easter fun

we headed back to hershey this weekend for easter with our families.  this time, we stayed at aunt callie and uncle anthony's.  they just moved back to hershey from baltimore, and they have a lot of room in their new house.  matt and i were in a bedroom with our own bathroom, and daxon got to sleep in their nursery one night, then the "bonus" room the next night, cuz anthony's cousin came to stay, too. 

we got home friday night and went out to dinner with my dad to celebrate all of our birthdays (matt and anthony's are in february, callie and mine are in march, and my dad's is in april).  we went to the warwick tavern in hummelstown.  it's an old favorite of ours.  after dinner, we all went back to callie and anthony's and had ice cream sundaes!  yummm...

on saturday, matt, daxon, and i went to meet my mom and jeff and my step-brother's family at the country club for the easter egg hunt.  i popped daxon in my sister-in-law's baby bjorn (she was giving it to callie, so i had her bring it for me to use and then i gave it to callie).  daxon's cousins, aiden and brody, participated in the egg hunt.  poor little brody didn't get any eggs, but aiden cleaned up, and then was a nice big brother and gave a few to brody.  i didn't take any pictures, unfortunately, but i wish i would have tried to get a stealth picture of the two little twin boys whose parents painted football paint under their eyes.  seriously?!  it's an easter egg hunt, not a competitive sport! 

from there, the 3 of us headed over to matt's parents.  they had a full house, with matt's brother mike, his girlfriend jody, and his 2 kids (avery, 12, and gabe, 10), matt's other brother dan, his aunt barb and uncle jack, and his cousin bobby and wife brandi and their 2 kids (addison, 1, and jack, 3).  we had dinner and then went for a short walk.  daxon got passed around quite a bit, but handled it pretty well until the end of the night when he hit his wall - i think he was tired and overstimulated. 

sunday morning, daxon was an enormous fuss-pot.  he was wailing all morning long.  i thought something was wrong, or that he was sick, but his temperature was fine.  i think he was just feeling overwhelmed still from the night before.  poor little guy.  we went to church and he did great - he got kind of fussy at one point, but he was just hungry, so i gave him a bottle and he was fine.  my friend's mom was assisting with communion, so when we went up, she got a good look at daxon, then quickly sent us on our way because she was starting to cry!  so sweet.

after church, we went back to callie and anthony's for a little before heading back to the country club for easter brunch with all of my siblings.  we were missing my step-sister heather and my niece sidnae, but all in all, there were 17 of us - 10 adults and 7 kids.  we easily had the biggest table in the place! 

daxon slept through most of brunch, much to the dismay of his aunties.  they got a little bit of time with him, though, and his cousins were excited to play with the baby!  we hit the road around 4:30, and we got home to a nice big package on our doorstep....

our cloth diapers are here!  i cannot wait to put these on daxon's cute little bum.  i am in the process of pre-washing them right now (you have to wash them 3-5 times before you can use them).  we will probably wait to start using them until this weekend, so that we can get used to it before sending him off to daycare with them. 

speaking of...i go back to work on wednesday.  i have been doing great with it up until yesterday.  and then i cried about it 3 separate times on the drive home.  ugh.  wednesday is going to be a rough one.  i will totally be that girl sitting on the train in tears.  booo....

slainte!

daxon is two months old today!  update coming soon, but for now here's an adorable picture to tide you over.  happy st. patrick's day!

i.t.a.s.

have you ever watched inside the actor's studio?  it's on bravo.  it's a show where celebrities come to the actor's studio in new york to do an interview with host james lipton in front of a roomful of acting students.  i love it because they discuss their full body of work and the backgrounds of the characters, their own experience with getting into acting...and usually they're pretty laid-back and seem more "real" than in other interviews.  james lipton is a genial host, and the students always have a chance to ask their own questions at the end.  it seems like a great learning experience for them. 

