Apr 3, 2018 | Holidays |
This shy wallflower of a child enjoyed her Easter immensely.
Within four days she had a birthday, a birthday party and Easter. She could not have been more thrilled to keep the parties going.
Another trip down memory lane? Will you keep doing this until she’s 48? YES, I WILL.
 |
| Dress rehearsal for her first holiday. |
We did an egg hunt in the front yard after church. We had eggs left from the egg hunt at church so I reused them for our hunt. I used some candy from church too and she never knew the difference.
My friend’s daughter got more things in her Easter basket than AB got for her birthday. Our Easter bunny shopped the Toys R Us sales and the dollar section. Keeping the bar low since 2014.
 |
| Pencils, rubber stamp, markers and glitter glue. |
Feb 16, 2018 | Holidays |
I spent my Valentines day at the doctor, cleaning up two accidents and paying the washing machine repair man $79 to pull an apron out of the water pipe. It was every bit as romantic as it sounds.
After Sesame’s appointment, we did a few errands and I rewarded us with a trip to DD. I had a coupon for a free doughnut and I know a girl who loves her some sugar.
I planned on making pancakes for lunch and needed maple syrup and a few things for supper so we stopped by the grocery store. I let her use the little cart and after 30 minutes of trying to help her navigate the store, I’m here to say she is not ready for her license.
“MAMA! Can I make it go swoooosh down da food road?”
“I don’t think that’s…”
“SWOOOOOOSSSSHHH! DERE IT GOES! I WILL GO CATCH IT!”
Annabelle was confused as to why Christopher was working on a holiday. It was mind-boggling to her that he’d have to work while we stayed home and had pink and orange pancakes for lunch. I’ve been equally as mind-boggled many times in the past when the government required Christopher to work on a day I felt should be spent at home celebrating with me and my fancy straws. The apple did not fall far from the mother tree. We went to the movie theater to see Coco as a family after work. I went prepared with snacks. I smuggled in two small bags of potato chips, a bag of torilla chips, a piece of banana bread (per AB’s request) and a water bottle. Fyi, you can fit a lot in those little Skip Hop backpacks. For someone who follows every rule I am good at breaking the no outside food in theaters rule. The movie was so much better than I was expecting and it was a fun little family event.
We stayed very low-key with gifts. I gave Christopher an umbrella because he needed one. Newlywed Sarah would never have given such a boring gift. When we were at CVS I bought a Kinder egg for Sesame to give Christopher. I’ve never had one but he mentioned several months ago how much he liked them. I thought it would be a sweet little sentimental gift from his daughter. When she gave it to him he said he never had a Kinder egg in his life. I was SO sure he had said it was a treasured treat from his past. It was the thought that counted.
I wasn’t anticipating the confusion buying an egg would cause. AB had a lot of questions about it, specifically wondering if the Easter Bunny was going to deliver it. I explained so many times that just because we were giving an egg didn’t mean it was Easter but eventually I gave up and said sure, the Easter Bunny can give Daddy the egg. She had a point. It is weird to have eggs on Valentine’s day.
Annabelle has been asking for paper clips and we sped by some as we were charging down the aisles of the grocery store. That one dollar has brought her so much happiness.
We wrote things we love about Annabelle and taped them to her bedroom door. I called it a heart attack. It’s hard to read, but mine say “I love you the best. I love you the most. I love you the always.” We say it to each other every night. I’d translate Christopher’s but his handwriting is difficult to read.
This is one of the heart attack hearts I wrote for Christopher. If that wouldn’t be an act of true love I don’t know what is.
Annabelle made me this portrait of myself. I’m touched she spent time on it but HORRIFIED that I look like this to her. She did nail the top bun.
Christopher should have gotten me a gift certificate for botox.
Dec 31, 2017 | Holidays, Sesame, Uncategorized |
I’m sure these yearly posts (2014, 2015, 2016) of Sesame’s clothes are a snoozefest to most but I can’t stop, won’t stop until she protests. Even then I might not stop. Those who don’t enjoy smocked dresses or curly hair need not continue reading.
I bought this snowman outfit from a blog friend two years ago and it was dress length. I’m pretty sure this was the last year it will fit her.
I only bought two new Christmas outfits this year, one of which was this smocked tree outfit. It came with the cutest ruffly red pants that are too big and kept sliding off her bum, revealing to all the world that she still wears diapers. Apparently cute is more important to me than modesty because she wore it to church anyway.
This is the other new outfit I bought. It’s a real shame she wasn’t more excited about it.
I think we might get one more Christmas out of my favorite red dress. I bought it when I was pregnant and didn’t know the gender of the baby. It was too cute to pass up so I got it just in case I had a girl. I though the baby was a boy because I have no mother’s intuition. I’m not one bit sorry I was wrong.
Trip down the Red Christmas Dress memory lane.
If I look at tiny bald Sesame I get too emotional about how fast she’s growing. I’m going to go buy outfits for next year to cheer myself up. Long live retail therapy.
Dec 30, 2017 | Holidays, Uncategorized |
Last Friday I was sitting my living room in New York enjoying my Christmas tree one last night. Tonight all my earthly belongings are on a moving truck on their way to Georgia. We’re no longer occupants of the NY house and we can’t get into the Georgia house until Monday. Much like Mary and Joseph, we are homeless travelers and there is no place for us to rest our heads.
That’s not entirely true. Annabelle will always find a place to rest her head.
Last Saturday we said goodbye to our house. I cried buckets because I hate change and Annabelle comforted me with statements such as, “Why should we say goodbye to our house? That’s silly.” I can always count on her to be sympathetic! We left the house and started the drive to Massachusetts for Christmas. It was snowing and we didn’t go over 45mph for hours. It took us 7 hours to reach the NY/MA line. Normally the whole trip takes 7-8 hours but it took over 11. Annabelle was so good. She listened to stories and watched more shows than I normally like but anything to survive. We made a pit stop at Chickfila at 9pm to burn off some energy. AB burned off energy. I wanted to fall asleep on the play area bench.
Fast forward to Christmas Eve with all our relatives. I so love Christmas Eve next door. It’s changed some over the years as people have died or joined the family but overall its the same. We always sing Christmas carols before opening gifts. It’s a different order every year but Grandma insists we end with Silent Night. Baby Ivy helped her dad with the more difficult songs.
The next morning we opened gifts in our matching Christmas pajamas. Annabelle got a building set and woodworking bench from her grandparents. She’s THRILLED to be doing woodworking like daddy.
I barely took pictures Christmas because I was hit with the plague and/or stress sickness and lost my voice thanks to a horrible cough. I try to live a life of generosity and so I shared the plague with those nearest and dearest to me. It’s been the gift that keeps on giving.
This was Sesame’s fourth Christmas in her red smocked dress. I plan on her wearing it until she’s at least 18.
I hope your Christmas was full of joy and free of germs.
Dec 25, 2017 | Holidays, Uncategorized |
I ordered two different cards this year because I couldn’t decide on just one. Some people received both cards. Can you ever have too many Christmas cards? I think not.
