Best Birthday Ever!

This past Saturday was my 37th birthday.  Can I still claim to be in my "mid-30's" or am I now officially in my "late 30's"?  It's a depressing thought either way.  At any rate, Duncan had asked me earlier in the week what I would like for my birthday.  I thought for about half a second and then answered "A whole day to myself."  Let me tell you, I was counting down the hours, minutes, seconds until that present was mine.  Now, as all mothers will attest, we love our children dearly but the thought of being able to spend some quiet time where you don't have to break up fights, wipe bums, prepare meals, etc, etc is pretty much right up there with winning the lottery, Christmas morning, and fresh squeezed lemonade on a hot day all rolled into one.  

Since Sabbath we would obviously be busy with church, I opted to receive my present on Sunday instead.  I decided to start my alone time after First Watch where I received my free birthday meal (make sure you sign up with them because you get coupons and a free meal on your birthday).  Then I was FREE!  So much to do, so little time.  My first order of business was to hit the pharmacies.  Indeed, I was couponing with my free time.  But Walgreens had a moneymaker going on with K-Y Jelly and I couldn't let the opportunity pass me by.  So there I was, buying a bunch of K-Y Jelly.  Yes, I just wrote that.  Hey, if you can make $2 off buying something, you'll buy pretty much anything.  I bought seven tubes of it but don't worry, not all at one store. Although...the funny part was that I bought a couple more tubes on Monday when I was with the kids.  I had bought a whole bunch of other stuff and had left the bag with the jelly in the store by accident.  A minute late, this guy comes out holding the bag and is like "You forgot this."  I was going to make a wise crack and be like "My husband thanks you" but I thought it might be too awkward...kind of like how this blog is going right now.  Anywho, after the pharmacies it was on to the Goodwills.  For some reason, there are hardly any on this side of town so after going to the Winter Garden one I had to drive clear across town to my old stomping grounds where they have four within like a five mile radius.  I didn't mind the drive though.  It was so quiet and I got to listen to what I wanted on the radio instead of "The Wheels on the Bus" for the upteenth time.

I had lots of success at the Goodwills where I was primarily shopping for Calleigh in her next size up, 7/8.  Poor little Aubree only got about four things and I think she was pretty disappointed when she saw Calleigh's big pile compared to her tiny one.  Ahh yes, just one of the drawbacks of being the second kid.  You just try to talk up Calleigh's old clothes. "Just think Aubs, you have all those bins of "new" clothes in the garage waiting for you when you get into a size 5!"  That seemed to help a little.  I could have shopped longer at Goodwill but they close at 6:00 on Sundays so I had to take the show on to the Christmas Tree Shops and then lastly Target.  I finally rolled into my driveway at about 8:00...tired but blissfully happy with my day.  Not only that but the kids were all ready for bed just waiting to see Mommy.  It was a such a great day but I was thrilled to see their shining faces. Thank you to my dear husband for such a wonderful present!  I'm officially asking for it every year.  And did I mention, every Mother's Day??  I'll need to warn him.

My actual birthday was also a nice day too.  Church went well and Aubree and Brady got to decorate cupcakes in their Sabbath School, much to their delight (and mine when I got to eat one too).  Brady definitely started showing some personality in Sabbath School.  The kids all get to pick out a stuffed animal from a bin up front and Brady picked out this dog.  Well, some other kid had the audacity to try and touch it and Brady give him a killer look, jerked the dog back, and said "Mine" really loud.  That will teach him.

She also decorated one for Calleigh who was thrilled.

"Forget the decoraing.  I'm just here for the eatin'."

Saturday night Ron and Elaine came over so that we could have a night out to celebrate.  We had our usual crew with Allen, Tangie, Bruce, and Jennifer.  The idea was to go to the Cheesecake Factory since I had been thinking about that one pasta dish since Christmas.  But...Cheesecake Factory on a Saturday night at the Mall at Millenia...not a good idea.  It was a 70 minutes wait and I did not want the pasta THAT bad.  So we changed plans and went to this restaurant near the mall called "Crave."  I don't know that it was befitting to it's name necessarily although I will say the edamame won tons were quite good. After the meal, the plan was to go see a movie but we couldn't quite pull the trigger on anything.  Nobody had a real big desire to see anything that was out except maybe "Zero Dark Thirty" but after seeing the 2 hr, 37 min running time, I put the kaboosh on that.  I just don't do long movies.  Long books where I can go as fast or slow as I want? A resounding yes.  Long movies where I sometimes get really antsy because they move so slowly? NO.  So the movies were a no go and after some deliberation, we decided to head to the Isidros to relieve the babysitter and then watch the movie "Man on a Ledge" which Allen owned.  It turned out to be very good and was the nightcap to a great day.

Incidentally, Duncan met up with Allen on Sunday to take the kids to the Science Science Center, Lake Lily with Bruce and the boys joining too and then on to Grandma and Grandpa's (surprise, surprise!).  It was a full day for them too.

Collecting Mommy's six papers on Sunday morning.

Doing the weather report at the Science Center.  Love Aubree's face!

Feeding the ducks at Lake Lily.

Filling the bird feeder at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Picking oranges.  Duncan used the orange picking (for his Vita Mix) as the excuse to go to his parents .

