Many Thanks!

I just wanted to say thank you to all of you wonderful folks for the many birthday wishes. I feel spoiled with all the cards, emails, phone calls & gifts that made it my way this year. You all made me feel very special and I am so truly blessed. My last year in my 20's!!!! WOW! Brian brought Nolan in and said "what do you want to say to mama?" And NOlan said, "Poppy Day!" I think it's my favorite way I've ever been told Happy Birthday and my heart melted. Then they gave me my gift...a gift certficate for the spa, whatever I want...a massage, a manicure, facial. I cannot WAIT to use it, I am ecstatic!

Brian and I started the day off with church, and since it was Memorial Day weekend, the service was very patriotic. I think it was the best service we've been to yet, I had to borrow a tissue from a neighbor in our pew and I had goose bumps through most of the service. The music and tributes to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country was done so tastefully and so well!!! Then we headed home and ate some light lunch and tried to have Nolan take a short nap before we headed over to our friends, Neda & Kypp's house for a pool party. There were 3 other kids there (all boys), and Nolan had such a blast swimming and scaring us with his running around the pool. We kept his life jacket on since the child refuses to sit still for more than 30 seconds. The food was yummy and they even made me a birthday cake and sang to me! It was a VERY beautiful and delicious cake made by our friend Roxanne. It had lemon filling, like our wedding cake, because she knew that was my favorite.

Brian and I returned home, fed Nolan some dinner since he was having too much fun to eat at the party, and put him down. Then we sat in the Florida room and sipped wine and chatted. WONDERFUL DAY!!!!

Our hostess Neda (L) and Roxanne (R):

Brian and a chilled Nolan:View of the lake from their pool:Me: The beautiful birthday cake (with a candle that played the Happy Birthday melody):The 3 adult guys (Brian, Wes, Kypp), who acted more like 10 year olds goofing off in the pool:

Beach Stroll

Friday night Brian, Nolan & I headed to Destin. We found a nice area of beach to walk on that wasn't so crowded and spent some time walking and sitting on the beach. The flags were red, which means very rough waters, so the waves were fairly large. Nolan was very uncertain of walking on the beach as I think he thought the waves could get him no matter where he was. When we pointed out a family with 2 dogs, however, he forgot all his fears and started booking it to go say hi to the doggies. I think he would have followed them into the water if they went. After our walk on the beach we went to McGuire's, an Irish restaurant with yummy everything. Their beer & root beer are home made and it was the BEST root beer I think I ever tasted!

You can see the dogs in the background here. They were very friendly and the family let Nolan throw the ball for the dogs (although he tends to get confused and throw the ball AT the dogs, but they didn't seem to mind).

Mama & a cute DUCK!

Nolan, look over HERE!

And the Ding Dong Award Goes Tooooo....

Nolan has had a cough for about a week, but only at night. So today I called the doctor first thing and got him an appointment. We were driving and I thought to myself, wow, 1o minutes early. Pat myself on the back. Whoo hoo, go me. Then I turned and smiled at Nolan. And asked why he had taken his shoe off. But then I noticed both shoes were gone. Then the light bulb came on. I forgot my son's shoes. Un-pat myself on the back. Eat a slice of humble pie. I looked at the clock. My glorious 9 minutes would never allow me enough time to go all the way back home, grab his shoes & still make it on time. I was doing a u-turn anyway, because I couldn't possibly take him into the DOCTOR's with no shoes. FIDDLESTICKS! Suddenly, a beautiful sight appeared before my eyes. Payless Shoes. I quickly turned in. I grabbed my wallet, my shoeless boy and ran into the store. I ran to the toddler section and low and behold, they had the shoes I went looking for weeks ago, but didn't have then. Boy crocs! Whoo hoo! I tried a pair on, they fit great (just in case you're confused, I tried them on Nolan's feet, not mine). I ran back up to the counter (luckily I was the only customer). The sweet woman was chuckling, as she knew exactly what was going on somehow (perhaps I am not the only frazzled mom who this has happened to?) "Would you like me to cut off the tag now?" She asked. "Um, yes, please." And I slipped them on his cute little feet. We made it to the doctor RIGHT ON TIME, thank you very much! On a side note now we are equipped with allergy medicine and a trial "breathing" machine (it gives the medicine in a vapor form, which leads to less side effects). The doctor thinks he has allergies (he's too young to be diagnosed with asthma, but he thinks it may be something we have to deal with in a couple years & we'll just have to see...wow!). Now Nolan and Mama can sport their crocs together. When will Daddy crack under the pressure and buy a pair???