He is catching on!

He wouldn't touch his first cake that I spent soooo many hours making

His second cake, he was totally stoked about and after encouraged he totally dug into the frosting

This year he was excited

And when I turned around to get the knife to cut his cake he was already digging in!

Construction Party Day

My morning was crazy busy, and I didn't leave myself quite the amount of time I should have, but all worked out in the end. Unfortunately I totally forgot to feed Oliver breakfast so he was STARVING by the time lunch came around. Despite having an empty stomach, Oliver was a fantastic birthday boy. He was so, so, so good at sharing his new toys with his cousin Ace and I was so proud of my big boy! It turned out to be a great party. Thanks to Grammy, Gramps, Grandma, Grandpa, Tricia, Steven and Ace for making his day very special! And thank you to those who called and sent gifts that couldn't be here, we missed you being part of the party!

the party invite

my mountain wall with construction trucks...I tried to make the wall 3D by adding packaging paper behind to be like rocks

Close up of some of the trucks. Each of Oliver's cousins were driving a truck.

I'm not good about remembering to take pictures of the decorations, so luckily my Dad took care of that for me! :) Thanks Dad!

Oliver & Ace decorated their party hats and played with trucks and tractors in their Home Depot aprons.

Ace checking out the tractor

Oliver & Ace playing with Oliver's new cash register

Time for lunch; here is the spread. Everything was yellow in keeping theme with the construction party.

enjoying lunch

my ravenous little guy couldn't even look at me to take a picture!

getting ready to open his gifts

construction DVD

Lincoln logs

cool space station and book

and a TRACTOR!

I had to post this picture. Clayton and my Dad so nicely stayed up until 2:00 AM building this monster! Thanks guys!

I loved this picture of Uncle Steven showing Oliver how to work the levers

The party group -- thanks for letting me take so many pictures to get a good one! :)

THE CAKE! (Tom Thumb bakery so wonderfully made this cake upon my request and did an AMAZING job!)

The birthday boy with his cake!

blowing the candles out

Excavating his cake -- too cute!

Oliver totally dug the frosting this year again!

Must have wet nap.

our family

The Evans

Grandma & Grandpa

Grammy & Gramps

And last, I thought this picture was too funny of Oliver and Aunt Tricia!

Happy Big Three My Little Guy!!!

I can hardly believe that three years ago, I was in the hospital delivering this little guy and now look at him, he is turning into such a little boy. He is certainly not my baby anymore, but I still like to call him that; even if he corrects me most of the time! :) Oliver's birthday was on a Saturday this year, and we planned his party for the following day so that we could take it easy on his birthday. I set out all his presents the night before and hid his coveted gift, hoping to save it for last, knowing that he wouldn't be interested in anything else after he opened it. My parents were in town and I got up bright and early to make his favorite breakfast: Sneaky Chef Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins (they are delicious and they are packed with good for you ingredients like whole grains, fresh pureed pumpkin, pureed carrots, pureed sweet potatoes, and applesauce -- click Sneak Chef above to go to the website to see Missy's version of the muffins). It turns out I didn't really need to wake up so early, because Oliver decided he was going to sleep in and didn't grant us with his presence until 10:45. I think we were all more excited than he was! I had ordered a new camera the week before his birthday, and unfortunately, with all the party preparation, I didn't have time to learn how to use it before the big day. So two things happened: first, a lot of my pictures turned out horrible because this camera doesn't function well on auto like my first canon digital did; And second, I meant to delete a really bad picture and ended up deleting everything I had on my camera. Total bummer! Thanks so much for taking pictures Gramps, so I at least of some pictures of the morning!

So on with the show:

Here Oliver is seeing his gifts for the first time. He is actually looking at me in the pictures, but these are from my Dad's camera. He was really excited, and it was difficult, but somehow we managed to get him to eat breakfast before opening gifts. :)

I love this shot of Daddy playing with his birthday boy first thing in the morning!

Here he is looking at my camera again while we sing his first happy birthday of the weekend to him. Still cute from the side!

After breakfast, it was on to the presents...as I mentioned before, there was a coveted gift. One he had seen at the learning store back in August that he spoke of almost daily. Coming up to his birthday, he would ask me everyday if it was his birthday. And almost every time, the question was followed by an excited question about getting said coveted gift. There was really no question about whether or not he would get the gift, I just wanted him to wait for it. So the present opening begins.

He got 14 new books, wrapped in three packages. The first one he opened he said "nope, this is not my _____ (read on to find out what it is) ".

We were able to get him a little interested in the books by reading them. Here Oliver is ready Boom Chicka Boom. Cute!



The content on this video isn't very good. He isn't responding to my questions, but I thought he looked so cute, I just had to post it.

Then he went to the second gift, and we asked him what he thought was inside it. He said books. He was right and very disappointed might I add. Suddenly he shoots off to the side of the room, between a chair and sofa (where I have his coveted gift hidden) and says "hey, I bet this is my ____ "! Dang it. How in the heck did he see that gift? We had several more unopened gifts that I knew he would love if he didn't open that coveted gift yet.

nonetheless, here he is between the furniture, finding his coveted gift already having correctly guessed what it was inside

he literally threw it over the arms of the furniture, and then ran around to get it

he runs around to open it

are you excited to see what it is? He was! Keep reading...

My little boy has been pretending his laptop computer was his cash register for the last two months and now he finally has his very own CASH REGISTER!

He was so excited, and couldn't wait for his Daddy to open it!

Look at that face!

I was totally right to hide it, I just should have hidden it better. It was quite some time before we could get him to even look at another present.

Since the theme of his birthday party was construction, we got him a construction set which he has also been asking about for over a month. Unfortunately, this was not as big of a hit and this may be the only time he has actually worn this play set.

I thought this was cute: This is from my camera. Oliver showing his hat off to Gramps.

And this is the photo from my Dad's camera at that very moment. "Umm, are you sure you want to take this picture?"

Doesn't Oliver's bunny look cute all dressed up?

Oliver also got a shopping cart. Market Street Grocery store has small carts and Oliver loves them. He has been wanting one forever, and he was very excited to see this and be able to use it with his cash register.

He got a scooter. His cousin's, The Reeves have a scooter and he has wanted one since he tried their scooter. He did really like it!

Here he is telling me that when you ride a scooter outside, you have to use a helmet. Good boy!

And last, this fun drill set. You use the drill to screw the bolts into the board and make patterns. I think he likes the drill better to pretend to repair our house, but I bet he'll grow into it!

A short video of him using his drill for the first time.

I thought this was a cute picture!

Oliver and Mommy reading stories at the end of the day.

We ate breakfast so late that we skipped lunch and my parents bought us Oliver's favorite Chinese food for an early dinner and then we spent the rest of the day playing and getting ready for Oliver's party the next day. We did have a Costco Pumpkin Pie for desert which Oliver totally dug. But no pictures. What a fun day to spend with my little guy!

Mommy & Daddy love you birthday boy!