Paaarrrrtay!

I've always loved going to parties that are for someone else but I am really not one for parties in my honor. Hosting a party full of friends and family who don't know each other, trying to make everyone feel comfortable and welcome, making sure the house is spotless and replenishing the food supply every time it gets low, all these things just sound like a lot of work to me. It just stresses me out and I end up feeling like I was working the whole night instead of enjoying myself. My husband on the other hand LOVES a good party that's just for him. So we've learned in our almost 10 years of marriage that my birthdays are low key and his include a party. But this year, entering a new decade seemed deserving of a little something. Ryan threw me the PERFECT-my-kind-of-party party. It was a backyard movie night, complete with couches, bean bags, a projector & screen, movie candy, popcorn, and (my guilty pleasure) krispy kremes! This man sure knows the way to my heart- I love movies!

I knew Ryan was planning something and told him to keep it low key. Apparently "low key" means two different things to us. He read off the prospective invite list that seemed to go on forever. I immediately started to stress out, "This doesn't sound low key," I told him. "Oh, don't worry, he said. I'm really not putting much into it." Low key to me means laid back, not a ton of people, but I wouldn't mind if you to put some effort into it. A beautiful, but more intimate evening. I envisioned hundreds of people standing around bored and hungry in our dirty house because "he wasn't putting much into it." I think he was messing with me. The man knows how addicted I am to pinterest.

When I walked in, I got a little choked up at all the effort that actually DID go into making my evening special. It was exactly what I wanted but better. So pretty. My mom had printed and framed black and white photos from my life and had them on display. There was an adorable dessert table and my favorite festival lights strung through out the backyard. Ryan and some friends had transformed the backyard into a cozy little movie night. 

*I spy with my little eye a baby bump.

I'm so very lucky to have this man as my husband. He is constantly trying to find out how to make me happy and then goes out of his way to do it. Between the two of us, he is the better half and I am forever learning from him how to put others first. I'm also the luckiest girl in the world to have such an amazing mom. She lives to serve others and I know she put a lot into my little party too. These two sure know how to make a girl feel special.

There you have it. I'm officially old. 

20 Weeks

 

*Ryan says he's gaining sympathy weight for me so we can be in this together. What a sweetheart :)

Pregnancy #3 fun facts:

• Prospective Due Date: November 22nd 2013 (my 1st baby not in April - including my husband)
• I don't get "morning sickness," I get night sickness (which means I rarely eat dinner)
• My boss's wife, and therefore my boss, accidentally found out I was pregnant through a picture I was tagged in on facebook (horrible!!)
• I'll be happy with a boy OR a girl, but Wendy really wants a sister and it would be fun to watch her face light up if it IS a girl
• We've tried to tell Harvey, "There's a baby in mommy's tummy," but we don't think he completely grasps the concept. He'll look at my belly and say, "No... it's a basketball." OR "No... it's just poop." (I think he's trying to be funny with that one). When people ask him what we're gonna name our baby, he looks at them kinda funny and says, "Harvey." As if to say, "I am the baby in this family, idiot." I think the bigger my belly gets, the more he'll grasp what's really going on. Hopefully.

Tiny Tots Graduation

On my thirtieth birthday, my little Wendy graduated from preschool. It was the cutest little ceremony, I even got choked up a good handful of times - which, I hate to admit, is rare for me. Maybe it has something to do with being pregnant. (Sidenote: I'm the person who feels heartless with my dry eyes at deeply moving events, while those around me are brought to tears. I've always wished I could show that I FEEL it too, but I'm just not a happy crier I guess.) During the ceremony, the kids sang a song about growing up that killed me. Bad. 

All the 4 years olds came in in single file with their hands clasped behind their back, looking a little like they knew this was something important but not quite sure why. They were full of what I call nervous reverence, little deers in headlights walking into a room packed with their family members flashing their cameras & holding up their phones to record the moment. Wendy was sitting front, center and looked so small. I think I forget how young she really is sometimes because she's the older sibling and because she's got such a sassy teenager mouth on her sometimes. 

*Wendy with her Senior Tiny Tots Teachers: Miss Mary & Miss Robin, not pictured are her amazing Junior Tiny Tots teachers, Miss Lisa & Miss Julie

The kids sang some songs they learned over the year, their teachers spoke of the things they've learned and preparations they've made to enter elementary school, then they called each child up by name, told us which elementary school they were going to and what they wanted to be when they grow up. Wendy wants to be a ballerina.

 

 

After her graduation, my whole family took her (and me for my 30th) to pieology for lunch. She was beaming (as you can see in the picture above). She walked around to different tables of strangers and would nonchalantly lean her capped head and bouquet of flowers toward them until they made comments and gave congratulations about her graduating. What a little girly girl. Apparently I was the same way. I'm so proud of this girl. And I know all moms say it, but I really don't want her to grow up so fast.