1) I feel like I'll never truly catch up on sleep, but I'd sure be willing to try.
2) sometimes I think a semi-eternal break would be nice.
3) It is my lame attempt at an apology for not posting for so long.
I wonder, too, with waiting so long if I should really make the effort to catch up or just sum up instead. I suppose that for my sake (really for the sake of journaling), I should make the effort.
When I go through pictures over the last 5 months (that's almost half a year!!!!), I'll play catch up. For now, I will sum up, a little, I think. Or maybe just share my current thoughts.
Emilee turned FIVE this month. Can you believe it? Sometimes I look at my life and think, "How on earth do I have a five year old and three kids?!" I don't feel that OLD. Sometimes I feel like I barely started college (though, really, I started college almost 12 years ago - no way! I am that old!!) Crazy!
I was pretty sick for the two weeks leading up to Emilee's birthday, so I decided I couldn't handle really doing a party this year. But, lo and behold, we threw something together the weekend before. We invited two families and Britt's parents (who were going to be in town) to join us at a park to shoot off model rockets, have a potluck brunch, and eat cake. One of the least planned parties I've been a part of, but it came together. We are truly blessed with good friends. I was very grateful for them that day.
We'd been planning Emilee's cake for quite a while, so despite me being on death's door (I wasn't quite that sick), I made the cake we chose. A doll cake. With marshmallow fondant. Homemade. Everything. Well, except for the Barbie. My sister-in-law put it best - I've now set a precedence for amazing cakes. Boo. Shame on me for not thinking that through more. This really started when she turned one. Why do I feel the need to make something "so cool?" I'll tell you. It's because I actually enjoy baking, and the challenge to make something unique. Though I do think I'm in over my head. I started too high and can only do so much before I hit the top (for me, at least). Anyway, here is her cake. I think I spent about three hours the night before the party decorating it. I'd baked the cakes the day before. And, I had the fondant made ahead of time as well.
All the time and effort, and we destroyed it in a moment. But it was deeeeelicious!
On Emilee's actually birthday, we just stayed home and ate leftover cake. I asked Em what she wanted for her birthday dinner, and she chose spaghetti. Then, like five minutes before we were going to eat, she asked to go out to a restaurant for her birthday. I said no way. We enjoyed the spaghetti dinner....even Emilee.
That night we gave her a super cool present. A bike! She was excited. All the picture I took we're blurry. I got a better one the next day.
I love Emilee to pieces (as well as my other two munchkins)! She is a joy. She is very helpful when I need her. She loves being a big sister. She likes playing with older people, and is not too shy to tell them what to play. She makes friends everywhere she goes. She is discovering that she can do more things on her own (without mom's help), especially "now that she's five." She doesn't like to practice writing anymore, but she's started to write on her own on her drawings. She'll correctly spell out "mom," "dad," and her own name. She put's the first letter of each of our names on family pictures (D, M, E, L, R). And she'll put random letters or squiggles for words to create a message. She loves church. She can play quietly with paper dolls for a couple of hours during nap time while I do housework and snooze, too. She can be so thought, helpful, and kind. She can also get an attitude that rivals any teenager. Or cry and whine for the smallest things. But, I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world.
