Hand Cart

Mike gave Blip a ride around the house on the handcart one random Saturday while we were getting stuff done around the house. 

It was pretty cute...

Cookie Helper

Blip and I made some cookies for a Sunday afternoon activity.  And yes…some Sundays we all stay in our jammies all day.  They are usually the best days ever.

Anywho…the cookies were cooling on the counter and Blip was playing in the other room, so I quickly went to use the bathroom.   I was only gone a quick minute…and came back to find Blip sitting at his little table with a cookie. 

I pushed the cooling racks away from the edge of the counter, so I didn't think he could reach them, but I was definitely wrong.  He was so proud of himself.  It was too cute.

Take A Bite

Blip has been spending his spare time in the afternoons at a local child care facility we were referred to.  Although we both think having a little more social time with kiddos his age is completely appropriate, neither of us like the fact he's going to the dreaded "daycare".  There is nothing wrong with daycare, but we've been so blessed to have had him one-on-one with people we love since I had to go back to work when Blip was 11 weeks old.

I was absolutely devastated when Miss Lori said she was unable to keep him any longer.  I cried for days…no joke.  I even had a mental break-down (one of a few) in front of her (totally by accident).  I was so embarrassed, but Blip was able to stay with her for another 4 weeks or so.  I cried even more when we left her house the very last time.  Mike dropped him off two days a week from July until Blip's birthday in February.  I whole heartedly trust(ed) Lori with my infant…I knew he was safe.  I never for worried for one second.  I always told people that if Mike and I died…and we left Blip with Lori (and her husband Scott) he would probably be better off!! I tease, but they are just good people.

Between my start back at work and July, my good friend Rebecca kept Blip those two afternoons a week.  I feel the same way about Rebecca as I do Lori.  Nothing else needs to even be said.  I never had to worry for even a second…I knew he was loved and cared for…he would never be hurt or left to cry wondering where his parents went.  She loved him as she would her own…I have no doubts.  We feel the same way about so many things…we should be sisters.

So in February…after Blip's 1st birthday, my friend Gisele started coming to the house Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons to watch the baby.  I didn't know Gisele THAT well, but I felt like I did since the first moment we met…does that make sense? She was easy to love, easy to trust…and she quickly fell in love with Blip.  We felt very comfortable around both her and her awesome hubby, Mike.  I was at peace with the entire situation before it even began.  I loved that she was willing to come to our house…it meant Blip could sleep/nap in his own bed…and I didn't have to worry about him destroying anyone else's house.  No carting the pack-n-play back and forth (and praying for a decent nap, or diaper bags, or anything else that kept me awake longer at night making sure I had ready for the next day. (Hopefully she didn't mind the chaos that is our house sometimes…yikes!!)

Gisele wasn't here too long before Mike and I knew we loved her and knew we loved her watching Blip.  We were so comfortable with her…it really felt like she was a long lost part of our family.  We quickly started getting excited about having "family" watch our son…and hopefully watching our new baby some day.  I was comfortable quickly, but Mike usually takes a bit longer.  Not this time.  He loved Gisele instantly.  Of course…what's not to love?  Gisele's sweet spirit filled our home those two afternoons a week enough to keep our spirits up the rest of the week.  Some weeks are harder than others, but coming home to Gisele and a happy baby boy at least two days a week is a happy homecoming.

Over these months of happiness surrounding our daycare issues, our sweet Nana Gisele has had some health issues.  Those issues came to some resolution over the last few weeks, but not before things got worse for her.  I won't go in to detail here, but Gisele was not able to care for Blip, so we had to find a back-up plan that was consistent…because asking for friends to help out was not consistent.  Leaving work early all the time was not the answer either.  And all of that was probably the most stressful thing I've ever tried to do.  And that includes any and all work related stressful things I've done in my career…worrying about my child definitely takes the cake.

In August, before Gisele's health was crazy, she went out of town for two weeks.  She gave me several months notice to find alternate care, and I did, but then some of that fell through because of sick kids, or other unforeseen issues that no one can control.  And to make matters far worse, I was working for the worst boss I've ever imagined during that time…so stress added to more stress.  Not good.  I decided to find a daycare facility that we could take Blip to when needed…just as a backup plan.  That way there was ALWAYS a foolproof backup plan, and a way that if/when Gisele needed a day off (for whatever reason) we would have a plan if nobody else was available to help out.  

