A Birthday to Remember

This past weekend in many ways is a blur and yet the memories are still vivid in my brain. Friday started out quite normal. My plan was to use the entire day to prepare for our guests coming in that day and Saturday. I did just that for a good bit of the day. But, the thing overshadowing the joy was how Caleb woke up feeling hot and he was tugging his left ear a lot. Around 11:30 am I took his temperature and registered at 101.9. I quickly remembered his doctor saying, "if Caleb ever has a temperature of 101.9 you need to bring him in." I called and set up an appointment at 3 pm. Knowing I would have to leave at 2:30 and also give him a snack before we left I went ahead and put him down at 12 pm. Amazingly he went straight down without any hesitation.

The monkey wrench in this whole plan was that my sister and her family were on the road to our house and I had no idea when they would get here. How would they get into the house? I first prayed they would get here in time and then I wrote a note with directions to my in-laws house in the event we missed each other. They arrived at 2:20 pm. I asked my sister if she wanted to go with me and off we went while my brother-in-law and my two nephews stayed in the house.

Caleb indeed had an ear infection in his left ear. We went to Walmart dropped off the prescription and then perused, sipped a fountain drink, and gabbed for about 45 minutes. We picked up the prescription and headed home. I was so blessed when I found out they wanted to take us out for Mexican food for dinner. Whew! This whole ear thing already had me desperately behind on my housework (and I'm still catching up.) We ate our yummy food, headed home, put our drugged boy to bed, and enjoyed each other's company.

Saturday started out pretty well and fun. Chris and my brother-in-law ran an errand to prepare for the party and then brought home breakfast. Yum! Then my sister and I left on our errands. We attended the new YMCA Grand Opening in our county and picked up the birthday cake. The cake was beyond cute! It was in the shape of a sea turtle and had a matching baby cake. We came home and continued to enjoy each other's company as we waited for my Dad and Step-Mom to show up which they did around 1:30 or so. Caleb got up from his nap and we headed to the party location after his snack.

As Chris pulled the van into the yard our eyes popped out of their sockets. We saw Chris' Grandparents' (Caleb's Great Grandparents) Cadillac in the driveway! They had driven from Rockford, ILL the day before, stayed in a hotel, and surprised everyone. The aunts showing up was enough to completely throw us off. My boy is so LOVED!!!

The guests arrived and we had such a wonderful time. I am still in awe of all the people who came out to see Caleb celebrate one year (plus nine months) of life. Thank you to everyone for such a wonderful party for my boy. We ate hamburgers, hot dogs, etc. It was all so yummy. Caleb opened his presents with some help form Mom and Dad and then it was time for his cake. He was as messy with his little turtle as you would expect and/or want. Everyone clapped for him and he started clapping too. He thought it was all so hilarious. Icing was going everywhere...face, hair, arms, floor, etc. A short bath was in order. I only shampooed his hair and rinsed the rest. I put him in his pajamas and he played some more with all his new toys.

Caleb got to be so tired and everyone left. My sister and her family left for their home in Atlanta from the party (sniff) and my Dad et. al came back to our house for the evening. Chris' grandparents had requested going to church in the morning. So, even though we hadn't planned on going to church we planned for Granddaddy and Grammy to babysit Caleb while we went to church and they would meet us for lunch afterwards. All went well and we had a wonderful brunch together.

The rest of Sunday was spent napping, talking, making banana bread and seeing my Dad off.

Now, our house is empty of its guests but it is full of new toys and little boy laughter. I will always remember Caleb's first birthday as being a time of surprises, celebration, and love. Thank you to all our friends and family who made this weekend so special. But, above all I thank God for giving me such a wonderful little boy I can call my own.