lipton asks each one of his guests a series of 10 questions.  he came up with them after seeing french talk show host bernard pivot ask questions of his guests based on a questionnaire once completed by the french writer marcel proust.  proust's questionnaire is significantly longer and more detailed, so lipton obviously had to scale it back.

since i'm home on maternity leave, i've had a chance to catch quite a few episodes of inside the actor's studio and have been thinking about what my answers would be if i were ever on the show (ha!).

what is your favorite word?  heart.  it carries so much meaning and can be used in so many ways.  i love that it has become a verb (or do i heart it?).  it is a heavy word with a great deal of feeling in it.

what is your least favorite word?  retard/retarded.  i find it physically repulsive.

what turns you on?  laughter.

what turns you off?  intolerance.

what sound or noise do you love?  i love when i pick daxon up as he's waking up and he burrows into my neck and sighs.  he's not a big belly-to-belly snuggler, so i eat that up when i can.  the little contented sigh he gives almost drops me to my knees.

what sound or noise do you hate?  people using hateful words, like retard or gay (derogatorily, obviously).  i have a physical reaction to cruelty.

what is your favorite curse word?  fuck.

what profession other than your own would you like to attempt?  chef.

what profession would you not like to do?  surgeon.  there is way too much pressure.

if heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?  ya done good.

this weekend - daxon's weekend

daxon met a ton of new people this weekend and was very busy with lots of travels and visits.  wednesday night, daxon slept from 10-3:20, then again from 3:45-7:15.  at 7:15, i got him up and dressed, and finished packing the car.  we hit the road at 7:50.  daxon was awake when we left, but fell asleep about 15 minutes into the trip once we got past the traffic on the turnpike.  he slept almost the entire trip (about an hour), but woke up right before the hershey exit (about 15 minutes from my parents').  as soon as he woke up he wasn't happy, so i was "swerving" the car to get him to calm down.  it kind of worked, but he still was fussy, so i plugged my phone in and turned on the white noise app.  it worked for a bit, but by the time we got to my parents' house he'd had enough.  as soon as i got him out of the car, though, he calmed back down.  i nursed him and then handed him over to jeff (who goes by fritz to the grandkids) so that my mom and i could head to the spa.  i called to check in on them before i left the spa for my haircut, and fritz said they were doing great.  daxon is his 8th grandkid, so i knew he was in good hands.  jeff and my mom went out to the theater thursday night, so daxon and i stayed in.  he fell asleep on me downstairs, so i carefully carried him up to my sister's old room, where i'd set up his pack and play, and he sletp that night from 8p-5a, then again from 5:45-7:30.

on friday, he and i took a little trip over to a local bakery where my friend mel works.  we picked up some breakfast and some dessert for our dinner at aunt callie and uncle anthony's, then headed back home to get organized for getting things ready for the shower.  he took one nap from 9-10, but then was up for most of the rest of the day.  my friend nicole came to visit with her son anthony, and he kind of napped for a little while they were there.

this picture melts my heart.

after they left, i kicked it into high gear with cooking and baking for the shower.  he was kind of fussy, so i plopped him in my sling - he stayed calm and i was able to keep getting stuff done.  i worked until my mom and jeff got home, and then jeff took him for a bit so my mom and i could keep working.

matt got home around 6:30, gave him a bottle, and then the 3 of us headed up to aunt callie and uncle anthony's for dinner.
 

daxon didn't nap there at all, and then started getting really fussy.  i tried to nurse him but i think he was just way too overstimulated, so we finally packed him up and headed home around 10:30.  he fell asleep in the car, but then kind of woke up when we got home and took him out of his car seat.  i knew he wasn't hungry, and didn't want to just comfort nurse him, so i rocked him for a bit in the rocking chair in callie's room.  he still seemed pretty awake, so i thought i'd swaddle him to try to get him to calm down.  i swaddled him in the pack and play and he closed his eyes.  i left him and watched him there for a couple minutes, and he didn't stir, so i just walked out and shut the door.  he slept till 7am (11:30p-7a).

