly - careful not to rip open the wrapping. I told him he had to wait until his party to get his gift. He was SO excited and SO eager for his party to start! He kept trying to lug that big box around the apartment with him all day - afraid to let it out of his sight. All of a sudden, he turned to me and said "it's a train!" Now, I looked at Becki - she has a huge mouth, remember? - and this time, I couldn't blame her. Even SHE didn't know what the gift was.

Finally, it was time to go. We put the package, the cake, two kids and myself in the car and headed out to the party. It was a blast.

Now... when Logan started opening gifts, he kept eyeing the big package I got for him. I made him wait and open it last. Finally, he opened it and took one look at it and had a HUGE grin on his face. "It's a TRAIN!" He said it as a matter of fact - like "I told you so!" So cute!

Anyway, enough chatter... here are a few more of my favorite pictures.