Karma

Wouldn't you know that the VERY SAME DAY I post about the stupid missing puppy, she magically REAPPEARS.

So either three people were lying about flushing the puppy down the toilet, or they flushed the puppy but managed to get her out, and then lost it.

And just where was the puppy? In the backyard. In the dirt. BURIED.

Now that I think of it, they probably had a pretend funeral and everything.

Which would make this a resurrection.

Either way, that dumb puppy is back. sigh.

Oh, and we went to New York City this weekend. 'Twas awesome. (Pics to come)

Book Review: Along Came You, by Karona Drummond

I read to my kids daily, so when the opportunity to review a new childrens book, Along Came You, by Karona Drummond, came up, I jumped.

The story itself wasn't my favorite. Especially the first page. "Before you, my home was decorated in style. After you, it's decorated in love." It just rubbed me the wrong way. I understand what the author is trying to say, I just think the words weren't right.

After that, the phrases get better. My favorite line being "Before you, I read books with a thousand pages. After you, I read the same book a thousand times."

The shining glory of the book is the illustrations. Artist Estelle Corke has drawn scenes straight out of a mother's life. Playing dress up, going on an outing, reading the same book over and over and over again... she captures the tenderness that a mother has for her child, the little scenes that make life magical.

All in all, it was a pretty good story, but the illustrations are why you should check it out.

RIP Puppy

We lost a great friend and confidant last week. Puppy Daisy Bingham was pronounced dead shortly after naptime by three very remorseful shortlings.



Puppy was met with an untimely death. After an unfortunate incident involving brothers, toilets, and lots of flushing and plunging, dear sweet puppy could not be recovered.

We miss her greatly and hope that she is enjoying her new home with the fishies in the ocean.

RIP Puppy.

xoxo,
The Bingham Family

Refrigerator Box

Cardboard boxes are so much fun.

Dora the Explorer, Super Babies' Dream Adventures DVD Review

We got the chance to see the newest Dora DVD release, Dora the Explorer: Super Babies' Dream Adventures.

I was pretty excited about this DVD because my three year old has been fighting naps lately. And I figure, I need all the help I can get, and since he loves Dora so much, maybe it will help?


In this new adventure, Dora's little brother and sister are getting ready to have a nap, but the dream fairy hasn't come. So, Dora, Boots, and the Super Babies have to go find her.

In true Dora fashion, they have to ask the map directions, then they have to complete three different tasks to find the Dream Fairy.

Eventually, they find the Dream Fairy, wake her up, and she goes about giving all the babies dreams once more. Yay Naptime!

There's also three other Dora the Explorer adventures on the DVD, for a total running time of 95 minutes.

We really liked it. And it's currently in the DVD player, being played over and over and over again.

Now if I could just get that Dream Fairy to stop by the house....

Weekend Update

Well that was a nice little break.

Every now and then it's so nice to step away from the computer and really enjoy life, ya' know?

In other news, we went to Colonial Beach yesterday. It was really cold. And windy.

And while we thought we could maybe go swimming, Blayne summed it up best.

"Those is DROWNING waters."


Blayne, Daniel, and Grandpa

Grandpa, Daniel, Blayne, and Grandma

Grandpa, saving Blayne
(because rescuing sand buckets is a wet job)

back row:Taylor, Meredith, Grandma, moi
front row: Daniel, Blayne, Thaddeus

And for the extraordinarily unobservant, that would be my parents and one of my sisters visiting. Well, my parents are visiting. Meredith is going to stay for keeps. {eyebrow wiggle}

Fun Fact Friday! Clean Freak Edition

This week's Fun Fact Friday! is brought to you by my new lover.



* I have to mop my floors by hand. Otherwise, I don't really believe the floor is clean. Besides, it's a great upper body workout and how else are you going to get the baseboards clean? Pffht.

* Same with the toilets. I have a toilet brush mostly to keep a certain shortling occupied while I clean the bathtub, then I reclean it, by hand, with comet and bleach.

* Comet just might be my favorite cleaning product of all time.

* Sponges are my least favorite. Stinky, smelly, slimy. Gag.

* I totally make my kids do chores.

* Thaddeus and Blayne switch over the laundry and are able to carry it upstairs

* Daniel knows where every piece of clothing in this house goes.

* Taylor is good at fetching hangers.

* Daniel and Blayne are also pretty good folders.

