a well-deserved retirement

Dear Blue LL Bean coat,

When I bought you back in Winter 2005, I was excited. E needed a winter coat and I stumbled upon you. You were on super sale. You were blue, which meant you could be passed down to a baby sister or brother, should we have one in the future. You arrived just in time for the first really cold day and I bundled up my toddler in you. I liked you so much, in fact, that you made the 2005 Slacker Christmas card.


E wore you again in 2006, but since I had an itty bitty baby A around, I didn't get any pictures of you while E frolicked outside. I guess the picture-worthy frolicking was kept to a minimum.

In 2007, you were passed down to my now-toddler A. (E got a newer, bigger and pinker coat!) She looked just as cute in you as her big sister did.

And last year, A wore you yet again. We got snow that winter and you helped keep her toasty warm.

 

But a few weeks ago, I had the girls try on their winter coats. Your sleeves did not make it all the way to A's wrists and we had a hard time getting you zipped over her potbelly. And E had outgrown her coat, too. So, I placed an order for a new (purple! not pink! can you believe it!?!?!) coat for E...and A gets the pink coat now.

You did get one last hurrah before your well-deserved retirement. It snowed last weekend. Since the new coat hadn't arrived, A put you on to play in the snow. You did great out there, and I'm *sure* that she wasn't the first one in because her forearms were cold. (I'd show you pictures of A wearing you, but I've already bemoaned how the camera battery was dead.)

So thank you, blue coat. I have so many fond memories of you! And I'll try not to dwell on the fact that neither of my babies are small enough to wear you any more.