Sunday, August 7, 2011

Happy Birthday, W! (updated)

The morning birthday table...

I had orignally decided to purchase another birthday ring ornament from Nova Naturals (love it!), but shipping is just so expensive. (Don't you just love it when shipping costs way more than your purchased item?)



Instead, I made an ornament out of W's most cherished playthings....rocks! It is a true testament to what he seems to enjoy so much right now:)
Daddy and I cut and painted the #2 from scrap wood...
I needlefelted the tiny blue "baby" last year...complete with a little red nose:)

...The birthday story we will read tonight:)
Looking back on the past two years is so powerful. So much has changed; we have changed so much.
 I watch this little boy run about; learning more and more words and sentences every day...and still, I see him so new and tiny, his little nose wiggling like a bunny as we both learn to breastfeed.


It will be a lovely day, despite the rain in the forecast. I'll update this post with photos throughout the day as I get a chance to:)


..Here's the birthday table after W gets his little hands on it!!
he was excited!


Chalk drawing in our kitchen


I've got a lot of preparing to do, so W is staying busy with beans...


Add "clean up the kitchen" to the list:)


Well, our day drew to a close so quickly--I can't believe everything is all over!
What a beautiful day.
I was in bed by 9:)

..Music by my awesome cousin from California:)

No rain all day...and a gorgeous evening sky

..A growing amount of curls..



The cupcake tier Jay and I have been working on...
Toadstool cupcakes created by W's "Granny Smith"

I even got to sing a few of my favorite songs by CSNY and Jewel:)
There will be many more photos to share after we get edited copies back from our photographer.
W received many thoughtful gifts and we shared the day with so many of our dearest friends.
In the end, this will be our last big birthday celebration.
I've decided that as W grows, I'd like the gatherings to be more intimate and contemplative...
There were so many people who I didn't get a good chance to talk with yesterday, and I feel so badly about it.
The outporuing of gifts is so generous, but I don't want W to come to expect so many presents on his birthday.
Many of the gifts will go to "rest" in the attic for a later and more age appropriate time.
Some will be donated to a nurse-family partnership our church assists with.
The "shrapnel" left after a big birthday party can be stressful, and I'm mostly talking of the influx of gifts and "stuff".
Of course, this doesn't mean that I am unappreciative of the thought put into gifts!
Yet, I unapologetically remain steadfast in the amount and types of playthings we keep in the house.
How do you deal with birthdays?
A tough question!

26 comments:

  1. happy birthday sweet wesley! i'm sure you'll have a beautiful day of celebration.

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  2. happy Birthday to your sweet wee boy... i hope you all have a lovely day .... best wishes to you all
    dawn

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  3. Shipping at http://www.thewoodenwagon.com/ is not so bad--they have some simliar things even though we really like the stuff at Nova Naturals too.

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  4. Happy Birthday sweet beautiful boy, Wesley! This world is forever a better place with you in it!
    And to you to, beautiful mama!
    We initially bought a handful of those ornaments back years ago when they were less expensive- we've since made our own, and I love your made ones.
    <3

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  5. Congratulations to all of you! I believe celebrating the birth of your child is one of the best gifts that your child gives you each year! Enjoy every moment of this special day!
    xoxo
    ~ joey ~

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  6. Birthday Blessings to your sweet little boy!

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  7. Happy Birthday to Wesley and Happy Birthing Day to you mama! Your ornaments are precious and made even more special as they are homemade. I usually get mine from Wooden Wagon and do one big birthday purchase for the year. We also read a birthday story, personalized for each child. It is one of their most favorite traditions for the day (my 7 year old requested I reread his three times that night!). I never can make it through without tears though! Enjoy your celebration and hoping the weather holds out for you! <3

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  8. Happy birthday to your dear boy :-)

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  9. Happy happy birthday to your sweet boy and happy birth day to you, momma! It looks like it's been a beautiful day!

    ~carrie~

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  11. Happy Birth Day to you and Wesley! It is amazing how much more significance these days take on once you are a parent. I hope your sweet sweet boy has a wonderful day and enjoys his celebration! It looks like it is going to be wonderful!

