Happy Birthday to the Best Husband Ever!

This past weekend was a BLAST as we celebrated Brian's 26th birthday! I decided to plan a weekend of sorts because April is always my birthday month, so I figured Brian could at least get a weekend, right!?! It started off with him getting off work early on Friday and bringing home some Sushi for lunch. I'm not a fish fan, but I have definitely been trying because we are so close to fresh fish and everyone says it's better on the coast. Hasn't changed my mind yet, but I'll keep trying:) Then we headed to Stew Leonard's, Brian's most favorite place in Norwalk. If you remember it from my previous post, it is the World's Largest Dairy Store, and just a fun place to go grocery shopping. Thad is deathly afraid of the mechanical cow inside, but we are trying to get him used to it. After that I sent Brian to the driving range because I watched Sophie for Hanna and Tracy for Hanna's birthday which was on Friday. Weird side note: I must get along very good with Leos (Brian is a Virgo on some calendars, but I truly believe his is a Leo because of this). Hanna and Heidi have the same birthday, August 20th and Brian's is the 23rd...weird! Anyways, Sophie and I made a cake and banner for Brian and Hanna and we had a mini surprise party for them. Well, it was just a surprise for Hanna, but it was super fun and she was really surprised. I freaked her out when I opened the door and yelled "surprise" really loud!

 When baking, the batter or dough is my favorite part, so I let Sophie in on the fun:)

As you can see, the party was a huge success and our friend's Lisa, Moroni and their little guy Noah came over to help us celebrate! I made Teresa's German chocolate cake recipe and I have to say that it was pretty delicious!

To continue the birthday weekend I set up for Brian to go golfing in Greenwich with guys in the ward. Golfing is not as accessible or affordable back here, but if you go with a resident of the city it can be a pretty good deal. 

So the guys went golfing: Jake-Mike-Brian-JT (the man who put it all together)....

 And the girls went to the beach, OF COURSE!! Kristin and Lizzie are in the pic, but I never got a pic w/ my camera of all 4 of us, so there ya go. Lizzie and JT are married and the ones that live in Greenwich and put this all together...they are SOOO awesome and I'm so glad Brian could do this for his birthday. This beach was so fun because we rode a ferry over from Greenwich and it was just a fun little island. Thad was very brave and went down to the water on his own several times. He loves throwing rocks in the waves and having the waves roll over his feet...what a cutie!!

We took Sunday off for celebrations, but started early Monday by making Dad breakfast:

And I also planned for Thad to wake up at 6:45 so Dad could see him before he went to work;-) It worked out great and we had a fun morning together!

I didn't document the evening very well, but Hanna and Tracy babysat Thad while we went out. We went to dinner at a yummy Indian restaurant in South Norwalk (SoNo) called Coromandel. We loved our meals and went to walk around SoNo afterwards to check out the little shops and grab some dessert, but EVERYTHING was closed! It was only 6:30p.m., but I guess they don't get enough traffic to stay open every evening. So we trekked around and found a yummy ice cream parlor and just chatted. We rented a Red Box and headed home...we are such an old, married couple! ;-) When we got home, Brian had some surprises from family waiting for him:

My parents sent him a fun card with lots of funny quotes in it with a bottle of cologne from Abercrombie and Fitch. Brian's parents sent him a book, The Silence of God, about a Russian family in the church. Our families are so sweet and I know he really enjoyed the things he got.

As you can see, we had a fun weekend and I truly think Brian enjoyed himself. It is so fun to celebrate his birthday because I get to do/buy him things I usually wouldn't be able to. He is such an amazing husband and makes Thad and I SOOO happy! Love you tons, Brian!

P.S. I'm so sad I couldn't celebrate with this girl too:

I know she is coming in a couple of weeks (WAHOO!!!!), but I would just love to have been close to celebrate with such a wonderful friend. I know she had a wonderful weekend and she really deserved it! We will definitely show her some celebrating when she comes to CT! Love you, Heid! (

Beach Bummin'

This weekend we headed about 1.5 hours northeast to New London, CT to go to Ocean Beach Park. Hanna and I love going to the beach right by our house during the week and we're not complaining, but it's kinda rocky and pretty much no waves because we're in the Long Island Sound, and not right on the Atlantic Coast. So we googled and found this place and just went for it because we wanted an exciting weekend while our summer is still here!

We got in the water RIGHT AWAY! We had to convince the kids a little, but once we waded out there they loved it!

Hanna and I were super excited that there were waves (even though they're not very big) and we rode them in! We did it a lot more in the late afternoon, but we got kicked out by some jelly fish...ahhhh! Some people just kept swimming, but Hanna and I weren't willing to take any risks.

Just playin in the sand

Isn't this sweet! Sophie is such a momma's girl and they are just so sweet together. We just loved basking in the sun. The high was around 80 degrees, so we were all in heaven!

The kids LOVED riding the carousel and Sophie couldn't stop talking about it after:)

We walked down the beach and found this fun little cove. The water was warmer and everyone was crab hunting...

Brian and Tracy got a little carried away....

But it sure paid off!!  

(Thad wasn't too interested. If you know Thad, you know he has unfounded fears of odd things, and this was one of them)

Needless to say, we had a PERFECT day: 80 Degree weather, a slight ocean breeze, awesome kids that didn't complain, fun friends, gorgeous view, Five Guys for dinner...the list could keep going!

The beach has been so fun for all of us and I am excited for Brigitte to come because we have a trip planned to The Hamptons, and I've heard amazing things about those beaches. I'm going to scout a beach out for when Heidi comes and we may catch a ferry over to Long Beach...I don't know, but we'll have something fun planned for sure! Happy summer everyone and if you're itching for the beach, give us a call and we can help you scratch it;-)

Life Lately...

It hasn't been crazy exciting around here, we have just been laying low, but it has been very relaxing. These are just some of the things that have been keeping us busy:

Skype-ing every Sunday with the fam! Kayci, Kelli and Teresa make this kid feel like he is the only person that exists in the entire universe by applauding him and "Oooh-ing and Awww-ing" over any tiny movement or utterance he makes:) He recently learned how to play the harmonica, and is showcasing his skills to the fam on the other side of the country. (Please don't mind the outfit...laundry got to the bottom of the list and this is what we rummaged up for PJs. Also, the hair has been cut since this pic and it's way cuter!)

The boy LOVES to read! He would really sit around all day and do exactly this. He usually cries until I sit down to read to him and then will get a book off his book shelf one by one and sit on my lap while I read him every book he owns. He is obsessed.

Perfect days at the beach! Brian and I haven't had much exposure to beaches, so we definitely want to take advantage of it while we're back here. It's nice that it's just 5 minutes away and we can go for a couple of hours on a Saturday morning.

Swimming in the backyard has been AWESOME! Hanna and Sophie let us borrow this for the rest of the summer since they don't have a yard to put it. Thanks, gals (Come over ANY time)!

Oh, and just reading the paper! We get lots of ads and Thad loves to thumb through them;-) 

Just tonight he got really excited about the Gutter Cleaners, as you can see!

Connecticut is still treating us well and we are loving our ward and the experience as a whole. Things kinda slowed down this week and I wasn't dragging Thad all over town, and I thought it was a good thing to finally stay home for a whole day...It was good until I started getting a tad homesick and wanting to hang out with my sisters:( I just starting thinking about how I have never been able to live by my in-laws or siblings and their kids since we have been married and I got a little sad. So I just decided I have to stay BUSY! Today we went to Hanna's and played with a couple of other friends and it was the perfect cure! Being surrounded by other people in the same situation reminds me not to pity myself and be grateful for the here and now. We love and miss you all!