I asked around and did a lot of looking at different facilities  but there are very few that worked for our situation.  One of the facilities that was recommended by at least two friends was exactly what we were looking for.  It was a smaller facility, they allowed us to be part-time, pay hourly or daily, and the location was what we were looking for.  

I forced Richelle to go with me to look at the place and to help me ask questions…I feel completely overwhelmed when it comes to these things.  I feel like I am overly critical because I don't want Blip to be there at all, so I need someone who is not me (and definitely not Mike) to help me (us) keep a clear head.  I liked the place okay, but I didn't know how to feel…or what to like/dislike.

I gave all the details to Mike, but it took him about two months to agree to go check the place out.  He tried to avoid the entire thing, but I knew we needed to get this plan buckled down.  I'm so thankful I took a Monday off…and remembered reminded him that he REALLY needed to go turn in the paperwork…just in case…because Blip has been there every week since.  It's been both good and bad, but necessary.  It's only two days a week, sometimes three, and only for about half a day.  It's really not a big deal, but, of course, it is to us…I'm excited for the next kid to help us chill out a bit.

The timing does get a little tricky because of the schedule Blip keeps.  He typically wakes up between 8-8:30am, so breakfast would be around 9ish…afternoon nap around 1pm.  Some days earlier…or later…doesn't really matter much.  That's joy of having him home…his needs dictate his schedule, but he definitely is a scheduled baby.  That's my fault.  At daycare…the majority of those kiddos get there super early (like 6ish), so lunch is about 10:30…and naps follow.  

Obviously that is not good timing for my child…who is finishing breakfast as they are having lunch.  On Mike's normal schedule he would typically drop Blip off after their nap time ends…so Blip would not get a nap.  That does NOT work for Blip…or his mom.  So on days we know he needs to be there (for whatever reason) Mike wakes him up a little earlier (instead of letting him wake up on his own), so breakfast is earlier, nap time is earlier, and lunch is over before Mike has to drop him off.  This way Blip gets what he needs, doesn't interrupt the entire room at daycare, and is still happy.  Daddy is just a little more sleepy.  

This past Tuesday I picked Blip up, but before heading to his room I stopped to talk to one of the main ladies.  You'd think I'd know her name, but I don't…and probably won't.  I'm happy to say I know Blip's afternoon teacher's name, but that's only because it's on the paper they give me with all of his info on it (diaper changes, food,  mood, etc).  

I wanted to talk to her about moving Blip up to the next classroom before his 2nd birthday.  He's been having a rough time adjusting, and I've been wondering if he's bored.  The playground equipment for the next age group is like the park equipment he's used to…and the stuff in his play area is for much younger kids.  He's happy when it's his turn for the swing, but then he's just bored…so he stand at the gate and cries.  I don't blame him.  I picked him up two weeks ago…there he was…standing at the gate crying…longing to be climbing and sliding with the kids a few months older than him. He loves to be outside, so I can only guess that he was just bored.

The lady agreed that we could try it, but then told me she needed to talk to me anyway…because Blip had just been bitten by another kid.  WHAT!?  She said it had JUST happened…and that it was pretty swollen.  She told me they had ice on it, but that he was upset.  Um yeah he's upset!!  I was proud of myself, but I kept my cool…I instantly thought of the two times Blip has bitten me out of excitement…and how mortified I would be if he bit someone else…anyone else…let alone another kid at the daycare.  And the pain…OUCH!!

I hurried back to his room and saw him sitting on the floor near a toy, but he was alone…not crying.  I opened the door…and he immediate made eye contact with me…and the tears started.  He grabbed his left arm, and I scooped him up.  His arm was swollen…it was hard to tell what the marks looked like through the swelling.  We quickly left after stopping to talk to his teacher…she informed me that Blip was crying at the gate (again) when a kid from the older class walked by, grabbed his arm through the gate, and chomped on my son's arm…totally unprovoked and without reason.  (Little kid needs put in his place…why would he walk past the gate and randomly decide to snack on my kid?)

