#first lady edith wilson

[pranklinfierce]

you're having a party, which presidents are you inviting?

Good question, very fun. I'll invite all of the ones I like, and whichever ones I'd like to see in a party setting.

James Madison is chronologically the first that I would invite. I think it'd be funny to see him at a party. I think of "nearly gets trampled on the dance floor..." I, myself, will trample him unless he brings Dolley.

Jackson is invited and I hope he leaves cheese around the house in secret spots like he did at the end of his presidency.

Van Buren is invited unless @presidenttyler continues to insist that I have to marry him or he'll summon a deadly fog (please die, Mr. Tyler.)

I would invite William Henry Harrison, but tragically, as I'm sure we've all heard, he is no longer with us </3.

John Tyler is invited unless he tries to insist I marry Martin Van Buren lest a deadly fog be summoned. Also I swear to God he's not allowed to use my bathroom. I hope he and Jackson start fighting (no weapons allowed in my house) and I get to see their skinny bones fall out.

James K Polk is invited. I want him to bring his Lady Presidentress as well. Double invited if he is the presidentress.

Zachary Taylor is invited. His daughter can come too. His daughter's husband cannot come. His daughter's husband's dog, Bonin, can come. The murderer who shares a name with Zachary Taylor's daughter's husband's dog cannot come.

Millard Fillmore is invited. He can bring the whole boiler room with him. It wouldn't be a party without him.

Franklin Pierce is invited, of course. As an old @/deadpresidents posts that I can longer find clarifies, he would indeed be a welcome party guest, even if people on Reddit don't seem to think so (I have beef with 90% of reddit tier lists, save for any of them made by @starlight-tequila.) As I've come to understand, there're no less than 4 fictional interpretations of Pierce where he's being haunted. I request he keeps the haunting at home; I don't want the watchmojo demmons to mess up the vibe.

James Buchanan is invited. I want to see him in his worst outfit, behaving as he did at Dickinson before his expulsion. He needs to bring Harriet too. WRK too, unless I decide that he's also dead.

Andrew Johnson can come because I once saw an image of him smiling.

Ulysses Grant can come. He may play with the non dog animals (unfortunately, they're all just different Martin Van Buren government assigned rodentsonas in a pen.)

As can Hayes. Hayes can bring his wife, Lucy. She actually allowed drinking in the White House on special occasions, so she would not be a party pooper.

Garfield may come, but only as Lucretia's plus one. It's what he deserves. Since Guiteau did so much for Garfield's election (and was basically the president, let's be real, guys) he can come as an honorary president. So can David Rice Atchison, even though that story is complete bs. Dr. Doctor Bliss will be shot on sight by Boston Corbett.

Arthur is invited, but Julia Sand needs to pre-approve everything that he does. Conkling may come as a plus one, but he will go in the pen with the Martin Van Buren government assigned rodentsonas (it's okay, that's where Grant is anyway.)

On no other day would I ever allow Benjamin Harrison and his shortness within my sight, but I just found a song about him and it's stuck in my head, so I think it's only right that he attends 1 single time before my kind feelings toward him dry out.

McKinley is invited. He must sing to me.

Wilson is invited. But I will lock him in a room like a creature. You-know-who gets the key. The second female president, Edith Wilson, may attend.

Warren Harding gets to come. Gaston Means may, as well. Also Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover. That's about it. If Nixon were to show up I wouldn't turn him away.

I'd like the party to end by sending an anonymous tip to Carrie A. Nation, telling her there is alcohol. She can come in, destroy everything, and all's well because if everything is destroyed, there's nothing to clean. She and Guiteau can ride into the sunset, combining to be a person of a normal height. I hope they invite me to the wedding.

[angelkeitai]

you. presidential artist. right here. in the dash. draw a first lady im begging you. draw a first lady PLEASE

[kindest-little-fella-in-town]

you fools. you absolute buffoons. by liking my woody wontson birthday post you have given me a justification for posting my copious amount of stupid meme art of him and his second wife onto tumblr dot com. woe be upon your dashboard

[thealexandriaarchives]

The ghost of Victoria Woodhull is sitting on the couch reading the Wall Street Journal trades on an iPad and shaking her head.

