While the majority of the world is looking over the happenings of 2013 and reminiscing, we at The Blue Hutch have packed so much into the first three days of the new year that we need to review. Those readers who need the closure of Christmas posts may need to schedule an extra session of therapy this week, but I can’t help but think you should be used to it by now; rarely do I get photos of Christmas up before mid-January.

January 1, 2014
The American Girl doll that KB was given at Christmas came with a certificate for visiting the store, choosing an outfit, having the baby’s hair done and eating at the Bistro. Waiting six days was all KB could manage and it was decided that January 1 would be the day to redeem said certificate. And so I began the new year with an incredibly bad decision and pray it is not an omen of things to follow. I immediately knew my mistake when I couldn’t find a parking place and then the thoughts trickled into my head that New Years is one of the largest shopping days of the year AND American Girl was introducing their “Doll of the Year”, Isabelle, throughout the day.  Yikes.

I don’t know if you have been to an American Girl store but it was like Disney World for KB, complete with lines out the door and live characters to meet and talk to (ballerinas from St. Louis Ballet performed while we were there and then walked around chatting with girls about Isabelle, who is also a dancer). We walked through the store and picked a new outfit, made an appointment to have the baby’s hair done, and went to see if we would be able to have lunch.  We were seated right away and enjoyed watching the ballerinas while we munched.

KB’s doll is a “hand-me-down” doll.  We bought it from a lady at church a couple years ago and it has been in our closet just waiting for a daughter to get old enough to take care of her. This year was KB’s “can I have one” year and we had lots of conversations about caring for such a nice doll, etc. The one thing that has bothered KB is that the doll doesn’t have a name and, while I was pretty sure it wasn’t a character doll, I am not familiar enough with the franchise to make that statement without some input.  I knew it bothered her and I felt a since of urgency to figure it all out before she was faced with talking to little friends with no filters.  The girl at the hair boutique was quick to tell us that KB’s new friend was going to need a name and KB was equally quick to settle on Stacy.

There was a calm I saw settle on my little girl’s face with that dilemma behind her, but it was short lived because the hair-dresser continued to talk about the doll and showed KB all the ways she knew that Stacy is very old (poor Stacy).  All KB heard was that her doll is not new and she was visibly deflated once again. Holly must have more social awareness than I was ready to credit her with, because she picked up on KB’s reaction and knelt down to look into KB’s eyes.  She proceeded to tell KB that all the Isabelles in the store and all the other dolls in the store were made in China but KB’s doll was made in Germany.  She told KB that Stacy is very special and restated that fact several more times before settling in to comb and trim her hair.  She asked KB to pinky promise to take extra care of Stacy since she is such a special friend and KB was quick to comply.  I wanted to hug that hair-dresser, Holly.

My favorite parts of the day were watching KB’s eyes sparkle and listening to the things she would say. We had barely been in our seats a minute at lunch and she said wistfully, “I wish Little was here. She would love this.” Heart=Warm. Sigh.

We walked out to the car and she said, “My favorite part was picking a dress for Stacy.”
Next she said, “My other favorite part was getting Stacy’s hair done.”
A minute later she said, “My other favorite thing was eating lunch in the store.”
And then, “My very favorite part was doing it all with you, Mom.” Nice one. Me too.

And then, to top it all off, I heard her talking in the car as we drove out of the mall. “Stacy,” she said, “I’m going to take good care of you.  Did you hear her say? YOU are very special.”

Oh, sweet KB. . . it is YOU that’s very special.

I’m going to stop there for now.  I need a tissue and January 2 was a big day but it was such a different kind of big. Sniff. Excuse me. . .

It’s that time of year when I look back over all the posts from 2013 (all 105 of them) and write the first line of each first post from each month. Don’t ask me why . . . my friend does it and I think it’s fun.  Maybe it will make you want to go check something out again? If I made money on my blog that would be important but since this is just a place to express myself, your visit to past posts would only serve to entertain you.

January: “This year I resolve to be less awesome since that’s the only thing I do in excess.” (another resolution down the tubes!)

February: “So many of you voted way back when and helped Promise Christian Academy win a grant from Monsanto.”

March: “When I was in elementary school, days off were few and far between.”

April: “Little continues to have a tough time keeping her hands still.”

May: “I wish I could get fit from just watching this. . . I love watching this!”

June: “I should finish up May and tell you the big news I said I would tell you a week (or two) ago.”

July: “So many of our friends are in the process of adopting or have recently brought home their new family members.”

August: “It has been a crazy summer and I have felt like I was drowning for all but 30 minutes of it.”

September: “Today’s list topic was, “Weird Things That Make You Cry”.

October: “An Open Letter to the Writers of Castle (that will never be seen by a writer of Castle)”

November: “Halloween was a dreary day in middle-America.”

December: “Today on the website, BIggest Price Drop, I saw this picture of a shoe”

What this exercise just taught me?
1. I have GOT to start doing a better job with the first sentences of my posts – they are dry and don’t draw you in.

2. The 105 posts of 2013 were evenly distributed 1/2 in the first six months and 1/2 in the last six months. If you take out the blogging bonanza in October, I actually blogged exactly 1/2 as much since starting to work. True that there is less than 1/2 of the fun things to tell about, but this statistic has me thinking a bit deeper about the time and energy I am putting into my family outside work. I need to think more.

3. Honey and I have both agreed that 2013 was one of the hardest years of our lives on many fronts. I learned this year that I don’t write hard well. So many blank pages? So many tough things . . .

4. It’s not enough to just post a picture.

So, enough of that. Happy New Year to you. I hope the next few days afford you time to look back over 2013 and take a few notes on what you see. I pray you will be challenged by what you observe and that hopes, dreams, passions, and goals will be revealed for the upcoming year. Mostly I pray that no matter what plans you make that you will walk joyfully as He directs your steps and trust Him completely with the plans HE has FOR you – plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans for hope and a future. And I pray the same for me. . .

Little gets a pill in the middle of the night; Honey gives it to her before coming to bed and it is one of our favorite times of day. In those moments with Little she is calm and candid. It makes me smile just to think about it.

Tonight Honey got ready to go in and said to me, “You ready?”
I responded, “Should be a good one tonight with Christmas and all.” Little did I know. . .

Little said very little tonight; she was worn out from a day of family puzzles and playing with our dear Luthin friends. As Honey went to close her door (a bit disappointed, to be sure) Little softly said, “Tomorrow is the birth of Jesus.”

Sigh.
Not at all what we expected to hear but my heart could not be more full at the sound of those words.
Merry Christmas!!!