Daily Baby - Happy Birthday Owen

Hard to believe that my little boy is one.  He's an actual PERSON, not just a helpless, tiny, scrunched-up thing.  We had his party this weekend and he was surrounded by family and friends, all of whom are very much appreciated for attending!  I was having a bit of a decorations meltdown at the park as there was just enough of a breeze that nothing wanted to stay put.  I had to take a deep breath, remind myself that it doesn't need to go on Pinterest, and be secure in the knowledge that the people there to celebrate were far more important than the balloons staying upright.  Armed with a roll of duct tape, my brother went for the uncle of the year award and fixed it all while I ran home to pick up the birthday boy, who was being dressed by his auntie, who should also get an award for leaving home at 4:30am and driving 5 hours to be there. Little man celebrated his first year with his first slice of pizza, stealing and chowing down on a cake pop from his auntie's hand, and sharing his first cupcake with mommy. 

So, after my first year of parenthood, I look back and wonder if I'd do anything differently.  To be honest, I don't think I would.  We've had our ups and downs.  There have been moments of sleeplessness and frustration, far outweighed by joy and laughter.  We have a happy, friendly, funny little boy who delights us and those around him on a daily basis.  He makes us proud, which makes me think we must have done something right.  It's been an adventure, but a grand one.  I can't wait to see what the next chapter brings.

Happy Birthday my little love.

Daily Ramblings - Happy New Year! (A Recap)

Happy New Year to all of you!  I hope 2012 has started well for everybody.  :)

With the arrival of my parents from England a couple of weeks ago, it feels a little bit like all hell broke loose.  Despite being off work since Dec 21st (first day back today *sigh*), there was just so much going on!  Husband and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary in there somewhere (love you honey!) and then took off to Vegas for Xmas weekend with the family.  It's the first time that we had both husband's and my parents together for a holiday event, and it has to be said that it was very nice to have everybody in the same place at the same time.  We had some fun wandering around the casinos to check out their holiday displays, and also won a few bucks playing blackjack on Xmas Day.

So, here we are in a new year and I'm optimistic for wonderful things to come.  The last couple of years have been a serious roller-coaster and I'm curious to see what 2012 has in store.  Usually I write out a bunch of things that I'd like to do in the year.  In 2011, I accomplished a small handful of things and realized [sometime in November] that there was no way I'd ever get it all done!  This year, my goals are to experiment, try new things, explore and enjoy life...and I'm sure that by the end of the year, I'll have some amazing experiences and memories to cherish.

Daily Ramblings - Fishy Fishy Fish

This weekend, we had a visit from my sister-in-law, her husband and our nephew for his early birthday celebration.  I haven't been to an aquarium in years, so jumped at the opportunity to go with everybody to the Aquarium Of The Pacific in Long Beach.  I discovered that being elbow deep in water to pet a slimy stingray is both awesome and kind of disgusting, that sea lions are just as cute as I remember, that I don't want to be the diver in the shark tank that has to hold the big sticks to push away any shark that gets too close, and that it's really hard to not make reference to "Finding Nemo".  The best part though was watching my nephew - the wonder in his face as he discovered all the new things was just too cute not to share!

Daily Ramblings - A new addition

I'm thrilled that we're soon to be welcoming my second nephew to the family - thanks to my sister-in-law for keeping the nephew supply coming (although she swears she's done after this!) I had the pleasure of attending her baby shower over the weekend, and it was really nice to get a weekend away and see the family members that I don't get to visit with often.

For once I remembered to charge the DSLR camera battery and take the camera with me.  (Ask me about the time when I grabbed the camera but left the battery charging at home....on second thoughts, don't ask).  Everything was beautifully decorated so I had a great time playing with my 50mm lens, and got some really cute photos to share!

 

I was happy to gift my first knit teddy bear for the baby, and the bear has since been named Ogden.  I'm so excited to have a new little one to make stuff for.  Crafty Aunt Nat - that's me!

