"Holy Birthday Party Batman!"

This week was incredibly bittersweet for me. My first baby turned four years old. You get tired of hearing people say, "Treasure these moments, they grow so fast....". When Shea was first born I would get migraines from rolling my eyes so much when people would say this to me, but here I sit with a newly four year old boy and I struggle to remember things.... It's the opposite effect of when you see someone you haven't seen in a long time, and you expect them to still be a kid, because they never grew up in your mind. With your kids I think because you see them every day you don't notice them growing. I can still remember that new baby smell but I can't remember the sound of his laugh when he was a baby. I remember holding him while he slept but I can't remember the weight of him in my arms.... things like that. So anyway.... nostalgia aside THANK GOD we are moving further away from the toddler stage and closer to the kid stage!!!  <-- (doing a happy dance while I type) I love my kids to death but I hate toddlers. They are the most irrational, emotional, ridiculous creatures on the planet. I liken them to Gremlins.... no bright light, don't feed them after midnight and don't get them wet.... Sure they do and say cute things but the other 23 hrs of the day they are most likely screaming, pinching, biting, yelling, having a complete melt down because you gave them a yellow sippy cup and they wanted a red sippy cup... I want them to be just a bit older so I can speak to them intelligently and not dread taking them out in public.

One of my sons is getting ever closer to being in that "age of perfection" that I've been waiting for since he was born. Every year I have a themed birthday party for him. His first birthday was "Yo Gabba Gabba", his second was "Disney's Cars", his third was "Toy Story" and when I asked him what he would like this year's theme to be I was very intrigued when he exclaimed, "Batman!" and then ran around the room with his arms extended making flying noises.... (regardless of the fact that we are constantly reminding him that Batman doesn't fly, sheesh kid, read a book....)

So grab a chair, brace yourself and prepare to be amazed by my craftiness! Drum roll, please! I give you..... The Batman themed birthday party!

Here is the birthday cake - ordered from Publix. I wish I was this talented but I have not yet perfected my baking skills. The Batman candle on top was ordered from eBay as were the yellow bracelets, as modeled by Shea in this picture, that we gave out as party favors. I also found some Batman temporary tattoos to put on all the guests and the "Super Hero Action Words" table cloth and napkins on clearance at Wal Mart. 

Don't bother Shea-Man, he's eating..... And yes, that is a Transformers party hat.....don't ask.....

The balloons were also ordered on eBay for a VERY reasonable price (10.00 for all of them plus free shipping) and filled with helium by the kind people at Publix.

I found yellow streamer printed with the Batman logo on eBay.... very cheap and free shipping.

And here was the snack table. THIS was my favorite part and everyone got a kick out of it....

I made the labels on my home printer. In Microsoft Word I switched my page setting to be a 4x6 size, and used 4x6 index cards - the printer had no trouble with them. Google images provided the cartoon pictures. Here was our "ants on a log" (organic celery, natural peanut butter and Sunmaid Raisins), which we called "Bats on a log."

 I made individual fruit salad cups, we had blueberries, kiwi, organic peaches, watermelon and pineapple. I couldn't think of anything clever to call them so my Feb. 2011 Due Date club girls helped me come up with the catch phrase.....

Raspberry Lemonade Crystal Light became Joker Juice....

 And Check mix served in individual cups became "Catwoman Crunchies" as it does resemble cat food....and tastes about the same.....

And here is the birthday boy with his new big boy bike... couldn't find a Batman one....

The party was great, it went off without a hitch and cost less than 100.00 for all the decorations, food and cake. I made most of it myself and used eBay as a resource for procuring Batman themed items. Shea said it was his greatest birthday party ever and I'm so proud of the little guy. He's grown up so much in four years and I'm looking forwards to many more birthday parties in the future!

And yes, that is a Batman onesie on Kellan and a muscled Batman tank top on Shea....