Birth DAY

Thank you so much to all of you who had us in your thoughts and prayers for the boys' birthday. While there were bittersweet moments, we were able to enjoy the day. As has proved true in the past, the anticipation of the milestones is generally worse than the actual day.

 {Pre-birthday scone}

{MMM...I think he shares my love of scones}

The birthday boy was so excited that he got up at 5:30 am. Thankfully, he took a bottle and then went back to bed. When he got up for real the second time, Gramma was knocking on the door with a birthday present! Cohen got some jammies, a swimsuit, and some new jeans. He is all ready to go on vacation with us at the end of the month.

 After breakfast, we got dressed in Cohen's spiffy "Birthday Boy" shirt (thanks Jacob and Angie!) and headed to OT. We took his OT some pictures of when he was born so she could see how truly far he has come. He got lots of hugs and "you're a MIRACLE"'s which Cohen thoroughly enjoyed. He likes to impress people with the picture of his footprints next to a quarter.

{Aw mom, can't I just take a nap instead?}

From there, we drove to Mt Vernon and met up with our buddies Ciera and Eli to go to Jungle Playland. It's kind of like a giant McDonalds play place but they also have a little kids section. Everything was padded so it was perfect! Cohen had fun crawling around and going down the slide. He didn't appreciate the ball pit very much.

We made a quick trip to Wal-Mart for some party supplies and groceries. I knew Cohen was tired so I put him in the Ergo and after a little bit of a fight he gave up and slept the rest of the shopping trip.

We stopped at Safeway in Lynden to get some balloons for Carter. I told the lady I wanted 12 balloons and that I wanted green and blue. I was surprised when I found out how much it was, but that maybe I had just underestimated the cost of balloons. As she continued to blow up balloons, I realized she was giving us 12 of EACH color balloon. It was quite fun trying to get them all in the car. Since I had already paid for them I figured we would just hope they stay inflated for Cohen's party this weekend. Cohen was less than impressed with being shoved in the car with the balloons. We had one set in the backseat and one set in the trunk (we lost a few on the way home).

After a quick stop at home, we gathered up cupcakes and balloons to take to Carter. Our family met us at the cemetary and we had a nice time together. The kids let balloons go with notes attached and then we had cupcakes. I also brought the letters that I had written to both boys. It's one thing to write letters and let people read them, it's another thing to read them out loud. My therapist encouraged me to read them out loud and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to. But, in the end I decided that I thought I could do it. I cried through the whole letter to Carter, but she was right, I think there was an element of healing in it.

Overall, we were able to enjoy the day and celebrate both of our boys and we are so thankful for that.