let's get ready to party

Well, well, well...what have we here? 

The birthday bash boy. 

Rhett felt that 6AM on his 6th birthday (August 2nd) seemed like the right time to start his celebrations and we obliged. Six is a great age because he still loves and is thrilled with our classic subpar (but heartfelt) birthday morning decor. 

Before Rhett left for school he opened his presents (walkie talkies, a kid go-pro camera, iron man gloves and a Zootopia playset/figures and checked if his 6 year old garbage disposal of a stomach could handle his desired maple doughnut and Doritos breakfast. It could. 

On the drive to school there was a full rainbow from some of the early morning monsoon rain that hit. I made a big ol honkin deal about it to Rhett...that not every kid gets a rainbow on their birthday and that it meant it would be a very special year. He ran with that thought and came to the conclusion that we were/are going to Legoland in 9 days. (We're not.) 

After I dropped him off at school I saw the rainbow on my way home and basically lost emotional function. I've blogged about it and am probably too open with the severe PPD I had for 6 months after Rhett (nutshell: I was suicidal, hospitalized twice for 3 weeks total, panic attacks multiple times a day that made me puke everything I ate up, black hole style depression, the whole hellish gamut.) I would drive to the Provo hospital daily and walk the perimeter and see the signs that it was a safe place to leave an infant and many days I came so close to dropping him off and running anywhere. Obviously that was the crazy talking and Jake and our families would have never let that happen, but it still haunts me at the mistake I could have made and what I could have lost. I was so convinced that I could not raise him. Truthfully, he's giving me a bigger run for my money now and I'm still not sure I can raise him right. But when the depression and anxiety finally cracked wide open, what was the scariest thing became the best thing a million times over. And this rainbow made me all mushy and nostalgic and I'm hating my subpar writing skills right now because I'm failing to really express how much this it meant to me. Hashtag long paragraph that only I understand. 

Moving on. 

Rhett's actual birthday was Tuesday, so we did his family party that night and his friend's party on Saturday.

But before Chick-fil-a happened, Rhett had to open this mega surprise gift.

Jake's mom flew in from Oregon to surprise the new 6 year old and it was a so much (and unexpectledly tear jerking...for me...) fun to see how Rhett's smile. And in true 6 year old fashion, the toy grandma brought quickly trumped her presence. Smooth Rhett.

After the mega surprise we headed out to do family partying. Since moving, Breckie and Everett basically have taken up residence at our new house so they came with for the family party. At Chick-fil-a because we try to make all the birthday child's wishes come true. 

On Saturday we borrowed a friends mini van and between our van and theirs, corralled all of these future leaders of America to the movies.

We like, we like to party.

Between Jake, myself and my mother in law who was visiting, the whole thing went actually really not disastrous. And not as overwhelming as it could have been. I will take this kind of kid's birthday party over having the house invaded and needing to plan games and elaborate decor/food. Lazy mom? Or smart mom? Maybe both. Either way, lots of popcorn was consumed and no one locked themselves in the bathroom during the group potty breaks. Wins all day.

After the movie we took the party animals to the splash pad.

Happy Birthday, Rhett! Now with the party under our belts, we're excited to embark on the year with you. It's going to be good. I know it. :)