three

When you get a chance to sit down and look at where you suddenly are in life it can be absolutely stunning. That's the feeling I get when I stop and look at the fact that I've now got a three year old son. After years of being single I look at how things are now and think, "How did that happen?"

Such is the way time flows when you are busy and as a whole, quite happy.

Riley turned three on Sunday, but we actually celebrated his birthday in stages for three days (appropriate...) with the biggest celebration happening on Saturday with his party.

Stage one started things off on Friday. We needed cupcakes for the party on Saturday, and Riley had a big part in making them:

Putting the cups in the pan















Chef Riley does the mixing















Stage two was on Saturday. This was really the big celebration day, since we were having his party in the afternoon.

The day started with Riley and Mama having a cupcake breakfast. (This also led to Riley wanting cupcakes f0r every meal for the next two days.)

Cupcakes for breakfast...















After breakfast it was time for Riley to play with his first gift, the Fisher-Price Playhouse. This is a vintage toy that Shelby remembers playing with (and loving) as a child. With Riley's all encompassing love of houses it was bound to be a hit. All the work it took for Shelby to put the thing together (via eBay) was worth it. He LOVES it:


Riley's Playhouse















He loves it!















After some play time Daddy got up and it was time for a regular breakfast. Banana strawberry pancakes:

He had two















After breakfast there was time for some activities:

Reading Mother Goose with Mama















A little birthday Blue's Clues















Next it was party time! We had his party at the Burlington Mall Playground, a place that the kids love that is in the food court. So we could put some tables together and get some pizzas from Pizzeria Regina for the celebration (Riley, after at first being unsure if he wanted it, LOVED the pizza.)

Riley was really funny, once we got the table set up with balloons and the cupcakes and presents were out he didn't want to leave to play in the playground. He just sat at the table...as though he was going to miss something if he left. I suppose he didn't entirely understand that the whole thing was for him. Here's a video of the party:

Riley's Third Birthday Party

The celebration continued with stage three on Sunday, although a lot lower key. The day did start off with another gift, the Fisher-Price Barn. Another of Shelby's faves as a kid, and it was a big hit with our boy. After breakfast we took it out to the living room where for at least five minutes I heard him say, "Barn...barn...barn...barn..." He finally stopped when he saw me bring out the camera to video him.

Riley loves the Barn (...barn...barn...barn..)














After church we went to the playground nearby to spend some time with friends who had their baby girl baptized. Riley, of course, has never met a playground he hasn't liked:

In the window















He loves ANY slide















Comfy spot















In case you didn't know, he's three...















Kendall napped















After starting home we realized we were far to exhausted from the weekend to head out to our community group, so we went home for good. The rest of the day was LOWER key:

We tested out the Bubble Blasting Plane















Bubble Blasting Plane video

Riley got his introduction to Winnie The Pooh















The final cupcakes were eaten...upside down















It was a great weekend and a wonderful way to celebrate our boy. Being three is going to bring all kinds of changes. More on that in future blogs though. For now we just want to say how much we love this boy that God has blessed us with. He has been and continues to be a great joy to us, even with the challenges that being three brings. He is on a whole a sweet, loving boy who makes us proud to be his parents. Happy Birthday Riley-Boy!


Jonathan