Planning

Its almost here. In just four short weeks we will celebrate our Ashley Kate's second birthday. The plan? Clear scans from Omaha = a trip to visit our family and a birthday celebration that beats all past birthday celebrations. I am in full party planning mode. I have lists upon lists of details, phone calls, dead lines, menus, and the like. The invitations will be sent this week. The guest list includes each and every family member (and a few old family friends who feel like family) who haven't seen our sweet Ashley in months or years or ever. All my nieces and nephews who have so diligently prayed for their cousin will be there and I get to hug and kiss on them all! I am so excited!

The party will be held outdoors so that Ash's exposure to germs( like coughs or sneezes that like to send airborne things into her lungs) will be reduced. Open, outside air is good for Ash. Indoor, shared air is not so good.

Along with my party planning ideas I have been wrestling with a gift idea. Not just any gift, but a special gift for our baby gherkin. What in the world do we give to her for this special occasion. I've been to the stores. I've searched the isles. Nothing jumps out at me and says, "This my sweet girl is for you." I've struggled with tears( sorry, but that's the truth) as I realized (I think for the first time )that the age "appropriate" toys for a two year old are not "appropriate" for my Ashley. She is not even close to being able to play or operate anything in that age group of toys. Ash still plays(and quite well I might add) with the very first toys we bought for her. The very same rattles she was given her first Christmas are the ones she plays with every day. Those link a doos are a breeze for her to chew on and shake. All of her mastered toys are those that are for 0-6 months. Buying anything age appropriate would be unrealistic for her at this time. Oh, I don't think it will always be this way. I'm just sharing that for now, at 2 years old, we are still very, very behind the rest of the toddlers. Anyway, I don't think its a store bought gift I want to give her on her special day. I have an idea, but it will require me to sit and think and re-live the good(which kind of excites me to share with her), the bad(which is very difficult for me to put into words), and the ugly(which are private pieces of her story that I have always planned on writing down for her). Here's my idea. I want to begin her scrapbook. For those of you who knew me before the birth of my Ashley you are probably in shock and gasping to find out that I haven't even started it, but again that is the honest truth.

So, I think that tomorrow I will begin. I have four weeks. I can do this. I am a power cropper. The building of the book won't be that difficult. Its the journaling that is going to be emotionally draining. I only have 10,980 something (realistic number!!!) to sort through and print for her book. Can you even imagine how many pictures that is? I have always taken lots and lots of photos, but since Ash's birth I have REALLY taken photos. I have quite a task to accomplish, but it just seems like its the right gift and the right time for me to do it.

Dave and I are fixing to slip out to the office to do a little sorting of those pictures. Nan is going to sit with the kids as we spend a couple of hours getting me a head start on our gift to her. I am so excited to see what words her daddy and her brother and her sister are going to share with her. I love to read what they journal in our scrapbooks and I know that someday our Ashley is going to treasure this gift. Thank you for being here today. Thank you for your continued prayers. Thank you for making me feel as though we are old friends. I love you guys and I love knowing that you love our sweet Ashley Kate. Good night and God bless. Trish