Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Benny's Bofday

Oh how time flies! How can it be that my wee baby boy is 3 years old already! a few days old

chocolate fondue for his 1st Birthday (a classic Benny photo) 2nd Birthday



And now here he is a big three person...


Rebe couldn't wait to give him his present. She made him a really cool Dogger t-shirt.



He's so delighted with it and wore it all day long.


We had planned a fishing trip for him, just him and Andy with his own little flask and things, but the weather was so bad, we resorted to plan B: reading Dogger, a 'bit watch lelly' and making birthday cake.


I always love baking with the kids.



And they love it just as much.



Lambie cake :-)


When Rebe came home from school we had his birthday party.


blowing out his candles



opening presents



fabulous wooden cars from his aunt and uncle



a very sweet little tea set to go with all the other kitchen things Bubs and Man sent.



The nearly finished play kitchen. It has had so much play already and Andy and I are really pleased with it, but probably not as pleased as the children are :-)

After presents we had the birthday feast, pizza rolls, cris-mis-mis-mis-mis (crisps), little sausages and of course Lambie cake.


The afternoon was still pretty wet, so we did some drawing...

There's nothing as inspirational as a new set of pencils.


Then Joa was going mental, so I decided we should go out for a walk. We went into the woods and played on the little beach for ages making our own aquarium in a little rock pool and looking in other rock pools to find creatures to inhabit it.

It was lots of fun! We had Benny's favourite dinner (pasta pockets) and then we managed to skype with 'Witchart', Benny's idol and my little brother.


We ended the day with one of Benny's new stories in bed. All in all it was a pretty perfect day for Benny.


***I have felt pangs of guilt at times that I didn't do more for the boys this year. I made them very little and the play kitchen isn't finished (it still needs a tap and some hooks). I didn't have any kind of party for them with friends invited. I just needed to keep it small and simple this year, as small and simple as possible. I think they had fun though and it has been another lesson in letting go for me. For realising that my own dreams are too big sometimes and that the day will still be fun and special with just a few simple celebrations and allowing other people to do pretty much all of the gifting.


On a real plus side I have had 3 days filled with joy. It's been brilliant, I have felt nothing was a chore and I was very much in control of my own emotions. I have felt in touch and happy and have really enjoyed everyone and everything around me. It's my goal to feel like that every day of my life :-)***

hugs x

9 comments:

  1. Dear Laura, Happy Birthday to both of you, what a beautiful little cherub Benny is!!!
    Laura, in our family birthday parties are always simple and family only- we have never had a "friend party." When Ella was tiny, we had for her first two birthdays a big party with extended family, and it was too much- all the reverence and meaning behind her special day (and ours, really) was lost in a huge hubbub of activity, with me stressing over being the hostess and having everything just so. Now we keep them simple and find that we are able to truly celebrate that child all the more, surrounded with love.
    Don't feel guilty about not doing more for the boys, they are so tiny and by the look on Benny's face his special day was just as special for him as he would've wanted it!
    And Laura, I am thrilled you've had several good days in a row, what a blessing. When I had ppd, even one good day was something so special. I know you'll feel like this more and more until you are truly Laura again!
    Love to you, dear friend!

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  2. AWE! How sweet. I have always thought Benny looked like a very pleasant and adorable little guy. Happy Birthday to Benny, and happy birthing day to you Laura.

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  3. Happy 3rd birthday beautiful Benny (I also have a big beautiful Benny), happy 'Birth day' Laura :)
    Blessings sue x

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  4. Oops, forgot to say the lambie cake and the kitchen look FAB :)

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  5. wonderful - we kept our grown up birthday and the girls bdays tiny this year. it all just gets too much otherwise. good to be finding more gentle limits xx

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  6. Just catching up with blogs - bright birthday blessings to your boys :)
    So glad to see you have felt renewed energy and strength over these last few days, you are doing an amazing, inspiring job mothering your lovely children with so much dedication.
    keeping you in my thoughts
    Gina xxx

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  7. Hello all, thank you for your birthday wishes and thoughts for our wee family. Yes, the small tiny wee birthday did work well and a lesson was learnt. Not that we ever did big crazy things before. Rebe will want a friends party but I know that by then I will have the energy for it and it will be party 'our' style not the bouncy castle caterers partys that some kids seem to always have around here :-)

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  8. Laura...Happy day to you and Benny! Like other mamas have mentioned, it really is pure and true on your child's face how magical you've made it, and no amount of other people or clutter of "things" will change that pureness! It looks wonderful...sending you wishes for more sunny days...I'd love to "chat" with you more about that, via email?
    xo Jules

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  9. Jules, thank you I looked back at the photos of Benny and you are so right, his joy is very much there and I must allow myself to see that rather than the larger picture of 'the perfect birthday' I have in my head. I'd love to chat more with you, my email is laura.whalen@yahoo.ie Thank you so much for the insight to you all x x

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