Big Bill Turns 60!

Today is my dad's 60th birthday. He had it set in his mind that we were not going to celebrate until we went on vacation but my mom and I had a different idea. We planned a surprise celebration at the Custard Station in Kirkwood (where pretty much all momentous occasions in our family occur) with some of his good friends. He was very surprised and had a great time eating custard and being with friends.

To continue the celebration, he and my mom came over this a.m. for breakfast and then we were supposed to head to the zoo. I say supposed to because around 10:30 last night, the Trippster started making some funny noises from his crib. He wasn't really crying but something did not seem quite right. Nelson and I both had that feeling that we better check on him. So Nelson went in there and I quickly heard, "Umm Em, you better come in here." I did and the little guy had thrown up pretty much all over his entire self and crib. No exaggeration. So I put him in the bath while Nelson cleaned his crib and then we just snuggled with him in our bed (where he proceeded to throw up again). Finally he was calm enough to go back to bed and he slept great the rest of the night. We, however, were up for a while cleaning sheets, stuffed animals, ourselves, etc. We finally got to bed and a few hours later, we both woke up- Nelson to go to work, me to start working on my dad's bday breakfast. Not being one to cancel any birthday celebrations, I just figured we would see how Tripp was feeling in the a.m. and go from there. He seemed great when he got up, and so we all enjoyed breakfast (although we decided it was best that he not have any of the so tasty quiche lorianne).

My dad opened his presents (and Tripp thought it was so fun to watch him) and then we headed to the zoo.

We got down our street and onto the main road when Tripp got sick again. My dad u-turned the car and we headed back to our house. Now for bath #2 of the day. We got him all cleaned up and decided to just hang out at our house for a while. So we did, and then he got sick again. By that point, it was just Pedialyte because there wasn't anything else in his system, but this time, it was all over me! So we both hopped into the shower/bath (Tripp's 3rd time in just as many hours). By this time he was worn out and my dad thought some fresh air might be good for him. So he and my dad went for a walk, while my mom and I stayed back and did some much needed organizing and cleaning (and laundry!). About 20 mins later my dad was back with a sleepy little boy. We parked him outside for some rest while we got everything together to head out to their place (the cleaning lady was on the way to our house so we had to leave).

The rest of the celebrating at my parents' house included cleaning out their car seat, putting the little guy down for a 3 hour nap and doing some more laundry. Despite all the craziness, I think my dad would still say it was a great birthday, but I think we better continue the celebrating on vacation without any more sickness!!

better late than never

although it was three weeks past the actual day, this friday night, nelson and i got to celebrate our 5th anniversary! the little guy slept at my parents' house, and we enjoyed probably the nicest meal we have ever had. it was a lot of fun to pretend to be hip and cool for a night. we got to sleep in this morning (although right around the time tripp would normally wake up, i found myself mysteriously awake. but i had no problem going right back to sleep). it was a great celebration and i am looking forward to at least 105 more years together!

A boy and his grandfather

Pasta Bolognese

I've decided that on Saturday nights, I am going to try a new recipe and the recipe has to be a little bit of a stretch from something I would just normally make on a weekday night. One weekdays, I stick to the tried and true and the fast and easy. So on Saturday nights, we are branching out. Tonight was our first night at this. I was reading through my America's Test Kitchen cookbook and ran across a recipe for Pasta Bolognese. It looked delicious. So I thought I would try my hand at it. Well, come about 2:30 this afternoon, when I was getting ready to leave my parent's house after Tripp and I did some swimming there in the a.m., I realized I did not have the necessary ingredients for our dinner nor did I have the recipe with me so I could see what ingredients I needed. I turned to the trusty internet and was able to find a recipe that was almost identical to my original recipe, but this time it was from my friends at Food Network. It got 5 stars from 328 ratings, so I was pretty sure it was going to be good. And it was SO good. It took a while to make so if you are short on time, it is not the recipe for you. But if you want to spend your afternoon and evening stirring and tasting a delicious pot of sauce, go for it. You will not be disappointed. Oh yeah, the link to the recipe is here.

15 months old!

Last week, Tripp turned 15 months old! We went to the pediatrician today for his check-up! All was good, nothing too much to report. I do have his latest measurements:
Height: 32.5 inches (86%)
Weight: 26 lbs 6 ozs (74%)
Head Circ: 19 inches (80%)
We go to the eye doctor in the beginning of Sept as a follow up for his strabismus, but the pediatrician thought his eye looked great today!
He's walking all over the place now, saying lots of words, and has pretty much gone to one nap in the afternoon. I need to start to get creative in how we are going to fill our mornings! He is also going to start going to Mom's Day Out once a week while I am at work!

The Salty Ham

I got to go to Birmingham to "visit" my brother and sister-in-law this past week. I say "visit" because it was more like "work my tail off in helping them move into their new house." It is amazing how much one can get done without a little one running around. Many thanks to my wonderful husband, mom, and a few excellent babysitters for making this possible. I took a lot of pictures of their house, but I am going to refrain from posting any right now because I know Steph will want to post her own pics on her own forgotten blog once they get everything into the right spot.
I also got to see my childhood best friend who is just starting residency at UAB. It was great to see her, hug her and hear all about life as a general surgery resident (I'll be honest-it doesn't sound so great).



James made us some delicious dinner one night and we all went out to dinner at a very hip and cool restaurant another night to repay me for all of my hard work.


It was really great to be with them, can't wait till we can see them again!

They were meant to be friends

Today we got the chance to catch up with Emily- a friend who lived here but has since moved to Chicago and then State College, PA. We had fun catching up and watching our kids play. If this picture is any indication, then I'm pretty sure they had a great time together too.