Birthday Girls!

Today we attended Katie and Allie's Princess-themed joint birthday party!  Even though it was a windy day, the kiddos loved playing outside and the girls were able to enjoy their Princess cakes outside too!

We Have a New Cousin!

Yesterday afternoon I received a call from Lauren telling me that she was in the early stages of labor.  She had gone in for her 39 week appointment and was told she was 3cm dilated.  YAY! So it was back home to get her hospital bag and then time to head back into the hospital to deliver a baby!  During the phone call she had also mentioned that she was planning on calling her sister, Kristin who lives out in CA to tell her to hop on a plane to come meet her new niece or nephew!  Fast forward to later that night (while we were out at the casino celebrating our anniversary) and Kristin and I had chatted and we made plans to go pick her up at the Providence airport that next morning.  Fast forward another few hours to early this morning at 6:33am and Lauren gave birth to her beautiful daughter, Molly Addison Parsons!

Michael, AJ and I picked up Kristin at TF Green airport at around 9:30am this morning and drove her directly to the hospital.  I was able to sneak into the maternity ward with her real quickly to get a peek at my new cousin and the new parents.

Kristin holding her niece for the first time!

She is absolutely adorable!

Such a proud Cioci! 

Looks just like her Momma!

(I stole this picture from Kristin's facebook! She's beautiful, isn't she?!)

Third Anniversary

Michael and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary tonight (two days late!).  Grandma and Grandpa came over to watch AJ while we went out for a nice dinner at Sol Toro at Mohegan Sun.  Unfortunately because I'm a space cadet lately, I completely spaced on getting a Cake Lady cake for our anniversary! FAIL!!  So instead we decided to be a little indulgent and get a mini-Vermonster from Ben and Jerry's for dessert!  [For those of you who don't know what a Vermonster is - look it up!]  Our mini-Vermonster had six scoops of ice cream (all different flavors!), a banana, and all the toppings you could imagine (fudge, caramel, whipped cream, rainbow sprinkles, reese's pieces, etc.)!  We went and sat down on one of the granite/marble benches in the middle of the Casino of the Sky and as we are eating our ice cream, all of a sudden it started 'raining' on us.  It wasn't your typical rain - no, it was like glass bead rain.  Or shards of glass rain. AWESOME.  It was in our hair, on our clothes, in the ice cream...it was everywhere.  So Michael went and found security while I stayed at the scene of the crime.  Two security guys came over and took our information, took some pictures of the shards of glass and then scraped them up and put them into an evidence bag.  They then called over a host who would try to compensate us for our misfortune.  After talking to her manager and looking up our player's club card activity (basically non-existent since we don't gamble much), we were given a $25 credit towards a retail or food purchase.  That was enough to cover the cost of the mini-Vermonster and then gave us $12 spending money.  How gracious of them!  We were too tired and frustrated to fight with the host to try and get us additional compensation so after this whole thing happened, we ended up leaving the casino and heading home.


UPDATE:  After thinking about the whole situation and how the $25 credit was prefaced with 'well, it doesn't look like you guys come here much,' Michael and I were downright ticked off.  Just because we don't necessarily go there that often, a PIECE OF YOUR CEILING FELL on us.  And it was shards of glass nonetheless.  So Michael ended up calling guest relations about a week later and we were given another $100 credit towards any retail or food purchase with no questions asked.  We have yet to use it, but we're both excited for another night out.  One hopefully without glass rain falling on us.

Before heading out to the casino

Three years of wedded bliss!

Yummy!

Visitors from AZ!

Devon and I go back to college.  She was my Resident Director during my first couple years as a Resident Assistant and we became fast friends.  I was her maid of honor and stood up for her on one of the most important days of her life.  She and Brian lived in MA so we wouldn't see each other all that often, but when we did hang out it was like no time had passed.  She is just one of those friends that we can pick up right where we left off, no matter how much time has passed.  And after about a year of being married (if my memory serves me correctly!), Brian and Devon moved to AZ.  They became a family with the birth of their daughters, Aubrey and Ciara.  And Michael and I started a family with our little AJ.  I've been out there to visit a few times and when they come back east we always try to meet up too.  And last year when they came back to MA, we missed each other...but this time around I wasn't going to let that happen!  Devon had to meet AJ and I had to meet Ciara and see Aubrey again! SO, we made it happen!  While Brian was out golfing this morning, Devon and the girls packed up in MA and headed down to CT for a visit with us.  As expected, it was as if no time had passed between our visits and the kids got along great.  I cannot wait for when they permanently move back east so we can hopefully get together more often!  Devon and girls - it was absolutely great hanging out this morning!  We cannot wait for our next visit with you!  Brian - we missed you!

Aubrey having fun on AJ's tigger-horse

Ciara wasn't sure what to make of Porter

'Hey Aubrey.. you have some powder on your face from the munchkin you just ate!'

'Oh hey there, Miss Ciara!'

Ciara enjoyed exploring the leaves outside

And my sandals too!

AJ was showing Devon and Aubrey the garden his Dad planted this year

Ciara had to join in on the fun too!

Checking out our backyard since they don't have much grass in AZ!

Aren't these two just adorable?!  They became best buds during their visit!

Devon and the kids playing

Aubrey very much enjoyed the fact that I bought her powdered munchkins for breakfast!

She had a little accident with the jelly! Oops!

Loving having the kids together! Such a great visit!

Beating up on Grandpa!

On our way home from Xavier's party, we stopped by Grandpa's house for a quick visit.

Showing off his 'cheese' face and excitement for the balloons tied to his wrist!

Grandpa was playing around with AJ and put his ankle brace on AJ...

 it was so funny to watch AJ with it on!

Grandpa fed AJ some graham crackers and he thought they were yummy!

And in return, AJ decided he needed to beat up on Grandpa! :)

Xavier's First Birthday Party!

Today we celebrated Xavier's 1st Birthday in pirate style with a bunch of his friends up in Webster, MA.  Julie and Reyo held the party at the Polish American Veterans Club where there was ample space for the kids to run around and get all their energy out!  AJ even got two balloons to celebrate the occasion!

Happy Birthday X!

X liked the '1' candle more than the cake! Silly boy!

(Don't mind the red-eye - my iPhone was not doing a great job of editing the photo!)

Quiet Morning

Before we headed out to Xavier's 1st birthday party in Webster, MA, we enjoyed a quiet morning in.

We watched some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse....

...AJ refused to look at Momma's camera!

...We played with some toys...

We watched television and held the phone at the same time!

...we played with some more toys!...

..and then he tried to call Zimbabwe!