* Thaddeus would rather eat dirt than fold socks.

* Daniel and I fought over who got to vacuum the floors today. (I won)

* I like my house to smell like NOTHING. Forget florals, give me CLEAN.

* I can't handle any kind of moldy smelling anything. If I even suspect that something is going bad, I throw it out. Outside.

* I even clean my trash cans.

* I KNOW.

* The only other smell I really really like? Salons. As in, hair AND nail.

* Don't even think about leaving me a comment about the nature of OCD.

* I KNOW.

Goals. I need some.

I'm reinstating a schedule for myself. Because not going to bed and not having to wake up to be anywhere are sorta compelling me to be more and more lazy. So I'm going to get up at 6 and shower immediately after. Otherwise, I wake up when I hear the kids, walk down the hall and get them breakfast, and then I lay on the couch and die for the next little while.

And while laying on the couch in a comatose state used to be my dream of a perfect day, that day didn't include a whole bunch of short people that can open doors and climb up the pantry shelves to get themselves a snack, while inadvertently knocking down boxes of goldfish and pretzels and 87 cans of tomato sauce.

So I am going to pretend I'm in school again, and set my alarm. I am going to wake up, and get ready, and hope to all goodness that I don't have to vacuum so much.

My Baby is Two

I had been in and out of the hospital for months.

At 6 weeks, they told me you weren't going to make it.

At 8 weeks, they said there was a good chance that even if you did make it, you'd have a lot of problems.

At 12 weeks, they put me on bedrest.

At 16 weeks, I was admitted to the hospital for preterm labor. I got a lot of shots, an ultrasound, and a prescription for terbutaline. We negotiated with the doctor, and made arrangements with the family and neighbors, then I was allowed to go home and lay on the couch.

At 18 weeks, I started bleeding. I went back to the hospital. I got shots, they stopped the labor, and told me that I was allowed to go to the bathroom. That's it.

At 20 weeks, they told me congratulations, they never thought I'd make it this far.

Between weeks 20 and 30, I was admitted to the hospital about 5 more times. It was harder to stop labor each time.

Week 30 hit, and I was back at the hospital. I started in the ER, where they sent me up to L&D to make sure I wasn't in labor. I wasn't. So L&D sent me back to the ER where they ran tests, and tried to get ultrasounds of my kidneys, gallbladder, and appendix. They couldn't figure anything out, so they gave me a morphine drip. As I was lying in bed, where I had been for the last 6 hours, I again, went into labor. A nurse started timing my contractions. Every two minutes, lasting just about as long. They took me back upstairs and gave me more shots. This time they gave me magnesium. They finally got things to stop, and I was given the option to lay in bed there, or lay in bed at home.... I went home.

Week 32. My water broke. I went back to the hospital and they started doing tests. They couldn't stop you from coming anymore. They needed to keep me in labor for at least 4 hours, so that I could get in two rounds of antibiotics, but you were feisty. When my water broke, every drop of amniotic fluid that was around you spilled out. To help with birth, they did amnioinfusion.

At 10:41 am, you entered the world.

In complete and total silence.

7 lbs, 5 oz. Two months early.

Your head and neck were black with bruises.

You were struggling to breathe, so was I.

The Pediatric team took you away.

I started to cry.

The nurse started talking to me, but I couldn't hear what she was saying.

A few hours later, they took me to see you.

You were hooked up to IV's, and monitors. Cords were everywhere. You were under an oxygen tent. I asked if I could hold you. I couldn't.

One of the nurses explained why. "It's like when you get the flu. You're achy, and everything hurts. Even wearing clothes hurts, it's irritating. That's what it's like for her. Even though you want to touch her, it hurts too much right now. You can hold her hand."

So I did. I stayed with you as long as I could.

But I was discharged a few days later.

We came to see you every day. I would bring Tad and Blayne and Daniel, and they would look in the windows. They thought you were so cool because you got to wear special sunglasses under the blue lights.

I came alone in the evenings to hold your hand.

Eventually, you upgraded from a feeding tube to a bottle.

And you were taken off IV's.

And then, on day 13, you woke up. All of the sudden, you were alert, and wanted to eat, and started crying. With every minute, you got stronger.

On day 14, you passed the carseat test. They put you in a carseat, hooked up to all the monitors, and put it on a vibrating table. For 30 minutes, that table shook you, and not once did your vitals go wonky.

