Thursday, March 31, 2016

- Easter isn't always roses and tulips :( -

What what?! 
Whoa! What a difference a year makes! :) More pics of Harper and E.B. right on ova' here...

Easter weekend 2016 threw us a curveball!  The Wednesday [4 days] before, Harper got sent home from daycare "vomiting"... Though she only vomited that once, she did have fevers and lethargy and general not-well-ness for the rest of the day Wednesday and all day Thursday. She luckily bounced back to normal on Friday; and just when I thought all was well in the world, I started feeling achey and sleepy and efffffffword. Oh please Lawd, don't do this to our family AGAIN!  But! We pushed on through Saturday and doped up on Tylenol to make it through Easter Vigil Mass [barely, though; Harper was not interested in sitting down and facing forward for more than a few seconds at a time and this was a 2-hour Mass so! You can just imagine how much fun fun funnnn we had trying to restrain a wild and vocal one-year-old during our [[previously declared]] very FAVORITE Mass of the entire liturgical year.  Within the first few readings, she ate ALL the Cheerios and yogurt melts that I packed and also spotted her sippy cup of milk in the diaper bag and chugged that down as well. She was finished perusing her stack of books and cuddling her baby doll before the lights even flicked on in the church. She missed all the baptisms because, after three kicking/screaming squabbles and two thrown and lost-to-the-abyss-of-the-church-floor pacifiers -- damn things can bounceeee -- Brian and Harper retreated to the couches of the basement where the animal was free to roam and roar. Though all unusual circumstances considered -- 7-9pm time slot, recovering from virus, doesn't enjoy being forced to sit in one place for any length of time, made to wear a silky dress, the list of excuses is getting absurd so I will leave it at that -- I upgraded her report card from a C+ to a B- and considered it only a minimal parenting failure that we even exerted the effort to attend Easter Vigil.]. LONGEST PARENTHESIS/SIDE-NOTE EVER. I digress with a photo:
[^^The darkest, most depressing Easter outfits ever. Clearly I focused all my attention on planning the baby's holiday wardrobe and didn't realize until it was too late that Brian and I would have to either wear something ridiculous or go naked. We chose to wear something ridiculous. But watch out: pink fluffy dress and purple tie is already on the radar for next year.]

Meanwhile, while 4:00 in the A to the M of Easter morning is traditionally coined as resurrection time for our sweet Lord, 4am in the Fleming house also brought on some vomiting with a vengeance for this momma right hurrrr. Instead of rising with my Jesus I definitely felt a little more like a hint of death warmed over on Good Friday. Curse you, flu plague.  I will shout loud expletives in your name until the day I die.  But anyway......... While I was on my death bed all day, Brian took Harper to Easter at his uncle's where she supposedly got a new crockpot from Grandpa and Grandma and begged a variety of foods from the table [girl has an appetite if I've ever seen one!]. Not sure what all else went on at the family festivities, but Brian did send one [only ONE!!!] picture update of the entire day: 
And that successfully concludes the documentation of our Easter 2016. #worstpostever #whydoesanyoneevenreadthisblog #ihavenoidea

Harper's Easter egg hunt and basket opening still pending..... Maybe we'll get on that next weekend. 

In surely more exciting news, check out Easter 2015... If I recall correctly, it was much less dramatic.  ;) 



Wednesday, March 30, 2016

- Twen-tah sevin -

Hello, birthday.  

I used to think my 21st [golden] birthday was the end-all-be-all of birthdays; but turns out each year keeps getting better and better and better.

And I'm not mad about that.

