Abby’s Saturday // Two Hundred And Thirty-Six

Highlight of the Week

It has been birthday central in our house this week!! With Braelynn’s actual birthday being yesterday, Derrick woke up last Sunday morning & declared it “Birthday Week”. So, all week long we’ve been having little treats & doing special things for Braelynn’s birthday. It’s been so much fun! And today – today is the big day as we have 29 people (that number does not include Derrick & I, Braelynn & Leander) coming to our house for her party!! How are we going to fit 30+ people in our house? I’m not sure! Thankfully, everyone coming is completely used to being a part of a “big family” and are fine sitting on the floor, on the steps, on folding chairs – wherever they can fit. It is going to be SO much fun (plus we have a few special surprises up our sleeves for our princess)!!

Yes, This Happened

• We made our first official outing as a group of three that wasn’t to either the doctor’s office or my parent’s house this week. It went .. okay. We picked up lunch & went to visit my Grandma. I think that looking at the visit thru my eyes makes it look chaotic (Braelynn was a bit out of control, running around, making a mess, and Leander just cried half the time we were there). But, if you look at the visit thru my Grandma’s eyes, it probably looks completely different: she got to eat a delicious lunch with the company of her granddaughter & 2 of her great-grands.
• I don’t want to jinx it, but Leander has been sleeping so much better this week!! Instead of only sleeping 60-90 minute stretches thru the night (and spending long stretches of time awake in between), he’s been sleeping 2-3 hour stretches – and last night he slept 4 hours!! So, fingers crossed that this is our new normal & he’s finally figuring out the difference between night & day!!
• Braelynn woke up yesterday morning & came in to Derrick & I’s room where I was nursing Leander. We sat & talked about her birthday & I made the comment, “You’re getting so big!” To which, she stood up on the bed to show me just how tall she was. I said, “You can stop growing now – you’re getting too big!” She replied: “No! I need to keep growing so I can ride the big roller coasters with Daddy!”
• We have literally transformed our house into Rapunzel-central. My sister Ruby & I cut out over 100 purple pendant flags & then Ruby cut out over 50 star-bursts (from the movie) to attach to the pendants. She came over & we strung them up everywhere – it’s SO cool looking!! Then, yesterday Ruby came over & we went into major cake-making mode (with over 30 party guests, that’s a lot of cake!) I say all of that to say: I have had so much fun collaborating with my little sister all week long!! We’ve spent a lot of time sitting & talking & working together – it’s been wonderful.
• Derrick made a video collage of all of the videos we have of Braelynn so far at amusement parks. We watched it last night & it gives Mama all-the-feels. If he posts it online somewhere today after the party, I’ll share the link!!
• Derrick’s parents and Naomi & Alex came in last night to be here for the party today! Braelynn has literally been counting down the days until her birthday (we have a big calendar on the fridget that she’s been marking off every day on), but she’s been equally excited for Nana & Papa to come to our house!!

Feeling Blessed

I think it’s finally sinking in that I’m a Mama of two sweet babies – one who isn’t even a baby anymore, but a beautiful little girl. A few separate times this week, Braelynn came over & snuggled up to me while I was holding Leander & that seemed to make it really sink in that these two little people are mine! I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful little family – I get to spend every day with my best friend, Derrick and these two precious little snuggly munchkins. And today we celebrate 4 whole years with Braelynn by packing out our house with over 30 people – does life truly get any better??