Brocktopus turned 1!

It's hard to believe my baby boy is pretty much a toddler now. We had a huge bash on Saturday, and the dude partied hardy. Despite a house and yard packed to the brim with guests, Brock never panicked and had a blast playing. Here are some pictures:


Just before the party, me and Brock.


Nani and Grandpa brought balloons.


The spread. Doing cold foods (we also had deli sandwiches) really simplified things.


Babies loved chillin' at the pool. Brock is the one in the water.
Incidentally, the children LOVED croquet. They saw the set and dove right in. I thought they'd be like, "what the hell is that antiquated game that doesn't involve a screen?" Nope, not at all.












My grandma got to come! She's been pretty house-bound since breaking both hips and lives in a group home now.




He wore his birthday hat for about 10 seconds and a "1" onesie from Target.


Cake! My mom made some wonderful cupcakes and this cake.




You've gotta have milk with your chocolate cake. In case you're wondering, the best place to set your milk cup is directly in your cake. Repeatedly. Until you've thrown your cake on the ground. Then throw your cup on top of the cake like a little pill.


He put a strawberry on my white shorts at the beginning of the party. By this point, I also had chocolate cake on them.


That Clifford. He's a red dog, indeed.


Mark wore an outfit that matched mine just to embarrass me.


One of Brock's favorite presents was a kitty keyboard that does all kinds of cool things. One of my favorite features is that you can choose the sound the keys make, like banjo, bells, piano and MEOW! The keys meow when you play them. And there are a bunch of built in songs about cats, too. It's awesome.


All that partying requires a boy to kick back and relax with Dad.

36

Tomorrow is my birthday! And so it's also the Super Bowl. Guess which one gets more attention?

That's OK. I have had lots of fun festivities so far. Yesterday, my husband took me to nearby Sandia Resort and Casino for a spa day, dinner and a night away.

We got an awesome suite



With a huge bathroom



And living room



And, if you're from somewhere lush and have no appreciation for the desert, I say to you, have you looked out a window upon a vista like this?



Granted, there's a golf course down there. And it's not green because it's winter.

And, at 17-almost-18-weeks, my belly is growing fast



And Mark's is shrinking as a result of his diet (over 20 pounds so far!)

Long time, no writey writey

I have not had much to say, it seems, and little motivation to write. I've also been really busy. But I'll do a quick update.

Last Saturday was my birthday. I turned 35. No arthritis or wrinkles yet, so I'm good. As usual, I had a multi-day birthday extravaganza. Friday night, my husband and in-laws took me to Outback. I heard "Happy Birthday" sung at least seven times. Then we went home to eat pie, since I hate cake. Mark decorated the table in Disney princesses, so I'd feel young.



He also blew up a zillion balloons, which have actually provided me with endless entertainment kicking and hitting them about.



I got the bread machine I wanted (I have made a delicious loaf of white bread and pretzels so far). But while at Target, Mark saw the clearance racks and bought me a huge pile of random things that were practically free. Here I am trying to match to odd, matchless items together.



By the way, those ruffled panties wouldn't even fit halfway up my thighs, so I will be hitting the treadmill in a few minutes.

The next day, I had dinner with my mom and grandma. We had the to-die-for parmesan crusted sole at Yanni's, a Greek restaurant. Of course, I had rice pudding for dessert. My favorite.

Finally, on Sunday, my dad and stepmom took us to lunch at St. Claire's. Guess what I got? My butter crock! So far, I've filled it with butter but haven't used butter once.



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I'm working very slowly on my black and yellow dress. Usually, I try to whip through a project in one weekend and end up with sloppy results. I'm taking it slow, and also working on cutting out the baby quilt. Quilting class continues, too.

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I would like to leave you with a photo my husband made me promise never to post on the Internet. But I'm the kind of person who makes bets and then refuses to pay up. So here goes:

Who's an almost-birthday girl? Me!

You see, I want this item for my birthday, and I am hoping that someone in my family sees this gigantic hint and buys it for me.

It's a butter crock -- a magical way to keep your butter out of the fridge, and therefore soft and spreadable at all times. And this is the cutest one I can find.



It's available at sierraclayart on etsy.com. I used the shop's photo.

What's new? Not me.

A few announcements:
1. I have a new niece. She lives in Maine, so I probably won't get to meet her until she's 4. I don't even know her name yet. My brother sent a picture, but no other information. I would post it, but in the past he's been quite protective of pictures of his family.

2. It's my birthday on Thursday. That means this is my birthday week. I like to drag out the celebration as much as possible. I will be 34. Every year of my life, I've been excited for the next birthday. Except this one. This is the first time that I felt like screaming, "slooooow dowwwn!"
I always admired my mom's life. It seems to improve and become more rich and fruitful with every year. That's how it seems to me. I thought, "isn't it lovely getting to middle age?!"
But all of a sudden, I'm not feeling it. I mean, I know I'm not approaching middle age, but what if I get a gray hair? What if I get a wrinkle? What if I have a baby someday and my stomach looks saggy forever because I'm too old to snap back?
I used to think that crow's feet added character. What was wrong with me?

I want that attitude back, and I'm sure it will return soon. I bet 34 will be the most fun year of my life! Right?

Let the birthday week begin!

Today: Lunch with Dad and Vi
Sunday: Movies and dinner with Mom and Grandma
Tuesday: David's taking me to Long John Silver's. Greasy goodness, here I come.
Wednesday (real birthday): Mark's taking me to dinner

For my birthday, Mark got me a serger. I'm so excited, but I'm also completely intimidated by it. I have had it for a few weeks now, but I haven't even tried to use it yet. I took it out of the box right away and left it on the living room floor for a long time. I finally brought it up to my workspace (please excuse the storage boxes behind).



A serger involves many spools of thread (4 on mine) and a knife to trim as it sews. It scares me. But it will also allow my garments to have a more professional look since I can finish the seams nicely. It can also do some handy tricks such as blind hems and rolled edges, though that may take me a while to figure out. Apparently, just threading these things is a nightmare!

If you aren't sure what a serger does, look at the inside of a T-shirt. You'll see that the seams are bound by thread. It makes things look nicer, but it also keeps fabric from fraying. If the fabric frays up to the seams, it can weaken and open up.