Party Planning...Sigh

I imagined that planning Mason's birthday party would be oodles of fun, but being in a state of limbo has thrown a wrench in our plans. Compounding the issue is my lack of commitment to a theme. I have thrown around dozens of potential themes (most with extravagant budgets), but I finally settled on a simple party in the park for our immediate family and a few friends (ahem...those of you who are familiar with my family will immediately recognize that just this basic guest list includes more than 40 people, so Mason's first birthday will not be a small, intimate affair). Big party, but laidback plans. I decided to save some of my more elaborate, expensive themes for future parties when Mason is able to be more involved.

So...the plan is to have an easy-breezy (early) Saturday afternoon party at the Red Barn (the pavilion at Everett Park back home). The kids have plenty of room and lots of playground equipment to explore, and Chris is planning to borrow the giant traveling grill from Tom to grill hotdogs and hamburgers (I'm happy to leave that in his oh-so-capable hands). I'm making the cake (Chris groaned when I showed him the picture of what I want to make--he dreads the meltdown I'll have if it doesn't turn out as I envision--hehe! He'd feel more pain if I had a pro do it and shelled out $300 for a sculpted cake), and we're keeping it simple gift-wise. Mason has soooo much already, and we have always agreed that we don't Mason to be one of those kids who expects gads of gifts for every holiday. I'm holding off on planning the party favors, decorations, etc., until we move back home next week, so I'll be able to devote more time and energy to making Mason's first birthday extra special then.

I ordered the CUTEST invitations (yay, tinyprints.com!), and those should be in next week, so I'll have to get on sending those out asap. I'm using the patterns from the invitations as my inspiration for the decorations and the birthday cake. Oh, and I bought a onesie and a bib for the birthday boy to wear months ago, so I guess I better find those and make sure they go with us to Maryville next Wednesday.

Poor Chris. He's so excited to have his family back together again, but he'll be less than enthused that a good portion of his time at night (and don't forget weekends!) will be consumed by party minutiae for the next few weeks. Sorry, babe, but you signed up for this!

How I Spend My Time Now

Sheepishly I must admit that I am among the world's worst packers. I am the girl who goes to the beach with eleven sweaters (just in case the beach is chilly at night), four books, and sunscreen in SPFs 5 to 100, but no bathing suit; the camping trip with no socks or matches but hiking boots to match every outfit. Thus, preparing to move all the possessions my family and I will need for basic everyday life for the next few months is quite a tall order for my poor self. I am fighting the urge to pack everything and leave my house with nice neat castles of laboriously stacked and labeled cardboard boxes, but it's hard. I love packing things up, but I do not love so much the realization (hypothetical as yet) that I have packed all of Mason's pajamas and every last pair of my contacts in a gigantic box on the bottom of the stack in the garage (knock on wood that my hypothetical doesn't become reality). So I am trying to make a list of everything that we will need and stick to it faithfully as I box up the unnecessaries permanently and pack up the necessaries in easily accessible bins and duffel bags. My goal this week is to get together all the things I can send back with Chris this weekend (we're switching vehicles so that I have the truck to bring back all the last-minute stuff and Mason's big items), but a number of things stand in my way:

1.) My organizational ADHD (I LOVE to organize, but I usually get distracted by all the cool things I uncover and end up moving on to another project prematurely...rinse, wash, and repeat.) Sidenote: interesting things I found last night include my social security card, a $20 Panera gift card from 2008, and my black Northface fleece. Not a bad score! Wonder what I'll find tonight?
2.) My sidekick who adores packing...er, unpacking. M thinks moving is a really fun new game I've come up with to entertain him. Example: I pack a dozen DVDs. M pulls out three and drops his pacifier in the box--what is to him, apparently, a fair trade. As M pushes the box flaps inside, I try to wedge a couple of Wii games in before he dives in headfirst. And so on in much the same fashion until I give up and let him climb the stairs.

