Hyrum's 3rd Birthday

I can't believe my baby is three! He has graced us with three years of fabulous laughs, never ending cuddles and, more recently, vocal "I huv oo" sentiments. His smile lights up the entire family.

Hyrum has some definite favorites and for his birthday I wanted to include all of them. So here's his blue, Elmo, strawberry, star, horse, cape, birthday bearing the name he has recently come to recognize in letter form, Hyrum.

The cake: Elmo with 4 layers of strawberry gooey goodness. I ended up with a 2 day hand/forearm cramp after doing all that "fur" on his cake but it was worth it!

I thought there could never be a kid who loved Elmo more than Nathan did . . . until Hyrum came along. He has three stuffed Elmo's of different sizes. For a kid who will not be babysat by the TV, Elmo can get his attention and I have about 12 minutes of uninterrupted shower time.


The gifts: blue, Samuel the Lamanite, star, Hyrum, cape, horse

Hyrum has no interest in letters (except the letter E - probably because of Elmo) but he LOVES colors. He knows a wide range of colors by sight and name but if there is ever a choice it is blue. Blue cup, blue shirt, blue blanket, blue crayons, blue books to read. He even fights with LeRoy when told that he has green eyes (it took 6 kids to finally give LeRoy his wish of a green eyed baby). He demands that his eyes are "byue yike mommy's an Hathan's". He also loves stars, especially if they are blue. He is always trying to wear one of Nathan's many capes and he gallops around pretending he is on a horse. Samuel the Lamanite is his favorite scripture hero. He has a poster of him above his bed; he hollers out in the middle of church when he finds a picture of Samuel in his scripture reader; he requires that we call him Samuel when he is in hero mode.



And here is a video recap


He had a rough time falling asleep after so much excitement and during the night he woke up with a scared cry. It was different than the sleepy whimpering that usually walks into our room and plops down on the floor next to my side of the bed. As I picked him up his little arms wrapped all the way around my neck and held on tight. After spending my evening reminiscing about his birth and remembering those three first weeks of spending my nights on the couch with him on my chest (the only way he would sleep at night) I couldn't just put him on the floor. I took him to the couch with me and we slept like we did three years ago. It was so nice to feel his heartbeat next to mine and to smell his freshly bathed hair and to feel his warm body covering my torso with his head tucked snugly in my neck and his little fingers wrapped around mine for security. I love holding him in my arms! Having a 19 year old has made me realize that these moments become fewer and fewer and they pass so quickly. I wanted to memorize every detail of my one on one quiet time with Hyrum, just like I did the night he was born. Needless to say I didn't sleep any more on the night of his third birthday than I did on the night of his birth but both of those nights will forever hold a memory of peaceful joy, pure love, and sweet contentment.