Party Prep & Celebrations

On Thursday, Scot and I met Ryder at preschool to join him in celebrating his birthday with all of his school and classmates. From the time that we told him, he was so excited that Mommy and Daddy were coming to see him. There have been some days that we really fight the battle to get him dressed and ready for school, where he's pretty much kicking and screaming that he doesn't want to go. But, for the most part I really do think he likes going to preschool, and I love the stimulation he gets out of it. On Thursday, it also happened to be Hat Day for all of the kids, so it was extra special for Ryder to get to wear a Birthday crown! We met Ryder for music and the excitement on his face when he saw us was enough for me to tear up just then!

The kids did a march around the room and we got them walking and clapping on video. They are so cute and I just love seeing Ryder in an element outside of home. He was so proud to have his Mommy and Daddy there, and was so happy when he saw Brynley with us that he almost broke the line to come over to us and say hello.

Once the kids were done marching, they sang their cute songs they'd been practicing for Thanksgiving, and we got to hear some of them. Then, right before time to leave music, the teachers called Ryder up on stage to sing Happy Birthday to him. Ya'll, at this moment, I could hardly see through my tears! I was overcome with emotion that my baby was about to turn 3, and just seeing him up on stage beaming like such a BIG BOY! Seeing the difference between he and his tiny baby sister really made me realize just how fast it's gone and how my baby is growing up before my eyes. I turned to look at Scot, and his eyes were as glazed over with tears as mine, and then we laughed! After they sang Happy Birthday to Ryder, we all lined up and followed his class to their classroom to have some Blue Hawaiian punch and Munchkins doughnuts. At Ryder's request, we served BLUE punch and he's been asking and asking for a Thomas party (after I'd already ordered everything on Etsy for his dumptruck, garbage truck decorations) so I thought why not give him a Thomas party at school!) He was a little overcome with joy when he saw Thomas and that made this momma smile.

The kids in Ryder's class were so cute, and one of the little girls kept looking at me and smiling. Scot noticed too, and it made me smile thinking that one day Brynley will look up to me and adore me the way that Ryder looks up to Scot. It's so funny that there are more girls in Ryder's preschool class because at daycare it was all boys! I joke that Ryder has the pick of the class haha!

Once we got done with Ryder's classroom party, we came home and got busy setting things up for Ryder's birthday party for today. I will just tell ya'll that when I was pregnant with Brynley, I'd already made the decision not to do a big party this year because I knew we'd have a lot going on with a new baby. Fast forward to present day, and it has been a party planning extravaganza ha! I couldn't let my little guy down, and just seeing this sweet face as we started pulling things out from my hiding places, he was soo excited! Trying to keep him out of the party area, and from playing with the toys that go with his party theme proved to be a task all on it's own! Big difference from last year, and I got a glimpse of what Christmas is going to be like. I've got to get creative with hiding things haha!

After taking Ryder out to celebrate his actual birthday last night, we hung as much of the decorations up as we could, and I prepared the punch and some of the dips as much as possible to keep the stress levels down. We really aren't having that many people at Ryder's birthday party, but the most challenging thing has just been keeping Ryder out of everything! The key to party planning is just staying organized. I found most of the things at Target and Dollar Tree, and was so happy they had what I needed! I go cheap where I can, and spend the money on his banner and food. I wish I was a better cake decorator, but maybe that calling will happen for me one day. For now, I think we're doing pretty good just doing what we can and going off so many sleepless nights. I just want to spoil Ryder and that's what my job is right now. I can't wait for his party to start but I just wanted to post some pictures of his celebrations so far.