29

Ok, so it's been two weeks since my 29th birthday. I guess it's about time I post about it!

Part 1:
My actual birthday weekend was spent doing what I love...being with my family. Dinner on Friday night consisted of Pei Wei, my parents, my sister and brother-in-law, Paul, and me at hanging out at home and then playing Apples to Apples.

Saturday, Paul, Evan, and I went to the Phoenix Children's Museum. We had a blast playing and running amok. Evan had a blast going down the slide and building forts. He also enjoyed staring at people, like the old man dressed as a cowboy.

making soup

eating soup

feeding it to Daddy

going down a slide for the first time (notice that he's carrying a pan in his right hand - surprise, surprise)

Paul was so helpful that day and he took care of all the diaper changes. Woohoo! That night we went out to Caffe Boa and had a delicious dinner. I had a buttery shrimp pasta dish (yummy and fatty!!) and Paul had a spicy chicken pasta dish. While we were there, I'm pretty sure that one of the members from Anthrax was there, although Paul doesn't believe it was him at all.

The next day, Paul and I headed to a Diamondbacks' game. We had some great seats along the first base line in the 200 level. It was so nice to have some alone time with Paul. We are so busy during the week that I treasure the time we have together when work isn't on our minds.

Part 2:
A couple of months ago, I mentioned to Paul how I'd like to visit my old drum corps friends in California since the last time I visited them was over two years ago. I'd see them at winter guard or drum corps shows, but it's just not the same. Anywho - after mentioning it to Paul, we weren't sure if we could afford the trip because of moving and me not getting paid over the summer. Totally understandable.

A few weeks later (or maybe it was days later), Paul tells me that he was planning a surprise weekend in San Diego for my birthday. My friend, Valerie, was in on it too. She had told my CA friends and they were even going to drive down on Saturday to have dinner with us. Paul gave me the option of going for my birthday or waiting the following weekend. I decided to go the next weekend because it was my friend's 30th birthday and I wanted to surprise her. I contacted her husband through Facebook and he gave me the details regarding the party.

This was the first weekend that Paul and I would be away from Evan. The day we were leaving, I got a stomach ache at work. I was dreading leaving the entire week. Granted, I was very excited to go, but at the same time I didn't want to leave my baby. Of course, I cried as I was saying good-bye to Evan. I cried and cried and cried. He was in good hands (my parents') but it hurt to leave.

We flew into Ontario on Friday the 27th and hung out at our hotel for the night. It was an amazing feeling sleeping in on Saturday morning! (But oh how I missed our baby.) Paul and I had some breakfast, got ready, headed to Goodwill to buy some clothes for the 80s themed party, then headed to Newport Beach. We had a great lunch and laid out for a while.

Once we returned to the hotel, we washed our clothes, and started to get ready for the party.

When we arrived, the first person I saw was my friend Melissa. She had to do a double take. The next person was Becca. Same thing. Finally, the birthday girl - Kari, saw me. She stood shocked for a second, then screamed, ran over to me, and we both hugged. She had tears in her eyes and that made me get them too. That moment was worth the planning and secrecy. I'm so glad that Paul let me do this for my birthday.

I had so much fun spending time with some great "old" friends. These gals are so special to me. Hey - I slept in Kari's parent's motor home in their backyard my first summer of drum corps. Hence the nickname Fattie Mattie Trailer Trash (FMTT).

Paul and I came home on Sunday. We arrived to a screaming baby that wasn't going down for a nap. I peered into the hallway to see Evan and my mother-in-law (she had taken over for my parents) and when he saw me, he began to scream and cry. My eyes welled up and I couldn't help but cry. I knew he was ok, but his crying mixed with my roller coaster emotions of coming home made me weep. Oh how I missed him.

Thank you, Paul, for such an incredible birthday. Thank you to my parents and Marie (and Brighid) for watching Evan for us that weekend. Thank you, Evan, for being such a good boy while we were away.