Birthday Dinner

For the most part, we celebrated Tyler's birthday on Saturday, but he did have to wait until Tuesday for his birthday dinner, and as usual he chose a Mexican restaurant.

This year we went to Xochimilco, a family favorite. Tyler ordered a taco with rice and beans.

I can't say why I'm hunched over like I'm freezing....it was warm in there!

More silly poses. Is it Kung Fu this time?

After we were done eating dinner, the workers came out with a plate of churros, gave Tyler a sombrero and sang Happy Birthday to him. He thought that was pretty cool!

Then it was back to the house to open the last few of his presents.

Happy birthday panchito, happy birthday to you!

Weekend in Seattle

Over the weekend we had Richard and Melody stop by for a short visit, in part to pick up Rick's Nova that they were towing back to California, and also to celebrate Tyler's birthday. Instead of hanging out around the house, we thought it would be fun to head over to Seattle and show them some of our favorite sights.

Our first stop in town was one of our favorite places in Seattle....the Pike Place Market. We signed up Richard and Melody for the same food tour we took last fall, so while they were doing that, we made a few food stops of our own.

We went to Pike Place Chowder for lunch. Tyler and I had the standard chowder, but Rick was adventurous and had the salmon variety.

Afterwards the boys stopped at Cinnamon Works and grabbed a few cookies for dessert, while I had some cheesecake from The Confectional. Delicious!

On a side note, this was Tyler's first outing with his new Lego shoes that he got for his birthday and he was all about showing them off. In fact, he even caught the attention of another Lego fanatic who stopped and showed us the Lego brick cover he had for his iPhone.

Later in the afternoon we went over to Bullwinkles for a round of miniature golf.

I think we got in maybe 14 holes before it started to pour down rain and we had to run inside for cover, but I guess that's Seattle for you.

Tyler suddenly thinks it's cool to pose like a gangsta in every photo. Hmmm, I hope this silly phase passes quickly.

The next day we stopped at the Space Needle. Richard and Melody went up to the top, but since we've already done that, we went next door to the Children's Museum instead.

Then we spent the rest of the afternoon at the Museum of Flight before it was time to head back home.

Party Time

Here we were this morning with no RSVPs, expecting to have another small family celebration, when at the last minute we got a call from Tyler's best friend. Yay! Somebody was coming....and he was bringing his younger brother. Phew, that was close! Disaster averted.

 Time to Party!

First we started out with the games.  The boys each picked a race car and put them together.

Then we went out to the garage and raced them down a track that Rick built.

They also played 'pin the helmet on the racecar driver'.

And took turns dropping straws into the center of a lego tower. (It's not as easy as it looks!)

Then it was time for cake. Lego brick cake, of course.

Don't mind me in the corner over there eating all the ice cream.

Then it was time for presents. I got Tyler a Phineas and Ferb t-shirt and some Bad Kitty books. He also got a new pair of Lego shoes, Lego building kits, and some accessories for the Wii.

It's A Boy!

No surprise here. I saw this one coming a mile away!

Headed Towards Epic Failure

Tyler's birthday is next week, which also happens to be Spring Break at his school. Now that can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it. On one hand, he gets the day off from school, but on the other hand, it's a vacation week which isn't the best for birthday parties.

Last year I awarded myself 'worst mother of the year' for not throwing him a party. I mean I never even considered the thought. We'd always had quiet family celebrations in the past and I just assumed that's what we'd do again. It wasn't until he received his first birthday party invitation just days before his own birthday that I realized that we could have had a party and invited his friends from school.

This year we promised to do things differently. We were definitely going to throw a party. At first we were debating between having it at home or having it at a venue like the Kid's Castle or the Family Fun Center. Since Tyler wanted a Lego themed party, we decided to do it at home, because that just seemed to make the most sense.

So with the party just days away, here's a look at what's been going on behind the scenes.

I made and sent out the invitations last week.

We stocked up on party supplies. It's impossible to find Lego themed supplies, so we just went with basic primary colored plates, napkins, streamers, etc. Notice that jar of Legos in the mix? That's supposed to be for a guessing game, where the kids try to guess how many Legos are in the jar and the one who guesses closest to the actual number gets to take home a prize.

We made banners.

For a party game, Rick made this 'pin the helmet on the racecar driver'. The idea is to blindfold the kids and see who can correctly place the helmet on the racecar driver. I guess that was kind of self explanatory.

We also had plans for Make-and-Take racecars. We wanted to have each child build the car of their choosing (from a selection of store bought kits) and then take turns racing them down a plywood track. Then at the end of the party, the cars would be theirs to take home.

I had big plans for the cake.

I also made Lego goodie bags.

This is what's supposed to be inside. Silly Putty, a sticky hand, a small 34 piece building kit, a minifigure, some candy blocks, and a set of crayons.