Monday we didn't do much.  Tuesday afternoon Duncan left for Kansas City for work where he would be until last night (Thursday).  The nice thing was that he hung out at home, doing some work, before his flight so we got to have Daddy home for a good part of the day.  Always a plus!  Wednesday we went to Story Time and then to Old Time Pottery to look for things for our guest room and any other items of interest.  We found a couple of beach theme things and then I also happened to walk past the sheets, which we're still looking to get for the girls.  We came across some jersey knit sheets that were in the right colors...green and pink.  The intention was to get Calleigh green and Aubree pink but wouldn't you know, they only had pink in the twin size.  I thought for sure Calleigh would refuse but apparently she was so taken with the sheets that she quickly volunteered to have the pink sheets and Aubree would have the green.  So it all worked out.

Brady resting at Old Time Pottery.  He only wants to sit in the back of the cart now.

Trying out the new sheets before we put them on the bed.

Wednesday evening Aunt Toni and Uncle Terry arrived from New Hampshire.  They are leaving on an 8-day cruise on Saturday out of Miami but flew into Orlando so they could see us for a few days.  And perhaps, more importantly, our house!  They have a particular interest in it because at one time, they had been checking out houses in this neighborhood although only in a half serious way, I think.  They were also with us in April when we first looked at our house.  At that time, it was only some cinder blocks.  They got picked up at the airport by the Baez's and unfortunately didn't get here until after the kids were all asleep but that was quickly remedied in the morning.

The kids were all excited to see them and we had a great morning enjoying a nice long walk to the pool and out to the dock.  It was pretty chilly, though, especially with the wind and we all got a chuckle out of the fact that in Boston, New Hampshire, Bangor, and Nova Scotia, it was warmer at that moment in those places than it was where we were (mid-50's).  They were having an unseasonable warm spell, at least that day.  For supper, we met Ron and Elaine at the Olive Garden so they could all visit.  The kids were particularly good which was a relief.  Part of it was that they were distracted by a large group of women seated behind us.  At first, I thought it was the Red Hat Ladies but it turned out to just be some ladies who had made their own hats for one of the lady's birthday.  They were very nice and even gave the kids these lollipops attached to some fake lips.

The view of Lake Apopka from the dock.

The lip lollipops from the hat ladies.

Duncan got home last nigh at about 9:30 and he, Terry, and Toni almost immediately watched the end of a Downton Abbey episode that he had started on the plane.  He may not want me to mention this but Duncan has gotten hooked on this show along with the rest of America, apparently.  I feel as though I am definitely in the minority here as all I have been hearing the past few weeks is "Downton Abbey this" and "Downton Abbey that."  Not that I don't think I would love the show, mind you, because I bet I would.  I just don't seem to be able to make the time commitment to watch it.  And then there's a little part of me that wonders, maybe it really isn't that great.  Just because everyone likes it doesn't mean I will.  I remember everyone talking about "Forrest Gump" when it came out and how it was like the greatest movie ever.  I finally rented it and I remember thinking like an hour in, "REALLY?  This is supposed to be GREAT?  Someone please stick a fork in my eyeball."

This morning Aunt Toni came with us to yard sales and I had a very successful outing.  After a dry spell for like the last two months, I finally hit pay dirt with a bunch of clothes for Calleigh.  I also got this cute little wooden chair that has "Time Out" carved into it.  The irony is that the girls were fighting over who would get to carry the chair to the car and the lady who sold it to me called out, "Well, I can see you'll need it."  Yup and yup.

Brady decided to take a break at one of the yard sales.

The time out chair. (they weren't in trouble).  I tried to find it to take a picture without anyone on it but I can't find it any where!

Smoke Alarm Update - - I contacted the warranty guy on Tuesday and asked him what day the electrician was coming.  Low and behold, the electrician showed up this afternoon.  The plan was to try a different detector to see if it wouldn't be so sensitive.  We'll never know.  All we discovered is that when he pressed the button to test it, it didn't set off the other detectors in the house which it's supposed to do.  So now we have to wait for a third detector to be ordered and tested.  At least something is happening.

In Brady news, we're back to two hour naps and generally sleeping until 7:00 am.  Perhaps the teething is over or maybe he decided he likes me this week.  Who knows.  We're still just barely holding on to the nursing.  Most of the time he isn't even nursing in the morning but will randomly want to do so at some point during the day.  Or, more often than not, he'll say "boo boo, boo boo" and then when I pull up my shirt, he gets all smiley and giggly but instead of nursing he'll just start playing with it or rest his head on it.  I guess just that makes him happy!  It also probably means it's time to wind it down.  At almost 20 months, he's now officially nursed longer than both the girls.

Also on the subject of Brady, he's gotten so good with his "I love you's" that every time I put him in his crib for either his nap or for the night, he'll start saying "I love you, Mommy" and he keeps saying it as I walk out the door and as I close the door and I can still hear him saying it as I'm walking down the stairs.  Could I love this kid any more than I do??

A few pictures before I close:

Headboard all finished in our guest room!

Trying on one of Calleigh's new bathing suits.

Building a tent one morning.

Ever wonder what a deer in the headlights looks like?  Now you know.

Daddy's home!  Let the snuggling begin.