A birthday boy's party...

Since J got over being sick, he has counted down the days until his party yesterday.  We chose to do a family only party this year, and while it put more on us personally - it was so much nicer. 

We slowed down.

Except for J, who could not wait until everyone arrived.  He even put Monkey on guard duty to let him know when people arrived.

After spending 5 minutes (at 9AM, arrival time was 1PM), and deciding it was boring...

We enjoyed family.

We enjoyed laughter.

All goals for this year.

J picked steak with corn on the cob.  Mommy added roasted asparagus and butternut squash to round out the meal. 

After the meal we did cake, then presents.  J was so delighted with him gifts, even the *oh clothes*.  :)

Jacob was beyond delighted with his Power Ranger cake.  It did not disappoint! 

And mommy was delighted that she has yet to fail in herself, and enjoyed a Coconut Cream cheese Bar (Ideal & Maltitol sweeteners with coconut flour - gluten and sugar free - totally low carb).  J is starting to understand that sugar makes mommy not feel so hot, so he's asking questions to understand what he's eating.  It hasn't made that big of impact on how he eats yet, but I'm starting to see changes being made.  Starting to watch him consider the nutrition in what he eats.  Small bites here and there.  I honestly think it will only improve as he grows.  He's already starting to expand his horizons, so I'm confident this will expand as well.

Anyway - back to the cake...

HE LOVED IT!!!  You can see his excitement about getting to dig in at this point.  :)

Jacob was generously blessed by his Aunts, Uncle & Grandparents.  I'm very much excited to dig into one of the books J was given.  I love our snuggle reading time, and I love how this time is fostering his love for reading.  He was excited to get these books for his birthday.

Aunt Joan snapped (at the end of the party) a family picture for us.  I was so drained, between getting the food on the table and fighting this head cold - I dreaded this picture, but seeing it - I'm happy we took it.  We need to take more family photos.  Most pictures are just of J or of one of us with J.  Rarely do we have the opportunity to do pictures as our family of 3.  And this one even caught the annoyed (and generally camera opposed) puppy to complete our family.

This was one tired little boy last night.  Unfortunately, this equaled a time-out before bed, but with an early bed time, he was asleep by 6:30!!!  He woke with smiles to greet the sunshine this morning.  Back to school for him, so what better way to start?