:) 

First things first: Baby Daddy arranged a babysitter and took me out on a super nice dinner date at our friend's restaurant on The Hill... [We hate going here. Not spoiled with good service and appetizers and wine and dessert or anything.] But seriously, thank you Dionna for everything!!! It was so lovely and so nice to be out and have a drink and adult conversation and a night for just the two of us! [And in retrospect.......I think she gave us a similar slice of delicious cake when we went here for my bee-day 3 years ago...!] 
And then on my REAL birthday [two days later], my work family spoiled me to pieces with cards and lunch and lots of "extra" sentiment throughout the day [though actually they are pretty sweet all the time, but I was impressed nonetheless].  One of my favorite patients [you know who you are!] brought this white chocolate raspberry bundt cake thing from a bakery nearby that was so delectable I thought I was biting into a piece of heaven. I know exaggeration is sort of my BFF and at times I get mildly wound up, but I'm not even lying ----- this cake was like oh em geeeee omg. 
When I got home from work, my parents were waiting there to take us out to dinner...and ice cream...which was awesome. And then Harper's like, "Hey yo, Mom, happy birthday! ...Let's just celebrate your special day by playing on the floor and NOT taking a photo together." ...She's never interested in being seen with me these days.  I can't blame her. 

And that's all, folks! I'm still waiting for my birthday gift from Brian [he keeps asking me what I want? I can't help it that I'm low maintenance and don't make ridiculous requests! ;)] ...But I'm thinking about requesting something like this... Whatcha think??? :) 




- Two sweet bunnies! -

...Well.....one sweet bunny at least... :/
[I will never grow accustomed to the ridiculous tradition of the Easter Bunny! Santa Claus is totally believable and the Tooth Fairy is a stretch that could be potentially defended and rationalized, but the Easter Bunny??? Come ON.  First of all, what kind of "bunny" is 400 x's its normal size, dressed in a disproportionate stale costume with see-through gauze over the eye sockets and white tennis shoes sticking out at the bottom? And then if this weirdo "bunny" is just the REAL Easter Bunny's helper, then how could a REAL Easter Bunny of that size hop all the way around the world in less than 24 hours to deliver eggs and candy when bunnies don't even have brains or logic or purpose? I guess that halfway invalidates my argument for a believable Santa Claus but sh*t dude, this Easter Bunny thing is the most far-fetched foo-foo fairy tale I've ever heard of.  Whatever though, I'm just gonna drop it right thur as to prevent my kid from growing up with a Grinch-mom..... ;)] 

SO ANYWAY -- We went to Wal-Mart [make that #twoyearsinarow] for a free posing with this "Easter Bunny" and met up with Harper's cousin slash BFF Kate; we immediately lol'ed after releasing them from their carseats as we realized they were wearing the exact same Easter dress! Must be those awesome mommas and their good taste in clothes!  Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about when I say "two sweet bunnies!" :) 
 

These two are the best of friends and I hope their awe and admiration [for each other I mean; not for a rife rodent] continues to grow and grow! <3

Hoppy Easter, frennies! 



- Luck o' the Leprechauns -

Life has taken a 180 since St. Patrick's Day 2013...

...and 2014...

...and holy wowzers, maybe another 180 and then a 90 in the opposite direction again in 2015 [!!!!!]...

...but regardless of the year and the circumstances and everything life throws down in between, another March is here which means it's time for another St. Patrick's Day and ain't no doubt we half-blooded but fully self-proclaimed Irishmen/women gonna be celebratin' our "heritage" and the BEST damn day of the year!  

I had to work this year, too...*tear tear and more tears*... But Grandma and Grandpa brought a special little leprechaun to visit me at lunch time...
And THEN...you guessed it! The minute the clock ticked 15:00:00, it was off with the scrubs and on with the shirt that I just realized I've worn the last 3+ St. Patrick's Days [yes, I see that I need to go shopping more frequently and I also know I have a very small sense for fashion when those few and far between shopping sprees do occur SO!...I'll probably honestly actually be wearing this same green sweater next year and that's just the way my carefree life goes sometimes. Most of the time. All of the time. #endrant]. But! Obviouslyyyy: Dogtown for the win!!! No time to waste; we showed up just in time to get a glimpse of the fun ole' fiesta and collect a few beads/parade remnants and submerge ourselves in all the authentic Irish action!  
Bottoms/bottles up with Uncle Garett!! Boo partied 'til she couldn't party no mo'...that's mah little shamrock girl!

