Tuesday Tidbits, Edition 2

I finally meet my new little niece on Saturday. To demonstrate just how long I've been waiting for Daniel and Erika to have a baby, I present the gift I've had for them ever since the summer of 2009. I got it before they were married. Every time we move I make sure it's in our "to be driven in the car for safekeeping" box. 

The pacifier was AB's addition. Of course.

Ivy is still under the lights for jaundice and can only be taken out to eat, but Mom and I got to hold her for a few minutes before she went back in her little bed. She's such a cute little munchkin. I told Christopher she's the perfect size to stick in my purse. He said kidnapping is illegal/wrong/etc etc etc. That's why I never include him in my plans to permanently borrow children. I don't need that kind of negativity. 

While I've been making plans to keep Ivy, my current child is having the time of her life at Grammy and Grampy's. She visits Grampy at work, eats snacks at Memere's and calls every baby she sees Baby Ivy. She visited with her cousins on Sunday and held little Weston. It was her first time holding a baby and she couldn't have been happier. She didn't care that he was screaming the entire time. 

Our anniversary is this Friday. Unlike our wedding buddies William and Kate, we will not spend it touring the Taj Mahal. Chances are we won't even be together so I'll probably spend the evening of the 29th touring Pinterest. I should use the time between now and Friday to find Christopher an anniversary gift. The traditional fifth anniversary is wood. I've known that's the category for the last year but that doesn't mean I have a gift yet. Too bad the traditional gift isn't a onesie. I'm an expert in that category.

I'm back with more words than ever

Well. It has been a while.

How are you? How's the family?

Usually when I disappear from the old blawg it's because absolutely nothing worth nothing has happened. I can only write about going to story time or grocery shopping so many times. This time I have a good reason for my unintended break- we've become world travelers. Or more accurately, eastern United States travelers. We left home last Thursday and have been going ever since.

As usual, I tried packing light but I failed. It takes all my strength to pull the suitcase into each new hotel. I think AB was trying to give hints about packing less when she was taking things out of the suitcases as I put them in. Christopher couldn't come because of work but he probably would have only packed four articles of clothing and a toothbrush.

Our first stop was Columbus, Ohio to visit our good friends Michelle and Gracie. Gracie was a perfect angel who sat on the couch giggling at nothing. My child spent the visit unpacking Michelle's yarn, taking all the toys out and getting cracker crumbs on the floor. We didn't have nearly enough time together so we're planning a visit for my birthday. We'll have some wild times out by the kiddie pool. You may recall the time my car was broken into during our first visit to Columbus. During our second visit something from the car in front of me flew into my car which resulted in needing a new bumper. I expected a car issue this visit so I wasn't surprised when the malfunction indicator light came on as soon as I left Michelle's house. Ohio hates my car. 

You'd never know by looking at this that A & G are (supposed to be) best friends.
They like to keep their enthusiasm under wraps.

The main reason for our cross-country tour was my cousin's wedding outside of Nashville. It was held outdoors at a mansion and was absolutely delightful. At one point during the ceremony the officiant started to pray so I told Annabelle to fold her hands. She thought I wanted her to pray so she folded her hands and said, "Dear Jesus. Thank you for my food and my grandma." I'm glad my lessons on prayer are sinking in but I guess it's time we focus on when to not pray out loud.

As soon as the dancing started after the reception twenty people rushed to the dance floor. Nineteen of them were my close relatives. We've got moves and we aren't afraid to show them.

Spending quality time with her constant dance partner, Mr. Lion.

Next up on our tour was a quick visit to Fort Campbell, our former home. I know a lot of people don't like being stationed there but I did. I know where everything is in Clarksville, we made wonderful friends there and it's where we had Sesame. I was extremely sentimental during the whole visit. Sweet Tiffany let us and our 8 bags spend two nights at her immaculate house. AB found a piece of styrofoam and when she wasn't putting it in her mouth ("I eating snow, Mama!") she spread it around the house. You know what I hate cleaning up? Little pieces of styrofoam. Tiffany is having a baby boy in September so we had a little baby shower for her last night. I'm so sad I won't get to meet him right away. So many friends who live far away are having babies right now. I need people to consult me before getting pregnant so I can schedule my life around their due dates.

