Scott turns 30!

So he is going to write this blog post...

I was fortunate enough to actually have two birthday parties.  Addi has been singing Happy Birthday to me all week as well and it has been great.

The first was on my actual birthday where Jen and Addi cooked me one of my favorite meals, Fish Tacos.  First time she has ever cooked these and they were excellent.  One of the best meals I have ever eaten.

Then Addi helped me open my birthday presents.  First we opened up all of the cards from the parents.  Then I opened up Addi and Dylan's present.  They gave me a new pair of Rainbows which was much needed.  Then Jen surprised me with a large box that had another box in it and another box in it.  Great lead up to a great gift.  She gave me two tickets to see the Red Sox down in Tampa in September.  I was extremely excited and we even jumped online and booked a hotel room that night.  Our friend Brandy has already decided to keep Addi for the night so Jen and I can go. A very exciting day but it was not over yet.

My next party was on Saturday.  I cooked some ribs and macaroni pie (which are some of my favorites) and we had some friends come over for drinks, food and sour cream pound cake.  Check out the picture of me blowing out the candles.  They would not stay lit so we had to take a picture of me acting like I was blowing them out.  We had a great time hanging out with everyone and I even went out for a few more cocktails later that night.

All in all it was one of the best birthdays of my life.  Jennifer and Addi are just wonderful people and do everything for me, and I am truly blessed to have them in my life.  

Video & More Birthday (weekend) Pictures

Here are a couple more pictures of my birthday weekend with friends (last weekend). I've also been busy using my birthday present so I've included some video footage of bath time, singing Happy Birthday to Daddy, playing golf, singing, and doing some push-ups with Daddy (not in that order).

At CJ's playing with Natalie and Brandy

Dylan wanted to wear some bows :)

This time last year!

I just looked at this blog post from March of last year and after watching the video am teary. She is growing up so quickly, and I am so happy to have some video footage to capture these memories. She was barely crawling but starting to get around. Her laugh is still the same but our living room is much messier! Check out the old blog post if you get a chance.

St. Marks 2/26/2011

Last weekend we went to St. Mark's to walk around the lighthouse in the wildlife refuge. Then we had lunch at the Riverside Cafe (best grouper sandwiches we've found since moving here!). We had grouper sandwiches and oysters - Yum, yum! We saw three bald eagles in the refuge. It was cloudy within the refuge but once we got to the restaurant it was sunny and warm.

Eagle 3a

Eagle 3b

Eagle 1

Eagle 2

Addi's House and Other Things

Our friends Mike and Natalie brought us a little playhouse for Addi. Mike builds custom playground sets and took this down before building one of his own. This house was the only part salvageable, so they called us to see if we were interested. It needs to be painted and we are taking part of the railing off of it since it isn't needed but Addi can play in it in the meantime. She loves it and in the morning she runs to the window and says, "house, house" pointing to it.

We planted these flowers in the Fall when Michelle was in town (October, I think). I thought I put pictures of it up on a blog post, but looking back I realize I did not. Anyway, the flowers look great! They are not all blooming yet, but we love the plants we picked out.

Our sweet kumquat tree is overflowing with fruit. We picked it too early last year I think - it tastes much better!

Some other pictures of Addi and Dylan.

I tried out the new Flip camera Scott got me for my birthday...so here is a video from last night.

Birthday Fun!

I turned 31 today and had a WONDERFUL birthday! I am blessed in so many ways and had a wonderfully special day...I want to put into words how awesome it was, but I really can't so instead I will share my day with everyone.

My day started with being able to sleep in! That is right...all parents know that this is truly a special gift! So I slept until 8:20am and when I awoke Addi was dressed and ready to go. I grabbed breakfast and some coffee and we were out the door by 9:45. We had a playdate! It was our last signing group since Mrs. Carol (our teacher) is moving. We will have field-trips until she moves and continue the playgroups each week but the actual signing portion is over. After playdate Addi and I had lunch and she napped while I curled up and read a book for leisure. After she awoke from her nap we headed to the Tallahassee Museum to visit the natural habitat zoo. We just got a membership and LOVE it there! Addi and I spent 2 hours walking the trails and watching the animals. We also visited the farm animals and got to feed some of them since the trainers (not sure if they were trainers...maybe caretakers?) were out doing their rounds. Most of the animals in the wildlife portion were injured or in captivity and are no longer able to live in the wild because they will not survive.

We left around 4:00 and headed home where Daddy was already preparing my birthday surprises and getting dinner started. I came home to an adoring husband (this is an everyday thing though), an oreo cupcake that was big enough for us all to share, a purple orchid from Monica, birthday cards, phone messages, Facebook messages, presents (Asian zing sauce - my favorite wing sauce and a Flip video camera - lots of videos for the blog coming up!), and so much more! I am loved and feel really special! Scott made Dijon and rosemary pork chops with applesauce, roasted asparagus, and roasted potatoes. It is 8pm and I am tired. So off to hang out with Scott for  a little while longer. Below are a ton of pictures from the day. Man-o-man what a great birthday!

Play group with Bebo the Bear and friends

Sliding down the slide at play group

 A few of the animals we saw today:

owls

Otter!

Wolf

Bobcat

Albino Squirrel? We saw a couple of these white squirrels

Florida Panther - an endangered animal

Black bear - a little annoyed that people were watching him while he slept

Peeking over the fence at the sheep or "baa"

Kisses for mommy!

Chocolate Oreo Cupcake

"Have some of mine"

Orchid from Monica

Presents and Cards

"Can I have a chocolate hug please, Addi?" - "Of course mommy!"