Life Happens...Game On

Party Planning

I know, I know. I owe an update on my hair. I will get around to it eventually...let's just say I ended up not going drastic. I went with some long bangs and more layering around my face to lessen the weight a bit. I think it helped.

But anyway, that isn't what has been on my mind lately. What HAS been on my mind is the peanut's birthday party...which is tomorrow. Technically, her birthday is a week from tomorrow but we will be out of town that weekend for (HUGE SHOCK) a football game. Side note that I've informed the hubster birthdays do take precedence over football...it just worked out that we could do the party this weekend. Anyway, one might say that I've never been the party planner. In fact I've informed Jen that when she gets married she needs to just tell me what it is she wants (as far as showers/bachelorette parties etc.) and I will make sure that is what happens. This is not because I'm a bad friend...it's because I care about what she wants. And because I'm a poor social planner. In fact, I ordered pizza the one and only time I've had to personally feed a group as big as we are expecting tomorrow.

So, here I have been trying to plan a birthday party for the peanut. Granted, I realize she will never remember any of it - although she will have pictures to look back at - but I still want it to be special without going overboard. We ARE going simple. I reserved a pavilion at a local park and posted up an invite on the calendar of my Mommy Group. That was easy enough. It's the details that have been swimming around in my head at night, keeping me from sleeping well. Not that I've been worrying about it...that's just what happens when I have something on my mind.

But you know what's funny? Things have just sort of fallen into place and it hasn't been as hard as I expected. I suppose I shouldn't be too confident until AFTER the party...this is me we are talking about and there's only so much room in my brain at any given time. So, I'm sure I've forgotten SOMETHING. But, I think the important stuff is covered.

I found cute little favors (Halloween themed rubber duckies and bottles of Bubble Magic), although my favorite thing that we are giving out has to be the baby pumpkins. Each child will get their own baby pumpkin and we will write their name on it (actually, Jen will write their name on it assuming she doesn't have to stay home to deal with house issues - otherwise it will be my handwriting). Me being me, I couldn't resist breaking into the pain pens that I picked up to write on the pumpkins with and I ended up decorating one for Paige. I think it turned out pretty cute even with my handwriting.

We have enough tableware for everyone (in orange and green), table cloths...I even dipped into my artsy/crafty side and made the peanut a happy birthday sign (which evolved into being after the local Party City's printer was broken and I couldn't find a pumpkin sign anywhere that wasn't a jack-o-lantern). Even the food came together easily enough (granted with a little help my from Mom and MIL) and I can say that NO ONE will be leaving hungry. If you are coming, save room for food. We are planning hamburgers, hot dogs, mac & cheese, pumpkin bread, chips, cupcakes, punch and soda. And LOTS of it.

So, now I just need to stop all the thoughts racing through my head and try to get some rest. It will be an early start tomorrow to get everything done in time. I can rest easy, though, because even if things don't turn out absolutly perfect (and they never do, do they?) I have plenty of years ahead of me to get in some much needed practice.

An Appointment Has Been Made

I've been crazy busy lately between work and having a life (gasp, I know - somehow it just happened) and of course I haven't updated on my hair. I have taken everyone's comments into consideration and am still torn about exactly what it is I want to do. Maybe nothing, maybe a whole lot of something. But at any rate I'm scheduled to sit in my stylist's chair this coming Saturday and I will be there for two hours, so even if it is subtle I won't be coming out exactly the same way I went in.

In other news, the peanut is less than a month away from being an entire year old. How on earth did THAT happen? I keep thinking there's no way I've been someone's mommy for a year, but here she is...a living breathing miracle that just keeps getting more and more beautiful every day. She's so amazing that sometimes it just squeezes my heart to look at her and think that she's growing up so fast.

For those who are curious, here is one of her nine month pictures. They were actually taken when she was just a week shy of 10 months, but hey, that's how schedules work out sometimes. (Side note - pictures were taken by Tracy Larsen Photography...just had to give a shout out because she did a STUPENDOUS job.)

And just for the heck of it, here's a family picture from our recent trip to Seattle to watch the Oklahoma State season opener against Washington State (the peanut's first football game).

   

For anyone wondering what the heck that thing is on her head, it is called a DOC Band. Paige has a condition called brachycephaly that we are treating with the band - she doesn't have any of the versions that require surgery, thank goodness. Her problem was caused by a combination of molding while she was still in the birth canal and lying on her back after she was born...we tried using a wedge/turning her head/etc. and unfortunately her head just refused to pop out like it should.  At any rate this is just a bump in the road that we have to deal with for three to four months (and we are already two months in). And in the meantime, you gotta admit she's pretty stinkin' cute in it. There's even a little pink Oklahoma State logo on the back.

And in more other news, after their win over the Texas A&M Aggies, the Oklahoma State Cowboys are now ranked #17 in the nation. Unfortunately, I am not very optimistic about the rest of the season. Despite what the final score said, we didn't look nearly as good against the Aggies as we should have and we have some very tough and very good teams coming up. I would love for my beloved Pokes to prove me wrong (come on boys, ORANGE POWER!!!). I'm going to be supporting them in person for at least four more games this season (three at home, one on the road) and I truly hope to see some wins on the board.

For now, that's all I know. It's dark thirty here, and I definitely need to be hitting the sack. I am in need of much recuperating after a fun time in Stillwater with friends and I have a busy week in front of me. As always, I love to sign out on a happy note, so I'll leave you with more baby goodness. If I don't have much to say the rest of this week (and hey, I may surprise you) then at least keep an eye out for an upcoming hair update.