Happy 3rd Birthday Nickolas!

My sweet boy is 3 years old today!!

I really struggled this year with how to handle his birthday party. In the past, we've only had family, and that worked well at those ages. But this year, I worried about him turning 3 and not having more friends involved. So we debated, and debated, and ended up deciding it was best to keep it low-key again for a few reasons. 1-it was right after Christmas (I know, I'm sorry Nick), 2-we didn't want to spend a lot of money (once, again..sorry Nick), and 3- we did Christmas at our house this year and knew we'd be just plum tired (poor Nickolas).

SO-I was determined to make this special, darnit! We had a DINOSAUR themed birthday party with family and I thought it turned out pretty good! We had a few dino decorations...a HUGE blow-up dinosaur with dino EGGS! I paper machéd eggs with small dinosaurs inside, so that each child could open them up at the end of the party. We had a dino DIG! So we filled a kiddie pool with sand and lots of small bones and put it in the kitchen for the kids to dig. They loved it. My grandmother made a dinosaur cake which turned out great. And we attempted to play Jurassic Park but my family overturned that decision in leiu of the football game.

2 of the kids were unable to make it, so it was only the boys and my sister, but I don't think Nick minded, and it was definitely nice to have a smaller crowd as we came to an end this holiday break. Nick is happy with all his dino gifts and he's now my big 3-year old BOY!

Love you Nick!

Christmas 2009

Can you believe it...a white Christmas!?!

This was the first year we spent both Christmas Eve and Day at our home! It was wonderful! Thursday night Keith's parents came over and Keith's Cousin Johnny. We had food, let the boys open presents and spent some time in the snow and visiting. Then we baked cookies for Santa and the boys were in bed early with excitement and anticipation for Christmas morning. Keith and I were up late wrapping up gifts, filling stockings and cleaning.

They strolled into our bed early, about 6:30 I'd say, and we made them lay there until 7:00 which is kind of the "rule" for wake up time. Christmas morning shouldn't be any different...we were tired!

We came out and the boys opened the few presents Santa had left and went through their stockings. We had a great breakfast with eggs and sausage and then the best part...playing in the snow!!! We built a snowman, made snow angels and had snowball fights. This time I was dressed warmer and stayed out for a good hour. If I didn't need to come in and start getting ready for my family to come over I would have stayed out and played!! My family was over at about 11 and we ate, opened presents and hung out. Lots of fun!

That evening I took Kolbe and Nick out to look at lights since I knew we didn't have too much longer for the season. We went over to the Shops of Legacy and got out and walked through with all the lighted trees and huge Christmas tree. They enjoyed it.

We were back home, boys in bed, relaxed and happy! What a great Christmas 2009!

Review: Chuy's Tex-Mex

Awhile back I had lunch with my friend Lori at work, and she casually offered up Chuy's! I said "YES", since I have always wanted to try it!

For the most part, I had heard good things about this place, and there was a new location off 75 that sounded neat, so we headed that way.

I ended up ordering one of the specials, and it was some kind of soft taco wrap but with cheese, shrimp and cream sauce on top. I'm sure all very heart-healthy. The sauce had a bit of a spicy kick, and it was a unique and tasty flavor. I would definitely recommend!!

The atmosphere was great, typical tex-mex environment...my only wish is that we were there during happy hour instead of during lunch!

Map My Fitness Sucks

Many weeks ago I installed an app on my iPhone and also joined mapmyfitness.com. The intention was you could carry your phone while you ran and it would track:
• Time
• Speed
• Avg Speed
• Distance

Also a few additional stats. It would then keep a log and you could access this information online.

I was PUMPED.

So I get my running gear on, laces tied, music going, hit GO.....

and....

nothing.

It said it was searching for a better signal area so I started to troubleshoot. I was determined to get this thing working. What better combo-your phone, music and something that tracks your runs. Long story short-it didn't work, so I didn't run.

You can map my run right back to the couch.

Erik=Opa

When Erik was born I thought he was a clone of Keith's baby pictures. As he's grown over the months I still saw the resemblance, and thought out of all the boys he looked the most like Keith.

In the last couple of months, and in looking at Keith's dad's baby picture again, I began to ask myself "Did I give birth to Keith's dad"?

I made sure during the boys' pictures that we tried to get a pose similar to Opa's picture, at least for a side by side comparison. They were both 8 months old in the pictures (eventhough Erik's was 76 years after Opa's).

The resemblance is unbelievable. Same smile, cheeks, facial structure and head. I can't get over it. I see absolutely none of my features in my baby boy!!

Good thing he's a cutie!
I think it's neat that they share those characteristics!