I'm "it"!

ok, ok, ok, I know, I'm "it" . . . it's my turn to finally play the blog catch-up game and fill you all in on where i've been this past week. totally unlike me to not post all week long, but, hey, things happen, life takes over, and sometimes your best intentions get buried under all the other stuff you have to take care of! anyway, where shall i start!?!

(first thing's first: hudson is back to eating everything in sight and inching his way back to his glorious 10 month old fighting weight of a whopping 21 lbs. he had lost 5 pounds the week he was sick, and my goodness, when you're barely 2 feet tall, a five pound difference is quite noticeable. luckily, he has been blessed and is recovering quite well now . . . and even has gone back to chasing the kitties, as he's perfected his crawl and learned to speed it up!)

next, my sweet little eliza-bear turned THREE last week! my mom was so sweet and took the kids to chuck e. cheese's to celebrate the big day. eliza had a blast (as well as the other kids . . . ian and i included! LOL!). my favorite part, besides the bright blue food coloring i left on her face from her ice cream cake (hey, i had to leave evidence of a good time for posterity!), was when she wanted to play the free throw arcade game. everytime the music would start before she was to take a shot, she'd hold the ball above her head to shoot, but rock her little skinny booty back and forth to the music . . . then, when the music stopped playing, she could finally focus and take her shot! she's just too cute! OH, and speaking of basketball, maybe my little one won't be so small after all! they measured her THREE times at the doctor's office during her checkup (btw, she remained in her underwear AND princess crown for the duration of the exam . . . as she informed everyone that her name is, "Eliza Princess"!) because she had grown SO much in the past year! she's now standing tall at a very respectable 36"!! only 2 more feet to go until she catches up with momma! so, to all those lame-o's who call her short . . . you better go somewhere, girlfriend! LOL!

Then, on the following day, Thursday, Ian and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary! time flies, i tell ya! i can't believe next year will mark our big TEN years together! well, what other way do you celebrate such a fantastic event? ahhh, enter The Melting Pot! yum, yum, and MORE yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! We went all out with the Big Night Out menu, starting with the Wisconsin trio cheese appetizer. then, a main course that included lobster, filet, shrimp, and much, much more. and closed the night with some out of this world dark chocolate fondue . . . actually it was the yin & yang chocolate (half dark, half white). everything was so pretty, and just mouth-watering. can't wait til we go back in a few weeks for our birthday celebration! (actually, i could do without the turning older bit, just give me the darn chocolate!!)

then, there was eliza's birthday party (Take 2!) with family and friends. they dressed up (Eliza was tinkerbell, as usual!), watched the tinkerbell movie, drew with crayola window markers (bought at Michaels, since I know a ton of you will want to know! :) ), and had brownie sundays!

so, there you have it. my week in a nutshell. oh, and btw, did i mention i got my plane tickets to CHA winter '09!!!??! yAAAAAAAAAAAhoooooooooooooooooooooo! I am BEYOND *excited* about this one! Can't wait to meet all of the wonderfully creative girls and learn what's new in the world of crafting . . . and apply it all to my own art! so, stay tuned because i'm all about sharing what i see there!!

have a wonderful week!

much love, natasha