Flashback Friday-Birthdays!

This week's installment of Flashback Friday is "birthdays." It was a lot of fun to look at all these pictures again...this is why I decided to join Jennifer for these posts. It's so wonderful to look back at our moments, our memories, at this life we have together.



Of course, most of these pictures are of Grayson's birthdays, with a couple of Matt's and one of my birthday this year. Now that we are a family, I'm the one taking the pictures and honestly, there aren't that many of me doing anything unless a kid is in my lap. I'm sure somewhere my mom has documentation of my special days in the last few years. I also need to get a scanner so I can put all of our pre-digital pictures on our computer....our honeymoon and college years are all scrapbooked, but I would love to have them saved on our computer too.



These are all pretty random, and not necessarily in order by year, so be patient. :)



As you've seen, Grayson's third birthday this September...pirate party!



Here's a couple from Gray's 2nd birthday...Mickey Mouse:




I love pictures like this....candid snapshots of Matt and me...those are hard to come by now! I know it's silly, but I love that we're in the kitchen together smiling and laughing about something while everyone else is partying. It's a small stolen moment for us...those are great and worth looking back at!

You can't tell, but I'm wearing mickey ears in this pic and I wore that polka dot top to resemble minnie (without going full costume:).

Matt's talented sister, Elisabeth, made Gray's birthday cake...it was as yummy as it was cute!

Okay, I have to be honest. When I look at the above picture, I'm almost a little sad....this is when things really start changing. Of course, your little ones change everyday, but this is when they begin that journey of finding independence....when they learn to really communicate that independence from you. But usually, when I'm a little down that Grayson is past some of things that Ava is only beginning, he'll say something that makes me giggle and cheers me up....because that's something he can do now that he couldn't do before. Each year brings blessings of its own.

Gray's 1st birthday....Baby Einsteins.

LOVE this pic....still one of my favorites of him!

Our poor kid didn't even have a french fry let alone sugar until his 1st birthday, so it took him a while to figure the cake out....but when he did? Well, you get the point.

"What is this little doggie doing on my tray???"

Cake for the adults.

And here are the random Matt birthday pics....

My two rosy-cheeked boys...this was also one of my favorites of the two of them.

Matt's favorite is this strawberry layer cake I make, so that's his usual every year.

Matter of fact, here it is again the next year...in 2008. I surprised him with friends and family at a Japanese steak house....his favorite.

And this? Well, sadly, it's the only photo I have of myself on a birthday the last couple of years. Someone out there....if you see me on my birthday, just snap a photo. Anything will be better than this!

Matt surprised me with a new car this year....yes, it was BEYOND crazy! I just walked out (in my baggiest pj's no less) and said, "No, no, no, take it back. Take it back." I was thrilled, but completely shocked! It has turned out to be a big blessing after having Ava. Little more room for a little more kid.

Hope you enjoy looking back this week. Don't forget, if you want to join Jennifer for Flashback Friday's, go here to her blog and check it out!