Photo Flashback (Thankful Thursday a Day Early)

A year ago today, this is what our house looked like.

This year, thanks to The Farmer's Almanac, La Nina, or just the grace of God (who knows that two feet of snow would cause me to have a mental breakdown), our house looks nothing like this. The driveway is clear. The highway is dry. It got so warm the last couple of days that snow shed off the roof and then MELTED before evening.

I'm still feeling under the weather thanks to whatever respiratory crud is going around town, but I'm ready to have this baby any time. Lord willing, I'm starting to believe that we might not have to drive through a blizzard to do it!

One for the Quote Wall

Mark went into Norah's room to talk to her about her second time out of the evening. When he asked her to explain why she was in time out she responded, "Mommy got confused."

That's right. My sweet little angel - the one with the piggy tails and adorable grin - totally tried to throw me under the bus.

S'pose I should probably get used to it.

Last Year, My House Looked Awesome

There are a lot of differences between having your first child and having your second. For instance, when I was 36 weeks and 5 days pregnant with Norah (not that I'm counting or anything), I know for sure that I already had my "go bag" packed and by the door. I'd printed several lists of "hospital essentials" and packed my bag accordingly. It was stocked with snacks, two changes of clothes, toiletries, makeup (oh how naive I was), and baby's pre-selected homecoming outfit already laundered in specially designed (and marketed!) detergent for baby's sensitive skin.

In contrast, the other day I found myself thinking, "Weren't there like, a couple of things I needed at the hospital last time? Meh, they have gowns. I just hope I get one that overlaps in the back." I'll probably pack a bag at some point, but if I happen to go into labor before that little detail is addressed I suppose I'll just send Mark home at some point to grab me a pair of pants or something.

I find myself employing the same tactics of avoidance and procrastination with Christmas decorations this year. I love Christmas, and normally, I really try to go the distance in the whole festive decor department. This year, I'm just not up for it. I managed to get the tree up mostly because my darling husband did the work of carrying the pieces up from the basement. That's right, we have a fake tree. Deal with it. If I had to trek my oversized rear-end out into the wilderness to find on and cut it down, you bet your sweet sassafras that wouldn't have happened this year either.

I figure, it's ok to get through this holiday season with minimal decor. I'm tired. I'm baking a person. I'm chasing a two-year-old around while I'm doing all the day-to-day stuff that just has to get done. If I'm lucky, I just might manage to get the 5 boxes of unpacked stuff that I didn't use this year tossed back into the closet to give the illusion of a slightly tidier house.

In the mean time, I will console myself with photos of how awesome my house looked last year. I didn't even get pictures of all of it. There was a second mini-tree and all sorts of garland, lights and a wreath on our loft railing too. Yeah I totally rocked it last year. Amazing what you can do when you're not waddling around like a gimpy manatee.

Anyway, enjoy.

Big Girl

I can't believe how big my girl is getting. It seems like every day there's a new idea, a new skill, a new understanding of life that she comes up with.

This weekend she decided that she was done eating pieces - or even halves - of a banana at a time. She asked me to peel it half way so that she could eat it like a big girl. I have to say, it sure keeps her hands cleaner... until the last couple of bites.

Norah Loves...

Her hat!!

A big thanks to my awesome friend Alissa who made Norah this super soft, extra warm hat. It's made of alpaca wool, no less! Added bonus: the opening is big enough that Norah can put it on herself! Anyone with an "I'll do it myself" toddler will tell you, that fact alone makes ME love this hat too.

Alissa made a smaller, darker version for the baby and I just can't WAIT to try it out!

Celebrated

I gave myself a break from the partying during the week. There may have been a time in my younger days that I could work all day and still stand to head out on the town late into the evening. To be honest, just thinking about doing that now makes me so tired that I can’t remember ever having had the energy to do it in the first place. So the week was fairly routine except for the afore-mentioned snowy road conditions and my inability to get home for my alone/blogging time on Thursday evening.

However mundane the week was, Saturday sure made up for it!

I had laid down the gauntlet for Mark early this year. I said that since I was turning The Big Three Oh, that I’d really like to have a party. A good party. The kind of party that would last me the next ten years until I had another significant birthday. No pressure though. Just the most awesome party ever.

Man oh man did my man deliver! He knew that there was no way he’d be able to keep it a secret, so he didn’t try. He let me know when it would be and that he was hosting it at our house. I knew of a few people who were coming because they asked me to let Mark know they’d be there, but I didn’t even have a clear picture of the guest list. Aside from that, I was left completely out of the planning and preparation.

Mark planned for potluck finger foods, telling all the guests that since I couldn’t eat much at one time, we would all be “eating preggo” and munching away all evening long. He enlisted my amazingly talented friend Ashley to help with the decorations. He got my favorite cake, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, from the best bakery in town. Finally, Jan brought the headwear. You’ll see what I mean when you get to the pictures.

I couldn’t have planned a better way to spend my last evening in my twenties. I was surrounded by dear friends and sparkling conversation. Mark’s attention to detail made me feel cherished and loved. After we all finished our cake, Mark said a few words about how grateful he was that my heart defect was found and healed so many years ago. The surgeon told me that he was certain that I would not have lived past my early twenties if the hole had not been repaired.

Thirty is a tough birthday for a lot of people, especially women. I have to admit, it’s still a little surreal to think of myself as having moved on from the decade that saw me graduate college, marry, move to our dream location and become a mom. But given the alternative, I’ll gladly, gratefully take thirty any day.

Here are a few highlights:

Gorgeous decor as provided by my amazingly talented friend Ashley.

Biggest. Cake. Ever.

Mark trying to keep the candles from burning off his eyebrows. And yes, they put A-L-L 30 candles on there!

Me desperately hoping that I'd actually blow out all 30 candles. I did, thanks to the lack of oxygen at 9,000 feet!

Me, Tiffany (left) and Jan (right). Jan, of course, supplied the festive headgear. Who else has headgear for 20 people readily available in her prop closet?

The decorations in the daylight. One of the best presents I got that night was that Mark made sure the house was immaculate after the party. That guy really knows me.

And last but not least, the best photo of the night. Possibly the best photo my husband has ever taken...

Yep. That would be our good friend Mark, the music minister at our church, super stoked that he managed to score the Tinkerbell mug for his spiced cider.

Needless to say I had an awesome birthday. :-)

Surprised

The evening of the 6^th, Jan was hosting a surprise 40^th birthday party for her husband, Jason. (Yes, that would be the same day that she hosted my shower.) See? I told you she was a busy girl! It was held at a fantastic local restaurant a little west of town. We’ve only eaten there once before since it’s out of the way for us but the food was delicious! About twenty people total were invited and we were so excited to be included.

Jason was genuinely surprised, which was a fairly big feat in itself. The cake that the restaurant provided for dessert was an enormous, double-fudge chocolate, chocolate something or other with chocolate frosting. Needless to say, I was in Heaven.

We capped our evening of partying like rock stars by hanging out and chatting at a local lounge for another hour or two. I’m pretty sure it was the latest I‘d been out since Norah was born. Thank goodness for a Grammie who doesn’t mind keeping her overnight! We made it back home around 12:30 and were in bed by 1:00. Fortunately it was the night we set our clocks back, so it didn’t do quite the damage that it otherwise would have to our Sunday morning routine. Still, considering that I attended not one, but two Jan-hosted parties in one day, the subsequent exhaustion was well worth the fabulousness.

Stay tuned for my final and most awesome party recap tomorrow!