Birthday Weekend

Yes, I am 27. I feel pretty young to be hauling 2 1/2 kids around, but youth is great! These sweet gals from my ward threw a little birthday celebration for me at the park last week. I am so grateful for such sweet friends, especially when my own sisters live so far away! (sniff!)

Right before David was born, Joseph and I decided that before each new baby, we would take a little trip somewhere. Because my birthday fell on a weekend this year, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to get away. Since our time was very limited, we decided to explore our own backyard: Los Angeles. We found skyrises, ethnic and commerce districts, arts, government offices (4 huge LAPD offices, btw), and historic buildings.

This was our first stop: the Bradbury building built in the early 1900s. It's an old office building with cast iron staircases that climb at least 7 stories until they reach a glass ceiling. Very ornate and interesting.

Olivera street in the Hispanic district was our next favorite. Because of its proximity to Union Station, we found the most people here. We felt right at home with the mexican food, music, and dozens of vendors. We brought home one of these fierce looking wrestling masks (behind Joseph) for David. It was an instant hit.

At my request, we stopped at the famous jewelry district. We were both blown away by the amount of vendors crammed into 4 city blocks. This picture shows only a tiny fraction of the jewlers we walked through... pretty overwhelming... we lasted in there for about 20 minutes. I would love to take my mom and sisters here some day.

Next up was another historic building, the Millenium Biltmore Hotel... too lavish to describe.

We concluded our day with a walk past the Walt Disney Concert Hall to attend the play Dreamgirls (a compromise after we discovered that symphony tickets would have cost $170 and up).

Here we are at the top of the concert hall overlooking the city. It was so wonderful to have an extended date with my best friend. Joseph is an excellent tour guide, especially when it comes to finding things off the beaten path and is very patient with my slow, pregnancy pace. Los Angeles was a very interesting city and surprisingly pleasant- one more place to mark off.

My sister, Holly, kindly watched the kids for a few nights. When we arrived in Palm Springs to pick up the kids, she served us a delicious birthday dinner and german chocolate cake! What a perfect ending to a fun weekend!

Bye-bye paci!

The original purpose of this picture was to capture James' crazy hair after he woke up from one of his naps. I am posting it, however, to commemorate our last photo with a pacifier. Good job James!

What we've been up to

When we first bought our home 3 years ago, I was very turned off by the bathrooms. Our realtor assured us that a bathroom would be an easy fix. What he didn't tell us was that the more you look at something, the more used to it you get, and before long, that hideous bathroom doesn't look so hideous at all. This project was way overdue but is finally done!

Here is the before: retro lights, fiberglass shower with a fixture made for a midget, clunky toilets,

and a corroded, rusty sink.

Here is the after: the most important thing to change was the shower, followed by the sink and toilets. Much better, don't you think?

My favorite part is the tiled shower. To make sure this tile last forever, I squeegee the water out every day. Looks like the boys like it too.

This is the guest bathroom. We used much of the same materials, except the floor is covered with slate, the color is a bit different, and it has a custom shower curtain (by me). Look closely, and you'll notice James watching me take the picture.

As luck would have it, our washer died a few weeks later... more money to drain from our accounts. After much research and debate, we settled on this Samsung duo. I am doing my first load of laundry right now and so far so good! Even better, it's more entertaining than TV!

We are hoping that this is the end of life's expenses for a while. Time to settle down and get ready for the baby!

What are little boys made of?

Frogs and snails

And puppy-dogs' tails,

That's what little boys are made of.

What are little girls made of?

Sugar and spice

And all that's nice,

That's what little girls are made of.

Looks like we get to add some

sugar and spice to the Larsen mix!

90% sure it's a GIRL!