Happy Sixth Birthday, Bitty!

At this time six years ago, I was huffing and puffing in a hospital room desperately longing for  pain meds, hoping against hope they would decide to keep me instead of sending me home.  Thank goodness they kept me.  And then I got some pain relief, and then 12 hours later, Bitty made her entrance into the world.

There are so many wonderful things I could say about this sweet girl, but I'll leave it at this (for now), I love her with all my heart and with every fiber of my being.  We were blessed she joined our family and I can't wait to see the person she becomes (she's already pretty awesome already!). 

We had the children's Christmas pageant this evening and it was beyond delightful.  I'm beat.  B's beat.  The girls are beyond knackered.  Ellie was loved on by all the fifth grade girls who seemed to think she was their own REAL "Baby Alive" doll.  I dosed her with some medicine before bed as I'm sure she is bound to be sore after being hauled around for close to an hour.  

Miss Bit was the sweetest Little Angel you have ever seen.  I can hardly believe just how big she is.  She's a real "kid" now, not just a "big kid" toddler.  My mind boggles.  And, she's going to be six.  SIX.  Man.  :shakes head:

Since she's already older than Hannah was, I don't anticipate much difficulty tomorrow, but we'll see. 

Tomorrow is all about this big girl.  We'll have brownies with chocolate frosting, and dinner at Carrabba's since she requested steak with mushrooms and salad.  :o)

Meanwhile, I've been bad at managing my time this year.  I have NO idea how it has happened, but I feel as if I'm once more entering full-on panic mode and I keep asking myself, "What's the worst that will happen if you don't do _____________?"  So far, the world won't end if these things don't happen, so I'm going to stop and simple be.  

The cards will get mailed, and if they arrive after Christmas, so be it.  If there are no Noel balls, well, I'll be sad, but life goes on.  The gifts do need to be wrapped, but I've got that in the bag.  And, I do need to make a birthday card for my girl.  And get her birthday gifts wrapped.  And make her brownies.  And clean the house.  And prepare for Christmas dinner.  And...and...and...  Yeah, gotta just stop and BE.  Father reminded us this morning to just take ten seconds to pause and breathe and feel God's grace.  I need to remember this. 

Although there are many sparklies from my weekend, the biggest was the Christmas Pageant and the kids.  Oh, and my parish.  Lordy I love my church.  I love that there are so many families and everyone seems to know everyone else and which children belong with which parents.  If you are looking for a kid--you know, craning your neck--typically you'll be met with, "Oh, they're over there" without even having to ask.  We had a HUGE spread after the pageant and kids were simply everywhere.  It was a wonderful time of fellowship and it reminded me a bit of the third Friday fellowship suppers we had when I was growing up.  The kids were one place playing and laughing and gorging themselves on desserts while the adults socialized.  It was fantastic.

And, speaking of how much I love my parish, I'm putting out a request for prayers and positive thoughts for one of our young babies.  One of our four year olds was in a tragic accident and has been burned from neck to toes, front and back and is currently in a burn unit at MCV.  Every time I think about it, I'm reduced to tears.  This poor baby.  His family.  Oh. 

Additionally, Brien's Great Uncle Sam passed away this morning.  We're not sure when the funeral will be, but it definitely has bearing on this week's plans as B will need to get to West Virginia. 

Posting may be in fits and starts this week.  I'm sorry.  I feel like my head is ready to pop off.  Gotta remember to just BE!!