When we got home I cleaned his arm, and it didn't seem to be bothering Blip at all, so I let it be and we went on with our evening together. I waited to clean it again until after bath time. The next day after work I was interested to see how his arm was doing…and it surprisingly looked a lot better already.  There were a few scabs were the skin broke (Blip must have tried to pull his arm away from Chompy McChomperson, so his teeth drug across his skin…causing the skin to break), and they were healing nicely.  The bruising was setting in, but even that was better than I expected.  

Wednesday was even better.  His arm was healing, no signs of infection AND Blip didn't cry AT ALL when Mike left or while they were outside.  Maybe he's finally getting the hang of all the new surroundings, new people, new rules, etc.  Maybe he realized I'm coming for him after a short time…he gets dropped off at about 1:30…and I try to be there just before 5pm.

We are so excited to get our Gisele back when she's healed and ready.  We all miss her so very much.  I miss our chats after work, and I know Mike misses the comfort he has with leaving Blip in Gisele's care…I miss that too.  Blip misses his Nana Gisele A LOT…he loves when she comes to play.  He especially loves when she brings her grandkids to play…he's so social you'd think daycare would be like heaven for him.

Four days after the bite it seems to healing like it should.  It seems like we have been more bothered by this injury than Blip has been.  I honestly don't think he even noticed it after the initial pain went away, but we sure have.  We've opt'd for keeping Blip in the same classroom at the daycare for now.  Since the biter is in the 2 year old classroom, and Blip had such a positive day on Wednesday...I thought we'd wait to see if this situation works itself out.

Date Night: November

Our first date night went well.  Not as planned, but it was still great…and much needed.  We ended up on a double date with one of our very favorite couples…they had a baby boy one year (to the month…and almost day) after we had Blip, so we are all super busy with babies and work…and life.  Life seems overly complicated at times because Mike and I work opposite schedules…we are only together on the weekends.

We made plans to have a double date with the Stone's.  In the envelope for November I had a $50 gift card for dinner at Arrogant Butcher downtown.  It's one of my favorites, and Mike had never been before.  I also bought a Groupon of go-cart racing at an indoor track close to downtown.

We had a great dinner…good food and even better company.  It took forever to eat, so by the time we arrived to race…it wasn't happening.  It wasn't too late, but the races were all full for the rest of the night.  We watched for a few minutes and then decided we would come back another time.

Of course I forgot to take a picture on our very first date night…figures.  I will try to remember on our future dates.

Project: 12 Dates

I was riding the bus to and from work for months (before we put a carpool together), so I was getting 35-45 minutes twice a day to either read whatever my current book was, read the newspaper, or get lost in Pinterest.  Hence all the Pinterest ideas I've been using lately.  Several months ago I came across an idea that I really loved and wanted to give to Mike-- 12 pre-planned and mostly paid for dates.  That's at least one date a month for one year.  I chose to give this to Mike for our anniversary, and I want to give him this every year from now on. (I also found this blog that really helped…they live here, so her ideas were easy to expand on and use!)

It was really easy to "date" each other before we had a baby, but it's been a challenge (for several reasons) since Blip joined our family.  

One: We work opposite schedules and have limited time together. Period. Mike works Friday nights, and every other Saturday night…leaving us very little time together in the evenings that we want to be two instead of three. 

Two: It was a lot harder to leave the baby with someone else than we thought it would be.  

Three: It was a lot harder to leave the baby with someone that we thought it would be.  

Four: We didn't really WANT to leave him…not just with someone else, but at all.  His reflux was such an issue at times that it was hard to want anyone else to put him to bed…not to mention the sling he slept in was a little daunting for newcomers. We both spend so much time at work…away from each other that leaving the baby AGAIN sometimes just sucks.  Plus we LOVE spending time with him.  He's so much fun!!  

Five: The cost of babysitters is just ridiculous.  We've had to get over most of that…and just pay the bill.  It's expensive, but we found a great sitter that isn't demanding $10 an hour, she lives super close, Mike works with her dad, I really love her mom…and Blip seems to like her, so there ya go.  We also have had Richelle help us out, our wonderful Nana Gisele has helped us out, and I'm sure each of our parents has helped on a date night, too.

