Another Party Bust + Life In and Out of Quarantine

So far this spring, I am 0 for 2 on parties. Somehow Brooklyn’s birthday party in February went really well despite the freezing temperatures outside, but since then, we haven’t had great luck. Savannah’s party went well for the guests…just not the birthday girl. Then, two weeks later (May 14th) was supposed to be a gender reveal party for Tyler and Alisha’s twins. We were having it at our house, and Katie McCrary and Emily Smith helped me with all the planning. It was going to be so fun!

Unfortunately, several members of our family got hit by the plague during the days leading up to and after the party. Carter came down with hand, foot, and mouth disease on the Tuesday before the party. That also happened to be the day that the girls and I were over at Alisha’s house for several hours helping with Carter. He was running a fever by the time we left her house and had the blisters by the next day. Fast forward a couple of days, and Alisha got admitted to the hospital because of some heavy bleeding she’d been having, and then Tyler came down with hand, foot, and mouth too! The Lovelesses definitely had a rough week. At first, we were thinking about just postponing the gender reveal party, but then Savannah came down with hand, foot, and mouth too! She started running a fever Saturday afternoon and her blisters appeared Monday morning. Last but certainly not least, Travis came home from work Wednesday afternoon not feeling well and running a fever, and he had blisters by Friday morning. So….yeah. The party was just not meant to be. Travis and Savannah had a pretty mild case of it compared to Carter and Tyler, so we really have nothing to complain about. I’m also thankful that Brooklyn and I seem to have avoided getting sick (knock on wood!).

Savannah’s blisters were the worst on her wrists, and then she had a few random spots on other parts of her body. They didn’t seem to bother her though! I don’t think she had any in her mouth because she was still eating well. Travis’s spots weren’t even real blisters…they were all below the skin on the palms on his hands and the soles of his feet.

I’ll go ahead and document the party planning for the gender reveal so that our effort doesn’t completely go to waste ;)

Whenever I host a party, I always like to make a big to-do list and organize it by things to do on each day of the week leading up to it. It helps me get things done but not feel too overwhelmed!

At first, I wasn’t sure where to get two matching BIG boxes, but then a co-worker suggested that I get some from the hospital. So, I grabbed two big pillow boxes, and they were the perfect size!

Travis helped me cover them in craft paper, and then Katie McCrary came over and helped me decorate them. She cut out all the letters and ice cream cones with her Cri-cut. I thought they turned out so cute!

Framed list of all the ice cream toppings we were going to serve…

I bought these flowers at Michael’s and was going to put this bouquet on one of the tables. The colors matched our party colors (navy, turquoise, pink, and coral) really well.

If you’ve ever been to a party I’ve hosted, you know that I love to make my own water bottle labels :)

We were going to have a name suggestion jar too–to help Tyler and Alisha out with naming the twins. I’m sure some of the suggestions would have been priceless!

Paper squares for writing names…

Emily Smith made this “guess board”–we were going to have each person put a pink or blue “scoop” on Baby A’s and Baby B’s cone, depending on what their guess was. We were planning to have everyone sign their names to their scoops of ice cream so that Tyler and Alisha could look back later at who guessed what for each twin.

So, since we didn’t have the party, Brooklyn and I “decorated” it one morning with markers!

She thought it was fun!

She also had fun playing with all the balloons that we blew up and strung together…haha

When we officially decided to cancel the party, I had Travis take the boxes over to Tyler and Alisha’s house for them to use for a picture. So, without further ado…

Tyler and Alisha are having TWO MORE boys!! We are so excited to meet Luke Wyatt and Barrett James later this year! :)

So, what else have we been up to over the last week or two? A lot of playing at home while we were stuck in “quarantine”!

This girl is looking so big!

Here, she is giving her doggy a drink of water…haha

We love to eat outside!!

Playing in the sprinkler is so fun! Can’t wait for Savannah to join in on this!

Speaking of Savannah…where is she??

There she is!

Blowing bubbles is another spring and summertime must-do!

Savannah is starting to climb on everything!

A few days ago, I caught her standing up in this yellow chair! Not sure how she did it, but I’m just glad she was able to get down without busting her head open!

She is obsessed with phones these days. We have at least 3 or 4 old cell phones that the girls play with. They make great toys!

Love her!

I have a second little laundry helper now ;)

Savannah’s first time using a spoon went surprisingly well! She got most of the cup of applesauce in her mouth using it, and the mess stayed mostly on her bib and tray :)

Yes, that’s my name, but no, I didn’t make a reservation at Hotel Indigo for June 13th-15th. I did get the email confirmation though!! I called the hotel, and I’m still not sure what happened, but apparently I’m getting another Erin Grant’s emails. I should show up for a 2 night stay, right?!

This girl LOVES to eat!

Travis has recently starting training for the Cotton Row 10K (which is on Memorial Day), and Brooklyn wanted to stretch with him before his run one evening…

First time in the big girl car seat! No more infant seat for Savannah–she was almost or right at the height limit of 30 inches.

It’s fun to pick grass!

Packing for a long journey or for high school graduation/dinner at Olive Garden?

I think Melissa was SEVEN years old when I met her for the first time, and now she’s a high school graduate! So crazy!! Congratulations, Melissa!!

After graduation, Brooklyn wanted to meet the ducks at Big Spring Park. They must have thought she had food because they came right up to her!

Dinner at Olive Garden went surprisingly well!

We all know the best part about making brownies—licking the bowl!

Other Quotes and Notables: 

• 5/17/18 – We did bubbles in the bathtub, and Savannah kept trying to catch them with her hands. When she caught some, she would put them in her mouth and say “MMMMM!” :)
• 5/20/16 – “Who is that??” Brooklyn asked, pointing to the picture of Uncle Allen and Aunt Debbie on the calendar. You know who that is. Who is it? Brooklyn thought hard for a few seconds…. “Elijah?!?” The only Elijah she knows of is the prophet, so I guess in her mind, he wore Hawaiian shirts! 
• 5/21/16 (after Travis had been sick and hadn’t shaved in several days) – “Daddy, what’s that on your face? Did you get it in the shower? You should wash it off.”
• 5/22/16 – (very emphatically, as Travis was backing the car into Cici’s driveway): “Daddy, don’t knock over Cici’s house!”
• Brooklyn has kept her Pull-up dry for the past two nights–all night long! Yay!! Maybe (*hopefully) she’ll be night-time trained before too long!
• Brooklyn likes to act out scenes from Daniel Tiger and her favorite Disney movies. It’s not uncommon to see her marching like an elephant from the Jungle Book or pretending to be Simba running away from the stampede.
• Brooklyn also hasn’t taken a nap for the past 2 days, so I’m a little worried that her napping days are coming to an end. NOOOOO! We will have to implement some kind of quiet/reading time in her room even if she doesn’t want to sleep. Mommy needs that alone time for her sanity’s sake! ;)
• Savannah clapped and clapped at graduation yesterday. It was the cutest thing! She had no clue why she was clapping, but other people were doing it, so she joined in too!

That’s all for now! Hope you’re having a great week!