I'm really happy

Some days I just want to be miserable. It brings me great joy.

So my husband was sick over Mother's Day. It conveniently started Friday night and continued through Monday. This did not make me happy. I tried to make the best of it by pouting.

Saturday morning started off with family pictures at Lacey Park, dogs and all. Mike was already feverish and Max did not like having his picture taken. This did not make me happy. Max decided his new favorite thing is to walk the dogs who somehow manage to get away frequently & make him cry and throw tantrums. This did not make me happy.

My dad is in town & sister and her family came for a visit and we decided to go to the beach. Mike decided he'd rather sit at home and be sick than sit at the beach and be sick. This did not make me happy. Traffic was miserable so we ended up taking almost 2hrs to get to Santa Monica. This did not make me happy. Carrying my son who refused to walk in the sand the 4 block distance in the sand & 22 weeks pregant did not make me comfortable or happy.

My brother & sister-in-law were supposed to come up & BBQ for us. Becuase Mike had a 102 fever & she is about 30 weeks pregnant & didn't want to get sick, they didn't come. No dinner waiting did not make me happy.

Becuase Mike was sick he slept on the pull out couch to not get me sick. Max was grumpy all morning and all through church. I came home to nap & woke up to find the laundry still not folded & Mike had made HIS favorite dinner for everyone. None of these things made me happy.

My mother called me yesterday to see how my weekend ended up. After complaining & telling her I had 1 more good day of silent treatment in me, she told me of a conversation that she and my sister had just had about my husband. I decided to being happy was better than unhappy.

-I'm glad my dad, sister & her family were there Saturday

-I'm glad our pictures were in the morning & I didn't have to take pictures in the heat

-I'm glad my dad turned back to carry Max the rest of the way on the beach

-I'm glad Max eventually walked in the sand and that he played happily for a couple hrs.

-I'm glad we got to eat KFC for dinner Saturday night

-I'm glad Max & I did not get sick

-I'm glad I slept through Sunday dinner & didn't have to eat Mike's meal. (Sorry dear, shake-n-bake & tater tots is not my favorite meal)

-I'm glad the kitchen got cleaned Sunday

-I'm glad I have a wonderful husband who provides for our family
-I'm glad my husband is a fabulous father

-I'm glad the Dr. says his puffy eye is not pink eye & he brought home donuts this morning after his appointment

-I'm glad our anniversary is tomorrow so he can make it up to me ;)

-I'm glad I have a mom who reminded me how good I have it :)

A little Femininity

I'm surrounded by men. Between Mike, Max and baby boy #2 on the way, I decided I needed to be reminded of why I like being a girl. I also decided to make my blog a little more feminine. Here's a list of girlie things I love...

-SHOES!

-Visiting my "Happy Places"- Bergdorf's & Barney's Shoe department & since I can't always go there, my own shoe collection. Ahh to be single and living in NYC again...

-Mani/pedi/facials/massage. How I wish I could afford these again!

-We have our own anthem thanks to Cyndi Lauper

-Pregnancy. The good definitely out weighs the bad.

-Being a mom. Pretty darn cool.

-flirting. Girls do this so well & learn it so young. It cracks me up watching my friends w/baby girls who totally have the pout, eyelash, smile, hair flip working for them already.

-Girl friends. I'm not sure guys bond quite like girlfriends do.

-Clothing & accessories are better for girls, & more fun to shop for.

-Girls can be "boyish" by being tom-boys. Boy's can't get away with being "girlie". Well, I suppose some do, but that's a whole other blog.

-We can, but don't have to make the first move when dating.

-We can be emotional and not feel guilty about it.

-There is a plethora of magazines available to us. I prefer the trashy celebrity ones.

-Slumber parties!

Maybe I'll paint my bedroom pink now...nah!

(Part of my shoe collection)

!!!WARNING!!! Adorable Baby Buns

I should also add a warning that the absolute cuteness of chubby baby buns can cause serious giggles & the desire to "goose" your loved ones.

I know Max is going to kill me some day for these, but what else do you do when its 90 degrees outside, baby has a poopy diaper and a rash? You let him go comando in the yard, naturally :)

Thank goodness for private bloggs!

All Aboard the Ark

Today Max & I met my sister Krista and her kids, Macie & Carson at the Skirball Museum's Noah's Ark exhibit. It was fantastic!

These days outings like this make me tired just thinking about them. However, there is so much for the kids to do and many museum employees helping to herd and watch kids that I'm no more tired than usual :)

It's divided into 5 sections & the 1.5 hr time slot you are allotted was perfect. Max banged on an elephant drum, tried climbing the walls of the ark, loaded the animals on the ark, made himself "dinner", played with the miniature animals, built and knocked down a tower & sat through story time. Macie & Carson had just as much fun exploring and climbing on everything.

Hopefully this talked you into trying it out. We will totally be going again. Thanks to my friend Dana for bloggin this and telling us what a great place it is.

(Max gleefully circling a mini ark with the animals he was able to nab away from his cousin.)

(Macie making the giant giraffe's neck move.)

(Max loading animals on the ark with some big kids.)

(Carson playing with the "mini" ark.)

(Passed out on the way home, he was exhausted!)

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from the Brownstein's

Potato Latkes

I love my husband, I also love teasing my husband. This is how the Brownstein Pesach (Passover- see...I'm learning!) went...

Jewish husband comes home from work a bit early to make potato latkes. Burns oil, burns latkes, scares dogs & almost burns kitchen down...

After opening windows, Mormon wife attempts potato latkes (having never made them before. See how nice and golden brown.)...

Happy Matza & Potato Latkes! Hope you had a wonderful Passover & have a wonderful Easter.

Spring Spring Spring

I like Spring. I don't love it, just like it. Spring brings on my allergies which seem to be worse when I'm pregnant. However, this year spring has been pretty good to the Brownstein's (so far).

We took a trip a couple weeks ago to Disneyland with my sister and nephew. I love the So. Cal season passes that make going for 4 hrs not a waste. Max did take a tumble and got a nasty bump on his head and scratch on his knee on the way in, but it was nothing a lolly pop couldn't fix.

Grandma Gail (GG) came to visit last week and we visited the Long Beach Aquarium for the first time. Max is pretty happy to wander anywhere but I think what little he did pay attention to, he enjoyed. It's a pretty cool aquarium with indoor and outdoor exhibits.

Yesterday we kicked off our goal of getting the yard spruced up, putting rocks by the front gate for Mike to park his car on and starting a garden. We had to buy a wheel barrow which Max loved to ride back in after each load of rocks. He also thought he was hot stuff working along side Grandpa Holmes and his Dad with his own "shovel" (a garden trowel) & generally just getting dirty. He spent the entire day outside & was filthy! Luckily he likes bath time as much as he is enjoying spring :)