We have a 5 year old!

Yesterday our baby boy turned 5. It was a BIG DAY! I was dreading it and all it means (Kindergarten, showering like a big boy, etc.) because I don't think I'm ready to just have a house full of big kids. And while I realize that 5 is not adulthood and is still very young. It is mostly just sad to me that my BABY, my youngest child, is not a "preschooler" anymore. 5 is when things get real. 5 is when, for my older kids at least, schools starts and homework starts and exposure to things I don't want them exposed to starts. But enough about how I feel about Easton turning 5. Here is his Birthday post...

So far Easton LOVES being 5. He is embracing taking showers like a big boy and he likes to brag that he doesn't "goof around" like his older brothers do when they take showers. He chose to eat a banana today for a SNACK (that's a big deal if you know him well) and he claims it's because he is a big boy now and eats big boy foods. When he's 7 he tells me he will start eating vegetables. So I guess I have something to look forward too.

For his Birthday we got him a new "big boy" bike. He has been riding the same trike since he was 2 1/2 and it was getting too small for him. Plus, the big kids and I have been going on bike rides around the neighborhood nearly every day for the past few weeks and he was having a tough time keeping up on his scooter. Along with the bike we got him some Indiana Jones paraphernalia. Since seeing that movie for the first time on Tay's Birthday he as been obsessed. He wears his Grandpa Martinez' old fishing hat everywhere and he uses my belts as whips. In his mind, he is Indiana Jones. So why not get him a legit leather whip and an Indiana Jones bag filled with a cap gun, a hand grenade, a rubber snake, a harmonica and an Indiana Jones book? He spent the morning before breakfast riding his bike around and man he looked so stinkin' cute!

Then, after a breakfast of sausage, bacon (yes, I cook flesh for my children on their Birthdays. It's yucky but whatever) cinnamon rolls and OJ, we got ready to take him to see Godzilla at the dollar theater. He has wanted to see that movie since he saw the first preview. Kendrick saw it when it first came out and suggested that we wait until it was in the dollar theater in case Easton got bored or scared and didn't make it through. Oh, he made it through alright. He loved it! After the movie, while we were in the bathroom he declared, "At first I was proud of the other monsters but then I changed my mind and decided to be proud of Godzilla. I think he is a good monster. We should call Cha Cha Godzilla..."

After the movie we took Easton to spend his Birthday money and choose a new bike helmet. I am in love with the one he chose! He looks so cute in it. When we arrived home, we were greeted by a decorated garage for our Birthday boy. Our sweet neighbors went all out and put streamers and posters all over it. Easton and our neighbor, Dean are best friends. Never mind that Dean is 46 and Easton is 5. Easton loves Dean more than any other friend and he is constantly begging to go over there and visit him. It's cute to watch really.

Later that evening we headed up Millcreek Canyon with my parents to BBQ and play around in the mountains. The kids had a blast playing in the creek and games of Go Fish with their Grandma. Kendrick and I took Jack for a mini hike and Jack and I had a blast playing on some big rocks and seeing how far we could each jump. After dinner we toasted marshmallows and then headed home. I gave Easton the choice: Birthday cupcakes, doughnuts, cookies or s'mores since we would be in the mountains and we needed to do something easy and he chose s'mores. He also chose those huge marshmallows and 4 different kinds of chocolate. Our boy LOVES s'mores.

At the end of the day as we were slowly getting ready for bed and puttering around I peeked in on Easton playing with his new Birthday toys and he said, "I sure had a good Birthday mom." I said, "I'm glad baby. I sure love you." To which he replied, "I sure love you more my beautiful mama!"
YOU see!? You see why I don't want this boy to grow up? I know my days of having a sweet little guy who adores his mom more than anything are numbered and someday he will be a pre-teen and then a teenager and he'll be moody with me most of the time, then he'll be off on a mission and go to college and then he'll meet the girl who he really thinks is the most beautiful girl in the world and all I will have left is the memory of when he was little and he thought I was the most beautiful girl in the world.
I guess I'll just have to cherish every single day between now and then.

Happy Birthday Easton Lee. You sure are loved!