Birthdays, Weddings and Visitors, Oh My!

Twenty-nine. Yikes. 

Last Wednesday I started the last year of my twenties and it felt sort of strange. To say, "yea I'm 29." seems so much older than 28 and dramatically different. Maybe I'm just over-exaggerating and being a drama queen (it wouldn't be the first time) but it makes me feel "old." I can see some of you rolling your eyes right now, but honestly - don't we all have birthdays that just feel, different? That's what I experienced this year, just an "oh wow I'm really 29" feeling. In the back of my head I keep repeating my Mother's birthday mantra - "you're only as old as you feel." That being said, I'm ready to tackle my final year as a twenty-something.

My birthday started off bright and early at REACH with a surprise from my amazing co-workers. On my desk was a cluster of my favorite things. I was stocked with snack packs, Diet Root Beer, chocolate, popcorn and an amazing mason jar mug. Not to mention a special cake that had a chocolate snack pack filling. (If you haven't noticed, I'm snack pack obsessed this pregnancy. I eat them daily, and think of the movie Billy Madison every time a take a bite.) It was a great way to start my day and made 29 feel a little bit better! :)

Since my birthday fell on a Wednesday, our plans were pretty low key. We celebrated with a standard dinner out with the family, followed by cake, ice cream and presents at our house. It was beautiful outside, so we opted for patio seating at the Eat Shop in Plymouth. After nachos and pretzels to start, we devoured our main meals. The green chile pork sandwich was incredible; however, impossible to pick up and eat! Besides the mess, I enjoyed every bite. 

Cake is an essential part of a birthday celebration in our family. It's actually one of the Schumer Family Rules - "One must eat cake on their birthday, no matter where you are or what's you're doing." Clearly I'm not a rule breaker, so I went along with the unwritten cake rule. Mitch picked out a wonderful red velvet cake and even had flowers and our family "Happy Birthday" banner hanging when we arrived home. My heart was full (so was my belly), and I couldn't help but sport a perm-smile. 

After too much cake and some sweet presents, it was time to wrap up the birthday celebration. At the end of the day, 29 didn't seem so bad. I have wonderful family and friends that made me feel extraordinary and I wouldn't change it for anything!

It's no secret, I'm a lover of weddings. The couples first look, the wedding dress, the flowers, the vows, the kiss and the celebration afterwards - I love it all! Happiness just oozes from weddings, and I can't get enough. 

Friday night we celebrated the marriage of Mitch's cousin Scott and his now wife, Cari. The ceremony was perfect, and it was so sweet seeing the two of them gaze at each other with smiles never leaving their faces. The celebration continued into the night with great speeches, good food and dancing - lots of dancing. Being 28 weeks pregnant and sipping on lemon water all night, my dance moves were lacking. I'm certainly one who needs liquid courage to get my booty out on the dance floor, so I spent a lot of my night sitting at the table people watching and laughing at the Helleen's on the dance floor. Overall is was a great wedding celebrating an awesome couple. Congrats Scott & Cari Dunnwald!  

We have visitors in town! My Grandpa, Aunt Joan, cousin Betty and her friend Shelby made the 10 hour trip to Minnesota from Missouri Friday. That meant a weekend of shenanigans! 

Since it was rainy and grey Saturday, we declared it a perfect Mall of America day. We shopped, ate, people watched, and shopped some more. After nearly 5 hours walking around, too many shopping bags to count and tired feet - we were finally ready to head home. 

Mitch and Harper had their own Daddy/Daughter day. Mitch was exhausted from the wedding and Harper was wiped out from her sleepover at Grandma and PaPa's. They visited with everyone at the post-wedding brunch that morning and then came home to hang low. When I called to check in, Mitch informed me Harper had a little accident. I think I've mentioned it before, but the girl loves to climb. She mastered escaping her crib months ago and is immediately drawn to any incline or ladder she encounters. Recently she's been climbing on the back of our sectional downstairs. Every time she does this, we tell her - "Harper, please get down. You could get a very big boo-boo." Clearly she didn't believe us, because her climbing resulted in a gash under her eye. It wasn't big enough or deep enough for stitches, but it has left her with a scab and a little black eye. Poor thing. Luckily I think she realized what climbing can do, so she hasn't scaled the couch since! Plus, her eye is looking a lot better! She's one tough cookie!

We wrapped up our weekend out at Canterbury Park. It's always a fun spot to bring out-of-towners, plus it's cheap entertainment. While the girls bet on the ponies, the boys went out the club to shoot. Harper loved the petting zoo, and couldn't get enough of the pony. She stood there for a good 5 minutes stroking it's belly, saying - "oh look at the pony, it's so cute!" We weren't big winners, but we sure enjoyed the sunshine!

It was a jam packed week and weekend, full of special occasions and celebrations. Every minute of it was enjoyable and certainly memories we won't forget!

Until next time…

The Helleen's