thir-tee-three is okay with me

Posted on May 8, 2013 by mommyinthemidwest

My birthday last year was so bad, I don’t think I ever even blogged about it. Terrible. Definitely my worst birthday ever and one of my top 5 least favorite days in life. I worked for about 18 hours and the weather was crappy and it was just one.of.those.days. Except there was the expectation that it would be fabulous. It was a bad start to 32.

But 32 was wrapped up neatly with a little bow and put on a shelf today as 33 took it’s place. I worked today. One huge difference between this year and last – I love my job. I was over my old job by this time last year. I LOVE my job. And today I realized just how much I love the people I work with. I feel lucky to be around people that care so much and went the extra mile to make sure I knew that they did.

I MAY or may not have prepped the boys before they went to bed last night. READ: “Mommy’s very special birthday is tomorrow so make sure you remember to tell me happy birthday, give me lots of hugs and kisses, and sing to me when you wake up!”

And I may or may not have had to remind them again today, but that’s okay. They delivered.

It was a little hard to focus at work today with my phone buzzing every 5 minutes for Facebook notifications where someone had posted birthday wishes on my wall. SO NICE! This is something I am so bad about. But it really did make me feel loved and special so I vow to do better. Happy birthday everyone!

A friend at work took me to lunch and we were able to chat and catch up, which was a treat. I returned to my desk being decorated and this:

SO NICE.

After work, Ryan’s parents came up to watch the boys so we could go out for dinner and drinks. I met Ryan at the Toyota dealership where I dropped my car off for an oil change.

Then we headed downtown to a new-ish place (recommended by one of my kind co-workers) called Bakersfield.

I think I’m obsessed with this place.

I’m definitely obsessed with the food.

We tried the Fish (1), Pastor (2), Huitlacoche (3), and Short Rib (4). Oh, and the chips & queso.

All dee-lish.

I had the Red Headed Stranger per the server’s suggestion and Ryan had The Drifter. Both too strong for my liking, but fun to try anyway.

cheers!

loves.

I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful evening to stroll downtown through a couple of charming shops.

Silver in the City

Seriously. So perfect.

Mass Ave Toys

Such a neat store. I wish I had unlimited space and money!

It was well after seven and I needed to pick up my car before eight so we headed back to the dealership. Then swung by Cheesecake Factory on the way home and left with a to-go bag of sinfully delicious desserts.

There’s never any trouble finding helpers when presents need to be opened.

Gifts consisted of money to buy new clothes and a Hungry Girl cookbook.

YAY!

We put the boys to bed and then enjoyed our hidden and forbidden treats. Oh yes.

And with that, I’ll be getting RIGHT back to Couch to 5k and eating healthy tomorrow.

What a day – what a WONDERFUL day. And thank you so much to anyone and everyone who played a large or small role in my day today! I’m truly happy. Truly blessed. Loving 33!

xoxo,

~C~

things that made me smile/cry

Posted on April 17, 2013 by mommyinthemidwest

stuff for smiling:

Well-behaved boys and fast-moving traffic on the way to Tennessee Friday night.

My niece playing games on her iPod with her cousin.

My husband snuggling up with our 3 month old niece.

A delicious food truck lunch with my nephew at the Dogwood Arts Festival.

Cousins crafting.

My mama and her gorgeous grandbaby, Penelope Quinn.

Kids playing at the park.

Grown-ups playing at the park (my sister).

Sister love.

A child’s curiosity.

This. THIS THIS THIS.

Donuts at dusk while their cousin practices baseball.

A bed full of the three cutest guys I know.

A family day at Dollywood with my hubby and our boys.

Boys drivin’ cars.

Boys drivin’ ducks.

Boys splashin’ and laughin’.

His hand on mine.

Train ride in the mountains.

Finally getting home and seeing these two snuggling on the couch.

This face.

And the things that did not make me smile during that same time frame? Tears. Or at least some negative feelings.

1. Only having 2 days to spend in TN.

2. Traffic jams that meant an 8 hr drive home.

3. Theo’s eyes swelling up from seasonal allergies. Hello, Zyrtec. We remember you from March – June 2012.

4. This:

5. Boston Marathon.

6. My very, very good friend moving far, far away. Good, good friends are hard to find and keep in the same state apparently.

7. Other stuff. Blah.

How was your weekend?

xo,

~C~

Easter 2013

Posted on April 2, 2013 by mommyinthemidwest

To see how much they’ve changed in a year, click: Easter 2012

This Easter weekend we stayed with Ryan’s parents, AKA Pop Pop & Nana. Aunt Chelle, Uncle Bob, and cousin Spencer were able to join us for the weekend. There was an unexpected twist on Easter, but overall, it was a great weekend.

Saturday, their neighborhood had an Easter egg hunt.

A rare photo of me & my boys.

Apparently this is their Swing Face.

Saturday night we celebrated Pop Pop and Uncle Bob’s birthdays with the delicious and adorable cake below.

Theo REALLY wanted to blow out the candles. So we re-lit some.

Sunday morning, Dexter and I were playing on the floor. He was laying/rolling/jumping all over me. It’s kind of a blur now, but I recall that he started to roll off of me and instinctively, I grabbed his arm. It must have been the angle at which he was falling + the angle at which I pulled his arm…but I heard and felt a pop. I sat up immediately and stood him up in front of me. He instantly started screaming and crying in a way that said something was very wrong. We took his shirt off and his right shoulder was visibly different from his left. It looked higher. I picked up his right hand and dropped it. It fell limp at his side. He was not able to use his right arm at all. Ryan and I loaded him up in the car and left for Urgent Care.

in the car

waiting on x-ray results

The boy went from being uncomfortable to being in excruciating pain from moment to moment. His arm remained limp throughout this time. After the first set of x-rays came back normal, the radiologist requested a second set from a different angle. This time the tech raised his arm, which was the first time it had been in that position since his arm popped. He screamed and cried. I noticed, though, that as soon as I picked him up off the table this time, he immediately wrapped his right arm around my neck. I pointed it out to Ryan and the x-ray tech and we went back to the room to wait for results once more. When we sat in the chair, Dexter sat up in my lap. Until then, he had been lying on us. He was hesitant when I asked him to give me a high 5, but did it. He cried a little. He was fidgety. We asked if he wanted to get down and walk around and he did so we put his shoes on and sat him down. He began swinging his arm normally and walked right over to the doctor’s stool and started drumming on it. !!! What!?

This almost brought tears to my eyes; I was so relieved that my babe was fine. Ryan was mortified because we had wasted all this time (and money, no doubt) and there was absolutely nothing wrong with our kid. My perspective … we could have been in surgery for a dislocated shoulder. I don’t know what happened, but when he had that second x-ray, he got all better. We told the nice ladies at Urgent Care “check, please!” and hit the road.