furious five

I still can't believe my baby turned five years old this week.  It just doesn't seem possible to me that five years have gone by.  I can't even remember what life was like before he was born.  What did we talk about and do all the time?  Ha!  He has certainly filled our days with more joy than I could have ever imagined.

We celebrated his birthday last weekend, and it was definitely a party to remember!

The invitation...

I made them on my computer- super easy and cheap!

Since this was such a milestone birthday, I wanted to make it extra special and include some of his preschool friends.  Since he has been attending school with most of these kids since he was 2 years old, they have grown to be great friends and I thought Andrew would enjoy having them come to his party.

This was the party place!  It was so nice not having to get my house all cleaned and ready.  I have always done his parties at home, and I never will again!  Letting someone else clean up the mess was worth every penny!  Ha!  And can you imagine a neater place for kids?  They all were just in awe.  This is the Fish Bowl at Bass Pro Shops!  We love it here!  We have declared Bass Pro the official place for Santa photo shoots, and we love to come here to just walk around and look at things.  Andrew loves it here too.  And he loves bowling- a double bonus!  And what's better than a bowling alley with sharks and alligators spitting the balls out??

Andrew insisted on a Kung Fu Panda theme.  At first, I was reluctant, but after I got into it and started planning and looking at ideas, I decided it was pretty fitting.  After all, Andrew is a little warrior!  And the new show on Nickelodeon is called "Legends of Awesomeness," and we think he's pretty awesome too!  So I took the theme and ran with it...

The party favors...

I got chinese take out boxes from the HyVee Chinese Express (they are nice ones too!  And they even say "thank you" on them!)  Then I made name tags and filled them with chopsticks, a fortune cookie, a Kung Fu Panda mask, party blower, stickers and a few other small toys.  I got a lot of things on sale since it was the Chinese new year- the year of the dragon!  Perfect timing for a Kung Fu Panda party.

On the other side of the name tag it said:  There is a saying: "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift.  That's why we call it the 'present.'"  Thank you for being part of our "present" and sharing Andrew's special day with us!  I just printed them on labels and attached them to red scrapbook paper- super easy!

I downloaded the chinese symbol for gratitude and used it next to the names.

I was so glad I did cupcakes instead of a sheet cake this year- with 15 little kids eyeballing them there was no way I would have had time to cut all those in pieces!

They had the neatest party room that was very spacious with 3 big tables.  

Andrew was so cute when he walked in and saw all the decorations.  He was so excited.  About a week leading up to his party he kept asking if it was his birthday yet.  The morning of his party (which was 2 days before his actual birthday) he was eating breakfast and he said "I'm five now?!"  It was so cute.  I don't think he understood why he wasn't five yet!  Ha!

This picture is blurry (it was kind of dark in there and I couldn't get the setting on my camera right quick enough!) but it is probably my favorite picture of the day.  He was just so proud and happy here.  I always make him a sign for all his parties- I think "5" might be the year I decide to stop making them!  Ha!  But it has been fun, and Andrew loves them.  I ordered his personalized shirt online (I just did a google search).

I love this of his friends peering in the mouth waiting for the ball to come out!  So cute!

So I didn't really think through the amount of kids that I invited... there were a ton!  It was a little chaotic, to say the least.  I had this fear of no one showing up, so I invited about 5 extra kids just in case.  Well, everyone showed up!  Ha!  I was really happy actually.  Andrew just loves all of his little friends, and it really meant a lot to him that they all came.

It was neat to have all of his friends from different places- two different preschools, our couple friends and their kids, his cousins, both sets of grandparents... all his favorite people in one place.  It was pretty awesome.

I love this...surrounded by his buddies!

Five birthday candles...

This picture just cracks me up because it just sums up the chaos!  Ha!  I'm in a chair and Andrew is standing up, tearing into his presents and I could not get him to slow down.  The kids are surrounding him about 1 inch away in this huge crowd!  It is a miracle we kept track of what was from who (my friend was sitting across from me in the striped sweater and I was basically shouting out the name from the card to her, she'd write it down and then I'd hold up the gift!  By that time, Andrew was digging into another!  Ha!)  We could barely keep up, but she did a great job (thanks, Alissa!)  I'll be tackling the thank yous this weekend!

Posing in their masks...Norah, Andrew & Lilly

These are Andrew's two best friends from preschool, Nicholas and Payton.  He talks about them both all the time.

Andrew & Landon

Lilly and Andrew- she's such a fashion diva!  This is where we get Kerigan's clothes from (for those of you wondering how we always get her dressed so cute!  They are hand me downs from the best dressed little girl I know!)  We are lucky!

Exhibit A (Lilly's black jacket), but the funny story is her shirt.  I have plenty more photos to post from our photo shoot from this day, but her onesie says "Lady Baby Ga Ga."  Which is pretty stinking appropriate, considering she IS named after her Ga Ga!  Papa Jim found this onesie for her and said she had to have it!  

Our family

I love how Andrew is giving daddy a hug.  He's always been such a loving little boy!

After the party, grandma and grandpa Huegel came over to play!

Grandma brought Andrew these donuts that went with a card she gave him, and he liked them better than his cake!  Ha!  Can you tell he was thrilled?  

