The Saturday 7

1. A few hours after I finished the Saturday 7 last week, my sister texted me that my nephew's girlfriend was in labor! I was a little disappointed that she couldn't hold out two more days for my birthday (😉), but was so excited to finally meet my great-niece!! My other sister texted me at 11:30 that she was going to head down to the hospital to be there when the baby was born. I didn't want to miss out on the party, so I hitched a ride with her. We got to the hospital at 12:30 am . . . and didn't leave until 1:00 pm. Wowza. I'm getting too old for all nighters. But it was so much fun waiting together for the baby to arrive.

Playing cards.

I wasn't tired at first. We had fun talking, playing cards, and watching movies. But by about 3:00 am I was feeling it . . .

By 4:00, our group looked like this:

And we didn't even have to do any work! Poor Brandy was in labor that whole time! Lol. But it was all worth it to meet baby Nova! She is so precious and ignites baby fever in me like a raging firestorm!

2. The girls only have a few more weeks of gymnastics. After their last class, Lena's teacher took me aside to tell me that Lena is ready to move up to the next level. Today, I took them to open gym and Lena amazed me with her strength and ability. She is so close to a pullover on the bar. I had her do a bridge with her feet on a block and told her to kick over (back walkover), and she did it multiple times with ease! For as tiny as she is, she's surprisingly strong. Her teacher was there today too and cornered me again to tell me that Lena is amazing for her age and has real natural ability. But here's the kicker . . . she does NOT want to sign up for the next session. Her anxiety is so crippling! I asked her why she liked open gym so much today but doesn't want to do another class, and her answer was, "Because you stay with me at open gym!" During classes, I stay in the parents' viewing area, but today I walked from station to station with her. I'm hoping that if I don't make her do it next session she'll miss it and want to go back. Or if a few more months of being away from me at school will help with her separation anxiety and she'll be ready for gymnastics again in the spring.

3. Tuesday was my 32nd birthday. We didn't do anything very exciting, but I've been celebrating all week. :-D I think we went out to eat somewhere around 10 times in the past 7 days.

This was my cart at the grocery store on Monday:

On my actual birthday, Levi and I got donuts after dropping the girls off at school:

Justin got me some books that I asked for, a couple cute scarves, and a cute pair of shoes. Lena got me some chocolate and Lucy picked out a wall hanging from the dollar store. So sweet. I was also showered with numerous facebook birthday wishes and felt the love all day!

4. Now that my birthday is done, it's time to start thinking about Christmas!!! I made my first big Kohl's order last night and got a head start on the kids' presents. And I've started scouring Pinterest for Advent activities and Jesus' Birthday Party ideas. It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!

5. I chopped off Lucy's hair this week. It is so curly and unruly and I don't know what to do with it. Plus, she refuses to let me brush it, so it is constantly a rat's nest. She was so excited for me to cut it and set a snapchat to all my contacts right before we got started:

Then after her shower, I brushed it all out to look like this:

I took a chunk (probably 5-6 inches) and snipped it off. While it was still wet and straight it didn't look that short. But I forgot to take an after pic then. Instead I just took one now:

Haha adios, hair!

Fortunately, she loves it. And hopefully it'll be a little more manageable now.

6. Lena is going through an intense whiny phase. Every time I tell her no about something she whines, "Pleeeeeease!!! Pretty pretty pleeeeease! Just this once?!" over and over and over until I lose my mind and scream at her. I've been trying to nip it in the bud immediately instead of waiting until I reach my boiling point, but it's not easy. It's actually pretty exhausting. And I want it to be over.

7. Pictures