Birthday Weekend

This last weekend was a huge one for us. Our baby girl was turning 3! We can't believe it. It seems just like yesterday she was born. I can remember pretty much every detail of that day. I won't bore you though but if you are interested you can go back and look at that post.

To start it off good, Cory and I got a babysitter, Nana Gail, Nanny, and Great Aunt Judy, and we went out to dinner at Salty's. We had a gift card for there and were wanting to use it before this upcoming Mariner's season arrived. We dropped the kids
off in Seattle that afternoon and than headed over to one of the guys Cory works with who lives in West Seattle on the water. When I say on the water, I'm not kidding. The spray literally hits his front window. It was an amazing place and I hope he didn't think I was kidding when I said he might find me there on his front lawn when he got home this summer. After hanging out for an hour or so we headed on over to the restaurant for our reservation. I'm not a huge fan of the place, I think they have good food but is completely overpriced and your mainly paying for the location. Who's to complain when you have a gift card though, right!? We had a great dinner and than headed on back to pick up the kids who were entertaining every one and both refused to take a nap, of course. The ride home was very peaceful with two sleeping kids in the back.


Friday morning we got a bunch of errands done before Papa Ron showed up. When we got the call that he was at the hotel we headed on over for an afternoon of swimming. Alyssa loves the water and talks about swimming all the time and has gone many times as well. For whatever reason she did not want to get into the water but just sit on the side and put her legs in. I was teasing her saying she didn't want to get her hair wet. Knox on the other hand had a blast. I knew he would considering how much he loves to play in the bathtub and splash around. When we got him in the pool he loved every minute of it. Laughing and squealing the whole time! I really need to get both the kids signed back up for swim lessons. Knox may have to wait until fall so I can do it with him but Alyssa is now of the age where she can do it by herself. After a great swim we headed home to get cleaned up before going out to dinner at our favorite pizza place in Snohomish.

Saturday is the day we had Alyssa's birthday party. I was feeling bad that I didn't have a children's party for her. I was just having a hard time deciding what I wanted to do for it. I knew one thing though was I didn't want it at my house and it started stressing me out. I finally decided just to do a family party and invited the family over for a wonderful dinner and dessert. We decided to get it catered from our favorite Italian restaurant Luca's. It was amazing! When we kept asking Alyssa what she wanted for her birthday she just told us a purple Ariel cake and to go to a hockey game. She got part of it, the Ariel cake, but no hockey game. The Silvertips were out of town so that will have to happen another time.
Everyone showered her with gifts. There are so many princess things and jewelry in this house I have no idea what to do with. Thank goodness we had a son to balance it all out!

Sunday, her actual birthday, we spent a quiet morning cleaning up and relaxing before we decided what we wanted to do. Nana Peggy and Papa Jerry got her a gift certificate for the Children's Museum, so we decided to go spend the afternoon there before going out for a birthday dinner. It was a perfect day to go. I was a little worried how crowded it would be but surprisingly it wasn't bad at all. The weather was perfect for us so we got to go up on the rooftop playground. When we normally go it is usually raining so we have never been up there. It was so much fun. She probably would have stayed up there all day long if we would have let her. Thirty minutes was about enough for us before we decided it was time to eat.
We decided to go to Red Robin since we knew she could get a very special ice cream treat and they would sing for her. It was cute.

There you have it. Our baby girl is 3! She is turning into such an amazing little girl and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for her.

An Amazing Weekend

Last weekend Alyssa and I had another one of our girl afternoons. The movie Gnomeo and Juliet was coming out and she had been wanting to go since she first saw the preview months ago. She does so good at the movies and was very excited, the bonus for me was she was free! Of course my favorite part is watching the previews and I saw some that I can't wait to see.

It was a cute movie, one I will probably end up buying for the kids. I have to say though the music was my favorite part, who doesn't love a little Elton John!? I took her to the store before and let her pick out two things of candy. She was in seventh heaven! It cracks me up because if she hears someone talking during the movie or even once inside, she will look at me and put her finger up to her mouth and say "shshshsh"


The next day I got my belated birthday present from Cory's parents and that was a night out to see Rock Of Ages and dinner at Wild Ginger. Both were amazing and if you love 80's hair band music than you would love this show! It was a great time, I really think I was born in the wrong era. Afterwards we went to one of my favorite restaurants in Seattle, Wild Ginger. I got my favorite the duck along with a coconut martini. It was the best!


