We may or may not ever be able to make an announcement that "we're pregnant"...but we have come to understand that the blessing is the fact that however parenthood happens, it is a miracle! ....... Now we have been home with our precious blessing from Russia since August 2007. Join us on our fun and crazy ride that we call "life with this child of mine."
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Rewind: Part 3
How appropriate that the 3rd installment of my "Rewind" series will cover Iliya's 3rd birthday.
Several months ago (probably about August or September - before life got too crazy), I had planned to actually do a big birthday bash for Iliya. I wasn't sure what sort of party he'd like to have, and one day I asked him if he wanted to have a "tractor" party, to which he replied, "No, Elmo party." I may've blogged about that, I'm not sure, but that's what he wanted that day & every day since. (the funny thing about it is that he never really watched much TV, and I didn't really even realize that he had such a connection with the furry red monster)
Anyway, as August & September gave way to October, life got really wild and I let November slip up on me. I started to stress out about what to do for his party - and then I realized that it really wasn't about doing a huge celebration. For Iliya, birthday party = balloons, birthday cake, and singing "Happy Birthday."
When I thought of it in those terms, it was no longer as stressful. Since we were basically homeless, living/working/going to school in a completely new place, my plans for having the big birthday party at our house - and family get togethers over Thanksgiving - went out the window. I talked to my mom and we decided to just do a simple party at their house on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The only things required for the party? Balloons, birthday cake, and plenty of singing.
And you know what? It was so nice...no pressure, an Iliya got to be the center of attention. And he SO enjoyed himself. Here are some pictures from the day:
guess who! we did cupcakes...easy peasy!
we also had easy brunch foods (iliya is his best in the morning, so we had his party at 10:00). here he is tasting the juice - it's a little more sour than he'd anticipated, i do believe!
opening gifts
BIG AL!
can you tell that we're singing Happy Birthday? the child was soaking it up
blowing out the candle!
SO proud!
digging in to the cupcake
i LOVE this picture...i only wish it had turned out a little better
sitting with his new Big Al & school bus
now, get this...guess who gets to have a birthday party, now?
did you guess Big Al?
this is all Iliya's doing...from deciding to give Big Al a party, to putting him in the seat, to grabbing a cupcake without any of us noticing what he was up to
here, big al, Happy Birthday to you!
aside from his new toys, Iliya carried these balloons around with him everywhere.
this is all Iliya's doing...from deciding to give Big Al a party, to putting him in the seat, to grabbing a cupcake without any of us noticing what he was up to
I'd say it was a fun & very successful day! Happy Birthday, my little boy!!
6 Comments:
Video Archives
For your viewing pleasure, click on the title to go to the video
*The Road Home*
*Eating (in Russia)*
*"More"*
*a Video for my sister's class*
*on a Friday afternoon*
*The Dog*
*Selecting a Book*
*Doing Dishes*
*Elfin' Great Moves*
*Christmas 2007*
*Family Fun*
*January 8, 2008*
*Dinner Time Fun*
*Spring Break 2008*
*Trip to the Zoo*
*123’s*
*Leap Day Fun*
*Comparison – 1st Trip*
*Comparison – 2nd Trip*
*One Year Later*
*At the Beach*
*The Wheels on the Bus*
*Canoeing 1*
*Canoeing 2*
*Canoeing Story*
*Ring Around the Rosie*
*The Road Home*
*Eating (in Russia)*
*"More"*
*a Video for my sister's class*
*on a Friday afternoon*
*The Dog*
*Selecting a Book*
*Doing Dishes*
*Elfin' Great Moves*
*Christmas 2007*
*Family Fun*
*January 8, 2008*
*Dinner Time Fun*
*Spring Break 2008*
*Trip to the Zoo*
*123’s*
*Leap Day Fun*
*Comparison – 1st Trip*
*Comparison – 2nd Trip*
*One Year Later*
*At the Beach*
*The Wheels on the Bus*
*Canoeing 1*
*Canoeing 2*
*Canoeing Story*
*Ring Around the Rosie*
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Happy 3rd Birthday!!
Quotes
"When I was very young, most of my childhood heroes wore capes, flew through the air, or picked up buildings with one arm. They were spectacular and got a lot of attention. But as I grew, my heroes changed, so that now I can honestly say that anyone who does anything to help a child is a hero to me."
~Fred Rogers
"I'll love you forever I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living My baby you'll be." ~Robert Munsch
"Beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but its the middle that counts the most. Try to remember that when you find yourself at a new beginning" ~Hope Floats "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle"
~Fleur Conkling Heylinger
"The real issue in life is not how many blessings we have, but what we do with our blessings. Some people have many blessings and hoard them. Some have few and give everything away."
~Fred Rogers
"When I was very young, most of my childhood heroes wore capes, flew through the air, or picked up buildings with one arm. They were spectacular and got a lot of attention. But as I grew, my heroes changed, so that now I can honestly say that anyone who does anything to help a child is a hero to me."
~Fred Rogers
"I'll love you forever I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living My baby you'll be." ~Robert Munsch
"Beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but its the middle that counts the most. Try to remember that when you find yourself at a new beginning" ~Hope Floats "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle"
~Fleur Conkling Heylinger
"The real issue in life is not how many blessings we have, but what we do with our blessings. Some people have many blessings and hoard them. Some have few and give everything away."
~Fred Rogers
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Its amazing how they know characters that you have no idea where they were exposed to. Mateo has surprised me by knowing a few very random characters so all I can think is that it comes from daycare.
See you this weekend! love you
Dmitry also has taken note of Elmo despite very limited television exposure to him. However, for Dima, it is not a good relationship. He is terrified of Elmo. He had an Elmo book with a sound chip so he could press buttons on and it and hear elmo say several phrases. So, I would hand the book to Dima in bed when he asked for books at bedtime and the first few nights he took it from me. Pretty soon, he handed it right back. I thought he was just bored with it. A few days later, he started asking, "elmo? elmo, mama?" I thought he wanted to read the book again after his break from it. When I found it on his bookshelf and handed it to him he freaked, "No elmo! No, elmo!" He had been inquiring about it's proximity to himself! After that, he couldn't even go to sleep without being sure there was NO elmo book in his room. It was weird. Totally unexplainable. I just think maybe he went to sleep playing with and listening to the recorded phrases and they ended up in a nightmare or something?! I would love to climb in his head once in awhile to get a little better insight into how the world looks through those eyes.
Talk about a digression! You asked for a comment and I wrote you a novella! Sorry. Elmo stirs up a lot of emotions around here apparently. ;)
I'm glad that Iilya is able to enjoy him! Cute cake!