bragging rights

i'd just have to say that i'm the only auntie in this world to have THE CUTEST nieces and nephews. [one nephew by blood, and the other 7 by marriage]
my sister, janelle and my sister-in-law, annie both have 8 month old babies. [born exactly a week apart] and both send me videos and pictures galore. which i LOVE! [bethany and jenny...get in with the trend! wink wink..]
so since i have the most pictures of rowen and elsie out of the bunch, i thought "umm hello? i need to share with the world the cutest babies ever"

so here you are, world.

ladies first!

little miss Elsie

[auntie sam & uncle charlie love and miss you verrrry much, elsie! we wish you didn't live so far away! can't wait to see you again cutie pie!]

and now..

the most handsome little man in town!

Rowen

[ohhh rowen. i love you as if you were my own. you bring your auntie sam so much happiness. xoxo]

our future kids have A LOOOOT of livin' up to do in the cuteness department. 

and to mckenzie, daniel, josh, natalie, jeffery & thomy...we didn't forget about you all either! you guys are the funnest & adorable kids ever. love you all to pieces! 

happy girl

it's amazing how one little 17 minute phone call from my husband who's been working without a cell phone for the last 6 days can turn my whooole mood right around. :)
that unexpected phone call literally made my night.
i know maybe for some of you, six days without talking to your spouse may be a little "vacation", but come onnn we're newlyweds for pete's sake! :)
a day without talking to my husband is a day wasted.
haha! okay, i'll be a little less dramatic.
how's this:
a day without talking to my husband sucks!
better?
while we were dating and engaged i never realized how much he made me laugh, and i mean belly laugh, on a daily basis.
don't get me wrong, i knew that i thought all his jokes were funny, and i laughed a lot around him.[come on people, i could never marry someone that didn't make me crack up]
but i really realized it after we got married and he was gone training in the field for 2 weeks. we weren't able to speak once in those 14 days [helloooo marine corp...that's not very nice of you to hold my husband hostage like that! sheesh ;) ] and honestly...i don't remember laughing hard while he was gone.
how sad.
anyways!
see that? i caught myself rambling on & on.
i'm surprised you're still even reading this.
point of this post:
SO glad charlie snuck away to get his phone this evening just so he could hear my voice and know i was okay.
i am so blessed to have a caring husband.

the end :)

bling bliiiing

Mr. Right got me the two side bands today and now my wedding ring set is COMPLETE! 

i can't stop staring at my hand. 

i'm in love with my set.

oh, and my husband, too ;)

[p.s. sorry for the grainy picture, i couldn't get a super close detailed picture. it's the best i got for now]

need a laugh?

one of my best friends, liana, posted this video on my facebook wall.
a little background of why her and i would love a video like this:
a) he's little. and we like cute little miniature things that we could put in our pocket if we wanted to.
b) his little voice.
c) he's hilarious!

just watch.
DO IT!

birthday boy

last saturday, april 2nd, was charlie's 21st birthday!
[i know, we're babies.]
this was the first time in THREE years that he could celebrate his birthday and didn't have to either be on deployment or training or doing some sort of marine work.
so of course i had to try to make it extra special.

as you all know i looove birthdays.
always have. always will.
charlie...doesn't so much like birthdays. silly boy!
i think i may have changed his mind this time around :)

i went all out and decorated our little home in celebration of his day.
i got a big 'ol birthday sign, streamers, party hats, crazy candles, and balloons!
charlie walked in and said "whoooaa...is this my house?!"

[this is the only picture i got of the decor. there was much more]

the birthday cake i made him with cRaZy candles! 

[DON'T ask me about the cake. long story short: the top layer dropped on the floor. almost cried.]

on the evening of his birthday, a few of his buddies drove up from base to hang out with us.

we had sushi for dinner [sushi is our go-to dinner for special occasions]

i can't pronounce the name of the sushi restaurant if my life depended on it. but it's in the irvine spectrum if you really need to know the name. 

this place was deeeelish. and eating with 4 hungry marines...you could imagine how much food these guys ordered!

even the server was surprised how much they ordered at first. i assured him that this is normal and we'll all definitely be able to finish it.

let's just say...the sushi chefs couldn't bring out the rolls fast enough.

his "i'm full from sushi" look...? not sure. he's a goon. but i love him!

our server brought him out some green tea ice cream for his birthday.

the taste took some getting used to...

for dessert we went to "crepemaker". crepes never disappoint.

[yum yum!]

theeeen we ended the night by seeing the movie "just go with it" with adam sandler and jennifer aniston.

this movie was so hilarious! we couldn't stop laughing. 

fast forward to the next day:

it's a tradition on my family [and probably everyone else's family, too] that my parents either take the whole family out for the person's birthday to a restaurant of their choice or my mom makes a meal along with a homemade dessert of their choice. [it's a good idea for anyone to choose my mom to make their birthday dessert. she's the best baker i know!]

charlie chose to have a homemade meal [chicken parmesan] and chocolate texas sheet cake for his dessert.

gooooood choices, babe!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABE! i hope your birthday was fun and memorable.

love you foreva and eva!

xoxo