My prolonged absence can only be explained with a four letter word: sick. We have all been sick. Ugh. But, we are back and I apologize for making you wait so long to hear all about Melody’s 4th birthday! I just know you have been waiting on tenterhooks!

Now first of all, I cannot, just cannot, believe that my baby is 4. Wow. I knew when she was born that time would fly, and so many people have said as much over the past four years, but here it is, four years on and it seems like maybe a year ago she was born. And at the same time, it seems like a lifetime ago that I did not have a child. Time is an amazing thing. We have gone from this:

to this:

For Melody’s birthday, I decided to get another cake from my friends at Radiant Cakes since they did such a great job last year. I got a few ideas from them, then asked Melody one night, “so, would you like a Hello Kitty cake? or a Supergirl cake?” Without even a second to think Melody said “how about a Giant Robot cake Mommy?” Now, if you don’t know what Giant Robot is, let me just have you picture 1960s Japanese television, guys dressed in rubber suits like all sorts of monsters and bad guys, and one robot that saves Japan, and ultimately the world. It’s dubbed over from Japanese with all the stereotypes intact. It’s crazy, but John and Melody (and yes even Mom) even enjoyed it immensely! 

What could I do? I requested a Giant Robot cake. 

I planned a fun day for Melody and a few friends at the Children’s Museum in La Habra, sent out the word to family and friends. 12:30 a.m. the night before her party, Melody came down with the stomach flu. OMG. Fortunately for us, the museum was awesome and rescheduled our event to the following weekend, and by Sunday Melody was feeling well enough to have her grandparents and auntie come over to have a small family birthday party.

12:30 a.m. the next night, she was suffering from the flu again, and the next day so was I. It was a terrible week. John didn’t get the stomach flu but suffered from deep fatigue and exhaustion. It really has been a rough winter for us.

Finally, the new day of the birthday party rolled around, and even though we no longer had the awesome Giant Robot cake (we ate a little on her birthday) everyone met at the Children’s Museum and had an awesome time! Octomom even came. No lie. Not to our party, but to the museum. It wasn’t the herd of photographers you might be expecting because her expiration date has long since passed, but everyone at the museum knew it was her.

So, even though we have been a little under the weather, it has been a great double celebration of Melody’s 4th birthday. I’ve been doing some cooking over at Gram’s Recipe Box, and have been posting a mystery photo album over at Who Were They? There are new pictures in the gallery of the birthday girl.