1.1.11: Happy New Year/ Happy #2!

what was....

what wasn't...

We spent this week preparing for a weekend that really wasn't.... We had planned to crash my parents' annual New Years' Eve festivities, which includes their dear friends the Wards, the Davis, and the Donaldsons, with my siblings and their spouses for a tapas feast.  Unfortunately, David arrived to town just as I had become violently and debilitatingly ill.  But the show went on without me and the food, friends, and fun created a soothing sound from the vantage point of my sick bed at the back of the house.

This morning, I awoke feeling better though weak but strengthened as the day went on and as we geared up for Kit's 2nd Birthday Hokey Pokey Party, a small party for a few family and friends here in Atlanta.  Unfortunately, this same bug--that Kit may have had earlier this week and I certainly had the day before--struck Elsie down in a bad way and we couldn't expose children and more people to it.  The poor thing... We were heartbroken for her and heartbroken to call the family and friends and cancel Kit's party.

The thing is though... it wasn't sad for Kit... She reminded me as she sat in her PJs this evening (PJs we never got her out of on this rainy sicky day) and we served her leftover dessert from last night with two candles in it that her needs are simple and delights are many.  Because of her glee, we lit candles over and over again so she could blow them out over and over again and she ate her carrot cake trifle that Aunt Barbara had made with her Toy Story (her new favorite movie) BooBA (her word for spoon) and she grinned joyfully and reminded us that she was missing out on nothing at all and teaching us a better way to approach the new year in terms of what is, not what isn't, in all her glorious youthful wisdom.  Happy happy birthday and happy new year to our beautiful darling charming quirky wacky Kit!

So tomorrow we return to Savannah, like Grinches in reverse, with birthday cake, feast, not birthday beast, but birthday sentiments at heart...