Anniversary, St. Patty's and Spring!

On March 16th, we celebrated our 3 year anniversary. We had been saving up some money and wanted to get away for the weekend, but decided it was just too much hassle with a little lady to deal with. So this was our celebration instead. We made our annual trip to Cracker & Co. for breakfast. If you haven't tried out this place; do it. Later that night I made a candle lit dinner to try and add some romance to our nightly routine. That following weekend we had a date night and went to a new Indian place in Chandler. I got my usual Dal Majarani and naan bread. It was delish as always, and instead of mango lassi, I tried out strawberry. Oh my goodness, so good. Casey got some curry, and it was even better than my dish. It was thicker than most curries I've had, but sooo good. I really like food. After stuffing ourselves we went iceskating. This was only my second time and I was a little unsure of myself at first, but after about 20 minutes I felt a lot more steady. I only fell once, and it was during my attempt to skate on one leg. I convinced Casey to hold my hand around the rink at least one time. Those bratty 15 year olds couldn't out perform me in the PDA department; we were the ones celebrating our love for eachother.

In other March news, Maddie and I had fun dressing in green and playing at the Jump and Shout at Riverview. Spring is here and we're taking full advantage of the beautiful weather by playing outside the majority of the day, whether it's kicking the princess ball around or blowing bubbles with Percy the train. Very soon all we'll be able to do outdoors is swim.

Casey is fully enjoying his scooter rides in this weather and the plentiful amount of basketball on tv. I've already beat him in my bracket. The one that took me 30 seconds to fill out. He's also enjoying playing soccer twice a week. He is NOT enjoying his online Biology class, but the end is so near that his mood has lightened. All in all the Lewis Family is well and very happy.

I love this girl. She is seriously such a kook and is constantly making us laugh with her funny ways and unexpected phrases. Tonight I was harassing her to get in the tub or she would just have to get in her jammies with no bath. In mid-sentence she puckered her lips as far as they would pucker, pressed her index finger to those puckered lips and gave me a big long "shuuush", and of course our instant laughter gave her further encouragement; I think she just found an easy way out of my scoldings.

Book #2

So for February I read Ender's Game, which was a completely different novel than the Memory Keeper's Daughter. I enjoyed the faster pace and sci-fi feel. I'm a big fan of Ray Bradbury and C.S. Lewis, so this type of stuff entertains me. It was a young adult book so that always helps with the entertainment factor. I did glaze over a bit during the battle scenes and battle talk, but overall I enjoyed the read. I'm trying to mix up the genres each month, so for March I'll be reading One of Ours by Willa Cather.

Best Friends

My little sis Mercedes hung out with Maddie and I for a couple days. Maddie was in play heaven. She adores her "Aunt" Mercedes, or Cedes as she calls her, and Mercedes loves Maddie in return. They completely wore me out with trips to the park each day, library time, a run to Walmart for finger paints, dress up, making jewelery, playing frisbee and whatever else their entertainment demanded. I wish I could post pictures and video of all their activities together because I love watching them play together. I hope Maddie has a little sister someday that she loves as much as Mercedes loves her.

Casey is 26!

Happy birthday to my sweet husband Casey. This post is dedicated to your 26 years of life.

26 Reasons Why Casey Rocks

1. He can run and not be weary. For example, today we hiked South Mountain, and he went off on his own, then 20 minutes later I saw him off in the distance running back, over rocks, up hills, straight to us, then grabs Maddie and carries her all the way back to the car with no fatigue.

2. He always smells of delicious cologne (except when he's running hills on South Mountain).

3. He always is the one to pursue thoughtful conversations with me and gets me to express myself more than I normally would.

4. He is never afraid to verbally express his love to all of his family.

5. He has great ball control on the soccer field and understands the game inside and out.

6. Whenever we walk through a door he opens it for me, or, if it's a door that doesn't need to be opened, he lets me go first.

7. He has fun taste in music.

8. He is always willing to try new foods with me, and enjoys all types.

9. He is the best travel partner in the world.

10. He plays with Maddie as soon as he gets home from work.

11. He tells me I'm pretty on a regular basis.

12. He is friendly and talks with complete strangers.

13. He adds commentary to every show, commercial and movie we watch.

14. He dances in front of us...daily.

15. Every time I'm making dinner he asks, "What can I do?"

16. He is patient and kind when I'm frustrated and trying to deal with a stubborn child.

17. He enjoys board games with me.

18. He's haaaaandsome.

19. He enjoys the outdoors and going on hikes, swims, etc.

20. He's not addicted to video games.

21. He constantly gives me praise and encouragement in every thing I pursue.

22. He made me a personalized beaded dangle to hang from my rear view mirror. Seriously, how sweet is that?

23. He spends his days working at a job he doesn't love and going to school part time so he can provide for his little family.

24. He knows how to skateboard.

25. He's willing to watch Felicity with me.

26. He makes me laugh every single day.

Growing Maddie

I'm so amazed at how fast Maddie is growing up. She is so smart and remembers things so well. Last Monday we went to the park to feed the ducks with Casey's family. She couldn't get enough of the ducks and throwing bread into the water. Days later, if I would mention anything related to the day she would begin rapid fire words about the day. If I said Grandma, she would open her eyes wide and say, "Ga? (Grandma) Nas? (Nikolas) Ducks? Bread? Papa?" Maybe it's because I have no previous experience with kids, but every time she does something like this, it's so exciting and new for me.

She is learning so fast and I love teaching her new things. She loves for me to draw her shapes, she's learning her letters and colors, she's starting to try and sing-a-long with songs and she will often just say a word I never taught her. In short, I love being a parent. I love this new experience of seeing my baby develop and progress into a little person. It's so rewarding to be a mother.

1 Down, 11 To Go.

I made a goal to read a book a month this year, and, although I actually started this book a while ago, I'm gonna go ahead and count it for January. Check.

I'm going to give this book a rating of, "Eh". I didn't hate it, but I definitely didn't love it. It was very poetically written. Unfortunately, I've never been a huge poetry fan. I kept finding myself skimming the pages for some useful plot information. Also, it was a little too emotionally intense for me. I enjoy a book that makes me happy...or at least makes me smile...at least once during the book. This book provided none of the above.

Here's the basic plot. A doctor is forced to deliver his own set of twins. One of the twins has downs syndrome, so the doctor hands the baby to his nurse and tells her to take the baby to an institution of sorts. The doctor then tells his wife the girl twin died during birth. And as you can imagine, then comes the emotional drama.

As for February, I've started Ender's Game. I'll let you know how this one goes.