Happy Birthday Ethan!

I promise that today was a lot more fun and exciting than I make it out to be. I'm just incredibly tired, so I'm in documenting mode.


Today Ethan began his birthday celebrations with a waffle breakfast. We had school like normal, which Alyssa wasn't happy with, and Brian's mom (who has become our Reading Specialist since Alyssa will read to her more willingly than Brian or me) came over to read with Alyssa while Ethan and I made his birthday brownies.

We were going to turn them into an ice cream brownie mountain, but because of the events of the evening, we opted to leave the mountain of ice cream we made this afternoon as is and eat the brownies straight from the pan. My sister-in-law, Tallia, came over with her kids so she could check out our school curriculum, and the kids played outside for a couple of hours.

We then headed to Red Robin for dinner, where Marcus threw up. We're thinking it was because he was coughing pretty hard from his cold. I really hope he doesn't have the flu. I was just saying this afternoon that we've made it through the whole winter without the flu in our house. I even knocked on wood! Ask Tallia - she was there. Luckily - Can you use the word "luckily" when you're talking about your child throwing up in a restaurant? - the puking happened just after we all finished our meals, so we quickly cleaned up, paid the bill, and got out of there.

We had our parents over for the birthday party, though Brian's dad couldn't come because of an incredibly sore back. Alyssa was in charge of decorations, and I must say she did an incredible job. Ethan got a Transformer, a little walking dinosaur, and something he's been asking for for a long time: a scooter. Or as he says it, "A hooter!"

All in all it was a pretty good day. I think Ethan felt special, which is the most important thing. He kept walking around today saying, "It's my birthday...It's my birthday...It's my birthday..." You get the gist.

So I will sum it up by saying just how much we love Ethan. He is such a joy to have in our family. He is such a good boy. He is a gentleman. He is so thoughtful. He loves to help me cook, and he even likes to help do the dishes. He is loving being a Sunbeam and being able to go to Primary. He is full of love and hugs and kisses. He is just so sweet. Out of all the horrible pregnancies I've had, Ethan's was the worst - hands down, worst - pregnancy of them all, and he was worth every miserable pukey second of it. I love him tons.

Edited to Add: Marcus is doing wonderfully this morning. Last night he had a fever and a cough, but he's back to his normal self right now. Alyssa was explaining her decorating of Ethan's chair to me over breakfast: "I wanted to add this in the back and around here, but I thought that it would be too flashy, and cover up his sign."