dinner parties with tikes.....yeah, not so good

So we hosted our first "dinner party" since Noah arrived Saturday. We invited over two couples and their kids to play on the big ass play structure and have some steak. 6 adults and 5 kids, we were not even out-numbered and the night when sour, not sure why. The food - delicious, the big ass play structure - fun, my newborn - awesome, my toddler - not so much. It was a rough night, but honestly for some time hanging out with friends so totally worth it.

We bought and prepared tons of food and appetizers, Josh marinated some damn good steaks, unfortunately he forgot to make sure the propane tanks were full on the grill. Read on to see how fun the night gets........

So our friends arrive and immediately Meredith latches on to her mommy and daddy, this was expected.....she is rather shy and slow to warm up. She never did warm up though, she threw one huge fit that started at 3:30pm and lasted until everyone left at 7:30pm. Why? She did not want to share her new "shide". It was "Mizit's shide", did we not know that???? So she would go up into the treehouse and just whine and cry for her "mommy". She was not hurt, hungry, sick or anything else, she is almost two and unfortunately the attitude is all there. After an hour of her whining, it became one of the most irratating sounds I have heard in a long time. I am so not being mean and I love her to death, but really she had friends who actually wanted to play with her in the treehouses and on the slides.....what the hell is wrong???? Noah meanwhile, is peacefully hanging out in his swing with Burke.

Fast forward to about an hour later, the new potatoes are done, the delicious soup Neely brought over is ready, the fresh vegetables that we cooked on the grill are finished....we go to put on the steaks so we can finally eat......oh this nursing momma is some kind of hungry and guess what no flame. Josh can not get it to restart.

"Hmmmm, did you check the propane tank?"

"No, I just assumed it was full." You know what they say about the word assume.....assume makes an ASS out of U and ME.

So he grabs the spare tank in the garage, guess what....empty. Seriously, the rest of the food is all hot and now there are 8 very rare steaks sitting on the grill. Fun times, Fun times! The problem was quickly resolved when Chris ran to the store to fill the tank and get more beer, both of which were needed at this point.

Finally the steaks are done, the food ready, meredith was still whining and the Adalyn and Connor were still playing and having a ball....probably wondering why in the hell she was still crying. After numerous attempts to appease her and many talks about sharing, I did what any frustrated mother would do and deposited her in her bed. The screaming sound really did not sound that bad all the way downstairs.

So here we are, 6 adults ready to eat the delicious, hot food. We are all sitting and who starts crying because he pooped, Noah. Then he just wanted to be held, who could blame the baby who had been sitting in his swing for way too long.

About half way through dinner, Adalyn's little feelings got hurt and she cried, to which Connor politely asked "why's her crying for?" Josh, Jeff and Chris gently explained, that is what women do and don't try to understand it. Katey, Neely and I just laughed. After Adalyn cried, Noah cried, then Burke and then Connor, I think the boys were just feeling a little left out of the crying spell. Not sure what was in that mac and cheese the kids all ate.

About 7:00pm dinner was done, the newborns bellies were full of milk and the toddlers and Connor were all happily eating chips. At that point we sat back and talked about what a fun disaster it was. We are planning another get together real soon.