Anyway, the first thing to decide for the party is when. Then we’ll need to decide on a theme, because then we need to order invitations! Our families and friends are always quite busy, so it definitely pays to let everyone know in as far advance of the party as we can. Heck, last year I sent out an informal invitation via a Facebook event invite — it worked well!

How far in advance do you begin planning your child’s birthday party?

Unfortunately we had to postpone her birthday party, which was scheduled for October 29th at 2:00pm. It’s now rescheduled for this coming Saturday, November 5th, at 2:00pm. I’m hoping the weather is nice enough that we can have it at an outdoor pavilion, as originally planned. But if not, we’ll just hold it here at our house, though things will certainly be a little cramped.

If you guessed my baby boy, whom I sometimes refuse to acknowledge is as old as he actually is, you guessed right.

While his actual birthday party with family and friends and cake and tons of presents isn’t until Sunday, we did celebrate on his birthday.

Dan and I gave him his “big” present – an Apple iPad loaded with tons of word building, sentence building and communication/socialization encouraging apps.

Jason came over that evening and gave him letter trains that spell out his name (this is definitely a favorite new toy of Ryan’s; I find it all over the house every day, and last night he wanted to take it to the pool with him!).

We had dinner of Ryan’s choice — hot dogs and mac & cheese — and finished off the night with a round of “Happy Birthday” and a lovely and delicious little ice cream cake.

Happy Birthday Ryan! I love you!

Ryan’s birthday party is on the 31st, but we’re going to celebrate his actual birthday on the 26th with a dinner of his choosing, a small birthday cake (our local grocery store makes small ones that serve 3-4 people, so it’ll be perfect for just the four of us), and the gift of the iPad. That’ll give Dan and I about a week to play around with it — load it with apps, play with the apps, figure out how the iPad works, etc. This way we’ll be prepared to help Ryan learn the ropes once we give it to him.

Sidenote: can you believe this:

Has turned into THIS?!

Despite her actual birthday being a quiet sort of day, I’d say that Alyssa made out well in spite of it!

Here’s a big thank you to Candles and Favors for the lovely birthday invitations, thank you cards and party favors that added the perfect touches to my daughter’s birthday!

Happy Birthday Alyssa! Mommy loves you! *mwah*

My brothers attended the party, of course, and it got me to thinking about how different my mom and I are. I was brainstorming gift ideas for my brothers for Christmas (netbook, camera accessories, Game Stop gift card, perhaps a pair of binoculars, etc.), when it dawned on me that my mother never had parties for my brothers. I don’t know why. I guess it was never her thing to do. It’s not as if the parties we have are really all that expensive. We’re talking $50 or so for invitations, thank you cards, decorations and dinnerware, another $40 – $60 for the food and cake, and then the “inconvenience” of picking a place for the party and setting everything up and tearing everything down. But you know what? It’s WORTH IT. I love love love being able to give my kids birthday parties!

Ryan had an excellent birthday, and I’m pretty sure he knows he is four years old — he just argues with me and says he’s three simply to bug me, LOL.

I love having a nice little birthday party for Alyssa and Ryan every year, but man are they exhausting. I’m hoping that this year’s party will be less of a drain on me, since I’m breaking the self-induced tradition of having them at home by instead choosing to have Ryan’s at a local park. There’s a pavilion there, complete with grills, electrical outlets and nearby bathrooms, plus a large playground for Alyssa and Ryan to play on. I’m thinking packing the food in a cooler, using disposable plates, cups and utensils, and not having a house to prep and then clean up. WHOO HOO!

Sidenote: here are Ryan’s photos from his last three birthdays. (Try not to stare too long at the delicious birthday cake, or you’ll be needing industrial strength scales!)

We did a pool party two years ago, and it was an absolute hit. For less than $200 I was able to rent the pool out just for us for about three hours. Financially we could probably do that again. The only downside is the kids — and even the adults — being distracted by the presence of the pool. But still, I think it would be SO awesome to go ahead and have a pool party for Ryan’s birthday.

So… opinions? The advantage of having a pool party is, first of all, having a pretty cool setup for Ryan’s fourth (yes, FOURTH) birthday. For a price I can rent the pool out just to us. There is a large covered pavilion, and I’m pretty sure there’s a grill available. And if there isn’t, we can just pick up pizzas (like we did for the pool party) or bring in party trays (like we did for Ryan’s third birthday).

Help a girl out… I only have two or so weeks to decide, since at that point I would need to pay for the pool reservation!

Happy Birthday darling! Mommy loves you! ♥