Julia, Here's the Deal...

So here is the deal, my sisters and I are very close.  That's us with our dad two thanksgivings ago, 2009, before my deployment.

Top Row L-R:Julia, Robby (step dad), Alice (mom)
Bottom Row L-R: Ashleigh, Wendy (me), Ariel, Meredyth

We are close in age, and have grown even closer as the time passes and the miles between us increase.
Here we are at my mom Alice Perry's wedding 26 (27, 28?) December of 2009, days before my deployment to Afghanistan.

Meredyth, Wendy, Julia

On Christmas Day 2009, covered in the bows from our presents, in Due West, SC.

Wendy, Ashleigh, Julia, Meredyth (front and center)

Here we are again for Meredyth's bridal shower in Virginia, June 2011.

So if four pictures don't do it for you just take my word for it, we are close. Byrd sisters mean a lot, they have veto rights on the men in each other's lives, they will listen intently to each other's whining and gloating, crying and blabbing, boredom and frustrations.  One day they may need to listen to your sobs the next lay out the news you don't want to hear.  My sisters mean the world to me.
Julia and I trained for last year's Army 10-miler together, I ran it with my best friend Ethan just a month after she left for Botswana.  This year I will run it again, a lone Byrd girl in a sea of meaningless people (meaningless because you are not a Byrd sister when that's all I want).

Lately I have been a bit jealous... you see Meredyth and Julia have this ongoing affair... and I want a Byrd sister love affair of my own.  Julia has been gone less than a year and I don't like it.  Yes I was gone longer and it was difficult, yes, she is having a life changing time and its good for her, shut up.

Meredyth is enjoying married life in Austin, TX.  Julia is semi-miserable in Botswana, Africa and I am still a student in Northern Virginia.  Don't get me wrong I am always enjoying life, beachside enjoying life at the moment, but everyone is away.
Back to this affair...
Meredyth and Julia have this on going blogpal and I want my piece of the Byrd pie.
So here's the deal.
Julia, will you take me, Wendy, to be your second oldest sister and second blogpal?
We need to do our 10-miler training again, and each week blog back to tell the other about our weekly runs.  Its not hard, half the time I will be telling you how I missed two days of the schedule and you'll tell me an antelope joined you on your run.

So will you.  Here is the training program in PDF form, I will also email it to you.

Training begins on Monday.

April Showers bring Baby Showers

My great friend Janelle is having a baby!! Check out her blog called 'The Bump is Only the Beginning'.




Now... I went online to check out her gift registry... and I decided on my gift theme.




Baby Bathing.

I always feel as though the mother should benefit from the gifts at a baby shower... yes yes she doesn't have to buy them herself and yes that is nice. Regardless, really I want to give her something that will make her days easier, make mothering easier and make her enjoy the time with her baby more often and well Baby Bath Time is just so fun.




So i went to Babies R Us and I had a budget set. I could not find the registered baby bath so I went with the best I could find... a 4 stage newborn to toddler bather... and it transforms!

now to figure out how to make it presentable without wrapping it (i didn't buy wrapping paper)

so i swaddled the sponge frog (the sponge is the newborn bathing stage) in the Posy flower towel, which matches the nursery, with the Johnson's and Johnson's bathing products, because there is nothing better than a baby washed in J&J

and seeing how Janelle and Jason (the parents) = J&J, its just that much better.

Next I swaddled the smaller items in the washcloth and put it next to the frog.  I set up the Baby Bath with the bath cradle inside it to create a resting place for the Baby Frog. 

With the Frog laying at an angle and the smaller items next to it I merely filled in the empty spaces with the additional items.

Johnson & Johnson's Baby Travel Kit 

and since I couldn't resist... a few pairs of so cute socks from newborn stage to 12 months (can't have too many pairs of socks)

So here is the end result... a baby bath full of baby bathing gifts.  My solution to my own decision "NO WRAPPING"