On day 14, you got to come home.

And we have been loving you ever since.

Happy Birthday, baby girl.

Top Ten Items a New Mother Needs

My darling friend is with child. With FIRST child, mind you, and she wanted to know from all moms everywhere, what essential baby item she can not survive without.

Luckily, I'm here to help.

I generally get first time moms the same thing. Not a pack of onesies, not cute little outfits. Nope. Been there, done that. Trust me, you'll get plenty of that stuff from everyone else (*cough*cough*grandmas*)

No, the things I think you need come from a special place. I like to call it the:

Holy Hell I Just Birthed a Baby, My Crotch is on Fire, Please, Please, Help Me Now List

And so, without further adieu, the things I think a first time mom most absolutely needs:

1.Motrin

2. Nursing Pads

3. Nipple Cream

4. Breast Pump

5. Maxi Pads - ginorm ones

Because if you've had an episiotomy like I've had an episiotomy, regular pads END in the middle of your stitches and rub them into oblivion, thereby causing a rather unpleasant burning/chafing/how much blood am I supposed to be losing anyways type of sensation that was entirely preventable had you just bought the right pads in the first place.

In fact, I suggest you skip the maxi pad aisle altogther and walk over to bladder control. Grab the supreme count, overnight, heavy, LONG pads. They rock hard core.

6. Stool Softener

I bet no one's told you about the first bowel movement post baby...

It's terrifying.

7. Tucks

Directions for use: Put them on your bottom. 

8. Hemorrhoid CREAM

9. Gentian Violet



10. Belly Band

So, seasoned mothers, is there anything you would add to my list?

Things NOT to do when heavily medicated

1. Blog. Yeah, I said it. It can only go downhill from here.

2. Drive. In my defense, we were out of ice. I NEEDS ICE.

3. Email people about house listings. You know, because I'm thinking that I sound a wee bit crazy when I cyber scream. HOW MANY BEDROOMS? DO YOU HAVE SUCKY NEIGHBORS? WERE YOU NICE TO YOUR HOUSE? OR DOES IT REFLECT THE AWESOME AMOUNT OF LAZY OWNERSHIP THAT I'VE RUN INTO AS OF LATE?

4. Answer the phone. You're not going to remember WHAT you're talking about, and sometimes, you might not ever remember WHO you're talking about to.

5. Comment on blogs. You know, unless you're me and you tell yourself that a comment's a comment, no matter how incoherent it may appear.

6. Unless of course you're an idiot and want to join in BusyDad's weekend blog hoppers. Which is so much fun and I move that the revival continues, m'kay?

Use Your Words

(Seriously though, where did that even come from?)

Jealous?

My Mother's Day was as good as could be expected. You know, with having to be at church at 9 am and all.

It started with with me sleeping in until 7:00, at which point DadGuy dragged me into the shower and told me it was my turn.

After my shower, that WAS by myself for once, I got myself ready for church in the usual manner:

I blow dried my hair, searched for missing shoes, plugged in the flat iron, located the boy's ties, turned ON the flat iron, grabbed Taylor so I could get her hair out of her face, put on my foundation, put hot rollers in Blayne's hair, put on mascara and eyeliner, listened to people cry, put Taylor's shoes back on her feet, finally flat iron my hair, tuck the boy's shirts back in, put my bra on, pack the diaper bag, try and find MY shoes that people "borrow" for dress up, locate the puppy and the silky and the pacifiers, give up and wear the shoes I CAN find, tell people to get in the car, go to the bathroom, grab the diaper bag and know that there's something I'm forgetting but for the love of all that is holy I can't think straight and we're late.

The service at church was especially entertaining. At least it was as far as I was concerned. I think there were three speakers. Not that I know for sure, because I was in and out with screaming, kicking, crazy shortlings the whole time.

Then, when I thought it was over and that I could send people to class, THEN they asked the mother's to please stand up so that they could give us roses. Which was a nice sentiment. It was also nice that they gave us each two so that my boys could steal the roses and swordfight each other instead.

Then I got to go to my OWN class with no short people but upon entering the room, I discovered that it was HOT and STUFFY. And I was already HOT and STUFFY and STICKY from my adventures the previous hour. So I opted to NOT attend that particular class and instead sat under an air conditioned vent in the hall and may have fallen asleep.

