First Fourth of July

This time last year I remember being super sick and trying not to throw up while munching on Saltines. This year was definitely much better.

Before we could celebrate, Baby needed a festive outfit. I know I said I wasn't buying her any clothes because we have so many, but this is a holiday outfit so it doesn't count. I had gone to Kohl's a few weeks ago and saw Fourth of July outfits for Baby on sale for five bucks apiece. That sounded like a steal to me. I didn't have time to browse during that visit, but figured I would come back later.

I went back two days before the Fourth of July to find the section obliterated. Gone were the rows of super cute summer dresses in festive red, white, and blue. No more "Baby's First Fourth" onesies. Instead I had to rummage through the clearance rack to see what was left. The worst part was that the holiday outfits I found were now eight dollars. Somebody needs to tell Kohl's that the clearance rack means the price is supposed to be lower.

I couldn't leave without getting an outfit, so I got a little red romper with a fireworks scattered across it and a matching bib that said, "Mommy's Little Sparkler." I liked the bib the best.

The day of Fourth of July itself went pretty well. We went to church in the morning where I helped out in the nursery and brought Baby in with me. She was the youngest as all the other babies were sitting, crawling, or pulling themselves up to almost walk. After working there, I came to realize how snotty and drooly and gross babies are! No offense to anyone, but ew. I used to babysit a ton when I was younger, but I must have forgotten that part or something. I placed Baby in the corner and tried to inconspicuously barricade her from the other babies. However, I still held them, then her, so I know germs were transmitted.

Is that what Baby is going to turn into? So far she has been really clean. She only spits up when sick or when she overeats, and she's just recently started drooling a little. We haven't had any snot issues. I did find out later that one of the babies had a cold, so I'm pretty sure now that Baby will get sick. She seems to pick things up pretty easily (and I thought breastfed babies were supposed to get sick less. Imagine if I didn't breastfeed).

The afternoon we spent at home relaxing. Husband worked on his car and Baby took a nap. I had planned to take a nap but ended up getting sucked into a really good book that I just had to finish to find out what happened. Ended up leaving me hanging (I now have to hunt down the next one in the series), and I missed my nap.

Around four we packed everything up and drove a couple towns over to the community park for the Fourth of July festivities. We met up with some friends and found our church's booth. Sometimes Baby gets overwhelmed by a lot of people, but she did really well strapped to her Daddy in the Baby Bjorn. I think it helped that people weren't trying to get in her face, but walking around doing their own thing.

Husband and I passed Baby back and forth for the next couple of hours. Husband went to work the booth and I hung out under a shade structure with Baby and visited with friends. Baby even took a tiny, tiny nap.

Around nine she started to get a little fussy (fireworks were scheduled for nine thirty). Usually we put her to bed between seven and eight, and we've been very strict on that, but since it was a holiday we decided to let her stay up.

Husband got up to find a restroom and Baby decided she was done for the day. She cried and cried and I tried to rock her and maker her comfortable, but she would have none of it. I used to be able to rock her to sleep, but she is too independent for that now, I suppose. She likes to fall asleep on her own in her bed or carseat. Right as Husband came back she quieted and got happy again. Go figure. However, I was done and didn't want a repeat episode, so we gathered our things and left. Baby conked out in the carseat as soon as we got in the car. Timing was great, too, because we left before there was any traffic and got to see fireworks on the drive home. Maybe next year she'll get to experience them. At least I got some cute pictures of her in her holiday outfit.