As Blip got a little bigger, we started needing (really needing) some time to ourselves.  Just some time away from the stress of life, the stress of being parents, the stress of everything.  So we have gone on some sporadic dates here and there, but nothing consistent.  That's what I (we) want to change.  We need to be better about putting US in a priority spot in our busy schedule.

I started the task of coming up with 12 different dates months ago.  I reached the internet for different and unique ideas, so we didn't end up at a movie every time it was date night…although I did include seeing some movies throughout the year.

Here's what I came up with for our first year:

November: Dinner at Arrogant Butcher (Mike's never been!) & go-kart racing.  And to make it even better…it's a double date with one of our absolutely favorite couples.  Mike has been talking about racing (and beating) Chris all day.  Should be a really good time.

December: A comedy show in Scottsdale & dinner at the Food Truck Caravan.  (This month is a little flexible because of the holiday.  Something else might come up that we use for our date night.)

January: Dinner at Humble Pie & a movie.

February: I haven't done a lot of planning for this month because we always go out with Patrick and Sarah to celebrate Sarah's birthday in February, so I left it open and flexible so we can do what Sarah wants for her birthday!  She always picks a fun new restaurant we've never been to.  It's also Blip's birthday month, and I will be on Hawaii the first few days with my dad and siblings.

March: Spring Training game.  (TBD when tickets sales are announced…)

April: Game night at home, dessert, & hot tubbin' (after Blip's bedtime).

May: A day date-- Kayaking on Tempe Town Lake & a picnic lunch.

June: A dine-in movie at AMC Esplanade.

July: A quick walk just before sunset to the Batcave & a picnic dinner.

August: A day date-- a couples spa day. (Spa- TBD)

September: Dinner at the Yard House at Desert Ridge & an IMAX movie.

October: A day date-- Go for a tandem bike ride around Tempe Town Lake & have a picnic.

November: TBD

Our First date night is tonight!  It was sooo stress free knowing it was planned, paid for, and the babysitter was already reserved.  All we have to do is get ready this afternoon.

Hopefully this helps us get in at least one night of just US time.  I told Mike I would like to make it two dates a month, but this is a good start.

Represent

One morning while I was at work, Mike sent these pictures.  Blip LOVES wearing a hat…Daddy's police hat is even better.

Our 5th and Our 1st

Mike and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on Friday.  I have so many feelings about this milestone…mostly I'm happy we made it to five years.  Without killing each other…or quitting.  To celebrate we agreed to leave Blip home with Richelle and spend a few days just being married again.  

I keep Richelle's boys at least two long weekends every year so she and Anthony can leave town and just be married.  She always told me how much they needed those weekends away together…and now we know how much we needed to spend some time away from Blip to just be with each other.  We will definitely be going away with each other more than once every couple of years.  We are doing a REAL vacation next time…probably a cruise.

Anyway…we struggled with where we wanted to spend our weekend.  We've been talking about it for a few months, but every time we came up with a new, fun place…it got vetoed for one reason or another.  Seattle was our first choice.  Turns out November is the rainiest month of the year in the Pac NW.  So that deleted Portland off the list…and another little town closer to the coast in Oregon was also crossed off.  Denver was another idea, but when we looked at the average temperature for November…and it was in the 30's…yep- vetoed.  Both of us agreed that freezing to death didn't sound very anniversary-ish.  

I looked into several warm beach destinations, but airfare was out-freaking-rageous for all of them.  To fly from Phoenix to Cabo was nearly $800 for one roundtrip ticket.  We flew there a couple years ago for under $400, so that was out.  When the countdown continued to get closer and closer…and our plans were still nonexistent (other than the fact we were doing SOMETHING), we had to make a plan…any plan…just A plan.

We talked about going to San Diego…and neither of us objected, so I started looking at hotels.  Everything was super expensive…or sold out.  We wanted to stay downtown, but that was not happening for a reasonable amount, so I booked us a room at the hotel I always end up at- the Marriott Mission Valley.  Rooms are cheap, hotel is great, location isn't bad…they just need a few more restaurants close by.

