30 years...

Where has the time gone? We celebrated my 30th birthday back on December 7th and it was definitely made extra-special by my sweet husband. We didn't do too much on the actual day, except Mark did make me a delicious dinner from scratch. Since I'm still able to stay at home with Eli, I'm the one who usually cooks, so the break from cooking was awesome! Eli joined us for dinner and cake too!





Mark also ordered me a yummy cake, which I was so excited about. Buttercream icing is a definite vice of mine! However, my excitement soon turned to sadness, when Mark decided to cover the cake with 30 trick candles (which I've hated since I was a little girl) and they proceeded to melt all over my precious icing. We managed to salvage some of the cake, but it was a definite mess!

Before


During



After


Once we extiguished the cake, Mark gave me an envelope filled with sheets of paper documenting my itinerary for the next day. He set up my first ever spa day, a romantic dinner at Melting Pot, and front row seats to a local production of "A Christmas Carol" in Raleigh. I was blown away by the surprises he had set up just for me!

Wednesday turned out to be very relaxing and I enjoyed my day "off." My most favorite part was how much time Mark and I got to spend together, just the two of us. That is such a rare thing these days, so I was soaking up every minute of our time together. Looks like my 30's are going to be even better than my 20's!

Thanksgiving Festivities

Last month, we packed-up and headed to Virginia to spend Thanksgiving with our families. We left a little earlier in the week so we could hang-out with Eli's Uncle Ben (Mark's brother), who was only in town for a few days before Thanksgiving and unable to make it back to VA for Christmas. On Tuesday, we spent the day in Smithfield with Mark's family and Grandmother to eat our 1st of 2 Thanksgiving dinners. Eli loved eating a little bit of everything we were eating. No surprise there!

Sunset on the James River down the road from Mark's parent's house.




On Wednesday, Mark hung out some more with his family and Eli and I ran errands with Grandma (my mom). One of the errands was to Mom's storage unit to pick-up a huge stuffed Clifford she had packed-up with her lower-grade stuff. (Eli is currently OBSESSED with Clifford...he loves to watch it on PBS kids.) When mom handed him the Clifford he was so excited! It even barks when you press its paw, which makes him giggle. Since that day, Eli and Clifford have been the best of friends and you can find Eli cuddling with him on a regular basis. It's so sweet!



Thursday was an early start for me, as I was signed-up to run a 5K for Toys for Tots with my older brother Rick and younger sister Erin. It was VERY cold that morning but we had fun. What made it even better was seeing all of the rest of my family cheering for us at the finish-line. We just may have started a new family tradition!

Eli waiting for Mommy, Uncle Rick, and Aunt Erin!





Thankfully, the race ended early enough that we were able to get home just in time to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Eli caught the beginning of it but quickly let us know that he was ready for his morning nap.

That evening, we ate our 2nd Thanksgiving meal with my family. It was so nice to catch up with everyone and Eli loved begging for all of the food off of his Great-Grandma's plate! (And you know she gave it to him too!)

On Friday, the girls went off to do some shopping for the day while the guys watched the kiddos. Mark took Eli to the Virginia Living Museum for the first time and they had a blast. Eli loved getting to hang-out with his cousins and Granddaddy too!

Psyched to go to the Living Museum! Mark texted me this picture while I was shopping and my heart just melted!



Look, Dad! I found animal tracks!




Excited about his new Otter Magnet from the gift store...he loves magnets! (His daddy also helped him pick a dinosaur that grows in water too)



Cousins Pic!



The rest of the weekend was pretty low-key, which was nice. We headed back home Sunday evening and were so thankful to miss most of the traffic. Eli and I loved hanging out with Mark for the week and can't wait for him to be off for Christmas and New Years!