the big 3-0!

Most of you know that on May 7th I turned 30. I had mixed feelings about this one. Many people have told me that their life really began at 30. That they had spent their 20's trying to figure out just who they were and by the time they turned 30 they had it all figured out. After getting over the initial shock of never again being able to say I was in my 20's, I totally understood what everyone had been telling me. I am exactly where I want to be at 30. I have an amazing husband and we have started the most amazing family. We have a house, both have decent jobs and we are surrounded by tons of loving friends and family. So when you look at the big picture, turning 30 really ain't all that bad!

Last weekend was a weekend full of celebrations. As I explained in my previous post I had a bunch of family coming into town to celebrate birthdays, a graduation and Mother's Day. What I didn't know is that a big part of the reason so many people came into town was to be a part of my surprise birthday party! My Mom and Todd were very sneaky and managed to pull off the most amazing party at Chappell's on Broadway. They lured me there by making me think we were going out for a big family dinner to celebrate all of our special occasions. But when we arrived there were about 40 people waiting for me. I was speechless! There was a special menu for the guests to order from and a bar serving beer and wine all night. And to top it all off there was a delicious strawberry birthday cake that was too yummy for words! Before dinner was served I made the rounds to talk to all of my special guests. I am so lucky to be surrounded by so many amazing people.

The next day was Mother's Day. Luckily enough everyone's flights were not until later in the day and a few of them were even cancelled so we were able to spend one more day together. My Mom hosted a nice brunch with amazing food...as always! My Aunt Sue received her Mothers' Day gift the week before...a Nintendo Wii. She brought it along so we could all play. It was my first experience with the Wii and boy was it a blast. We spent a lot of time that weekend trying to beat each other in bowling, tennis and boxing. I have never been much into video games but this is very cool. It is a video game that actually makes you be active. Gee, what a clever idea. The highlight of the weekend was watching my Mom and Aunt Sue box each other.

I wish I had video of Olivia's imitation of boxing. After watching her Nana and Aunt Sue Sue throwing their arms around she pretended to do the same thing. It was very funny! Olivia spent most of the weekend acting shy and hiding from her family members. We have a small photo album with all of their pictures that we show her regularly. I do believe that it helped her recognize who everyone was and warm up to them quicker. She warmed up to her Aunt Sue Sue very fast. They were best friends within minutes after her arrival. Just as she was really warming up to everyone the weekend was over. But we will be taking a trip out to California in July to visit Aunt Sue Sue. We can't wait!

This Mother's Day was extra special because we had four generations of women all together...my Grandmother, my Aunt and Mom, myself and Olivia! It was a very special weekend and I was sad to see it come to an end.

OK, time for an Olivia update. I realized that it has been awhile since I have talked about all of the new and exciting things Olivia has been up to. Let me tell you...she is one busy little girl. A few weeks ago we went for her 18 month check-up. She weighs 28 lbs. 4 oz. and is 33 inches long...hanging on in the 90th percentile in both categories. That's my girl!

Her vocabulary is astounding. She is putting lots of different words together to make mini-sentences. Her newest phrase is "Hi, how are you?" but she says, "Hi, how you?". She says this to everything and everybody. Most of the time she says it to inanimate objects. Like, "Hi cheese, how you?". It cracks us up! But the cutest is when she says it to Todd or myself...so sweet! She has also started to sing "Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star" with us. She has her own version of course, but she surprisingly gets many of the words right. She is also able to count to 10! I was shocked! If I start her out by saying one, she can continue all the way to 10...it is amazing! All I have to say is, thank you Sesame Street. Obviously we count with her when we read books or play with our toys, but I honestly believe she has learned the numbers faster by watching that show. It is her favorite show and really the only show she ever watches. And finally, we have taught her to say "I Love You!". First we point to ourselves, then cross our hands over our heart and finally point to the person we are talking to. When she does it back I just melt.

She is growing at the speed of light. I want it to slow down. At this rate my sweetie is going to be heading off to college and I am going to wonder how time managed to pass by so quickly. I do know that we are having the time of our lives with this little one and I think it is only going to get better. So far the big 3-0 feels pretty good!