That evening, Uncle Jay and Aunt Rachel and the kids came over for dinner- we got take out from Buffalo Wild Wings- it was so good!

Ha!  Uncle Jay trying to get away with giving Kerigan a chip!

She loves sitting up at the table with us in her high chair.  She just chills out while we eat- it is so nice!  She is such a good baby!

Andrew was having fun playing with his balloons.  We brought his decorations home and I redecorated the house for his real birthday on Monday.

Every year I always surprise him when he wakes up and have the house all decked out for his party, but since his party was somewhere else this year, I still wanted to make the house look special for him.

As you can tell...he's one happy little five year old!  Daddy and I just got back from Kindergarten registration tonight.  I couldn't believe it when we handed in those papers and walked out the door.  Our little boy is actually signed up for Kindergarten.  I still can't believe he's 5.  What a milestone!

We love you buddy!  You are AWESOME!

five

1 day old

5 weeks- the day we went home from the NICU

8 months

15 months

1 year

2 years

3 years

4 years

My precious son~

I have to admit, this birthday letter to you is a little harder to write than all the others.  I don't even know where to begin!  How is it possible that my baby is FIVE years old?  Andrew, there was once a day that we never knew if you'd even be here today.  And to watch you now, so spunky, so grown up, and so full of life, it just brings tears to my eyes.  You are here.  And that is really all I ever wished for you.  But not only are you here... you are SO much more than I could have ever dreamed.

You are the most amazing little boy I have ever known.  You just emulate happiness and joy wherever you go.  You absolutely love life.  You love everything about it.  You think even the smallest things are the best things in the world (your little glow in the dark dinosaurs, playing games with daddy and just hanging out at home).  You appreciate everything.  You love to be home and be with your family.  Mommy likes to up the ante a little bit and try to give you everything and "show you the world," but you are content.  And that is such a special thing about you, Andrew.  You know what is truly important.  You are wise beyond your years.

Clear Lake, Summer 2011

This has been a big year for you.  A year of changes.  You endured your third open heart surgery.  You were so brave.  I was so scared and worried to have you see your fresh scar running down your chest, but it didn't faze you a bit.  You just went along like you always do, and you bounced back after only 4 days in the hospital.  You amazed us all, as you always do.  You have always been that way- a fighter.  And so full of strength.  You are a living, breathing miracle, Andrew.  I don't want you to ever forget that.  Remember everyday that you are here because God gave you life, and works through you every day to keep you on this Earth with us.

March 10, 2011

You started your last year of preschool this year.  I can't believe it, but next fall you will be in Kindergarten.  You will start the beginning of your school years.  For you, it won't be that much different than what you do now.  But for mommy, it means that you are no longer my baby, and you are growing up!  It is so bittersweet.  While I am so grateful to God for allowing you to grow up, I somehow want to cling to you and keep you my baby forever.  You will always be my baby, Andrew.  I know Kerigan is the baby now...but you were my first little baby.  YOU made me a mommy.  And there is just something extra special about that.  You are so special to us, sweet boy.  You are truly the sweetest little boy we know.  You are so loving to everyone around you.  The way you throw your arms around our necks, give us kisses, and put your little arm around me when we cuddle in bed... it literally melts my heart.  I could stay that way forever.  I just want to freeze time.

You became a big brother this year.  Your precious sister, Kerigan was born, and there has been nothing sweeter for me than to watch you interact with her and love her.  You absolutely adore your baby sister.  Sometimes I think you love her so much you just want to "squeeze" her (which is what many adults say, but you actually do it!  Ha!)  You are the best big brother to her.  She is a very lucky little girl to have you in her life.  I am so proud of both of you.

Your first moments with your sister... July 2011

How grateful I am that I was able to give both of you the chance to have a sibling.  I pray that you will always treasure that opportunity that I never had.  I pray that you will always love each other, and be close.  You are both miracles to me, and you are both very lucky to have each other.  Neither one of you came easy to your mommy and daddy, and we worked hard to get you here!  It is only by the grace of God.  There's something else I never want you to forget!

This fall you were on your very first "team."  You played soccer.  Something else that we never thought you'd be able to do.  Even though there was a little learning curve, I think you had fun!  Mommy and daddy sure had fun going to your games.  I hope and pray it was only the beginning of watching you participate in special activities.  We want you to be able to do everything that you want to do in life.  You deserve it!

You also took tumbling for the first time.  You loved it!  Your favorite thing was jumping on the trampoline!

You are at such a fun age.  I just love it that we can now "hang out" together, and you are so fun to be with!  I like to take you on little dates with me and do special things together.  You are so funny, and you can always make me laugh.  You have come such a long way from that tiny, 3lb 13oz little miracle that blessed our lives five years ago.  Andrew, you are my firstborn.  My first moments with you, when I became a mother... I'll never forget those moments for the rest of my life.  Thank you for fighting!  Those early moments when life was so uncertain... we bonded.  And I know you wanted to know me.  You pushed through and came out on top.  The most special little person I know.  I'm so glad I got to know you.  And I love you more than words can express.

My five year old miracle...

Love Mommy