Right up there with an Oprah baby shower.  Most shower events, you expect about 50-60% of the invited guests to show up right?  Well, 90 invitations were sent out.  A whopping 77 people RSVP’ed that they would be attending.  But wait, that’s not all.  How many showers have you been to where the number of people attending was actually greater than the number of invitations?  We know there were at least 91 people!!  And did I mention that our grand finale shower was the last of five showers total?  This is one loved little guy we are about to meet!  So without any further rambling, here are the pictures…

We scattered the middle of the tables with confetti, mints and papers for people to write thoughts for the new parents (which sadly were mostly overlooked, about 10 people wrote something!)

Preparations

The mother to be loves Snoopy

Teresa and her sister comparing ultrasound pictures…

…and bellies! Teresa wins!  Ginger is due in November.

My diaper cake masterpiece

The grandmother to be (my sister inlaw) and my mom

Caleb’s granny, the great-grandmother to be

A few gifts are actually missing from this picture if you can believe that.

There were some cuties there too!

Let the gift opening begin!

Isn’t she just gorgeous?!

Hugs from a mini gift-giver

This one…she is 13 months old, and has been walking running since she was 9 months old!

Caleb was a gift opening assistant.  He wasted no time.  When the wrapping paper was off, he said “Next!”  Very efficient!

Teresa’s parents, isn’t her mom just beautiful?  I see where her natural glow comes from now!

It’s the thought that counts!  Not guessing he will be wearing this one!

Adorable handmade Snoopy quilts

I had to get these eleven day old feet!

That look!  My mom is in the background admiring her little ringlets.

Definitely most creative/awesome gift!  How cute is this?!  The baby face is made of that craft foam, sewn together. His body was a baby sleeper stuffed with tissue, and he was in a laundry basket full of goodies, Burt’s Bee’s items, baby toys, all kinds of cute stuff.  LOVED this!

“Whew, we made it through!”

My balloon band (we came home with 18 balloons I believe…it may as well have been Christmas!)

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There’s a celebrity across the street putting up porch railings.  Perhaps a close relative? Cousin?

At least we know who Joaquin stole his new look from.

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and we have a winner

Apr 13

Posted by: Scott in: blog, current events, games, holidays

Congratulations to Cynthia, who found all of the eggs!  It took perseverance and determination to find eleven eggs, then accidentally close the window and start over!

I’m especially careful with last names and emails, mine and those belonging to others, so any such information has been edited out.

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Oh look, a weed, you say.

I see a flower, handpicked for me.

This morning, we went to an Easter egg hunt given by the local parks and rec.  We arrived at the field just five minutes before it began.  There were several hundred people lined up along a starting line of four roped off sections (for different age groups so that little ones didn’t get knocked over by big kids in the rush).  If you’ve ever been to one of these egg “hunts,” I use the word hunt lightly.  There are a few thousand eggs scattered in an open field.  Not much hunting involved.  Pretty much just walking and picking up.  It is this grand event that takes hours to orchestrate.  And it is all over in less than a minute.  The wave of parents and children carrying their baskets sweeps from one side of the square in less than 60 seconds.

Since we were  a bit late arriving, we actually got a better spot.  There was no room left at the ‘starting’ line, so we lined up on the side.  On the mark, get set, GO.  With that, we ducked under the rope and Caleb started dropping eggs in the bag (yes he had an $0.97 Easter bag).  I saw the wave of people moving towards us from the left.  Caleb was taking his time though.  Suddenly, he doubled back and bent down.  I’m wondering what he is doing.  Picking a flower for Mom.  He spent half of the egg hunt picking a flower for me.  He barely had time to grab a few more eggs before we were hit full force by the surf, caught in the undertow and overtaken.  Three seconds later, the rest of the eggs were gone.  Okay, everybody…back in the car.

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The Hunt is on! You can begin hunting around the blog for Easter eggs any time between now and Sunday evening at 6pm EST.  For more details, see this post.

Click here to pull up your entry form in a new tab or window, then use the search feature in the sidebar to look for eggs.  Have fun!

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As promised, a game is on the horizon. Here’s the details.

I’m hosting an Easter Egg Hunt. I’ll be stashing a dozen eggs around my blog.

Who: Crumbs In My Couch

What: A Blog Easter Egg Hunt for Stellan

When: You are free to begin hunting at 6pm EST Thursday, April 9, 2009. Your deadline is 6pm EST Sunday, April 12, 2009.

Where: You’re reading the details right here.