    I've needle-felted our birthday ring decorations thus far and mounted them on wire that was inserted into a dowel peg. Not sure what we will do this year for that. Love all the special Waldorf birthday traditions including the ring and the story. They really bring so much beauty and meaning to the day both for the child and parents!

    Much love to you both on this special day!

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  12. Happy birthday, sweet boy and happy birthing day to you, lovely mama!

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  13. Sweet! What a special celebration.

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  14. Happy Birthday W! The picture of all the beans on the kitchen floor had me in stitches, simply adorable. Here's to many birthdays and many spilled beans to come, take care :)

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  15. Happy birthday, Wesley! What a beautiful celebration.

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  16. Happy Birthday Wesley!! The sun will be brighter in your wonderful special day!

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  17. Happy birthday blessings to Wesley and mama! And good on you for DIYing the birthday ring ornament!! It is wonderful and holds so much more warmth and love than anything crafted by someone else.

    Blessings,

    Wabi-Sabi Wanderings

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  18. Dear Rebecca,
    (responding now to the updated post!)
    I know what you are saying about birthdays. Years ago, our daughter would have big parties at her birthdays, and I never felt happy with it all- too much activity for such a little one, and the look on her face and her behavior showed the strain. She did not like everyone there, did not like the attention, did not even like the gifts. So what was the point? Just for us grown-ups.
    To me, a birthday is a sacred day, a day to truly celebrate that person- the gift of having them, just them with us! So when my daughter was turning 4 we began our new tradition, which is to keep it just to family- we don't even often have extended family on the actual birthday anymore, but sometimes we do have grandparents or a favorite aunt.
    Our children receive mostly handmade gifts from us, and books (usually used). We're fortunate that our way of doing things has gotten through to people, and they support or at least understand our wishes- for Ezri's birthday this past month (I have a homegrown first birthday post on my blog) his grandpa gave him a gift certificate to NOVA where we bought him a new sheepskin. Other than that, his gifts were very minimal.
    They awaken to their birthday ring glowing on the table, with there scant homemade gifts surrounding it. They open the gifts, each of us handing them the ones we made (often pictures or cards from my littlest boys), then we prepare a special breakfast. Later in the day there is their cake.
    Anyway now I've created a too-long post and I apologize! Happy Birthday again to you both!

    PS gorgeous curls on that little boy. . .!

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  19. Oh I hear you about the Birthday "after effects"! We have also experienced the large pile of gifts and the stressed out kids! They now have a small party with just a few friends for 2 hrs. Then we have a small family party on a different day and just have cake. Overall I would say that it does get easier and the gift pile smaller as they get older and people don't know what to buy for your child and give money instead!
    I'm so glad that you had the opportunity to celebrate your way!
    Hugs to you all!
    ~ joey ~

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  20. Sounds like a fun celebration!

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  21. What a wonderful birthday! Thank you for all of the wonderful ideas. :)

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  22. How beautiful and sweet ~ and I love the rocks on the birthday ring! My kids sure love rocks, too! And best of all you don't have to pay shipping for them :)

    I love the birth story reading tradition ~ and the idea of letting birthdays be sacred and heartfelt and simple. Less stress for everyone, and so much beauty...

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  23. Looks absolutely lovely! Your love just pours out in every detail to which you attended! I had a question re: the birth story. Did you use the Rainbow bridge story? or was it something you wrote yourself? I love the idea & am thinking of bringing this type of tradition into our family as well.

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  24. Hmmm birthdays...I've done large birthday bashes and small, and for my 2 year old (who turned 2 yesterday) I chose only our family. We gave her a present yesterday and had strawberry shortcake, and then on Sunday we'll meet with grandparents and cousins with a mama made large cake and a few presents. I have 4 daughters, and they love having a party, so we have some birthdays that are big parties and others that are not. I plan to phase out large ones in the future though, it's so much work on the parents and is quite costly. In fact, the last big birthday party we did in the beginning of June was a ton of work, cost a lot and only 1 invited guest came!!!!!!!! Not worth it. Plus, the things the children receive usually aren't simple and natural :)

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