"You tried to push abortion rights nationwide, didn't you. It's been 150 years, nothing's fucking changed."

Exterior, Hillary Clinton’s doorstep, 3AM

Kamala Harris, looking her version of disheveled and unhinged (which is to say she’s still in the same immaculate suit from her speech earlier in the day but she’s lost her high heels, has exactly five hairs out of place, and there is a discreet smear of Dorito dust on her fingertips): I’m sorry, I just didn’t know where else to go.

Hillary, in a cozy bathrobe, but perfectly made up and coiffed: Honey, I’ve been waiting for you to show up since they called Pennsylvania. (Hands Kamala a margarita and ushers her inside.)

[bargainsleuthbooks]

#ARCReview #ThePresidentsWife #TraceyEnersonWood #NetGalley #BookReview #EdithWilson #WoodrowWilson #HistoricalFiction #August2023Books #SourcebooksLandmark

A forthcoming book examines the role #EdithWilson played in her husband, Woodrow's presidency. It's a fascinating look at the woman some say was the first female president! #ThePresidentsWife #TraceyEnersonWood #NetGalley #BookReview #WoodrowWilson

Socialite Edith Bolling has been in no hurry to find a new husband since she was widowed, preferring to fill her days with good friends and travel. But the enchanting courting of President Woodrow Wilson wins Edith over and she becomes the First Lady of the United States. The position is uncomfortable for the fiercely independent Edith, but she’s determined to rise to the challenges of her new…

[the1920sinpictures]

1916 First Lady Edith Wilson's evening gown with long chiffon wing sleeves. From Everything Victorian and Edwardian, FB.

[spaceasianmillennial]

SUFFS Notes: So I've seen both the off-Broadway and Broadway version

2 years earlier, I experienced the Public version of Suffs (before Hillary Clinton and Malala Yousafzai got producer credits). I even own two press scripts.

The Broadway Suffs opening is "Let Mother Vote" and oh I did fell in love with this opening because of how well it established the Carrie's conservative formation and showed us just how seductive it can be. I also kinda miss the older version that opened with woman and non-binary performers dressed as anti-suffrage men making all these awful anti-suffs slogans. By dressing up as the patriachy, these women and non-binary actors really own the story. The Broadway version has less emphasis on ensemble anti-suffs.

Anyone who has seen the Broadway version know that President Woodrow Wilson (Grace McLean) can't stop singing about "Ladies" and their proper domestic place. Now the off-Broadway run has an comedic ironic payoff to this. President Wilson suddenly gets a chest pain, a stroke, and it is a silly moment (I remember the entire theatre laughing hard). We see a few blackouts of him suffering, and SUDDENLY COSTUME CHANGE, Grace McLean is standing there in a black dress, now playing First Lady Edith Wilson, who took up "Stewardship" when her husband was disabled by his stroke. So Edith starts signing some of his paperwork, ("tariff reform, YOUR FAVORITE") and she runs into a paper that says, "Support for Ratification of the Suffrage Amendment." The stage direction indicates she might be on the "verge of epiphany," and she wonders if she should support it, but then she's like "Absolutely NO!" and rips it. It's a funny way of indicating that just because a First Lady has a Presidential role, that doesn't mean she has empathy for women's rights.

I can see why they cut from the Public, but I do miss the silly transformation sequence of President Wilson‘s stroke and Edith Wilson’s stewardship. (Just cause a First Lady got handed power, doesn’t mean she’s gonna save you.)

One striking change is more conspicuous racial stratification in the cast whereas Aisha de Haas, a Black actor, played the white socialite/Tennessee mother at the Public. Light-skinned BIPOC play white characters, and the Broadway script/direction nods a little more when a dark-skinned BIPOC is in a white role.

