Flash Dance

On Saturday March 14th, we hosted Emery's 2nd birthday at our house.  Why such a big gap between her actual birthday and our celebration of it?  I am fortunate enough to work 9/80's.  This means that when nothing crazy is going on, I have every other Friday off.  Thanks to the great mystery of the universe, Emery was born in a working-Friday week.  Are you comprehending the weight of this #firstworldproblem?  Knowing myself the way that I do, I am aware that it is standard practice for me to swear up and down that I will put together a simple event and then on my 45th trip to Target the week of said event realize that I've once again duped myself.   This fact causes me to try to book any events within my control (read: Em's birthday party) in a weekend following an off-Friday.  This year in particular I chose the one after her big day because the one before we uncomfortably close to the date I went back to work

Thankfully I recognize this about myself because I somehow thought making 18 animals out of those obnoxiously-difficult-to-work-with tissue paper poufs would be a cinch.  After a few 4 am dates with the alarm clock, late night cut and paste seshs after the girls were asleep and arts & crafts time during lunch hour in my office- I realized that was nooooot exactly true.  Death by Pintrest.

Exhibit A.  Free cookie to anyone who can guess what each of these are.

All of that aside, it wound up being an absolutely awesome day.  The weather had been horrendously rainy, cold and dark the weekend before (and was the weekend after also), so we were so excited to get to see the sun.  Somehow, thanks to the help of Grandma & Pawpaw M coming over early, we managed to pull things together enough to fool people into thinking we life in an organized home.  (Now it's your turn to get duped.)  Other than the fact that Nonnie & Pawpaw B were too sick to come, the star were really aligning.

You could probably shoot an entire Oriental Trading Co ad in my garage.

Per usual I took a picture before food was out.  WHOOPS.  Maybe one day I will learn.

You're getting sheepy.  You're getting verrrrrrry sheep-y.

I took a lot of pictures so my parents could feel like they were there.  I think they were pretty crushed when they realized they still weren't well on Saturday morning.

If anyone ever needs decor for a fiesta-  I am your woman.

Wasn't lying- I reaaaaaally wanted them to feel like they were there.

Queso station.  You know it isn't a Martin-sponsored event without Ryan's queso.

Grandma M was kind enough to hang all the extra paper lanterns outside.  Thank you, Grandma M!

Do you think by next year's party we will have actual patio furniture?  Ohhhh, the anticipation.  (Probably not.)

As I've documented multiple times on this little blog o' mine, my sweet eldest child inherited her father's extreme skepticism coupled with her mother's extreme aversion to risk.  Bless her, I know.  All week Ryan and I worked on her to get her ready.  We told her about her party.  We told her people were going to come see her.  We told her WHICH people were coming.  We told her there would be good food.  All week things seem to be going pretty well.  She was excited.  Enter the moment we came downstairs from her nap to a house full of people... not so excited.  She did not love a bunch of people in her house.  She did especially did not love being the center of attention.  She did not want to be put down.  At all.  Aunt Julie was Emery's personal chauffeur for a solid 10 minutes.  I eventually convinced Emery to let Julie and I attempt a hand off- trading E for B.  At which point I was really wondering why I had devoted so much time to mental prep for the birthday girl at the expense of bicep prep for yours truly.  

Luckily, not a moment too soon, cousin Kylie showed up and Emery relaxed.  She finally agreed to be put down and spent the remainder of the party running around and playing.  And grabbing cookies from the table while no one was watching.  I know because I can't begin to quantify the amount of hot pink icing Ryan and I cleaned up from the rug in the front TV room.  

It wound up being an incredibly awesome time for at least all of the members of our house.  We were humbled and so thankful to everyone who came out to show us their love.  Thank you so, so much for being such an awesome support network.  We are way too lucky.  Way, way too lucky.  We know that driving out to the 'burbs, even if there is the lure of lots of beer, isn't easy.  Again, THANK YOU.  And, of course, to my favorite two year old - happiest of birthdays.  I know you won't remember this one, but your Daddy & I always will.        

