Three Years.

That phrase has entered my daily speech a lot lately.

"David and I are moving to England for three years!"

But more importantly, "I can't believe it has already been three years. I feel like I was pregnant and sick with him yesterday!"

March 25, 2008. 9:16pm. Maxwell Stewart Ingham (finally!) broke free and entered our world.

Three years. THREE YEARS. Time really does fly, doesn't it? That thought both consoles and terrifies me. While I am excited about our move overseas, I rest assured that three years will go by in an instant and we'll be "home" again soon. Yet at the same time, the thought of the next three years of Maxwell and Darian's lives flashing by in a heartbeat makes me want to cry. My babies. They definitely aren't babies anymore. Maxwell is three. THREE. I can't even believe it. And just the other day at dinner, David said to Darian, "Sweetie, I don't like that you are growing up. You're eating real food all the time now, and that means less pizza for Dadda."

I made it my mission to make Maxwell's third birthday party not just a party, but a BASH. A rumpus, if you will. And a rumpus we had! We had too many people and too little space to try and do something at home, and while parks are great, they are not very intimate. We decided that since this was going to be the last party we hosted for a while, we'd go all out. We rented out the playplace at Amy's indoor playground, prepared a feast befitting all walks of dinosaur appetites, and we prepared to RUMPUS, dinosaur style!

Maxwell loves Amy's, as do all his little friends, so it was the perfect place for our big boy's birthday rumpus and our last big gathering in CA for a while. We hosted family at home beforehand so that they could see Maxwell open their gifts. (And secretly because I needed helpers to get ready!!) Maxwell ooh'd and aah'd over all his new dinosaur goodies and books and toys. Thank you ALL!

The party went by in a blur. I played hostess and made sure that people had a chance to make their dinosaur fossil necklace before they left.

We feasted on Carnivore Cravings, Herbivore hors d'oeuvres, the Omnivore Original and Toddlersaurus Treats (Apatosaurus shaped PBJs!).

The cake was so fun and super yummy, but even the birthday boy preferred a Pterandon Nest!

As the party started to wind down and our guests began to leave, I couldn't stop the tears from coming. These were goodbyes to friends and family that I would certainly see again before we left, but as I stood and watched Maxwell's face light up as all of these wonderful people smiled and laughed and sang Happy Birthday, I felt so fortunate to have developed such a strong support system of friends and loved ones. We are so lucky to have you all in our lives, and I am thankful for each and every one of you.

But the biggest goodbye was still looming overhead. With each hug and thank you, I knew I was one hug closer to the big one: saying goodbye to David for the next four weeks. And then...moving to England for THREE YEARS.

(A huge thank you to all our friends and family who came to the party. We had a blast!)