Michael's Birthday Weekend

Good morning! It's so hard for me to believe it's Monday already. This weekend was over in the blink of an eye! I have to head to work a bit early this morning, as we have a staff meeting and then I see patients from 11-7 pm. Luckily this is my short week and I only work Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. My three day work weeks are my fave. I am hoping to get caught up on some blog stuff I have been working on and get more home projects completed! I'm really aiming for a productive week.

 Now here are some pics from our weekend. There aren't a ton, but I did manage to take some to share with you guys! :)


Saturday 

I work one Saturday a month, and this was my Saturday to work. I worked from 8-2 and was beyond exhausted when I got home, so the rest of the day was pretty low-key.

I had to pick up a few things from the craft store, so Michael and Ella came with me. Ella insisted on taking a picture with this giant stuffed rabbit. She loves bunnies.


 

That night we did some painting together and using up some of the craft supplies we had just purchased. I was making things for Ella's Easter basket. 



And Ella got to do a few fun crafts as well, like this 'decorate an Easter egg' craft pack.


We went to bed fairly early, because we knew Sunday would be busy and I was wiped out! 



Sunday

Sunday was Michael's 38th birthday, so for once, we actually had some "plans." I was up with Ella around 6:30, but we let Michael sleep in for his birthday. Around 8, Ella was sick of waiting for him so she ran into our bedroom screaming and woke him up, haha! Sundays are usually a bit lazy for us, and Ella sometimes stays in pajamas most of the day. But on this day we knew Michael's parents were coming over for a barbecue, so we all got dressed and scrambled to clean the house as much as possible.

 

Ella loves getting herself dressed and chose this lovely ensemble for Daddy's birthday barbecue.. Rainbow sweatpants, her big sister tee, a vest (??) and socks with sandals. HAHA! Oh and the glasses to top it all off. 



We headed to Home Depot fairly early. I had to choose a tile design for our fireplace, and Michael had to pick up some things for the garage and our new grill! 



My favorite tile that we saw is the one on the top, so I think that's probably the tile we will go with for our fireplace. I can't wait to share before and after pics! 



Michael's parents arrived around 11. The propane tank we got at Home Depot was not working, so Michael had to run back to exchange it. In the meantime, I hung out with Michael's parents and Ella in the sunshine. Our backyard isn't huge, but we just love having our own outdoor space! 





We made marinated short ribs and chicken with a bunch of yummy sides! It was like our own little Korean BBQ in the yard and was so so good! 



Ella enjoyed the food as well! 



Michael's parents bought him an amazing cake from 85 degree bakery for dessert. 


 

After his parents left we went for a little family walk. Ella fell asleep in her stroller, so when we got home, we moved the stroller inside and let her sleep for about an hour. 



At some point I took a little bump picture. Wowee! Getting big and still 12 weeks to go. 


Despite me telling Michael multiple times to "relax" he was in 'get stuff done mode!' We spent the rest of the day going through random boxes that we still had in storage, and tried to get all the areas of our home organized. Michael put together a huge storage shelf in the garage and we worked on organizing everything we have in there. It looks so much better, but I totally forgot to take a picture. One of our neighbors saw that we were organizing and brought over 2 large and really high quality storage shelves for us to use too. It was so nice of him.


Michael and I had a late dinner. We had purchased a bunch of yummy ingredients to make hot pot at home. I wasn't sure if we'd even have room for dinner after our afternoon barbecue, but we did eventually get hungry. 


We had corn, mushrooms, bok choy, leafy greens, broccoli, tofu, lotus root, sliced onion and some thinly sliced beef. We realized after setting everything up that we forgot to buy a dipping sauce. I was able to whip something up using peanut butter and sesame oil... mixed with the broth it was actually quite tasty! 



If you've never tried hot pot, I highly recommend it... I wasn't sold on it at first, but now that I know what I like and can customize it to my taste, I love it. 



And then we had some of that delicious cake for dessert! It was quite the day of eating, but what else can you do to celebrate a birthday during a pandemic? 


Overall, the weekend went by really fast, but it was a really good one. Michael and I are really excited about having a grill and being able to enjoy our backyard space more now. And now that our formal living room is finally getting completed, our house is truly starting to feel like our dream home and we are loving it. We hope everyone has a great Monday and an amazing week as well. We'll be back on Friday to share our favorite moments from the week.

Linking up with Heather @ My Glittery Heart this week!



-Ashley & Ella
xoxo

3 comments

  1. sounds like a fun weekend. The cake looks heavenly. Happy Belated Birthday Michael.. You belly is so cute.

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  2. His birthday BBQ and cake looked delicious! What a fun and productive weekend.

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  3. I don't comment very often but read all of your posts and it's so fun to see you guys get to enjoy your new home!! Congratulations on the new home and the new baby! It's all so exciting!!

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