Willybird turns 3!

Will has been excited about his birthday for a LONG time. We've probably talked about it daily since Matt's birthday back in Nov. when he was reduced to tears that the bounce house was going away. That's when I told him he'd have to wait until his birthday in January to see another bouncy house in the yard. Oh mercy, it's been a long wait. He would mention his big day and say, "sing happy birthday, William??" I'd tell him we'd sing to him on his birthday which was months, weeks, or days away and he would lose it. If I sang him happy birthday right then and there he would get so mad--"no Mommy!!! Don't sing it!" I think he really wanted me to fast forward time and miraculously make it his birthday.

Praise God the day finally came, and he was overjoyed! He & Matthew began bouncing before the party began. One traumatizing moment: Steven decided to switch the cord that plugged in the bouncy house to a different outlet, and he unplugged it while Will was still inside bouncing thinking that he would be fine. Well, the castle walls began to slowly fold in on him and he LOST it. He was terrified. Steven made it all better by laughing hysterically at him. Poor Will. He recovered, thankfully, with the help of a bowl of Cheetos and greeting his friends that were beginning to arrive. The rest of the day though he would point at Steven and say, "Daddy, you not turn it off!!!"

We had a Chick-fil-a nugget tray for lunch along with the typical fruit, veg, and chips. Yum!

It came time for cake, and Will was super excited. All along he told me he wanted a "race car Lightning McQueen birthday". Ok. So, I did a very fun #3 race track cake.

And a Lightning McQueen cake. And guess who's been eating the leftovers all week? Me!

His big moment came. We all sang happy birthday and he grinned the entire time looking all around the room at all the smiling, singing faces.

The McQueen pinata received a beating from almost every kid in attendance. Matt was the one to give it the final blow this time. You can imagine the pleasure he got from that. "Mommy, I can't believe I busted open my first pinata ever in my life today!!"

Cousins. They love each other they do.

The party eventually came to an end, and Will took his nap. He woke up and we had more family bouncing time. It took a major effort to get my pregnant self up that thing, but hey, I did it!

What, you don't pile up at the bottom of an inflatable slide and eat potato chips as a family? You're missing out.

After we'd jumped all we could and formally said good-bye to the bouncy house deflating it after gaining Will's permission, we came inside and watched Will open his gifts.

Tuesday was his actual birthday. He went to school that day, and I sent him with cupcakes to share with his class. Before school he opened the gifts that were from us. A super sweet Strider bike! And helmet. It's funny, he won't get on the bike now without wearing the helmet. With that helmet on it looks as though he could topple over at any moment. He's been striding around the house on that thing all week.

We gave him some new Cars cars as well. He absolutely loves them. His gnarly crashes have resulted in some small, delicate pieces breaking off his precious cars.

Tim & Pam came over that afternoon and gave Will this awesome ukulele. That boy loves to make music.

Matt got his turn with it and Will shouted out some indiscernible lyrics on the mic. Boy band! It was a pretty fabulous birthday for Will. I think he even understands that it's over now and hasn't asked for "happy birthday William" since. I gotta say, it's been nice! We are so thankful for our Will. He spices up life around here and keeps us either laughing hysterically or negotiating his often ridiculous demands. He intensely loves his brother and adores playing with him. Tonight we tucked Matt into bed and Will said, "I want to sleep with Matthew!". He got all snuggled under the covers with him. Not tonight, son, but soon. The bunk beds have been ordered!