on saturday, we got up in the morning and gave him a bath in the kitchen sink (matt was supposed to bring the tub but forgot it).

around 11 matt took daxon over to his parents' for a visit while we finished getting ready for the shower and hosted.  daxon got to visit with his pop and nunu, and uncle dan came over, too.  matt's aunt tana and uncle jim came to meet him, too.  he apparently napped most of the time, though.

they came back to my parents' house around 5 after the shower ended.  he got to meet his aunt melissa, aunt heather, aunt ashley, and uncle john, as well as all of his cousins.  so fun!

they took off after a bit, and he spent some quality time snuggling with aunt callie before we all decided to move the party to callie and anthony's.  matt convinced me to let daxon stay with my parents, so we put him to bed around 7:30 and headed over.  i had a bottle pumped already in case he woke up, but he stayed asleep the entire time we were gone.  he woke up right when we got home around midnight, so i gave him the bottle (since i'd had a couple glasses of wine), then i pump-and-dumped (if i hadn't been engorged, i would have just waited till his next feeding).  he woke up again at 5, and by then i was safe to nurse him, so he nursed and went back to sleep from 5:30-7:30.

on sunday, matt got up with him at 7:30 so i could sleep a bit longer.  i woke up right before 9, and daxon was napping with gigi.

around, 10:15, after matt and i got both cars packed up, we all went to church.  he was quite hungry by the time we got to church, but i had a bottle with me, so i gave him that and he slept through the entire service once he finished eating.  after church, we went to visit grampa (my dad).

he zonked out while we were there, so we loaded him up into the car and hit the road.  he slept the entire way home. sunday night he slept 9:15-6:15!  but then last night he was up once at 4, slept 4:30-5:30, then again 6-7.  hopefully he falls back into his routine again, though we are approaching a big growth spurt, so we may have some rough nights ahead of us.

so we learned that daxon seems to be a pretty easy traveler, which is awesome.  out next hurdle will be having someone other than me put him to bed.

this weekend - mommy's weekend

we had a nice long weekend in hershey this past weekend.  daxon and i went home thursday morning and matt joined us friday night.  we all came home on sunday.  we had a lot going on, with lots of visits and events happening.  it was a busy weekend for everyone, so i thought i'd break this into 2 posts - the events in one, and daxon's visits and how he handled it in another.  so here's my perspective of our weekend.

we hit the road around 7:50 thursday morning.  my goal had been to leave by 8, with a time of 8:30 as our absolute last acceptable time to leave.  when we were pulling out of the driveway at 7:50 i was thrilled!  we got to my parents' house around 9:30.  i had time to set up his pack and play in my sister's old room and quickly nurse him before mom and i left to go to meet my sister at the spa.

we do a day at the spa at the hotel hershey every year, just the 3 of us.  we usually have one treatment plus lunch.  this year, we all got massages.  initially i had a hard time relaxing (it was my first time leaving daxon for more than 20-30 minutes), but i just kept reminding myself that he was with fritz (my stepdad goes by fritz rather than pop, grampa, etc) and he was fine.  eventually i gave in to the massage and it felt wonderful.  afterwards, we relaxed in the "quiet" room with muffins and hot cocoa for about an hour before our lunch.  i quickly pumped, too.  lunch was good, and dessert was even better (i mean, it's hershey...).  after we finished lunch, we changed back into our clothes.  i had a haircut scheduled for 3:15.  yes, i still get my haircut in hershey.  i have tried 4 different salons in philly but can't find one that i love as much as steele.  it is absolutely because of the staff (i graduated with one of the owners, my stylist is one of my close friends from high school, and another stylist is like a pseudo-little-sister to me), so i always love going back and catching up with everyone.  i had rachel chop 2 inches off my hair because it had grown out of control (thanks, hormones!).  afterwards, i rushed home to snuggle my baby.  it was nice to be away and have some me time, but i did miss him!  that night my mom and jeff went out to see a play, and daxon and i stayed home and hung out.

