After the bummer feel to my last blog update I have been anxiously awaiting some funny/positive things to share. The past few days have delivered (foreshadowing pun intended) just that.

Friday evening led me to a baby shower for one of my best girlfriend’s son and daughter-in-law. Now, let it be known that I LOVE LOVE LOVE a baby shower! And not just because of the cake…but seriously, is there ANYTHING better than that cake?! White, moist deliciousness topped with frosting containing approximately 80 pounds of sugar…per slice. Ok, ok, I’m done talking about the cake.

No, the thing that gets me about a baby shower is the mutual life experience of it all. Anyone who went to college or Optometry school with me can tell you I share this love with Finals week…it’s the comraderie of it all. One of those, “we’re all in this together!” type of things. From organic chemistry tests to ensuring that life on this planet continues by creating more humans…let’s celebrate in it!

Sidenote: Of course there’s always that one person at the shower that has their own personal horror story of labor and birth…and shares it “GASP” with the mom-to-be. The soon-to-be mommy pales and grasps her round stomach as the oblivious fool describes how the “doctor’s hand actually had to be shoved as far inside my uterus as possible, easily up to the doctor’s elbow, so that he could manually pull the baby out of me in a rapid movement that caused me more pain than any human should ever have to experience and then told me I was lucky to still be alive.” Yeah, bit of advice…don’t be that person. Childbirth, in all of its fabulousness, should really be one of those things that is discussed only amongst its veterans.

SOOOO…back to the weekend. Saturday brought us to a wedding!! Some of our dear friends had a daughter getting married. There’s something about watching your friends watch their children in life’s biggest events that seems so special. The bride was beautiful, the parents (our friends) were glowing with pride and happiness and get this…there was a Custom Mac and Cheese Bar at the reception. I don’t even need to use an exclamation mark in that sentence because when you read Custom Mac and Cheese Bar the exclamation mark is inferred. Right?! Oh, there’s the exclamation. To top it all off, I got to watch the flower girl, niece of the bride, in the cutest dress in the universe. The best part of this was that this little pumpkin was teething and fairly grouchy according to her parents so there was concern that her walk down the aisle would be less than ideal. That being said, I SWEAR TO GOD when they lined her up next to that ring bearer she put her hand out and in baby language basically said…”LET’S DO THIS THING!” And strutted her adorable self down the aisle with style. I have the biggest baby crush on this child…seriously, if she disappears, check my house. We’ll be eating Mac and cheese together.

Isn’t she soooo cute???

Enough happiness for the weekend? NEVER! Sunday the older girls and I ventured to “The Happiest 5k on Earth” also know as The Color Run. Basically you run a 5k and every half mile you are sprayed with a color dyed corn starch spray so that by the end of the race you look like a human rainbow.

Kinda like this…

It.was.a.RIOT! I’m not kidding, we laughed for 45 minutes straight. If this comes to your area I beg you to do it…you can walk or run. 10,000 people participated and then there was an “after-party” where they hand out color packets in bright neon colors. They do a countdown and you do this…

And you’re even more covered than before. If you take a quick look around all you see is JOY. What kind of an amazing country do we live in that 10,000 people can PAY to run 3 miles with the sole purpose of getting painted with colored powder? To spend time with my daughters and laugh and enjoy the absolute silliness and stupidity of it all was totally worth the price of admission.

And today, I got to hold the baby we pre-welcomed to this world on Friday. My ovaries are still aching from the preciousness overload. She is the epitome of happiness. I also got to have one of those “full circle moments” that I love as much as baby showers, finals week, cake, and mac and cheese bars.  Seeing my friend revel in her son and daughter-in-law, then watching the new parents already so in love with their new addition…both of these views looked surprisingly similar to the looks on the parents of the bride as they gave their daughter away.  I’m betting they remember the day she was born like it was yesterday.  This parenting trip doesn’t seem to have a very slow speed limit.  It just flies right by.

These days felt so good after the negative junk we’ve all had to endure lately.  It’s such a nice reminder that God looks down and smiles a lot more often than he doesn’t.  To see one of my best friends get to view a piece of her legacy…well, that was also worth the price of admission. Welcome to the world Parker Kingsley…there is a whole lotta JOY awaiting you in your brand new life. Welcome to it.

Why do we always forget how little they are?? The proud  Glam-ma and I with Parker.