Happy Birthday to Me!

     As a mom you start to focus on everyone else's birthday instead of your own and this year Hubby was supposed to have some work stuff to do and was going to miss my birthday. This didn't happen though because his schedule changed and so we had a nice dinner out even though the kids had already picked out a gift for me a few days prior (a stuffed Toothless from "How to Train your Dragon" and a Starbucks card), hubby showed up with some truffles and more Starbucks for me and I got to pick out a Pittsburgh Pirates Jersey since I had been wanting one.
     We had a cake and the kids sang to me at work which is always a blast! Some of the preschoolers also made me cards in the morning which was adorable!

Blowing out my candles!

Froggie having some of my cake!

Big Brother showing off his icing face!

     It was a great birthday and I have (less than) 365 days until I'm 30 - at some point once I'm feeling more caught up I will post my list of 30 things to do this year!

Welcome Back to the Wild

     Today was opening day of our local zoo! It's nice that the zoo is back open because it gives us another thing to add to our list of activities to do and it gets us back outside. It's been really cold again lately (isn't is supposed to be warming up?) and Hubby said that it was going to be too cold to go to opening day. I decided that it was warmer than it has been and we've been coped up too long so we packed extra blankets and dressed warmly and headed out. Hubby met us there when he was done working and my mom came with us as well.
     It actually wasn't too bad temperature wise and even though not all of the animals were out I'm glad we went and that the kids got to have some fun.

Happy Big Brother

Sleepy Froggie

Big Brother and grandma

up close and personal with the lion

up close and personal with the lion

up close and personal with the lion

Froggie wanted to see the lion too

all bundled up

the swans hanging out on the ice

Todd the 55 year old turtle

Big Brother checking out the turtle

Froggie the popcorn monster

Froggie the popcorn monster

our little family at the zoo

Happy Froggie

     Hubby and I also had a "date night". We don't go out often but friends of ours from the Navy had invited us to dinner and so we headed out to have dinner with them at a local Mexican restaurant and then after that some of us stopped by Menchies for dessert (it's a frozen yogurt bar!). It was nice to get out and socialize and not have to worry about how the kids were behaving and whether they were bored or not.

Dresses, Ballons and Dinner

     This evening was a little hectic. I finally was able to go up and finalize my fitting for my bridesmaids dress for my sisters wedding. I've known what dress I was getting (we're all wearing different dresses) since before the new year but trying to figure out when I could get there for the absurd amount of time it takes them to decide what size dress you need. So tonight we met up with Hubby so that the kids could be entertained and not interfere with the process.
     Before Hubby was done we headed in to Toys R Us to use Big Brothers birthday coupon. He was patient walking through the store looking at everything, even though all he cared about were Cars and Planes. He picked out a new Plane (finding ones he doesn't have is getting harder and harder) and carried it around the store while we waited for Hubby.
     He paid for his own Plane and since he used his birthday coupon he got a crown and a balloon! He was pretty excited and opened his plane before the receipt was even printed! The weather had taken a turn towards the cold, windy and snowy and on the way to the car Big Brother's balloon ripped away from the ribbon it was attached to. It was heart breaking to listen to him cry that he wanted his balloon back! We got he and Froggie all strapped in to their car seats and Hubby went in to see if he would be able to get a replacement. I felt really badly about all of this, especially since it ripped away from the ribbon while I was holding it and Big Brother had specifically asked me to carry it so he wouldn't lose it.
     The cashier was very understanding and gave Hubby a new balloon, which Big Brother was very protective over. He didn't want to leave the car while I was fitted for my dress and Hubby ended up sitting with the kids while I went in.

