Shannonogans: Levi turns 5

It was so fun to celebrate the first birthday with Levi in our family. While he didn't have a ton of friends, he kept seeing the same families via church, etc. So we invited the whole crew on his actual birthday, August 13th. It was a fun, hot, celebratory day.

Shane started a trend with each child, with Levi being the first. He would take them to a dinner of their choosing, then off to Toys R Us to choose a gift. He took one for the team and took Levi to the one place he asks about all the time, Chilis. He must have seen it on a commercial because everytime we drive to Waco and pass the one out in Cypress he screams at the red chili and asks if we can go. I couldn't stomach doing it, so Shane gleefully said yes. They ate queso, pizza, lemonade, and everything in between. Shane said he felt sick the next day, and Levi came home literally bouncing off the walls and doing behavior I hadn't seen since we first got him. He had slowly been detoxing since coming to our place and eating clean food. The sugar high and high quality dining set him back a night. ha!

There are still stories about how fast Shane's car could go. Ahem. And how Levi wanted this $100 toy at Toys R Us that Shane quickly hid on the top shelf. Levi thought someone bought it by the time they got back, so he came home with a nerf gun instead. Sweet Shane.

Justin and Lexi went with daddy to pick out their own gifts for Levi. I loved their excitement for him opening it.

The best I could do before he woke up on his first birthday with his forever family! The weekend prior I had stayed at the Houstonian with Wendi, Jenise, & Tracy for a girls' weekend while Wendi was in town one last time. Lots of eating, renting a Nicholas Sparks' movie in the room, ordering cookies at 5pm, shopping, eating, and sleeping in. Seems like so long ago!

I rolled back to reality to host a party the next day.

Wearing the favors for the party while opening birthday gifts.

Spiderman is back!

Levi wanted a superhero theme, as well as a Halloween costume. Win win.

Daddy finally let the boys get a battery-powered vehicle. Derek is all about the bikes, not something that doesn't encourage exercise. So the compromise was that Grandpa & Grandma could buy it, and it would stay at their house in Waco. Done.

Surprise!

Had to find one big enough so that Justin, already being so tall, could drive it a few more years.

The invite

No one went hungry

Still taking turns driving

The favors, the masks. I loved these that I found from Etsy.

Bottle labels...never again. Didn't fit right on my generic bottles, and were sensitive to the wet ice. Lesson learned. I think I was in my "first birthday" phase, like when you plan a party for the one year old. I wanted Levi to feel loved. He did...without the water bottles.

I busted out the hat that Justin wore last year as we had our waffle, egg, and turkey sausage breakfast.

The superhero pinata, a mix of all superheroes with a capital L.

The reason we bought this last summer was for the boys two parties. Worth every penny and so much fun! We used it all summer!

Smaller pool for the younger ones

And we played

The mommas chatted, wore masks, and ate well

Levi was so excited that baby Daniel was there.

Trying our turn at the pinata. Lexi somewhat disappeared a lot at the party. The crowd made her wary and overwhelmed. She decided on a "family only" party come March after too much fun in August.

Levi swinging as hard as he could

Daniel gave it a shot. We had everyone in order of size and age.

Always 110%. It's genetic and can't be helped.

We were left with a headless horseman

I loved everyone singing for Levi. MY LEVI. I am so proud to be his mommy.

They messed up on the name but fixed it with two exclamation points.

Maddie stopped by to help celebrate

Masked man alert

Mommy madness. Check us out here

We finally just turned off the water

Love sweet Titus and his smile!

Levi couldn't wait to show John David and Braden his new car

The night after Levi's birthday we took the kids to Benihana. Justin siad he didn't love it, but the other four of us did.

Love you too

Birthday boy! We sat next to a family that had an only child and had always wondered about adoption. No coincidence they were sitting next to us! It was such a fun experience and I was surprised at how full it was on a Tuesday.