May 2, 2008

Birthday Parties, Birthday Parties and More Birthday Parties!

You know you’ve hit true "Mommyhood" when your version of Friday afternoon happy hour is a glass of wine and a bowl of goldfish crackers in the backyard while watching the little ones play in the sandbox. I never thought that would even come close to a martini with girlfriends at some swanky bar in Dallas. Well, OK, that’s still awfully good, but I have to say, it was pretty nice to be able to sit outside on a nice sunny afternoon, about 80 degrees, and watch the two laughing and having fun together WITHOUT needing Mommy! So it only lasted about 10 minutes, but I savored every last second until it was time to get up and break up a spat about who gets to hold the Duckie umbrella…Don’t even ask how it got outside in the first place. All I will say is I drew the line when Taylor wanted me to spray Morgan with the water hose to "make it rain on her."

So, we are coming quickly to the close of the school year and we have 4 birthday parties over the next 2 weekends. Yes, next Saturday we will be hitting 2, one at 10 am and one at 3:15pm. I think this will make birthday party #12-16 for us this year. So many parties and what do you give each one? Many of the kids are in Taylor’s class, so it’s not like we can pick a favorite gift and buy in bulk. "Mommy, why does Taylor give all the kids the same gift?" I can hear it now coming from all her classmates to their moms.

Babies are easy for me. I ALWAYS give baby jewelry. Baby jewelry is a gift that is not that often given, so more than likely, it won’t be a duplicate. It’s also something that most new moms won’t think of right away, so when they get it they will love it. My absolute favorite baby girl gift is this Engraved Freshwater Pearl Baby Bracelet from PintSizeDiva.com. Little pearl bracelets just look so sweet on those pudgy little wrists. They have this baby bracelet in a 4" and 5" size. For baby boys, I always do an Engraved Sterling Silver Pacifier Clip. Again, not expecting it, but love it when they get it.

Oops, I digress…these 4 parties are for 4 year olds, but I think I will still use the bracelet idea (at least for a couple of them)…I bought Taylor this adorable Swarovski Crystal Monkey Bracelet. She absolutely LOVES it and treats it as one of her prized possessions. She has had it for about a year now and has not lost it…which is a miracle in itself. It has held up really well and I think these bracelets just may be the ticket. Again, at PintSizeDiva.com, they have all kinds of cute designs to choose from. I’m thinking the Butterfly will be the winner for Party #1 this weekend.