Jake's birthday party

The party actually happened before Jake's birthday, so I'm out of order chronologically, but I felt it necessary to document his birth day first. :)

So, Saturday, Sept. 16th was your birthday party and we had so much fun! You've loved robots for as long as I can remember but you've also been really into Power Rangers this year, so I wasn't sure which party theme you'd go with. In the end, you picked Rescue Bots- with some Transformers thrown in 'cause there aren't really Rescue Bot decorations out there. I kept the party pretty simple- for me- but still had to do something somewhat big 'cause this is a milestone birthday. 

I designed the invitation and water bottle labels plus made the cake and cookies-- this was the majority of the heavy lifting I did. I bought balloons, of course, at Party City and purchased a printable party pack online for about $7, printed everything out and hung it up then added books & toys for decor. Pretty simple. 

 I needed a cake that was do-able and wouldn't leave too much leftover so a tiered cake with a character per tier was not in the cards. I told Jake I could do one character, he picked Chase. I added the picture of Jake's face when he saw his cake the morning of his party (I had finished it late the night before). I actually snapped it right after he made a wow face, but this was close enough. :) Then he wanted to pose with his dessert table. 

 The cookies were so labor intensive and I had so many left after the girls party that I decided to make only one batch (approx. 3 dozen) rather than two batches. And they flew off the plates! Go figure. Jake asked me to save some for him and it's a good thing I set a couple aside before the party or he would not have gotten any. 

 I loved how Jake's cake turned out and I kind of wish I would've written a '5' on his badge or 'happy birthday Jake' on the cake plate but I wasn't sure if I'd like it. And we all knew what the cake was for, so I opted out. :)

 Jake's spot

I made some jello (again b/c it was so popular at the girls') and cut up some fruit & veggies. The rest of the food was pizza & wings in part b/c Jake loves pizza but also it was simple and I couldn't think of anything else that went with a Rescue Bot theme anyway. I lined up the fruit trays to look like a robot and Jake thought this was really cool. The jello was Energon cubes, but I didn't take a picture of its tent card.

Almost everyone we invited came to the party, so it was fairly large but we still had a ton of pizza leftover! I think Jake was a little overwhelmed with all the people. He got excited when he saw his friends but as the crowd grew I almost think he didn't know what to do and how to hang out with EVERYone! After the party ended he wanted everyone to come back. 

Jake and his best buddy Daniel

Time for presents and cake! Jake was ready for this! 

And a picture of your last night as a 4 year old! What a great party for our awesome Bo Baker. Happy 5th Birthday, Jakey, we love you!!!

Happy 5th Birthday Jake!

Oh my goodness, how did my little Jaker Bo Baker turn 5 years old already? You're getting so big so fast my sweet boy! We are so glad to have your sweet, silly little personality in our family. You bring so much joy with your wild stories, sweet words and loving hugs. 5 is bittersweet for me. It's still young and you have another year before school, but it kind of marks the end of the toddler years. The adorable, fun, do whatever you want all day years. You're still young and sweet and cute, but starting to growing out of that toddler cuteness.

last night as a 4 year old

You and Allie sure can fight but you're also starting to play so well together. You still play well with Maggie and are very good to her, but now that you and Allie are in MDO and Will & Maggie are doing school work or gone to tutorial, more of your time is spent with Allie. It's sweet to see the budding relationship you two have. Yes, you still tell some crazy stories, some of which make no sense, but they are funny. Aunt Rosi calls you Jake the entertainer. I love how complimentary you are, especially with me and your sisters, often calling us beautiful just out of the blue. I love you so much my Jakey Bakey and am so happy God made me your mommy.

Our 5 year old big boy!

You had a busy weekend with your party and birthday all in one! And while you didn't have the grand plans Maggie did for her birthday, you still picked some things to do and really enjoyed your day. Since your birthday fell on Sunday, we started at church, giving you a chance to play with your friends again, so that was nice. You chose CiCi's Pizza for lunch, so we headed there after service. Then you wanted to go shopping! You guys all really like shopping and picking out your gifts so that's what we've done the last couple years. You also had some birthday money, so you were able to buy a few more things over what we spent.

 The rest of the day was spent playing with all of your new things. I saved some cookies from your party (thank goodness 'cause they went quick!) and you had some cake too.  Then after dinner, daddy took you to the store for a couple treats- you picked two juices (tummy yummies) and starburst. 

It was a good day, a good weekend celebrating our special little Jakey. I love you so much Baker!!! Happy 5th Birthday!!!!!