SPEAKING OF BABIES. In January Daniel told me Erika was pregnant. I cannot fully convey my excitement. I've been waiting for them to have a baby ever since October 24th, 2009 aka the day they got married. I have been planning their baby shower since they got engaged. I've even had a gift for that long. When I found out my dream was coming true I did the following:

1. screamed

2. kicked party planning into high gear

Erika's due date is May 19th so the plan was to drive from Tennessee to Massachusetts and have her baby shower on April 30th. I have never been so excited about a new baby. Quite possibly I'm more excited about this baby than I was about my own baby the day she was born. (People don't admit if the day their baby was born wasn't the best day of their life but I am. I'll even start a group if anyone wants to join.) I was bummed about not being able to see her right when she's born but I was planning on making a trip down in June.

BABY IVY WAS BORN THIS MORNING.

On an excitement scale of 1 to 10 I'm somewhere around 570.

She's just shy of a month early and mostly healthy but she's in the NICU for precautionary reasons. I've seen pictures and she was wearing a hat with a flower bow so obviously I'm a very proud aunt. We were planning on leaving Tennessee today anyway but this big news kicked us into high gear. When Mom was talking to Daniel this morning he said, "There's no need to rush back." AS IF WE AREN'T GOING TO SPEED THE WHOLE WAY. 

Thursday Tidbits

Christopher has been gone for work all week so AB and I have been flying solo.

The last time Christopher was gone Sesame was quite a bit younger (which is generally how time works) so it was the first time she's really known he's gone. She asks about him some and wants to read her Daddy photo book but other than that she's not too torn up about him not being here. She thinks he's still at the airport since that's the last place she saw him. If I leave her the world crumbles down around her.

Thankfully the week has sailed by smoothly. Usually things go wrong when I'm in charge of the house but the worst that has happened so far is the refrigerator leaked. Half a roll of paper towels and three bath towels later I had things under control. Speaking of under control, on Tuesday every single piece of laundry in my house was clean. ALL OF IT. The Lord as done great things in our midst.

I'm not a fan of cosleeping, but last night we had a little cuddle session. She's such a love bug when she's not asking if I have a belly button.

I love when Annabelle and I wear matching clothes but we have exactly one matching outfit. I found a Captain America shirt in her size on a rare trip to Target and snatched it up. I've sat through all 527 Avengers/Iron Man/etc etc etc movies but I'm not much of a super hero person. The only exception is Cpt. America. I do enjoy him.

(If Channing Tatum was a super hero I'd wear his shirt.)

(Just saying.)

party at the 100 Acre Woods

I'm coming to you live from Party Recovery City, USA. 

As happens every single time I host a party, I plan for weeks to avoid any stress but I still end up running around like a crazy chicken the 24 hours leading up to the event. It's an art I've perfected over the years. 

We talked about it being a Pooh Bear party for weeks but I got a little worried it wasn't Pooh enough. Christopher saved the day by ordering Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet stuffed animals and telling Sesame that some of Pooh's friends wanted to come to the party too. She was so excited we could have canceled the party. All she needed were the stuffed animals and balloons to make her day. 

Don't let the sunshine and open window fool you. It was a brisk 22*. It should never be below 50* in April. It just isn't right.

I insisted we needed signs for all the food. The vegetable platter was from Rabbit's garden, the pink lemonade was Piglet's punch and the calzones were Kanga's pouch.

A sweet moment with Grampy before her friends arrived. She was somewhat of a party pooper. She cried and fussed for the first 45 minutes. She sat on her rocking horse in the corner and watched all her friends play. She came alive once I got her food. Like mother, like daughter. 

She was 10000x more enthusiastic about her cake this year than she was last year. Last year just looking at it made her cry. This year she stuck her finger right in.

Her favorite gifts were a tutu dress and tea set. Personally I'm excited about the tea set because she accidentally broke half of my tiny cappuccino set while having a tea party.   

Now the party's over and all that's left are a pile of deflating balloons and 1/3 of a birthday cake. I hate wasting food so I guess it's responsible to have a slice as an evening snack. I'll (re)start my diet next week.