This series of pictures really highlights what a sweet, patient cousin Kylie is.  The look on her face leads me to believe Emery just did something ridiculous.

... Like perhaps stealing her cousin's club?  Because clearly Emery needs both.

Sweet, sweet Madison.  She was such a cuddly little doll!

Babies and balls.  This isn't leading anywhere good.

Bahahahahahahaha.  Patrick demonstrating that he's absolutely all boy.

This is not what I envisioned when Emery kept telling me she would "shaaaare" all week.

Ahhh yes.  Our little lady.

Thank you for mothering our children, Lynda!

Aunt Niffy with her nieces.  (Is Brynn trying to karate kick Emery?!)

Just a Daddy and his beer daughter.

Yo, Mom!  Grandma said you cut me off from the cookie table?  Did you not hear that it's MY birthday?!

Sometimes when a jungle isn't available, Tarzan has to improvise.

I really think she might be the happiest 3 (now 4) month old on the planet.

What's that?  You dare me to put my whole fist in my mouth?  Challenge accepted.

Hey ladies.  Want to crawl into my make-shift Minnie tent?

Oh Uncle Matt.  You had no idea what you were getting yourself into, did you?

I think Kylie actually had a more firm grasp on how to put this together than Ryan did.

Let me get this straight.  You gave me a glorified stick... for play?  Which means... I can dust ANYONE I want ANYTIME I want?  Best. Gift. Ever.

Oh, nice.  This model looks like it has a longer handle for more reach.

Brynnie says parties are exhausting.  We all looked like this by 8 pm.

The aftermath.

A Christmas Story 2014: The Martin Version

While it's much easier for me to combine posts these days, a la my Christmas Spirit post, upon reviewing the quantity of pictures I have from this Christmas, that will just not do.  So I'll split our Christmas documentation into two posts for your reading pleasure.  The Martin version and the Boarman version.  You're welcome.  ;c)

First up, let's review Christmas morning here at our house.  This was the first Christmas morning maybe since moving in that we woke up here.  I think?  Regardless- it made it much easier for Santa to find us, and that he did.  Who WOULDN'T have been lured in by those prize-winning cookies?!

Emery's haul from Santa on the top and Brynn's on the bottom.  Clearly he thought they were good this year.

This was Emery's first year to sort of "get" Christmas since she was only 9 months at the time last year.  We had been trying to teach her who Santa was and what he did if you were good.  I thought our efforts were fairly fruitless, but when we woke her up Christmas morning I asked her if she remembered who might have come to visit her the night before.  She looked at me and said "Dan-ta?"  So perhaps like her father, she's listening even when I don't think she is.

When Emery first walked into the sitting room where Santa left her presents, Ryan had our nice camera set up on the tripod to film her reaction.  Her first words?  "Paw paw," as she excitedly pointed at the tripod.  Even Emery knows my Dad is the paparazzi.  It took her a few minutes to notice the presents and even then she was  pretty skeptical.

Wait wait wait.  You mean after weeks of getting after me for touching boxes that looked like this under the tree, you are encouraging me to mess with these?  It feels like a trick.

You're sure about this?

We finally convinced her that the presents were for her and that she could open them.  It took her a bit to get into that too.  I would like to think that the fact that she's still so hesitant to assume presents are for her and that she should rip into them is a sign of her being a giving and selfless child by nature but I'm pretty sure it's more a function of her being young last Christmas. 

Okay fiiiiine.  If I must.

Each present took about 3 minutes to open because she would rip off an approximately 1" x 1" square, hand it to me and say "trash!"  I would take the piece and say "thank you," and she would say "thank you," and we would rinse and repeat for the next piece.  It was pretty freaking cute.

Turns out clothes are not fun for children of any age.  Her response?  "For da bebe!"

This was her big gift from Santa this year- a stroller!  As you can see, she was pretty pumped about it.  This did not elicit a "for da bebe!"

Were you wondering where Brynn was for all the excitement?  Snoozing.  On her belly.

Hey hey hey- can we move faster over here Dad?  I have some plans for that "koh-leur" (stroller- not sure why it has a k).

