Dave's Party Fever

Wow! What an unexpectedly unique birthday!!! Dave and I planned to have a quiet birthday this year, here at home. We began the birthday festivities on Saturday night with my brother, Bret. We rented a bunch of movies and watched them late into the night. You know, I don't think Bret left to go home until 2:45 a.m! We had a really good time simply relaxing together! Even the girls slept in to give Mommy a little extra sleep after such a late night! :)

On Sunday, we did our usual routine with breakfast, baths, play, video, lunch, and naps. Then came the fun stuff!!! We planned to have a big birthday dinner and CAKE! :) Suzy had been talking about the cake all day! It was too cute... She's say, "Happy! Cake!" She doesn't quite have the word, "birthday" down yet. Anyway, I began preparing our feast... Our menu: a 1 1/2 pound sirloin steak topped with creamy-cheesy scallops, Ruth's Spinach for Company, and baked red skinned potatoes. I made the cake from scratch! -A Dodson favorite, Dump It Cake! Luckily, all of our dinner preparations happened during naptime because... Party Fever was about to Blam! us...

Suzy took an abnormally long nap and awoke crying which is very unlike her. Typically, she jabbers happily until someone comes to rescue her from her crib. As I changed her wet pants, I noticed her cozy warmth did not dissapate as it usually does and found she had a high fever! So with Dave's dinner on my mind and no other symptoms... I simply propped her up with pillows on the couch and started an episode of Sesame Street. Back to the kitchen I went busily doing the dinner dance. Meanwhile, Daddy had gone on a fun errand to Lowe's and returned home just in time to cuddle his feverish little princess during Elmo's World. This got her loose from her covers, and she needed to come see me making the cake in the kitchen!

Now, party fever begins...

BLAM! Suzy ran into the kitchen and began vomitting!!!! Poor little girl! I rushed after her, catching as I went... Dave also helped me feed Hannah while I was overseeing the final touches to our meal, then about that same time- Hannah finished her feeding and BLAM! covered Daddy with half of her meal as well! Dave and I just had to laugh and soon began laughing hysterically!!!! Dave rushed to get our Resolve Carpet Cleaner on the dirty spots while I threw Suzy into the tub. We all changed clothes, except for Hannah who had landed all of her mess on Daddy and miraculously none on herself!

After that scurry of activity, I was sure my beautiful, delicious meal was ruined... but it wasn't because of Dave. He came behind me as I was plating our dinners, tears stinging my eyes. I was thinking- "This is it! This was our birthday plan...this meal! And I've ruined it at the last minute!" Dave was still chuckling as he said, "This is exactly what I wanted today. We've had the most relaxing time together! You and the girls have made this the most wonderful day. You three are who I want most for my birthday." He gave me his usual big bear hug and kiss. He hugged all of my silly tears away! Nothing was lost or ruined. Well, the food may have been a little cool- but delicious none the less. The festivities were back in full swing... Happy! and Yum!

Alas, poor Suzy drank Pedialyte for dinner and had no cake!

Thank you, Dave, for being a superstar husband and father today!!! You made the messes funny and tolerable, and the interuption to our celebration a welcome one. Thank you for your flexiblity and for seeing perfection in imperfection! Thank you for treasuring what is most important, instead of what is secondary. I love you soooo much and am actually looking forward to our next Party Fever!