A Bitter-Sweet (well, mostly sweet) Milestone

Five years ago today, I had just finished my last gestational diabetes dinner (pork, bell peppers, and wild rice...unfortunately I experienced it twice). I did not know it was my "last supper", as I was not due for three more weeks.

Emerson had other plans. :)

Well, fast forward five years later, and I am the proud mama of an adorable, eccentric little five-year-old girl.

For weeks, we have talked about her party, her Barbie party. Every year this girl has a theme--year two it was Dora, then Cars, then princesses, and this year it is Barbie. Oh, how she loves Barbie.

Last week we headed to the party store and carefully picked out the decorations and favors. It probably is as much fun to plan the party as is it to have it.

We were all set for her party this Saturday, which is her actual birthday.

Then, four days ago, she coughed.

She wouldn't stop coughing.

I played it off as allergies, a simple cold, etc.

This morning she woke up with 103.5 fever.

Sigh.

A visit to the doctor's confirmed my fear--pneumonia. Again. (Yes, I had to use spell check; you would think I could spell it by now.)

So now we have moved the party until next week, so we can spend a quiet weekend at home helping Emerson recover. She has been a trooper, but she is super out of it and can barely talk without coughing. Just not at her party best.

Unfortunately, very few of her friends can make it to her party next week (so glad I bought so many party favors...oh well.) Luckily, Em seems okay with it. At least her cousin Elizabeth will be there. Whew!

Tomorrow I have a quiet, fun day planned. I got Emerson a bunch of super girly gifts (mostly Barbie), a cake, and I plan on making strawberry/chocolate pancakes for breakfast. Hopefully, she has a good day and feels loved.

Because, really, that's all a person's birthday should be about.

Pics From Em's Birthday!

Here's some photos from last week when we celebrated Em's third birthday. It was a great week!

Happy Birthday to My Little Girl!

We rarely do things "small" in my family. We like our parties big, noisy, and full of family. This was all definitely true this weekend, as we celebrated my daughter Emerson's 3rd birthday. While there were moments I was sure I'd forget something crucial or throttle my husband (I'm confident the feeling was mutual), everything went really well.

The shenanigans began early in the week with me running around town ordering cake, tables, chairs, and finalizing the menu. An added "bonus" was that I am getting ready for a work trip next week, so I had a ton to deal with at work.

On Friday, the family began arriving. First my sister, who was hobbling around because of broken foot, came up from the Bay Area. Haley really wanted to help, but the crutches slowed her down some. Luckily, she helped me come up with crafts and games for the kids. Then, my husband's parents came with his sister, niece, and 3 month old nephew. The little one is darling, but the two girls can argue something fierce over toys. Not a joy.

Saturday morning was the true test. We had to run to Target (the answer to all my problems, I swear), get the cake, and set up the party. To avoid hot weather, we held the party at 11, which works great but one has to be super organized in the morning. Not really my strong suit.

Guests began arriving at 10:45. Sigh. I am so not one of those people. I've had lots of parties with adults, but I'm relatively new to the whole kid party thing. I think it went pretty well. My daughter picked a Cars movie theme (she's way into Lightening McQueen), so we decorated everything with Cars paraphernalia. We had coloring pages out for the kids, squirt guns, stickers, and bubbles. The menu was also kid friendly: hamburgers, hot dogs, cheese puffs--what else can one ask for?

The only somewhat lull was the gift unwrapping. Some people really like to watch kids unwrap gifts, but when the party is so big, the process can take a really long time. It's a lot of fun, but the kid tends to lose interest. And there I am feeling foolish unwrapping My Little Ponies. Awkward.

I was quite tired last night and I ate a ton of stuff I shouldn't have. But it was a great party. For Father's Day, we took Justin and his father out for breakfast. Could have been exciting with three kids, but they were all really good. The girls loved their pancakes and Baby Justin slept through most of the breakfast. Good deal.

Tonight I head to Long Beach for a conference. I have a feeling I will sleep just fine tonight.