Today is the Day: Birthday Extravaganza Weekend!

I love birthdays...especially mine. But, when Samuel was born the day after my birthday, birthdays for me changed forever. It is now all about Samuel! My sweet boy was 3 on Saturday.

Two days old

February 19, 2009--one year old!

Just before his second birthday

It feels like a lifetime has passed in the past three years...so much has happened in our lives. This past year was a big year for Samuel. He now sleeps in a big boy bed, he goes to school two days a week, he wears big boy underpants, and the paci is gone! He talks, plays, talks, plays, and talks some more all day long. Samuel is happiest outside playing in the dirt and/or helping his Daddy. He tries so hard to keep up with Emma and Jonah...he is getting closer!

Yesterday Samuel had his first birthday party and his first cake. That sounds awful, but Samuel did not like cake when he was little so until now he has had birthday cookies! This was Samuel's theme...at his request!

Samuel LOVES volcanoes. I bought him a shirt with a volcano on it last fall and the rest is history. He wants to wear that shirt with jeans every day. He gets so excited to see pictures of volcanoes and to talk about them. So, around Christmas Samuel said he wanted a volcano cake and party. Lots of thought later and some looking around on the internet, this was his cake...

I had lots of fun making this cake and Samuel's face when his saw it was PRICELESS. He literally was without words (something rare for him!). He kept looking at it all day and was so excited to eat it. It was quite yummy!

Samuel had a great day at his "Explosive Party". He was so well behaved! He played well with his friends and had lots of fun. Samuel wanted three of his friends to come as well as Ms. Kim. So, we had four families here for the party---8 kids and 8 adults plus us. We did baking soda volcanoes at his party and he thought that was fun. So did the other kids. We also did the Diet Coke-Mentos explosion thing and that was fun as well. The goody bags were filled with exploding items like Fruit Gushers and Poppers (the little firework things).

Being just three, Samuel can be shy and get overwhelmed. That happened during the singing of "Happy Birthday". His fingers went in his mouth (he does this when he is nervous) and he hid behind a friend. Poor sweet boy just did not quite know what to do with all the love directed at him.

Our lives have been richly blessed by Samuel. He is a challenge each and every day. God is building my character along with Samuel's. Just as Hannah prayed to God for a baby, I asked God for Samuel and (at the time) he helped complete our family. He is definitely an answered prayer and the source of many of my prayers!

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed fort his child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him."