Friday finally came…and we were already exhausted.  We slept in later than we planned, but Mike got home late, and I was up late getting the house in order.  We finally dropped the baby off with Richelle around noon and headed toward San Diego.  

One of Mike's biggest complaints about our Summer trip to San Diego was his boredom in the car.  The baby was asleep or watching a movie on the iPad…and I spend almost the entire trip deleting pictures on my phone and making sure Mike had good driving music.  

I decided I didn't want Mike to have the same complaint, or for him to ever feel like I was ignoring him the entire trip, so I found some questionnaires on Pinterest and printed them out for us to do in the car.  I didn't get them out until we were leaving Gila Bend…and we spent the next couple hours asking and answering the questions.  It was fun, and I think we each learned a few new things about each other…it kept our minds busy, but we were completely involved with each other. I will be doing something similar for every road trip we take from now on.

We arrived in the evening…and we were tired, but happy.  After we checked in, we went downstairs for some food.  We ended up agreeing not to do anything fancy that night since we were exhausted, so we ate at the hotel and then watched a movie in our room.  We went to sleep fairly early…and slept in nice and late. I was up for a while before Mike was, but I knew how tiring the last few weeks have been, so I let him sleep. 

We spent a couple hours down near the border at my favorite outlet mall.  I only wanted to go there to get some long sleeved shirts for work, but ended up finding my favorite dress pants with belt loops too!!  We also found a cute pair of navy blue Converse for Blip…who doesn't need a pair in every color?

We left the outlets (which were CRAZY busy) and went back to the hotel to eat.  We didn't change the clock in the car…so we thought we got there just in time for happy hour ($5 appetizers), but nope…we had another hour to wait.  We ordered a couple things, ate, and were fast asleep long before that hour was up.  I am not a napper…naps make it even harder for me to get to sleep at night, so I just avoid them.  I slept for four hours!!  Mike said he did too, but he did wake up a couple times…like when his alarm we set for two hours went off.  He said I was out cold, so he let me sleep.

I drug my tired butt out of bed and into the shower.  We got all dressed up for the first time in a long time…it was SO nice to get ready together like the old days.  No little Blip running crazy while we throw ourselves together as quickly as possible. We wanted to take the trolley (their Light Rail) downtown like we did last time we stayed at that hotel…so we walked to the trolley stop just behind the hotel.  

As we were buying our passes…the trolley came.  The stupid machine took our first $5, but wouldn't accept the second $5 bill, so we cancelled the transaction to start over, but the trolley was leaving before that could happen.  We figured it wouldn't be long before the next trolley arrived, so we finished buying tickets, and found a seat.  That dumb machine ate our $5…no refund and no ticket, but the worst part was that we sat in the freezing cold for 30 minutes…and no trolley.  Two came for eastbound. Two losers walked by smoking weed…but no trolley for us.  

We finally decided that we were done.  We had gotten such a late start (because of our nap), even if the trolley came right that second…we were going to miss all the restaurants we were interested in going to. We ended up walking back to the hotel and getting our car…we found a restaurant close by and figured it was that or nothing.  The Joe's Crab Shack in San Diego was always good before, but this trip was not all that.  We enjoyed each other's company at dinner, laughed at our bibs and our messes, but decided to skip dessert there and head across the parking lot to BJ's Brewery for pizzookie.  Well…that was a great idea, but they were closed…10pm on Saturday in Mission Valley.  

We went back to the hotel to get dessert from the bar menu, but their menu sucked.  So we went upstairs and celebrated without dessert.  Turns out no dessert was just as good as finding dessert.

The TV was on for awhile, but I/we just went to bed after we made plans for Sunday.  Although the history of cage fighting IS a thrilling thing to learn about, sleep sounded better.   So sleep we did…until about an hour later than planned. (See a pattern here?)

We decided to try Hash House for breakfast/brunch and then go take the tour of the USS Midway.  Hash House had about 50+ people waiting out front…in line, so I looked up another place to eat nearby.  We ended up at Snooze…the wait there was only 1 hours and 15 minutes instead of the 1 hour and 30 minute wait at Hash House.  We laughed at this, but decided just to stay at Snooze.

