My 31st Birthday

On Saturday, July 23rd, we met my parents halfway and the took both kids for an overnight visit so Tom and I could go out to celebrate my birthday.

That afternoon, we headed up to Choctaw Casino in Durant, OK for a little gambling. It wasn't a lucky trip for me, but Tom made up for it. Once we got home that evening, we cleaned up and went to downtown McKinney. I love the small town feel of downtown. You walk everywhere and the square is so nice!

Since we wanted to try something new (and I requested Italian) we ate at Sauce on the Square, There was a long wait, but the food (and drinks) more than made up for it. After dinner, Tom and I walked over to Landon Winery and sat outside with our glass of wine people watching. After about 30 minutes of sitting there, being Texas and all, we got too hot and decided to call it a night.

On my actual birthday, Tom got me my own cookie cake - yum!!!

 I just wanted to throw in this picture of Grace - look at all that hair - sitting up like a big girl in her bumbo.

I loved my birthday afternoon/evening. Thanks Tom!!

Tom's Birthday Celebration

Last Saturday, we hired our first babysitter (we usually use grandparents or our neighbors) to watch Tommy and Grace so we could go out to dinner for Tom's birthday celebration.

We ended up going to Rick's Chophouse (http://www.rickschophouse.com/) in downtown McKinney. We love the downtown area and have been to a couple places down there (winery and Mexican restaurant), but we kept talking about going to Rick's and finally had an excuse to go.

I loved the atmosphere in the restaurant and we had a great waiter. I think we were there close to 2 hours just enjoying the food and wine. Oh, and when I called to make the reservation, they had asked if we were celebrating something special - and when we got there, the manager actually came up to introduce himself to us and gave Tom his choice of dessert on the house. Sweet!

Their famous Pecan Pie - yum!

Tommy is 2!

On Tommy's actual birthday (Wednesday), we took him to McDonald's - he loves their nuggets.

This was also the first time we let him play on the playground they have there. Once we told him he could play, he didn't want to finish his food and kept looking out the window at all the other kids playing.

Someone wasn't ready to leave

He was a little more adventurous than I thought he would be, but I did want to hit those bigger kids that were acting too wild and running into Tommy. :)

Grace was just hanging out

When we got home, we gave him one of his birthday cupcakes and he had an interesting way of eating it - look at the picture below. Haha!

Tommy's 2nd Birthday Party

On Sunday, we had Tommy's 2nd birthday party at Gymboree. We invited the kids in his class and other friends of ours who have kids the same age. There were about 11 or 12 kids there.

I was a little nervous about how Tommy would do, because he is a little shy in new environments. It took him all of about 5 minutes to get over his shyness and then there was no stopping him.

He had SO MUCH fun running around, participating in all the activities and running around. :) He loved playing with all of his friends and he was so cute when everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to him. He got this little grin on his face and did this shoulder shrug thing. He did manage to blow out his candles (in about 4 tries - with minimal spit), but wanted nothing to do with his cupcake after that. I think he just wanted to get back out there and play.

Still a little hesitant

 Someone was having fun :)

Kylee crawling around

All of our helpers - thanks guys!

Tommy finding the lion with the help of his flashlight

He's fearless

Yo Gabba Gabba cupcake cake

Ready to blow out the candles

I'm going to go out on a limb and say Tommy didn't like the clown

Taking a breather

Grace was also there to celebrate Tommy's special day with him. She was a good baby only crying when she was hungry and when we told her she was too small to go down the slide.

Stretching Out

Grace with Uncle Eddie

Grace and Aunt Christine

On the way home, he was still excited about his "birthday party" and loved the little Yo Gabba Gabba bath squirters I gave each kid as a favor along with the other little items in the bag.

Once we got home, Tommy opened all his presents in front of the family and he ended up getting another guitar. Those kids know him so well (he's up to 4 now). He received so many nice things from everyone (so many toys that we hid half of them in our closet until later on).

Tommy with his new sand and water table

He loves his tricycle

Shooting some hoops (notice he made it)

Family photo

The kids with Grandma and Grandpa

The kids with Grammy and Pap-Pap

Grandpa with his grandkids - I don't think they were too happy

Birthday Weekend

This past weekend Tom's parents, sister and her husband came down for a visit (and to help celebrate Tommy's 2nd birthday).

Gram and Pap-Pap got here Wednesday night and Aunt Christine and Uncle Eddie arrived Thursday afternoon.

On Friday, both kids stayed home from daycare to hang out with our guests and that night we celebrated Uncle Eddie's birthday. I think it's on the 16th, but Eddie keeps insisting it's on the 18th - so I came up with a compromise :) to split the difference with him and celebrate on the 17th.

Tommy loves playing with his little sister

Happy Birthday Eddie!

My 30th Birthday

On Monday, I celebrated my 30th birthday. Since it fell on a Monday (and we did my sister's shower this weekend), we didn't really do much.

Tom did get me some pretty flowers and a nice watch (that I need to pick out). Tommy got a card for me and even signed it. :)

My dinner choice for the evening was Buffalo Wild Wings - probably one of my favorite restaurants. I love the Caribbean Jerk boneless wings with an order of the cheddar wedges. Yum!

Tommy helping me celebrate

Tom's 31st Birthday

Tom woke us Saturday morning still feeling sick. Being the nice wife that I am I let him sleep in while Tommy and I went to run some errands.

When we got home mid-afternoon, Tom's fever just broke so he was feeling 80% better. He decided he was well enough to open his presents (a Sky Caddie SG5 from me, wine goodies from his parents and money from my parents).

We went out to dinner with our neighbors, Tim and Tina (Tim's birthday was the day before Tom's) to this nice restaurant in downtown Plano called Urban Crust (http://www.urbancrust.com/). It was really yummy! Tom and I ordered 2 small pizzas and even had the chocolate cake for dessert. Tommy had a great time people watching - and he had the perfect view...we had a booth on the 2nd floor with an excellent view of the stairs. He was also being a little ham waving at all the people walking by. :)

Happy Birthday Tom!

Tommy, Tim & Tina