Let the birthday fun begin!

Elizabeth may not fully understand the meaning of having a birthday, but she's gotten really good at telling us she's going to be "two years old" and holding up two fingers. And, she definitely understands the meaning of a birthday present! Today, when the mailman showed up on the front porch with a package, she immediately yelled, "Elizabeth's birthday present!" And it was - thank you, Aunt Beth! She was, however, horribly disappointed when I told her she had to wait until tomorrow to open it at her birthday party.

Before you think I'm too mean, she's already had her share of birthday present "previews." My friend Carolyn came over on Tuesday night and gave her..not one...not two...but THREE wrapped birthday presents. Can you see why she's been given the honorary "Aunt" title? Elizabeth received bubbles, Dora chalk, two board games (Candyland and Chutes and Ladders), and a bunch of new books...including a fabulous dog book that we've already read at least 50 times to her. (Everyone will get a kick out of this one...it even tells you that "All dogs pee"!)

Here's a picture of her reading it with David:



She also received her birthday present from the gift exchange from my online Mommy group yesterday.



She got a new doll with lots of accessories - including a potty and a pacifier that makes her go to "sleep"! As you can imagine, she absolutely loves her new baby! But, for a while, she was afraid that LouLou was "broke" and had to be "thrown away," because why else would she need a new baby? :) She's named her new baby "Chloe" - after the baby that lives next door to Gran.





She also is very tempted to try the baby's potty seat - so far we've managed to keep her from doing that, but we have found her sitting on it several times:



David and I have conveniently neglected to teach her that this baby also knows how to drink, eat, poop and pee. Oops! Anyone that lets her know will be subject to lightning bolts and rack torture...or at least the same gift for your own child for you to deal with!

The birthday festivities will continue throughout the weekend. BB and Uncle Scott are coming up from Mississippi, and they will be here shortly. Then, we're having Elizabeth's birthday party tomorrow. It will be a small one with just us, BB, Uncle Scott, Gran, Granddad, Granny Pat, and our friends who have a son about Elizabeth's age and another baby. I figure we'll save the big birthday bashes until she can remember them! Then, her actual birthday is on Sunday (May 6).

And, lest you forget that we actually have a son living with us, here are some pictures of Jonathan rough-housing with Elizabeth (aka "avoiding doing the dishes"). He's gotten very good at avoiding the camera lately!





And, for those of you keeping up with my tonsil saga, my throat is doing a lot better now, but this last week was very rough. I have a high tolerance for pain and usually am able to keep going through anything, so I figured I'd pretty much sail through it. (For example, the day after I got my wisdom teeth out, I was in McDonald's eating a hamburger and fries.) I even originally contemplated not taking the pain medicine because I've never really had to take it for anything before....NOT! This is the worst pain I've ever experienced. I've been downing heavy-duty pain medicine as often as I possibly can (without exceeding recommended dosages, of course), and I was still in a tremendous amount of pain. I haven't been able to talk hardly at all (after they told me I'd be able to talk again almost immediately), and I wouldn't have been able to eat solid foods even if they let me (and they won't let me for 2 weeks after the surgery). I've gotten really sick of Ensures, yogurt, pudding, soup, and popsicles! However, the good news is that today I'm actually starting to feel a lot better, so I hope I'm finally coming out of it. I'm sure it will all be worth it in the long run (at least that's what they tell me!).