I was determined to finish culling all my teaching materials today and condense my office supplies to a manageable box or two, but I was quickly distracted by one of the funniest websites I've ever seen: http://www.notwithoutmyhandbag.com/babynames/14.html. I googled bad baby names, inspired by a coworker who has suggested some truly awful names for her baby (currently in utero). In her defense, I will say that you must be immune to other peoples' opinions when you name a child, so as long as you and your husband adore a name, then you should shrug off everyone else's input (albeit, you must be prepared to someday defend yourself against a hormonal teenager who seeks revenge on parents who named her Agatha). If you can live with a name for countless future years and are okay with your beloved child living with that name as well, then go for it. But don't expect people to swoon with admiration when you propose the name Hanley for a boy or Henry for a girl. You SHOULD remember, however, that naming a child is not your opportunity to draw attention to yourself; it is a grave endeavor that should be approached with the utmost thought and selflessness, lest your child hate you forever. Oh, and the funny website definitely mocked the name Mason (excerpt: Mason is my 2 year old son's name. It is in the top 100 boy's names for 2001. I think it is a stong boy's name. Why would anyone make fun of it?
Response: Because they're opposed to his secret Masonic orders trying to overthrow the government, along with Ted Turner, the secret Catholic cultists in the Supreme Court, and the Anti-Defamation League. Duh! ). Haha! Well, my grandfather WAS a Mason, so there you go. I'm all about names with meaning.

Well, there you go...evidence of why packing is difficult for me: I am a tangential creature. Seriously, though, take a look at this website because it is a hoot!

It's a good thing Miriam and Jen are coming over to help me wrangle SuperBaby while I get a few things together. Whew!

Hmm...Spaghetti!

Just because these dinnertime pictures are soooo cute! This was Mason's first experience with spaghetti, finished off with raspberry yogurt (always a hit). You will not be surprised to learn that bathtime IMMEDIATELY followed dinner.

Photography Day 2

Miriam came over a couple of weeks ago, and we did a mini-Photography Day. Mason wasn't very cooperative, but we got a couple of good shots. He was 10 months in these pictures. I can't believe he turned 11 months old yesterday (Gramma's birthday! Happy Birthday, Gramma!).

Baby Birds

Last week we found a nest in one of our hanging ferns on the front porch. Mason couldn't figure out what was making all the noise, so I took down the plant so he could see the tiny birds. He was less than impressed.

Last Trip to Vanderbilt (God Willing)

One of Mason's medications can only be filled at the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital pharmacy, so Miriam rode with M and me to Nashville last Thursday to pick it up. Barring any unforeseen events, that should have been our final trip to VCH. In a way it was a little sad, but we will be so glad to be closer to Children's Hospital in Knoxville in case of an emergency. I will not miss the long commute into Nashville for medicine each month.

While we were there we took Mason up to the rooftop playground at VCH and snapped some pictures, and then we all walked over a few blocks to eat at Roly Poly. I am so STILL sad (years later) about the closing of the one on Ebenezer in K-town. Sigh. On a brighter note, M is all set up with Dr. Liske (his original cardiologist) again, so transferring him to a doctor back home was way easier than I thought it was going to be.

Future Rock Climber of America

Mason LOVES the stairs now, which is adorable...and exhausting. Chris put up the baby gate on Saturday, but it doesn't really fit well at the top, so Mason promptly figured out that he could knock it over. And then he used it like a climbing wall to get to the stairs. You know, you pray that your child will be smart, so I guess you can't complain when they show evidence, even when it means you will be spending a good portion of each day on the stairs with him. Sigh.

Baby Giggles: Best Sound Ever

I thought I would post this video that I took of Chris tickling Mason one morning. I LOVE this video! There is nothing better in the world than a giggling baby. I sent this out to Mason's aunts, and they have all told me that they play it all the time. Kristin says Gracie is addicted. She's so funny!

The Walking Chronicles

Mason is soooooooooo close to walking! He has taken up to 5 steps on his own, and I think he'd have this down already if he weren't so determined to do everything at warp speed. I give him another week or so at least. I had predicted 11 months, so that would be right on target. We'll see...

He mastered climbing up to the second floor last week. I sent Chris a video. So now he's either on the stairs or in front of the cabinet where we keep all the tupperware--one of his favorite play spots. His REAL favorite spot is playing IN (not in front of, but IN) the gas fireplace. I had to block it off with a baby gate because he pulls out the rocks and tries to eat them.

All this extra energy he's burning has had a direct impact on his food consumption. When he's eating like there's no tomorrow now, I think back to those difficult weeks after surgery and wish I could have had a window to the future. I would have worried so much less if I could have known that my little guy would be drinking 36 ounces of milk (still on the added calories) and eating three full meals and three snacks a day (new favorite food: blackeye peas, yep, weird). You still won't find any dimples on his bum or fat rolls on his arms, but he looks so chubby to me now. Man! We have worked really hard for every ounce! I'm proud of all of us! Oh, and uber-thankful that the worst of the reflux seems to be behind us. I am glad the days of cleaning up baby vomit every day (several times a day) are in the past--KNOCK ON WOOD!