The food was really good and not too pricey.  We were in the Hillcrest neighborhood…and loved, loved, loved it!!  All the good places to eat were nearby, including the pizza place voted #1 in the country recently (or so said the guy we stood and waited in line with).  We ordered our food, and waited patiently…when it finally came we were not disappointed.  It was a little on the sweet side for us, but still delicious.  I think ordering a side of hash browns would have helped even the sweetness out a little, but we were both happy.

We left breakfast (our cheapest meal thus far) and made our way to the Midway.  We grabbed our headsets and toured the ship on our own at our own pace.  We spent a few hours wandering around the ship…gasping at the space they had to live in.  You'd have to promote immediately or at least as soon as possible.  Maybe that's the idea..??  I don't know, but I do know I'm not sure how thousands of grown men do it.  Talk about claustrophobia being an issue.  Yikes!  We were thankful to be able to take the tour Veteran's Day weekend…almost all of the volunteers were retired military.  I love that generation…the best one this country's ever had.  I'm sad we are so far removed from so many parts of what that generation stood for.  I'm also thankful for the many steps forward we've taken…just not all of them have been in a good direction.

The tour ended, and we were hungry.  We ended up at that pizza place our new friend told us about…Bronx Pizza.  We ordered a few slices and enjoyed every single bite before we headed back to the hotel for a bit.  That night we agreed to go see a movie together…since we rarely get the opportunity anymore.  We saw Captain Phillips…for $12.50 each.  I couldn't believe it!  Oh well…the movie was really good (even after being ripped off).

On our way back to the hotel, I told Mike I wanted dessert…still.  Mike stopped off at the Cheesecake Factory we saw as we were passing it…the perfect place for dessert.  Now it had been hours since our shared pizza and no snacks at the movies, so we ordered an appetizer…and then Mike ordered cheesecake.  I wasn't really in a cheesecake mood…I really just wanted ice cream, so I ordered a Sundae.  It FINALLY came out…melted.  And it was awful.  The server even knew it wasn't good, so she took it off our bill…that was nice of her.  I guess me having dessert was not meant to be…

We had another good night of sleep, and woke up happy to get ready for the car ride home.  I really missed my son by Sunday. I think we both did…not enough to leave at 6am, but we did miss him.  We both said how glad we are that we left him for a few days, so that we could reconnect and just be together…no stress.

I took Tuesday off to get the house back in order.  I had almost everything taken care of Monday night, so I spent Tuesday morning running errands…and Tuesday afternoon hanging out with Blip.

Marrying Mike has been such a blessing in my life.  I love him with everything in me and then some…I wanted to marry him the first time I saw him.  Little did I know a bunch of "stuff" had to be worked out before we could even date each other, but that "stuff" did work itself out…and I am thrilled to be Mike's wife. We both have more to learn about being married, but I'm so proud of how far we've come since those first few awful months.  Yep…that's what they were.  Awful.  And painful.  And hard.  And I'm glad we stuck it out…and figured out how to be married.

I'm so thankful to have a true partner in Mike.  He really is my best friend…and I want to call and tell him all the good stuff and all the bad stuff, so I don't have to know any of it alone.  He is an amazing father to our son…and I know I have fallen in love with him in a completely different way since Blip was born. He is so loving, kind, and sweet with Blip…they rough house and tickle and giggle constantly.  Their laughter fills our home with the more joy than I knew existed.

I want Blip to know how much I love his daddy…and that I will never give up on our family.  I can't wait to have another baby. I want to experience all of it again (except the huge, very painful, nearly exploding ovary part…I'm cool without reliving any of that).  I am excited to start expanding our little family.

Climbing, Writing, & Throwing

I was trying to get some laundry done…all of a sudden it was too quiet.  Usually Blip wanders down the hallway to see what I'm doing…but not this time. What I found made me laugh…I was glad I had my phone to capture this moment.  And the next couple moments too.

