The anniversary of the day my life began

Seven years ago tonight, I became a mother.  Seven years ago, my entire world changed.  For the better.

As I tucked her in to bed tonight, I told Annabelle once again the story of the night she was born.  How I waited anxiously all day.  How it was such an easy labor that I even napped in the afternoon.  How Aunt Beth and Erin flew all the way from Kuwait, arriving only 2 hours before she was delivered.  I only pushed once and out she came – she was easy right from the start.  She was an almost-9-pound baby, which is ironic considering how petite she is now.  I told her how I slept with her in my arms for days, because I loved her so much I couldn’t tear myself away from her.  And I told her about Dr. Buck, who kissed my forehead and said ‘Congratulations.  You’re a momma now.’  The most simple, profound words I’d ever heard.

Seven years ago tonight, this little angel of a girl changed my world – and one day she’ll change the rest of it, too.

On a lighter note…

We celebrated today with a skating party.  Catie got to invite her friends, also.  Since she has a summer birthday, she’ll never be able to have a party with school friends, so she was super excited about sharing in Annie’s big day.  All told, about half of the invited kids were able to come which, given past turnouts, was a pretty good number.

Annie wanted to have a Phineas & Ferb party, but unfortunately I couldn’t find anything available to make that happen.  Which is quite odd, if you ask me.  The show’s been out for two and a half years and it’s wildly popular.  What gives?

Anyway, I was able to order this edible icing creation off of eBay, so at least she had a proper cake:

The skating rink always has a limbo contest, every time we have been there.  And every time, Annie has won.  Every single time.  I think it’s because she’s so tiny she hasn’t even hit the bottom of the growth chart yet, but hey, at least it pays off in the form of chintzy plastic toy prizes.

On an unrelated note, have you ever noticed that skating rinks universally seem to have been decorated in the 80s and never updated?  Neon and blacklight – totally rad!

My sassy little Catiebug:

And a semi-decent picture of Lilly, who next to never looks at the camera.

After the party, my husband’s family came to our house for presents.  Annie got a salon chair which was a big hit, and Uncle Mike was a very good sport about getting a makeover:

And she also got the new bike she’s been eyeing ever since she ditched her training wheels.  A super sporty Barbie bike that has a miniature bike on the handlebar so that her doll can ride along with her:

See that green tee and jeans behind her?  That’s me.  Enjoy the view of my hip there, because that’s about as close as we ever get to me being in a picture.  I’m usually manning the camera, and on those rare occasions when my husband does apparently he doesn’t care to snap a pic of me.  Humph.

I wish the story ended happily there, but unfortunately later Annie was screaming in pain with an ear infection.  And the only pharmacy still open was out of the antibiotic we need, so we have to wait until tomorrow morning to start treatment.  I’m anticipating a long and sleepless night.  Hence the reason this post is so terribly late in the day – yet, I’d like to point out, still on February 13th (with a few minutes to spare).  NaBloPoMo, still going strong.

Johnny Depp once said that “Anything I’ve done up till [the day she was born] was kind of an illusion, existing without living.  My daughter, the birth of my daughter, gave me life.”

I feel exactly the same way.

Happy Birthday Annie Mary.

xoxo

Happy Birthday sweet Catiebug!

My darling middle daughter turned 3 yesterday. We had a joint birthday/Father’s Day celebration, which worked out well for Chris. He had been wanting a Strawberry Shortcake party, so this way he got his wish and no one had to know the theme was really for him.

I started with cute DIY invites (and matching thank-you’s) from U-Print-Invitations. I was really pleased with how easy it was, and the fact that I could see all my personalization before I bought. Next time I think I’ll plan for some of the extras like coloring books or play-do labels. Here is what I ended up with:

I started a trend a couple years ago, making the girls outfits to match their theme. We’ve done an Alice in Wonderland tea party for Mother’s Day, and Dora (twice!), Hannah Montana, and a few others for birthdays. This years Strawberry Shortcake came out really cute if I do say so myself. Catie used to call her ‘Ba-Ba Ca-Cake’, and while she gave up the baby talk a long time ago, Chris and I are having a harder time letting it go. Always hard to admit they are growing up on you. So here’s Catie modeling her Ba-Ba Ca-Cake set:

Lilly in her matching outfit:

The only request she made for the day – chips and dip. Mommy doesn’t buy chips so this is a real treat:

Obviously she was tired of having her picture taken:

The adorable cake Mom made for the big day:

And unfortunately, my poor sweet Annie was still very sick. This is how she spent the day:

She didn’t want to stay in bed and miss the party, so she crashed on the couch. I had stayed up until 4 am the night before making her a Strawberry Shortcake tiered halter dress that she requested, but as it turns out that was all for naught, since she didn’t even feel well enough to get out of her jammies. Poor baby.

Other than Annie being sick, I think it was a pretty good day for Catie. Harder day for Mommy – I want them to stay babies forever. But this is Momma’s girl here, so hopefully she won’t be leaving me too soon.

Happy Birthday sweet buggabug. I love you.