"The Last Straw"

Wow! So much has happened since my last entry, I can hardly believe it! I am slowly starting to get caught up on everything, so hopefully my entries will start getting closer together like they used to be. I enjoy blogging so much but, unfortunately, sometimes life starts to move at warp speed and it takes everything I have just to keep from getting sucked into the vortex of laundry and bills and dinners and carpooling and and and and............well, I think you get the point I'm trying to make here. Despite the busyness of daily living, I wouldn't want my life any other way. Umm, well....I wouldn't mind a maid coming in and doing my laundry and a rich benefactor to step in and pay off all my credit cards.....but other than that, my life is pretty good right now!

My little Annabelle has mastered the straw! Yes, she can suck up water like a professional fish! The only problem we now face is what to do with all that water once it is in her mouth. Annabelle's solution? Smile broadly so it all seeps right back out and onto the front of her clothes! Well, what else *should* she do with it? There will be plenty of time later to learn the swallowing part. Right now, though, it is fun to just let it all run right back out. Mommy likes doing laundry, right?!? Yes, watching Annabelle drink from a straw is one of the greatest pleasures of my day. And once she has her tiny little hands wrapped around her sippy cup, Heaven help me if I try to take it away from her! Sippy cups are her new favorite plaything.

And she waves now! Well, okay, that isn't entirely correct. She KNOWS how to wave, she just chooses not to. I know she can do it.....the first (and only, I might add!) day she waved it was so sweet! She waved to us six times that day, so I know it was a deliberate action on her part, not just a random muscle reflex. Unfortunately, though, she hasn't waved since. I'm not sure what the deal is with that. Now all she will do is put her hand up and then shyly turn her head away. She wants to wave, I can see it, but she chooses not to. That's alright, though, because I know she will. One day. When she's good and ready. I am slowly learning not to get upset when Annabelle doesn't reach her milestones when I feel (or when the doctors say) she should be reaching them. Annabelle is thriving and that is all I am concerned with right now. She is healthy, she is happy and she is thriving. What else could a doting mother hope for?

Even though it is a month and a half early, we are already planning Annabelle's first birthday party. I just can't believe she is going to turn 1 year old next month! Where has the time gone?? After much deliberation, we decided to have Annabelle's first birthday party at Chick-Fil-A. The way I figure it, she *probably* will not be walking by then (but maybe she will, who knows?!) so I didn't want to have her party anyplace where walking would be absolutely necessary for her to enjoy herself, and that ruled out most of the themed places like Fun City or Chuck E. Cheese. And I certainly didn't want a house full of children running around, either. So, I figured Annabelle could at least crawl through the tunnels in the Chick-Fil-A play zone, so that's where we'll be. I think it will be a lot of fun, too. Each of the children will get a kid's meal, a small plush cow, and an ice cream cone. Annabelle will get a large plush cow, PLUS.....the Chick-Fil-A cow will grace us with an appearance! What is the best part of having her party here? Mommy won't have to clean up after everybody!!! Yeah!!! I'm planning on having a cake there, too, even though the kids will each get an ice cream cone with their meals. I simply can't imagine Annabelle's first birthday party with no cake. I'm thinking it will probably be a princess themed cake, but I'm kinda fond of Elmo, too, so I'm torn on this one. I'll give it a bit more thought because, after all, I still have a month and a half.