Malakai is 3- how we spent his birthday... Part 2

Malakai's birthday fell on a Monday this year. We decided to still go ahead with our plans to take him to The Original Pancake House for his birthday stack. We did this for the first time last year and hope to make a tradition for all of our kids. The photo of him blowing out the candle last year when he turned 2 is still my desktop picture, it's one of my all time favorite photos in existence. 

{7.16.11}

Look how much my baby big boy has grown!

{7.16.12}

Malakai enjoyed looking over the menu and blowing out his candle just as much this year. It was fun to have Des experience the place for the first time. It was such an enjoyable little outing. 

Afterwards we dropped Daddy off at work and went to the mall to play. I knew Kai would really enjoy playing on the big slide in the courtyard. However, it was still so early that it was closed for cleaning. We wandered around the mall a bit and Malakai explored the little mechanical rides. He wanted to try a rollercoaster one but freaked out a bit when I actually put the money in. So we just watched a gal finish vacuuming the play area until we could go in. It was odd, but the boys had the place to themselves for a good 20 minutes. 

We ran a few errands, had lunch at Target and headed home for naps. When Kai woke up I surprised him with his turtle sandbox full of sand for the first time. We had previously used it for a ball pit and for the last year or so it's been put away...

He was thrilled to have his own sand to play in, and I'm thrilled to be able to avoid the park sandbox for the most part!

When Daddy got home from work we took the boys to Red Robin. It's pretty much the only kid/baby friendly restaurant nearby and they send a free kid's meal coupon for birthdays. Malakai picked everything he wanted off the menu himself, and after the fun he had with his straw at breakfast he requested a milk with a straw. Thankfully, they delivered!

He had the sweetest grin on his face when the servers sang happy birthday and he scarfed down his Sundae like we were going to take it away any moment. (he shared, of course). 

It was such a sweet day for all of us. 3 has been the magic number for Malakai and we are really enjoying watching him grown. 

29th

My golden birthday was the 29th of December and I've finally found some time to sit down and tell you  all about it!

On the 28th as we were going to bed I started to feel achey and had a bad case of the chills. I had a slight fever of 99.1 and felt pretty awful. I haven't had a fever for over 6 years! At 2am Malakai woke up with teething pain (no fever, thank goodness!) and my fever had jumped to 100.1 and Ben was at 99.5 degrees. I was sure we'd have to cancel all our plans for the next couple of days. We woke up late feeling achey but our fevers were gone and never came back.

Ben made us pancakes for my birthday breakfast. While he was cooking I decided to check my email and saw a tweet he had just sent linking to his blog. He had written this story for my birthday. It was very sweet and of course I teared up while reading it. Then he handed me our notebook that we write letters in back + forth (something we started while we were dating back in 2006!) he had written me a note for my birthday. I noticed that some of the letters were darker than others. He had hidden a message in it!

I figured it out quickly and the message revealed what our plans were for the afternoon. He was taking me to La Perla, a pizzeria we had always wanted to go to. It's run by the same owners of one of our favorite restaurants, Bepe & Gianni's. We got a bit of a late start, but at 1:30pm Ben's parents came to hang out while Malakai napped so we could go out.

We had a wonderful relaxed lunch. It was nice to get out just the two of us (it had been a while) and the food was awesome!

As we got in the car Ben told me to check my jacket pocket. In it was this clue...

and before I knew it we were off on a scavenger hunt! We went to the chapel at our alma mater where we first met. 

From there the next clue took us to Autzen Stadium, where we had gone to a football game on the day we found out we were expecting Malakai. 

Next was our first apartment together, which was my apartment that we lived in for a few short weeks before moving into a house.

 After that the clues took us to the starbucks drive thru where I had to use the internet to find out next clue, which took us back home.

All along the way the clues told me about my birthday gifts. One was an itunes download of my choice, another was some downtime while Ben de-clutters the house, and another Starbucks drink. The last gift was in our trunk and it was Chalk Ink markers for my chalkboard!

The whole day was very unexpected. I felt so special and was really proud of Ben for keeping it all from me for so long!

a night out and a day in

Date night last night was a lot of fun. We parked between the restaurant and the theater so we could walk to dinner and then to the show. We spent a bit too much on food and drinks, but it's not very often we get to go out so we decided to ignore prices and get what we wanted. 

{Ben & the Don's Manhattan}

Lucky Noodle is such a fun restaurant, it's really popular and quite unique in it's Italian + Thai fusion. Ben got the pad thai and I got pan roasted halibut with risotto. After eating way too much we walked to the theater and settled in for the show.

The opener was a bit weird, and there were the usual Conan quirks, but it was a good time. My biggest complaint however was the volume. I STILL have a headache! It was kind of a late night as well, but something Ben and I really needed. We were exhausted when we got home, but in a good way.

Today Malakai and I are sick. I'm hoping it's just a cold. Thankfully we have his "well baby" appointment on Friday. Our insurance covers these but not sick appointments, so it couldn't come at a better time.

Kai had 2 or 3 colds when he was a newborn. One was at 3 weeks old and it tore me apart. Now that he's (almost) 9 months old it seems that it's harder on him now that before. He won't let me put saline or the aspirator in his nose, he gets frustrated when he tries to drink because of his congestion, and worst of all he's not sleeping well. 

For his naps the last two days I've been putting my pillow in his crib. We tried under the mattress like we used to when he was little but it just makes him slide down or roll to one side or the other. So, just for naps he gets to be elevated on my pillow and he is sleeping so much better. Plus he just looks too cute on a big pillow, doesn't he?

It's funny how parents can sometimes be hesitant to talk about how cute they think their own child is. I was working in the nursery at church last Sunday and these parents were talking to each other about their 17 month old daughter and how cute she was. I thought it was so sweet and it made me feel better about how cute I think my own child is, and less shy about saying so. I mean, look at him!

Vday at the OG

Last night Ben & I went out for Valentine's Day for the first time- he chose Olive Garden (or the OG as our server called it) and the wait was 75 minutes. We waited about half of it in the car. We spent the other half irritated with all the people who were sitting in the waiting area and not offering their spot to the pregnant lady...oh well.
At the end of our lovely meal our server- a particularly spunky young man- made a comment about my little one wanting dessert after we turned it down. I so badly wanted to say "what little one?" and totally make him think that he had insulted me for assuming I was pregnant...but I was good and said something about the baby kicking me all night if I had more to eat. Part of me is still wishing I had been a brat, just to see the look on his face. Maybe next time :)

In other news...I SWEAR that I felt the baby kick from the outside during church today. Must have been a rare and particularly strong kick, and I'm hoping it happens again soon so Ben can feel it. He layed with his hand on my tummy for quite a while tonight after I ate (when bebe usually moves) but I think steak & potatoes put the little one to sleep. It's still early, but I can't wait for him to feel it.

Oh yeah! I also made a random stop at Goodwill today in hopes that they had some secret-fit belly jeans (by Motherhood Maternity) because the Motherhood store didn't have my size and I don't get to wear jeans often enough spend $40 on something that is ill fitting. I found a pair for $5.99! They are in really good condition. I also found a couple of cute tops amongst the mumu's and floral blouses. I was pretty excited about the jeans though because my only ones that fit right now are the low panel jeans from Target and they are way too tight when I'm sitting. yay for cheap maternity clothes!