on friday, mom and i spent the day getting stuff ready for callie's shower.  my friend nicole came over with her son, anthony, and they brought me lunch (yay for cheeseburger subs from jo-jos!!).  we visited for a couple hours before they left and i kept working on shower stuff.  matt got home around 6:30 and the 3 of us went over to my sister's house for dinner and to see their new house.

saturday mom and jeff and i were busy busy getting everything finished for the shower.  we still had a lot of cooking to do, and had to finish the decorating.  we got it all done by the skin of our teeth, but it was done and it looked great (if i do say so myself)!  we had a lovely shower.  callie got lots of great stuff, and it was fun to catch up with family and some of her friends, who i haven't seen in over 2 years.

bubble bath baby shower punch

popcorn bar - honey peanut butter, chili lime, ranch, and cinnamon sugar

diaper cake by callie's mother-in-law

i didn't take a picutre with all the food out, but we had brie and apple cresent bites, mini fruit pizzas, balsamic pork tenderloin, and guacamole bruschetta

diaper centerpiece

callie's college roommates

anthony's family

we had people bring books to help build baby's library

our stepsisters, melissa and ashley

beautiful mama-to-be!

after the shower, callie's friends stuck around for a little birthday party, as callie not only is having a baby, but she also turns 30 this year!  it's a big year for my baby sister - new house, move to hershey (from baltimore), new baby, turning 30, and she plans to go back to school in the fall to pursue her masters in disease epidemiology (yeah, she clearly got the brains in the family).  i am so proud of her and so excited for this next new chapter in her life!  i can't wait for our babies to grow up and be best friends!  after a bit at my parents', the party moved over to callie and anthony's so that her friends could see the new house.  matt convinced me to leave daxon with my parents and we joined everyone there for a few hours.  i had some wine, which meant i had to pump and dump when we got home (that was a bitter pill to swallow).

sunday morning, we went to church.  matt and i keep talking about trying to find a church near us, but we still plan to have daxon baptized at my church at home, so i wanted to bring him there to meet pastor cindy.  after church we went to visit my dad for a few hours, and finally around 3, we hit the road and came home. 

it was a long weekend, and we were busy, but we had so much fun.  in our next installment, i'll tell you all about daxon's visits and how he did with sleeping and stuff.  for the most part, he handled the whole weekend really well! 

planning for a trip home

next week, daxon and i are packing up and heading home for a long weekend.  it is my annual spa day with my mom and sister (which i am not-so-secretly really excited for - a one hour, baby-free, chocolate massage and lunch with excellent company), plus we are throwing callie's baby shower and a "surprise" 30th birthday party!  "surprise" because she actually knows about it, but the guests don't know she knows about it.  we couldn't decide if surprising her was a good idea, so my brother-in-law told her about it. 

anyway, daxon and i will be going home either wednesday night or thursday morning.  our spa day is thursday, starting at 11 (we'll have to be there around 10:30).  matt will come home friday night.  the baby shower and birthday party are on saturday.  so that's 4 days to pack for.  here is all the stuff that we "need" for daxon:

• swaddle blanket (probably take 2, sometimes he spits up in the middle of the night)
• white noise machine (luckily this runs on batteries)
• pump and supplies
• frozen milk (more to follow)
• bottles
• pack and play
• stroller
• wipes
• 4 days of outfits (plus another couple for potential diaper blowouts)
• 4 days of diapers (i'll probably just take a whole pack)
• boppy
• diaper bag

do i take his tub?  probably not - we'll just bathe him in the sink or something.  we'll figure it out.  do i take the rock and play, so he has somewhere to hang out while we're all downstairs?  or do we just take the pack and play up and down the stairs?  that seems like a huge pain in the ass, and the rock and play is so small and easily transportable.

