Abby Turns Five

Alright, so yesterday was officially Abby's 5th Birthday. . . but we didn't really celebrate it.

Not that we're jerks or crappy parents or anything (though that might be contendable in a few areas) - nay, readers, we didn't celebrate Abby's birthday yesterday because she was firing out of both ends.

Seriously.

Abby caught some kind of uber-flu on Monday - who knows how or from where, but sources indicate she had kissed some boy in her classroom on the mouth, so I'm assuming she contracted a nasty bout of cooties.

Ew,

Anyway, she got sick Monday afternoon, so Kris had to leave work early.  She also had to take off Tuesday and Wednesday (thank God she had a pool of sick days left to burn through.)  Things were looking up on Thursday, so Kris took the girls back to school and the day passed by pretty uneventful - Abby even got to take in some cupcakes Kris made and celebrate her birthday with her class (see pics below.)  In fact, it had passed by so uneventful that we decided to go out to eat for Abby's birthday Thursday evening before doing the whole cake/Skyping/presents thing with grandparents.

Let's see what happens. . .

The Gossip Table

No idea

Snack time (we let Abby take the crown into school, to wear while her class sings her 'Happy Birthday,' but it looks like she just wore the damn thing all day.)

Alayna stopped by after she got out of school to celebrate her sister's birthday (she attends an after-school program in the room through that glass door above.)

I'm so sick of that dog pose. . .

The blonde kid on the end (who's British, believe it or not) was apparently Abby's "boyfriend" for awhile.  That probably means they shared plastic dinosaurs or something. 

Once I got out of work, I met up with Kris and the girls at Applebee's to celebrate Abby's birthday.  Trouble started shortly after ordering the kids' food, though - Kris had to take Abby to the bathroom two or three times (related to both ends, take your pick), and by the time we got around to ordering our food, Abby was complaining of her stomach.

Shortly after getting her order, Abby asked to go home.

The Cannonball and I would stay behind at the restaurant and finish our meals, while Kris took Abby back to the house.

The silver lining to all of this terribleness is the two-for-one drinks.  Restaurant drama be damned - nothing two pints can't handle.

Kris waited until she got her food before boxing it all up and taking it back to the house.

Hanging out, enjoying the elbow room.

Our waitress (can I still call them 'waitress'?) must have felt bad for us, because she gave Alayna a free sundae, which was really cool of her (don't worry - I tipped her extremely well.)

While Alayna and I finished our meals, Kris allowed Abby to open up a couple of her presents (namely, the ones from Dad and Cindy). . .

She'd been asking for this Elsa doll for over a month, after seeing it in a local K-Mart down in Kissimmee, so we suggested Dad and Cindy pick that up for her. . .

Without a doubt, the most popular gift of the day.

(I can see this doll turning into one, giant slimy mess after a few months of use.)

When the Cannonball and I got back to the house, we got Mom on Skype and let Abby open up her present from Mom and John

Couple books. . .

. . . and a bike.  We let Mom and John buy it and store it up in Midland, since we figured it'd be one more thing to pack and move.  Alas, it was kinda hard for Abby to comprehend that she got a bike for her birthday, even with Mom showing it to her via Skype.

This is what the bike really looks like - we found it at a Toys R Us down here a week or two ago, and they happened to carry it up in Mom's neck of the woods as well.  Abby actually picked it out, which we were totally cool with as we didn't want to go overboard with a mere 16" bike (she'll be out-growing it after a year or two anyway,) 

We bought her a helmet to match.  Ridiculously tacky and pink, of course (which always goes over well - when all else fails, smother it in pink and throw on the jewels.)

Another figure for their Disney Infinity system. . .

More playsets of figures (this one featuring the Sleeping Beauty characters - Aurora, Maleficent, Phillip, etc.) 

Showing Papa John some of her plunder

Unfortunately for Abby, she wouldn't be blowing out her candles on her actual birthday, as she was too sick and in no mood to do so.  Instead, we waited until the following day, when she felt a little better (though not until after I had to leave work early in order to come home and take care of her so Kris could go into work.)  Abby wanted a Winter (Dolphin Tale, remember?) cake, and we found a cake pan of Amazon for the shape.  When Kris asked her which frosting pattern she wanted - smooth or textured, like you see here, Abby wanted it textured.  So there you have it - a furry dolphin with a prosthetic tail.

Happy Day-After-Your-Birthday, Abby.

Hope she's not wishing for more Flu. . .

When asked what part of her dolphin cake she wanted, Abby requested Winter's prosthetic tail.  Of course.

. . . and knowing Alayna's crass sense of humor, she quite fittingly requested Winter's head.

SUGAR

Daddy's Coffee.  Makes everything better.

Happy Bizarro Birthday, Abby - hopefully your 6th Birthday goes a little smoother. . .

- Brian

Happy Birthday, Big Baby Jesus

Merry Christmas, Internet!!!

Wanna see what our Christmas was like?  'Course you do.

Enjoy.

