We had a fun weekend celebrating Jayden's birthday. I can't believe how old he's getting. He was very excited to be four and can't wait now to start his preschool in september. We spent the whole weekend celebrating: in fact, he looked puzzled yesterday morning when I told him it was his actual birthday and he told someone that he had three birthdays! I'm going to have a lot to live up to next year!! :)
It all started Friday. He and daddy went to run some errands and go pick out a birthday present. During their fun day Jayden said some funny/cute things Jay shared with me. First he embarrassed Jay at costco. We have a little person who works at our costco giving out samples. Jayden went up to him and said "You are a cute little daddy!" Then he turned Jay and said "Daddy, I don't want to be a little daddy, I want to be a big daddy." (He is obsessed with being big. He often says statements like "When I'm big I'm going to..." He often says he's going to like foods when he is big, like broccoli, but MY favorite is when he said he is going to marry me when he gets big.) The other cute thing he said totally warmed my heart. He was talking to daddy about his good guys and bad guys and he said "Being good is a choice, and I choose to be good" Is that adorable or what?
They got back a little late so Zach, Ethan, and Kayleigh started without him. He joined them before too long!
Of course, as usual I was still working on the cake as we should have been getting dinner on the table. Jayden had come in earlier in the day and said "make my cake yummy okay?" He has been talking about and looking forward to his "bumblebee car" cake for MONTHS now.
Every birthday, I spend hours planning and working on cakes. I often wonder if its worth my effort since my attempts are pretty feeble and I am certain they would look much better and not cost more just to buy one! He walked in and saw it and started jumping up and down in his excitement, saying "my bumblebee cake!" over and over. He looked like he was going to hyperventalate! :) That made ALL of my effort worth it. It wasn't finished, but I saw no point in adding anything else when he was SO happy already. Seriously, seeing his excitement through the whole party brought tears to my eyes. That is why we have kids!! I can't imagine anything that could make me more happy than seeing my kids THAT happy. In fact, as adults, I think we lose the ability to enjoy life as much as children do. But we can see life through the eyes these sweet, angelic, grateful little spirits we are blessed with, and life becomes so much more vibrant.
Sorry, I am going to go even more off on a tangent, but I want to remember this experience. Ethan loves peanut butter. The other day, I gave him peanut butter on a banana, and he just licked off all of the peanut butter. He asked for more and I gave him a little spoon full of it. He looked at that spoon and laughed in pure satisfaction. He was SO happy to get peanut butter all by itself. And Kayleigh gets the hugest smile on her face, every time we look at her. She is so happy just to have our attention! That's what I mean, they have so much gratitude that it bubbles right out of them even over the simplest thing.
So, back to the party, we had hot dogs and chili for dinner. We had an alligator pool Jayden picked out, a frog sprinkler and a bunch of inexpensive water guns. Even some of the dad's joined the water fight. Jayden clearly felt like the king and he had tons of fun playing with his friend Zach and his cousins. He LOVED all of his presents! He got four new transformers shirts! (everyone knows him so well!) As well as lots of fun new toys. Then he blew out his candles and we all ate cake. I wonder how long he will talk about his cake this year before he decides what kind he wants next year! I was actually eating one of the last pieces yesterday, and he asked me why I was eating his bumblebee cake. He doesn't like cake, so he didn't even eat any, but he seems to want to keep it forever. He is such a funny kid.
Saturday, we asked Jayden what he wanted to do, and he decided he wanted to go to KFC and to the mountains, and "grandpa's park". We drove up and down the canyon and looked at a couple of houses Jay has worked at alta on and then stopped for a little hike. He and daddy hiked on rocks and then played in a creek. Ethan wasn't so sure about the rough terrain, so he and I and Kayleigh played in the van and enjoyed the scenery. He loved looking at the canyon, both he and Jayden stared out the window the whole time we drove. The mountains are so beautiful!!
It was a really hot day saturday, so we waited until it was evening before going to the park. Kayleigh had fallen asleep so Jay took the boys to "grandpa's park". (It is a fun new park we found by Jay's dad's house, so Jayden calls it his. We just hope he doesn't tell any kids that they can't play there because it belongs to his grandpa :) Jay said it was really crowded, but they both got a turn on their favorite tractors and had lots of fun before coming home.
Yesterday, grandma made him a special birthday dinner, with his favorite, chicken nuggets!
I am so thankful for this special little man that Heavenly Father sent to me. He is a busy little boy and can be a handful!! But he amazes me with his understanding and his good desires. He loves every living thing, even little bugs. He found a potato bug one morning and was watching it crawl around as Ethan came by and stepped on it. He was SOOO distraught. He came crying and told me that Ethan killed his potato bug. He was so bothered that it died. In fact, he doesn't even like when Jay and I talk about killing flies or ants. He loves Kayleigh and gets endless joy playing with her and making her laugh. And he is very protective of Ethan too. I have threatened to leave one of them home if they don't get dressed or stop throwing a tantrum, etc... (Iknow, bad mom :) Jayden has started crying and told me I can't leave Ethan home. He totally foils my manipulation! In another instance, his cousin Koda is constantly trying to take toys from he and Ethan. On the fourth of July Koda succeeded at taking Ethan's toy and Ethan grabbed his leg trying to get it back. Jayden ran over there and yelled "that's my brother's!" He tackled Koda and pummeled him till he got the toy back.
He is also my little ham. He loves being the center of attention and making people laugh. He'll say, "I'm funny huh, mommy." And he LOVES to tease, just like his daddy. He is often so nice to his brother and has even given him the toy he is playing with just to make him happy. But he also has a little evil side and he seems to get even more joy out of making Ethan crazy. He will say things he knows will upset Ethan or jump out and try to scare him. In fact one day I could tell he had terrified Ethan jumping from around the corner. I was trying to scold him for scaring him, and he couldn't stop smiling at the thought of how funny it was. He even let out a chuckle or two, it was clear he wasn't the least bit sorry!
I have loved getting to know his sweet, funny personality and his loving spirit. He, Ethan and Kayleigh never cease to amaze me. They are the sunshine in my life.(Of course I have to include Jay too! He supports us so I can be home to enjoy them more often. Not to mention that he patiently puts up with me and helps me endlessly!!) Thank heaven for families!! And even more for the plan of happiness so we can be with our amazing families forever. LIFE IS PRICELESS.