as for nursing/pumping/feeding.  like i said, our spa day is thursday.  we will probably leave the house at 10, and i probably won't get home till 3 or 4 (i have a haircut scheduled for after the spa).  i will nurse him before we leave (around 9).  in that time frame, he'll need at least 2 bottles, but i want to have 3 ready for him.  he eats about 3oz at each feeding, so that's 9oz right there.  then on saturday, matt is going to take him over to his parents' house during the shower, so he'll need at least 1 bottle, but again, i'd like to have 2 ready, just in case, so that's another 6oz.  i can escape and nurse him during the birthday party, cuz we'll be back together for that.  oh, and then friday night, we might go out for drinks with some friends, so i'll need a bottle for a night feeding.  so i need 21oz, which i have in my freezer already, but it's more than half my current supply.  i mean, i'll pump after the spa and before my haircut (i can't go that long without pumping or nursing - holy painful boobies!), and each morning/night like i already am.  so do i take the 21oz frozen, or do i take like 14oz frozen and then supplement with the fresh stuff?  i think i might just take the whole 21oz frozen and then freeze whatever i pump while i'm there, because who knows how much i'll get pumping while away - my supply may take a hit from the stress or whatever

did you follow any of that?  my next dilemma - when we do take the trip?  the trip home i'm not worried about - we'll head home during his afternoon nap (not that we have a real afternoon naptime, but he'll sleep when we put him in the car, and that'll be his naptime).  but for the trip to hershey.  if we leave wednesday night, i can put him in the car for his evening "nap," then put him to bed when we get there - get him in the house, let him say hi to fritz and gigi while i set up the pack and play, then nurse him and put him down.  my concern with this is that he's so fussy in the evenings and cluster feeds, i don't know if the car ride will be enough to keep him calm.  if we leave thursday morning, we could leave when he first wakes up, i can nurse him when we get home, and then head out to the spa.  again, though, he sometimes cluster feeds in the mornings, so would the car ride be enough to keep him calm?  ugh...decisions, decisions. 

any thoughts or tips?  good lord, i'm going to need a separate suitcase just for daxon's stuff!  ha ha.  man, traveling with a baby.  totally different experience!!

2012 - year in review

2012: In The Beginning
Where did you bring in the New Year? in baltimore. 
Who were you with? matt, callie, anthony, and a few other friends.
Did you make any resolutions?  i honestly don't even remember.  i think i resolved to eat healthier, which i did (up until the past 2-3 weeks).

2012: Your Love Life
Did you break up with anyone? no way!
Did you get anything for Valentine's day? i believe we went out for dinner in center city.
Did you meet anyone special? not romantically, no.
Did you fall in love? with baby boy.  already head over heels.  and i fell more in love with matt as we work through this journey to parenthood together.

2012: Friends and Enemies
Did you meet any new friends this year? sure!
Did any of your friendships end? i stopped taking calls from a friend whose drama i no longer had time for. 
Did you dislike anyone? yes
Did you make any new enemies? no
Did you resolve any fights? every day.  it's what they pay me to do.
Who was(were) your closest friend(s)? matt, callie, abriel, nicole
Who did you grow apart from? see the 2nd question.
Do you have any regrets when it comes to your friendships? not really.

2012: Your BIRTHDAY!!
Did you have a cake? i doubt it.  i might have had a cupcake or something.
Did you have a party? nope.
Did you get any presents? probably money from my parents.  and i don't remember what matt got me.  this is terrible!
If so, what was the best thing you got? dude, who doesn't love birthday money?

2012: All about YOU
Did you change at all this year? mmm...i packed on a few (30) pounds, grew a human, instantly became a mother...yeah, i changed a bit
Did you dye your hair? yes, a couple of times i diy'd it at home. 
Did you get your hair cut? a few times. 
Did you change your style? yeah, i went from classic normal to whatever-looks-good maternity.
Were you in school? ugh, no, done with school.
Did you have a job? social worker
Did you drive? yup
Did you own a car? my beautiful nissan rogue.  i seriously love my car.
Did anyone close to you give birth? 2 of my friends (who are sisters) had baby girls!  and lots of coworkers had babies this year!
Did you move at all? no...not yet.
Did you go on any vacations? we spent a week in georgia - stayed with abriel and dave in peachtree city for a few days, and then spent a few nights in savannah.  loved it!
Did you leave the country at all? no, not this year!
Would you change anything about yourself now? i'd be un-pregnant right about now!

