Happy Birthday Nathan!

My sweet Nathan is six.. 

 I can hardly believe it. 

This kid, as I've said before, causes me a lot of worry and frustration, but oh SO much joy and laughter.  He is hilariously funny....sometimes without trying to be.  He also loses his temper at the drop of a hat and throws fits weekly, but we try not to focus on those things.  Someday I won't remember right?  Well, I kind of want to.  While the tough times with Nathan are really tough, somehow it makes the good times even sweeter.  He is a lover.  He genuinely wants to get to know every person he meets.  When we finish singing a song in church he claps and cheers....and he doesn't care who hears him.  He means it.  Marc and I both comment all the time that we wish we had his attitude toward others.  He sees the good in everyone.  He sees differences as exciting and interesting.  He asks a lot of questions.  When people meet Nathan they just love him....it's no wonder...he is easy to love.

Here are a few pictures from Nathan's first birthday just for fun. 

Nathan's birthday lasted awhile this year.  We had a small family celebration on his real birthday and then both sets of grandparents came over the next night for another party.  Then on Saturday we let Nathan have his first friend party.  He really wanted one, and we decided he was at the perfect age.  We were right....he had a grand time.  He are some pictures from all the celebrations!

Nothing like a good morning hug from your big brother on your birthday.

A candle in a bagel

This is the look I got when he blew out his candle before we were done singing!

 We had lunch in the park with some friends on the day of his birthday.  It was beautiful, warm and sunny.  A rare thing on March 21st!

When Nathan opened his presents from us he got a fishing pole, a lego garbage truck, and a gallon of bubbles.  He was thrilled!

One thing that cracked us up this year....every time we finished singing Happy Birthday, Nathan would clap and say, "Again...again!"  How could we not...we sang it twice every time.  I made cupcakes for the party at home, but for the friend party we got a Walmart cupcake cake.  I'm not one for buying cakes....I almost always make them.  Let me tell you why we love these cakes.  The whipped frosting is amazing....light and fluffy.  Just the cupcakes with this frosting would be great....but it doesn't end there.  Walmart uses a big glob of their very sweet buttercream frosting to hold the cupcakes onto the cardboard.  After the cupcakes are removed, we eat this glob of frosting.  It's as simple as that.  Try it friends, try it.

When we told Jillian we were going to the Science Center for Nathan's birthday party she said, "Can I rub a bunny?"  That's all she wanted to do.  Rub a bunny.

The giant fish tank was a big hit!

I do not know why, but all three of my kids held a snake while we were there.  I for one would not do that....neither would their father, but I was proud of them for being brave.



I love this last picture.  My boy was happy.  He had his friends and his family all together in one place.  He loved it. 

And we love him.

While I wish Nathan could stay my little boy forever, I can not wait to see what he'll be like as an adult.  Whatever it is he decides to be, one thing is for sure.....he'll be excited about it.  He will do it with his whole heart.  He will love everyone around him.  

Thank you God for my sweet happy boy.