Penny's 9th Birthday

Monday and Tuesday weren't too eventful. Wednesday Penny had to go get another filling at the dentist. She really wanted me there and since Ruby was going to need to eat during the appointment time, Ruby came along too. Ruby was a bit fussy at first but settled down once I started feeding her. It was slightly awkward nursing Ruby in the corner of the room, especially since Penny had a boy dentist working on her tooth. Penny did really well with getting this cavity filled though so that was nice. Glad we are done with fillings for now.

Wednesday night we went to get pictures with our local photographer that I love. We started at 6pm and did not finish until almost 9pm. The older kids did great and I think we got a good family picture with all of us but it was hard getting Ruby to cooperate. The photographer wanted  Ruby sleeping for a lot of the shots but of course, Ruby decided she wanted to be super awake for once. I ended up nursing Ruby a lot in attempts to get her to relax and sleep. It was a long ordeal and Tyler ended up taking the older kids to the gas station to get treats- I think mostly because Tyler was feeling antsy about sitting around. 

Thursday I had to take Grams and Poppy to the airport so they could get back home for Lillian's baptism. This goodbye wasn't quite as hard as normal because they will be back next week for Ruby's baby blessing so I will see them again soon. After they left I was going to have a busy day- I had a dr's appt for Ruby and Steven had a tennis match- but both things ended up not happening. Well, actually, I missed Ruby's dr's appt. I had put it in my phone for 1:40 but turns out it was at 11:40. I didn't even find out I missed until 1pm when I was double checking the time on a reminder email. I am annoyed that they didn't even call me to ask if I was coming. I totally could've made it. Then there was a big rain storm so Steven's match got cancelled. It was kind of nice to have the day empty out. I ended up leaving Ruby with Tyler for a bit and going to Kohl's where I got a couple things for a super good deal- gotta love Kohl's cash and coupons from Amazon returns at Kohl's. It was also nice to just have a quiet moment to myself.

Friday was spent making Penny's birthday cake, cleaning the house and prepping for her party. It's amazing how long it takes me to get things done when I have a nursing baby. That evening Tyler took the kids to a picnic with some people in the ward and while they were out, my friend Debbie came over to meet Ruby. I love Debbie. She is easy to talk to and just so kind. 

 On Saturday we had Penny's 9th Birthday Party. She invited friends from school and church- 6 came all together- for a strawberry themed party. Cherish was nice and offered to stay and help with the party. I accepted her help since I knew Tyler would have to step away to get the pizza and I was worried about hosting on my own with Miss Ruby. I am so grateful she stayed. She was really good at just jumping in and helping with the various activities. However, she was not the only parent to stay. Both of Mimi's parents and Olivia's mom stayed. Anna and Lara's mom stayed for a bit to meet Ruby and then left. I really wish they had all just dropped off. My tired brain has not been much for socializing with those I don't already have a friendship with- small talk is hard. Olivia's mom did hold Ruby for awhile so that was helpful but she also talked a lot about things she isn't a fan of- like Renaissance (where my kids are still going to school) and public school kids (like Steven). I felt very judged. Mimi's parents were nice but like I said, I have mush for brains. Thankfully when Tyler got back he took over talking with them.

Anyways, for the party the girls: played with red balloons, took turns hiding and finding a stress ball strawberry, painted rocks to look like fruit, ate pizza, played pin the stem on the strawberry (they all cheated and felt where to put the stems, lol), hit a strawberry pinata (some of those girls had some pretty strong hits, and Lucy went crazy on it after it had already fallen), ate cake and ice cream and then they had some water balloon fun (although Penny had some dramatic moments of not appreciating getting wet).

For dinner that night Penny requested Culver's because of the "free" ice cream. Honestly she really wanted Olive Garden but I told her that would be too busy on a Saturday night so she settled. Ruby and I even came with. She was fussy for me but happy to sit with her daddy. 

After dinner I took Ruby to Grace's house for a little get together with my friends. I guess Alissa (Melissa's oldest) really wanted to hang out with all us old ladies (me, Caroline, and Grace) before getting her back surgery. Ruby did not do well on this outing. She pretty much cried the entire time. All my friends made a valiant effort to try to soothe her but she was not having it. Ruby ended up getting super worked up so I just left after an hour. I hated that my first time trying to bring her out with friends was such a disaster, left me feeling pretty bummed.