Partying

celebrating Dad's big day

It's Mikey's birthday, so I really ought to do a post on how wonderful he is and how great it is that he's twenty-eight, because he is and he is. Seriously, I am so blessed to have his as a husband and am so proud of all he does to balance home, work, school, and working with the youth at church. He does it all well.

But right now, I'm just feeling kind of blah. My allergies are acting up because of all the pollen--in February, I know--thanks to our mild winter. My nose won't stop running, my eyes are watery, and my face itches; I've gone through half a roll of toilet paper at least and should just have gotten out a new box of tissues for myself. Granted, I have appreciated some of the warm days and taking the girls to the park in the dead of winter.

Last night, we were trying to get some errands done and take Mike out for dinner before his class. (We had missed him for a few days while he was out with his family for Grandpa Gotfredson's funeral last weekend and didn't want to spend more time without him at home.) Instead, we went on a wild goose chase on UMKC campus, which is very pretty, by the way. We wanted to go to Baja Fresh since we have a gift card and the only one in the area is there, but, wouldn't you know, they close at 5:30pm (after driving around looking for parking, we missed that by twenty minutes) and turns out they are an Express location, so they wouldn't be able to take the gift card anyway. Kind of funny. So Mike went to class with some snacks he had in his knapsack and the girls and I discovered a Thai place I'd had my eye on for the past year-and-a-half.

It was great food and the lady was super sweet--she insisted on helping me to the car with my kids and Mike's portion. I was really happy because we went to another Thai place when we first moved here that was kind of different from what we were hoping for. Mike and I go out infrequently enough that we usually get the same menu items when we do and we loved the green curry beef and cashew chicken at our old place. This compared well.

We visited with the cousins for forty minutes before picking up Mike so I could nurse Em, pick up some forgotten items from partying the past weekend, and because my girls wouldn't let me hear the end of it if Dad went to class and we didn't get to see their cousins. The girls went to sleep on the way home, Maggie waking only briefly after we pulled in long enough to tell me, "I did forget something at Ava's--my pink laptop!!"

Emily was awake for three hours in the middle of the night and a bit on the cranky side. I'm guessing the Thai food was to blame. It was worth it. (I've never really had a baby react noticeably to something I ate though, and I've never been one to cut the spice when nursing or pregnant.) I transferred Kate back to her bed after she wandered in early this morning. And then woke up a little before seven to Maggie calling from her bed, "Turn my songs on please!" ("her songs" meaning a Primary music CD).

So, yeah. I'm tired, feeling kind of sick, and looking forward to sleep. I probably ran myself ragged end of last week as we ended up super busy while Mike was gone, partially things we had already planned and couldn't get out of and partially to keep the girls busy so they (and I) wouldn't miss Mike so much. (Sidenote: Kate was really sweet. Every time she talked to Mike on the phone she would say, "Daddy. Home? Daddy come home? Home?") We had a playdate, the missionaries came to dinner (actually, I forgot they were coming, but luckily it all worked out and I had dinner ready), we picnicked at the park, played with cousins, shopped, and went to church.

I didn't follow through on all I would have liked to do for Mike today, but we did have a good dinner of pulled pork, the chocolate cake was scrumptious (even if I couldn't taste it that well), and we had presents ready. Of course, Mike already kind of knew about some of what we got him because the day we went shopping Maggie told him, "We got a grey shirt for you, Dad!" (We're working on the concept of surprises.) The girls were really cute about celebrating for their dad's birthday. He was gone most of the day at work and an evening meeting too, but when he got home, they sprang to action. Maggie got out the candles and they stuck in thirty-something--making Mike nearly ten years older. Then they sang with vigor and were ready for Dad to open his presents. I'm glad their enthusiasm filled in for some of mine.

while the dads were away--a niece's birthday and a first sleepover