Now here comes the bad news. We are less than two days away from the scheduled party and no one has RSVP'd yet. NO ONE. Tyler invited 5 friends and so far we've gotten zero responses. Um, nightmare alert! What if nobody comes? I don't know what's worse, not throwing a party at all, or having one that turns out to be a huge failure.

Half-Way Point

Woot! I'm finally 20 weeks along, which means I'm halfway though this pregnancy. It's all downhill from here. Well maybe not....that implies that things will get easier from here on out and that surely isn't the case. At least as far as time goes, I'm on the downward slope.

So here's my 5 month belly. I don't know if it's the angle I'm standing or what, but my stomach doesn't look as big in the picture as it feels to me. I'm still squeaking by in my regular jeans and yoga pants, but that's about to end real soon. The same goes for my tops. They're running out of room just as quickly. I haven't stepped on the scale in a few days because I'm kind of nervous about seeing the numbers go up, but the last I checked I had gained around 9-10lbs.

Currently my waist measures about 36 inches at the widest part, but I'll tell you a secret.....I'm keeping my pants up with a little magic and the help of a rubber band. Anything to keep from wearing maternity pants. Ugh!

On Thursday I go in for another ultrasound to determine the gender of the baby, but let's just be honest....it's a boy. With Rick's genetic make-up and a look at his family tree, it seems the probability of having a girl is beyond minuscule.

The Main Event

Sure, yesterday was St. Patrick's day. We ate corned beef, wore green, and had a festive dessert, but for Tyler the day was all about something else. It was Thursday and that meant one thing. His favorite show Wipeout was on. But what made last nights episode super special (for him at least) was that is was the all-new Spring Wipeout with a brand new obstacle course. You heard me.... all new.

I wasn't sure he'd be able to hold himself together all the way until 8:00 at night, but he did and when the show finally started.....well, just look at that smile that spread across his face.

Yep, the show was so highly anticipated that he actually had to set up some ground rules for me earlier in the day. He said that I had to be done with all my noisy chores before the show started. For example, I couldn't be in the kitchen washing dishes or making something in the blender or food processor, or even vacuum because then he wouldn't be able to hear the show.

And I guess it isn't nearly as funny without the sound effects of these poor people being thrown off this obstacle and that.

Oh, but that was so yesterday. Now his mind is off and wondering what the Summer Wipeout course is going to look like. He's already working on a diagram.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today we went green from start to finish.

For breakfast I made green eggs and a green banana smoothie for Tyler.  I wasn't so festive in that department, instead having bulgur porridge with almond milk.

Then we dressed in green to make sure nobody would pinch us.

While Tyler was off at school, I was busy baking. He insisted on having green cupcakes for dessert, so I went with the same cupcake recipe I tried last month, but added a dab of green food coloring paste to the batter. Don't look too closely or you'll notice how I had to cut around the tops just to get them out of the pan.

Of course it wouldn't be St. Patrick's Day without my favorite Irish Soda Bread Muffins.

And the roasted corned beef and potatoes. I didn't bother with the cabbage this year, since nobody really eats it. We had peas instead, but I kind of wish I'd gone with asparagus or something a little more substantial.

An Exercise in Patience

Yesterday was Mardi Gras which means only one thing in our house. We get to eat King Cake for dessert.

Last year was my first ever attempt at making one, and since it's essentially nothing more than a giant cinnamon roll shaped into a ring, I thought it would be no big deal. And while it did end up tasting good, it wasn't without its problems. My main fault was in using instant yeast instead of regular and letting the dough rise for too long. Then when I put it in the oven it developed this huge pocket of air in between the top two layers. It had a giant gaping tunnel in the middle of the cake. I mean, a hamster could have crawled up inside the space and had a great time. It was miserable.

This year however, was going to be different. I was going to make the perfect King Cake.

But first, time for our annual photo op. I was trying to be cute and festive with my purple maternity shirt, but I think it made me look pudgier than necessary. Tyler looks handsome as usual....minus the collar of his shirt. Why does he insist on chewing them? Why?

Okay, back to the King Cake.

Things were going perfectly. It was like a dream. I had made the best yeast dough ever....by hand. As in without a bread maker. I shaped the dough and it rose just like it was supposed to. Then I crossed my fingers and put it in the oven to bake.

And when it came out......

Looks good doesn't it? From this angle anyway.

But wait until you see the other side.

Excuse me for a moment while I turn into a pirate. Arrrrrgh! The seam opened while it was baking, allowing the inner layers to spread out and deform all over the place. Breathe. I know I pinched those seams shut! Next year I'll use glue or staples. I'm not kidding.

Thank goodness for the concealing nature of icing and sprinkles.

As for the inside? Not so bad. Certainly no gaping holes like last year. The coil would have been much tighter and rounder if the seam hadn't ripped open, but hey, there's always next year, right?