For example, in the Broadway version, a Black Tsilala Brock plays the white Irish Dudley and President Wilson utters the lines, "honest for an Irishman!" to bring deliberate attention to the race-bent casting.

Also, the Filipino actress Jaygee Macapugay plays the white Mollie Hay. When Wilson says, "The south will never let ladies vote, let alone colored ladies, thank God," he condescendingly takes Mollie Hay by the waist and Jaygee scrunches this deliberately astonished expression at "colored ladies."

The Broadway version cuts out verses of an anonymous Chinese American suffrage who brought her baby to a march. So I went to the Broadway SUFFS with a Black woman seatmate (who never caught the older version) and she felt the musical didn't directly address other suffrage ethnicities outside of white women and Black women. Yes, there is a diversity of BIPOC people playing white suffrages in both versions (and other backgrounders of color are somewhat suggestive of unnamed suffrages of color who did exist), but now there's no longer a direct acknowledgment of Asian suffrages.

The Broadway did some good work to add a sequence of Inez Milholland (Hannah Cruz) working herself to the bone and exhausting herself across states, with a succession of banners signaling another location, leading to her tragic death. It hits way harder than the off-Broadway version (where Phillipa Soo played Inez).

The Broadway version of Suffs tightened some of the numbers. For example, "When We Are Married/If We Are Married" were separate private moments. The Broadway version combined them and juxtaposition the kisses between the heterosexual Dudley and Doris Stevens ("When We Are Married") with the clandestine lesbian Mollie Hay and Carrie Chapman Catt ("IF We Were Married").

Mollie and Carrie did not kiss in the older iteration. So the script goes from Mollie and Carrie "They want to kiss, but there are people around" to "both couples kiss." A moment where Mollie tells Carrie, "Carrie, it's getting late. Come upstairs" (a major hint of their relationship) was also not in the off-Broadway version.

[presidentconfessions]

"i second the need for more first lady love on this app. i would let edith wilson and florence harding do unspeakable things to me 🙏"

[deadpresidents]

Do you have one of those presidential rankings lists for oldest first ladies like the one you posted for oldest presidents when Carter turned 99?

I do. A slight distinction, though, is that this will be a list of longest-living wives of the Presidents as opposed to a list of First Ladies. Not every President's wife technically served as First Lady (and not every First Lady or White House Hostess was a President's wife) because some died or divorced before their husband became President and a couple Presidents remarried after leaving office.

So, with that clarification, here are the wives of the Presidents from longest- to shortest-living at the age of their death:

