4 years old!!

Wes took Jay to the Monster Truck Jam again this year for his birthday...a long-standing tradition, so I'm told.

They had a blast and Jay came back raving of all the cool trucks and motorcycles

Annoyed at all the picture taking

This does look like a little boys dream!

Afterwards, Eli and I met them at the boat show. Another tradition that Wes will keep up, I'm sure.

Jay had to bring his Pirate sword so he could be like "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" while we tried out the boats

I seriously want this one day....a slide off a sun deck!

Posing as "Jake, the pirate"

Eli had it made...was carried around all afternoon, had a great view, and a big bag of popcorn to his side

This was at Jay's bday party at school. Chowing down on spiderman cupcakes

Playing shape bingo

Jay was so proud that I came to celebrate with him....I wonder how long it will take before he asks that I not show up to his school anymore. I'm sure much sooner than I'd like...I will enjoy his generous kisses and "that's my mommy!" chants as long as he'll give them!

Eli was not giving in to the green bean

Wes pushed and prodded until he got them in there. Just as Wes was going on about how well he convinced Eli to eat them, he spit every bit of the beans out on the table.

Ashley and Kurt sent Jay a pirate shirt from their trip to Las Vegas. Jay was posing like the "mean pirate"

Then he got a b-day card from Carrie and Oren. He was dancing to the music here. It was a rock/rap song to which he exclaimed, "now that's the kind of music I like!"

Waiting for his lunch

This baby loves playing in a water glass

So cute, and easy entertainment in a restaurant

Jay's Batman Party yesterday! (Ash and Kurt gave him that gigantic Batman for Christmas and I thought it was the perfect centerpiece)

Jay was very impressed with the batmobile

Trying on the costumes before the party started

Jay loved his Batman cake

Peek a boo!

He was on pins and needles waiting for his friends to come...I kept having to remind him not to touch the cake so he would get his hands as close to it as possible until I finally made him leave it entirely

"Jay, look at me and smile"

"Ok, give me a not-so-crazy smile this time"

We intended to have the party at a park but the weather was nasty so we brought it inside. The kids had a great time trying out the police car though!

Jay's best buds from church came and it was so fun with all of them there! 

Check out the mustaches that the boys and daddys had the "privilege" of wearing!

They were a last minute impulse buy but ended up being a big hit....who knew little kids thought mustaches were totally awesome!

They also got masks and wands to decorate so that everyone could be superheros. And it kept them quiet for 10minutes!

These last ones are from Mama Ross during their week with the boys

They had a bday party for Jay with Mama and Gary. Jay was so excited about his party with his favorite people!

Eli watching Jay open presents.

Trying to get Eli excited about new toys

Still opening presents

I was so glad they were all able to do this together!

Now he's warming up to it!

Lighting Jay's birthday cupcake

Love this one!!

That boy loves his Papa Tim!

If you were counting, that was four birthday celebrations for Jay. Spoiled rotten!  He loved every minute of the week and told every person we saw that "I am four now!"  This was the highlight of his life!  The morning of his birthday he just kept saying, "mom! I'm four now!  I am big now!"  The excitement has been building up ever since several of his friends turned 4 over the last few months. Every time we left their party's, he would ask us a million times when he would be 4 and if he would get a party too. So this was a HUGE deal!  And, I noticed, that this was the first year I worried about what he would think of his party. The last three years were more for us than for him. But this year I just kept telling Wes, "I hope he likes it. I hope he isn't disappointed."  I wanted him to feel like he was truly special and, to a 4 year old, means making a big deal about their milestones. Four is also the age when permanent memory starts and that really puts a lot of pressure on parents! Fortunately, this year we passed and Jay was completely satisfied with each birthday treat. I will say there was a small moment of fear when he said, (as I was putting the candles in his Batman cake and hanging all of the Batman streamers around the house) "when can I see my cake?? I hope it's a spiderman cake!" But he loved it anyway!