Toast 2 Mom

New Dresses

The girls and I are visiting my family this week. We had a few busy days getting ready for our trip. After packing, more packing and a nice long drive, we're here. The girls were greeted this evening with new dresses....let the week of spoiling begin!

Piggytails and Popsicles

The weather is starting to heat up...

The Joys and Pains (and aches) of Aging

Today is my half-birthday. I'm 35 and a 1/2. Don't feel badly if you forgot to wish me a happy half birthday. I really just enjoy the joke with my husband that I celebrate my half-birthday too. These days, though, I'm feeling a little torn on the whole aging process - and not sure I want to keep counting those aging numbers or not.

In a nutshell, I have truly loved my 30's. My girlfriends and I got together about a month ago (awesome time!), and we were discussing how great it is getting older. We were reflecting on our days in our 20's, and not a one of us were eager to be back in our 20's. We did discuss how we wish we'd had the knowledge then what we have now - but I guess that's part of it. We feel smarter now, more stylish, sexier, braver, more talented, more confident. It's nice!

On the flip side, I've also been discovering lately those aches and pains I used to laugh at, when I was in my 20's, coming from older folks...in their 30's. I swear something starts to shift (and twitch and crack) in your body when you turn 35. To add insult to injury, when it comes to birthing babies, I'm now described as of a "mature maternal age." That's a "nice" way of saying, "your eggs are too old!"  

Sad really - just when you reach a point in your life when you figure things out about yourself, your body begins to start letting you down. I did have my children at a decent age, and my baby space is closed, but is 35 really a fair age to be labeled "mature," i.e. "old"?

And fitness, I was the most unathletic person in my teens you could find. I had ZERO interest in challenging myself fitness-wise. Now, in my 30's, I've found this new energy, this new spirit, set these new goals - and my hip decides it's not sure it's up for the challenge.

I don't know, it's perplex. I still have lots to learn in this aging game.

One thing is certain, though, cupcakes are always an option, no matter what age! And P.S. The Hubby is taking me out on a date tonight....happy 1/2 birthday to me! ;)

A Story to Every Photo

There is at least one story to every photo taken. This photo has three little stories.

 
First, the socks. Cheekers got these Sleeping Beauty socks from the Easter Bunny. She actually asked the Easter Bunny to bring them to her. We thought we lost them for awhile, and now they're back. So we wear them....all the time. 

Next, the outfit - socks and a just a diaper. Well it seems that every day I manage to put a cute little dress on my girl, and every day that cute dress gets stain-filled. I had just taken off one stain-filled dress. Since I knew it was snack time, I didn't feel like ruining another dress so soon. So why not eat with your clothes off?

And last, eating on the front porch. I don't typically feed my children on the front porch, but I had just vacuumed. A clean floor is something I like to keep for longer than ten minutes. Keeping my floor crumb-free so rarely happens; so crumbly cookies meant a bonus day of snacks on the porch.

Happy Friday!

 

What A Zoo

Well, we saw lions and tigers and bears....but that's about it. After living in our city for nearly a year and a half, the girls and I finally visited the zoo. I have to say, we probably could have waited a while to visit because, this zoo was nothing to write home about. We've been pretty spoiled when it comes to zoos, though.

Omaha has an amazing zoo. We even made a special trip there on our recent trip up to Nebraska. There is just no comparison. The good news is, it makes no difference to my girls. They are entertained no matter what - the beauty of young children.

I do have one more point to make. I find it very interesting that Austin has so many things to do and is such a "kid-friendly" town, but the zoo and the children's museum are not that great. I've been to both now, and my small hometown in Illinois has a better zoo and children's museum. Interesting.

Well, like I said, it makes no difference to my girls. They're still smiling anyway...

Lucky Eight

Eight years ago today, it rained on the luckiest day of my life!
Happy Anniversary Hubby! I love you!

Mom Day Weekend Recap

We had a great weekend. May is a busy month for us. Besides mother's day, it is also Hubby's and my wedding anniversary. Friday night, I got some alone time to go off and do some shopping. I have been hanging onto a gift certificate since my birthday back in November. I don't know why it seems so hard for me to spend money when I have it and so easy to spend it when I don't? I never seem to find the perfect items to buy when I have cash in hand. I did end up with a few fun things, though.

Saturday was my race during the day, then the Hubby and I got a babysitter Saturday night. The weather altered our outdoor plans, so we ended up doing some more shopping. Seems kind of lame to go shopping, but we never get a chance to actually look at things together in a store. We're always entertaining a child and not able to speak for long about what we're shopping for. After shopping, we stopped off for some Mexican food for dinner - our favorite.

Sunday, we were up and at 'em early. We took the girls to go see the movie Oceans. They had a 9:30 showing. It was a perfect time for a two and four year old in a nearly vacant theatre. After the movie, we had hopes of a hike around the downtown lake, then an afternoon baseball game. It turned out to be a lazier day. We went to Fuddruckers for lunch. Hubby pointed out the irony of us having lunch at Fuddruckers on Mother's Day. Fuddruckers was the very first restaurant we went to after giving birth to Sydney. It was our first outing with our brand new baby. That was a sweet memory to have yesterday.

The girls and I took naps in the afternoon and just hung out. Syd ended up going on a late afternoon hike with Daddio. They saw toads, snakes, craw-dads, and some other slimy creatures. I'm still perplexed by our girl's tom-boy side. Natty and I hung out, cleaned house and got ready to start a new week.

It was a great weekend....and I have a great family who made it extra special to be with.