Bess Truman: 97 years, 247 days Rosalynn Carter: 96 years, 93 days Nancy Reagan: 94 years, 243 days (Reagan's 2nd wife) Lady Bird Johnson: 94 years, 201 days Betty Ford: 93 years, 91 days Barbara Bush: 92 years, 313 days Jane Wyman: 90 years, 248 days (Reagan's 1st wife) Mary Harrison: 89 years, 250 days (B. Harrison's 2nd wife) Edith Wilson: 89 years, 64 days (Wilson's 2nd wife) Anna Harrison: 88 years 215 days Sarah Polk: 87 years, 344 days Edith Roosevelt: 87 years, 45 days (T. Roosevelt's 2nd wife) Lucretia Garfield: 85 years, 329 days Frances Cleveland: 83 years, 100 days Mamie Eisenhower: 82 years, 352 days Helen Taft: 82 years, 140 days Pat Nixon: 81 years, 98 days Dolley Madison: 81 years, 53 days Grace Coolidge: 78 years, 186 days Eleanor Roosevelt: 78 years, 27 days Louisa Adams: 77 years, 91 days Laura Bush: 77 years+ [Still living] Julia Grant: 76 years, 322 days Hillary Clinton: 76 years+ [Still living] Abigail Adams: 73 years, 351 days Ivana Trump: 73 years, 144 days (Trump's 1st wife) Jill Biden: 72 years+ [Still living] Martha Washington: 70 years, 355 days Lou Hoover: 69 years, 284 days Julia Tyler: 69 years, 67 days (Tyler's 2nd wife) Caroline Fillmore: 67 years, 294 days (Fillmore's 2nd wife) Eliza Johnson: 65 years, 103 days Jacqueline Kennedy: 64 years, 295 days Florence Harding: 64 years, 98 days Margaret Taylor: 63 years, 331 days Mary Todd Lincoln: 63 years, 215 days Elizabeth Monroe: 62 years, 85 days Rachel Jackson: 61 years, 190 days Caroline Harrison: 60 years, 24 days (B. Harrison's 1st wife) Marla Maples Trump: 60 years+ (Trump's 2nd wife) [Still living] Ida McKinley: 59 years, 352 days Michelle Obama: 59 years+ [Still living] Lucy Hayes: 57 years, 301 days Jane Pierce: 57 years, 265 days Abigail Fillmore: 57 years, 17 days (Fillmore's 1st wife) Ellen Wilson: 54 years, 84 days (Wilson's 1st wife) Melania Trump: 53 years+ [Still living] Letitia Tyler: 51 years, 302 days (Tyler's 1st wife) Ellen Arthur: 42 years, 135 days Hannah Van Buren: 35 years, 334 days Martha Jefferson: 33 years, 322 days Neilia Biden: 30 years, 143 days (Biden's 1st wife) Alice Roosevelt: 22 years, 192 days (T. Roosevelt's 1st wife)

[rockislandadultreads]

Women's History Month: Historical Fiction Recommendations

Celebrate Women's History Month by checking out these historical fiction picks!

The Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict

Between the World Wars, the six Mitford sisters dominate the English political, literary, and social scenes. Though they've weathered scandals before, the family falls into disarray when Diana divorces her husband to marry a fascist leader and Unity follows her sister's lead, inciting rumors that she's become Hitler's own mistress. Novelist Nancy Mitford is the only member of her family to keep in touch with Diana and Unity after their desertion, so it falls to her to act when her sisters become spies for the Nazi party. 

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati

You were born to a king, but you marry a tyrant. You stand by helplessly as he sacrifices your child to placate the gods. You watch him wage war on a foreign shore, and you comfort yourself with violent thoughts of your own. This was not the life you ever deserved. And this will not be your undoing. Slowly, you plot. For you understood something long ago that the others never did. If power isn't given to you, you have to take it for yourself.

Song of a Captive Bird by Jasmin Darznik

All through her childhood in Tehran, Forugh is told that Iranian daughters should be quiet and modest. She is taught only to obey, but she always finds ways to rebel. It’s during the summer of 1950 that Forugh’s passion for poetry really takes flight - and that tradition seeks to clip her wings. Forced into a suffocating marriage, Forugh runs away and falls into an affair that fuels her desire to write and to achieve freedom and independence. Forugh’s poems are considered both scandalous and brilliant, and the power of her writing only grows stronger amid the upheaval of the Iranian revolution. 

The President's Wife by Tracey Enerson Wood

Socialite Edith Bolling has been in no hurry to find a new husband since she was widowed, preferring to fill her days with good friends and travel. But the enchanting courting of President Woodrow Wilson wins Edith over and she becomes the First Lady of the United States. While uncomfortable for the fiercely independent Edith, she soon warms to the new role and is soon indispensable to her husband's presidency. When Woodrow's delicate health takes a dramatic turn for the worse, she all but assumes the presidency herself in order to preserve both his progress and his reputation.

[thedurvin]

In 1919 Woodrow Wilson had a stroke that severely impaired his function and his wife essentially took over as President for the remainder of his second term:

[preet-01]

Ahhhh I was wondering why Daniel agreed to marry Max and what were the motives behind it. Obsessed with this political au 🔥🔥

Yeah it’s a very self serving reason that led to Daniel marrying max

He’s very smart and knows that First Ladies (and in this universe First Men as well) have had more control on the presidency than the general public thinks

Dolley Madison was heavily involved in the back room politicking. Edith Roosevelt was the one who informed Teddy Roosevelt about current events. Edith Wilson was basically running everything when Woodrow Wilson had a stroke. Eleanor Roosevelt was the first one to speak to the press and advanced her own causes, it is also believed by some that she was running things for FDR at some points of his very long presidency. Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama were also involved on the political side of things through their initiatives and task forces.

