April 21st always seems to hold good things for my family. It is a special day for a lot of reasons.
Craig was born on April 21st.
Craig was drafted to the Packers on April 21st.
Our sweet Mason was born on April 21st.
My water broke at 38.5 weeks, a little after 9pm, on April 20th. After a quick and easy 7.5 hour labor, Mason Presley was born at 4:41am on Dad's 31st birthday. (Yes, I had an epidural. Both times. I'm a giant wimp. Both easy labor and deliveries. No complications. No drama. #thankyouepidural #iloveyousomuch)
And this year, one of my best childhood friends, who was also my roommate in college, just had her first baby. She was a week overdue and after a 30 hour, all natural labor, she gave birth to baby Luke....on April 21st.
Eight years to the day after I had Mason, she has her first. We DID always like to share all of our things when we were roommates. I guess it's only natural we share this too. ;)
This year, our little family celebrated our birthday boys with a low-key celebration. Craig was leaving Saturday afternoon for Nashville so we had limited time to get some fun in.
(Matthew and Mason will have a joint birthday party next month.)
We started our fun on Friday night with Mason's baseball game. His team surprised Mason, Craig AND one of the other coaches who also had an April 21st birthday with mini bundt cakes for the team and a bigger one just for Mason.
Look at that smile! Man, I love this kid.
The next day, we had to wake up bright and early for an 8am baseball game.
Craig and Matthew had to be there early so they left as I was just starting to wake up. Mason is our early-riser and always wants to go with them when they have to be there early so when I left the house, all was quiet.
When I got to the game, I set up my chair and blankets (cold and windy) and started to look toward the playground for Mason. I hadn't seen him yet, since they left before me, and I couldn't wait to give him some birthday smooches!
But I couldn't find him and started to have that nagging feeling that was something was wrong.
I asked Matthew where Mason was and he said that he was still asleep when they left!
Oh crap.
So I immediately packed up my chair and blankets and ran back to my car to go get my baby!
I totally Home Alone'd him on his 8th birthday!!!
#majormomfail
I've left the boys home alone for short periods of time during the day before but always together. Mason's never stayed home alone on his own. I just kept picturing him coming down the stairs, Kevin McCallister-style, and realizing we'd left him. He would have panicked for sure.
Thankfully, when I got home he was just waking up and coming downstairs. I told him what I did but since he never actually realized he was home alone, he didn't care all that much. #thankyouJesus
It never occurred to me that he was still at home. He always goes early with them. I will triple check the house before I ever go anywhere from now on. ;)
We did get back in time to see Matthew pitch and hit a triple that was ALMOST a grand slam. He ended up getting the game ball too!
Love those boys!
We ran home to let Matthew change and Craig pack. He was leaving for Nashville for a football camp that afternoon but we wanted to do something fun before he left.
We decided to hit the mall because it was on Craig's way to the airport so he could just leave straight from there.
Our first stop was Dick's Sporting Goods because...duh.
They thought these helmets were hilarious. A pizza toppings helmet? Too funny.
SIDENOTE: Believe it or not, Matthew really does have other clothes besides this Green Bay hoodie. I wash it about 4 times a week. It is his absolute favorite so if you see pictures of him wearing it all.the.time...that's why. It will be funny someday. #butnottoday #picksomethingelse
We got Mason a new bat and batting gloves and Matthew got some new cleats.
Then we headed to Build-A-Bear. Mason has been obsessed with the idea of getting a Build-A-Bear for about 4 months. So his birthday was the perfect day to do it.
Matthew wanted one too so they started by choosing their animal "skin".
Mason agonized over this decision.
He ended up with some Star Wars one. I know nothing about Star Wars and neither does he. But he heard it was a big deal so he pretends.
Then he got it stuffed.
And Matthew did too. He chose the baseball bear. (Check out that bedhead.)
Watching them try to dress their bears was adorable. These are the closest things they've ever had to a baby doll and they definitely treated them that way!
We went over to the machine that produces the birth certificate and the boys decided on the names Major (for Mason's army/Star Wars bear) and Ace for Matthew's baseball bear.
