Happy Birthday to Us!

Another summer means another birthday! Happy days for Kevin and me. Luckily, our birthdays are the 10th and 11th, making it easy for us to remember and celebrate. Kevin turned 29 and I turned 28, and we had a great time. On Kevin's birthday we went out to eat, and it's tradition to go to PF Chang's. When we came home we did birthday cake. I make one for us each year. Not much on way of decorations, but I added some special touches in honor of July birthdays (hooray for sparklers!)

And Kevin was a sport, posing for the pics. On my birthday we hit the 7/11 gas station - every year on this date they give away free slurpees! (they give them to everyone, not just birthday people) On Saturday my friend Amy took us out for dinner at Nero's in Ceasar's Palace. She always takes us to the fanciest restaurants for our birthday dinner, and this one was great! Filet Mignon, Lobster Bisque, and Creme Brulee! Yum yum. It was a great evening.

Birthday cards, phone calls and wishes all come flooding in, too. I love that all of you call and wish us happy birthday - it's great to hear from everyone! Grandma and Grandpa Lesch always sing, and this year my cousin Jenna did too. I even got a song from Marine-Corp-Tough-Tieg!! Thanks to everyone who called and sent cards or thoughts - we love you too!

Presents to each other were geared towards the remodel on the house - gearing up for the baby and updating. Kevin has been buckling down and tearing stuff up (which is always the fun part!). We're going one room at a time, but it always leads to another room, so half the house will always be under some sort of construction. I wish I could help out more, but it's getting harder for me to carry stuff around. Not that I can't lift (although Kevin always bugs me about it) but that my belly gets in the way. So I've resigned myself to the post of secretary - I make the phone calls to contractors or plumbers, and I research prices and items online for eventual replacement. I'd rather have the crowbar to whack stuff down, but design is fun too, so I'll do my job to the best of my ability.

Hooray for the 4th!

I love the 4th of July! And not just cuz it means my birthday is coming :-) I love the bbq's and the park, the flags and the fireworks! Most especially the fireworks. I wait all day for night to come so I can see the shows. It's hard to do much during the day in Vegas, it gets so hot, but we tried this year. Our bbq didn't work out as we planned, but I had enough food and fireworks for just our little family. I enjoyed getting steaks ready, having some corn on the cob and shrimp to go with, and wash it down with some IBC rootbeer or cream soda (a staple at our house!). Once dark started to fall, it was easy to get a front seat to fireworks, just step outside!

We celebrated at our house, out back. Kevin and I got into a bit of a pop-it war and waved our sparklers at the neighbors and the cops driving by (spotlighting for illegal fireworks). Our cat, Willie, doesn't like all the noise so he hid in the house most of the night. Our dog, Tok, didn't quite know what to make of the sparklers. He was interested until he burnt his nose, anyway.

He was fascinated with everything else, the fountains especially.

Low key, but so fun for just our little family. Baby kicked at the noise, although in fright or fun, I'm not sure. He likes to move around a lot when there's lots of noise (singing in church, music in the house, crowded restaurants, etc), but whether it's cuz he likes it or not has yet to be seen!

Hoping yours was a great holiday too!

Welcome to my Blog!!

Well, who would have thought it, but I'm finally a blogger! Thanks to the stern promptings of friends, who wanted to see the Belly. Plus, I've got lots of time on my hands this summer, spent mostly scrapbooking or reading, so here's another creative outlet for me to use to keep in touch.

So far, this summer has been pretty hot and fairly low key. I spend most of my days watching 'A Baby Story' on TLC, reading and trying to not think about starting the school in the fall. Occassionally housework and cooking get done. :-) I've also spent a lot of time online, researching out baby gear and trying to find great deals for purchasing them. So far, I've lucked out (thanks Dani, for all your advice!!) and found great stuff, and am slowly getting the nursery put together.

Kevin still works for the pool company here in town. He's at a warehouse now, not driving, which has helped him lose some weight, but has no a/c and he's got some down time that keeps him bored. Soon he'll start looking for a night job so he can be home with the baby during the day when I go back to work in the fall. This will help us not have to pay for childcare, which is an arm and a leg!

At the moment we're gearing up for the 4th - putting together a bbq with some friends. I've got great T-bone steaks in the fridge, marinating as we speak! My mouth is watering with anticipation...Then, of course there are the fireworks. And in Vegas, that's quite the show! Most every casino on the Strip sets some off, and across town there are parties, both city sponsored and private, that set them off too, so all we have to do is find a clear spot in town and sit back to watch. Kevin and I have our secret spot to sit (okay, our front porch isn't that secret) and we've got a stock of IBC Rootbeer and cherries to eat while watching.

I'll start getting some pictures uploaded and play around with this blogging thing, so check back later as I get better and better at this...(fingers crossed!)