the big 3-0

What a fun birthday it has been! Today is the first day of my 30s, and although I was resistant to acknowledge it at first, I guess moving out of the 20s isn't really so bad. I had a great day celebrating, and I feel very blessed after all the sweet birthday wishes from friends and family.

The birthday fun actually started on Sunday. Matt took me to dinner and then to see A Christmas Carol, which we go to every year. It's one of my favorite things of the entire year, and I seriously think this year was the best! We had great seats, and the show was fabulous. And on our way home, we drove around to look at Christmas lights {while listening to Christmas music, of course}. Matt had been begging me to take him, so I finally gave in. ;)

Then today started with some delicious breakfast tacos made by my sweet husband {and Will helped, of course}. Will and I had some quality hangout/play time before lunch, and then we headed off to the arboretum with Mimi to check out the Christmas decorations. We walked through the DeGolyer house, which was full of trees and santas. After looking at all the things he couldn't touch, Will was ready to get down and play. So we went outside to play in the grass...which was wet...so we settled for the sidewalk.

sweet little baby

{who is looking less like a baby and more like a little boy every day...}

My favorite thing about Will at this stage - the expression of wonderment/glee that he gets at almost everything. LOVE!

On our way out, we stopped in the gift shop, just because I hadn't ever looked in it. And, surprise - Santa was there! Will loved seeing Santa again, and we even got a smile this time.

After naptime, we headed out for a fun visit with Nana and Aunt Ryan, and we then had a birthday dinner at my parents' house - yum! We got to hang out with Mimi, Duke, and Mema, had a delicious dinner, and opened birthday presents. Will was a trooper and happily stayed up past his bedtime to celebrate.

Thanks to everyone for the sweet calls, texts, cards, and birthday wishes! I could not ask for better family and friends. What a fun way to enter my 30s. {You're next, Matt. You only get 3 months to make fun of me for being old!}

gardening. FAIL.

Although I am at home all day now, this is what has happened to our lovely hanging plant under my care:

And here is our delicious cilantro:

I clearly do not have a green thumb or know much about gardening. However, since part of my pre-William job included working on product packaging, I feel that I do know a bit about how things should be labeled. Therefore, I take issue with the 2 jalapeno plants we purchased this year.

This one is called "mammoth jalapeno." This mammoth has been growing for 3 months:

This is the "regular" jalapeno, also growing for 3 months:

Doesn't seem quite right, does it? I suppose I should just enjoy the fact that there are jalapenos growing on them, and I haven't managed to put them down yet. I have to give credit to Matt. He is actually very good at keeping plants alive and nursing half-dead plants that have been in my care back to life.

Here are some of his pretty tomatoes:

LUCKILY...I still seem to be doing just fine at growing a happy, chubby-legged little baby boy. :)

wicked!!

Yesterday we got to go see my favorite musical....WICKED! (Thanks Martha!!) It was awesome. I would go see it again today if I could. LOVE it.

So we had tickets to the afternoon show, because at the time of ticket purchasing, Will was a teeny tiny newborn, and I just didn't know if nighttime outings would possible yet by 4 months (yes, paranoid new mom), so we opted for the afternoon showing to be safe. Therefore, it was approximately 100 million degrees when we left for the show. Not a problem, right? I mean - it's not like the fair is going on, so we'll get to park right next to the music hall....right?? Not so much. It seems that there was some sort of VERY popular festival going on at fair park yesterday. In fact, so very popular that almost every parking lot was full. There were even people tailgating, complete with stomping contests and loud music. So we literally had to park about 2 miles away from the music hall. I might be exaggerating, but it was at least a mile! Normally this would only be a minor inconvenience, but I think other new moms will agree that when you get a chance to dress up after wearing t-shirts and flip-flops most days, it is fun! And you want to wear things that you don't get many chances to wear anymore. So I decided to sport these shoes:

Cute, huh?

Tell that to my band-aid covered feet! After walking super fast in the heat to get to the show, I had some pretty legit blisters, making the walk back AFTER the show even worse (plus there was no fabulous musical at the end of that journey). Matt will attest to the fact that during the walks to and from the music hall, I was screaming, "My feet are BLEEDING!" to anyone who would listen, while he was trying to convince me that one should never wear (or buy) shoes that make walking painful.

Lesson learned about wearing 5 inch heels? Probably not...

5 years!

Happy anniversary, Matt! The last 5 years of marriage (and 11 years of dating) have been absolutely wonderful, and I can't wait to see what our future holds. You are the best husband and father ever, and I love you very much!

5 years ago today:

2010 - how things have changed!: