Awkward Return

It's been a while, and now I feel a sheepish return to this neglected corner. Silly. I've wanted to post, but then feel I have nothing to say...which can often only be attributed to one of two things: depression or exhaustion. I'm not sure which to blame this time. So to ease my way back, I just have one thing to say:

These kids visited us last weekend.

(Photo taken last Mother's Day as I have yet to download my photos from the weekend.)

It was fun.

It was perfect.

It was just like old times.

It was a little bit cruel.

It was short.

It will come again in 8 weeks.

More on them later.

Moving Day

Sigh.

Molly moved today.

I watched her kids so she and her mom (Sally) could clean her house before they left town.

She and Timm said goodbye this morning when she dropped the kids off. I said goodbye to Sam on Sunday night and that sent me crying, of course. I can say that I have never cared more about any of my friend's husbands. I really consider Sam a friend, even independent of Molly. We were really so blessed to have a family that each one of us genuinely loved and enjoyed spending time with.

Mia trying to mimic Fiona's crazy smile.

After a few hours I gave up and put a show on. We were all tired.

When Molly came to pick them up that afternoon she brought us a parting token of Rita's. Fiona, always a food monger, spent an inordinate amount of time on hers, making sure to get every last drop.

Parting shots.

I held it together and didn't cry until after Molly walked out the door. Molly has some strange robot-like control over her emotions. Maybe not quite robotic, but even though she tells me about her crying spells over the move, and I know this has been hard for her, I have only actually seen her cry once, maybe twice. And once was at church. Michelle must have been prompted because she called me while Molly was still in the driveway, from which they were hitting the road for Dallas. I was honored that we were the last stop, the last ones to see them off. I wouldn't have it any other way.

After I closed the door and was still waving them off, Bella asked why my face was like that. I explained that I was sad, and she said 'But you'll see them at Christmas! And the Christmas after that, and the Christmas after that...' I replied that I wanted to see them every day like we used to. After thinking for a minute she ran out to the driveway and shouted 'Molly! Sebastian! Can you visit more often?' As I talked to Shell and Bella listened in she suggested these pearls of wisdom:

'Mom! I have an idea! You just need to make more friends that aren't moving! You need to find friends that are normal.' 

I don't want normal friends.

Molly gave me a sweet note which was only one of eleven. The other ten are supposedly hidden throughout the house. After reading this one I had a fleeting impulse to raid the house for the rest of them but quickly decided to leave them be for a while. I will find them altogether too quickly as it is I am sure and I want to have a bit of Molly with me for as long as I can.

As Michelle lamented, there's not much that can be said when your best friend moves away.

Farewell Friends

We had Molly's going away party on Sunday and I think it went really well. Even with the most casual of parties, there is always so much to do, most of which probably goes completely unnoticed by all but me. Nevertheless, the details are important, even if only to me. As usual I only had time to take pictures before everyone arrived, and from the on I was too busy. Thus, the only pictures I got are pre-party decor. Molly got some photos of actual people that I will have to get later.

Bright and cheery summer colors along with my traditional banners and poms.

At first I planned on making all the dessert myself, but as 60+ people had responded (guests plus their families) I submitted to accepting some help. I still made 4 pies: chocolate cream, coconut cream, banana cream, and lemon snowcap pie- All of which are my grandma's recipes and can be found on Michelle's recipe blog. I grew up with these pies, and they have always been beyond compare. Anything of my grandma's is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. I don't make cream pies too often however so I was quite pleased with the result. I am not above saying, those pies.were.awesome. Awesome. I want to make them all the time. A lot of people brought other desserts, including Linda who brought a key lime cheesecake with a strawberry sauce. Mmm.

I'm glad I was able to bring all of Molly's friends together one last time. The kids had a great time running wild outside and being sweaty maniacs and we enjoyed good food and company, even if for only one more time.

"You Say It's Your Birthday..."

Yesterday was my 29th birthday.

It started well, sleeping until 9 am. Always a good way to start the day.

Timm created what he called 'Birthday Land'. Good man.

He had Krispy Kremes and made pancakes, bacon and eggs. I think that it's really his favorite, since he makes it for every special occasion.

Luckily Molly suggested that we take the SP before the heat of the day degenerated what started out pretty.

I laughed heartily when Molly had to use a screwdriver to start her car. Both of my cars always have issues, so it's good to see someone else suffer alongside me. I'm like that. I could have coined the 'misery loves company' adage/cliche. Now we've gotta just put 50 pounds on that girl and the playing ground will be leveled somewhat. I suppose I could lose 50 pounds, but it seems so much easier and more fun to pack the pounds on her instead.

Our first stop was a cool and very large used bookstore in Plaza Midwood. This sign cracked me up. They also had a little kitten adoption center inside the store! Why didn't I think of that- a book store slash cat adoption center?! What an enterprise!

Somehow I managed to leave the store without a book or a cat! We moved on to Zada Jane's- a cool eclectic cafe also in Plaza Midwood. Yum.

Next stop: Bakery. (I can't remember the name...) Molly got me a lemon square and something delicious called Tuxedo cake. Also, I can't imagine wearing white pants period, let alone less than a month after giving birth.

Greta did her part by being a chill and sleepy baby the whole time.

I loved this little room in the bakery perfect for your book club meetings or what have you.

I came home and relaxed while the girls had their nap/quiet time, and Fiona did her part by having an extended nap. I spent the time reading my grandpa's personal history that he sent me a couple of days ago, alternately laughing and being intrigued.

