The Baden Family: Jacob's 4th Birthday Party!!!

We had a "dino-mite" time celebrating Jacob's 4th birthday with our family and friends!!!

Planning a dinosaur-themed party was so much fun, and I found lots of cute (and surprisingly easy) ideas on Pinterest. Jacob loved the little party hats we made the dinosaurs! I gradually put decorations up throughout the week (things take me twice as long these days for some reason) and he was so excited about each addition!

I love these pictures of Lydia and Papa. She loved being in the middle of all the people and excitement!

These two and their pictures together just crack me up!!! We were so excited to have Zander and Megan come all the way from Kernersville to celebrate!

Jacob (and Lydia) were also so excited to have Baby Wade and Lewie at the party! Its no secret that I am not a dog person, and I'm espesically not a dog in my house person, but Jacob has been asking for months if Lewie could come to his party. He even told me, "Lewie is my very best pal!" How could I say no to that?

When I was scrolling through my pictures after the party, these next few made me tear up a little bit. Jacob just looks like such a big boy! This time last year, he was still sleeping in his crib, had just given up his paci, and was no where near being potty-trained. But when I look at these pictures, I see a little glimpse of the big boy he's becoming. And while we're so incredibly proud of how much he's grown, there's a teeny-tiny piece of me that feels a little sad. Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not sad that I won't be sending Jacob to kindergarten in diapers, which seemed like a real possibility for a while. And I'm not even sad that he's not a baby anymore. In fact, I'm actually really enjoying this preschool stage with him. I guess its just bittersweet to realize how quickly time goes by. When you're in the trenches of the day-to-day, its hard to see the big picture. I once heard someone say that it feels like the little years of parenting pass by in 5 minutes...5 minutes underwater, that is! :) And while I definitely relate to that, somehow I blinked and four years have passed. The days are long, but the years are short!

Four years down (almost) and the best is yet to come! We love you, Jacob!!!

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And a few other pictures from the past couple of weeks...