Sugar and Spice

Even though I have been mentally planning and brainstorming over the course of the past month, the countdown to Annistyn's 1st Sugar and Spice themed Birthday Party is officially in motion. The invitations have been ordered, and all the other details are in the works.

Speaking of invitations, I have struggled with Annistyn for over 3 days making desperate attempts to get a good picture of her to go on her invitation. I had it in my mind... the perfect photo of her in her birthday outfit wearing her hat and smiling that big goofy smile. (Quick slap back into reality) That DID NOT happen, wasn't going to happen, and was never meant to happen. I did manage to get her in the outfit, but she hated the hat, refused to wear, screamed when I made the move to put it on her head, etc. So, I thought, well maybe a hairbow would be just as cute. (Refer to "Skullet" post made earlier this year. It still applies.) No hat, no bow, fine.

Since nothing was strapped to her head, you would think she would be a happy camper. Wrong.... again. My neighbors probably thought I was a nut. I was out in our front yard making all of these incredibly ridiculous faces, noises, gestures. ANYTHING to make her smile. (i.e. Jumping around like a monkey, barking like a dog, clapping, waving, standing on my head, etc. I was desperate, ok?)

To make matters a tad bit worse, we had a mishap with her oatmeal this morning. My daughter happens to be a messy eater, and just to get things straight, it has absolutely nothing to do with my inability to feed a constantly moving target. Anyway, for some crazy reason, whenever her oatmeal touched her face, her skin turned bright red. Now, she has been eating this oatmeal almost daily for a couple months, and this adverse skin reaction just decided to pop up on the last day to get a good picture of her. Please do not be concerned, it is a VERY mild reaction, but it was enough to keep the skin around her mouth and on her nose (not my fault) a nice shade of pink for her invitation photo.

To say the least, I didn't quite get what I was looking for; however, I can't be too picky. Any and every picture tells a story. Any and every picture evokes memories of how she was on a particular day. Because of this picture, I will always remember barking like a dog in my front yard, trying to reverse the oatmeal induced redness on her face, her incessant fear of the birthday hat, and the daunting task of getting her to smile.

Was it worth it in the end? Absolutely! Look for her adorable picture in your mailbox over the course of the next week.