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| Breakfast with uncle Jon |
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| Sassy little thing at the pumpkin patch |
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Nearly every photo looked like this from our Arboretum adventure.
She was very into her yoga moves that day. |
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| Play date with Roni and Baer at the park |
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| Flipping through fabric samples with a client |
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| She takes her job very seriously |
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| My amazing henna tattoo for the party |
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| My florals -- did them myself! |
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| The tent! We loved it so much we had coffee in it the next morning. |
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Lazy morning at home post party with our little rock star.
She partied with everyone until 11:30 p.m.! |
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| Hanging with Courtney and Ashley |
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| The cabana-turned-hookah lounge |
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That's Michael on the right lighting all of the tiki torches.
It was so stunning all lit up! |
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| Hanging with auntie Fran on my birthday |
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Landry can't get enough of my Moroccan wedding blankets around the house.
She loves to play with the sequins! |
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| Quick snooze on the way to the mall to meet friends for lunch |
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Morning time fun with mom.
I give her untensils to play with; that morning she was loving the plastic ice cream scooper. |
The past month has been so much fun! Granted, this is my favorite time of year...
Landry is just a few days shy of eight months. She's almost has the sitting on her own thing down. She's discovered the long phrase dadadadada and Michael swoons over it (my attempts to teach her mamamama have failed, so far). Her hair is getting thicker and I think I might be able to clip a bow in by Christmas, yay! She's not crawling yet, but we're just fine with that. We know parenthood as we know it will be over the day she's mobile.
I've never kept her to a schedule but over the past couple weeks she's started to naturally find one of her own. I've happily welcomed the loose routine (quick 30 minute or so nap around noon and a longer one around 4:30 p.m. or so).
Just after our trip Landry caught a bug and we dealt with our first big baby virus. She was sick for more than a week and hardly ate a thing. She lost some weight and her normal bubbly spirit was so weak; it was horrible. I ended up catching it, too, which was no fun. Luckily she bounced back quickly once it was out of her system but the whole ordeal was very scary as new parents.
For Halloween, I dressed Landry up in her ladybug costume and met Ari and Leila for lunch and a date at a new park in town. Leila was a bumble bee and we couldn't get enough photos of the little bugs together. That night, we had loads of trick-or-treaters come by the house and Landry loved seeing all of the kiddos. If you put in near little ones, she is one happy camper!
The next couple weeks I spent any free time I could find planning my party, which was last weekend in the backyard. The weather Gods were on our side and it was the most perfect evening. The best part of the party was my mom's surprise visit! I happened to walk out front to decorate the side entry and caught her exiting a cab the day of the party. What a shock! It was so fun having her here and she was so much help, too.
Courtney, Robert, and their sweet little Amelia also flew in town for the occasion. Man, do I have amazing family and friends. About 50 people came to celebrate and the night was just perfect. I purchased a white tent and decked it out with a full living room packed with vibrant pillows, lanterns, and candles. The cabana was transformed into a hookah lounge which was a huge hit! I think nearly every girl at the party (and uncle Jon) took advantage of the henna tattoo artist, too.
As luck would have it, my Moroccan shipment arrived the day before the party so we hung our cool brass lantern, draped the wedding blankets, and used whatever decor we had to work with. The last guest left at 2:30 a.m. so the party was definitely a hit!
The week of my actual birthday my mom stayed a few days and we had some quality time with the peanut. One day, she helped me stage a property on the market listed by my friend Kari. On our way to the job, we got the best news ever: Gigi is pregnant!!!
She called while we were in the car to tell us she's 14 weeks preggo. She decided to put the cart before the horse and try the donor route since she's 42 and single. The first time took and she's due with a little boy May 3rd. I'm so over the moon I can hardly stand it. This is going to be the best thing ever for her. Paula and I have already planned to visit her in New York this summer with our brood.
Speaking of kiddos, Morgan is having a girl! Woohoo! Little Blakely Ann will have one killer wardrobe since I've boxed up all of Landry's treads to pass down in case Mo had a girl.
On my birthday, my friends treated me like a queen. Jaclyn, Joanne, and Kari sent treats; Paula treated me to lunch and then we got a blowout together for a little pamper session. Fran swung by the house with champagne and we had kir royals with Michael and the boo. Later Michael and I had a lovely dinner while my in-laws watched Landry.
It was the perfect day and I didn't blink an eye at turning 30. For one, I've been celebrating the occasion so long that I've had plenty of time to marinate on the number. But more than that, I feel really, really good about my place in life at 30. I've traveled the world, started a family, and have a thriving career I love. I crammed A LOT into my 20s and look forward to what the 30s bring my way!
