Benaiah’s First Birthday, Celebrations Galore, and 12 Mile Runs

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Hey there friends! I hope you all had a fabulous, three day weekend. Ours was filled with celebrations, left and right as we took time to celebrate Benaiah’s birthday and Landon’s grandparent’s sixty-sixth wedding anniversary! I hope you have a steamy cup of coffee ready, this weekend recap is going to be a long one…

Let’s go all the way back to Friday

Friday (Benaiah’s Birthday)

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As I was deciding what to make, Benaiah for his special birthday breakfast, I decided on blueberry waffles. He loves blueberries and last time I made waffles, he seemed to enjoy those too. Win, win, right? Growing up, my family made our birthdays super special. We would have a ‘birthday eve’ movie night (the birthday person got to choose the movie) then we would pick a special breakfast (usually my mom’s homemade cinnamon rolls) and then we would plan out our day. Normally, the birthday child chose an acitvity (i.e. going to the mall, getting a manicure, going ice skating, etc.) we would go out for lunch, and then end the day of celebration of with the birthday person’s favorite dinner and dessert. Obviously, birthdays were a big deal in my house and I wanted to keep the tradition going. Since our little man isn’t quite at the ‘planning the entire day out’ for himself stage, I helped him out 😉

First, things first. Waffles.

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After breakfast, Benaiah naturally requested a run 😉 so I gave in. We set off in the gorgeous weather and completed four miles in no time.

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I was also super excited about trying out my new shoes.

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Brooks Launch 4s, complete with motivational laces. I’m in LOVE. After stretching and singing songs, I refueled with my go to, post run smoothie, and banana snacked on some watermelon.

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Don’t mind the messy mirror.

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When it’s your first birthday, it’s okay to have a second breakfast, right? After my breakfast and Benaiah’s snack, we had quiet time and then left for our morning adventures.

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We hit up the library first and then strolled downtown. On our way to our favorite donut shop, I noticed the sidewalks filled with encouraging sayings. I don’t know who painted the sidewalks with countless, positive words, but I approve. This one was one of my favorites.

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Eventually, we made it to our destination, and immediately grabbed two freshly made donuts. I am convinced I need a candle that smells like the inside of this bakery. It smells amazing.

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After our donut run, we walked further toward the park and spent time laughing and swinging. While we were there, someone got asked to homecoming, complete with flowers. I thought it was super cute and Benaiah couldn’t stop laughing, haha!

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After the park, we spent the rest of the day having an ‘attempted nap time,’ apparently when you turn 1, you are too cool for nap time. Instead of sleeping, we played around the house while I finished our chicken salads for lunch. Benaiah ate a little of his roasted broccoli, turkey burger, and watermelon before he had his first bit of donut.

It’s safe to say he enjoyed it. We only allowed him to have a couple bites, but it was cute to see his expressions.

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Birthday treat mission: accomplished.

Again, nap time did not happen in the afternoon, so we had ‘quiet time’ instead (i.e Benaiah played in his crib, while mom worked on time-sensitive projects.)

After Benaiah woke up (eh, got up) we played with blocks and got an easy dinner ready.

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Shortly after dinner, it was time for CAKE! My favorite kind of cake is ice cream cake – so for Benaiah’s birthday, I decided to make a healthified version. It turned out surprisingly well and he loved it!

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He even shared some with dad 😉

Benaiah went to bed easily, after his long day and Landon and I continued celebrating with a movie and popcorn.

Saturday

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Saturday morning came way too quickly and our planned 12 mile run turned into a lazy morning instead. We worked on the house, prepped food, and finished right before Benaiah’s birthday guests arrived!

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Since our place is pretty small, we kept it to our immediate family, plus my grandma.

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My sister in law surprised me by coming and it was a blast to get the two cousins together. Although her arrival means my brother is now deployed, I am excited about this time that we get to spend together over the next months!

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Plus aren’t they adorable together?

We enjoyed lots of delicious food. I kept things simple and made shredded barbecue chicken, fruit salad, veggies and dip (thanks to my mom!) chips, and dessert, of course.

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I made my mom’s homemade ice cream cake recipe and it did not disappoint. I mean, how could you go wrong with ice cream?

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Along with a few cupcakes for good measure.

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We had such a blessed time, relaxing with family, opening presents, and celebrating Benaiah’s life with our family. It passed by way too quickly and shortly after an afternoon stroll, we said goodbye to our guests and spent the rest of the evening relaxing together.

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Sunday

Sunday, I officially took ZERO pictures, but we had a great day. Again, our 12 mile run was skipped (we slept in too late!). Instead of running, we headed out the door to church so I could get to worship team practice on time. After church and fellowship, we headed over to Landon’s grandparent’s for African food and Landon’s grandparent’s 66 wedding anniversary!

We had a blast, came home late, and went to bed early << which is one of my favorite things to do.

Monday (Labor Day)
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After two days of skipping our run, it felt SO GOOD to get up and move! Since Landon had a soccer game the morning of our planned long run, we decided to head to the game, so I could run half of the 12 miles with Benaiah while Landon played. Benaiah and I ended up running 6 miles together, before the game ended. Afterwards, Landon played with Benaiah so I could finish the other 6 miles.

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I was a little tired toward the end, but overall the run felt great and I was happy to have happy feet in my new shoes!

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Once we were home, we drank smoothies, stretched, cleaned up and Benaiah took a ‘nap.’ (Aka, he played in his crib) While he played I finished my current read (One Tuesday Morning by Karen Kingsbury – SO moving- literally I was crying at the end!) After that awesome crying session, we took a drive around our area and ended up at our in-laws for an impromptu dinner.

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Last night, all four generations of Thompson men were together, so obviously we had to get a picture!

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Landon and I finished off our three day weekend, with a quiet evening at home, once Benaiah was asleep, complete with a slice of ice cream cake.

I hope you guys have a fantastic Tuesday! Thanks for stopping by the blog today.

 

Questions of the Day 

  1. Are you reading anything currently? If so, what is it?
  2. What is your favorite kind of cake?
  3. What did you do for Labor Day?