Hello, Big 3-0!

     Many of you may know that today is my 30th birthday. I am so lucky to be married to an incredible man who made my 30th one to remember. A few months ago Chad had asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday...if I wanted a party...what. So, I told him that I just wanted to get out of town for the weekend. I said I wanted to go to the beach, hang out, relax and do nothing. Well, that is exactly what I got! :o)

     Chad made ALL of the plans...which was so nice. He made hotel reservations at the historic Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. I have driven by the inn so many times...and have eaten there with my family...but had never stayed there. My parents actually stayed there for part of their honeymoon...so I was SOOOOOOO excited to stay at the extravagant hotel.

     If you don't know anything about the hotel then here is a little bit of info...1. Every one of the rooms has a very unique themed decor. 2. It is over the top gaudy...and I do mean over. the. top! Our room was...

 Oh was there some floral action going on! Exhibit A:

 and B:

 Exhibit C...

 and D

 told you...there was A LOT of floral. Landry made himself right at home...as you can see...he had some peeps to get into touch with.

     Saturday morning we got up and headed to the beach. The weather was absolutely PERFECT...warm, sunshine, slight breeze...PER-F-E-C-T! Here are some pics of our day at the beach:

 "Get these glasses off of me!"

 "Hi Mom!"

 Self portrait time

 Little footsies in the wet sand

 Chubby little piggies

"This isn't so bad, now!"

 "Mom...not again."

 "Okay...I'm looking...but I'm NOT happy about it!"

"Now I'm really not loving the wet sand!"

 "Well...maybe it isn't THAT bad."

 

"All the cool kids wear their hats like this."

"Thanks for the cool shades, Mom!"

 "I think my favorite part of the beach is the swings."

 "Yup...this is the life!"

After our day at the beach, we came back to the room, took a nap, and got ready for dinner. Look at one of my cute dates!

Chad had made reservations at McLintock's in Pismo.

     Dinner was great...the highlight...we saw Viena Girardi (from the Bachelor) and Kasey Kahl (from the Bachelorette) there on a date. Chad spotted her first...just one table away. In our typical fashion, we bantered back and forth about whether it was or wasn't her. Then I heard Kasey's creepy voice and knew it was them. I soooooo wanted to take a picture with them...but Chad made too much fun of me. So, I am sad to say that I have no picture.

     Sunday morning we woke up, got packed, and had breakfast at the hotel before leaving. Of course, no trip to the Madonna Inn is complete unless you have visited the well known "Men's Room." Yup...we had to stop by...and take a few pictures!

 As you can see...Landry was very interested in the waterfall.

 Nothing like a little father-son picture to warm your heart...even if it is in a men's urinal. :o)

     I am such a lucky lady to have an amazing husband that loves me and gave me an absolutely wonderful birthday weekend. But...not only do I have a wonderful husband...I have amazing friends and family, too. Thank you for making the big 3-0 so memorable...and for making me feel so loved and special. As if the weekend wasn't enough...I came home to this sign on my garage door:

Thank you Mom and Kaitlin!

Then and Now

This is what we were up to a year ago...

 And now...here we are...one year later...

 It is so crazy to think about the fact that our little man is almost 1 year old! Nine months. How in the world did he get to be nine months old? Even though they have gone by way faster than we would have liked...we have enjoyed every single minute. Every. single. minute!

 As you can see...he has passed up Lion! He has grown to really love Lion and any other stuffed animal that he comes in to contact with. Here is...showing off his dimple...and of course his little tongue!

 This little boy is the light of our lives! We now spend our evenings playing with him and soaking up all of the love he has to share. The giggles he shares are priceless...the sweet coos that we love to listen to on a Saturday morning...the way that he analyzes any sort of technological device he can get his hands on...the way he lights up with a smile the size of Africa whenever one of us comes in the room...it is all A-MAZ-ING!

 He is so sweet and calm. We are so incredibly blessed that he is very easy-going, happy anywhere, loves his food and binkie...and is always up for some cuddle time. He still only has two teeth and has perfected the army crawl...whenever he feels like going somewhere. Here he is tackling Lion.

Have I mentioned that he could not be more like his father? Yup, it is true...a little, miniature version of my husband has me wrapped around his tiny, little, finger. He is mellow like his daddy, watches people very intently like his daddy, knows how to work any techie gadget like his daddy, loves to recline and drink his bottle like his daddy...and my favorite...give the "one eye-brow raised" look just like his daddy.

Landry Tigh Lofgren...to put it simply...you are AH-MAZ-ING!!!

A bunch of food pictures...and the Super Bowl!

