Happy Birthday Sarah

Happy Birthday to my friend Sarah! I started doing birthday shout-outs a year ago, and I certainly didn’t want to leave her out. Sarah is such a kind and funny person, who loves animals and is incredibly easy going. Aron better thank his lucky stars that girl is gonna marry him. I better thank my stars that she is still friends with us after she heard Joe sing karaoke in Vegas (I kid…sort of..).

Thanks for inviting us to your birthday dinner. It was definitely an interesting night of conversation and tasty sushi. I hope your birthday was great!

 

Catching Up

Sometimes it seems like the only time I can accomplish anything around here is when Jude is sleeping. So, here’s my one hour today to get some computer time in.

So, a few weeks back, I made homemade peach-mango ice cream in my Cuisinart ice cream maker. It was really easy and it came out pretty tasty. I really wanted waffle cones to go with my ice cream, but I lacked the necessary equipment (our waffle maker is too deep for waffle cones), so I made the next best thing…homemade ice cream cones and “cone bowls.” They were delicious.

This past Sunday was Joe’s 31st birthday. We had a really nice day to celebrate with him. We went to brunch at Moonshine with some friends. It was really delicious and worth the wait. Joe enjoyed some mimosas on the patio and Jude attempted to enjoy some mimosas.

Later that evening, we met up with Joe’s family for dinner at Cheddar’s. Joe’s aunts gave him such an awesome gift; copies of old photos, including some of Joe’s baby pictures. It was really fun to look at them, since these weren’t the same baby pictures that we already have. Dinner was really nice and calm and they even brought some cupcakes to celebrate. Here is a picture of Jude enjoying his cupcake.

 

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

We hope you have a great birthday today!

Love,

Jude & Liam

 

July is for Birthdays

It used to be that everyone we know (practically) has an April birthday. But, it looks like July is closing in on that spot. Two of my friends had babies within the last 10 days. In addition to Jude, Joe, and and one of Joe’s nephews, July is also the birth month of THE TIA SARA…number 1 commenter on House and Gnome.

Today is Tia Sara’s birthday. We hope that she has a fabulous day, that everything goes her way, and all her wildest dreams come true. We hope she doesn’t mind this old throwback picture to remind her of our trip to Vegas together eight years ago. That was a fun trip…if I only had pictures of that Elvis impersonator and the Rainforest Cafe…memories!

 

After Party

After everyone left and Jude woke up from his nap, he spent the next hour climbing in and out of his Cozy Coupe. In — shut the door — out — in — shut the door.  A WHOLE hour! He also played with all his toys and after his bath, he sat in the dog bed with his favorite dog and thought, “Man, that was a great party, right, Liam?”

 

Birthday Party

Today was Jude’s birthday party. We had a great day and it was worth spending all day preparing for the event. I thought it would be fun to have a dachshund themed birthday party, so I made cupcakes with little dachshund outlines traced in chocolate. I also made a dachshund pinata that we dubbed the “Lim-yata” and the kids got “doggy bags” to take home.

Here are pictures of Jude hanging out with the other kids. All the kids got to pull a string on the pinata to open it up (instead of hitting it blindfolded), but I didn’t design that part very well, so I just had to rip it open to release the candy and toys.

Present time was fun. Jude would get so interested in the different things that he saw. Of course, his Mimi would say “Oh, he really wants to play with that” and get the toy out of the box for him. The other kids thought Jude’s Cozy Coupe was pretty cool.

We sang happy birthday and Jude really did not want to eat his cupcake at first and cried. But, after a sweet kiss from his Daddy and a taste of frosting he changed his mind. He even posed for a picture with his parents, grandparents, and cousin Jason. Then he realized, “I hate wearing party hats!”

It was fun to see our family and friends, and Jude managed to stay in good spirits until the end, when he was ready for his nap. Thank you to our friends and family who came from near and far and took the time out of their day to spend it with the Mitchells. I know a one-year-old’s party is not the height of excitement. For those who were not able to join us today, we missed you and Joe and I ate your cupcakes for you : )

 

First Birthday

Wow…incredible! One whole year has passed since our miracle entered the world. It didn’t seem all that long ago that we were anxiously anticipating his arrival and on July 7, 2008, he took his first breath and took our breaths away.

Jude had a great birthday. We didn’t do anything extravagant or too out of the ordinary. But, we just celebrated the fact that he is in our lives and beamed at how much he has developed.

This is a video of when Jude first woke up on his birthday.

Jude got his own dachshund for his birthday. It was incredibly sweet to see how his eyes got so big when he saw it.

 

Then he gave the toy a big hug.

Birthday dinner with some of Jude’s favorite foods, such as avocado.

Jude is sharing his birthday dinner with Liam.

Time to sing Happy Birthday. Jude is a little unsure about the whole situation.

Party’s over!

Jude is helping out in the bathtub to get all that cake off of him.

We didn’t remember until bedtime that we had a party hat for him to wear. He wasn’t too happy about that.

Someone else can wear the hat while we read our bedtime stories.

 

Go, Daddio, Go!

Today is my dad’s birthday. Jude’s “Daddio” is one hepcat that we are lucky to know. He’s a grillmaster, joke-maker, game creater, and all around good guy. We hope to celebrate with his this weekend. We love you, Dad!

 

29th Birthday

 Today is my 29th birthday and I had a great day. The weather was nice, there wasn’t too much on my agenda, and I even got a nice long nap with all my boys.

My dad came down this weekend, which was really cool. He grilled for Joe and I on Saturday after we spent most of the day getting drenched while trying to do the grocery shopping.

Today after my dad left, we went to have lunch with some of Joe’s family. We went to Thai Spice, which was delicious. We haven’t been there in years and I forgot how much I liked their little appetizer/salad bar they have. It was a very relaxing day. But it wasn’t until 9:00 pm that I realized that I didn’t have any birthday cake today. So, maybe tomorrow I will have to continue the celebration and have a delicious cupcake.

Jude and his "dad-io"

Dad working hard at the grill.

Birthday lunch

Birthday kiss

 

Happy Birthday, Courtney!

Today is my friend, Courtney’s birthday.  Courtney is my oldest friend. We met at a slumber party in the 6th grade, even though we went to different schools. The next year, we started 7th grade at the same middle school, and we’ve been friends ever since. Courtney also introduced me to Joe, and we are her most successful match, to date.

The great thing about knowing someone for so long, is that you have such a shared history and many good times together. The downside: apparently your friends never forgot all the nerdy things you said and horrible clothes you wore. But, I love her nonetheless.  Courtney and I always said that we will be friends even in our old age,  just like the golden girls.

I love that Courtney and I are both left-handed Tauri (Taureses??) with Type A personalities, addiction to garden gnomes, and a strong need to get “hot mamma” haircuts. I hope she has a fabulous birthday, and enjoys being older than me for the next 3 weeks!

Courtney and Me (also our friend, Rachel) in 8th grade. Sorry, caption stickers were cool in 1994.

A few weeks before the first day of 10th grade.

At my baby shower last summer.