Meet Buzz

If you ask Jack what his little brother's name is, he'll tell you it's Buzz.  We've been watching a lot of Toy Story lately... but the birth certificate says Gabe Thomas.

Buzz Gabe Thomas

Jack's first day as big brother went pretty well.  There were lots of hugs and kisses and he even brought Buzz an Elmo... it was as big as Buzz!

Big Brother of the Year.

We've opened another chapter in our family, and I can only imagine what the future will bring.  We have been so blessed to welcome a happy, healthy baby into the world.

I don't think I have words to explain the emotion that today brought.  But I must at least say that I have never been so inspired by a person as I have been by my beautiful sister-in-law, Brooke.  I have never seen someone endure life with such strength, grace, and integrity.  I don't believe I will ever meet a better mother, sister, or friend.  She's pretty amazing.  And I know that God has great plans in store for her and her boys. 

Welcome to the world, Baby Gabe.

B-Ba-Baby Baby

Seems like everyone is jumping on the baby bandwagon these days.  I was so excited to go home this weekend to celebrate the coming of Baby Cassidy.  Laurie has been one of my best friends since middle school and now here she is, having a baby!

Laurie's husband, Rob, is a big Mets fan.  So the shower was themed accordingly.  The Coonrods always go all out with this kind of thing.  The shower was awesome.

Go Mets!

Laurie's brother-in-law, Justin, made onesies for all of baby Parker's monthly birthdays with the cutest little paintings on them.  These are a few of my faves:

4 Months; Mr. Met

5 Months: Power Cat

10 Months; I heart Mom

Nicky planned the games.  She melted chocolate into diapers and passed them around for everyone to smell and guess the candy bar.  It was pretty sick.

Poop.

Nicky's kiddos came with us to the shower.  Cooper was told not to eat any of the blue Jelly Bellies that were on the cake table.  Think he listened?

Coop, your mouth looks a little blue.

Caught ya.

 Nicky's kids look exactly like her and her husband, Matt.  They are like little clones.

Mini-Me's

I don't know if you can really see in this photo, but Laurie's cousin Jess has the cutest little girl who ran around in her heels.  I didn't even know they made heels that small but she was hilarious.

I've never seen so many baby shoes in my life.  Baby Parker is going to be a shoe-guy for sure.

My first top siders.

It was so good to see old friends and spend time with the Coonrods.  I can't wait to see Laurie and Rob as they work their way through parent-hood.  It should be fun. :)

I flippin' love these girls.

As fun as the shower was, the after-party out in Wichita was even more fun.  More on that later...

Mexican Babies

I snaked my way into the position of "Wednesday Night Dinner Coordinator" this year... I'm really just looking for some resume-boosters... and to kick things off right, we went to Los Cabos for some delicioso Mexicana food.

With me as WND Coordinator, there is a strong chance we will eat at a Mexican restaurant every month.

We arrived and the hostess asked if we were with "Kaitlin's Party".

Yes. Yes, we are.

Kaitlin: Party of One.

Chips & Salsa for ten.

Kaitlin, not happy to have her party crashed.

Katy, right before I de-friended her for asking to share in my caraffe of Sangria.

Sangria, you're my only friend.

That's right. Get your own damn drink, Katy!

My policy as WND Coordinator is pretty strict. Don't give me some BS excuse as to why you can't come to dinner. I won't let it slide.

Like, oh you have a kid? And your kid is "cranky"?

Wrap that baby up and get your ass to dinner.

I had to use strong words and manipulation more than once this week.

Kelly is the one who suggested Los Cabos and then she sent some ridiculous response about not coming. Not allowed. After further pressing her she told me that Miss Sophie is better suited for a rock concert at this stage in her life than a restaurant.

I told her that was completely unacceptable and reminded her that Jana would be there with Cade, so she better not let her down.

It totally worked. She came. And Sophie was an angel.

"Look how good I am!"

Not long after that happened, I got a text from Jana. She was trying to bail on dinner on account of a cranky Cade!

Not cool, Jana.

I had to bust out my powers of persuasion again and guilt her into coming on Kelly's account.

See how I geniusly* played these two against each other? I think we're all pretty lucky that I only use my powers for good.

Other than being a bit confused to why he was being made part of "Girls Night", Cade was just another happy participant in dinner.

"Wait. Where are all the dudes?"

"I hope no one from day care catches me at this Chic Party."

I feel it's necessary to address the baby subject. Just so we're all clear.

I've accepted that we're at that age when our friends are going to start popping out kiddos. While I'm not jumping on that bandwagon, I'm very supportive of those who are.

And I want to see you. And I want to hang out with your kid too... regardless of their current mood or behavior. Wednesday Night Dinners are all about getting together and having fun and catching up with each other. I don't want anyone skipping out because they think their kiddo is going to cramp anyone else's style! I don't want to wait to see you and hang out until your child is well-mannered or sent off to some boarding school.

So let's make a deal; I won't choose any fancy-schmancy restaurants that aren't kid friendly, and you promise to come every month, kid in tow.

Please don't make me resort to threats and manipulation every month. That takes a lot of energy.

Deal.

Now that we have that all sorted out... back to the food.

Comida!

When Kelly suggested Los Cabos, she mentioned Stuffed Avocados and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since. Another reason I needed her there; someone has to indulge with me!

Stuffed Avocados: A Los Cabos Original, stuffed with fiesta cream cheese. Served with salsa and sour cream and fried to a golden brown.

Dig in!

It was delish. I didn't know avocados could get any better. Duh, everything is better fried!

The whole Los Cabos experience was pretty super. The restaurant wasn't super busy, but it had a nice atmosphere. The food was awesome. So were the chips & salsa. My sangria was fantastic. Does anyone have a margarita review???

And, most importantly; the small ones seemed to enjoy it.

Meg loves Cade?

Are you a G-Phi who reads my blog and lives in the KC area? Do you want to be invited to Wednesday Night Dinner? I think you do. Give me a shout and I'll add you to the list!

*Spell-check says "geniusly" isn't a word. They recommended "heinously" as an alternative. I think they're on to me.

Park It.

Everyone likes baby cuteness, right? These are from my trip to Wichita last week. I stopped by to see P Diddy: the mac daddy of cuteness.

Parker & Mom.

Apparently carrying a baby around gives you killer arms.

Serious face.

Surprised face!

I'm the cutest baby ever face.

We were watching the Bachelorette finale and I swear Parker started clapping when Alli chose Roberto. Funniest thing ever!

Cader-Tot

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Cade Keeley... AKA the Cader Tot. He's super cute, but of course he cried when I tried to hold him:




I left most of the holding to the experts:

And... I just realized I didn't get any pics of mom & baby. So here's another of me and Cade:

He's still not happy. Probably because my hair is all up in his face and I'm more worried about getting my picture taken than making sure he's happy.

Kelly was just happy as a clam with him though. It must be a mom thing:

Back to me... more crying:

I think it is so fun to watch all of my friends becoming moms. Word to the wise though... Kelly and Jana are like the two most candid people ever about babies and birth and gross things that happen. I heard some weird stuff over there.

Congratulations Matt & Jana! Cade is just the cutest! And I definitely see big things in his future... like star of the pee-wee basketball team!!!