Jacob's Birthday Weekend

This weekend was a whirlwind of cake, presents, and family time.  While I’m exhausted today, I’m also really thankful, because it almost ended up being the birthday weekend that never was... 

Friday afternoon, Olivia’s school called me at work to say that she had thrown up and that we needed to come get her.  Never fails.  Every time we have a party planned or a vacation scheduled, somebody gets sick.  At that point we still had to pick up Jacob’s birthday cakes and pick up my car from the shop (hallelujah, after 73 days in a rental, I finally have mine back!) and she was fortunately able to hang in there until we got home, where she proceeded to throw up again.  Lawd.

I braced myself for the worst thinking that we would either a) have to find someone to keep her the next morning so we could both be there with Jacob for his party or b) reschedule the whole thing if one of us ended up getting sick as well.

Fortunately, once we put Olivia down for bed (promptly after her second sick spell) she slept through the night and was a good as new in the morning.  We still have no idea what’s causing this to happen… if you have been following along for a while you might remember that she’s had the same thing happen 3 or 4 times just in the last couple of months and we don’t know what’s causing it… maybe teething?  A food allergy?  Can’t pinpoint it.

Anyway, in addition to Olivia’s sick spell, Jacob awakened in the middle of the night because he had fallen out of his bed, and his voice was extremely hoarse and his breathing was a bit labored.  I was terrified that croup was looming, but we had Prednisolone on hand (thanks to our wonderful pediatrician) and we were able to give him a dose at 2 AM which cleared him right up.  He’s been totally fine ever since.  Whew.

Saturday morning arrived and we were all exhausted, but we had a house full of healthy people, so I deemed it a weekend miracle and then it was time to get moving.  B went out to pick up donuts for the birthday boy’s breakfast, and then we got ready and headed to the indoor trampoline park for his party.  The party was at 10 AM, because during that time slot they only allow kids under the age of five in the building, so we didn’t have to worry about big kids trampling our littles.

We had the best time!  The place is amazing – trampolines everywhere, basketball, dodgeball, and inflatables, and the parents were allowed to jump with the kids so we were able to join in on the fun.  They played Disney movie songs the entire time and you should have seen Olivia’s face light up when Do You Want to Build a Snowman and Let It Go came on… priceless!  A couple of kids from Jacob’s class came, and some of our friends brought their kids, and we jumped for an entire hour.  Once the hour was up, we had our own party room where they served pizza and cake, and Jacob opened presents.  They also sent in their mascot, a kangaroo, for the kids to take pictures with, and Jacob got to pull a special prize out of his pouch – a t-shirt! 

Olivia and her future husband, Mack.  Hehe.

Five of my girlfriends and I all had babies within a year of each other, so here's the group!  Look at all of those sweet faces!

It’s safe to say that it was everything that Jacob had dreamed of, and we will definitely be going back!

We spent Saturday afternoon putting together new toys, opening new gifts (a bike and a couple of Lego sets from Mommy and Daddy) and playing.  Jacob was excited about the bike, so we'll see how this goes... he's always been very timid about trying new things.

Saturday evening we met my father-in-law and the rest of B’s fam at Carrabba’s for dinner to celebrate Jacob again, as well as my sister-in-law, Jennifer, for her birthday that was one week prior.  We headed back to his house afterward where we had Key Lime Pie (Jacob’s request – LOL) and cookie cake (Jennifer’s request – a girl after my own heart) and they both opened their gifts. 

B and I ended the evening at home with a couple of episodes of Friday Night Lights, and I’m happy to say that it has started to pick up a bit!  I’m still not obsessed with it like I was Parenthood, but it’s definitely getting better.

Sunday we had lunch at my mother-in-law’s where we celebrated Jacob and Jennifer again.  Brian's mom and step-dad cooked all of our favorite things, and Jacob got his beloved "Batman House," the only thing he's been talking about for the last three weeks since he saw it at Barnes & Noble.  

Do you think he was excited?  Lol

Sunday evening we celebrated Jacob with my family at my momma and daddy’s house.  Momma made sausage and mashed potatoes per Jacob's request and then we had more cake and opened more presents.  This weekend was definitely not short of celebrations, that’s for sure!

OMG, he's going to kill me one day for this.

I’m so thankful that everything went off without a hitch, and I’m so thankful that we now have a five year old!  How did that happen?! 

And if you missed it, I wrote a letter to him on the blog on Saturday.  I don’t typically post on Saturdays, but I made an exception since it was my first born’s special day.  :o)

Have a great week, all!

*Linking up with B Loved Boston for Weekending.