Timm surprised me since I thought he was at work, saying that I had 5 minutes to get ready because we had dinner reservations. (I told him for future reference, a girl-me specifically- needs more than 5 minutes to get ready before a dinner date.)

We went to 131 Main downtown which was fabulous. I ordered the shrimp and grits, and it was so much better than I could ever have imagined.

Post-dinner SP.

I should also mention that this was waiting for me when we left the house to go to dinner. Timm had picked it out and gotten it from Target and placed it on our front walk to greet me as we left. The main thing I wanted for my birthday this year (and last) was a bike, and then a trailer for the girls. I have been researching moderately-priced bikes and Timm picked this one out for me, and also had the foresight to ask Linda to put a bow on it!

After dinner we got a decadent treat of Cold Stone and watched The Blind Side on redbox. (I've been wanting to see it, Timm not so much, but he obliged.)

All in all, it was a great birthday celebration. Molly always does a great job by mapping out a cool part of town to explore, taking me to places I've never been and exposing me to cool local restaurants. She was kind enough to pay for our lunch and bakery treats, and gave me a book to boot. Sam was kind enough to babysit when Timm and I went out, and Timm did a wonderful job with surprises and gifts. (He also got me a new key fob/remote since I lost my keys a couple of weeks ago and have been opening my own doors like a chump.)There were many well-wishes via Facebook, my mom and dad sent me many wonderful things (contributing a large portion of the bike fund), Nana and Papa contributed to the bike fund (whether they knew it or not), Shell sent me some cute things to be documented later, Jill sent me a card and a cd,and Linda and family gave me a Target gift card. I told Timm he's got his work cut out for him for next year when I turn the big 3-0 and he won't have Molly here to shoulder some of the burden. He already does a great job, but he's going to have to step up his game. I'm not sure he can fill the girl friend role...

Thanks everyone.

Happy birthday to me.

Greta Claire

Molly had her 3rd baby last week, on Bella's birthday, in fact- May 20. She was 10 days overdue, which is an eternity when you're counting down those days. (I was almost as relieved as Molly herself when she finally delivered her with no complications. As you can imagine I get awfully nervous at the end...) As with her first 2, Molly chose not to know the sex of the baby until she was born, and she was, a she: Greta Claire Smith.

That hair! It reminds me of Fiona's actually, but Greta looks just like a Smith baby.

Sebastian, the proud older brother for a second time.

Luckily Mom and Dad were visiting so Timm and I could go visit her at the hospital on Friday night.

Even though I have birthed 3 of my own babies, every one smaller than Greta, it is still impossible to believe just how tiny they are. And that new baby head-smell never gets old, but it might even be better this time, since it's not my responsibility! Can you stand how cute this family is? Can you stand how beautiful Molly is, just after giving birth?? I've long suspected that Molly keeps me around to make her look better-as if she needs it. What can I say, I'm that kind of friend.

But I'm still mad at them.

When I'm not crying.

Bad News

Molly's moving. I hate today.

Molly's Baby Shower

Finally, a post on Molly's baby shower I had last month. She's having a unisex baby (what I call when you don't find out the sex-), so I had a somewhat neutral color scheme in aqua, green and orange. I also tried to incorporate a circle, or polka dot aspect. It all started with the invites. (Timm erased all the personal info on the invite so I could safely blog it, but the text continued to wrap around the circle.)

Decorations included, as usual, poms. I reused Bella's birthday banner from last year (which now permanently resides in her room-) and just added some foam stickers to spell 'Congratulations'.

Since it was late afternoon we just had a dessert buffet. I made Frozen Cheesecake and a Triple Lemon Layer Cake, while Linda contributed Coconut Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream Frosting. We also had a really good punch at Michelle's suggestion: Sprite Zero with Crystal Light and cucumbers. So refreshing!

I used Miranda's great idea of making some iron-on applique oneises at the shower as well.

I tend to get caught up with the party and forget to take pictures of the guests, so sadly this is the best I got.

Kim and Faith.

Linda, working on her adorable bird onesie.

Karilee.

Molly, appreciating the diaper cake that Karilee brought for her. (Could we please come up with a better name for those things? They're very cool in concept, but the name does not paint a pretty picture. I mean really, who would want a cake make out of diapers?)

We only got 5 onesies made at the shower, so I finished them and then took these pictures, at Miranda's request. She has a great tutorial for this super easy project, and I highly recommend it. (Both the tutorial and the project itself.)

This is just a sampling of some favorites- there were 15 in all.
I thought the shower was a success. Good food (all dessert), good friends, an absence of horrid games, and a cute craft to boot!
And Molly still hasn't had her baby, almost a week past her due date. Here's hoping it's soon and we can meet this new unisex baby, who I dreamed was a boy.

Mother's Day Finale

Finally, my last Mother's Day post. I'm pretty sure anyway. Timm made a nice dinner, and afterwards we had the Smiths over for dessert. Molly is expecting her 3rd baby any day (her due date was yesterday), and her mom is in town to help, so we thought it'd be fun to have them over before things got hectic for them.

I made Grandma's Chocolate Angel Food Cake. When I say it's her recipe, it really is. She made it up. I cannot conceive of making up a recipe-especially in baking where actual 'scientific science' (as Molly would say) is involved. It is divine, and you can find the recipe here. It was beautiful out, so we ate on the deck.

Molly with her mom Sally, Sam, and Mia respectively. Can you stand how cute Molly is even at 9 months pregnant? I know. It was a good time. And a really good cake if do say so myself. And I do.