2012: Wrap Up.
Is 2012 a good year? 2012 ranks up there with one the best years ever!
Did 2012 bring any new insights? this has certainly been a year of growth and learning. 
Do you think 2013 will top 2012? most likely.  baby boy will be here and we will have our little family.  it will be more challenging than 2012, for sure, but i'm betting it will be totally worth it.

2013
How old will you turn in 2013? 34.
Do you think you'll be married by then? already married.
What do you look forward to most in the next 2 months? baby!!!!
Will you be looking for a new job? i don't think so, but with the way the hospital is operating right now, that sentiment could change.
Will you be looking for a new relationship? a flourishing mommy-son relationship!
New house? not likely
New Years resolution? i haven't even thought about new year's resolutions.  i just want to get this baby out and start being a mom!
Any trips planned? no.  let's have the baby first and see how that goes!
Wedding plans? nobody getting married this year, that i know of!
What's on your calendar? ob and chiro appointments, last day of work, baby's due date.  eventually we'll get around to scheduling spa weekend with my mom and sister, and callie's baby shower!
What can't you wait for? oh my god, seriously....baby!!!
What would you like to see happen different? no idea.
What about yourself will you be changing? are these questions getting repetitive?
What happened in '12 that you didn't think would ever happen? my sister got pregnant while i was pregnant!
What will you do differently in 2013? actually be a mom, instead of just reading about it, ha ha!

parties

it's been a busy holiday season so far, and it's not because of the holidays!  first we had thanksgiving and my high school reunion.  then my shower.  then my mom's surprise birthday/retirement party.  oh, and then our family holiday party.  oy....i'm glad we have the excuse of not being allowed to travel for the holidays, cuz this mama needs a break after all that!  

my friends/family baby shower was held on sunday of thanksgiving weekend.  i had a feeling that a lot of people wouldn't be able to make it because of the date, but more than i expected came, and i was so touched.  my mom and callie worked their butts off to make it a special day, and i was so overwhelmed.  callie made cake pops and chocolate-covered oreos.  they made a ton of food, including stromboli, stuffed figs, salad, asparagus rolls, and meatballs.  they also made sangria and hot apple cider, which i don't normally drink but have recently been craving.

step-aunt betsy, step-sister ashley, and callie

the spread - so much yummy food!

mimi ruth and donna (2 of my mil's best friends), plus nicole and jody (bil's girlfriend)

2 of my besties, nicole and abriel, abriel's mom melinda, and mil

callie and me

2 of my coworkers/friends, stacy and karen

matt's cousin dawn, aunt tana, cousin beth, and cousin danielle

matt's aunt donna, plus my friends stephy and mel

my mom made the pennant banner - the fabric in the middle (the argyle one) is the same one she is using for the bench cushion and blanket that she's making for baby's room!  plus you can see all the cake pops and the sangria!

callie didn't organize any shower games, which was perfectly fine with me.  i always find them awkward, anyway.  the only thing she made sure people did was leave their fingerprint on this amazing print she had made for the baby's room.  i cannot wait to hang it up; it's going right in the middle of the gallery wall over the dresser.  we had all the aunts/uncles/cousins add their fingerprints at our holiday party this past weekend, and matt and i will add ours!

i'd say gift opening took about 45 minutes.  people were extremely generous, and i was so overwhelmed with all the thoughtful gifts that people got.  we didn't get nearly as much clothing as i'd expected, and we got no diapers, which was shocking (nobody really knew about our plans to cloth diaper).  we also got very few gift receipts, so hopefully babies r us is fairly forgiving in their return policies.  but overall, we got a ton of great stuff, and i had a great time coming home and washing everything and putting it away.  the nursery is really coming together; i can't wait to show it to you guys!!

