Our first stop was WalMart. For as long as we were in there you'd never think we had a list! The problem was everything that ended up in the cart that wasn't on the list. It was full of stuff before we even got to the whole reason we were there ...the food. I bought Elle a walker and this really cute v-tech puppy dog, her name is Violet and one day she is going to help Elle learn how to spell her name! How awesome?! Learning and fun go hand and hand in the Brown household! As our journey came to a close the list did come in handy because we came very, very, close to leaving WalMart without the hash browns! At that point we were what felt miles from the section they were in but we forged ahead and could finally head to the cash register knowing that everyone but Mom had something they would go on to have fun with. In Auntie Sam's case that would be some fabric to make a blanket with. A whopping $160 later we were headed for the car and our next stop. Oh yeah, you didn't think we were done, did you? After some clever maneuvering & placement of bags because space comes at a premium in my car. The stroller takes up the entire trunk, Elle rules the entire back passenger side & Sam was riding up front all of that means shop smart because your gonna have to figure out how to get everything you thought you needed in the car.
Ofcourse no celebration is complete without decorations! So we headed to Party City on a budget, I said we've got $25 and that's that. You can place your bets on whether that happened or not. By this time it was dark out, Elle had been quite the lovely lady and not had any major outbursts. But by the time I was putting the car in park baby girl was hungry! As a reward I took her out of the car seat and decided to carry her. We were on a mission to get in and get out. We grabbed a banner (which I'll address later), garland, and table cloth. We hit the plate, napkin, and cutlery aisle and after a brief weighing of our options came up with a great mix of solids and prints. Next we went to the balloon counter and after facing the realization that we weren't going to be able to fit many balloon's & Auntie Sam in the car we settled on six latex (3-pink, 3-silver) with hi-float (that keeps them up longer)and proceeded to the checkout. So how many of you think I stayed with my $25 dollar limit, hmmmm? FAIL! Thirty-five dollars later we were headed to the car and for home...FINALLY!
PS-Regarding the banner I bought: It said "Happy 1st Communion" it didn't hit me until we got home while Sam was hanging it. Happy 1st Communion...Happy 1st Communion? Damn Gina, this is NOT Communion! Ahhhh...alas, I'm just a mom please don't hold it against me :)
PPS-I actually got 7 ballons! Which ended up being a good thing when Auntie Sam accidentally popped one...lol
This is the part of the story where Auntie Sam earned her keep. Without her either not everything would not have got done or I would have been a mega biatch from exhaustion of getting it all done. She did ALL of the decorating & cooking. Me and Elle held on as long as we could but we faded fast. At midnight Sam was moving us from the couch to the bed and the smell of bacon was permeating the house, it smelled divine.
My alarm went off at 5:00 and I was up by 5:30, not too shabby! First thing I did was go to the kitchen and to my amazement found all the casseroles cooked and all I needed to do was bake the muffins! I managed to shower, bake and not burn anything. GO MOMMA! Time flew and before you knew it was 8:00. Then it was 8:30 and I was finally waking Elle up to get ready. Now in my mind I saw us (i.e. Mom, Don, Sam, Grams, Elle and I) leaving all together. That didn't happen. At 9:00 Grams said she was going to run to the store for her paper. Really? It goes without saying the old bird is all about her daily reading of the New York Times. This is when I decided at 9:15 I was leaving and either you were with me or you weren't and if you weren't and you missed my daughters baptism which you've known about for months I was going to beat you up!
At 9:15, me, Elle, Sam and Grams got in the car and headed for church which mind you started at 9:30. On the way Elle got the crazy out of her system. She cried & fussed and all I kept saying to myself was "you didn't come this far to fall apart. you can fall apart this afternoon. but right now keep it together lady." And that's exactly what I did, for my sanity and everyone else's safety. By the time we arrived Tracy was already there. Enter my sisters small fit & discomfort with having to actually sit through an entire church service. Rebecca & Candace were running late. And my mother and Don were nowhere to be found. We got compliments, we sang, we prayed, Elle cried, ate & fell asleep, Rebecca arrived, my sister calmed down, Candace arrived, and then it was showtime. Auntie Sam followed us and sat in the front row to record it all. I will say that lucky for Gram-Gram & Paw-Paw I saw them standing in the lobby, so they didn't miss it cause if they had it would have hurt me very much. After a small photo session in which everyone cooperated (including Elle!) we headed for our house.
The day was nothing short of fabulous to have my some of my best friends and family all hanging out and celebrating Elle. The food was delish (kudos to the chef), the gifts were awesome (thanks everyone) & my Elle looked beautiful (hello, I'm her Mom)!
XOXO
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