Caleb's 1st Birthday

So we finally made it!!  Our little one turned one last week and after learning from my mistakes of Soren's 1st birthday, I was bound to make this as stress free as possible.

Nearly 4 years ago, I was so excited for my boy's 1st birthday.  Soren had had such a tough start in life that celebrating his first birthday was just a miracle beyond our beliefs.  So of course, I decided to throw a huge party at our home to celebrate this momentous occasion.   I started planning several months in advance and wanted everything to be perfect.

But...shortly before Soren's birthday I came down with shingles.  Yes, at 27 I broke out in shingles.  Now why, you ask and how, does a 27 years break out into shingles when the average age range of shingles is 55?  Well it was because of stress.  I stressed myself out so bad with party planning, and Thanksgiving, and Christmas (Soren's birthday is December 7), and  with everything we had been through to get Soren to his 1st birthday, my body just could not keep up.   I had gotten myself so worked up over silly things that my system just said ENOUGH!

So needless to say for Caleb's birthday I tried to keep myself as calm and relaxed as possible.  I decided to to do at the park (so that I wouldn't have to stress out about my house getting dirty). I also planned way in advance making a lot of the decorations on my computer and ordering the cake and bouncer way in advance.

The day of the party had come and I realized something, it was all done.  i allowed family to help me put this together and thanks to my aunt, cousin, sister and mother-in-law the party was a huge success.  Not only because the party was a lot of fun for kids and adults but that I was able to stay relatively calm throughout the whole thing.  Yes, I had my moments of panic when it came to finding circus animal crackers at the last minute for the goody bags, but I got through it without tears (yes, folks that's how bad I used to be).

And if I could...I have to say the biggest reason for my calmness is that I realized after shingles what was really important in my life.  It wasn't the parties or how clean my house was or is, but that I focus on what blessings God has provided to John and I in our lives.  I realize that every day I trust The Lord more knowing that I will give back my children to Him (hopefully).

So remember, it really isn't about how clean your house is or how extravagant the party, it's about what you have been blessed with!

The birthday boy!

Our circus themed birthday party!

The fabulous banner Grammy made

Yes the Caleb part of the sign is off center, but really who cares in the end?

Our balloon man and our homemade bean bag toss.

Trying to do it all at Once

So I obviously haven't been blogging much lately because of moving.  And it's funny, I really didn't think that moving was going to be such an ordeal!  I thought that since we were downsizing it would be so much easier, but in all honesty I really think it's a lot harder.  When we unloaded our boxes it was shameful how much 'stuff' we had accumulated.  I felt like I was in an episode of 'Hoarders: Buried Alive.'  I just felt like the boxes were creeping closer and closer to me.

But I was strong, I could get through this...if I had a baby who just didn't like to sleep then I could get through this.

I was quick to make a mental chart on tackling boxes by room.  I started with the kitchen, because we needed to be able to eat and drink.  And I knew it would be the most challenging.  I have to say I hated unpacking the kitchen. And if I could I would get rid of all the tupperware (plasticwear) because there was not good way to store it.

Here's a look at the kitchen before and after:

Before

After

We did a lot of work on the kitchen, we managed to paint all the cabinets, add the subway backsplash, and new counter tops.  Here's a photo of what it came out like.

Next, was the master bedroom, because I knew I would need a place of peace and quiet when the boxes would overwhelm me.  I managed to cut through most of the master bedroom when I realized that John and I had way too many clothes.  Clothes that we looked at both and shook our heads.  It really was quite sad. So we started to place clothes we would not wear into boxes and said we would have a garage sale.  Which we did.

After the master bedroom was Caleb's nursery.  I have felt so bad for so long that this poor child hasn't had a place of his own.  Poor Caleb has just been schlepped from room to room.  Now you're probably thinking, why wouldn't I feel bad for my older boy, Soren?  Well Soren from day one has had 3 separate rooms, one at Grammy's house, one at Grandma's house and our home.  So when we stayed with my mother-in-law Soren felt at home, when we stayed with my parents he felt at home.  In fact, Soren was wondering why we needed to move into a new house.  But Caleb, he was just taken from pack and play to another.  So getting Caleb situated was very therapeutic for both of us.  He now only wakes once a night and actually takes a 2.5 hour morning nap!!  (We've made major progress).

After Caleb's room was Soren's, he decided he wanted a robot science room.  Who am I to deny his theme :)  So I managed to clear out boxes of toys and place them in bins until we found the right toy storage for his room.  But I was able to find some really cool Science wallpaper from York, and some vintage robot posters to hang.  Ikea happened to have the best storage for toys at a reasonable price.  Hopefully he can manage to keep the toys put away.

Then downstairs...

Before

After

I will post some more photos soon....so check back in a week or so and I should have them up. :)