When I woke up I had to go to the bathroom again, because, well, I take every available opportunity to use the bathroom by myself. It's a sad realization that my life is excited by something as stupid as going to the bathroom ALONE.

Then there was Relief Society. That was good. They had treats in the back and the air conditioner was on. I'm sure the lesson was good too, except that I was busy trying to not fall asleep so I wasn't paying very much attention. Then, in the quiet room of adults, I heard a noise. It was very loud and most definitely belonging to one of my children.

I jumped out of my seat, and jogged down the hall to see my oldest child giving a talk into the microphone. Very into the microphone. I'm sure he thought it tasted good. I gave him a thumbs up and then snuck back into Relief Society just in time to play the piano.

When church was finally finished, we came home where I refused to make lunch, citing "Mother's Day!" as my excuse, changed into my pajama's, and curled up on the couch with my trashy magazine.

Then we put on a movie for the kids, which prompted Daniel and Taylor and DadGuy to slumber. Thankfully, Thaddeus and Blayne are old enough to occupy themselves these days so he went outside while she "computered" for the afternoon.

DadGuy made dinner, because, after all, it is Mother's Day. And then he did the dishes, and we all watched the Amazing Race, and then we went to bed.

How was your Mother's day?

I get this email every year on Mother's Day, and it always makes me smile.

*****

1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.

"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."

2. My mother taught me RELIGION.

"You better pray that will come out of the carpet."

3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL.

"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"

4. My mother taught me LOGIC.

"Because I said so, that's why."

5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC.

"If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."

6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.

"Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."

7. My mother taught me IRONY.

"Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about.."

8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.

"Shut your mouth and eat your supper."

9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.

"Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"

10. My mother taught me about STAMINA.

"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."

11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.

"This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."

12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.

"If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"

13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.

"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."

14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.

"Stop acting like your father!"

15. My mother taught me about ENVY.

"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do."

16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.

"Just wait until we get home."

17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING.

"You are going to get it when you get home!"

18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.

"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to stay that way."

19. My mother taught me ESP.

"Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"

20. My mother taught me HUMOR.

"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."

21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT.

"If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."

22. My mother taught me GENETICS.

"You're just like your father."

23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.

"Shut that door behind you. Were you raised in a barn?"

24. My mother taught me WISDOM.

"When you get to be my age, you'll understand."

25. My mother taught me about JUSTICE.

"One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you."

*****

Happy Mother's Day!

(Keep up the good work.)

Someday, I will I be able to go to the bathroom without incident

"HELLO? IS THERE AN ADULT IN THE HOUSE?"

THAT is what I heard this morning. This morning, when I hadn't yet showered, or combed my hair, or even used the bathroom.

Well, I was working on using the bathroom.

Taylor was down for her morning nap, the other three were engrossed with the television (or so I thought) and I, in my naivety, had the gall to use the bathroom.

I went in, and shut the door.

At which point, three sets of little toes made their escape.

I heard them.

I heard them throw open the front door.

I heard shouts of "Rope Swing!" and "Yay!"

I tried to empty my bladder as fast as I could.

Not two minutes later, I hear an adult voice, calling to me.

I thought maybe it was my neighbor, calling to tell me he's backing out.

But no. That would be too perfect.

It was a police officer.

Because my children, bless their darling souls, saw a police car pull into our cul-de-sac.

And my children, bless their darling souls, ran out to the police car.

And then my children, bless their darling souls, began asking questions.

"What are you doing at my house?"

"Is there a bad guy back there?"

"Can I go on a ride?"

"Can you turn on the lights?"

"Do you have a gun?"

And the police officer, bless her darling soul, saw three unsupervised children, with the front door flung open, and came to investigate.

"HELLO? IS THERE AN ADULT IN THE HOUSE?"

I called back. "Just a minute." And I flushed the toilet, washed my hands, and made my way towards the voice in my shouldhavebeentossed pajama pants and my washed3daysago hair do.

Our eyes met, the officer's and mine, and she burst out laughing.

"Went to the bathroom, huh?"

I sighed and said, "Yep."

"I just wanted to make sure someone was home. I saw them and the open door and just thought I should check it out," she explained. "Well, you have a good day." and she turned to leave, chuckling all the while.

"Is my mom in trouble?"

"Do you like to swing?"

"Can I have a ride?"

"Do you live at the jail?"

