Lunchin' in the City

The three lunching ladies

Jasmine loves her free tartufo!
Yesterday I was invited to DC to go have lunch with Natalia to celebrate mybirthday. She let lunch be my choice so I chose Otello which is one of my favorite Italian restaurants in DC. I always order the same dish and it tastes as good every time! Somehow it came out that we were celebrating my birthday so I ordered a piece of carrot cake for dessert and then the waiter asked us what we wanted for Jasmine and I said she could share with me. Well, he wouldn't have that! He asked what he could bring her on the house! Talk about getting stuff for being cute! She got a tartufo dessert for free while Mommy's cake was on the bill! I miss the days where I used to get stuff because I was cute! I pass the torch to Jasmine!

Please Lady!

Jasmine has officially become a backseat driver! She will sit in the back and tell us what to do! She will often yell "Go Go Go" when we are stopped at a red light (dangerous if you ask us)! The latest thing she is doing really has us in stiches. Quite often when Lorne gets behind someone who is doing something erratic enough at the wheel that he actually has to honk at them it usually ends up being a woman. Lorne will honk his horn and say "Geez Lady". Jasmine has started to say it everytime someone honks a horn but instead of saying "Geez Lady" she says "Please lady!" and I can't be agravated at anyone on the road when she does that! Today as we were walking in downtown DC everytime she heard a horn honk she yelled at the top of her lungs, "Please Lady". Wow, we promise we are not trying to perpetuate the stereotype that women are bad drivers!

Sabrina's 29th Birthday

29 looks damn fine!
The 5 of us!
Fun pic of Mommmy and Jas
Love it! A picture of us!
Family at dinner
Roses from the best husband!
Russia House
Mommy & Me
My birthday gift
Compliments of the house - chocolate mousse!

Today was such a nice and fun day full of Love and lot's of happy things. Birthdays are great because it reminds you of how many people care and how much you are blessed to have family and friends! Jasmine and Lorne woke me up this morning with an Elmo balloon (courtesy of Jasmine) and roses (courtesy of my wonderful husband). Then I went off to a massage appointment (60 minute deep tissue massage) and an Ocean Spa pedicure. I then spent a few relaxing hours at home before going off to the country club pool (courtesy of Kelleen). After the pool we all cleaned up and went to Herndon to the Russia House Restaurant. Lorne had beef stroganoff and I had duck with sour cherry sauce. Jasmine had some rice and chicken and she loved it. They surprised me with a chocolate mousse for dessert. Jasmine and Lorne both got me nice cards and Jasmine gave me some truffles and Lorne gave me some cash to pick out my own birthday gift. He decided that there were too many things I wanted and he wanted to give them all to me but he couldn't so he is putting the choice in my hands! What a great day! In addition to all the activities I got calls and e-mails from so many people (Mom, Abuela, Natalia, Tio & Tia Barolin, Ryan & Casey, Rory & Faith, Cindy, Kevin, Jill, etc.) and Chris Morgan came over with som yummy homemade banana pudding and flowers. I also got a flower delivery from Amy & Martin Pluth and chocolates from Erika McBee. What a fabulous day!

Jasmine's Party Extravaganza

Party Time!

Sabrina & Natalia
Tia Casey is ready to have Roman!
Matt & Ellie

The Traugers enjoy the birthday feast
Jeff, Jill & Marcia
Cindy Lou Who
Jasmine and her cake
Ryan plays Blue's Clues


Lorne plays Steve
Jasmine on the Moonbounce
Cake Mommy made for Jasmine
party set-up
The family table

Kiddies at the sandbox
Mommy plays Blue
Jasmine eats cake
Matchy Matchy pants
Family Fun!

So we had the ultimate 2 year old's party this weekend and my only regret is that I didn't get all the kids in a picture together. We had a moonbounce, a sand box, and a baby pool for the kids to play in and we played the game Blue's Clues as this was a Blue's Clue's themed party. Lorne played Steve and did a fabulous job! Everyone got a handy dandy notebook to write the clues in! Jasmine loved it and she had a great time. We put out a full lunch spread with empanadas, potato salad (my mom's recipe), pasta salad, fruit salad, and cake and ice cream. The day was gorgous, the temperature was in the mid 80's and it was lovely to be in the backyard. Everyone seemed to have a great time. Guests included family(Abuela Meme, Abuela, Grandpa, Tio Ryan, Tia Casey and Natalia) and friends (Cindy Zarcone, Erika and Sofia McBee, The Child family - Jeff, Jill & Ryan, The Astle Family - Matt, Shelly & Ellie, The Traugers - Kelleen, Kirsten & Marin, Marcia Crandall). Jasmine loved all of her gifts and she didn't get any repeats this year. Mom and Dad gave her the sandbox as her gift and she got a cute bicycle from Abuela Meme. Her Abuela and grandpa gave her a mini Hoover vaccuum cleaner which she has already enjoyed very much. Thanks to all the family and friends that helped make this day so special!We had tons of fun!

