SURPRISE!

Today is Brad's 30th birthday! I knew he would suspect that I was going to do something special for this birthday, so I copied a play from his playbook (some of you may remember the super secret surprise pre-emptive she ain't 30 yet surpise birthday that he threw for me). I threw a pre-emptive surprise birthday 3 weeks early. It was a casino party and it was so much fun. Brad was totally surprised and he felt blessed to have so many friends and family there to celebrate him (about 60 people!). He really deserved it because he has worked so hard this year and is such a wonderful husband and father. I have to say, a party like that is a LOT of work so it may be another 10 years until we do that again! I owe a big thanks to everyone who helped me pull it off!

10 Months!

The other day Brad was like "Anna isn't really a baby anymore but she isn't a toddler yet either...she is a bobbler." So we have thrown that into the mix of nicknames for her. Here's what the bobbler has been up to lately...

- She took her first plane ride when we went to Florida. She did great and didn't cry at all, but she didn't want to sleep either. She was too busy saying "Hi" to people that passed by and trying to get the attention of the people sitting around us. This forced me out of my comfort zone because I had to socialize with everyone too!

- She has become a cuddlebug! From the moment she could lift her head after only a few weeks of life, she would not just lay on my shoulder and cuddle. I discovered that if I put her lovie on my shoulder she will lay her head down and start sucking her thumb. She won't fall asleep and usually pops her head up after a few seconds but I take what I can get!

- She has started dancing to music we play for her and the songs that her toys play. One of her favorite songs is Put a Ring on It by Beyonce. As Brad says, it is a good song for her to hear because the message is empowering for single women :) It is interesting to me that we are wired from a young age to move to a beat but as we get older we become too self-conscious to bust out in a dance when we hear a song. I wonder at what age this begins to happen...hope Anna will always want to dance like nobody is watching! Reminds me of one of my favorite youtube videos.

- She progressed from the army crawl to crawling on all fours. She only crawls long enough to get somewhere she can pull up on, usually that is me. I know this will get old, but I think it is so cute when I am standing in the kitchen and she pulls up on me and holds on to my let. Now that Anna is mobile, I'm feeling sorry for Kia, our 16 year old puppy. At least for now she is still faster than the bobbler.

Rob + Kristina = Married

On Valentine's weekend we went from this...

We had a record 12 inches of snowfall in Dallas!

to this...

when we flew out to Palm Beach, Fl for my good friend Kristina's wedding. It is funny, in the last 2 years, three of my close friends from college have had destination weddings. Thanks Cara, Rachel and Kristina for giving us a good excuse to take beach vacations!

The wedding was so much fun! It was the first Jewish wedding I have ever been to and I have always wanted to go to one. It was full of dancing, storytelling, and lots of laughing. Brad was excited that he got to help hold a chair during the Hora.

Rob and Kristina are perfect for each other in lots of ways and one of them is their love of excercise. They met through a triathalon club in San Francisco, so it only made sense that they had a group run the morning of the wedding. They also scheduled a group swim and gave away swim caps as favors.

Mazel tov to Rob and Kristina!

The happy couple.

Me with the beautiful bride.

Weddings are such good family photo ops!