Daniel in this is very much of the mindset “if I can’t be president, then I’ll be the next best thing” which is the First Man.

[kwebtv]

Elizabeth Hubbard (December 22, 1933 – April 8, 2023) Television, stage and film actress, recognized for her role as Althea Davis on the NBC daytime soap opera, The Doctors (1964–1978, 1981–1982), for which she received the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1974, and as businesswoman Lucinda Walsh on the CBS soap opera, As the World Turns (1984–2010) for which she received eight Daytime Emmy Award nominations. Hubbard also received another Emmy Award for playing former First Lady Edith Wilson in the television film First Ladies Diaries: Edith Wilson (1976).

Hubbard began her screen career in 1962, starring as Anne Fletcher on the soap opera Guiding Light. The following year, she joined the cast of The Edge of Night as Carol Kramer. In 1964, she inaugurated the role of Dr. Althea Davis on NBC's year-old soap opera The Doctors. Hubbard played the role until October 1969, when she left to pursue a career in Hollywood. She returned to the role as of October 1, 1970 and continued the role until 1977. She returned again in 1981 and remained with the show until its cancellation in 1982. In 1974, Hubbard was awarded the first Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Hubbard's pairing with the character of Dr. Nick Bellini (Gerald Gordon) made them one of the most popular romantic couples in soap operas, dominating the show's storyline during the later half of the 1960s and for most of the 1970s.

After The Doctors was cancelled, Hubbard joined the cast of One Life to Live in the recurring role of society matron Estelle Chadwick. In 1984, she joined As the World Turns as businesswoman Lucinda Walsh. She was nominated nine times for a Daytime Emmy for the role. Hubbard left the program in 1999 due to a disagreement over the character's direction, but was persuaded to return several months later by the show's new executive producer. Hubbard was featured in a prominent storyline in 2005 when her character was diagnosed with cancer. She was in the show's 50th anniversary episode in April 2006, and remained with the show until its final episode in September 2010.  (Wikipedia)

IMDb Listing

[bargainsleuthbooks]

Untold Power: The Fascinating Rise and Complex Legacy of First Lady Edith Wilson by Rebecca Boggs Roberts #BookReview

Edith Wilson could be called a lot of things: first lady, wife of Woodrow Wilson, and de facto President of the United States for about 18 months. #UntoldPower by #RebeccaBoggsRoberts #POTUS #FLOTUS #VikingPress #Bookreview #AudiobookReview #newbooks

Contrary to recent feminist maxims, the first woman president is not alive today. In fact, she was born in 1872, and her name was Edith Bolling Galt Wilson. She hightailed her way out of Appalachian poverty and into the highest echelons of American power, and in 1919 effectively became the first woman president of the US (before women could even vote) when her husband, Woodrow Wilson, was…

[jobrookekarev]

All Dressed Up.

Chapter: One of two

Words: 2,466

Summary: The karev’s pick out their costumes and go trick-or-treating at the hospital. 

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy.

Relationship: Alex Karev/Jo Wilson

Characters: Alex Karev, Jo Wilson, Cormac Hayes, Levi Schmitt, Luna Wilson, Helena Karev, Edith Karev.

Rating: General Audiences.

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Family, Love, One Shot, Holidays, Domestic, Children, Cute, Halloween, Costumes, Trick-or-treating, Family fun.

Read at AO3

Read at FFN

AN: Happy Halloween! I'll post part two tomorrow.

…………………………………………………………………

“Guess what your daughter wants to be for Halloween?” Jo asked Alex as he came back into the kitchen.

