Well, I am officially the mom of a five year old!

While it’s crazy to believe that Finn came into the world five years ago, I can confidently say that the last 1,826 days have been full of more blessings and love than I ever dreamed possible for my life. (Finn wanted to know how many days it had been since he was born so I asked Siri :P) Every age and stage has been so special in its own way.

Five feels like a significant milestone where we are crossing from the baby/little kid phase of life into big boy status. While I can’t say it hasn’t been an emotional roller coaster (definitely cried some tears after preschool drop off on his birthday), more than anything I am really happy and proud to be Finn’s mom. I’m excited for all that’s to come in this next stage of life!

Here’s how we celebrated the official day!

I ordered a birthday yard sign from Creative Yard Cards Charlotte and they absolutely nailed it. I chose a Cars theme and they came and set it up around 10:30p on his birthday eve so Finn woke up to see it on his birthday. He came out in his PJs and said, “Oh my god. Is that literally Lightning McQueen?”

I also had presents, balloons and a birthday sign hung up. Of course the balloons were one of his favorite things of the whole day. They were moved all over the house and many balloon fights were had.

You get to be the leader at preschool on your birthday and the leader brings snack for the class. Finn chose OMG Donuts for his birthday snack for the second year in a row. Everyone loved them!

Preschool drop-off was so sweet – all of the teachers were making a big deal about his birthday and he was smiling from ear to ear.

If you’re wondering why he wore his bathing suit to school – it was beach day! How fun that his birthday fell on a fun water/outdoor themed day at school. They had a great day!

I baked a birthday cake from scratch for the first time in…I can’t remember how long? Really need to get myself back into baking more because I enjoy it so much when I do. Finn is all chocolate, all the time so I decided to try Joy the Baker’s “Everybody’s Favorite Chocolate Cake.”

Oh my goodness. This is the most decadent chocolate cake that I have ever baked. It is DELICIOUS and I 10/10 recommend. The cake batter is pretty standard for chocolate cake – cocoa, buttermilk, coffee, flour, sugar, etc but the icing is something else. It has THREE sticks of butter, cocoa powder, chocolate Ovaltine, heavy cream, peanut butter and more. The fluffy texture is perfection. This whole cake is perfection and I’ll definitely be baking it again.

The only change I made to the recipe was to use three 8-inch round cake pans instead of two 9-inch. I just love a taller triple layer cake.

My “chosen family” (Dorie, her daughter Natalie and Virginia) came over for an evening birthday celebration. I ordered pizza and salad from Hawthorne’s.

While our party may have been missing other kids, Finn had a great time being the center of attention, opening gifts and playing with all of his toys. Natalie was the very first babysitter Finn ever had when he was a baby and he adores her. She’s been off at college and he asks about her all the time.

And it was really special for me to have the people who have been by my side for the last five years, and a huge part of Finn’s life, celebrating along with us.

Thanks for being here for it all!