Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Happy 5th Birthday, Caleb!!!


Five years ago on April 20 our precious little baby Caleb was born. His birth was an indescribable blessing, a true miracle from God. Ever since he has been the sunshine of my life, my little angel, my little love. I remember during my pregnancy I used to tell people that he was an active little boy who never slept. I would laugh about him "throwing parties" in my belly because of how much he moved around all the time. I knew before he was even born that he would be a feisty, energetic little guy, and boy has he proved me right! At only a couple of weeks old he could hold his head up, and by 3 1/2 months he was sitting on his own. He couldn't wait to start crawling, walking, running, and climbing. Caleb is the sort of kid that keeps me always busy. He is full of energy and smart as a whip. He may not always be an "easy" child, but he is still full of love and affection. We are so blessed to have our special little Caleb in our lives! Happy birthday, sweet baby! No matter how much you grow, you will always be my special little angel baby.

Caleb as a newborn

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday - Notice the #2 clown candle? My mom put that on my birthday cake when I turned two, a cake with chocolate icing in a metal 9x13 pan. Needless to say, I chose to make Caleb's birthday cake myself in a metal 9x13 pan and used chocolate icing to match my own 2nd birthday. I have saved the candle for Caleb to use again with his own child one day.

3rd birthday - Notice the fire truck theme. Caleb has been in love with firetrucks and fireman since he was only 1 year old. He is still in love with them.

4th birthday - Since we thought we were leaving for India the next day (the trip got canceled at the last minute) I didn't have time to make a cake. However, we took him to the fire station, let him pick out his own gift at Target, took him out to eat, and then took him out for ice cream. I think he loved that more than any party.

5th Birthday - My handsome little boy is getting so big!

Instead of a party we decided to celebrate Caleb's birthday by a day of fun together as a family. We took the boys to Dollywood where they had lots of fun riding the rides. It was great because there was almost no one at the park so there were no lines. I had them announce Caleb's birthday on the train, and Caleb was so amazed that they knew it was his birthday. At the end of the Imagine show (Chinese acrobats) they shot out streamers, and I told him they did that for his birthday. He felt so special since to him it seemed everyone was celebrating his birthday. Though he always wants to play games we rarely let him. This time we did, and we made sure to choose an easy game in which you always win. He chose a teddy bear for his prize. Of course, we let Malachi play too, and he was excited to get his own stuffed animal.

The boys especially loved this ride that climbed into the air over and over, dropping down different heights each time.


After Dollywood we went to the local pizza buffet (it's better than Chuck E Cheese's) for some more fun. Caleb had lots of fun playing the games. Once the $5 we put on the game card was empty he was ready to pick his prize. He had been so determined to get one particular prize, asking for it after every game. I knew there was no way he could possibly have earned enough points to get whatever he wanted, thinking he probably chose something huge. As it turned out, however, we had 150 points, and the prize he wanted was 150 points. It made the perfect end to his birthday fun!






Here he is with the prize he just couldn't wait to get.

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