Birthday week!

Wow!! I'm 29!  I can hardly believe it.  These last few weeks have been amazing - spending time with lots of friends made me feel really special.  

It all started with a trip to South Coast Plaza, Hunter's favorite mall.  We like it too, but there is a carousel there and, for the holiday season, a train.  He thinks this is the greatest invention ever. So, we go once every few weekends and ride the carousel and get him a piece of chocolate and he loves it. I love that they also have a beautiful Santa house.  Even though Hunter is completely Daddy-obsessed right now, I still manage to sometimes steal a kiss from my little guy!

 And a smile too.

 I went out with 3 of my girlfriends from college.  The one sitting right next to me is Jen and she was my freshman and sophomore roommate!  Melissa left Scripps after a few years but she and Emily (on the end) were my first 2 friends at Scripps.  Actually we met on "outdoor orientation", but I digress.  With all of us moving around the country life has been crazy.  I am so happy that all of us are finally in one spot and semi-settled so that we can see one another again!

 One of my absolute favorite things to do is to get dressed up very girly and go for a formal tea.  My mother-in-law and I used to do it frequently before I had Hunter.  Well, Louise (one of my best friends in grad school and one of my all-time favorite people) took me to tea at the Peninsula as a birthday celebration.  I was SO excited to get all dressed and go!  We had a great time and I can't wait to reciprocate for her birthday in January.

 Louise enjoying the tea

 A Lady always presents her cup.

 Later that evening (after tea), we went for the Holiday Stroll in Redondo Beach.  They close down the main street in their village and all the businesses open their doors with cookies, brownies, wine, hot cocoa, etc.  We met up with 3 of Hunter's best buddies and had a great time.  In this photo, Keagan greets Landon as Hunter and Lochner (in the background) watch.

 Morgan couldn't make it to the stroll, which we were bummed about, so Brian was on Keagan duty!

 The boys are dancing to live music.  Hunter in green, Lochner in maroon, Chance in gray and Keagan with his back to us in blue.

 Me and Bridget.

 Liv (Lochner's mom) is one of our good friends from mommy n me when the boys were only 2-3 months old.

 Brian loving the 2 big boys.

 Great picture of Keagan and his little brother, Wyatt, with Santa.  I didn't post any of Hunter with Santa because he threw a teary fit.

 This is Lori.  Baby Addie (Adelaide) is only 3 weeks old in this photo!  Big brother Chance is being a good sport about the whole thing.  This is another one of our really good friends.

 Landon is just the snuggliest little guy.  He was so tired and trying to put himself to sleep with his bottle on our bed.  Every time I see him I just want to pick him up and snuggle him and smell him (babies smell SO great).

 On Friday before my birthday (the 3rd), Brian and I went to a Bed and Breakfast for the night.  We've had the same sitter 2 afternoons a week for about 7 months now.  We absolutely love her and we trust her with the boys as it is, so we decided to get away for a night for some sleep!  When we walked into our room there were roses, champagne, chocolate truffles and chocolate cake.  It was wonderful.  We just sat and talked for 2 hours before we realized it was dinnertime.  Time alone together goes so fast, but it is so wonderful and fun to reconnect like that.  We are thankful for Rachel!

 Champagne!

 Th restaurant gave me flowers too!

 Landon's adorable face.  Notice those 2 top teeth.  Those are the reason I stopped nursing at 10 months.

 Meema and Peepa came over to celebrate my birthday.  Here is Meema with Landon.  Both look so happy.

 Family photo op!

 On Monday night my girlfriends took me out for dinner.  Actually, it was 3 of our birthdays! Lori (purple) is Dec 1st, and Janeen (far end in gray) is Dec 3rd.  So we all went out and had some great food and conversation.  Me, Janeen and Rc ended up staying out until midnight when I got a call from my husband telling em I had to come home!  We were at Denny's drinking tea - such wild girls we have become in our "old age".  In this photo: Liv, Lori, Liz, Bridget, Me, Rc, Janeen.

 The birthday girls! Lori, me and Janeen (or Neen as Hunter calls her).

 This is Rachel.  She is wonderful and Hunter adores her.

On my actual birthday we had a somewhat normal day.  It was a Tuesday, so I went to mommy n me with both boys, where we saw a lot of our friends.  Then we took Hunter to his PT appt.  Brian met us there, which was nice.  Then he picked up lunch and I went home to get the boys down for a nap.  Rachel came at 3 pm and we went out to see our first movie in 18 months (and only the 2nd since hunter was born).  We saw Harry Potter and my close close friends have made SO much fun of me for this.  That night we had take out from my favorite little Italian restaurant in L.A. It was a wonderful day.  The next morning we took off for Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  And that is where I am right now.