Happy 1st Birthday Jack!

We celebrated Jack's birthday one day late on August 15th.  He loved his cake!  We got him his own little cake and he devoured it.  I had never seen a child eat the cake like that.  We had to take it away to get him to stop eating.

Wait...whose birthday is this?

Mommy and Aunt Kimmy

I think Isabella just finished telling him about the opening presents part

Opening presents.  He again had lots of help.

After a long day, there is nothing like cuddling up with a great book!

Daughtry concert!!

Kim invited me to the Taylor Swift concert shortly after I moved to VA and we had an awesome time, then she invited me to Daughtry and I couldn't resist.  We had so much fun!  We had to drive to Hershey Park in Hershey, PA for the show, but it was worth the ride.  They put on a great show and the venue was pretty small so we were able to see really well.  Kris Allen opened for him and was also a crowd pleaser.

We ate at Red Robin before the concert.  Jorji and me.

Kim and her daughter Dani

Me, Kim and Dani

Jorji, Kim, and Dani

Kris Allen

Chris Daughtry...seriously, just believe me. :)

At the gas station, a break from our really long drive home.

Jack's surgery

Jack got tubes put in his ears on July 4th. I was a little worried about it all pre-surgery, but it turned out fine and he is doing well.  He looked super cute in his new pjs that we got special for the surgery day.  Then he looked even more adorable in his "gown"...they looked like little scrubs.  Here is the photo documentation.

Seriously?  I can't have anything to drink?

Will milk come out of this straw if I suck on it long enough?

Well at least there is some entertainment around...fish!

Look mom...Nemo!

Nurse...can I get some food in here?

Maybe this is edible?

Let's get out of here!

C'mon Mom!! There is still time!

He tried to hide, but they found him...it was all worth it though.

And the birthdays continue

This time it was my 31st birthday.  It was sandwiched right in between Isabella's 3rd birthday (that seemed like it was never going to end) and Jack's 1st birthday.  I didn't even want to get a cake because we seriously still had Isabella's cake around from her third celebration.  Nick surprised me with a babysitter (Aunt Jenn) and a night away in Washington, DC.  We stayed at the Capitol Hilton.  It was really nice.  We spent the afternoon at the Newseum and walking the Mall.  Then we went out to dinner at The Oval Room.  It was fantastic!

Pretty great view of the Capitol from the Newseum balcony.

Walking the mall on a really nice day (without kids)

A self-portrait, trying to get the Washington Monument

Another self-portrait with a better view of the monument. We went to see the WWII monument.

Here begins a series of pictures of me actually dressed up and looking less "mommy" than usual.
It had to be overly photographed. :)

Eating a delicious beet salad.

Dessert

The day we returned was my actual birthday and Nick had to head back to NJ so I was back to my job and realizing that it was pretty sad that I didn't have a cake.  I had planned to go out for dessert with my friends Kim and Andrew.  We headed out and as soon as we reached the place, we got a call from Dani (Kim's older daughter) that Jorji (her younger one) was throwing up.  We got right back in the car and headed home.  After Kim did a little clean up and got Jorji in bed I came over and had some ice cream with candles on it, thanks to a brilliant idea from Dani. It was memorable!!

Kim and me

Blowing out my candles.

It was a fun birthday but next year I plan to have a cake all my own! :)