Happy Birthday Greyson!

Other than water, Greyson is also really into bugs. Ladybugs reign, and spiders are a close second. His favorite pair of underwear is the one with bugs all over it. The insect building is his new favorite stop at the zoo. So it seemed appropriate to throw him a bug-themed party for his birthday this year. I try and pick a theme that is reflective of his interest at the time. Last year, he was all about stop signs, so we threw him a traffic-themed party. This year, we made ladybugs, caterpillars and butterflies the stars of the show.

With the help of his buddies Arvin and Shanth, Roque decorated the house with paper cutouts of ladybugs, bees and dragonflies.They hung butterflies across the windows and Roque cut Greyson's name out of his finger paintings to put on the wall. While they did that, I made Greyson a Backyard birthday cake complete with Oreo cookie crumb dirt, gummy worms and a puff pastry cracker fence. I crafted ladybugs out of tomatoes, and ants on a log for edible table decorations. For drinks, I froze raisins with green-colored water, dropped those in a punch bowl of apple juice and called it Bug Juice. For activities, we hunted for bug-filled easter eggs in the back yard, disembowelled a ladybug pinata and released 1500 live ladybugs into our garden.

I have come to learn that birthdays are really a mother's special day of remembering. Every minute that went by today was a memory for me. At midnight my water broke, by daylight I was checking into the hospital, at this hour I was administered my epidural, at this minute I was pushing, at this hour I was still pushing....and finally, at 5:36pm, Greyson was born. It was the day a little person took the neatly folded piles of my life, tossed them upside-down, left-side-right, then handed me back the crumpled, humbled and befuddled person that he now calls "Mama." I was changed forever. Being a mother is the best, proudest and most significant accomplishment of my life and having children is like watching high-definition tv; once you've experienced it, you never want to go back.