Hope you had [at least] a third as great of a St. Pat's Day as we had! If not, mark your calendars for Dogtown 2017 [3/17/17!] and consider this your official invite to party with our fam! 

O...and may the luck o' the leprechauns be yours!  ;) :-*




Friday, March 25, 2016

- A BIRTHDAY for the books! -

^^ The post title says it all! Harper's first birthday was a day to remember! ...BUT!...since she won't actually remember it, I very nervously stepped out of my comfort zone and so nicely took it upon myself to take lots of pics .all.day.long... ;) ;)  Haaaaa. And, go...

We had a little balloon party in her crib on the morning of her birthday! She's really never played with balloons before, so this was a pretty big hit...
 ...until it wasn't a hit anymore, at which time Momma quickly moved everyone along to the next photo op:
^^ Note her very VERY happy 12-month face, probably in recognition/realization that this was indeed the last month-by-month photoshoot she'd ever have to suffer through... ;)

A few hours and a super short nap later, it was finally party time!  
 
The guests arrived and the party kicked off with a boom... .......Everything was gr-gr-gr-greattttt until all the sudden I realized everyone was getting hungry and I was way behind in the kitchen and eff-em-ellllllll, seriously. Pictured below are Brian's very gracious sister and brother who walked into my kitchen like pros and helped finish up dinner so we could get food on the table! #partysavers #ioweu #forrealtho
 ...Luckily there were plenty of appetizers in the mean time... :/ 
Dinner's done and the food prep disaster is behind us; now it's time to play! Everyone enjoyed Harper's new play room in the basement that Brian has been working on so tirelessly!  [More posts to come on this...] 
SO many presents for the princess!  
[And my personal favorite: a doctor's bag complete w/ stethoscope, thermometer, syringe, and a slew of other medical things! Heart eye emoji to the max!] 
What's up, smash cake? Thank goodness this perfect little cake came as a complimentary side dish for the big cake... Wouldn't want to showcase my bad and ugly baking skillz any more than necessary... ;) 
 
^^Hey cousin Kate, you're up for this crazy party business next month! 

Everything gets hotter when the sun goes down! ...Or something like that?  PJ time for the cousins! 

Happy birthday, Harper Cecilia! You truly do leave a little sparkle wherever you go! One year looks good on you! :) 



Tuesday, March 22, 2016

- Smash dat cake rull good! -

About a week before the birthday party, I had this genius idea to do a little dress rehearsal for Harper's smash cake. I can throw together a pan of brownies or whip up a crock pot dump cake every now and then, but the more advanced "Betty Crocker"-type baking is far from my forte and I'm not the least bit ashamed to acknowledge that I have colossal room for growth in the kitchen + housewife-ing arena. However! However, I had been perusing Pinterest cake boards for weeks and gathering ideas and making notes and...I mean come on, how hard could it be to bake/ice/decorate a little kid's smash cake? 

Well, actually...

...It's freakin' hard. 

I'm so glad I did the trial run, because I quickly swallowed my pride as I realized that the so-called "smash cake" actually looked more like a pink pile of cow sh*t and I could never show off a delicacy of that caliber of creativity in front of our entire family.  But!  With that being said, in this family [of three at least,] we never judge a book by its cover...  So I decided to give the guest of honor the last word: 
...And [shockingly!] as you can see, she liked it!  She liked it a lotttt.  Thanks for boosting my confidence back up, Harper! You've always been Momma's biggest fan! ;) 



- She leaves a little sparkle wherever she goes... -

Hey-oooooo, it's the one-year-old BIRTHDAY GIRL in all her glory! ...Or shall I say "not"-glory, as she has never been a big fan of photoshoots with her crazy mother... And even though Brian sided w/ Harper and coined her as my "circus animal," I still managed to talk him into helping me throw down some pink props and a few handfuls of glitter and voila!........ Happy birthday, sweet princess! Your birthday party theme fit you perfectly; you truly do leave a little *sparkle* wherever you go! ;)  We love you!!!