Birthday Party's, Gift Exchange and Multiple Santa Visits

So this is what happens when I roll into my 8th-ish month of pregnancy...I go to work, come home, take a shower and go to bed...usually all tasks are completed by 8:30ish. My friend Auralee called the other night at 9pm and thought when I didn't answer the phone I must have been chatting with someone else...nope, I was asleep. Pregnancy + toddler has been an overwhelming experience at times, but thanks to help from a helpful husband I'm nearing the end of this journey still in my right mind...sometimes. Baby brain has set in during resent weeks, which is frightening for me because I'm usually fairly sharp and pretty good with words, but lately I'm having word retrieval issues leaving me to often look like a fool...oh, well. It was a temporary problem when I had Ruth Ann and hopefully it will only be temporary with Baby Boy. Anyway, that's the reason I've been away, so I'll give you a brief update on what's been going on in our world...

Ruth Ann's Birthday Party



We celebrated the big 0-2 with some friends at The Little Gym in Lexington. I had some reservations about the cost of a party at home vs. a local business, but I sew with the owner of the Little Gym franchise in our area so I thought I'd give it a try this year. I think I'm sold on how easy it is for parents to have a party outside of the house. Last year I ran myself ragged getting ready for Ruth Ann's party...this year the person planning the party called and asked I arrive no earlier than 10 minutes before the party started...SOLD! They took care of everything...decorations, play time, invites...it was fabulous and the kids had fun too...



This is just a small sampling of the sass I'm living with these days...















And then it was time to head out to eat...





I've said it before, dessert eating is a strength Ruth Ann gets from both sides of her gene pool...



Yum, delicious...



Multiple Santa Visits

Last year I had a terrible experience with a mall Santa so Ruth Ann visited 2 different Santa Clauses last year. This year we've already visited 2 and there are plans to visit a 3rd...I'm snobby about the quality of my Santa's...I want one with a real beard for Ruth Ann's keepsake Santa pictures. I'm lucky to have a child who isn't afraid of much and so far Santa Claus is okay in her book...otherwise all these Santa visits could be traumatic. Anyway, my niece, Madison, is on a local cheer leading squad and they sold tickets to a pancake breakfast and to see Santa. To support her squad we all headed to Applebee's to dine with Santa.



Then the next night we headed to the Clark's neighborhood for a hay ride and to visit the 2nd Santa...



This was by far the coldest night we've had this year...we were a bunch of cold McCarty's...



But we were with good friends and had a really fun time!





But seriously, this Southern Belle was not made for temps in the teens, so Ruth Ann was ready to head inside...



All the moms tried to get a group shot of the kids and Brantley's turned out pretty good, but all of mine looked mostly like this...



Since it's hard for me to move around much I really haven't been putting forth my usual effort to get a good picture...oh well, give me a month or two and I'll get back into my groove.

Gift Exchange

We got together with our Supper Club friends this past week for a monthly dinner and to swap presents with the kids and moms.



FYI...if you're reading this and you're name is Auralee, Sally or Brantley, you may get teary eyed when you see this next picture...

Here are the same children 1 year ago...



I can't believe how much this group as changed...or that there were no new additions this year...that's a first in 3 years for this group...but with the addition of Baby Boy and possibly 2 other babies that may be here by next Christmas this group will look much different next year.

We took a group picture of the moms too, but I don't really like how I look in my pictures...which had nothing to do with the person taking the picture and everything to do with the look of exhaustion written all over my face, but thanks for trying Justin. By the time we left it was close to 9pm, which as I said previously exceeded my bedtime and it showed on my face.

That's pretty much it...I promise not to fall too far behind before Baby Boy gets here. The stork is circling the house...I'm 36 weeks today and feeling every single day of it! Baby Boy is rapidly running out of room and trying his best to punch a hole in my abdomen to make his exit. The nursery should get painted this week and furniture should be picked up shortly there after. Then he's welcome to make his entrance...if he arrives before then he may be sleeping in a drawer somewhere since his room is no where near completion!