As expected, Molly’s party was wet, rainy, and cold. There were both high points and low points of the day:
THE GOOD
-Everyone who said they were coming actually showed up.
-Parents dressed their children in sweatshirts, rain coats, and rain boots and allowed them to play on the playground, regardless of the crummy weather. The kids loved it.
-There was the perfect amount of food – didn’t run out, and didn’t have many leftovers at all.
-Everyone seemed to stay in good spirits despite the dreary atmosphere.
-Did I mention this whole day was celebrating my beautiful daughter, who I waited so long to have, and who brings me indescribable joy on a daily basis? How can I really complain?
THE BAD
-Molly was NOT PLEASED with the whole concept of cake smashing. She cried and screamed as though we were holding her over a bed of hot coals rather than offering her a pink frosted mountain of sugar and goodness. It made for cute photos, but was rather anti-climatic as far as cake smashes go. Isn’t that supposed to be the highlight of the 1-year-old’s birthday party?
-We had planned on spending the entire day hanging out, socializing, playing corn hole and ladder golf and enjoying the company of our nearest and dearest. As the day wore on and the temperature plummeted, people started leaving left and right. We wrapped up the party just as the heavier rain started… about 2.5 hours after it started. Lames-ville.
THE UGLY
-After throwing all of our soggy party supplies into the back of my van and speeding off, we frantically unloaded in the downpour. My kitchen became a lake. All of us were chilled to the bone. It took about three hours to clean up/dry off. So not what I had in mind.
Ah, well. At least it’s over and I don’t have to stress about it anymore (though I am feeling resentful of today’s perfectly sunny, 80 degree weather. NOT. FAIR.). Molly got a whole bunch of lovely gifts, but none pulled at my heartstrings so much as this book:
Oh. my. goodness. This came from a dear friend who also bought me Wherever You Are: My Love Will Find You for my baby shower, which is sad in it’s own right and which I still cannot make it through without getting a little misty eyed (First line, first page: “I wanted you more than you’ll ever know…”)
But this book. YOU GUYS.
Eric read it first and I asked if it was going to make me cry (knowing that this friend picks out books like that, perhaps on purpose) and he was like, “Oh, yeah. You’re gonna cry.” I didn’t even make it past the cover flap. For real! For anyone who has gone through infertility, this is a must-read. And if you haven’t gone through it, then buy it for a friend who has. Because it’s fun to make people cry.
That’s all for me, for now. Countdown to gender reveal = 8 days! Chinese gender predictor says GIRL. Any guesses?