birthday weekend shenanigans

I had a fabulous birthday weekend!! It was definitely the best birthday ever, thanks in no small part to a cute baby, a handsome husband, and my awesome parents!

My lame immune system tried to bring me down on my big day with a surprise staph infection in my knee. I think my body is trying hard to conspire against me on birthdays; last year I herniated a disc in my back a few days before my birthday...and now this?? Luckily I caught it early and snagged a doctor's appointment right in the nick of time so that I could get started on antibiotics. I really did not want a repeat of 2011's needle-in-the-face-MRSA episode. And I don't suggest clicking that link and reading my gory (but picture-less; I'm not THAT nasty) tale if you are feeling weak in the stomach. You've been warned.

Anyway. I wasn't about to let this little (large) bump in the road (knee) ruin my day...actually, getting to start some antibiotics that must be taken every six hours with food is actually kind of a BONUS on a birthday weekend! A requirement to eat every six hours (mostly not coinciding with meals)? Don't mind if I do! Matt and my parents were more than happy to help me find delicious ways to meet that requirement.

The weather was incredible this weekend, so I'd like to thank Georgia for really doing me a solid there. Your generosity has been noted and appreciated. Having a December birthday means I don't generally expect to spend a lot of time outside on my day, but this year I was more than happy to welcome a change! We spent most of Saturday taking nice walks/'hikes' (slow hikes, 32-year-old-broken-knee permitting) at a variety of pretty Athens parks.

Millie seemed to enjoy getting to spend the day outside...and Parents of the Year seemed to once again forget that babies can get sunburned even when it's not hot outside. Oops. Her cheeks are just extra rosy now...

We spent some time checking out the State Botanical Gardens, which is where Matt and I got married. We walked over to the Day Chapel to show Millie where all the magic happened. There was another wedding taking place, so we couldn't get close, but I'm pretty sure she was really impressed.

This is my impressed face.

 We finished off Saturday night with a visit to our town's Christmas festival and (another) walk downtown to see the lights. Part of the reason I was so gung-ho about walking all day was that I got a Fitbit* for my birthday (woooooo!!!!!) and I was extremely concerned that it would immediately reveal how slothful I've become...so I tried hard to get a lot of steps in. And it worked! Now I have to figure out how to do the same thing on the days I'm stuck in my office for 8 hours...and the weather isn't fabulous...

Anyway, after one last walk, we settled in for a junk food dinner and a Christmas movie on Netflix. My parents like their movies cheesy...like, I think that if marrying TV channels was possible, my dad would probably marry the Hallmark Channel. And probably take on Lifetime as a sister-wife. So it was really lucky that Netflix has a ton of ABC Family original Christmas movies right now, ha.

The weather was perfect again on Sunday, so after my parents headed back home, we set out for another walk. We just started putting Millie forward-facing in the K'tan. I think she likes it...although I can't know for sure, cause I can't really see her. But Matt says she seems happy.

I definitely still prefer wearing her inward-facing in the Ergo, but it's nice to have another option, I suppose. It doubles as entertainment for us, though, because she looks like a giant floating head.

Emphasis on giant. I'm fairly certain her face is bigger than mine. THOSE CHEEKS.

The only way to see her face was if I flipped around the camera on the phone. Drooling and looking slightly concerned? That's about normal, so we'll say she was happy.

We also added two very special ornaments to the tree on Saturday!

The wooden ornament is something I ordered from a wooden toy Etsy shop called Little Sapling Toys. I love it!! I also ordered another little toy from them that Millie will be getting for Christmas. I can't say what it is because what if she reads my blog?? (She's super smart, duh.) (And has refined taste in reading.) The 'adoption is a miracle' ornament is a gift from Melissa! I cried when I saw it. It has Camilla's name in the heart on the left and 2014 in the heart on the right. I just love each new addition to our tree that reminds me of our great joy.

It was the perfect birthday weekend. I wish it could have lasted about twenty times longer, but alas...it is Monday again. And nearly Christmas! Which probably means it's about time to start my shopping...yikes. Ummm...what do you buy for men in their 60s who don't need anything? I pretty much just want to choose some random hobby or interest to inflict on them so that I'll have a permanent source of gift ideas for the next decade...would that be wrong? Ha. Happy Monday!

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