Three inquisitive children continued to pepper her with questions. I called them back, and had them wave good bye to the nice officer.

She got back into her cruiser, rolled down the window to wave good bye, and flashed her lights, just for us.

It was the highlight of our day.

Springtime in Virginia

This is our first spring in Virginia.

Every time I look outside, I have to stop and stare.

Pretty in Pink.

The deck is surrounded by blooms.

I think my tree is PMSing.

This might be a weed. I don't know, but if it is, it sure is a pretty one.

Did you know I have a wild strawberry patch? 'Cause I do.

Itty Bitty Blooms.

I have these in the front and back yards.

And they come in PINK.

I can't believe these irises. I feel so exotic.

My daily schedule now includes "Sit on the deck and waste time"

I love Spring.

To My Third Child on his Third Birthday

Last night before you went to bed, we had quite the extensive conversation about what your birthday cake was to look like. You were adamant that it needed to be green, have a vacuum, and YOU on it. I laughed and said I'll try. And try I did. But it wasn't working out like I hoped, so I settled on writing Happy Birthday in green frosting. (mom, are my cake decorating tips at your house?)

This morning when you woke up, you wanted to see your cake. Even though it wasn't quite what you asked for, you loved it. You loved it so much that we had to sing Happy Birthday right then and there, and then we ate cake for breakfast.

I love this picture because it shows your new found independence. You dress yourself every day. Most of the time, the clothes are backwards and inside out, but YOU DID IT YOURSELF and that's good enough.

You've been talking a lot more. It's hard to find the right words sometimes, and it takes all your focus and concentration. You wear a very serious face when you're trying to explain yourself. Sometimes you say the same thing over and over until it comes out the way you want, and then your face lights up.

(in this one you are trying to tell me why I don't need to take your picture.)

It is truly a joy and an honor to have you in our family. You're a goofball, and can always make us laugh. Your eyes sparkle with delight, it's obvious that you love your life. And we sure love having you in ours.

xoxo,
your mother

Daniel's Favorites 2009

Show: Spongebob Squarepants

Song: Happy Birthday to Me!

Color: "Geen", green

Food: "Geen food and sting teez", green food and string cheese

Book: "ROAAAARRRR book!", Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak

Toy: trucks, balls, bikes

Activity: playing outside

A friend of mine passed away this weekend.

I can't get her out of my head. I keep picturing her laughing and smiling. I keep returning to the same thought over and over. How? She was healthy, and happy. She was a devoted wife, mother, sister, and friend. She was warm and caring, compassionate and beautiful. She was healthy. How could things go so wrong so quickly?

I think of her husband and how devastating this must be for him. I think of the children she left behind, the little boys that will have to grow up without her gentle guidance.

I think of her.

I see her face and I hear her voice.... I have so many questions I want to ask her.

Did you know it was the end? Did you tell your kids you loved them? Is there anything you want to say to them? Are you scared?

I try and piece together her last moments. I try to sort out what I would do. What I would say. She's only been gone a moment, and even though her time here is finished, she's taught me so much.

She's taught me that I need to be my best every day.

That I need to hold tight to the people I love because in an instant, it can be gone.

That I need to develop a closer relationship with my Heavenly Father.

That there is only today.... there might not be a tomorrow.

I wish it hadn't happened this way. Then I think about how maybe this was another part of her purpose here on earth. To teach us all that life is about the moments, the little things. That there is a greater plan working than we know. That maybe we're focused on the wrong things.

I see her smile...

The End of the Birthday Story

Anonymous said...

You were going to continue telling us about your son and the neighborhood boys who told him they couldn't play with him anymore (broke my heart). Did you decide it was to personal to mention or did you just forget? Because I'd love to find out how that all turned out.

A few months ago, I told a story about my son. A story that I forgot to finish. Because as a busy mom of four, I can barely remember to shower most days. Apologies.

*****

I stayed up late, decorating the house. There's a subtle art to hanging streamers, and one has to do it just so or else the effect is not right. From every corner of the room, happy streams of pink and tangerine twirled to the center, where they met with a bouquet of balloons.

On the backs of the chairs, I tied more balloons. I set the birthday cards in front of their places, stood back, and debated where to hang the Happy Birthday banner they had asked for.

I got out the ingredients for a pancake breakfast, getting everything set so we would have the BEST birthday that one could have. I didn't want any tears. That's all I can hope for on birthdays right now, no tears and no tantrums.

