My birthday extended a couple of days, with the help of wonderful family and friends who sent cards, wrote comments (Dahli? Who are you?), made me cake, and bought me dinner. Lena fed my Mom and I delicious cake. We got to chat while Mom played Grandma to all the kids. It took Mattias and Hailey about 40 seconds to warm up. Then they didn't stop talking for 2 hours. I'd write more about it, but her post was so damn sweet and funny that it would be a lukewarm second-best. Therefore, moving on...


Mom came up for the day on Thursday and stayed until Sunday. She entertains Patrick, lets the puppies sleep in her room, and spoils us rotten. She traditionally takes us out for dinner on our birthday (us being me, my brother David with the same birthday, and now our fab spouses). David and Beth enjoyed a lux dinner at a Japanese place the day before. With the six month old, Kevin and I decided Indian take-out might serve our needs a bit better. On Friday, we left the house Without Baby and hit Crown Bar on 6th Ave for a baby-free drink. Amazing. And we had Loads of stuff to talk about other than the baby. Luckily, Kevin and I are both talkers. Can't shut either one of us up. We hit all the big points: family, money, jobs, and redecorating. The guest bathroom is next...

We hit some major sales at University Village on Saturday, then Mom treated us (we try to stop her, but she's so stubborn) to Blue C Sushi. Yum! I'd been wanted to check out Hanna Anderssen for ages. But a Big Sale (extra 20% off sale price) was worth the drive to Seattle. We found this, and this, and this to set aside for next year. Kevin was super-sweet about it. "We've bought nearly nothing for him. This is good quality for a great price. It's OK to do it."

So my guy is crawling. And eating solids. And curious about everything. It's a bit harder to get stuff done! So forgive the erratic entries please. We go to be at 9pm at this house. Party central!