Birthday Parties and Sickness Galore!!!

I can tell the newness of my life in San Angelo is beginning to wear off somewhat by my slightly negative attitude toward the plethora of birthday parties we attend. I need to be thankful we have birthday parties to attend. When we lived in Marlin, I was thrilled when Sophie got an invitation to a party. It meant we had something
to do! Not only that, but it meant she would be around other children, which was a rarity. Usually when we got to the parties I would know no one other than the parent giving the party and it would turn into a time of awkwardness as soon as the parents found out I was the "preacher's wife". Don't get me wrong, I loved living in Marlin, but Sophie's interaction with peers was very limited, which is probably why she rarely got sick whereas we can't seem to get John Curtis well.
Anyway, back to birthday parties. Now we mainly attend parties of kids in the church where I know many parents and have lots of people to visit with. I guess my negative attitude today stems from so many people having January babies (just kidding if you are one of those people:) John Curtis was actually supposed to be a January baby, but it really seems that more San Angelo babies were born in this month than any other. So far this month we have been to a princess party (see previous post), a pottery party, a party at Funtown with inflatables, and today a mermaid party. Sophie had a great time at each party, but I only took pictures at the mermaid party today. It was at the cutest little place where all they do is theme parties. They dressed all of the little girls up in mermaid costumes and they decorated tiaras, played games, and ate a beautifully decorated cake. They even let the girls drink out of real tea cups. Sophie held hers up and said, "Look Mom, it's breakable!" She thought she was a big girl. The whole time I was thinking what a dream party it was for a little girl. I had pretty much talked myself into splurging a little and having Sophie's next birthday there. Before we left I decided to check out prices. Are you ready for this? $285! That might be a normal party price in some areas, but I have always pulled off parties for well under $100. To be perfectly honest, as shocked as I was by the price, I was waiting for Sophie to get in the car and start asking me for a mermaid party, too. I actually would have been tempted to give in if she had wanted it bad enough (if her dad had let us:) Amazingly, all Sophie said was, "That was fun!" I even prompted her a little and asked if she liked the mermaid party better or the party we went to last night with the inflatables. She said she liked the inflatables better! It's good to know my girl doesn't have as expensive taste as her mom! All that to say, I'm back to planning yet another swimming party or a party at the (free) church, and Sophie will have a ball!
Meanwhile, John Curtis is continuing to cough. He started running a little fever, but I think he's trying to cut all four of his top teeth at once. He's miserable! I'm including a picture of him looking at the birds out the window.