on monday at work, i had this incident that i needed to report to my boss.  so on tuesday, she sent me an email asking me to please come to her office to discuss the situation further.  we had a staff meeting scheduled at 1pm, so she asked me to come by at 12:15.  i was kind of annoyed that she wanted me there 45 minutes before our meeting (her office is in our townhouse, which is a block away from the hospital) - i didn't think it would possibly take 45 minutes to discuss the issue, and then i'd be kind of stuck over at the office until the meeting started.  around noon, i got caught up in something, so i shot her a quick email to say i'd be there but a few minutes late.  i got over to the office around 12:25, but not before i noticed that stacy, my officemate, had taken her coat, which i kind of thought was strange but thought maybe she had to run to the pharmacy to get meds for a patient.  anyway, i got to the office and my boss was waiting for me.  she suggested that we should go upstairs for our meeting, so i just obliged and headed up the stairs.  as i got to the top, i realized that it was not a meeting with my boss to discuss the incident, but rather a surprise baby shower!  my department threw me a fabulous baby shower, complete with little italy pizza (stacy made sure to get chicken bacon ranch pizza for me, god love her), cake, brownies, and cupcakes.  they had taken up a collection and gave us our bathtub and hooded towels, as well as some very generous gift cards.  i was definitely surprised and so touched!

matt, baby ike, and i are so very very lucky.  this little boy is very loved by so many people.

on december 2nd, we threw my mom's surprise party.  matt and i were in town for "a haircut and to pick up matt's car," and also "our last weekend to be home and see everyone before baby comes."  it was a lame excuse, but mom bought it.  my step-dad had rented out a room at the country club for the party, so in order to get her to the club, the plan was that matt and i would meet them for brunch after church.  the party started at 2, and we were supposed to meet them at noon, with instructions from jeff to show up late so we could drag things out a bit.  we showed up about 25 minutes late for brunch, using the  excuse that i had fallen asleep again and matt let me sleep, since i was sick.  i was sure she had no idea about the party, because the whole day before and the morning of she kept insisting that if i wasn't feeling well they would just pick up some soup and come home for lunch.  i assured her i'd be fine for brunch.  anyway, we finished eating around 1:30, at which point matt, jeff, and i looked at each other and thought, "how the heck are we going to stall her for another 1/2 hour?"  well, she went to the restroom and ran into some other club members and got to talking to them, which killed about 15 minutes.  after she came back to the table, i started talking to her about callie's shower.  that killed about 10 minutes, at which point we all (slowly) started gathering our things and getting ready to leave.  she tried to head out the back door, like usual, but jeff told her that they had put up the christmas decorations upstairs and he wanted to see them.  matt shook jeff's hand like we were leaving, and i said, "well, no, i want to see the decorations, too!"  so the 4 of us headed up the stairs towards the room where the party was.  as we reached the top of the steps, we saw my mom's philadelphia cousins, and she said, "oh my gosh, look who's here!"  she still didn't get it - she thought they just happened to be in hershey.  it wasn't until she rounded the corner and saw several other friends and family that she figured it out.  i ushered her into the party room and everyone yelled surprise.  she really had no idea about the party and was completely surprised!  yay!!  there were probably close to 100 people there - friends and family came from all over to celebrate with her, and it was such a special day.  i'm so thrilled that so many people were able to come and be with her!  (most of these pictures are courtesy of my step-aunt, which is why all of my step-relatives are in the pictures!)

my step-cousins meghan and kirk

my step-brother john and nephew brody

more nephews - gianni, isaiah, and eman

my niece, brianna, and step-sister, melissa

nephews!  aiden and eman

 

step-dad jeff with step-cousin travis

me, mom, and callie

mom and jeff, on the dance floor - i swear it's their natural habitat

mom and jeff