My 39th Birthday

I worked all day and was dragging myself into the front door at 6:30 pm when I saw my sweet hubby and beautiful kids waiting for me at the front door. They all yelled "SURPRISE!!!" Matt had organized a card for me, a cake and a beautiful Gerber daisy plant. He also remembered that I love Cheez-Balls. No really. I. LOVE. CHEEZ. BALLS. I had seen a large barrel at Academy (because every athletic event needs cheez balls, right?) and said "Oh, I wish I could buy those" as we were walking out, so Matt went and got them for me as a surprise. Hilarious. The kids were thrilled - John especially. Nothing says 39th birthday than a barrel of Cheez Balls and love from my family.

39th Birthday Celebration

I have always loved that Matt and my birthdays fall within days of one another. We got sitters for all the kids and went out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, Carmelo's. The dinner was delicious and it was so fun to just be with the adults for fun conversation and plenty of laughs. Peyton and Matt can provide some pretty good entertainment.

39 sounds SO old and it seems even more hilarious that I am PREGNANT at 39 years old. I will be 28 weeks this week.

Oh, in case you wonder where Johnny-Cakes got his baby blues, check out my Dad's eyes in these pictures!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to ME and MY SWEET HUSBAND MATT.

Trip to Denton

This past weekend was supposed to be a TCU Girl's weekend in Denton, but everyone but me dropped out. When Anna called to tell me about that, I just assumed we would cancel, but she encouraged me to come anyway! I am so glad I did. It was a whirlwind trip - I left on Saturday morning and returned early Sunday afternoon.

As it turns out, Anna and I also convinced her mom, Alice Sessi (aka Mia) to also come, so I had the luxury of being driven up to Denton by one of my most favorite people (Mia), only to spend time with my other most favorite person (Anna). It was a treat.

We did some shopping and ate out almost every meal. And of course we talked each other's ears off. If only Anna lived in Austin. . . . sigh. . . .

Thanks for a fun weekend, Sessi girls!

PS. I am almost 28 weeks preggo in this pic

Look Who's Riding a Bike!

Will has been a little bit slower to develop some of his fine and gross motor skills so I was thrilled to see him get on Sister's bike and ride up and down the sidewalk. Grandpa actually bought him a bike about a year ago that he adamantly refused to ride so we returned it. He just needed to decide to do it on his own time, I guess.

I think we all know what Mommy and Daddy are getting him for his birthday!

American Girl Doll Fashion Show

Mimi, Emily, Avery, Alivia and I headed to the Westin in the Domain for the annual American Girl Doll Fashion Show. It raises money for Dell Children's Hospital and is quite the affair! Mom bought matching dresses for Avery and Alivia which looked very similar to the American Girl dresses that she bought for their dolls. The girls were thrilled to be together and dress up. They talked us into buying "pets" for their dolls. We sat at a table with Nanny Alva and her 2 granddaughters, Becky and Amber.

Avery and Alivia have already asked if they can model next year, too. Oh boy. . .

Ode to Nanny Alva

I am blessed to have found Nanny Alva (off Craigslist of all places!). She has been with our family for 5 years. When she first started with us, we lived on Calle Verde Cove and had one child. Now. . . 2 more kids and another on the way. Alva helps keep my life organized and sane and she loves my children. I have always said that a mother will never feel good about working outside the home unless she knows that her children are safe and in a good childcare situation.

Alva loves to do Alivia's hair and makes it look so pretty on school days. She cooks dinner for us and always seems to know what to do around our house to make things work more smoothly. She organizes the kids' drawers and closets and helps me troubleshoot crazy behavior.

I love you Nanny Alva. Thanks for all you do for our family.

Happy Halloween 2011

Emily and Peyton invited us over to their house for the annual pre-trick or treating Papa Murphy's pizza dinner. It was much more low-key this year since my parents are in Israel for 2 weeks. And thank goodness for Nanny Alva, or I am not sure my kids would have had cute outfits.

The kids love running around the neighborhood with their cousins, Avery and Paige. Avery (4.5) was Mulan, and Paige (2.5) was Minnie Mouse. They looked adorable!

Alivia settled on the jaguar costume. Alva did her make-up and hair prior to my arrival home. She was thrilled with how she looked and got lots of compliments while we were walking the neighborhood.

Will was a cute little cowboy if I say so myself. Alva found some beautiful black boots for him to wear. He wore his cowboy hat for about 5 minutes before removing it for the night.

And sweet baby John. . . well. . . he is a pumpkin, without a real outfit or hat. He simply would not keep anything on his head and I knew he would last trick or treating for about 30 minutes so I decided to let it go. He was fascinated by candy and kept bringing all sorts of confections for me to open for him. We broke off around 7:20 when he started acting really wild and nutty.

Happy Halloween to all! Let the Holiday Season begin - WHEEEE!