The Balloon

The Balloon

    I had to describe and show a picture to the girls at the store so they could find my dress (which they didn't have in my size in store and aren't they the ones that work there anyhow?), put me in a dress that I already told them was a size too small, measured me and decided on a size and then had me try on a dress in that size (which is too big, hooray for being in between sizes!) all of which was pretty unnecessary since they order a size based on the measurements anyway.
     When that was all said and done we headed to Applebees for dinner. We honestly don't get out for dinner much more than out weekly pizza Friday night and the occasional run through the drive through when we are running late on time. It was a nice change to be in a restaurant and sitting down. Froggie was SUPER hungry so she ate while we were looking at the menu. Big Brother picked his own dinner out and we picked up spinach and artichoke dip (which I love!) Big Brother fell on his way back from the bathroom and sat on my lap for a while and we were your standard table with two toddlers - loud. We encouraged Big Brother to use his "inside voice" which he struggles with daily and he did a good job of trying until he forgot or got excited. Towards the end of our meal our server had notified us that our tab had been paid by another table who wished to remain anonymous. I can honestly say that, as a family, this had never happened to us before. It was a huge blessing and a great way to turn around a pretty hectic evening.

Happy Birthday Big Brother!

     Today was Big Brother's 3rd birthday! I can't believe he's already 3! I swear it wasn't that long ago that Hubby and I went to the hospital bright and early so that I could be induced and we could welcome our little boy that afternoon…
     Well, this morning he woke up to a pretty special day. He found that Zippy had shown up as requested, and he decorated the recliner!

Our decorated recliner

Zippy came back

A picture with Zippy

     After that find he found a present on the kitchen table. A brand new Lightening Mcqueen hat! This gift came in handy today since we didn't get out of single digit temperatures for long. He was really excited about his hat until I asked him to model it for me but I was able to get a few pictures of him wearing it before we left the house.

A special gift

Opening his gift

What is it?

A Lightening hat!

Birthday boy

check out that hat!

      Unfortunately Big Brother will probably always return to school from Christmas break either on his birthday or shortly after and day care/preschool is no different. This, however, also means that he is able to have a "birthday party" at school. Today we took in cookies and his friends sang to him at snack time. THEN, since one of my co-workers is leaving we had a joint birthday and farewell party at lunch with cake and more singing.

excited for singing and cookies

making a wish?

blowing out candles

Mmmm tasty cookie

And the cake!

Pretty excited about it

Birthday boy and the cake!

     Big Brother napped at school today though he normally comes home with me in the afternoon and naps here. I made the choice so that I could socialize with some of my co-workers, have some lunch and meet up with Hubby for coffee before we parted ways to collect children or take them home. Froggie and I headed home and waited for the boys to show up. When they got home we asked Big Brother what his favorite food was (he answered fruit) and then gave him a list of meats to choose from (he decided on shrimp) so we could decide where to take him for his birthday dinner.
     We waited for my mom to get out of work and she gave him a gift (2 planes from Disney's Planes) and we headed to Cracker Barrel (the only place I know with a shrimp kids meal). I should have taken a picture but it slipped my mind - oops! Big Brother didn't eat much, though he normally picks at his food. Froggie, on the other hand, ate an entire sweet potato and a bowl of mac and cheese and probably would have eaten more!
     After dinner we headed home, read a bed time story and sent Big Brother to bed. Tomorrow afternoon we're celebrating with family and friends.

Thursday Night Fun

     After work and a dress fitting appointment Big Brother and I made our way through the Starbucks drive-thru before making a pit stop at a couple stores. Today was just one of those days that define the "Terrible Two's". Big Brother was REALLY grumpy this morning about getting his sweatshirt on and carrying his cup and he and I just seemed to butt heads all day. When I was getting ready to leave work to head to my fitting he had woken up and he's always pretty grumpy right after nap or he's really clingy depending on the day. Today he just so happened to be grumpy...
     He was fairly well behaved and the seamstress was able to get through pinning up my dress after what they had done to it already didn't rectify its fit issues. He was excited to get some pumpkin bread and was really disappointed that we could only find girly Toms in his size. We headed into a local discount store and found a bunch of books and a couple toys (including a froggy pillow for Froggie!). Some things we'll put away for upcoming holidays and Hubby's schooling.
     After that we decided to grab dinner out before heading home. Froggie slept through 99% of dinner and seemed pretty comfy on the booth next to me!

Snuggly baby

     Before Froggie was born I made her a blanket on a knitting loom before I taught myself to crochet. I then made a blanket for Big Brother as I learned to crochet. I put a lot of time and effort into Froggie's blanket but I like the crochet blankets much better so I'm making Froggie a new blanket. I started tonight so we'll see how long it takes to finish!

blanket beginnings