I will post another time with a list of gifts!

Celebrating a Birthday

Mommy & Jasmine

Jasmine & Cindy on the water slide
Jasmine & Ellie play with a fountain
Shelly & Ellie have some water play!

Monday was Jasmine's second birthday but as most of you know we will be throwing her birthday party this coming Saturday. I wanted to make the day special for her so we did some fun and different things. In the morning I convinced Cindy to take a day off of work to come down and go to Cameron Run Regional Park with us. I also invited Shelly and Ellie to come along and they did! Cameron Run is a fun and amazing water park with a toddler area, water slides, etc. We spent a few hours there and had lots of fun even though Jasmine showed a few signs of being scared of the water. This is odd because last summer she was all about swimming and loved the pool - maybe she needs to get used to it again. Later on in the evening we took Jasmine to Chuck-E.-Cheese where we dined on pizza and played lots of fun games. Mommy made Jasmine a cake and Abuela Meme, Abuela and Grandpa joined us for the celebration!

My Poor Bee

Jasmine went for her second birthday well-baby check-up at the Pediatritian's office today and what a surprise! First of all, the gilr is very bright as she knew where we were as soon as they called us back and wanted to take her weight and her height. She started crying and saying no! I think she knows when she comes to the Dr. sometimes she gets shots and she was scared. She was even more scared when the Dr. came in and wanted her to sit on the table. We had to do the whole appointment on Mommy's lap because she was more comfrtable there. She has been a bit fussy the past week so I asked the Dr. a few questions. I told her Jasmine had been complaining about her belly and had been constipated and the Dr. said to give her a bit of prune juice and she would be fine. Then the Dr. asked if Jasmine had been complaining about her ears. I said no and she said, "Well, she has an ear infection!" Her first one! I was so sad because who knows how long she has been suffering. She also has a small infection in her eyes so we got medicine for both of those issues! As for her check-up she is progressing normally in physical stature (27 lbs. 50th percentile and 35 inches tall in the 75th percentile) and is very advanced verbally and socially! She is our joy!

Going Backwards

So, last Sunday was Father's Day and we celebrated with a BANG!! Well, not really, it was low-key but very nice. We went to church in the morning and they handed little bags of candy to the dads with smiley face stickers on the bags - they were cute and Lorne was happy. Then, we spent a lazy afernoon which is Lorne's favorite thing to do on a Sunday - let alone Father's Day. In the evening we went to Outback Steakhouse with Sabrina's dad and mom, and her brother Ryan. We don't normally go out on a Sunday but we have so much going on in the months of June and July and everyone was tired and didn't want to have to clean up we thought this was the best option. We had such a nice time and we gave Lorne his gifts. He got a picture tee-shirt from Jasmine and a putting set. Sabrina bought him a nice travel toiletries bag and a button down short sleeve shirt - he also got a book from his Mom-in law. After dinner we went to the grandparents house to spend a little time and that ended the day!

Our Baby turned 2 today

I can't believe that two years ago today this wonderful little girl was born into this life to enhance our little family. She is so mazing and it has been such a priviledge to parent her thus far. She is so smart and beautiful insdie and out and she brings such unmeasurable joy into our home and our lives. Looking into her face today it is hard to see how fast time has already gone and how fast she is growing before our eyes. If time could be caught in a bottle so we could see it and touch it again whenever we want, what a gift that would be. Jasmine Bee, you are 2 years old today and we love you so very much!

Day 6 - MGM Studios

How Jasmine looked at the beginning of the day before the humidity had it's way!
Aerosmith Rockin' Roller Coaster

Ryan Child wears Lorne's hat!

The Tower of Terror

After a nap in a very hot and humid Florida - look at her hair!

Jasmine gets a good seat for the character parade

Ryan and Jasmine watch the parade

The little monkey's want a better look at the ducks

Playhouse Disney show during the Tigger & Pooh part

Jasmine dancing during Playhouse Disney

Standing in line for the Indiana Jones show

In front of the Magical Hat at the entrance to the park

Mommy and the Bee say bye bye to vacation

We decided on our last day to do MGM studios and take only a half day to do it because we were all feeling exhausted from the whole trip. Sabrina was feeling sick also and this was the beginning of the illness she has since dealt with for the last week. We rode the Tower of Terror and the Aerosmith Rockin' Roller Coaster and a few other rides and watched a few shows as well. The Playhouse Disney Show was a hit with Jasmine and Ryan, they clapped and danced. It was nice that this park was also packed with fun things to see and do we left knowing we had only scratched the surface. We had a wonderful vacation and would do it again in a heartbeat. We were so lucky to travel with friends and when you have small kids, it is the only way to do this trip as you have help watching the little ones and the adults get to enjoy some of the more grown-up rides if you will. All in all, it was a hit!