“Well guessing by the fact that you said she was my daughter, it's probably something… different, ”Alex said as he came back into the kitchen.

He had come back from changing Edith's diaper and held her in one arm as he sat down next to the two girls at the kitchen counter. Jo was across from them cutting bananas as they made lunch on that rainy October afternoon. 

“Well what do you want to be for Halloween, Helena?” Alex asked with this smile.

“A peanut,” Helena said as she lit up and smiled her teeth full of peanut butter from her sandwich.

“That might be cute!” Alex said this smile then. “We could do peanut butter and jelly as a family costume.”

“I don't know about that,” Jo said with a frown. 

Alex looked down at Edith as he rubbed her chest and she squirmed, kicking her legs. “Maybe this pretty lady can be a little strawberry or something?” 

“But I want to do a family costume this year. It'd be nice to do something fun rather than just peanut butter and jelly.” Jo lamented with a frown before she signed to Luna. “What about you, Luna? What do you want to be for Halloween?” 

Luna thought about it for a second as she chewed on her sandwich holding it in both of her hands, something only she did. “A purple princess and sparkles.” 

“We could work with that,” Jo said with this smile. “You could be our handsome king and I could be queen, with the girls being our princesses.”

“No I a peanut,” Helena stressed to Jo clearly determined in her choice of Halloween costumes.

“Okay Helena, you can be a peanut and Luna can be a princess. We don't have to have a family costume,” Alex said with a shrug looking over at Jo only to see her pouting.

“I guess,” Jo said with a shrug, clearly disappointed.

“Well then what should Edith be?” Alex playfully asked her as he tickled her tummy and she squealed with delight.

“She is going to be a pumpkin,” Jo said with a smile.

“You love that costume way too much,” Alex said, shaking his head as he sat down at the countertop.

They were referencing the little pumpkin costume she had dressed all of the girls in at one point. The little pumpkin costume was complete with a little pumpkin knitted hat that Helen had made several years ago. Luna had worn it for her first Halloween and then Jo had put Helena the following October. Although at one year old she barely fit into it and had to switch to the rocket ship costume. Jo had still paraded her around the hospital in it, as she showed off her little pumpkin baby. 

“No, it's just the best baby costume and if you think I'm not going to put this baby in a pumpkin this year then you are mistaken,” Jo said, side eyeing him to prove her point as she showed off photos of both Helena and Luna in a carved pumpkin.

“Jo she can't even sit up on her own,” Alex said, setting her on the table as she promptly fell back into his chest and sat against him.

“I’ll prop her up or something,” Jo said with a smile as she cooed over at her girl.

“If you insist,” Alex said as he rolled his eyes. “I suppose we can decide on costumes later, but maybe we could be a family of pirates?”

“No Daddy no pirates,” Luna said, snapping at him with the sign for no as she shook her head. 

Jo laughed as she took Edith back and went to sit down next to the girls. “What about a unicorn?”

“Yes,” Luna said with a nod as she also signed ‘yes’. 

“What about a doctor, Helena?” Alex offered to Helena, hoping to get them to be something a little more fun. 

“I a peanut,” Helena said, determinant with her choice as she ate her sandwich. 

“Okay we'll keep thinking about what everyone else can be,” Alex said, taking a handful of chips and sitting with them. 

…………………………………………………………………

They finally decided just to go to the costume store and pick out what they all wanted to wear. Although Jo was still determined to do a family costume the girls could not decide on anything even remotely close to matching. Thus Jo had given up and it just decided her girls to let the girls pick whatever they wanted.

“Oh it's scary,” Alex said pointing at a skeleton that popped up from a bowl and sang a little song while the girls laughed. They kept away from the more creepy decorations but saw a few of the less scary ones as they looked at lawn decorations. 

“Come on, let's go find the toddler costumes,”Jo said, turning down the right aisle finally as they were greeted with rows and rows of costumes on display, from sparkly purple dresses to basketball uniforms.

