You’d never guess it, but I love to throw a party. My favorite party: Auggie’s birthday.
It’s completely contradictory to my introvert nature, my anxious thoughts, and my clean-freak tendencies, but it gives me a short amount of adrenaline that I thrive off of.
Auggie’s first birthday party was based off the book “You’re Here for a Reason,” a book we read to him on repeat during his first year. We still love it, but it has paper pages, and two-year-olds tend to break things.
It was fun to plan, but Auggie didn’t really get to be involved or even know what was happening. This year, however, he enjoyed the planning and definitely the party more than I did even, making all the effort that much more worth it.
I started with a basic theme of farm animals, but his love of cows kept growing, so it eventually evolved into being more cow-focused in terms of decor.
I had probably planned and purchased items for the party for a good two months, but the real work didn’t start until the week before.
Bryson was awake just about every night that week watching me create. We made paper plate chickens [1] and pig balloons[2], we painted barns [3] and cow spots [4], and we arranged the food table with farm fence descriptions [5]. We also prepared all of the games that we would have for the toddlers to play [6]. I said we, but it was mostly I, except for the paper plate chickens. Bryson did those, and they ended up being my favorite piece of decor!
The last night before the party, my grandmother (Ma) and my mom came over to help make Auggie a cake [7]. This was probably the icing on the cake for him, next to his friend Mac showing up to play. All he wanted to do was eat it, meaning he tried to stick his fingers in it a few times. At least once, he succeeded. If you’ve had Ma’s cake, you know you can’t blame him for wanting a taste!
[1] Paper Plate Chickens
[2] Pig Balloons to be “herded,” but they mostly popped!
[3] Barn (and a Duck Pond for fishing)
[4] Cow Spots
[5] Food Table
[6] Games
[7] Ma’s Cake
Each day, Auggie would walk downstairs, see the newly crafted item from the night before, and say, “Woahhh” about three times. It was the cutest thing and helped to keep me going on little sleep night after night. He also loved showing anyone who may have happened to come over that week the “party,” as he referred to it, downstairs.
I think his favorite part of the whole thing though was watching everyone else enjoy what he had brought together, and we’re so glad he did.
Thank you, Auggie, for uniting us in celebration of your life thus far and all we aspire it to be in the future. You are the best thing I’ve ever gotten to pour into, and pour into you is what I hope to be doing for years to come.
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