31 in Santa Barbara

Ahhh, Santa Barbara...I miss you already.

I tagged along with Jared to one of his CE courses and it worked out great, because the course fell on the weekend of my bday.

Perfect

I took full advantage of the alone time and the beautiful weather.

70's and sunny

Thursday: Arrived 6 pm, dropped off bags at amazing resort, strolled along beach, dinner outside with Jared

Friday: slept in, breakfast on the patio, relaxed poolside, manicure, pedicure, dinner with Jared

Saturday: more sleeping in, facial, massage, relaxed poolside, strolling, dinner and movie with Jared

Sunday: delicious brunch with Jared, arriving home, seeing our boys!!

I would turn 31 again any day!Jared chatting with his old pal Benjamin FranklinLook, I could work at Sea World!We stopped into a grocery store and saw this dog. We had to take a picture for the boys!

A perfect weekend away. I enjoyed my alone time, but enjoyed my time with Jared even more. Talking to Jared uninterrupted these days is simply priceless.

BIRTHDAY MANIA

Event: Jared and Christine birthday lunch at Joe's BBQ

Delicious

Those present: Cam, Jenny, Stella, Connie, Tim, Abbey, Mike, Ben, Dad and Mickey

We gathered for a quick lunch at Joe's (we missed Carrie and Dan!) since Jared and I were in CA for my bday and Jared's is the 3rd, so most would be out of town. It was nice seeing everyone and visiting until Levi got cranky and Dad had to rush out to go fly.

SWIM LESSONS: ROUND 1

One word to sum up our first round of swim lessons:

TRAUMATIC

Oh yes, it was very traumatic...for both the boys (Luke) and me.

3 days a week, 3 weeks

1 little boy (Luke) locked himself in the playroom, twice.

1 frustrated mom +1 very angry little boy (Luke)+ 1 car seat=10 min. struggle + tears (for both of us)

1little boy (you guessed it, Luke) attempted to run away (back to the car) several times...and wouldn't come back.

A broken pool heater=freezing cold water

ON THE PLUS SIDE:

1 life saving sister (Connie) offering baby sitting help

1 GREAT (and patient) swim teacher

1very brave big brother (Wyatt) who amazed me with his courage and good attitude

Sonic treats

Wyatt really improved and gained more confidence toward the end of the 3 weeks. He started getting excited to prove himself.

His goals:

get the most rings at the bottom of the pool

Jump in the deep end and swim to the other side of the pool...and he did it!

Such a sad face.

This was what Luke looked like almost every time. Poor guy.

He impressed me with his determination to do what he was told and be done! He did a little better towards the end of the 3 weeks, but still cried in the car, walking into the backyard, and if he ever had to go first!

I was totally impressed with Wyatt. He was scared and cold, but he took on this challenge with a great attitude. I am lucky to be his mom.

He is the perfect big brother.

So mature and smart.

He is a good example to his brothers.

I overheard him giving Luke a pep-talk several times on the way to swim lessons.

LET'S GO FLY A KITE...

A couple months back my dad came over to show the grandkids how to fly a kite. Abbey and Mike just happend to be over and Wyatt had been talking about flying a kite for a few days. The weather conditions were just perfect, but the kite didn't always cooperate. Could've been that the kids enjoyed playing in the streamers every time it fell to the ground. Thanks Grandpa, for being so fun!

Levi's new favorite spot...in the oven drawer. Only problem is he gets stuck and can't get out. Such a doll. I love you, Levi, and all of your quirks.

1

Oh Levi! I can't believe you were born 1 year ago. My how the time has flown. You are getting so big and it makes me sad. I love you more and more each day. You are a beautiful baby boy. You are a joy!

Here you are walking around with your Grandpa Webb

You don't enjoy wearing hats, so, I hurried and put this on and snapped a picture right before you threw it off!

You didn't waste any time eating your cupcake. You didn't even get any on your shirt! You do love the sweets.

The party guests, minus a handful of adults and Miss Stella.

For your first birthday we had a party with family. Those in attendance included Grandpa Webb, Mickey, Carrie, Dan, Cam, Jenny, Stella, Connie, Tim, Abbey, Mike and baby Benjamin.

You were tired from a day of swimming, but took a nap right before the party.

The boys and I decorated the house with balloons and signs and the cupcakes were frosted with green frosting and sprinkles.

It was a fun night, but we had to be quick because you were getting tired and ready to go to bed! You LOVED your cupcake and ate it right up!

You got a lot of great presents. I know they were great, because all of the other kids took them away from you and played with them all night, but you didn't mind because you had fun with the balloons.

AT 1 YEAR OLD:

You love to sing and listen to others sing

You aren't walking yet, but have been standing up on your own

You have a very silly, yet very fast crawl

You have a temper...your face gets red and everything (funny story: earlier in the day when we were swimming a little girl pushed you down and you got really mad and yelled at her!)

You love to get into the kitchen cupboards and bathroom cupboards; pulling everything out and making a mess

You like taking baths

You take 2 great naps! You love to sleep

You eat big people food and love most anything

You love your bottle and thumb (especially when you're tired)

You love your blanket

You love your brothers

You lay your head on my shoulder (...and it melts my heart)

You babble and say, "da" all day long

You wave

You have 2 teeth on top, 2 on bottom

You smile and laugh a lot

You are ticklish

YOU ARE LOVED!

A few months ago I was online admiring the incredibly beautiful pictures of the Pied Piper (www.piedpiperphoto.blogspot.com) and saw that she was doing a "hot mama" shoot. I thought, "Well, I am a mama (needing to feel "hot") and I seem to just be getting older, so it might be a good idea to capture my "youth" while it's still sort of here, and it would be fun to get pampered (they did my makeup)!" Oh yeah, and maybe Jared would appreciate them too. So, I did it...

and it was fun....

and Jared WAS really surprised and LOVED them....

and I think the talented Lindsay did a great job!!

What do you think??

So, I thought it would be fun to keep it all a secret from Jared... thanks Connie for watching my kids! It was really, really hard for me to be patient and to wait for the pictures...and even harder not to tell Jared about them. The day I got them it happened to be the 5 year anniversary of Jared graduating from dental school, so the boys and I threw a grad party and I framed some of the pictures so he could put them up in his office! It was a lot of fun!