As Promised... Logan's Birthday

It's interesting, before I became a mom I never realized exactly how much planning, work, and effort goes into parties, 'vacation', outings, etc. But boy have I been having a trial by fire over the last year.

Although this was Logan's third birthday, it was actually our first birthday that we got to spend with him home. I really wanted to do something extra special for him, because I think in a way I feel like I got cheated out of the other birthdays. I decided to do a party for him, and I think he really enjoyed himself. With this being my first real kid party I think I learned lots of valuable lessons. We'll see if I ever do another one. :) Just kidding!

Here is our little birthday boy. We had such a fun day, and I think he enjoyed all the events as well. I made this little birthday banner out of paper, and I think I'll keep it on hand for our future family birthdays.

I think this cake was the root of my demise. Logan is really into trains right now, and I found instruction online on how to make it. They said it should only take two or three hours to complete. I guess that's two or three hours if you have some idea of what in the world you are doing.

Jeff didn't get home until late that night around 9:00 pm, and I think as soon as he walked in the door I broke down into tears. At that point I decided that from now on a store bought cake will do just fine. But I'm glad my little man enjoyed it. It made all the hard work worth it, by seeing this smile on his face. He sure is a sweetheart.

Here is a close up of the cake.

Logan enjoying his cake with his homemade birthday crown.

I think Bella also enjoyed the cake.

It must be a good sign when you have to lick the plate to get every last bit.

Every time I saw Logan he had this big smile on his face. He sure enjoyed having all of his friends over to play. Thanks everyone for coming and celebrating with us!

Tess and I enjoyed taking pictures of each other.

Logan got some really great puzzles, which is right up his alley. He has a real knack for precision and patience.

Logan with his new Mr. Potato Head. They both have the biggest smiles. :)

As party favors I made some Carmel apples for the kids to take home. They were actually really fun to make, and I think I should make it a regular October tradition.

One of Logan's favorite gifts was this train track that we got him. When Logan wakes up in the mornings he usually rushes to the table for breakfast, but this morning I could hardly get him to eat because he wanted to play with his train. My parents said they want to get him a train table for Christmas which is probably a good idea, because as soon as Bella gets in his room it looks like a tornado riped through his train track.

I think his eye's were popping out of his head with excitement.

As I think about Logan I feel so blessed to finally have him home. It was such a long and hard process to get him here, but if I was asked to do it all over again I would do it in a heartbeat if I knew that at the end we would have this incredible little spirit in our lives. He is one of my greatest blessings and joys in life. Happy birthday mi amor! Te quiero para siempre.

My family insists on sending these cards to the kids. They drive Jeff and I nuts, but the kids LOVE them. After seeing this video I'm sure the cards will keep coming. I do have to admit I kind of get a kick out of watching them get so excited about something so simple.

This next video is for my brother per his request. Logan is completely enthralled with Thomas the Train. He has a little dance he does to the opening song. It looks like he has now corrupted his sister as well. I like how at the end of the song Logan now says, "The end." We hope you enjoy it Uncle Patch!