On Sunday, Alyssa's Nana Gail, Nanny, and I all went to see the ballet Cinderella. I was going to take Alyssa with my mom's group but the event was already sold out. I was pretty bummed about it. I was talking with Nana Gail about it and her and Nanny decided that would be part of her birthday present. I was a littler nervous how she would do because of course she refused to take a nap that day and the show wasn't until 6:30. She did a great job. The seats were phenomenal, we were in row J. There were no meltdowns or outbursts and she loved it! The expression on her face when the orchestra started and the first dancer came out was priceless. At the first
intermission we received sparkling wine from Gloria Ferrer. I was lucky enough to go there this last September when I was in Napa. I have to say she was better behaved than the boy sitting in front of us that was booing and making noises through the entire show. I heard the mother saying she would never take him to another ballet. I felt bad for her knowing how much money she spent on the seats and she brought all three of her children. Her daughter was enjoying it but her two sons could have cared less. I was kind of laughing at the situation. I did tell Cory him and Knox would be making a family trip to the Nutcracker and then they would never have to go again with us unless they wanted to. I'm looking forward to taking her to the Nutcracker this year and I love that she is getting exposed to so much culture.


That was the end to a fantastic weekend and leading up to a great week of fun filled events.

Valentines Day Party

It's not Valentine's Day yet but Alyssa had her first V-day party yesterday. We had so much fun! There were four moms and a total of eight kids. The party was three hours and all the kids played great together and there were no major melt downs. I really enjoy hanging out with these Mom's as well they are a great group of ladies and the kids are children Alyssa will be going to school with too.

We made Valentines cards, frosted/decorated cookies, played inside and outside it
was a great day. There were a ton of goodies to that kept the kids entertained as well. I didn't get any pictures of the party but trust me it was fun and I'm looking forward to doing it again next year. I'm sure I will have another one again soon, maybe a Easter one!

I was supposed to have a Ladies Night the same evening and by late afternoon after the party, cleaning house, and running errands, I was exhausted and ended up canceling. I was bummed but I enjoyed sitting in a guite house and watching Grey's Anatomy on my laptop curled up in a blanket and no one bugging me!

Having kids makes these little "holidays" fun again. Even though Cory and I do something for each other and celebrate in some way every year it's great to live life all over through the eyes of your children and watch them experience everything.

The next two weeks are packed with stuff going on and I can't wait!

February Already!?

We have been a busy family. There have been so many things going on and I love it. The last week or so I have been taking Alyssa to open gym and letting her play. It's great because it's in the afternoon, so no nap, and by early evening so is asking me to go to bed! I don't feel like my child's schedule needs to be jammed packed but anything that wears them out is a yes please! Other parents will know exactly what I'm talking about.

One Saturday we headed into Seattle and spent the day with Grammy and Nana Gail. Alyssa was so excited that was all she talked about for two days and after! It was such a nice afternoon / evening. The kids played and there were no meltdowns, always a plus, and Alyssa put on a little dance recital for them. I think that was the highlight of the night, especially for Grammy and Nana. We usually get a daily dose of that, which we enjoy as well.


The weather has also turned out to be very nice but cold, my favorite! Cory had been itching to go out to Kayak Park, one of our favorite places, and build a fire, have lunch, and play. After Alyssa and I got home from dance class we loaded up the car and headed out there. It was a beautiful day but very cold. Normally it's not bad out there but the wind happened to be coming directly at us. We were all troopers and had our lunch and played but only for about two hours. Alyssa loves the park there and I couldn't wait to take them both there and have Knox try the swings. We hadn't been there since he was only a few months old and he was big enough now to go on the "wee wee's" with his sister. They were hilarious, he squeeled as much as she did. Once again Im so thankful that Im able to stay at home and take in all these moments with them!


The next day after Cory got home from the gym and store he had bought stuff to make s'mores with the kids in the backyard while I was at a meeting. He had waited for me to get home so I could enjoy it too. We made a fire in our fire pit and the roasting begun. I gave Knox his first one, although in stages, and he loved every bit of it! I mean who wouldn't! We can't wait to take the kids camping this summer it will be a blast as well as making more memories in our backyard!


This month always amazes me because it's the shortest month and always seems like it gets jammed pack with stuff. I'm not going to complain because I love to be doing and if not I'm usually bored a little odd for the introvert that I am. One of my goals that I'm sure I previously talked about was reading at least twenty four books. To keep me a little accountable I've started a list on here and I'm going to update every time I finish one.

Cory and I are doing great on our diets. I have lost ten pounds so far and I'm so thankful although I feel I have a ton more to lose. I'm almost comfortable where I'm at but a goal is to be in a bikini. My resolution of this happening by April maybe pushed back a little but I'm still working on it.


This last week or so I have made several "new" meals. One thing that we have fallen in love with is making cauliflower mashed potatoes. I know what right? We love potatoes and this is perfect although it doesn't replace them it almost gives us the same satisfaction. I also stumbled upon a great snack for all of us. I was going to make a child hood favorite of mine, banana spice cookies and came across something else on one of my cooking sites. It was for a banana cookie, but had no sugar and only had 4 ingredients. It was pretty healthy so I gave it a shot. They didn't come close to my beloved banana cookies but it is a great snack for the kids which both love. I think next time I will add some dried cranberries or raisins for a little something else. I also came across this wonderful cook book and it has a great recipe for trail mix in it. I can't wait to make that!

Well now that I feel totally "granola" I may need to go "kill" us some dinner!