second birthday party!

here are some quick shots of micah's second birthday party... zoo theme!

we had the party a month before his actual birthday of october 18, since baby brother is due october 14.

one last birthday of not sharing the spotlight!

 zoo animal cupcakes... they're walking on grass

kangaroo kabobs.

shark teeth.

lion veggies.

and then we had "animal feed"... aka tacos and toppings and the "watering hole" for drinks!

the party getting started...

the petting zoo of animal crackers for party favors.

 the readers... and the dodgeball players. haa

2nd birthday cake... with the animals walking on grass and on his special birthday plate

cupcake. i don't have pictures of him actually blowing out the candle on the real cake because we took a video... but he didn't want to eat the cake anyway. cupcakes are WAY better, mom.

the crazy process of trying to open presents with kids all around to help.

so much joy!

happy (early) 2nd birthday, micah!

turns out, he's quite the party animal.

i thought he may get shy, since we crammed 25 people in our house.

but he loooooved every second being the center of attention, seeing all the animals everywhere, and playing with all the family!

now, baby can come aaaaany day!

my birthday.

i got very spoiled for my birthday.

my family and friends were thoughtful and wonderful.

and the actual day of my birth was pretty incredible.

check it out:

when i woke up, matt gave me headphones and the computer with friends playing... with instructions to not move. he said he had to make my gift. 

(he even pretended to pound things with a hammer in another room. haaa.)

but really, it was breakfast in bed.  

impressive, right? 

orange juice, sausage, chocolate chip pancakes with a birthday candle in them... and a decoratively placed orange slice. haa. good stuff. 

 then, i took off for a weekend with friends. we spent some time crafting! the fabric above is for a quilt that the amazing katie is going to make for our baby... it's going to have writing on it from people who come to the baby showers!

 this is a SUPER cute maternity dress that I watched katie make. i can take very little credit for the creation.

 homemade baby blocks out of foam and fabric!

 and onesies. freaking adorable.

yep. bowties and vests. and ties. 

 we also hung out, played games, made smoothies and transported them in very conventional manners, etc.

haa. good stuff.

on a side note, check out a recent and disgusting craving i had:

yep. narsty. but it was so, so good.

birthday happenings.

i had my birthday.

and man, did we celebrate!

warning: i have a billion pictures. prepare thyself.

 free HUGE starbucks drink.

notes allll over the apartment from this guy i live with. i sort of love him.

then, love from my students...

then, celebrated with matt with a fun, nice dinner.

 filet for matt... since he rocked his exam!

 and for me? my current favorite food. incredible salads.

 cupcake store for dessert? yes, please!

(with a blessing from God in that we had no change and the meter was already filled!)

then, brother ben came for harry potter.

at 3 a.m.

in imax 3D.

 much, much needed.

 brother. standing proud.

 and me. man alive, 3 a.m. harry potter in imax was unmatched.

the next day, we went shopping!

 california pizza kitchen. yummmm.

of course. a stop at cupcake station. so i could get inspired.

and, the last event of birthday week:

a trip home and then to west lafayette for cousin tara's wedding!

 there's my dog's butt. just for an extra special treat for you.

 weddings! we love them!

okay. that's just a perfect picture. 

and here ends my birthday week/weekend!

joy to the world.

birthday time.

it's our nephew's birthday on tuesday.

we have a party to go to on sunday.

what do you get a VERY active soon-to-be 6 year old?

we think... this:

also the quickest way to get his parents not happy with us.

but hey, it looks pretty dang awesome.

who wouldn't want their own rocket?

propelled by the force of your foot?

let's just hope they're in stock at toys r us.

maybe we'll just buy 2 of them.

i'm back in action.

well. it's been a while since i've blogged.

these are the reasons:
reason 1. matt has his birthday! or, as i like to say... i had cake day!
this year... homemade carrot cake. from scratch style. i've only made one other cake ever... his cake last year (which was fun, too... strawberries and chocolate cakes...)


first, grate a TON of carrot. i even grated my pinky more than a little. yum.

reason 2. birthday weekend celebration for matt. 
stop 1: ikea.

 stop 2: date night in ann arbor. italian and comedy.

 stop 3: celebration with fam. and cake eating.

 reason 3. i live with this. how could i not be distracted. how can someone find time to update a blog when situations like this are happening mere feet from where you would blog.
overwhelmed state of matt whilst spring filing and purging all the unnecessary things i always want to save.

 reason 4. i spend my days with students who do things like this: (he's supposed to draw a picture to describe an activity to do during the fall. i mean. come on. that's hilarious and very insightful for a 6 year old).

reason 5. i finished my first class of grad school! yay for me!


reason 6. i accidentally spent all of our grocery budget a week early in march (whoops!) so i didn't have any recipes to post... because our meals were not noteworthy in the least. i literally ran out of almost all foods.