Flying & Birthdays

I was absolutely not looking forward to flying to New York. We had a lay over and would be traveling all day. Plus, Darian is so active and always wants to be going somewhere. But it turned out a lot better than I imagined.

We flew pretty early in the morning. He work up when we left through the airport, so he fell asleep on the plane for a while because he missed some of his sleep at night. And he got an extra seat because we flew southwest and could save him a seat if the flight wasn't full. He woke up for the layover and got all of his energy out by pushing his stroller all around the airport. We had a ton of different activities for him and brand new toys he had never seen, so he had a really fun time on the plane. 

But here's what I messed up. I didn't bring any of his sheets for the crib at the hotel. Now I know it's a good idea to bring your own sheets. I forgot his sound machine to block out the unfamiliar noises and make him feel comfortable. I didn't get a rain cover for his stroller. And I didn't check to see if the hotel had a tub, which is part of his nighttime routine because playing in the bath usually tires him out and then he falls asleep easily. If I had known it didn't have a tub, I would have brought a little $10 inflatable tub. So we tried putting him in the shower, but it only terrified him. Then he didn't want to be in that crib and could hear us working on things in the other part of the hotel room. Hector downloaded some white noise to his phone, but Darian was not interested in sleeping because he was still wide awake. So lesson well learned. No sleep for the numm numms. 

On a different note, today is my dad and best friend Melody's birthday. I love them both very much. Happy Birthday, dad! Happy Birthday, Melody! 

For my dad, I took all of his old slides from his mission, rented a huge scanner, scanned them into the computer, put them on a disk drive, and made him a slideshow. Before we left, we gave him his present. He opened up the disk drive and was like... okay... Then he opened up a box that had the tin thing that holds all his slides. He was shocked. He was so happy to see all of his pictures in the slide show and on the computer.

It was also really fun for us to see these pictures. He served his mission in Columbia, and my friend Melody, whose birthday is today, has parents from Columbia. Perhaps, my love for Columbian rice comes from my dad, and boy oh boy does Melody's mom make some good rice.

For Melody, I want to take her on a date because I haven't seen her in a while. I hope she cashes in on this birthday present. Well, I love you both. Happy Birthday, Dad & Melody!

Love

Happy Birthday, Darian!

This is a one year old.

So I think we are still exhausted from Darian's party and my birthday because we did nadda mucho for his actual birthday. We did, of course, sing him happy birthday, but it was a pretty low key day. Well, except for making sure we had everything ready to go to New York. 

What's Up?

This evening we went bowling with Christian and Alondra. Darian thought the bowling alley was legit. In fact, he said it was. (Not really.) But it had all of his favorites: food, music, flashing lights, balls, stairs, fun people. I bowled my best score ever and won on the first game. Then I bowled my worst score ever and came in last in the second game. Perhaps I have great talent that needs to be harnessed and refined. Ha. It's nice to mix things up.

I also took on a new client to work with once my maternity leave ends--Mae Ross. She's an accomplished actress, dancer, and model. She owns an acting studio and has a great talent for coaching kids and teens and launching their acting careers by getting them agents and helping them nail auditions. She's very honest and sincere. I am looking forward to working with her.

Just a Laugh

Darian is really into a birthday card he got that has a dog on it and plays music.

& He's really into dogs. lol

My Birthday

For my birthday, I wanted to do everything I love--take part in life--because my last birthday, I was very ill, hadn't slept for a couple days, could barely walk, couldn't sit, and had such chronic pain that labour didn't feel all that bad the next week. (Thank goodness I recovered right before I went into labour.)

So I laughed at Darian being silly, got out the door early, and hit up the baby gym. I pushed buzz light year around, jumped in the bounce house, and played with all the neat toys until lunch time.

Darian and I met up with Annie and Kylie at my favorite Armenian restaurant. The food was so good. The babies made a huge mess with the rice, and we didn't have to clean it up. After lunch, Annie and I went shopping for a while. We found a lot of cute things. Then Darian and I read books and sang songs. We picked up Hector for work and went out for Indian food. After dinner, I went to my 2 hour Masters class in acting. The whole day was go go go, and it felt great. It was also nice to have a day of a lot of Darian and me time because my maternity leave is coming to an end. 

I'm so happy that I could have such a nice birthday. And so many wonderful people wished me happy birthday. I'm thankful to have met so many amazing people. What a fabulous day.

Happy Birthday (Party) Darian

For Darian's birthday party, we did a dance party--yo gabba gabba style. Darian's favorites include dancing, music, yo gabba gabba, snacks he can reach, family, friends, and little people. So that's what we gave him.

It was a lot of fun to have so much of our family here. Hector's parents even came out from Arizona for the party!

& DJ Lance also made an appearance. Darian was very, very happy.

The party was very high tech thanks to Christian and Hector. We played a bunch of great yo gabba gabba music videos on the TV during the party and also did some games and dancy dance moves. You bet I got my dance on!

The Little People.

A couple of Darian's friends made it to his party! Now these aren't average little people. These are party animal little people. All three of them double birthday partied it this Saturday.

I was really excited about the piñata. It's designed for little people. By pulling the strings on the bottom, it opens a hole in the bottom of the owl and the candy (or heathy treats) come out.

To my surprise, Darian was heart broken when we broke his owl piñata. He had been pointing at it all week and saying, "Hoo Hoo!" When I realized what happened, I felt like I should have seen that one coming.

 But he was very exciting when his cake came out.

tranced by the cake

It was a great party, and we were so happy to share it with family and his other 1 year old friends plus baby Tyler. Darian is still going crazy with all the fun presents he got. Thank you, everyone!

& Happy Birthday, Darian!