Birthdays & Busch Gardens

Today's blog update is brought to you by the letter B!  Since my last update, we've celebrated a few birthdays, enjoyed some beautiful weather, and played with Elmo at Busch Gardens.

Kelly turned 30!  Her birthday celebrations lasted all month long!  On her actual birthday, Derek treated us to dinner at Bonefish, which was yummy - per the usual.  A few weeks later we threw her a surprise night out (pictures below)... then after that, we enjoyed our traditional birthday meal complete with cake and presents.  We even had special guests - Tracey & Claire were visiting and joined us!  Turning 30 is a big deal, and I'm content not being there yet :)

We surprised Kelly in front of her house in the limo!  She was definitely surprised/shocked/excited!!  Surprises give me anxiety, so I'm glad it worked out.  We picked her up and headed to Yamato, a delicious & fun start to the night.

casusally sippin' some bubbly in the limo

hanging out in front of our ride for the night 

our fun japanese dinner

lady friends

 After stuffing our faces with sushi & hibachi food, we headed to Dave & Busters for some more drinks & fun


Kelly & Derek killing zombies.  Daniel is creeping in the background



Derek won the BIG jackpot!  See that teeny tiny green slot?  That's what he got and a gazillion tickets!

Sarah & Henry doing some motocross racin'



It was such a fun night with good friends, lots of alcohol, and even more laughing.  Happy 30th to my fabulous sister!

At our March Friends Game Night, we celebrated the March birthday kids.  We also grilled out, enjoyed the beautiful weather around a firepit, and played Jenga and Slap Cup.  Oh, and then the cops were called on us.... no big deal.  I mean really, it wasn't a big deal.  They received a noise complaint, showed up at the gate, and realized there were 12 almost-thirty-year-olds playing a game outside.  They immediately felt bad and left us alone.  If they were off duty, I'm sure they would have wanted to hang out with us.

March Birthday Kids

 Speaking of March birthdays... Facebook (thankfully) reminded me of this important birthday:

We celebrated with his family at Don Pepe (where else??).  It was a casual week-night, nothing fancy.  And he received the CUTEST birthday wish ever...

Happy Birthday, Guncle!

 We did some more grillin' and gamin' with some good friends, and the only picture I snapped was this gem...

Katie in her smoking chair acting like a grandpa

 Last weekend we spent the day at Busch Gardens.  The weather was PERFECT, and we enjoyed some good quality time with family :)  Abby LOVED Elmo and asked for him over and over and over

Quality time on Mach Tower

there we go.... [insert anxiety]

Abby rode her first ride all by herself!  She got off the baby swings and wanted on the big-kid swings.... Kelly's in for a real treat :)

A very tired Abby enjoyed watching Elmo party rockin'

We left Busch Gardens and celebrated Robin's birthday.  I don't have any pictures, but we went to Riptides and enjoyed really good seafood/margaritas and even better company.  I hope Robin had a fabulous day - she deserves every single bit of happiness on her special day (well, and every day).

Last week, we finished up everything for the Anencephaly study at Duke University.  We had a 45-minute interview with the genetic counselor, Heidi.  She's so sweet, and made the whole process easy.  I feel a little bit more peace knowing that we have potentially helped others in the future.  My hope is that people who want to be moms & dads in the future won't have to live this nightmare.  High hopes, I know, but I wouldn't wish this pain on anyone.  So I feel good knowing we did all that we could.  Maybe we are one piece of the huge, confusing puzzle.

Now, it's time to start closing some of the grief doors and open some of the doors of possibilites.  We have started thinking about trying for our rainbow baby - a baby after a loss.  Because you know, there is always a rainbow after a storm.  Maybe in a few more months, we will feel like we are at a good spot - mentally & physically, and will be able to enjoy a happy, healthy, & uneventful 9 months.

I'm currently blogging from Greensburg, PA!  We are spending the weekend with Daniel's family playing games, eating good food, and making memories.  We are supposed to have gorgeous weather (when we normally come, it's snowing).  Daniel & I are going out to meet Franco & his girlfriend, Chrissy, tomorrow.  I'm excited - we haven't seen Franco in a while, and I've never met Chrissy.  I'll try to remember to snap a few pictures! 

Our weekends are booked from now until the end of June... Easter, more birthdays, baby showers, a college graduation, and several weddings!  We top it all off to a trip to Corolla, NC with the Sink clan.  I can't wait for the sun, sand, and a week full of fun :)

xoxo