Gratitude: Kid Birthday Parties Are Easier Than Labor

My dear friend Randy Hyde has been working on a happiness project that started with his 30 Day Experiment and has evolved into a 545 mile bike ride. He started it after seeing Shawn Anchor's TED Talk where he shares five daily tasks for finding happiness. You'll have to check out Randy's blog for all of the tasks, but one of them is identifying three things you're grateful for. This is one of the easier of the five for me, and after Kiara's second birthday I was feeling particularly grateful.

Kiara gets a kiss from Tavi, and a suburn...

#1 David and I survived the baby part.

Kiara has turned two and we have officially negotiated our first two years as new parents with varying degrees of success. Breastfeeding and sleep training are a distant memory and now it's terrible two toddler tantrums. Yep. Those are so much better than sore nipples and sleep deprivation. Grateful.

#2 Kiara is an extremely nice kid.

She played with her friends at her birthday party, and even though her mom forgot to apply sunscreen, she barely complained about her sunburn. Grateful.

Note to self:
Cupcakes means you don't need a cake.

#3 Planning a birthday party is so much better than going into labor.

Planning kid birthday parties isn't easy. There is the food and the cake and entertainment. There are the comparisons I cannot help myself from making to the wide variety of friend birthday celebrations we attend. We tried to keep it simple, but in the end it was still a lot of work. But I wouldn't trade this for labor. Nope. So much easier. Grateful.

If anyone has any hints for simple kid parties, David and I would love to hear them.

TBT: Once, I Was A Party Planner

This week, D and I have been pulling together Kiara's first birthday party and it really took me back. Before Pinterest and helium shortages, we used to throw some parties and post pictures of them on Kodak Gallery. Oh, how times have changed. So, for Throwback Thursday, here are a few images from a few of the events we planned together pre-K.

"Time of My Life" Prom complete with balloon arch, photo station, and dance floor.

Those were the times of our lives, apparently. Now there's a helium shortage!

We introduced the world to pineapple vodka for David's birthday. 

This image does not capture the crazy that night got.

Italian dinner in Highland Park was a birthday celebration but today it is remembered as:

The Night Camille Joined the Family.

I made a couple of Dodger cakes for David's birthdays.

But I think all of this party business might have started with Thanksgiving desserts...

and that led to flowers...

and then there is the love for wine and cheese...

Some great times with amazing friends; good food and tasty drinks. Surely there are more celebrations to plan, they will just be of a different sort (kid birthday parties).