31

Yesterday was my 31st birthday and even though I was recovering from the flu, I think we made the best of it.  It was a quiet family day...with some of my most favorite people.  Mom was here visiting which made for an extra treat (and helping hand while I was sick!).  Mark bought me a beautiful bouquet of my favorite flowers - tulips, of course, along with a sweet card offering himself as my personal slave for the day (like he isn't already!).  He managed to surprise me with a new mattress topper for our bed, which has been getting a bit sunken in and old.  He convinced me and mom to take a short walk with Vienne while he pulled out the mattress topper and covered it with lovely rose petals.  So sweet.  Then we all went to a favorite restaurant in Gearhart that I haven't been to in a long time - Pacific Way Cafe.  Homemade tomato basil soup and a hot pesto chicken sandwich on their fresh baked french bread...mmmm....delish!  The sun even came out to kiss us on our cheeks for a bit.

After that we came home and Mark began to dig out an area of our yard for our upcoming garden while I read a book and V took her nap.  

After she woke up, Mark made me a lovely meal of seared salmon that had been marinated in thai spices and then drizzled with a ginger cilantro dressing, atop coconut brown rice with a fresh salad.  He's so good.

After dinner, we enjoyed some sweet time with our beautiful babe.  Once she went to bed, we pulled the mattress topper out to the living room and made up a makeshift bed and watched a movie by the firelight...while Mark gave me a back rub.  (btw, Slumdog Millionaire really is a good movie!!).

It was a sweet and quiet birthday.  Thank you dear husband.

Vienne gifted me with precious cuddle time for a solid 20 minutes...the best stuff ever!

Rubber ducky...did you know...

Here's a disappointing fact I just learned from my 'Natural Solutions' magazine: 

 

The iconic rubber ducky gets up to 50% of its weight from phthalates, chemicals linked to cancer, early onset puberty, and obesity.

I supposed I could've already guessed this but it's still disappointing and frustrating to learn the facts.  We have a friend who collects rubber duckies and finds joy in sharing them with our daughter.  As I've spoken of in an earlier post, we try to steer away from most plastic toys...but, hey, I'm not a Nazi about it, either.  No more playing with the dearly loved adorable ducky, though.  I need to be more alert and careful to what random objects she is choosing to play with.  Just a heads up for all you moms who care about this stuff....which is, I hope, all of you!