Aaron's 3rd Birthday

Tomorrow (Sunday) is Aaron's actual birthday, but we celebrated today by having a party for him at the Abilene Zoo. Several friends and family members showed up and blessed our little guy on this special day. As soon as we got there, we found out that the zoo had accidentally double-booked the rented pavilion that we had already paid for weeks before, so we had to have his party in an indoor building overlooking the lake at the zoo. We were the ones who got an air conditioned room with a great view while the other party sat outside in the hot, humid, sticky air. Darn.

We enjoyed cake, animal crackers, and fruit. Aaron is totally into puppets right now...and when I say totally....I mean T-O-T-A-L-L-Y. Well, it just so happened that this nice air conditioned room we were in had a huge tub FULL of animal puppets. OH, that was all worth it right there. I honestly didn't know how we'd get away from the zoo today without having to bring every one of those puppets with us, but thankfully...Aaron was distracted enough with the gazillion puppets he got as gifts, and we were able to entice him to leave the building and get in the car without throwing a fit. Score!

After eating cake, opening presents, and several mini puppet show performances by Aaron, we then went to look at all the animals. This zoo is pretty small, but there is a nice selection to view. Aaron loved the giraffes and the rhinoceros, since his EE (Van's mom) bought him a rhino shirt to wear to his party. He kept looking at the rhino and saying, "Look whino! You on my shirt!" :) Then, one of the rhinos....I kid you not...dug a hole with his back feet and then proceeded to..umm....how do I say this....proceeded to "digest" his food into the hole, and then covered it all up by kicking the dirt back into the hole with his back feet. Just like a cat in a liter box, I swear. I had no idea rhinos covered up their own poop! See, quite an educational trip....

Also, this was first day EVER that Aaron didn't have a nap. See, we thought he'd be good and fall asleep in the car on the drive there, like he always does. No luck. He refused to go to sleep today, so we had no choice but to let him stay awake for his party. I gotta say, he surprised me. He did really good...I could tell he was tired, but he was a trooper and held in there and enjoyed himself all day. Of course, as soon as we got in the car to come home, he crashed. Totally zonked out. I had to wake him up so that he could eat supper, but he's in bed now and is snoozing away. One tired little boy!

As I kissed him goodnight tonight, I just had to stop and stare at him for a while and remember some of the things that happened on this very night, 3 years ago. I remember calling Van to tell him that my water broke, and then we headed to the hospital. I remember the excitement that came along with finally knowing that he was almost here, but I also remember all the worries that came along with that. With Evan, I had to have a C-section and had a very difficult birthing experience with him that took me a while to get over emotionally. I tried to have Aaron naturally, and things went REALLY well for quite a while....but I ended up having to have a C-section with him too. I remember my first words when I saw him: "Wow, he's a butterball!" I was drugged up on anesthesia, but I remember my doctor holding up that perfectly round little boy for me to see...he was so pink and new....so chubby and perfectly healthy. I am so thankful for my healthy boys. I just looked at him tonight and thought: " Wow, this is the last night he will be a 2-year-old.....when he wakes up tomorrow, he will be a 3-year-old, and the 2's will be all over with......forever." Kinda sad, but pretty exciting too as he advances into an older age where he is learning and comprehending so much. Bittersweet.

Wow, this post is a lot longer than I had intended, so without further ado...here are some pictures from Aaron's party today:

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