Last updated on April 11th, 2020 at 09:34 pm
How can it be six years already since I became a parent?
My boy turned six years old and with it we had a LEGO birthday party celebration with our family and friends in America, like we do each summer.
In some ways it feels like I have been a parent for a lifetime and in other ways it still feels so new to me. I learn as they grow and together as family we do our best in our roles as parents/children/partners. Life’s journey is that much more magical when you have loved ones to share it with and I am so grateful for my two kiddos in tow too. While it’s only been six years of parenting and family adventures, I like to think we have done a good job the last six years. He is happy, he is smart, he is thriving and he is handsome as hell. Oh wait, I am bias on the latter but I like to take half the credit there too.
In the six years of being my little boy’s mother I have had some normal challenges as a parent and some extra health added challenges along the way. While somedays I feel like I can’t keep up with his ailments and keep him alive. But he is – alive! He is here and I have tried my best to be the doctor mom I didn’t ask to be but became because he needed me to be. While it will continue to be a battle to WIN I will continue to try my best for him.
So we put the challenges aside and we celebrate his sixth birthday in America. Each summer, we spend our time in the states in various cities, towns, and in the mountains at my parents. It’s the part of the year I look forward to the most. It’s the part of the year we do the most. Oh, the memories we make there together too. This means my son’s birthday will always be in America. While we just had celebrated MM’s fourth birthday celebrations in the UK before we left we still include her on the presents and cake in America because my whole family comes home to catch up and see both kids and celebrate with them both. (I know kinda of not fair she gets two celebrations so we focused slightly more on B this year since she already had her birthday).
I don’t think my son minds sharing his birthday party with his sister. They share everything else anyways and half the time they want the same present for their birthday or christmas so we just get one and they share so for them it’s like getting double the presents. Who doesn’t love that as a kid?
They choose a LEGO themed birthday party this year both being so obsessed with LEGOS. My mother went out of her way once again with her amazing cake skills. She can make anything I swear. It was a confetti vanilla layered cake LEGO sensation. 
Not that my LEGO marshmallow pops came even close to her cake, they still came out tasty and fun treat to add to the party decor and menu. The kids loved help make them and especially building the box for them too.
The kids with their cousins went swimming, jumping on the trampoline (Grandparents birthday present), playing endless garden games: sack race, spoon/egg race, bean bag toss, ball/string toss, horse shoes, bubble blowing, and even a balloon animal competition was held. Phew, we played hard, we laughed a lot and the kids had the best time and received the coolest presents.
It’s hard to have the guilt of not having the kids play with their school friends all summer or have their school friends at their parties each summer. Sometimes I worry as they get older this will become a bigger issue, one I don’t know if I am ready to be the bad guy in. But until then, I will make the most of their celebrations in America while we are here each summer. I think spending it with my side of the family and all their cousins is just as special, if not more. I hope they see this as they grow up. I hope they love being apart of my country, my culture, and my side of the family here as much as they love theirs back in the UK (and of course in Ireland too). I always want to make sure they know all their family in all three countries and all their cultures they are apart of. It’s what being an expat is all about.
I hope you all have enjoyed our expat adventures on ig stories this summer, on my instagram feed, and over social media and our blog here too. Don’t forget to keep watch for many more vlogs on our channel to come once we get home and settled and more days out adventures to share here on LTM.
Hope you all had a good summer? Did you like our LEGO themed birthday party this year? Check out our PAW Patrol themed birthday party last year? Or perhaps their Circus Birthday Party the year before? It was my favorite still to this day!
Happy 6th Birthday Buba!
Happy birthday little man! The party looks amazing lovely, hope you’ve had a great summer xx
this looks like so much fun!!
That is class. Such an effort you made. I think your pops still look amazing.