Nate is 9!

Thankful for a healthy birthday and birthday party this year for Nathan! Last year we had to call off his party the morning of due to what ended up being a three day fever. So glad that him and all his family and buddies we wanted to have at his party were healthy!

So... NINE years old! Can't believe that next year we will be looking at double digits! (let's just forget that fact for now)

Check out the cute Star Wars cake!

At school he decided on bringing mini cinnamon rolls to celebrate (only just within the last few months has he taken to those).

His birthday this year actually fell on a Saturday, in which we had his birthday party! I made him pancakes and bacon for breakfast (his wish), followed by his party that started later that morning and went through the afternoon.

Again, we hit up Flipside (a bowling/bumper car/laser tag/arcade kind of place). Kind of a pricey place but one the boys enjoy going to every once and awhile. Plus, with missing the guy's birthday party last year we felt he deserved a good one this year!

With Aaron and his buddies Mons and Ben

Pizza time

Too busy mingling and running the party to get many pictures . Baby P even did well being out for awhile, took a catnap at least!

Once we got home we opened gifts and Nate spent the rest of the short day , then, playing with what he got. I think he was just so happy he got to have a party more than anything else!

Some facts about our newly nine year old!

--Not a lot has changed in the diet area :p Still prefers kid food. He's branched out more and has gotten lunch at school some. I'm glad at least there's variety and healthy choices (more so now) with that. He no longer wants the main protein I used to have to pack everyday -- PBJ--and other than chicken nuggets doesn't eat much meat (oh wait, pepperoni and bacon). In fact, neither of my boys eat much meat! (Aaron only eats bacon & some pepperoni) Drinks milk by the buckets still, though. If he had his way it would be Pop Tarts for breakfast, maybe some mac & cheese for lunch and pizza for dinner :p

--Appreciates saving and earning money more so now. As I mentioned last year, Nate saved money to put towards Disneyland tickets. This year, for his birthday, he wants to save money to put towards Legoland tickets. I'm glad he's saving $ for things like that than toy after toy, after toy...

--Still my protective, follow the rules little adult. That's okay, I'd rather have that than a troublemaker! He's definitely the anti-troublemaker.

--This last year has lost many teeth! Few on the bottom, 3-4 on the top I think.

--Has two good buddies, Mons and Ben.

--Likes Kids Bop CD's - kids singing modern day songs.

--Also likes video games. Got a Wii for Christmas and some extra games for his birthday. Now a weekend activity some with daddy.

--Favorite subject is Science. He was excited to get some science kits for his birthday,too. Least favorite : probably anything to do with writing!

--Likes Angry Birds games. Daily electronic time and that's what he does.

--I';m glad he still enjoys playing with Aaron, and Preston too. I hope that lasts for a long, long time. One reason why I don't have the boys signed up for much outside of school - taking advantage of them WANTING to be around each other and just PLAY! They both get irritable if they don't have that down time.

--He might hit me for this later - but he's STILL fascinated with bathrooms! :) This has been a thing for a long time as well. Well, not so much for bathrooms but the toilets that are in them. The maker, how it flushes, if it works, etc. Boys! Though my boys do have their engineering "want to fix it" vibe that they surely got from Josh.

--Is still in Cub Scouts. He's starting to say he doesn't want to be in it anymore, but we'll see. Next year Aaron will officially be able to join, which I think he wants to do. It sort of feels like he's already been a scout since he has joined Nate on so many activities already!

--Was in Running Club. It just ended for the season. He decided, though, that he didn't want to partake in any of the races this year. Perhaps he was just in it for the donut party at the end. Oh well, it was an activity that involved exercising so that was a plus. Have to admit, mama is kind of ready to be done with 7:40am practice a few times a week now (zzzzzzz).

--Continues to be a long, lean boy. All of the boys in general.

--Still concerned about our "schedule" and activities planned, haha! Oh I can just hardly wait for Spring Break to be here so he asks about what we're doing all day, everyday for two weeks! :p

--At the point where I think he (and probably Aaron) are wanting another dog. I have to say, Nate has definitely become more responsible. But, I'm just not sure yet we want that for our family. I would almost still want to wait until baby P is more independent, too, before I add on something else to possibly take care of.

--Enjoys being outside. I feel like I'm forever going to say that.We just acquired this table so the boys both like eating outside on it. They both also love riding their bikes together.

I'm thinking that's a lot of things in a nutshell! Can't believe we've been parents for nine years, how did he get so old?!