They are in love with their bears!! These two are growing so fast. (The boys not the bears.) Sometimes they can seem so old even though they are only barely 8 and (almost) 10. There is no baby-ness left in them. So seeing them loving on these stuffed animals makes my heart so happy!!
After B.A.B., we ate at The Cheesecake Factory in the mall which was the other birthday boy's choice.
Craig had to leave for the airport halfway through our meal and when Mason got up to give him a hug, the lady sitting to the left of Mason leaned over to me and said, "I just had to tell you that your boys are so well-behaved. It has really been a joy to watch."
I might have teared up as I was thanking her. Little things like that mean the absolute world to us mamas. Especially after my giant mom fail that morning.
I think God knew I needed that.
Craig promised the boys they could go back downstairs to Dave and Busters after we ate. They had gone down there for about 30 minutes while we were waiting on our table and still had a lot of credits left on their card. But Craig was gone now and I was stuck with all the bags. Thanks a lot, dude.
Did I mention that I'd rather get a root canal than spend time in an arcade? On a rainy Saturday afternoon in a busy mall. #havemercy
It was so crowded, so loud and just total chaos. Not to mention all the germs.
I had been hauling all of this around while the boys raced from one game to another.
My purse (with umbrella inside), the B.A.B. bag with two bears, a Dick's bag with cleats and other assorted items, our CF leftovers...which was a ton because if you've ever been to CF you know how giant their portions are. Plus, a baseball bat.
DYING. It really was my own personal hell.
But the boys loved it and left super happy. And that's what it's all about.
The boys were so excited to show off their new bears to the neighborhood and that's exactly what they did when they got home.
I wasn't surprised at all when Asher's mom sent me a text with this picture of the boys with their matching bears. Now the Army/Star Wars bear makes complete sense. ;)
Matthew's birthday is May 19th and we always do a big pool party with giant waterslide closer to June so it's warm enough. I've got to get started planning.
I will not wait until the last minute.
I will not wait until the last minute.
I will not wait until the last minute.
To check out their party from last year, you can find it HERE.
Happy Birthday to my biggest and littlest!
I love how you keep it real and I feel the same about arcades! Check out my new blog if you have time because I have a book review. I have agreed on your previous reviews!
ReplyDeleteCoffee and cocktails at the casa
Amy
Oh my goodness, Amanda!!! I laughed out loud at the Home Alone moment. So glad he never realized!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to your boys! I would have freaked too if I realized I left one kid at home and they totally would have been fine just like MAson! HA
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post! I love your cute family! Yall are so lucky to still have a mall!!!! I'm in a much smaller town and we still have one (with tumbleweeds blowing through) but it's nothing like what I grow up with. With Arcades and build a bear and such. Lucky! Now please get to Amazon and get you some Star Wars movies ordered. Like immediately.
ReplyDeleteHaha! We actually own most of them. Craig has a pretty big movie collection. But no one in the family has really had much interest in them. We tried to get the boys to watch one but they lost interest really quickly. We'll have to try again soon.
DeleteI just love that they share a birthday!! How special is that?!
ReplyDeleteI seriously LOVE your blog!! I relate to all of it & love how you keep it real. Thanks for making us feel like we're all in this together :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Thanks for the chuckles!
ReplyDeleteOh girl, we have all had our mom fails and leaving a kid behind isn't new! Ha! Thank goodness they love us anyway! And I am right there with you with the Arcades! UGH! And WHY is it always the Dads promising something that Moms have to then finish?? :) Have a GREAT Tuesday!! Simply Tish
ReplyDeleteLove daddy/son birthdays! What a special thing to share. My husband shares a bday with his mom & our second son! I always worry my other kids, especially our other son, might be jealous because everyone makes such a big deal about 3 generations on same day. Does your other son ever feel “left out”?
ReplyDeleteHow cool is that?! I don’t think our other son has ever felt jealous because of it. I think he actually prefers having his day all to himself. The only one I feel bad for is my husband because his birthday has kind of been taken over by Mason’s! 😉
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