“Pretty,” Helena giggled as she grabbed onto one of the sparkly purple princess dresses and hugged it.

”Alright so one down one to go five to go,” Alex said as he placed it in the carts next to Edith who was in the car seat. She grasped a hold of the edge with her little hands and tried to bring it up to her mouth.

“No, no baby yucky,” Jo untangled it from her fingers where she was grabbing onto it. “Besides it's for sissy.”

Jo offered her the toy keys that were hanging from the handle and gave them a shake as Edith got distracted and let Jo move the dress away from her. 

“What about this one?” Alex said, pointing to a pink dinosaur costume.

“Dinosaur roar,” Luna said as she reached out for the costume and took it from Alex.

However Helena wanted it too and grabbed the costume as she tried to take it from Luna.

“No,’ Luna signed as she started crying and Alex quickly stepped in and separated them, but Helena started crying and reaching for the costume as Alex reached to hold her back. 

“Helena, that's Luna’s costume,” Jo gently reminded her although Helena continued to cry.

“Dino,” Helena said, reaching for the costume as Luna ran from her and hid by Jo’s legs.

“Do you want to be a Dinosaur too?” Alex asked as Helena nodded. “Okay we'll get you one of your own,” 

Alex searched through the rack for one in Helena's size. Although Luna was six months older and they were both the same height, Helena still had a lot of her chubby baby fat, whereas Luna had never really had any fat to begin with. Jo often worried about her tiny toddler and it didn't help that Luna was a picky eater, but both Hayes and Alex reassured her that she was healthy. However, Jo didn't complain when she wanted an extra cookie or an extra helping at dinner and she didn't hold Helena back from having the same extra treats and nutrition. Helena ate like her father and pretty much liked everything Jo served her and would always ask for seconds then thirds, but they always allowed it especially especially considering that she often grew when she was extra hungry. 

”There we go two dinosaurs,” Alex said, handing the costume to Helena as she smiled. 

“Okay, baby, but now you need to pick. The princess dress…” Jo said, holding up the purple costume to Helena before pointing to the one in her hands. “Or the dinosaur”

Helena just smiled, grabbing the princess costume and holding both of them close to her. “Mine.”

Jo sighed as she looked over at Alex who just shrugged. “Well we could get her one for dress up and one for Halloween and she can decide what she wants on the night of Halloween.”

“Alex it's bad enough that every time you guys go to Target you come home with a princess dress or something, can’t we just leave with one costume?”

As if to make things even more difficult, Luna wandered over and picked out one of the rainbow unicorn costumes. “I like ‘dis” 

“Uh-oh,” Jo said under her breath as she watched Luna pull at it trying to get it off the rack before Alex went over and helped her pick out the right size.

By the time they had gone to the end of the aisle Helena had five costumes to choose from and Luna had three. 

“All right girls we can only take one home,” Jo said, holding up her finger as she looked at the costumes in the cart. 

“I don't see the harm in getting at least two,” Alex said quietly, disagreeing with her again as Jo glared at him. 

“I think it’s a little excessive, especially considering all the ones they have at home,” Jo said as she gestured to the full cart 

Even Edith had lost a battle and had been taken out of the carseat and was now being carried by Alex rather than being buried under all the costumes. They hadn't even picked one out for her yet as they had waited for the girls to decide what they wanted to be.

“Alright,” Alex conceited with a sigh. “Let's narrow this down.”

“Why don't you three narrow down your choices to two and Edith and I will go look for a costume for her,” Jo said, trying to take Edith's car seat from him.

“Jo, no it's way too heavy,” Alex protested as he stopped her from taking it and held firm to the car seat.

Jo did have to admit that the car seat was pretty heavy. Edith was definitely not a tiny baby. At almost 2 months old She was just shy of 13 lb. She was chubby like Helena with the most adorable fat rolls that made Jo just want to eat her up. Alex was extremely cautious with her. Most of the time it was fine and something Jo definitely took advantage of, but sometimes he was a little too cautious. 