Luckily, for everyone that lives in our house, Blip only wrote on paper with the pen he found on the table.  And luckily I don't care much for the cornucopia's contents that ended up the victim of Blip's new throwing game.  He really does enjoy throwing things over almost anything else in the world.  And so began keeping every single writing utensil off the counter, out of purses, and well out of Blip's reach.  

Ready To Pop

I offered to throw a friend of mine a baby shower.  She was pregnant with her third baby, so I thought it would be nice for her to get some new things since #1 and #2 may have worn some stuff out.  We picked a date, and I started planning.  I had seen a cute theme on Pinterest…and the Carol used that theme for Ashley's baby shower.  Ashley's shower was so cute, so I decided that would be the theme I would go with for sure.  The hardest issue for me was choosing the colors.  I didn't want to spend a fortune (lol…that's a joke…all parties cost a small fortune!) buying all new stuff, so I went with colors I owned a lot of.  Black, white…and yellow.  I had a few items upstairs from my baby shower that I could use, plus I own all the dishes needed.

I got to work ordering the invitations (Regina was out of town, so I wasn't able to use her free skills for this party.  I should plan ahead better!) and a few other items to match.  I planned all the food according to the theme (of course).  Luckily Carol's party planning helped me with the menu.  Once that was in place...I was happy.

The day before the shower I spent every second preparing.  I am blessed with a husband who doesn't mind my insanity and perfectionism.  He runs to the store for me, helps me move furniture, and is happy to keep Blip busy…and out of the way.  I was up early…and didn't go to bed until nearly 3am.  But the house looked great…Ready to Pop.

The next morning I woke up to start preparing the food and take care of the last minute things that needed to be done.  As people started arriving I was just finishing the very last thing.  I didn't even have a chance to take a single picture, but we were waiting on the cake pops, so I decided to wait.  Plus…one of the guests is starting a photography business and offered to photograph the party.  I decided I would let her take all the pictures, so I wasn't rude or in her way…and I had my hands full anyway.

I'm not sure how every party I use blood, sweat, and tears to do turns out to be the un-photographed party of the year, but it seems to be my luck.  Blip's birthday party pictures were a huge disappointment.  I should have hired someone to photograph the party and the birthday boy that day at the party.  And now…months later…after waiting patiently to see the pictures…there aren't any.  Well…there are a few, but not one overall shot.  I seriously could cry.  I was excited to have professional pictures taken…and in the end it turned out worse than if I had just taken them myself.  Bad pictures or not…at least I'd have them.  I am thankful there are a few pictures.  So I shouldn't complain.  I should have asked for what I wanted instead of thinking it would just be done.

(So that's that…I decided I'm taking a photography class and buying myself a bounce flash.  Then I can take pictures of my parties- indoor or outdoors.)

The Menu was all about things that popped.  I served Finger Poppon' Chicken Salad Sandwiches, Fruit Pops (kabobs), Pops Chips, Cake Pops, Poppyseed Salad, S'more Pops, (Three kinds of) Popcorn (Chicago Mix, Kettle Corn & White Chocolate), and Soda Pop (and water bottles).  I also had jars of candy around the house…filled with things that pop.  (Sorry…no pictures of that.)

Another friend was in charge of the games.  I don't like playing games at showers, so I was glad someone else agreed to come up with the games.  She found super cute games that weren't over-played at every shower I've ever been to.  The first one was with play dough.  Everyone got a little container with play dough to make a baby.  Most of the babies were super cute…some ladies were a lot more talented than others.  I didn't want to make the ugliest baby, so I opt'd out.

The second game was cute too.  It was a gift bag that was passed from person to person depending on where you were seated or what the answer to the questions/riddle was.  It was passed about 20-ish times before the end of the riddle.  It was a cute game.

The party favors were also all things that popped.  I made each one with a soda pop, a blow pop, a tootsie pop, a ring pop, pop rocks, and a bottle of bubbles…cause they pop.  I think they turned out super cute.

The shower turned out to be super cute…if I do say so myself.  Nice gifts were given, and most of the food was eaten.  After everyone left Mike came home with Blip.  I had saved him a cake pop.  I knew he would love it…and he did.  But he loved the left over kettle corn he shared with his daddy more than anything else.