"Happy Birthday Cousin"

I have had a loooooong day. A good day, but very long. I got off at 7, came home, and promptly went to bed a little after 8. I tried to catch as many zzzz's as I could before noon. I woke up at noon, showered and headed off to spend a few hours with my dear friend Cara. We had both been on vacation and wanted to reconnect and chat a little bit. We had a great time chatting and eating ice cream (gotta love DQ!), then we goofed off on the computer a bit. I won't hate you if you post those pictures Cara! :)
Sadly, our time was cut too short, because I was watching Brooke, and had to be there to get her at 5. We said our goodbyes and promised to do it again soon. No vacations planned for either of us (that we know of), so hopefully it will happen soon.

Well, I arrived to get Brooke at 5 and she was in the prettiest little yellow party dress. I was only watching her for the night because Dan and Becky were taking Luke and Mer to some car show. So I was taking Brooke to my cousin Rachel's birthday party. (Happy 18th Rach!) The second I got there she ran out the front door and jumped in my arms. She is so sweet... She melts my heart! I hugged Mer and talked to her and we went inside. Becky said hi and that she wasn't ready, but if I needed to go I could take Brooke because she was ready. Well, we still had some time, so I just went ahead and loaded up Brooke's carseat in my car, and then sat in the living room with the girls and chatted a bit while Becky finished getting ready. Becky commented that I must have bonded with Brooke or something (because I started watching her when she was 5 months old), because anytime they needed a babysitter Brooke would say, "My Megan gonna watch me?" Becky said I'm always her first choice, but she tries to get her to understand that I can't always watch her. Yea, right... she's 2!
Anyway, so we're sitting in the living room and Brooke keeps looking at me saying, "I ready to go in the car. Let's go bye-bye." She was so ready to go and party! :) I chatted with Becky a little longer and then her and Mer left to meet up with Dan and Luke.
Brooke and I left shortly after, and she couldn't have been more excited. I kept telling her we were going to my cousin Rachel's birthday party. We rehearsed a couple times "Happy Birthday Rachel". Well, it was quiet in the car at one point and I hear her talking to herself in the backseat... "Happy Birthday Rachel". Then a few seconds later... "Happy Birthday Cousin". How sweet!!! She was all ready to say Happy Birthday. We had gone through the guest list (My mom, Holli (aka Hoddie)....), she was ready for cake and ice cream...we were set! So we're driving along and I had a country radio station playing pretty low, because we had been talking. Well she all of sudden says, "Megan, can you turn it up?" So I did. Then she says, "Really loud, k?" So I turn it up louder. Then I hear her sweet little voice singing to the radio. Are you kidding me?! She knew a lot of the words to the chorus. The funny thing is that it was a Montgomery Gentry song. I wanted to start laughing, but she was just so sweet I didn't want her to stop. When the song ended she said, "My mommy and me listen that music in her car." Too precious! So we're almost to my cousin's house and we pass an ice cream place. Well there is a huge ice cream cone outside and I hear her gasp and say, "A Snowball Man! Did you see it??" At first I had no clue what she was talking about then when I caught on all I could do was smile. She seriously is a bright spot in my day when I get to be with her. She's so funny!

We finally arrived at the party and as we were walking toward the door and we went through all the people she knew that weren't there yet, she looks at me and says "I don't like cousins." How hilarious! She was nervous! Well the fact that my cousin's dog met us at the door barking did not help the situation, but she quickly calmed down, and when Holli arrived shortly after, she went to her while I got her sippy cup filled. Brooke was pretty quiet at first, but she opened up pretty quickly. My mom got there and she went right to her and was soon chatting it up with the guests and showing her sweet little smile to everyone. :) She was thrilled that my mom let her stick her finger in the cake to get some of the frosting off. She ate her dinner great, and barely made a mess at all. I was quite proud of her. :p
While Rach opened her presents (which were basically cards) she sat on Hol's lap and then sat in mine next to where my cousin's little boy was. They quickly began playing together and were just too funny! I think Carter was a little smitten. :) My cousin snapped some pictures of the two, and if she emails them to me I will post them here and let you know.
Brooke started getting a little tired around 8:15 so we left and went back to her house. She kind of snoozed for a couple minutes on the drive home, but not too much. It must have been just enough, because she was wide awake and raring to go when we got inside. So much in fact that she was completely naked in the matter of 5 minutes. Silly girl! I got her dressed for bed and decided to pop in a movie. Bad idea!!! I was so tired, that putting in a movie just lulled me into a relaxed state. I was on the couch and she sat with me for a bit, but then she wanted to get some books out. I couldn't muster up the energy to read them to her so she sat in a chair and read to herself. Thankfully Dan and Becky got home shortly after that. I was fading fast, and I was pretty sure I would be asleep soon if they hadn't shown up. We went through the run down of how she did, bathroom breaks (now that she's potty trained), if she had fun. She nodded her head vigorously when Becky asked her if she had fun. Then she asked, "Are you and Megan best friends?" to which Brooke nodded and smiled. I love her!!

Thankfully I am home now, and I am going to be going to bed now. I'm way tired. 4 hours of sleep in like 32 hours is NOT enough. I'll be sleeping in tomorrow and taking a long nap on Sunday before work. Don't worry though. I will be back with my trip post as promised. I want it finished just as much as you do. Everyone have a good Saturday!

Until...................................