the sickest party ever

for me, motherhood has been a marathon with several mad dashes sprinkled throughout the race. i am constantly behind, trying to close the gap between me and the endless lists of tasks to be completed. a prime example has been reagan's 3rd birthday. i feel like we had been celebrating forever but never quite getting close to the finish. for about a month i have been coaxing reagan through trips to various stores with the promise that eventually his birthday would come and whatever pined for item would be his. the most highly desired gift? a toy trumpet that can be filled with water to achieve various pitches. perfect for bathtime. by the time the big day had arrived, we had already celebrated the week before with mimi and bubba at grandma and grandpa's house. cake was eaten, presents were opened, pictures were taken, football helmets were worn to church.




of course there needed to be day of festivities. silly me completely forgets to buy decorations until about 10pm saturday. i turn to my trusty artsy fartsy box and cut out letters for some signage. in my birthday haste i did purchase some balloons, but no wrapping paper. the solution? spread the toys around the kitchen christmas-morning style and hope reagan doesn't think anything is off.

i forgo display of clothing gifts and hang them in his closet, because what little boy wants new clothes anyway? the balloons turn out to be water balloons and are nearly impossible to blow up. a successful leader always delegates, so thomas got the job of blowing up as many tiny balloons as he can. the tiny orbs mock me as i string them up in the kitchen.



the finishing touch is mickey mouse shaped pancakes that reagan takes one look at and says, "ooohhh toodles! i want some cereal." reagan munches on reese's puffs while thomas and i enjoy the unauthorized disney pancakes.


did i mention the whole family has been sick since tuesday? so, reagan spent the bulk of the day in his jammies watching mickey mouse clubhouse and napping while thomas and i took turns with church attendance and feeling awful.

later that evening we go to my parents house for a dual reagan grandpa celebration since they share the same birthdate. somewhere in all this birthday chaos i created a 55 and 3 birthday cake. not the prettiest cake, rather ronald mcdonald-esque. but i enjoyed making it.


lucky for us, grandpa and grandma had been sick too. they didn't mind eating a cake prepared by a cough and cold sufferer. we all revel in our illness.

more presents are opened and the highly coveted trumpet is presented. cheers abound. also, reagan has an affinity for scotch tape, so one of the gifts was a tape dispenser. simple pleasures.




my ultimate goal for reagan's 3rd birthday was small and simple. so much for that. through all reagan's flu symptoms, he did seem to enjoy his special day. thankfully the next birthday isn't until june...