Future lawn woman in training?

So... is this tree going to magically produce some more presents or what?  I'm ready.

Both: Ahhhh... it's happening again!

Em: Hey!  Where you going bebe?  Brynn:  Out.  Must get out.

Em: Mama, what's her deal?  Brynn: Time is of the essence here guys.

We mentioned that the stroller was so she could take her babies on walks.  She assumed that meant RIGHT NOW.

I am so used to spending Christmas morning at one of our parents' houses that I wasn't sure if spending it just the 4 of us together would feel like Christmas.  I was definitely wrong.  It was so special to get to see and experience Emery's excitement and wonder quietly together.  It absolutely warmed my heart... I already can't wait for next year when Brynn starts to join in on the fun.

After we finished opening the girls' presents from Santa, we quickly got the little misses dressed, threw the last few items and Lola into the car and headed over to stop #1 on our Christmas tour o' Texas- Ryan's parents' house.  Getting 2 kiddos under 2, 2 adults, 1 massive dog and all their associated luggage for 5 days away out the door by 9:30 am is a real workout.  I'm not sure what the temperature was outside, but this Mama was definitely "glistening" (you can't sweat on Christmas- it's science).

Whaaaat are you doing?  Didn't we take enough of these this morning for the entire day?

Whoa Dad.  Haven't you heard of personal space?

Heart melted.

At Ryan's parents' house for the first time in a while, we got to see both Pam, Bob & Jenny AND Grandpa & Nancy.  It was a true Christmas miracle.  Ryan's Mom treated us to a delicious brunch of ham, potatoes, danishes and donuts, wisely, prior to the chaos that was gifts.  After getting our bellies full of goodness, we all sat down to open presents.  I've never been involved in a tornado, but I assume it would feel fairly similar to opening presents with 10 adults, a 4 year old, a 1 year old and a 5 week old, but with less glitter and exclamations of "look at THIS!"  

It was, of course, so much fun to watch the joy in Emery's face as she opened her presents with her Daddy (she had improved quite a bit since her morning go-round), but what warmed my heart most was watching her with her cousin.  To say she was obsessed with Kylie would be an understatement.  Emery was on Kylie like white on rice.  She wanted to look at everything Kylie got, to do everything Kylie did and to sit by her at all times.  It was seriously adorable.  Like puppies playing with kittens level cuteness.  Kylie was so sweet and patient with Em too.  It's been so fun watching these girls grow up and I can only imagine how much more there is to look forward to- especially with a new partner in crime.

I'm not sure there are enough gifts here.

Grandpa, Nancy and little Miss Brynn.

My Indiana family would prob at our fire when it's like 60 degrees out.

Kylie doing work on her balance bike.

Emery has zero idea what this is but she anything that requires more adult attention gets her stamp of approval.

Little girls flock to Ryan.  They can sense how much he likes Mean Girls and Keeping up with the Kardashians.

Hey, nice to meet you.  Mind if I use you as a bed?  And potentially drool on you?  Great.

Emery doling out Christmas gifts.  Some day she'll learn those envelope types are usually the best ones.

Open dat, Da-ee.  OPEN!

Hmmmm... what next?

I told you.  All up in her cousin's business.

Our little elf.  Surrounded by a sea of Minnie.  This is probably exactly what her dreams look like.

Proof Tiff and Jenny were there.

She looks way too big here for my approval.

We, and our tiny lovebugs, were BEYOND spoiled.  In fact we scored so much awesome loot that we had to leave it with Ryan's parents because it wouldn't all fit in our car.  That is a LOT of gifts people.  While I know the girls were bummed to leave their presents behind, the added bonus is that it meant we had a re-run of Christmas after we returned home from my parents' house and picked up their Martin family haul.

As you might expect, the Martin family side of Christmas was perfect this year- from getting to experience Christmas morning for the first time as a family of four to getting to see so much extended family- we had an incredible time.  Thank you to all who were there and played a part.  Up next: Christmas with my side of the family (spoiler alert: the perfection continued).