A Birthday & A Baptism: Part II

Warning:  Photo Dump Zone

Since my parents were in town for T's birthday, it was a perfect time to get the kiddos baptized.  Why haven't you done this a long time ago....you might ask?!  I'm not a very "traditional" Christian.  I am very spiritual, I believe in God, I pray, I believe in heaven, but I don't think it's necessary for me to sit in Church and listen to the rules I live by in my everyday life to prove I'm a good Christian.  I'm not very ritualistic when it comes to my religion.  My hubby is the opposite.  I do, however, think it's important to give my kids a Christian upbringing.  I don't want to jam it down their throats, but I do want to make sure they know about God, the stories of the Bible and the commandments, so they can make an educated decisions about their own religion and be good people.  Baptism was important to my hubby and to our parents.  It would have also made my late Grandma and late Aunt very happy, as they were devoted Christians.  Hubby lost his Grandma recently.  She was very active in her church, as well, so I think she would have been tickled the kids were going through this ritual.  I didn't want to baptize them just anywhere.  I wanted to find a long-term "home" for our family.  It took us a while to find a church we felt comfortable in, but we are happy with our choice.  It was a moving and special moment, and even almost brought this non-traditional Christian to tears.

 The fam

 One set of Godparents...Aunt Cindy & Uncle Brent

 The whole crew

 Paternal Grandparents, Mimi and Papa

 my parents

 My angels:)

 11.99 for this dress at a resale shop!  It was a steal!

 there was an "under the sea" theme for vacation bible school...T loved the octopus

We also wanted to make sure T had a special actual birthday, so Monday we did a bunch of activities to give him the best day we could.  A way we stay active during the summer, yet save money, is buying passes to local attractions.  We have both zoo passes and amusement park passes.  My parents were still in town, so they accompanied me to the zoo.  When hubs got home, we took him to the water park portion of the amusement park.  I hope he had the best day!
(I promise, this will be my last photo-dump:))

 some "quiet time" with Grams after the zoo

 opening a couple more gifts when Daddy got home from work

 his very own baseball helmet

 That's T at the top

 waterpark fun

 ...and ice cream for dinner (loving the arches in the background...lol). 

I hope my special little boy had a very special day! 




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A Birthday & A Baptism: Part I

We had a very exciting and action-packed weekend.  My parents came into town on Friday, we had T's 5th birthday party on Saturday, followed by pizza with the family at our house, and both kids were baptized on Sunday.  Monday was T's actual birthday, so we tried to do some special things with him.  This will be a gigantic photo dump...so brace yourselves:)  I'll just start with his superhero birthday party.  It was the first party I've thrown for him in an alternate location.  My hubs and I agreed we would be able to veto one location each, he chose the house (damn) and I chose the devil known as Chuckie Cheese (double ick).  We settled on a local place that has an indoor jungle gym, with tubes, slides and the like that is about 3 stories high.  Additionally, we got access to their "gym", which had trampolines, a bounce house, a vault and sponge pit, mats, ropes you could swing on, etc.  It was a big hit with the kids.  Although I didn't relinquish complete control, still buying knick-knacks, snacks for the adults, balloons and making his cake, it was decidedly easier than my huge themed fetes of late. 

This was T modeling all the superhero gear I bought the kids;  Captain America mask, spider man and batman bracelets, a green lantern ring

 My attempt at a superhero cake (thanks Mom for the help with the bat design!) and I got 2" superheros to put on top of the cupcakes

 T insisted on wearing his hair like this...lol

 Our party room

 Provided favors by the location

 The gym portion of the party, the slides and tubes were too hard to photograph

 Even B got in on the fun:)

 The kiddos with their masks

 Even the adults dug the masks:)

 T and his buddies (and girlfriends...::giggle::)

 Putting his hand on the birthday wall

And the festivities, and present-opening with the fam afterwards...

 Thanks Aunt Cindy & Uncle Brent for making our boy Optimus Prime:)

 B made a friend, too, little Liliana (a family friend's 3rd child)

It was a perfect, family and fun-filled day.  I hope it gave him wonderful memories!





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Happy 5th Birthday T-bird!

My little man is 5 today.  ::gasp::  Where has the time gone, seriously!  My baby boy is now a full-blown big boy.  It's insane!  Truly.  He's the sweetest, kindest little guy.  He is adventurous, talkative, inventive, friendly and insanely adorable.  T is a ladies man.  He is an incredibly loving big brother and makes me proud everyday.  We are truly blessed to have this boy in our lives.  I am so grateful for this gift God has given me, to be this child's mommy. 

Happy Birthday Tyler James.  We love you more than the grass, the sky, the moon and stars, the trees, the birds, the sun, everything in the whole world! 

I'll post photos of his birthday party, baptism and his actual birthday tomorrow.  ::phew::  It was quite a weekend.  I hope I made every moment incredibly special for him.  





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