Why: If you aren’t familiar with the Stellan’s story, head over to My Charming Kids and start reading on the right sidebar. Stellan’s SVT that he was first diagnosed with before birth recently relapsed and he has been in the PICU fighting a rapid heart rhythm. I find myself very thankful and blessed to have a healthy family. I wish to donate $10 to the MckFamily fund in honor of the egg hunt winner. I know that’s not much, but every little bit helps. A bag of jellybeans and a winner’s button (for your blog or website) are optional add-on accessories ;)

When the egg hunt officially starts, use the entry form found here.

~~~

You are more than welcome to snag either button here by copying the code and placing it on your blog. And if you’d like to write a short post to draw in fellow hunters, all the better! I can make that extra easy for you… Grab the code for a button below and paste it in the html section of your new post. Then grab the code from the larger box at the bottom of this post, and paste it in the html section as well. Click Post/Publish. That’s all you have to do!

Large Button:

Small Button:

Please copy this entire code to post the details on your blog:

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…It wasn’t pretty.

There was foul language.  Spelled outloud.  My kid won’t know the words, but he’ll be spelling them.  Or saying one particular word beginning with S and ending with T in German, because somehow that makes it not a bad word.

There were hours of frustration.  Six to be exact. (That’s just the failing icing, not the entire cake.)

In the end, the fondant won.  I threw in the towel.  I was trying to make marshmallow fondant in five colors.  Red, blue, white, gray, and black.  Red and black were the death of me.  I had no gloves to wear, and if you’ve used Wilton Food Coloring Gels before, you can imagine how my hands must look.

I can feel every tendon and muscle connected to my fingers or my right hand.  My fingers and fingernails are rainbow colored.  And when I bent my finger, my knuckle split open (you have to knead it forever).  That was when I gave up on the fondant and decided to stick with buttercream.  I am my own worst critic.  I hate the way the cake looks.  Believe it or not, I feel like I disappointed him.  I know that sounds crazy.  But he had ideas about the cake, and I just knew I could do it.  And then it didn’t work.  So yeah.  That sucked.

Pictures are coming.  I promise.

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Typical North Carolina weather…

Monday morning, we bundled up in 3 layers and played in the snow.  It was 11 degrees that Monday night.  Eleven.

Friday afternoon, we donned our short sleeves and opened all the windows and doors.  It was 71 and absolutely gorgeous.  Also, the rest of the snow that was in heavily shaded areas melted today.

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Friday, February 20, 2009 – Last Friday

9:30-11:30am - Time Warner is scheduled to hook up the cable and internet.

1:26pm – Time Warner arrives.  Or the pothead in the creepy blue van that Time Warner has contracted the job out to arrives.  His laptop has the Southpark Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo for a screen saver, I shit you not.  Emblazoned on his screen are several turds in Santa hats with “Happy Holidays from Time Warner” written amongst them.   Is it February?  But really, the fact that Christmas was two months ago mattered significantly less than the dancing turds on the screen.

1:38pm - My sister inlaw announces that they need to head out (they had come by with the ultrasound pictures).  Caleb leans against his auntie looking up at her and wrinkles his brow.  “You have stuff up your nose.” I hide my face in shame.  “Well what is it?!” she begs the answer.  “Buuuggers!”  He’s mine, he’s all mine, wouldn’t pay the gypsies to take em.

3:52pm – Phone rings, it’s dad.  He’s calling for permission to rain check on helping with the move.  My mom informed him he should help.  But I know that we have plenty of help and he needs to go home (away from his apartment where he lives during the week).  He needs the mental and physical separation from the extreme stresses of his job.  Permission granted.  He asks what I’m doing.  I’m throwing stuff in boxes like it is going out of style.  I know there is a 24 foot truck inbound.  Caleb is…well…keeping himself entertained.  Okay, okay, you got me, I’m taking pictures instead of throwing stuff in boxes like I should be doing.

Here’s one of those sentences you never knew you’d say before you were a parent:  “Caleb you got stickers on the dryer when you were crawling in.  Please get them off.  And get out, I need to put the clothes in there!”  Yes I was still scrambling to do laundry in the ‘eleventh hour.’  I was determined we would move with all clean laundry in case I didn’t recover my washer and dryer for a week.  Scott squashed my determination by putting an immediate halt to the laundry campaign and loading the washer and dryer on the truck first.  And yes, it was nearly a week before that campaign resumed.

5:17pm – Everybody in the car, we’re going to Dominos.  No, wait, that was lunch Saturday.  Hardee’s!  Nope, breakfast Saturday.  McDonald’s, we’re going to McDonald’s.  Mom of the year, right here. *points to self*  One child covered in stickers wearing gigantic bear slippers in carseat, one Bat-a-raffe (giraffe dressed like a bat) in child’s lap.  I am digging through my purse for something when a little voice pipes up from the backseat.  “Mommy?  Where’s Charley’s penis?”  Thinking.  Thinking.  Ummmm. Stall tactics.  I forgot something in the house.  That’s it.  I forgot something.  I look up as Scott is opening the driver’s side door.  “Ask your dad!” I exclaim and slam the door to retrieve something from inside while congratulating myself on passing off that question.  Also, I may or may not have been laughing hysterically.