As we all know...yesterday was "the big game!" Now, I have a few confessions to start off with...1. I LOVE the Super Bowl! Really...I do. I am actually a fan of most sports but watching football is one of my favorites. 2. I love any excuse to "throw a party"...lately they have all been very last-minute, "Hey Chad and Kristin you can host..." kind of things but they are still fun. 3. I only took 1 picture during the game...yup one picture...it is a SUPER cute picture...but it is just 1.

Don't worry though...as the title of this post says...I have a lot of pictures of the food. I got a little bored on Saturday night...so, I decided to make some nametags for all of our snacks. Any of you that know me know two things for sure...1. I am very Type A, 2. I love any excuse to put a label on something! So, I am warning you...here are some of our game day snacks...

 And because I am really Type A and get a "bit" carried away with little labels...I even made these for the trash and recycling...yes, I am FULLY aware that I am a bit, just a bit...C-R-A-Z-Y! :o)

 You have to show off your team spirit!

 I put this sign on our front door...just so there wasn't any confusion over who we were rooting for!

 The food "line-up!" We also had Chili "Cheesehead" Dip, Broccoli "Blitz" Slaw, and "McCarthy" Meatballs. Told you. Just a bit C-R-A-Z-Y...and yes, I did Google football terms so that I was accurate with my phrases!

 Don't you worry...Landry was showing his "Packer Pride," too...oh, and did I mention that this adorable, little man was nine, frickin' months old yesterday? More on that later!

 Here is the 1 and only picture I took during the game...our dear friend, Kelley and Landry...told you it was SUPER cute!

 Here is my clean up crew for the after-party...what, you don't see the crew? Ya...me either...but I did have the cutest "supervisor" ever...he may look harmless but he is a slave driver! :o)

So, there you have it. I warned you...a bunch of pictures of some food...and a few of the cutest baby in the whole entire world. :o) We had an absolutely great time with all of the wonderful friends who came over...thank you, Donovans, Richardsons, Caves, Troy, Brian, Dana, Maggie, and Davis...GO PACKERS!

***Did I mention that we aren't even Packers Fans? Ha!***

Something to make you...

SMILE!!!!! Seriously, how can you not look at this face, in this hat, and not smile? If you figure it out...I don't want to know. Honestly. Don't. Want. To. Know.

Because this makes me smile and laugh everytime I see it! I must thank my coworker, Ernestine, for the adorable hat...that I often put on my sweet child's head...just. to. make. me. smile. So, I thought that I would share the joy with you...SMILE!

Ocho!!!!

Hi Everyone...it's Landry!

Can you believe that I am already 8 months old? I know Mommy and Daddy can't...they keep telling me to stop growing but I don't think I'm going to listen to them. So what have you been up to? Here's my newest picture with my lion: Well, here's what I have been up to the last month:

• I had my very first Christmas. I'm not really sure what it was all about but everyone loved on me and kept handing me boxes that they wanted me to do something with.
• Did you see my two teeth? Yup, I have two now and I am working on some more.
• I love to play with all of my toys. Mom thinks it is pretty cool that I will keep myself busy so that she can clean-up the house.
• Have you heard me talk? What about blow bubbles? Those are two of my favorite things to do right now. I love to scream, grunt, squeal, talk, giggle...and of course blow spit bubbles. Everybody thinks its pretty funny!
• I've decided to hold off on the crawling thing for the moment...its a lot of work! So, instead I just pull myself along the floor like an army soldier. I love it when Mommy or Daddy hold my hands so that I can stand up.

Here is another pic of me...just a bit closer: If you look closely in the next picture you can see one of my teeth...I don't really like to show them off yet but Mommy is pretty persistant.
I gotta go now...talk to you soon!

It's a Date!

My dear friend Erin and I have a bit of a ritual of meeting at Starbucks so that we can catch up on life together. Years ago we actually met every Wednesday so that we could keep up with each other. Now that life has gotten crazier for both of us we get together as much as possible...sometimes a few weeks go by...sometimes a month or two...but no matter what, we make an effort to get together regularly!
We have been friends for several years now...we worked together for a bit, she was one of my bridesmaids, and then we ended up getting pregnant pretty close to one another. It was so fun to be able to share pregnancies stories with each other...and now we share our stories of "mommyhood!"
This morning we had one of our Starbucks meetings and it was the first time that we had both babies with us. It was so much fun to hang out and watch our little ones show off their tricks. Here are Landry and Amy...enjoying their first...of many..."Starbucks Dates!" Just hanging out on the bench...enjoying the nice weather.

I love this shot of them looking at each other!

I absolutely treasure my friendship with Erin and am so proud that we have stayed close through life's many twists and turns. I cannot wait to watch these two grow up together and for our families to continue to grow closer...love you, Gunstreams!