Well, the birthday party went well yesterday. We have a tiny house, and it was cold as shit outside (12 degrees and it felt like 1 degree) so nobody could be on the back deck so there were 23 people (17 adults / 6 kids) crammed into our little living area, but overall, it honestly was a great afternoon. People hung out from about 2-6pm, and Stella received way too many new toys – especially considering I had put “no gifts please” on the invitation! So far the doctor kit (especially the stethoscope) was the biggest hit I think (ETA – and the guitar from Grandma and Grandpa!), though she does love the art easel I scored for her from a local garage sale. However, a good party does not mean I am not dragging my ass today. Yesterday morning we had planned on getting ready, going to church at 10am, and doing a cpl hours of final party prep together (like hanging Christmas lights) while Stella napped before the guests arrived. Instead it went something like this:

• 7:00 Stella wakes up after sleeping in almost an hour later than normal. Yay! Charlie and I sing her happy birthday and she is quite excited about the prospect of BALLOONS! CAKE! CANDLES!
• 7:15 – 8:00 Stella happily draws us chalk pictures on her new art easel
• 8:00 – 8:30 We have a nice, leisurely breakfast together as a family
• 8:30 Stella requests a bubble bath, so I tell the birthday girl of course!
• 8:45 Stella says “I so cold Mama” — and I realize she is sitting in a tub of ice cold water. Holy shit. Sorry child. We assume the hot water tank is out of water because we had just run a load of laundry & a load of dishes.
• 9:15 We still haven’t showered for church and Charlie realizes the water is still cold, so he goes to check on the hot water heater. *@&^$_# We find out we have the one gas water heater ever made that you can’t light with a match if the igniter goes out, so Charlie gets in the car and drives 30 miles to the nearest town with hardware stores open on a Sunday. No showers or church for us. Meanwhile I’m back home trying to figure out what to do with a bunch of dirty dishes that I can’t wash and a kitchen I can’t clean up before 20 people descend on our house in a few short hours!

Checking out her new toy

Daddy help!

a COLD bath

Arranging ornaments on her tree 🙂

Helping dust before company came 🙂

• 11:45 I walk over to the neighbor’s house with Stella and use their shower quickly before nap time.
• 12:30 I get back home & finally get Stella down (she normally sleeps 12-3).
• 1:15 Charlie returns home sans igniter. Apparently just 2 months ago stores quit selling the part we need for liability reasons. This means we now have to call (and pay for) a plumber to come fix the problem… on Monday. No hot water for us. *@$(%^&*^
• 1:30 Charlie runs over to a friend’s house to shower. I stick all the dirty dishes I can in the dishwasher. The rest will have to be out for all the friends & family to see. GAH.

So yeah… the house filled up shortly after 2pm and Stella only slept for 90 minutes instead of 3 hours, but she did really well for running on a short nap, and a great time was had by all, especially since the Broncos won. My kitchen is currently filled with dirty party dishes, my dining room table is filled with a gazillion toys I need to sort and find places for, and I’m about to take the afternoon off of work just to sleep, but overall it was a totally great day. My 2 year old is happy, we have our health, and we will get this hot water heater issue fixed before we’re trying to fill a birthing tub. Life is good. 🙂

Singing Happy Birthday to the birthday girl. 🙂