So much to do this month

Our big boy is turning 4 on November 28 (I know I can't believe it either!) and that means that I have to make some decisions on what to actually do for his big day. Isn't this always a big dilemma? His birthday falling after Thanksgiving and occurring during a colder month always limits the possibilities - especially for little boy that needs to be outdoors. Keeping it fun and within a reasonable budget at the same time is always a challenge!
This also means that there are only about 6 more weeks until Christmas, so I really need to step it up and get to some hard core holiday shopping.
On a more exciting note, my dearest girlfriend Aleyta is due to have a baby girl Sophie on November 22 - I can't wait for this big moment to finally come, she is going to be one amazing Mommy!

A boy, a belly, and the beach!

The first week of November was a very exciting week for us, as I had my 20 week ultrasound where we found out our second baby's gender...and It's Another Boy! T and Jason didn't seem surprised in the least, I suppose the predominance of boys on the Warren side of the family should have been a huge clue. We are so happy about this news, and can't wait for T to meet his baby brother in March. The logistical side of me is super thrilled to be able to re-use all of T's old baby clothes again; he had so many adorable outfits that I was saddened at the prospect of possibly not seeing them on a baby again! Of course the new baby will get some new things but there is no shortage of clothes. As you all know I'm a bit of a shopaholic!

Here is our little guy putting his foot in his mouth!

This is his profile!

This is the proof!

That same week, we made yet another trip to Twin Lakes Beach with Krissy and Devon. It was November 3, and nearly 80 degrees that day. A truly exceptional day!

The beach was strewn with huge piles of driftwood and sticks. The kids built a "house" of sticks and T wrote his name in the sand.

Here is his shadow above some of the T, A, and L section - he wrote it really big!

And here is a belly shot, told you I was expanding

The belly and the kids

My belly enjoying the view

Halloween

For the the first time, T picked out his Halloween costume this year. Since he and Jason are obsessed with Star Wars, he chose to be Luke Skywalker! Such a big boy costume! He made the light saber when we went to Disneyland in September. Here he is in all his Jedi glory...

All tuckered out from an afternoon of baking!


Baking halloween cupcakes with his Pasha

A trip to Spina Farms, just T and his Papa

30th

So yes, I did allow a few pictures to be taken to forever commemorate the day that I turned 30. It actually turned out to be a 3 day celebration for my 30th, as that Saturday we had a BBQ at the Warren house with family and friends. Then Sunday, the actual day of my birthday, we went to S.F. to pick up my sister from the airport than visit her new apartment in the city. That day was the end of Fleet Week and since Kate's place is a few blocks from the marina, we were able to see the jets from her apartment! It was really exhilarating, to say the least! I asked to have pizza for dinner that night, and we opened gifts - I got the newest iphone, not soon enough since my original iphone had been malfunctioning on and off for at least a year, constantly freezing on me for hours at a time among other things. I'm sure it had nothing to do with my having dropped it in the toilet at one point! Then Monday night we had dinner at Maggianos with my grandmother. I had said that the one small thing I asked for on my birthday was to have a reason to wear make-up and get dressed up. So off to dinner we went all gussied up, as my attempt at squeezing myself into a non maternity dress leaving me oxygen-deprived and unable to eat the heaping mounds of food from Maggianos! And so the pictures below show me bloated, swollen, and atempting to breathe and smile at the same time! Happy 30th to me!

Big Red Octopus

A few weeks back, my Mom and I took T to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, as she hadn't been to the new 'Secret Lives of Seahorses' exhibit. It happened to be a very warm and gorgeous day that day and we had a really fun visit. I think all 3 of us would agree that our favorite part was getting to watch the giant red octopus get fed. I don't know about you, but my experience with octopus in any aquarium is looking at them burrowed into the corner of a tank, not doing anything else but pulsating. This particular day, the aquarium worker was able to entice the octopus with a floating red balloon (don't quite know why that works) and get it to eat small squid and shrimp. We actually got to watch it take the food with it's tentacles and bring it to it's mouth! T though this was the coolest thing ever. We considered ourselves very lucky to see such an active octopus.