5:19pm – Back in the car.  “What’d ya say to that one?”  “I told him it was between his legs!  Where else would it be?”  OKAY.

5:26pm - She’s taking pictures in the drive through.  Why did she have to go back in to get her camera?  Why, why, why?  One day, when your son or daughter asks you the location of his/her lovey’s manhood sweetie, you’ll understand.

I’m embarrassing him already, he’s only three.  Hey buddy, I’m not the one wearing stickers and bear slippers with the bat-a-raffe

The people behind us probably think I’m nuts.  Oh well, we’re moving.  Who cares?

Don’t worry, the night got less and less funny as it went on.  Reality set in.  I’m a pack rat.  And a procrastinator.  Not a good combination.  We stayed up late loading 75% of the house into the truck.  The only pieces of furniture left were the beds when we got in them that night.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

8:37am - Hardee’s new country potatoes suck.  What were they thinking replacing hashbrowns with those???  I don’t want hacked up steak fry tidbits at 8:37am!  That’s all.

1:15pm – Caleb hugs and kisses the baby.  My heart explodes into a million pieces. Read more here.

2:52pm – BJ helped us move.  He needs to be on his way home by 3:15pm at the absolute latest, as he is playing the piano for a wedding at 5:00pm.  His car as at our old house.  Crap.  20 minutes away.  Crap, crap, crap.  Realize that we need to hightail it.

3:13pm – BJ tucks and rolls when we get to his car.

8:29pm - Caleb passes out with his little knee in the air (foot flat on the bed) he is so exhausted.

8:39pm - We are too tired to even hook up the computer ( the first time we’ve ever moved without hooking up the computer and TV on the same day).  Grab the laptop and cram the ethernet cable in the side.  Check email to reduce internet withdrawal jitters.  I was in the dark for 31 hours.  Scott made it 39.  So it’s only fair that he get first dibs.  I’m impatient anyhow.  Oh great internet, how I missed thee.

8:53pm - Lights out.  Scott slept on the couch, I slept on a mattress (no boxspring) in the floor in Caleb’s room.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

6:47am - Rise from the dead.  Or actually Caleb did.  Despite the early hour, I actually feel well rested and slept amazingly well on the floor.  Are you bored yet?  I’ll skip ahead.

Monday, February 23, 2009

10:16am - Trying to return to a sense of normalcy.  AKA we have no groceries, so instead of unpacking, we’ve taken a trip to “Law-mart,” as Caleb calls it, for provisions.

11:24am - We decided to pretend it is a vacation and wandered around the store for an hour.  Checking out now.  I’m digging through my wallet when I hear giggling.  Both the kid and the cashier.  From the corner of my eye, I see neon green Buzz Lightyear tighty whiteys waving through the air.  “Put your underwear back in my purse,” I hiss.  More giggling.  Another one of those sentences I never knew I’d say.  Cashier raises eyebrows.  I avoid eye contact.

11:31am - Take shopping cart to cart return while on the phone with Scott.  Walk slowly past and come almost in arm’s reach of a little bird perched on the carts before he flits away.  Tell Scott about it as I’m getting in the car.  Caleb asks, “Did he crap on you?”  Sigh. I’ve taught him well, haven’t I?  “No Caleb, he didn’t poop on me.”

12:59pm - I fell upside down in a box with my feet waving in the air while trying to write this diary and decided it was time to give it up.  Nah, just kidding, I hadja going though didn’t I?  It would have been funny.  I would have laughed.  No honestly, the times are approximate, I actually only made a few notes here and there on a text document.  It actually looks like a strange code that could only be deciphered by a mommy blogger.

PS. I think I found my wit.

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Rooms that is.  I finally pushed through the kitchen today.  It is probably 90% complete.  I know there are still some boxes in my car with my knives and, gasp, dirty dishes that were put in boxes on the last trip (more on that later).  The dishwasher is currently sitting in a corner, hubby hooked it up last night, but it has to have a cabinet built around it, so we put a box on top of it to weigh it down so we could use it without it tipping over.  Because the world was coming to an end without the dishwasher.  And you can’t really eat cereal off paper plates that I strictly ordered kindly requested everyone please use.  There are a few things lurking on top of the cabinets (that I cut out of the picture on purpose).  But I’m quite excited to eat our first meal at the kitchen table, without things falling off and having to rest my feet on a box.

But what you can’t see lurking around the corner…it decided to rain today, thus I had to clear off the outdoor storage deck of all the things that I didn’t want wet.  So I put as much as I could in the storage building and the rest ended up just inside the door blocking my washer and dryer and one bathroom.

I hope you’ve been enjoying all of the pictures, aka scheduled posts.  I sat down last Thursday night and scheduled posts for the next six days.  Thus all the one liner/picture posts.  I do have a few posts floating around in my head.  Don’t worry, I’ve made notes so I don’t forget them!

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