Girls Night Out!!!!

This weekend, Lindsay and I left the babies behind and headed to Lawrence for a much needed night out with our friend Aimee. The evening started out on a good note when I successfully got Lindsay, the notorious beer hater, to not only try a Free State beer, but to actually enjoy it. (Okay, it was a Cyclist, which is half lemonade, but it's a start, right?) After dinner and a bottle of wine at Zen Zero we arrived at the Sandbar.



After being propositioned by a group of guys from Baldwin (one of whom looked to be about 12) we decided it was time to head for the Jazzhaus, our final destination for the night. Three hours of dancing and eight beers later, I was rather impressed with myself for still retaining the ability to stand up straight and form a coherent sentence, but I was more impressed with Lindsay, who accomplished the same feat while wearing 3 inch heels with a sprained ankle. I'm happy to say that my friends are now Sellout converts!



So after reading this post, I know what you're thinking- "Who is that dashing young man with the keytar?" That's my friend Danny, and he not only rocks the keytar, he's also a saxophone player, marathon runner, Ironman, and a participant in the Kansas City Bike MS Ride. If you're impressed by all this- or you just really have a thing for guys dressed like Devo- please go here to sponsor Danny in this years ride. Any donation helps, no matter how small, and is much appreciated!

The Birthday Party

I realize that these pictures are about a week and a half two weeks late, but that's okay because am hereby awarding myself the procrastinator's award. It's a win/win. You guys finally get pictures, and I get a super awesome award.

Naked cupcakes

Cupcakes all dressed up

The birthday girl in her birthday dress

Various stages of giant cupcake messiness

Her awesome new toy from Grandma and Grandpa

Guess what?!?!

I'm going to

with
in a month.
I am sad to leave
and

But I'm excited to see


and

But not so much

because he's creepy.

Happy Birthday, my sweet little love

...the birthday of my life

Is come, my love is come to me.

-Christina Rosetti

Zoo, booze, and a big plate of raw meat.

That's what I've been up to this week, although not at the same time. On Sunday we took E to the zoo with her best buddy Jack. She saw the monkeys. She saw the lions. And then.....she saw the PUZZLES!!!

Clearly, the puzzles were what she'd been waiting on the whole time. She showed little to no interest in most of the animals, but she loved those puzzles like a fat kid loves cake. We bought her a zoo membership (shhhh....don't tell- it's her birthday present), so she can look forward to many, many trips to the place with the awesome puzzle table in the food court zoo.

Last night I met Brynn and Chrissy for happy hour at Trezo Vino. It was a great night of good food, fruity drinks, and lots of Sex and the City type conversation. A server who bore a remarkable resemblance to Adam Lambert delivered our steak tartare along with a detailed description of how the cows that comprised it were massaged every day to ensure they would one day become a delightfully tender appetizer. Lucky cows. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't object to being butchered and eaten if it meant I got a massage every day of my life up until the big event. Anyway, here are my adorable blond friends. I didn't want to screw up the photo with my brunette-ness, so I stayed behind the camera.

The Precious

We were visiting my parents this week, and Elliot desperately wanted my mom's mug. Unfortunately, the mug was filled with hot tea, and was breakable, so this was a no-go and I needed an alternative source of entertainment for my child. Since my mom keeps everything, especially items from my childhood, I was fairly certain it would be easy to find what I was looking for in her kitchen.

It went home with us that afternoon, and look:
It makes her the happiest girl in the whole world!

Adventures

Hello everyone! It's been a while! E has been busy lately having exciting adventures. In the past few weeks she:

Helped me pack up her newborn clothes ::sob::

Began working on her taxes

Discovered the joy of toilet paper

And mere moments later, the joy of wrapping paper

Met a really scary fish at Eli's house

Snuggled with her Daddy

Ate a taco

Started drinking

Discovered what is sure to be a life-long fear of horses

Borrowed Mommy's Iron Maiden shirt

And tasted the kitchen doorway

She also got her first two teeth! The bottom left tooth came in on Friday, and the top right popped through on Monday. The other top tooth looks like it will make an appearance any day now. Teething was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. She was a little fussy, but mostly she just wanted to sit on our laps and snuggle, which was delightful!