Doug's Birthday

This was a fun birthday. Poor Doug, with a birthday near Christmas some years have been quite lack-luster, I definitely remember a few years in the recent past where I feel so bad that I haven't thought much about it his special day at all. This year though, we did a good job making Doug feel loved on his birthday. Koen was so excited about a few "surprises" we planned. Anytime I mentioned birthday he said, "quiet, you'll ruin the surprise!" It definitely tipped Doug off that we were working on some little projects, but I didn't care, it was just fun to get Koen in on the planning and prep. Tavin was still in a birthday mood from his birthday. He holds his hands together and rocks back and forth pretending to sing (indicates "Happy Birthday" song).

So, to start the day, Doug wanted to make French toast with his sous-chef. The boys were very happy about that idea. Yum!Doug headed back to work after his holiday break and that gave Koen, Tavin and I time to plot and plan for his arrival back home in the evening. We made chocolate peanut butter chocolate chip cupcakes (an experiment that turned out amazing!) and we headed to Target to get some groceries and a little gift for Daddy. We also fit in time to wrap the present. Koen was so into all of this, I love this age!!

When Doug got home he actually snatched Koen out of nap a few minutes early (to which Koen asked, "why did you get me before the 5? I didn't have time to read my new book from the library."). They headed off in the car to go sledding at Mellon Park. They were equally excited over their adventure together. Tavin and I had dinner ready for he and Koen when they returned (Doug and I went out later on). While the boys ate, Doug opened his presents. He was all into it for Koen's sake as Koen was busting at the seams about the little gift we picked out.Once the boys were done with dinner, we brought out the cupcakes. They all got to blow out candles together (which Koen jumped the gun on and totally blew them out himself).I laid Tav down and then our babyistter arrived to lay Koen down. Doug and I headed out on foot (it was about 15 degrees) to go to SALT for dinner. It was Doug's request for his birthday dinner. Little did he know that I had 6 of our closest friends in cahoots about the evening and they joined us and it really took Doug by surprise. It was such a fun evening. We were in the upstairs room by ourselves and it's a good thing. We were loud, laughed a lot and had a nice, long, enjoyable evening. Doug loved it and I was so pleased. Happy Birthday, Douglas! We love you!