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- Braelynn celebrated her 8th birthday this week!! Since her birthday fell on a Wednesday this year, we opted to have her birthday party the weekend before (that way, Papa and Nana could be with us). I’ll be posting more about her party this coming week!
I still wanted to make her birthday as special as possible though, so I told her I’d make her whatever she wanted for breakfast. We then made plans to pick up lunch from one of her favorite restaurants (“The Cookie Place” aka Eat’n’Park) and go visit my Grandma (Braelynn’s Great Grandma). And then we had church that night.
So for breakfast, Braelynn told me she wanted crepes. I wasn’t surprised – she’s requested crepes for her birthday breakfast every year for the past 2-3 years! I started putting the batter together and then realized that I didn’t have any strawberries – no worries, I had frozen blueberries, we’d just use those. Then, I realized I didn’t have any whipped cream – no worries, I had heavy cream, I’d just make some! So, I started pulling all of that out and as I was pouring the heavy cream into the measuring cup, I realized it was spoiled. Yuck. Needless to say, Braelynn’s “birthday crepes” didn’t turn out nearly as planned! So, I promised her we would re-do them on Saturday – with the correct topping ingredients this time! (And spoiler alert – we made them this morning, with fresh cream and fresh strawberries – they were delicious!)
Otherwise, we have celebrated our BIG girl all week! We went to Red Lobster on Monday night for endless shrimp, we visited Braelynn’s Great Grandma, Great Meme and Great Grandpa (all of my grandparents), and we’ve been reminded every single day that she’s now “eight years old”.
So, today is the annual “Braelynn’s birthday Abby’s Saturday” photo! If you’d like a trip down memory lane, you can go back & see the past photos I’ve taken here: #388, #335, #283, #236, #184. - The other “big” news of the week is that Leander went to the dentist for the first time!! I was (super) nervous: the memories of his first few haircuts are still burned into my brain (newsflash, they did not go well). He does not like sitting and being “worked on” – especially anything that has to do with his head/face. He came with Braelynn and I a few weeks ago when we had our normal cleanings, just so he could observe. He loved the process of getting prizes, but walked out of the office saying: “I am NOT going back to get my teeth cleaned.” Yikes. Needless to say, we’ve been talking about it and working on him for the last 6 weeks in preparation for this week! Up until Wednesday night, he was still very adamant: he did NOT want to go. But then, miraculously, his attitude started to change on Thursday morning, and suddenly he seemed to warm up to the idea. I knew once we got there – that our dentist would do fantastic with him and put all of his fears at ease (and she did – she is AMAZING with kids!) Since this was his first appointment (and he was obviously very nervous), she just did a lot of talking to him, they practiced sitting in the chair, she got him to open his mouth for her so she could count his teeth, and then he let her “brush” his teeth with her “special toothpaste. Nothing super scary or invasive – my dentist’s goal (as they told me with Braelynn) is to ease kids into the dental-process so that kids aren’t scared, aren’t worried, and love coming. And that’s exactly what’s happened with Braelynn – she LOVES going to the dentist!! She asks at least once a week when her next appointment is – she simply loves it there (mostly because they make it so much FUN).
Needless to say: I was SUPER proud of Leander and how good he did – of course, they loaded him down with prizes, stickers, a new toothbrush – so now he’s definitely a little more excited to go back! - Dining room update: it’s come a LONG way since the photo I took of the kids in our hollowed-out room 2 weeks ago! The insulation is in, the drywall is up, about 75% of the spackling is done, our floor is down, the new drop ceiling has been installed, and our new light fixture is up!! The transformation has been insane – it’s so big and bright in there now!!
Obviously though, it’s not done – after Derrick and his Dad hit a few snags on Friday and Saturday last week, they weren’t able to get everything accomplished that they had hoped. So, Derrick’s Dad is actually coming back this week to finish! He’ll finish spackling, put up the trim around the windows, install the baseboards, and put my new office space together!
I am SO excited for this project to be completed – we have never done something that has so discombobulated our entire house for so long. I mean, our dining room table has been in our living room for going on 4 weeks now. We’re so close to the finish line, I can’t wait! - Derrick ordered himself a brand new, super high-end computer around Thanksgiving-time last year. It was a custom-build – he picked out all of the specs – it was quite the intense (huge) project! It finally arrived this week (in the middle of this crazy snow squall we had on Thursday) and when he got home that night, he very excitedly took it upstairs, plugged it all in, and he can’t get it to work. He didn’t want to mess with it (and void any warranties), but by the time he got it out of the box and set up and realized it didn’t work, it was too late to call the company. So, he had to wait until he got home on Friday – he opened a support ticket, but the soonest he could get on the phone with anyone to troubleshoot was Monday. So, his new big, beautiful, high-end, (expensive) computer is just sitting upstairs in it’s box. Talk about a bummer!
- I think Leander must be going through a growth spurt – all of a sudden this week, I noticed that his clothes seem to be a bit small. Also, he has been coming to me about every hour, all day long, saying: “Mama, I’m SO hungry.”