Daily Ramblings - "Turkey day" round-up

This year was the first year of hosting Thanksgiving at our house - I knew it was only a matter of time before the family realized we hadn't done it yet!  ;)

I'd never made a whole turkey before, with my turkey repertoire up until now consisting of deli meat and reheating leftovers.  Having said that, wrapping it in bacon proved to be relatively foolproof and was very successful.  Even Deuce had his own Thanksgiving meal consisting of some turkey giblets, which he thoroughly enjoyed.  The only slightly disappointing part was the mac & cheese, which I'd pre-prepared but then forgotten to take out of the fridge to warm up some before popping in the oven.  I'm thinking that it'll make for great leftovers though so I'm not all that worried about it not being perfect on the day.  After all, getting holiday cooking 90% right isn't a bad deal.  The funny part was opening my fridge this morning and realizing that it kind of looks like we didn't eat anything.  Now we get into the post-Thanksgiving leftover cooking, which involves finding creative ways to re-purpose turkey, stuffing, and mashed potato.

In addition to being thankful for tupperware and Pyrex with lids, it's only fitting that I make note of (a few of) the other things that I'm thankful for.  I'm thankful for my family - the one I was lucky enough to be born into, the one that I married into, and those that I've adopted along the way.  I'm thankful for the husband by my side, the roof over my head, my friends and co-workers who make me smile every day.  I'm a lucky girl for sure!

Daily Ramblings - Weekend shenanigans

The last 5 days have been a whirlwind.  I'm going to post this now and add photos later (once I have a chance to go home and actually get them off my camera!)  Here's the cliff notes of my weekend.

Edit on May 6 to add photos y'all!

THURSDAY- We had the farewell party for my boss, who is taking off to a fancy-schmanzy law firm and abandoning me.  Sniff.  Ok, I'm actually very happy for him but I will miss him.  If you'd asked me 9 years ago when I first met him if I ever thought I might actually miss him, I would have told you no.  In fact, I think I said that to him the other day.  :)

FRIDAY - Firstly, my girl Holly had her baby boy Friday morning.  Their little family is doing great and the baby's first outfit involved a Star Wars t-shirt.  Obviously, they're on top of their game!

Hopped in the car and drove off to Vegas for a bachelorette celebration (and my birthday weekend!)  Might I suggest trying the buffet at Mandalay Bay.  Us girls were supposed to be meeting the bachelor party there for dinner and, after the bride had a "bra emergency" requiring a trip to Victoria's Secret in the Caesar's Forum Shops, we arrived an hour late.  By this time, it was only a half hour before the buffet closed.  I definitely recommend giving yourself a little more time to spare because there's far too much good stuff to eat in that short period of time, you'll eat too fast, and you will give yourself a stomach ache.  Ask me how I know.  We then took off to "Vanity" (which is the club at the Hard Rock).  If terrible top-40s music circa 2003 and a bunch of people living up to the name of the club are your thing, then you should go here for sure! 

SATURDAY - It was my birthday!!  Happy 31 to me.  As a wise man once told me "too young to die, never too young to rock".

Spent time with the family and got to see my adorable nephew Ethan.  He's about 20 months now and about as cute as can be.  We don't see him all that frequently so it's always a surprise to see how much he's grown, how much more he's talking and watch him turn into a gorgeous little boy.

Played a little pre-Thunder skee-ball.  Epic skee-ball fail i think.

That evening, we headed out to the Thunder From Down Under show at the Excalibur casino.  It was entertaining enough, and the guys definitely have certain...um...talents.  Personally, I think if the music selection hadn't been as good as it was, I would have been very disappointed though.  I used the opportunity to drink quite a bit of vodka tonic and by the time we left, I certainly had a slightly fuzzy feeling.  After quite randomly spending a little time hanging out with Floyd Mayweather's cousin and his friends at a bar (who were in Vegas for the fight this weekend), we wound up at our final destination - the beautiful and brand spankin' new hotel Aria.

Speaking of epic fails, what the hell is up with this door? 
(Thanks husband for finding this one - it's a winner!)

So, it's now Tuesday and it has to be said I think I might still be recovering a little bit - I'm tired!  I'm not much for staying out all night drinking anymore and you're more likely to find me on the couch in my PJs.  That being said, I did have a blast and it certainly wasn't a bad weekend for celebrations.