A Big Day for Me...And for Mason

The annual Baby Dedication ceremony at church coincided with Mother's Day, so we had gone home for all that. I had agonized over Mason's outfit, but I finally settled on a brown and white pinstriped suit with white shirt and salmon-colored tie. He looked TOO precious! Chris and Mason (hehe!) surprised me with a pair of very sweet cards. I cried when I read Mason's card even though I'm pretty sure Chris wrote it for him (wink), and I REALLY cried when I opened the jewelry box and saw the Love's Embrace pendant they had gotten me. I haven't taken it off since!

With my new jewelry and Mason's adorable outfit, I think we represented ourselves fairly well at the ceremony. We were the first to be presented by Pastor Tony, and he reminded everybody about Miracle Mason's long journey, which was really sweet. Aunt Mary was in charge of filming everything, but the ceremony took a looooong time, so the video is kind of boring (I hate to admit). A couple of older kids were dedicated by their parents because they were new to the church, and my old friend Aimee Morales and her husband Job were in from Ohio, so they dedicated Micah and Iris. That was really cool. Who would have ever guessed back when Aimee and I really became friends in Australia that we'd someday be dedicating our children together?! Other than the older kids, Mason was dedicated with a few that he'll grow up in church with: Elizabeth Wheatley, who just turned a year old, and Cooper Greenway, who is 15 months old. They'll be spending lots of Sundays together, so I hope they get along!

Oh, the Rains Came Down...

And the floods came up. Chris came in for the first weekend in May, and torrential rains were the staple. Knowing that we needed a newer family picture for the Baby Dedication at church the next weekend, I came up with the brilliant idea of heading to the Opryland Hotel with the Shasserres (our official photographers) to take some pictures and eat at the Irish pub Chris and I like so much (fried cheese balls! yay!). And so off we went at noon. We paid a king's ransom for parking because it was raining cats and dogs, and we walked around and took our pictures. Nick and Miriam had never been to the hotel, which seemed highly odd to me, but it's a good thing they went because the hotel had to evacuate everyone just a day later because of the rising waters of the Cumberland.

While we were there, we watched a bride throw her bouquet under the beautiful iron gazebo, and just 36 hours later the flood waters had reached almost to the top of that same gazebo. It was unreal to see the pictures and think that we had just been there. It's so sad to think of all that was lost in this disaster and all the beautiful Nashville buildings that are now in a state of ruins.

Clarksville was hit hard too, but we were lucky that our house was far from the river and suffered no damage. Because Riverside Drive was submerged (see photo above, a place I pass by each day on my way to work), I could not have gotten to work, so it was a good thing that schools were out all week. Teachers actually went back on Thursday and Friday, but I left for Maryville on Wednesday morning (betting that schools would be out all week...oops!), so I wasn't there.

Bathtime with the Cousins (mmm...sounds borderline inappropriate)

My brother Tom and his family came to stay with us the last weekend in April, and we had a very wet but fun weekend. Thomas had a soccer tournament in Hendersonville (hence the trip), but it was rained out. Pattie and I took all the girls (Haylee was with us, too) and Mason to Opry Mills for a girls' day, and we shopped and had lunch at Rainforest Cafe. Little did I know, but that was my last trip to Opry Mills for the indefinite future because the monsoon rains that were headed our way ended up flooding the mall (and most of Nashville) just a week later. All the kids were really good, and Mason was so excited that he had trouble going to sleep all weekend.

I had driven down to Maryville after school on the previous Thursday with Mason for my interviews in Knoxville (more on that later), and Maddie and Haylee rode back to Clarksville with me Friday afternoon so that Mason would have some entertainment in the back seat to make the long ride more palatable. I had worried all week about driving to Maryville by myself, but he did soooo well. He slept almost the entire way, which was a miracle, but having my backseat babysitters on the way back made the trip less stressful. Maddie and Haylee were both thrilled to be going with us (Haylee would volunteer for ANY trip, and Maddie was just glad to be away from her baby sister for a while), and we had a great time.

Tom and Pattie came up later that night with Rachel and Thomas, so I entertained my three as best I could. I dumped them all in the big bathtub, which provided some super-cute photographs. I can't wait to show them these when they're all grown up!