The Most Perfect Birthday (Parties for 2)

We celebrated both Zeplin's and Matt's birthdays today! Matt's was a surprise though - and it was perfect.



The first party began at 2pm for Zeplin. It was only for family and a couple friends (The McFarlands couldn't come last year because Kaycee's uncle died so I wanted to invite her to this one.)

Because of his love for trains, I went with a train theme,  making the banners, water bottle wrappers and of course the invites. I got a lot of great ideas on Craigslist for the food but came up with the 'steam' and 'oil' on my own.

It was a very simple party. Last years party was too hectic for me as I tried to make everyone feel involved and keep the kids all entertained. Since we only had family there, it made for a much more relaxing time for me because everyone knew everyone.
 The only thing I was upset about was the cake. I specifically asked them not to do Thomas the Train ... Matt saved the day by scraping off the train face.




I picked a horrible time to have the party because it was right smack in the middle of Zeplin's nap but he was a trooper. He laughed and played with all the little kids.

We all mingled as the kids ate the train goodies, after which, we called everyone's attention to Zeplin so he could open his gifts.
Zeplin got books, cars, more trains, ABC's, robots, How to Train Your Dragon 2, and other wonderful toys! He definitely got spoiled by everyone!! Lucky little nugget!

A few of the toys had him running in fear. I felt terrible but couldn't stop laughing.

We got Zeplin 1 big gift for his birthday and it was a hit. Remember that Five on Friday post of the Lightening McQueen ATV we found at a yard sale? The one we stripped down and painted? Well, that was it - his very own Monster Machine, complete with pop guns.

 Once all the gifts were opened, we sang happy birthday to Zeplin and let his blow out his candles. Andrew was kind enough to play the guitar for our melody.

 Daddy helped him blow out the candles because he was struggling. He enjoyed watching the candles flicker as he breathed through his teeth.

While everyone ate cake, Zeplin and the kids played with all the toys.

 After a short temper tantrum of a 2 year old toddler, he was consoled by his own cake.

Most everyone left around 4pm so after we cleaned up a little bit, I took Matt out to a birthday dinner for Sushi at Sakana. The 20th, was his real birthday anyways.
Matt's family stayed to watch and feed Zeplin at home AND while we were out, there was a whole bunch of magic brewing at my house!!

Nikki and the brothers helped coordinate everything for me while we were gone. Jeremy picked up the cake and goodies, while Nikki organized the house and got everything ready for our next group of guests.

I invited so many people! A few of them were joint friends we've made, some of them were from his graduate cohort, a couple from work and the rest were family.

Matt and I arrived at home after dinner around 6:15pm. I text Nikki that we were pulling into the subdivision so to get everyone ready. I had to act like maybe our neighbors were throwing a party because there were so many cars outside! But he recognized a few of the cars and immediately knew but he kept looking at me for affirmation.

I stayed back as Matt opened the door and looked inside.  I was so overwhelmed with excitement as everyone started laughing at Matt's surprise!!!! He seemed to have been genuinely surprised and I couldn't be happier!! He turned to me and kissed me as we walked inside together.

Nikki helped me light all the candles on the cake because it was taking forever. By the time Matt blew them out and everyone was done singing Happy Birthday, the candles melted all the way down to the cake.

 The rest of the night was wonderful. It was nothing over the top but I was so overwhelmed such happiness for my husband and gratitude for our loved ones, that I couldn't keep my smile off my face. 
We had the Herberts, Alexanders, McFarlands, Howards, Nichols-Hine, Eves, my mom and the brothers.

Everyone mingled and laughed with each other until they all started trickling out of the house. I had the most wonderful time catching up with all of our friends. It was fun to see them all talk with each other and make friends with one another too. 

Karlin was the funniest and probably the glue that kept everyone laughing. Matt brought out his guitars while Karlin played the piano and sang while Matt strummed along. They had too much fun and it was obvious that Matt was feeling the birthday love from everyone!

Once they all left, Matt and I cleaned up the house then put Zeplin to bed. We cuddled on the couch as we talked about his surprise, how sugared up we were and how badly we wanted to go to sleep. 

So that we did - With smiles on our face and love in our hearts!