“Fine I'll just take her out of the car seat then,” Jo said as she unstrapped her and Edith got excited as Jo picked her up he kissed her head before settling her in her arms and walked away. “Your daddy is too overprotective.”

Jo smiled as she touched Edith's nose with a little laugh and walked down the other aisle for the baby costumes. She quickly realized where her girls got their indecision from as she quickly accumulated a couple of costumes for Edith. Although she was kind of set on reusing the little pumpkin costume again. She did admit that there were too many cute little baby costumes. 

“Okay,” Jo said looking at her choices she held up the choices for Edith. “Which ones do you want?” 

She offered the costumes and a tiny little baby dinosaur costume and a princess dress. Edith kicked with excitement and looked towards the little dinosaur costume. Jo let her have it and she immediately pulled the egg hat into her mouth and chewed on it.

“Well I guess we have to get it now,” Jo said with a little laugh as she let her daughter have the costume and put the other one back on the shelf. 

“Mama,” Helena shouted, as Jo looked back to see Alex and the girls coming towards her. Luna was holding her cat and unicorn costume and Helena was wearing her dinosaur costume while Alex had one of the princess dresses in the cart.

“Hello my little dinosaur, I see that you picked out your costume?” Jo said, reaching down to hug her. 

“Raor,” Helena said as Jo leaned down and tickled her, causing her to laugh.

“Mama I'm a kitty,” Luna said proudly holding up her black cat costume as she tried to sign to her with her hands full.

“I see,” Jo said with a little laugh as she kissed her cheek, absolutely melting at how adorable it was. 

“You got a dinosaur costume too?” Alex asked Edith as he looked at the dinosaur costume Edith had. “It looks like we're going to have a Jurassic Park on our hands?”

Jo smiled over at him. “Well I suppose I wouldn't mind going as Dr. Ellie and you would make a very good Dr. Malcolm.”

Alex smiled as they wandered over to the adult section. They quickly found a  Dr. Ellie costume in her size but they only had one of Dr. Grant that he wasn't too fond of. 

“It's not that bad, let's just get it and go, it's been almost an hour, and you know the girls are going to get cranky,” Jo said as she leaned against the car looking down at Edith.

She was back in her car seat and starting to fuss as Jo stuck the pacifier in her mouth. This stalled her for a little while and Jo pushed the cart back and forth, knowing she was due for a nap. 

They took all their purchases to the front and paid an amount that made Alex’s eyes widen before they went home. Upon arriving home, Alex immediately put the tombstone in the front yard along with a couple of blow ups that they definitely didn't need, but looked good.

“This is really cool, maybe I'll have to put up lights and stuff,” Alex said as he stepped back and looked at the bow up ghost.

“Yeah, but but if you kill yourself putting up lights, I'm going to bring you back and then kill you again,” Jo said smiled at him as she held a sleeping Edith and threw the ball for Reeses. The girls were in the driveway riding their toddler tricycles as Jo stood at the end of the driveway to keep them from going in the road.

“I know and last year putting up Christmas lights was bad enough, because you were pregnant and extra worried about me,” Alex said as he pretended not to see the way she raised an eyebrow at him as he looked back at the ghost.

“Ladder and lights accidents are the number two cause of an ER visit around the holidays,” Jo said as she waved to the girls. “Come on girls, let's go inside and try on those costumes.” 

“Alright,” Alex said reluctantly, following her inside.

[venicepearl]

Edith Wilson (née Bolling, formerly Galt; October 15, 1872 – December 28, 1961) was the first lady of the United States from 1915 to 1921 and the second wife of President Woodrow Wilson. She married the widower Wilson in December 1915, during his first term as president. Edith Wilson played an influential role in President Wilson's administration following the severe stroke he suffered in October 1919. For the remainder of her husband's presidency, she managed the office of the president, a role she later described as a "stewardship," and determined which communications and matters of state were important enough to bring to the attention of the bedridden president.