super birthday

mark turned 3 on january 6th. crazy how fast time flies. we had a super hero party for him and a few friends. i wasn't sure if mark would catch on to the whole birthday party thing. if he would get it that the party was in honor of him. well, he did. he told me that his most important wish is that his birthday can come again next week!

take note of the life-size cardboard superman with dave's face on it. we did not buy it in honor of the party. no, we of course own it.

these were the party planners, marla and her daughter, aubrey. i "won" a complete birthday party (set up and all) at a Relief Society service auction. so marla took care of everything: invitations, decorations, baking, etc...i felt a little guilty not being more involved, but it was so nice to not have to stress about the party at all.

here are the place settings. each kid got a party hat, a cape, a superhero mask, a "super snack" pack, and a juice box.

he was SO EXCITED for his superhero party.

all the activities were centered around superheroes: superhero training, exercises, super games, looking for superheroes, etc...here the "super birthday boy" is showing his super speed and running across a board.

my sister and her two boys were still in town so they were able to attend mark's party. this is isaac (melissa, correct me if i'm wrong) wearing his super cape.

for the kids party we served cupcakes!

the guests: oliver thibodeau

delaney jones

andrew and isaac black

garret hoyt

colton jones and sophie orullian

birthday boy!

here is the group shot. let's hear it for the boys! i love trying to get a good shot of kids together, so easy. :) anyways, here's the whole party. i didn't get a separate shot of cade jones, but he is sitting at the head of the table next to mark.

caleb liked being involved in the party affairs too.

after the kids party we had the family over for more presents and cake. we had grampy, grammy, hannah, the dungancs, and melissa and her boys. mark got SPOILED!!!

we love you birthday boy! (notice how mark is clutching his captain america action figure? he has slept with that toy all week.)

the super cake!

now that mark is three we do everything in 3's. we have to eat 3 cookies not 2. we take 3 bites of EVERYTHING off our plates. and when mommy says "mark, in one minute we need to leave" he responds, "no mommy, 3 more minutes. i'm 3 now, not 1." and he's right, my boy is three!

i remember the day he was born. i never officially recorded his birth story, let me reminisce for a minute:

it was a sunday morning at 8:00am when i woke up for 9am church. it was the first sunday of the new year, the week before church had been at 1pm, and i remember being grumpy that i had to get out of bed so early (man, to think there was a time when "early" was 8am). my back had hurt the whole night and i felt super sore. i was just over 38 weeks prego and very uncomfortable. i remember walking into the bathroom and noticing that my pjs were wet and being worried that, quite frankly, my pregnant bladder had contributed to me wetting the bed. further investigation proved, however, that this wasn't a pee problem and that potentially my water had broken. being a first time pregnant woman, and not wanting to go to the hospital only to be sent home disappointed, i refused dave's insistent pleas to call my dr. i did stay home from church and keep my feet up, on dave's orders. but the day came and went without any further labor signs.

the next morning, monday, i called my dr's office the moment it opened, at noon, and tried to get an appointment with my dr. at first they couldn't fit me in, until i confessed to the nurse that i thought my water had broken, and suddenly there was space for me to come in and get checked out. dave had left for work that morning, which left me without a car, so i had to call my visiting teacher, amy glasset, to come and pick me up. i didn't take my hospital bag with me to the hospital because i didn't want to alarm amy or jinks myself. so alone i entered dr. chen's office. he checked me out and found that yes, my water had partially broken and that i needed to get down to the labor and delivery room because mark was coming!

it was an emotional walk as i, ALONE, walked from dr. chen's to the labor and delivery section of the hospital. i was super excited to be in labor! yay! but it was NOTHING like i had planned. no dave to hold my arm as i walked in. to nurse with a wheel chair to wheel me into the room. it was just me, walking into the labor and delivery room. on the way to the hospital, one sweet old man on the elevator with me commented on my large belly and said "you're looking ripe. sure hope you don't go into labor right now until i'm off the elevator!" to which i replied "i am in labor". awesome. things got better in the labor and delivery room. i had a sweet nurse that treated me like a princess and totally pampered me, which made me feel so much better.

dave arrived about 30 minutes after i arrived in the labor and delivery room, and my mom and the dungans weren't far behind. funny side note, i called dave and my mom first to tell them i was in labor and didn't call the dungan's until dave arrived at the hospital; however, they had heard from my mom that i was at the hospital and by the time we called had actually already arrived at the hospital.

anyways, we were all excited for when mark would finally arrive, but he wasn't in any hurry. i arrived at the labor and delivery room at 4:00pm. at 7pm they "fully" broke my water. i started pushing at 10:30pm. i remember thinking right before the first push, "wow, my baby is coming right now! his birthday will be the 5th! how exciting." two hours later....nothing....two and a half hours later...mark finally appeared. let's just say i underestimated how hard pushing a baby out can be. but at last mark franklin anderson was born, 8lbs 4oz! he was so beautiful. he had thick dark hair, big cheeks, and large beautiful eyes. i was in love instantly.

i remember the next morning in the hospital, i couldn't wait to get him from the nurserey and see him. i remember how alert and beautiful his eyes were. i also remember sitting on the hospital bed, holding my baby, and glancing at my lap top. it was on hibernate and different photos from the past few years were flashing on and off the screen. i remember seeing some photos from my study abroad to italy. the photos were taken in venice. it had been a beautiful day. i was in st. mark's square feeding pigeons and having a blast with my friends. i remember how much fun i had had that day. how i felt like my life was perfect and that all my dreams of studying in italy had come true and that my life was complete. i remember sitting in the hospital bed, holding mark, and thinking how wrong i was then. dead wrong. italy, as wonderful as that experience was, was NOTHING compared to how it felt with mark in my arms. i remember thinking, "man, i had no idea back then that i was capable of having something so amazing as this baby."

i still feel that way. i feel luck to have this sweet boy in my life. he brings such joy and love into my life. it's hard to remember a day where he wasn't in my life. mark, sweetie, always remember mommy loves you.