Happy Birthday Chris!

Couldn't resist! (Taken at the "March Birthday's Celebration" in Fl. a few weeks ago. )

Dear Boys,

Your Dad had a birthday on Sunday! He said that all he wanted was some sleep, which I completely understood because it's exactly what I dreamed of for my birthday. Sleep is still a rare commodity around here..... hard to come by and totally coveted.

So together we made it happen for him! At first, it was hard to convince you all to get dressed for early church.... but then I dangled the fact that Grandma was going to come visit after church....provided that you listen to mommy, get dressed and get in the car without push back and fighting (oh yes, totally played the bribery card!). Of course, Grandma was coming no matter what, but you didn't know that :-)

Anyway, we made it to church and even ran an errand to the grocery store for milk on the way home, arriving around 11. We walked in to find your Dad sipping coffee and looking pretty refreshed.... which made my day because he deserves it! He does so much for us as a family (which is pretty much the understatement of the year).

There's so much I love about your dad but what I'm thinking about tonight as I type this is how thankful I am that he is such a present and loving father. It comes so naturally to him.

Case in point: Last night, I went to bed before him. When I awoke in the middle of the night, I noticed that he wasn't in bed so I went to investigate. There I found him fast asleep on your bedroom floor. In the morning when I asked why he'd slept on your floor, he said, "Well, on my way up to bed, I heard _____ coughing a lot and so I thought that I'd sleep on their floor in case he needed a breathing treatment or help during the night." 

Case in point two: Tomorrow he's arranged his schedule to go teach Colin's kindergarten class about how to make maple syrup, complete with tasting samples and a log to tap :)..... and then he volunteers in Colin's school computer lab following the maple syrup gig!

That's your Dad.

He shows up.... for each of you and for me, in big ways and a million little ways. Every. Single. Day.

Carter picked out this card himself. Trust me, he's much more excited about it then this picture shows.

Finley calls Chris, "My best friend"

If you meet Everett, he will tell you his name first and then second he will tell you that when he grows up, he will be a Daddy. Every time, without fail. So funny, that kid.

Owen bought Chris a new t-shirt from the Gap. He was so proud. 

Want to know what our main gift to Chris was? A new coffee maker! This one. It promises to BREW EXTREME. Whatever that means, we're on board!

Happy Birthday Chris!

If you follow this blog on Instagram you already know that my birthday gift to Chris was surprising him with a quick trip to Chicago. We had such a great time!

The morning of his birthday, which was Saturday, I got up with the boys and from the crack of dawn they were saying, "Let's wake up Daddy for his birthday!" It was hard thinking of creative ways to keep them busy while letting Chris sleep a little.

Colin decorated the house and had Chris's favorite cereal out and ready to go, hours before I hoped to wake Chris. It was an opportunity to explain the concept of soggy cereal and why we may want to wait a bit before adding the milk.

Colin, decorating the chairs

When Chris came downstairs, we had breakfast and then brought him his gifts. The thing about a house  with a five year old and a bunch of almost three year olds is that they can't wait for presents, giving or receiving!

The bag was filled with little presents from the boys, many of which they picked out themselves. There were items such as work gloves and a flashlight (by pure coincidence, gifts they're also looking forward to using themselves, sneaky boys!).

At the bottom of the bag was a card telling him to pack the bag because we were leaving for Chicago. WITHOUT KIDS!

"Who's going to watch the boys???" was first thing he said. I reassured him that it was taken care of. About a half hour later, my parents arrived.

My parents really made this weekend happen! They are so awesome with our lively boys! Somehow they even got the boys to bed by 8:15 which is something we haven't achieved in months upon months. I'll take this as a sign that we should get out of town more often :)

In Chicago, we had dinner with friends at a delicious restaurant. Great food, wine flowing and dear friends, what more could you want? I could tell Chris was having so much fun relaxing and catching up with his college roommates, which made me happy.

He deserves it.

A few pictures from the day:

Good morning birthday boy!

When we got back from Chicago, I spent Sunday night searching Amazon for fire truck birthday party themed items because next up we have the triplets birthday, this Saturday! They want a fire truck birthday party which I think will be really fun. I'm going to do my best to make it happen! The parties never stop in March for the Millers..... :-)

Birthdays and present making

March is the month of birthdays around here. All my guys (except baby #5!) have March birthdays.

Chris's birthday is tomorrow and the triplet's birthday is next Friday.

Colin has been busy making presents in his upstairs workshop. Yesterday afternoon, he kept asking to go upstairs and work on his gifts. I thought it was so cute and great that he could play independently for short periods in his room.

I had no idea the "work" he was doing....

Turns out the gifts he was making came from random items he'd found while rummaging through boxes still unpacked from our move almost a year ago, and grabbing lotions, diapers, towels and other items from the upstairs bathrooms.

His room was a mess but he assured me that he had it all under control. He said that he even had a gift for me.

"Awe, thank you."

"I wonder what it is...."

With that he handed me an enormous bag and inside I found quite the assortment of gifts.

Two diapers, lotions without caps, and the best part, a seat and bucket from a training potty which I wasn't positive had been cleaned thoroughly since one of the triplets tried it out the previous night before bath.

"Do you love it?!" Colin asked, with a huge smile on his face.

..............................

Then tonight, my parents stopped by on their way through town to say "hi" and give Chris his birthday gift. Once Colin realized that birthday gifts were being given he jumped up and said,

"WAIT! I have a gift for Daddy upstairs in my workshop!" and then he sprinted up the stairs.

I warned those around me that it could be a toilet.

But it wasn't.

He'd carefully boxed up two finger paints, car screws and a re-purposed a Valentine's day card.

It was sort of heart melting to be honest..... because he stood there SO proud to give it to Chris.



My Dad also found this sign which he gave to both Colin and Chris:

Colin's nightstand/ workbench

Once Colin figured out what the words said, he once again sprinted back up to his workshop to put the sign there.

:-)

Chris's birthday was...

Fantabulous!

I *think* Chris would agree... but either way Colin and I couldn't have had more fun preparing for it!

Chris is an amazing husband, person and father and I wanted his birthday to really show him how much we appreciate him.

Seriously... this is the scene almost everyday when he comes home from work.... his boys excitedly crawling and jumping all over him. He is a great dad, and so tolerant! He deserves a great birthday!

My plan was to have a little family celebration after he got home from work and then Uncle "G" and Lauren agreed to baby sit so Chris and I could have dinner the two of us, something we rarely get to do these days.

So Colin and I spent the day preparing.

We picked out cupcakes from here. YUM!!!!! We really don't get these often enough....

We found a balloon that said "Happy Birthday" and was covered in tools, nails and screws. We picked out two cards, one from the boys and one from me. And even though I tried to steer him toward the sweet "Happy Birthday Daddy" cards, Colin INSISTED on this one:

I'm going to save this card for those moments when I need a little pick me up because it cracks me up every time I see the martini shaker dance.

He was so proud of his choice!

Earlier, just before Chris arrived home from work I glanced over at the presents on the window sill and noticed one that wasn't there before.

"Colin, what's this??"

"It's my present for Daddy."

"What is it?"

"A wipe. I wrap it all by myself."

I hadn't seen him wrap it or place it there but can picture his three year old fingers, carefully cutting the paper and holding it together to place the sticker on top. And then gently placing it on the shelf with the other gifts.

Chris treasured it, as only a parent can.