Ethan's 2nd Birthday Party

We had such a great time celebrating Ethan's second birthday! It was a beautiful day for a party, and I was very thankful for that; I wasn't quite sure how 15 kids, four and under, would fit in our house otherwise.

Ethan has been so into Dr. Seuss over the past few months, so we knew we wanted to "Seuss-up" his party a bit. I'm not a huge theme person, but who doesn't love The Cat in the Hat?! We talked about Ethan's party so much that he walked around for days saying "Cat hat party! Cat hat party!" I'm pretty sure he was more than a little excited!

There are so many great ideas floating around out there, so we found a few that we really liked and ran with it. Let's start with the food, shall we?

We served hamburgers and hot dogs as the main dish; not very Seuss-y, but a hit nonetheless. (Jeramie thought of "Green Eggs and HAMburgers", so we'll go with that.)

For snacks we had colored goldfish ("One Fish, Two Fish"), sliced apples on silly straws ("Ten Apples Up On Top"), and the infamous "green eggs" (cookies).

After talking myself out of making a tall, layered Cat in the Hat cake, we decided on Sneetch cupcakes!

I'm pretty sure those were a hit, too, based off the simple fact that the birthday boy ate two of them!


Yum!

So, after devouring the food, what exactly do 15 children at a Dr. Seuss birthday party do, you ask? Make hats, of course! Jeramie pre-cut the hat template before the party, as well as the red strips.

The kids (ahem, parents) glued on the strips, trimmed the edges, and...

...voila!

We also played outside quite a bit. Beautiful day, remember? Although the corn hole boards were intended for adult use, they were very successful at keeping the little ones occupied!

The rocking horse in Ethan's playroom provided endless entertainment, as well!

We did not set aside a gift-opening time this year, as we asked that Ethan not receive any. Instead, we wanted the kids to bring their favorite Dr. Seuss book, which would be donated to the Pediatric Cardiac ICU at Duke. However, Ethan has some super generous friends; not only did the PCICU get some new, much-needed reading material, but he ended up with some fun stuff as well!

We continue to be overwhelmed with the love and generosity that is constantly poured out on our family! It felt so good to walk into the PCICU, with all of those books, and say "here you go." I thought it was very fitting that 24 books were donated (along with a few activity books, crayons, and a checkers game). That just so happens to be one book for every month of Ethan's life, and more than enough for every patient in the PCICU to keep at least one!

Isn't that awesome?!

I was pleased with the time we chose for the party, too. It started at 11:00 and, by the time food was eaten, hats were made, and "Happy Birthday" was sung, it was 1:00. Just in time for Ethan to switch into over-stimulated mode, throw the biggest two-year old hissy fit to date, go down for a nap, and leave Mama and Daddy to hang out with these guys...

...perfection.

I have always loved birthdays. Celebrating them. Planning surprises for them. Showing love through them. Having the opportunity to do all of that, as a parent, adds a depth to the celebration that can't always be put into words.

I am grateful for knowing that feeling now, and I pray I have the chance to do so for many more years to come.