When everything was as set as could be, I turned off the lights and went to bed with a smile on my face. I love birthdays.

The next morning, I awoke to a hysterical 5 year old boy.

"I have no friends. No one came to my party. Everyone hates me." he sobbed.

His sister, the other birthday person, tried to console him. "I like you Tad. You're my best friend."

"NO! You're my sister. I want a friend. No one likes to play with me because they don't like me. They think I can't drive a jeep."

My heart broke.

He hadn't mentioned the boys since that night, I thought he had gotten over it. I was wrong.

I tried to cheer him up.

"Thaddeus! For your guys' birthday breakfast we get to have pancakes! What color do you want them? Blayne, do you want heart ones or flower ones? Tad, did you decide?"

He couldn't talk. He couldn't even breathe. He was hysterical, and started hiccuping.

"Nobody likes me," hiccup, "and nobody even came to my birthday party!"

He was distraught. Each time he looked at the balloons, he started sobbing all over again.

I looked at the clock. 7:00 am. Definitely too early to call anyone, but I did have a plan.

I looked at Thaddeus. "You know what dude? It's not time for your party yet. Your friends are still sleeping. We have to go to the store and get a cake, THEN your friends will be here."

He jumped up, and wiped the tears off his cheeks.

"Oh, you mean, it's not TIME for my party yet?"

"Nope. Not yet. We have to get the birthday cake and some other birthday stuff first, okay?"

"OKAY!"

Blayne looked at me, "Am I having a birthday party too Mama?"

"Yep. Yep you are. But FIRST, we have to get the cake."

Everyone smiled. I smiled back and looked at the clock. 7:15 am, still too early to call anyone.

I got everyone fed and the breakfast dishes done. I scrambled to throw myself and the kids together. We had a few errands to run if we were going to have a birthday party today.

Finally, it was 8:00 am. I could call people.

"Hey, it's MomBabe. Do you have any kids that could come to a party at 11:00? Sweet. We're having an impromptu birthday party. No gifts, please. Just bodies. Thanks. Do you know anyone else that has kids at home?"

Phone call after phone call, I tracked down as many kids as I could that would be able to make it to our impromptu birthday party.

By 8:30, we had a tentative guest list, and I had our list of "stuff" to get for the party.

One by one, I herded the shortlings out the door and into the car. They were jabbering away about the birthday cake and the party and isn't this so exciting and what friends do you think are coming?

I drove to the nearest Wal-Mart and repeated the store rules.

"Okay. We don't have a lot of time. Our friends are coming and we need a birthday cake and some gift bag prizes and you have to stay with mommy. One hand on the cart, no dawdling. Got it?" and in we went.

We headed over to the birthday row and picked out prizes and gift bags for our friends. Then I dragged all four of them around the entire store before realizing that this particular Wal-Mart does NOT have a bakery. Shoot.

We go to the check out and proceed to tell the checker all about the birthday party that is going to be AT OUR HOUSE! WITH OUR FRIENDS! And because we're super polite, we invite the checker to the party. Unfortunately, she has to work but she wishes them a very happy birthday.

Out to the car again, buckle everyone in, off to the grocery store to get a cake.

By the time we got everything we needed and pulled into the driveway, it was 20 minutes to eleven. We raced into the house and I frantically started putting gift bags together while four pairs of eyes watched out the front window.

Finally, a van pulled up. Then another, and another.

Thaddeus was overjoyed as friends walked into the house. And even though I said not to, they came with gifts, for Thaddeus AND Blayne.

I was so grateful. I thanked the mothers for coming on such short notice. They thanked me for giving them a reason to leave the house today.

We sang happy birthday. We ate pizza and birthday cake. We opened gifts. We blew bubbles.

I got to know some of my neighbors a little bit better, and they assured me, they've all been there.

When DadGuy came home from work that day, he asked how everything went.

Thaddeus said, "Today was the best day of my life! I have so many friends!"

Blayne agreed, "Yeah, they love us!"

DadGuy looked at me and smiled. I smiled back. "Yep. We have LOTS of very good friends."

Yo Gabba Gabba Winner

Jeanette of Jeanette's Mommy Musings is the winner of the Yo Gabba Gabba new friends DVD.

Email me your vital stats (aka address) and we'll get it sent out!

Thanks to everyone for participating!