Courtney is now 2!!!

Hey folks!

Sorry it’s been so long since my last post, life has been crazy! 2 days after my last post I came down with a really nasty cold. And yes, Hubby was still in Switzerland. So, I was trying to manage the kid, and my class, and my illness. I would take Courtney to daycare, come home and go back to bed, except for the one afternoon I had to go to class, I spent days in bed. I was miserable. This is one of those long lasting colds, and here at 11 days later, I still have a slight cough and slight congestion. Hubby ended up having to take me to the ER the middle of the night Saturday night after he got home. We called our neighbor across the street that stayed in the house with Courtney while we went. My chest was just bothering me so bad, I couldn’t get a full breath. They put me on an inhaler and it made a world of difference. I actually got a few hours of uninterrupted sleep after we got home and woke up feeling much better. So, that was noooo fun!

Monday afternoon Hubby’s parents arrived. They came out for Courtney’s birthday. Courtney loved having them here and spending time with them. We went shopping at Castle Rock, we were going to go to the zoo, but it rained the morning we were going to go, and just spent quality time together.

On her actual birthday, last Thursday, we had a nice dinner at home and Courtney opened gifts from family and friends who had sent them to us. She got some very nice gifts from Ireland!

Saturday was her party. The big surprise for her party was a PONY! My mom found a place that rents pony’s for parties, and they come to you! So, at 4pm a pony arrived! We hid it from her until it was all set up and ready to go in the back yard, and then we brought her out. She went running right for it! She was in love! Our friends had their girls here too, and the 3 of them spent the hour taking turns riding the pony, as well as brushing it. He was very sweet, and his name is Sebastian. The owner also let us feed him some carrots. When his hour was up she had a very hard time getting him in the trailer. He apparently wanted to stay with us. I would have been okay with that! But I don’t think the HOA would allow it…

I ordered Jason’s Deli, and they delivered the food just before the pony left, so after we all worked up an appetite watching the pony, we ate delicious Jason’s Deli. Then Courtney opened her gifts and we moved her on to cake. After all that was said and done, and the sugar started to kick in, she had a blast playing with our friends’ girls. When they left to go home for their bath and bedtime routine she stood in the window crying for them. It was very sad. Shortly after that she let us know that she was ready for bed. So, she said her rounds of good-nights and I took her to bed.

While I was doing that just about everyone left. Rick stayed and played a game of cards with us and Hubby’s parents. We were in bed at 10pm, but it felt much later after all the excitement of the day.

Hubby’s parents left early this morning, and they have since arrived home safe and sound.

We had big plans for this morning too! We had won (purchased) a painting session with Lucky the elephant at the zoo, at the Zoo Ball. We set it up for this morning just to continue the fun festivities of Courtney’s birthday. We got to bring a total of 10 people with us. We met up with Tony, Kelly, Kinsey, Hailey, Rick, Glenn and Alexis at the gate this morning. We then met up with Tracy who works at the zoo and we have become pretty good friends with over the years. She took us in to the elephant house.

Our zoo has 2 elephants. Lucky is 27, and is very temperamental, and not very trusted with humans. But she is the artist. Kimba is the other elephant, she is 30 years old, and she is the dominant one of the two. She is very sweet and can be trusted with humans.

They brought Lucky in and got the paint all set up. We even got to choose the colors. Lucky painted one painting for us and then every guest got a trunk print. For out painting she used blue, purple and pink, and her “signature” (trunk print) is in pink. Then Courtney got a pink nose print, Brian got a purple and I got an orange. It was really cool to watch! What a memory!

After she was done painting, we went outside to meet Kimba. We got to feed her carrots! Courtney was actually too scared to do it! So, I got to feed her Courtney’s. We got to feel her trunk, and just be right there with her. It is amazing.

Overall the thing that amazed me most about both elephants was their eyes. Their eyes were just so soulful; I could just stare into them all day. They were quite captivating.

After that, we headed out and went to Fargo’s Pizza with the Z’s. The girls had a blast all sitting together eating pizza. And since Kinsey doesn’t sit in a highchair, neither would either of the 2 year olds. So, Courtney ate her entire lunch sitting in a booster seat for the first time.

She took a nice long nap after all the excitement of the past few days. We spent a quiet evening at home tonight, and she got to play with some of her new toys.

And since she is now sleeping, I need to get my accounting homework done that is due Tuesday! Hope everyone is well!