January 18, 2011

Barrett's 3rd Birthday!!

Started with birthday pancakes...just like all of his other birthdays have!

{3} pancakes, of course!

Growing up, my mom always made sure our birthdays were special. I loved that she would decorate our bedroom doors after we'd gone to bed the night before our birthday. We'd wake up to streamers, signs and balloons hanging on them. It was a great way to start off a birthday. I loved that tradition, and I'm carrying it on with Barrett. I wasn't sure if he'd get it, or what he'd think of it...but he loved it too! As soon as he got up that morning, he noticed it, and ask me all about it. I read it too him, and he just hugged my neck and said "thanks, Mom."

After breakfast, we headed to playgroup to see all of Barrett's friends.
He'd been looking forward to it for a few days, since he knew we were taking cupcakes to celebrate HIM!

They sang Happy  Birthday to him, and he hid his face :)

We love our mornings at playgroup. The day after Barrett's birthday, we had our LAST home visit with Cheryl, Barrett's PAFT educator. It was very emotional for me. We have loved having Cheryl come to our home once a month since Barrett was just a couple months old. She's taught me so much, and Barrett always looked forward to her coming, to see what games and activities she would bring. It's such a wonderful program, and we are so fortunate to have been a part of it. I will certainly be back when/if we have another little one! Barrett had a little gift and a card with picture of him to give to Mrs. Cheryl. Cheryl and I both tried to just ignore the fact that this was her last visit. She said on last visits, she liked to pretend she's just forgotten her planner in the car, so we couldn't schedule next month's visit. By the time she headed out the door, we were both in tears. What can I say...it was an emotional week for this momma! My baby turned three!!

After playgroup, we invited Barrett's best girlfriends (Norah Kate and Lydia) to go to lunch!
Barrett got to pick...and McDonald's it was.

That afternoon, while he napped, I got out his birthday present.
As soon as he got up from nap, he spotted it. I told him he had to wait until Daddy got home to open it.
So he carried it around with him for the next hour.
As soon as he heard the back door open, he ran into the kitchen yelling, "me open my present now, Daddy"

It was a great 3rd birthday for my little man!!




::Barrett's 3rd Birthday Video::

Barrett's Second Year: Video

I'm still working on getting all the pictures sorted from the party on Saturday!!

Until then, here is the video I made of {Barrett's 2nd year}. I am really bummed that this one has only transferred the first song, just like the last one did. Really, really bummed! It's just not the same without the music. If anyone knows of a better place to upload and share a video, let me know. I tried it on YouTube, but my video was longer than 10 minutes, so they didn't accept it. Didn't realize they had a limit! Yes, the video is 12 minutes long...I have a really hard time narrowing down pictures :-)

Grab and snack and enjoy~

Barrett's Second Year from Laura McPherson on Vimeo.

Barrett's having a wonderful birthday so far! We had a great morning with friends enjoying "birthday muffins" and now he is snoozin'. If he wakes up and it's still sunny out, we might go play at the park. Tonight we're meeting family for pizza. It's his favorite!!

Barrett's First Year

As I was preparing to create Barrett's Second Year DVD, I took a look back at the one I had made last year at this time. These birthday DVD's are something I do for him every year. It is a collection of images from the year, and I like to include a several of him with the special friends and family in his life. He is one loved little boy, and it will be so fun to watch these with him in a few years. He's already enjoyed watching this one and the new one with me several times! He LOVES to see pictures of himself!

Enjoy Barrett's First Year
::January 2008-December 2008::

(this video does have music)
edited to say: it has music for the first half, but for some reason not the second half!
nothing ever works for me the first time ;) sorry...it's not as much fun to watch with no music.

Untitled from Laura McPherson on Vimeo.

By doing this, I have learned that I really need to be better about getting pictures of him with all those special people. I don't have many of my older brother or sister-in-law with Barrett. True we've only seen them three times in the last year, but when we are together, I need to make it a point to snap those priceless pictures. Sometimes when we're all together with family, I focus too much on just getting Barrett or just the kids. Most of the time adults would rather not have their picture taken anyway :) but oh well! Next time you're with my kid...say cheese!

I will share the 2nd Year video on Barrett's 2nd Birthday! Have a great FRIDAY! If you're in the area and bored this evening, come on over...we'll be attempting those horse cupcakes! We might very well have several mess-ups that need to be eaten!