8 years of true love

*on the balcony of our room at The Ambrose Hotel 

On March 19th 2012 Ryan and I celebrated 8 years of marriage. We dropped off our lovely, demanding children with their grandparents and headed out to Santa Monica. After checking in at The Ambrose Hotel (super cute and super hidden) we strolled around downtown Santa Monica and the 3rd Street Promenade. I don't know if Ryan was being honest or not but he said he had as much fun as I did browsing the shops. Browsing was ESPECIALLY fun because of the kitchen remodel we're in the middle of -  it was actually more than just browsing :). During our "browsing," we searched for (and found) a good Thai restaurant near the beach before heading off to the movies. On our way to the movies we actually drove right by the Los Angeles temple where we were married. We haven't been there in years so it was a nice little romantic coincidence.

*Thai Dishes Restaurant for dinner, so yummy!

*on our balcony again

After getting the best night's sleep in over a year (not exaggerating), we went to a nice breakfast then spent the day on the beach and the pier. We took photobooth photos, rode the ferris wheel over looking the ocean, appreciated some crazies, and had fun just taking our time. It was the perfect day. I didn't want it to end. I think next year we will take two days for just the two of us. After all this time, I have so much fun with this wonderful man, my best friend, who keeps me happy, laughing, and taken care of.

*on the pier

*on the ferris wheel

* in love on the ferris wheel

The Saint Patrick's Day 2012 Instagram Breakdown

This year, Saint Patrick's Day fell on a rainy Saturday, so we spent the day indoors "celebrating." This was also the first year Wendy had any clue what St. Patrick's Day was (thanks to her preschool teachers at tiny tots who went all out and had a leprechaun reap havoc on their classroom). So because of that (and some mom guilt from ideas seen on pinterest) I decided I was going to make it fun.

Photo breakdown:

1. Separated fruit loops by color for some St. Patty's Day art (tried to slow my daughter down from eating the whole box in one day... it took her two.)
2. The proud artist with her pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. She really did most of the work, it turned out super cute but baby brother tried to eat it.
3. Woke up St. Patrick's Day morning to some leprechaun mischief... he ate the rest of our fruit loops & left tiny footprints
4. Wendy helped me make green (scrambled) eggs and ham (bacon) with shamrock cinnamon toast for breakfast. She had a lot of fun making it but wasn't so sure about eating it.
5.We looked around the house and followed some more footprints to leprechaun mischief... he left us a message on the chalkboard door AND (not pictured) played around Wendy's dollhouse, it's just his size.
6. ...apparently he had to go to the bathroom as well.
7. During baby brother's nap we painted our nails with "Pot of Gold" glitter polish.
8. Even though we saw no one all day, we all wore lots of green - didn't want any pinching going on in our house.
9. The "Harvey's 1st Saint Patrick's Day" shot.

Holy Moly, 10 Months!

*check out the one tooth! love it!

Harvey at 10 months:

• Weight: 25 lbs 7oz (93rd percentile)
• length: 30.5 inches (92nd percentile)
• first words: mom, mama, dad, dada
• in desperate need of his 1st haircut (as you can see)
• favorite game: I carry him around the house, from room to room, and let him turn off all the light switches. He looks at the light, then at me with a "look what I can do" grin as he turns it off.
• monkey see, monkey do: will copy lip smacking, using your finger to make bubble sounds, motor boat sound, shaking your head no, a head bob with an "aduh," and an "uh-oh!" sound, and (my fave) scrunched up chris farley face
• not crawling, but always scooting backwards. it doesn't matter if he's on in his tummy or his back. at least once a night we have to go into his nursery and move him down out of the corner of his crib so he's not smashing his head. and during tummy time i'm constantly removing him from under the t.v. stand or couch
• has 8 teeth all together, but still looks like a "one-tooth-willy"

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

Usually, for Valentine's Day, Ryan and I keep it low key with a nice homemade card (thats the best kind), a nice dinner, and he usually brings me some flowers or treats of some kind. This year, for my homemade card I took it to the next level. I made him FIFTY-TWO homemade cards. I had seen this cute idea online and on my friend Jenn's blog. It really wasn't that hard, just time consuming. It was a little sentimental too because my man LOVES cards/card games. It's kind of an inside joke that he loves a fresh deck so much that my mom got him a big box of them from Costco for Christmas. Now, whenever we play cards with friends he gets to break open a fresh deck. He gets a little bummed if people bend them (I'm a total bender). It was a lot of fun and made me realize how many little things I love about him. I made a list of 73 things in like ten minutes and narrowed it down to the reasons that I could find pictures for. I highly recommend making a list of reasons you love someone in your life. It's so much fun to re-read them together.