The one thing Abby wanted for Christmas more than anything this year was the Lego Rapunzel's Creativity Tower.  She saw it in the Lego Store a few months back and has remained unwavering in proclaiming her desire for Santa to bring it for her Christmas morning.  To say this kid was happy opening this particular gift from 'Santa' is a definite understatement.

Alayna didn't fare as well with her list from Santa.  She asked him for a drum set, a Penny Ling (from Littlest Pet Shop) stuffed animal, her own cell phone, and a 'real bow-and-arrow' (that she could 'shoot bad guys in the face with,' no less.)  Our parenting is often questionable, but we're not that bad. . . so Santa brought her the stuffed animal and some other crap.  Fortunately, she was cool with this.

Santa also brought them the gigantor doll house (at left) and some new 'grown up' umbrellas, to replace the old battered ones they've nearly ground into ribbons.

What little girl doesn't want an ole timey pocket watch in their stocking. . . right?

It's the stocking stuffer that keeps on giving.

Watson enjoyed Christmas immensely.

Of course this happened.

Carnage.

Some of my stocking stuffers.  Kris Santa knows me well.

Also off Abby's list to Santa - a Zarina doll from Disney's The Pirate Fairy.

This is completely impractical, but damn it. . . she wanted it.  She saw it at a local Halloween City back in October, and really wanted it, so the next day I swung by and picked it up.  It's too big for her, and way too hot for down here in Swampville, but I guess she'll grow into it. . .?

The Cannonball's becoming a fan of bad guys, monsters, girls with 'edgier' looks, and also Barbies.  We picked her up two of the Twilight series dolls - because you'd think that'd satisfy all of the above requirements, wouldn't you? - and she loved the first one.  This one?  Hell nope.

I bought the wrong kind of bacon this year.  As you can imagine, it nearly ruined Christmas.

Opening some of my gifts from the girls. . .

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but every Christmas we give each of the girls $5 and let them pick out a gift for Kris and I.  The results can be hilarious, but this year wasn't too bad.  Abby got me a keychain version of Anakin's lightsaber that lights up, and Alayna selected this keychain light-thing that projects the Imperial insignia on a surface.  It was a Star Wars kinda Christmas.

Abby bought Kris a green earring/necklace set.  She had that picked out before we even set foot in a store, so when we found it at Target that was it.  Now all Kris has to do in order to be a good mom is wear the shit out in public.

Once we had opened up all of Santa's gifts, tackled stockings, drank a pot of coffee, and eaten a fatty breakfast, we poured some mamosas and turned on Skype to share Christmas with the Hough side of the family.  Skype now allow you to group chat with multiple users simultaneously, so we were able to have the girls open their gifts from Uncle Bryan and Aunt Lyssa, who live out in Vegas (as you'll recall, we already had our Christmas with Dad and Cindy.)

Bryan and Lyssa hit two homeruns this year with the girls - a make-up kit for Alayna and a princess doll set for Abby.

The girls also spent $5 on each other this year, something we haven't done in the past.  Abby bought Alayna the exact same stuffed rabbit that Watson shredded last year, and in return Alayna got her yet another miniature puppy stuffed in a purse. . . 'cause that's what sells around these parts.

Yes, Kris loves Dunkin Donuts.

. . . AND cheap, gaudy jewelry (the bracelet's from Alayna.)

The gift-opening and Skyping raged on into the afternoon - here the girls open some more plunder from Grandma Jordan.

I spent the majority of the day putting Lego sets together.  I can think of many worse ways to spend a day.

Breaking in the new digs.

Not a white Christmas this year in Florida.

The girls enjoy making up their own games.  Pictured here we have some kind of soccer-esque game that requires the player to run with the ball in their hands around 'cones' (we forgot to buy them, so the girls improvised.)  Clearly they inherited their athleticism from their old man.

To be fair, though, Abby's really taken a liking to soccer lately, playing it regularly at school.  Alayna... enjoys playing with sticks.

More Christmas Skyping.  This time, Mom's side of the family.

Photo courtesy of the Cannonball.  Mom and John bought the whole family Nerf guns this year.  I can't imagine these things being misused AT ALL.

Abby 'helping' me with building another one of her Lego sets. . .

Watsan, as usual, spent most of the day sleeping.

Later on into the evening, as the gift-opening wound down and we had filled our Skype quota for the day, we ate some more leftovers and kicked off a marathon session of Christmas movies we hadn't yet watched.  Who knows how we let A Charlie Brown Christmas slip by us. . .

Another version of A Christmas Carol, courtesy of the Muppets (I was hoping for this one last night, but was out-voted.)

One of the stocking stuffer-ish gifts I picked up for Kris this year was some Pumpkin Spice Kahlua.  She's not a big drinker, but enjoys the occasional White Russian. . . and she loves Pumpkin Spice.  A no-brainer, right?  Well, she also loves peppermint mocha, and the bottle you see to the right there was a stocking stuffer-ish gift from last Christmas she's still working on.  I'm sure we'll be seeing that Pumpkin Spice a year from now. . .

Aaaand that's it.  Time for bed.

364 days and counting, everybody.

- Brian