Phone call to the North Pole

This is the actual phone call that occurred at our house on October 2.

"Hi, Santa. Ben asked me to call for him. He would like a train table for Christmas. He said he has been a good boy."

Do you know how hard it is to explain to a 2 year old that Christmas won't be here for months?!

Drinkin' beer for a good cause

Matt's roommate from law school, Andy, passed away from colon cancer just 4 short months after they finished law school. This year was the 5 year anniversary. In order to remember Andy, each year his family organizes a Pub Crawl somewhere in Columbus. Andy's family and friends get together on a Saturday afternoon in October and have a great time. Plus, all the money raised goes towards colon cancer research. We missed last year's event because it was on my birthday (plus I had just delivered Ella 1 month before. Did I really need to go bar hopping with a 1 month old at home?) This year the pub crawl was at Creekside in Gahanna.

The Law School Boys:















Whose huge beer is that??? (it's mine!)















Matt showing off his Pub Crawl coozie on his martini




Love you're shirt, honey! Wish I had one! Oh, I forgot. You bought me one too!

Chrissy, Liz (Andy's sister and Pub Crawl Organizer) and me

Jodi and Matt (Andy's Brother) and Matt















I am positive there is some sort of lawyer-talk occuring here:

Dirty-One

Today is my big day - I turn 31 today (or, dirty-one as my niece pronounces it). I came home from work to two napping kids (which is good since Matt and I were up with Ella from 3am until I left for work). Ben, with the help of my mother-in-law, made me a cake. He also made a mini cake for he and Ella. Patty said he wanted it to say "Happy Birthday, Mommy" and he put all the sprinkles on and all the candles in. There are only 24 candles, because that is all that was left in the box. Just fine with me..... I will just pretend that I am 24 years old!



















Thanks to everyone for the wonderful birthday wishes. At this stage of my life, I am truely blessed. I have 2 incredible children, an amazing husband, a loving family, and terrific friends. And right now, I get to blog with a glass of wine in my hand while my husband prepares dinner. This is the life...

Fall evening at the playground

Last night Matt and I took the kids to the playground. However, after being outside for about 10 minutes, we were FREEZING! It is amazing how quickly summer has disappeared and fall has entered! We were only there about 20 minutes... just long enough for Ella to do some swinging with her daddy and Ben to go down all the slides as many times as he could.

Don't you just love their hats???

I highly recommend you go here....

Rolling Ridge Ranch Animal Park

Last weekend we headed up to Canton to visit my family. On Saturday morning we all piled in the cars and headed to RRR (I'm too lazy to type out the name of the ranch everytime I mention it). It is approximately a 40 minute drive from Canton in Millersburg -- the heart of Amish country. The drive was beautiful. And we probably passed 50 or so Amish folks driving their horse and buggies.

Once we were there, we all piled into a large covered wagon, driven by an Amishman named Melvin and pulled by 2 beautiful horses. Once inside the ranch, we were up close and personal with over 550 amazing animals that we were able to feed and pet. The animals ranged anywhere from deer, geese and pigs to bison, zebras and camels! And a ton of animals I have never heard of and can't remember their names. It was AMAZING!

The adults has just as much fun as the kids. My dad even managed to meet a couple new "friends".

The wagon ride lasted approximately an hour and then we spent another 30 minutes or so at their petting zoo, playing with little ducklings, baby rabbits, pigme goats and others.

Later that night my family and I celebrated my birthday, since I won't be with them on my actual

birthday. I'm turning 31. Booooo........... I'll guess I'll just have to drink enough wine to forget how old I am getting

Here I am modeling my new shoes and necklace! Thanks, Weber family!

I had to post this picture of Max in the tent with my mom. He is seriously SO CUTE!

And the night ended with Ben getting stuck in the soccer net.

The kids were exhausted after their fun weekend with their Gigi, Papa, Aunt, Uncle and cousins. This is what Ella looked like 5 minutes into our two and a half hour car ride home on Sunday

She looks just like her mommy when she sleeps!

FYI... she also has my butt and thighs.... poor girl

And Ben was struggling with the sun in his eyes. So when this didn't work,

he had to resort to this

The Stats

Miss Ella June Bug had her 1 year check-up today with Dr. Cheryl. (My sister felt the need to remind me that Ella is almost 13 months now and why was her 12 month appointmet scheduled so late... spoken like a true pediatrician)

Here are her stats:

• weight: 19 lbs 10.5 oz. (= 20th percentile)
• height: 29 inches (= 30th percentile)
• What do these numbers mean? That she is T-I-N-Y!
• Ben was bigger than this at his 9 month check-up
• She also already has her four 15-month molars

She also had 4 shots! Poor Princess!! But she handled them like a pro - barely any crying. I have already put her to bed for the night. She's exhausted after her day.

Good night, little bug...

Who knew?

Who knew that Cole Haan made shoes for toddlers?

Well, they do! And they're ADORABLE!

(especially when worn by this cutie!!)