party time! excellent...?

hubby's friends had a b-day party for their 1-year-old son that we'd never met (yes we're asses). they told us they had all the gear we would need (swing, playpen, bouncy seat, change table, crib, etc., etc., etc.). we decided to make the trip (about an hour away) since we felt bad that we'd never gone before, and also for the purely selfish reason that while the invites for our childless friends' parties aren't exactly fewer, it is slightly more difficult to make arrangements for a sitter with all that gear! ;) you do have to admit it's awfully convenient! and if the baby had a freakout crying session, well, his cries would most likely be drowned out by the other kids high on cake and coca cola.

it took us about 3 hours to gather all our gear, feed the baby, change him, get the gear into the car, feed us, feed him again, change him again, and so on, before we even got out of the house. even with all the promises of their gear, we still had an awful lot of our own (15 diapers, 2 cans of formula, 2 changes of clothes, etc., etc.). we arrived 2.5 hours late but it was ok. no one seemed to notice or, as parents in their own right, they understood.

the party itself was an interesting experience. it was our first time at a 1-year-old's b-day party. there was cold pizza (delivered 2 hours hours prior to our arrival), a vanilla backyardigans b-day cake, and pop. notice no alcohol on this menu. these friends of hubby's, that i had mainly spent time with drinking as a sport, hubby and i were suddenly having conversations about breastfeeding and labour pains and teething. the few childless friends that were there were left listening in, politely smiling at our stories about our adorable offspring, and most likely wishing for a glass of wine or shot of tequila to ease the pain. i can't believe this was us a year ago! have we really changed this much???

it was nice to get out of the house as a family to somewhere other than the grandfolks, and, i must admit, we had a pretty decent time!