december 3...

Five years old.  Finally.  Seth was so cute when he woke up this morning...he rushed into my office and gave me a big hug while telling me it was finally his birthday!  He saw the stack of wrapped gifts next to the table, and to my surprise he didn't even ask if he could open them.  

I was planning on letting him open one or two in the morning, and saving the rest until Brad got home from work...but since he didn't seem to want to, I didn't say anything.  Instead, we decided to get dressed and run to Provo so we could buy some blue coloring gel and a new transformer to put on his birthday cake.  Of course, we didn't hurry too much - he wanted a hot dog for his birthday breakfast, followed by a long and leisurely bath.  We baked his cake and finished getting ready before we left.

We ran our errands and returned home before Josh got home from school.  Seth asked for Macaroni and Cheese for dinner (woohoo, easy for me!!), so we made dinner and baked some cupcakes before frosting his cake.

Brad got home and Seth was thrilled to open his gifts - he loved them all, and told us as much.  It was so super cute to watch him open each gift. 

We had a family party at 6:30, and he was excited to see everyone and open gifts from Grandpa and Grandma, his aunts and uncles, and cousins too. 

He received so many thoughtful gifts - art sets, puzzles, games, Diego toys, a Playmobil set (I totally remember my brothers playing with those when they were little - so fun!)...quite the fun stack of good times.  (Thank you again, everyone!)

Meagan insisted on buying a gift for Seth with her own money - she bought him two books.  And in true Meagan fashion, she also bought a book for Zach.  I had already purchased one small gift for Zach to open...so he actually received two gifts for Seth's birthday...and he was a very willing helper when it came to opening Seth's gifts as well.  (I was proud of Seth as he allowed Zach to help him rather than shooing him away).

We were up super late - I think the combination of chocolate cake (with blue frosting, of course) and oreo ice cream along with the excitement of everything just didn't allow for the new five year old to sleep...so we were up late putting together puzzles, playing with legos, and putting together more puzzles. 

Finally, I talked Seth into laying down by me and we snuggled on the couch until he went to sleep - the perfect way to end a special day with my little guy - I'm sure it ended much the same way this very day ended exactly five years ago - just him and me, the lights on the Christmas tree, and lots of snuggling and good thoughts, and of course, plenty of "I love you's" too.

Of course, today's "december daily" photo is not very "holidayish," but it is of Seth - our own little December miracle...so how could I NOT?!?