Day 121 - April 30

*sigh* Last day of my birthday month. Sad. And since I'll be busy with a small baby next year and probably won't do another 365 project, it's the last you'll all have to hear about my birthday! (Unless we're friends on FaceBook, in which case, there are only 11 months until I get to talk about it again!!)

Anyway, summer has returned to the Gulf Coast after a nice break last week. We hit a high of 91 in town today, so the pool saw some action! Between noon and 3:30 this afternoon, the pool temperature went up 2 degrees, and the kid was more than happy to play in the water. Daddy took her swimming for a little while before he had to go into work tonight, and thankfully, she was done swimming by the time he had to head in to change, so I just had to sit outside with her (I did my swimming this morning and was NOT putting a soaking wet suit back on. Ick.).

In a stroke of Mommy-genius, though, I managed to keep her occupied with water by filling up buckets and letting her play next to the pool while I sat in the shade. I think she might have a new favorite past time, and I think we need to go buy a few more outside buckets so I don't have to sacrifice my tupperware-like containers!

And I have no idea how this happened, but she looked right at the camera, and she gave me an actual genuine smile. This NEVER happens!!!

Day 120 - April 29

Sunday brought a trip to the zoo in New Orleans. We really enjoyed it last year and we weren't disappointed this year, either.

It was pretty warm out yesterday, so thankfully the child has the attention span of a gnat and we were able to cover the whole zoo in about an hour and a half. She was a sweaty mess at the end, and Mommy's back was about to give out, so it was the perfect pace to get through it!

Of everything we saw, this gorilla just cracked me up. He sat like this for quite a while, just checking out the crowd. Later, he shifted position and sat on a log, leg crossed, head in hand again, watching what the other gorillas in the exhibit were doing. I couldn't help but wonder what these higher order animals must think when they see all the humans looking at them over the wall....

Day 119 - April 28

Even though it was technically my birthday week (and weekend away in New Orleans), Saturday was pretty much about Michaela.

The long-awaited Fresh Beat Band concert was finally here and we couldn't WAIT to get her there! We told her about it on Friday night, but I'm not sure she really understood what we were getting at. She seemed excited to see the Fresh Beats, but I don't know if she knew how she'd be seeing them.

Of course, the concert was during nap time, so we were prepared for a possible melt-down due to that, but our really bad night on Friday night didn't factor into our plans. The kid fell asleep in the car on the 20 minute ride from the hotel to the venue, so we didn't really start off on the best foot. We were a little concerned when the show started and she seemed really unsure of what was going on.

We didn't need to worry!!!

About ten minutes in, she got up off her seat and started dancing (her favorite twirly cherries dress helped that cause along), and didn't stop until the show was over. And the second half was even better because Daddy braved the lines and got her the "light fing" she kept asking for (along with her first concert tee shirt!), and the light "fing" quickly turned into the world's best microphone.

The quality of this picture is terrible (I stupidly followed the rules on the arena website that said no cameras were allowed so I only had my phone), but I think the "microphone" hint will help you figure out what you're looking at! If I'm not mistaken, she was singing her favorite song, "Rock Star" at the time this picture was taken.

Day 118 - April 27

It was my birthday!!! (Now that it's Monday and I'm finally getting to this....)

I woke up stupidly early (which means before the kid) and Jason left a little late for work so he could drop the dog off at the kennel for the weekend, so when I walked out to the living room, I was greeted with a, "Happy Birthday!" and the best flowers I've ever gotten.

They came from our front yard and he did such a good job of putting them together! It definitely started my birthday off the right way!

(It did not end the right way.... there's a whole long story about the kid not liking her toddler travel bed (or being too excited to sleep), a swap to a pack n play over two hours after bedtime, a nightmare just after midnight, and then a toddler being the only person to actually sleep in the king size bed the rest of the night! But I'll focus on the positive.)

Day 117 - April 26

Tonight's picture is just for my friend, Abbie.

I can't pack without a list. Ever. Not even for a weekend trip. Actually, that's not true. When we went over to the Eastern Shore at the beginning of March for a night without the kid, I did not make a list to pack. But it was one night. Add in a second one, and it throws me into a tailspin to not have a list. This is made even more true when the kid is coming with us. She comes with a lot of stuff. A lot.

So now I have a "weekend trip with the kid" excel packing list to add to my week away (flying) and week away (driving) lists. I embrace my type-A dorkiness, in case anyone wondered.

Day 116 - April 25

I'm breaking the rules all over the place this week. I've got three pictures today. When you see them, you'll understand why. It was just too hard to choose, and I actually could've used at least one other one, too.

So as to not make the thumbnail on FaceBook about my birthday again, I'll start with the pictures of Michaela and finish with my birthday week stuff today.

First thing this morning, Michaela hauled out her Olivia "trunk"out to put on her dress up stuff. That stayed a theme throughout the day (when she wasn't at school or asleep), and she greeted Jason with, "Look at my arm warmers!!" as he walked in the door tonight. Then she put his boots on. You'll note in the picture that she's holding something red in her right hand and a telescope in her left. Those are the other parts of the dress up kit - she wanted to make sure she had it ALL.

Later, after dinner, she put it all back on again and somehow ended up in the laundry basket (her car). I don't know how that all went down, but it made us laugh and made for good 366 pictures!

And finally, in celebration of birthday week, Jason (and Michaela) sent me some chocolate covered apple slices from Edible Arrangements. Mmmmmm.... DELISH!! (Just like you've always said, Mom!!!) And don't worry, it's almost my actual birthday, so you won't have to hear about it too much longer!

Day 115 - April 24

I have two pictures for today, and they have absolutely nothing to do with each other. Seriously. Nothing.

But I want to use them both anyway, and it's my blog, so I'm going to.

For those who don't come to this blog via FaceBook, you haven't seen my excitement about it being my birthday month (I posted that on April 1) and, more importantly, my birthday week! I decided the celebration for my birthday week would start just 4 days before my birthday this year (usually it's exactly a week out) because we're going to New Orleans this weekend and will continue to celebrate for a couple days after my birthday, so I had to adjust accordingly. So my birthday week officially started yesterday and will continue through Sunday.

Thus, it was completely appropriate - and appreciated! - that I got three birthday cards in the mail today! YAY!! Not only was it fun mail (i.e., not bills), but it was all for me!!!

Expect more about my birthday throughout the week. And consider that your fair warning. I like my birthday. A lot.

And then on a completely unrelated note, I have decided that there's pretty much nothing cuter than a toddler wearing jeans and flip-flops. Since it was cool enough for jeans today, but not so cold as to need to cover toes, I got my chance to get a quick picture of M's jeans and flops before we headed out for an unplanned dinner at Moe's (courtesy of Jason's night flight being cancelled and my only "plan" for dinner being to feed the kid whatever she asked for). Tell me that jeans and flops on a toddler isn't the cutest thing in the world!!