The Boys Turn One!

Yikes I haven't written in 2 months! Things have been quite busy for us since my last post. So many changes...

Gray is walking all over the place. He loves walking back and forth talking in his baby language as if he's the boss barking orders to his minions. Little Jericho is just starting to take steps. I think in a few weeks, he and his brother will be running amuck in the house.

First up, the boys' first birthday! Their birthday was June 30 and we held their party on the 29th. For their party, we had a nice sorta small party at the same spot in Bayonne where we had their Christening called Knights of Columbus. We wanted to keep it smaller though because we didn't want to bombard the boys with 200+ people. And also we wanted it to be a kid party, not an adult party. Also a lot of family we invited couldn't make it, kind of a bummer but we had the right size crowd and were able to mingle with everyone and made sure they were all comfy and well fed.

We chose the Peanuts theme because we both love Charlie Brown and the boys have no interest in anything on TV yet so they didn't really have an opinion hahaha. Lisa ordered some cool decorations online from a teacher's supply website and we bought those awesome Snoopy Snow-cone makers from Toys R Us as prizes. The party was a hit. All the kids had a great time. We played some classic party games like Musical Chairs and Hot Potato. We had a cool pinata and also loot bags for the kids. Of course Coco and Gray didn't have a clue as to what was going on but they had a great time. They finally started to play during the last hour of the party once they got a hold of the balloons. The only misstep during the party was the cake. We had a friend of a friend make 2 cakes with Peanuts decorations on them with maybe 50-60 cupcakes. And we left them out on display near the entrance and for some reason, people thought they were dessert and started eating them after getting food. Obviously they didnt cut the cakes...Pretty annoying but hey, people are idiots hahahahaha Anyway, so we didn't get to sing happy birthday to my boys but its ok. We got to sing at the house with all of our close friends that night and we enjoyed the cake and the boys had some too. So yes after the party, our close pals came over, we ordered some chicken wings for dinner from this caterer we know in JC, Ace Catering. Fucking awesome wings and creme brulee! And we also got Torico's ice cream as per the wives request. It was such a great night and we were relieved that everything went smoothly. It might've been the last hall party we throw...Ever. 

The next day, Sunday was their actual birthday. We started it off by taking them to the mall to get their first haircuts! We buzzed off their hair because it was getting too long and we wanted it to grow back in nice and thick. Also since its summer, they would always get really sweaty and itchy from their hair and would constantly be scratching their ears and eyes. Coco was chill, very easy for the barber. Gray on the other hand was a different story. He cried and kept moving and the barber didn't really get to clean up the buzzcut. When we put them back in the stroller, I looked at both of them and saw 2 toddlers and not 2 babies. It really got me sad but also happy that we survived a full year with these 2. 

That evening, my Mom and Meera, Justin and Jordan came by and also Lisa's parents. I bought an ice-cream cake from Baskin Robbins and sang Happy Birthday to them. They really enjoyed this cake! These little guys love ice cream just like their daddy!

What a Week Part 2

We also celebrated Lissy's *ahem* 30th birthday all weekend! On Friday night, we went to Zinburger, this burger & wine spot in Clifton NJ. Definitely the best burger I've had EVER. And I've had a lot of burgers in my life from McDonald's to Shake Shack and everything in between. It's probably why I have bad cholesterol...and I say "probably" because bad cholesterol could just be hereditary but I know eating more veggies and chicken is a bit healthier than fries and red meat. Since I'm a newbie at blogging I forgot to take a picture to support this paragraph so I had to steal one from one of my great friends, Kathy. We both had a glass of their Riesling which tasted great! Well I drank mine and managed to finish hers as well because she had a few sips and was done! I think she's allergic to alcohol? Anyway, I love their Riesling because It goes down smooth and has the right amount of sweetness to it. It also gives me a good enough buzz to sit back and relax and observe the chaos my Horsemen Family constantly serves up whenever we get together.

If anyone knows anything about me, they would know that I love 2 things: cheeseburgers and hip hop...haha. And no, not the "hip hop" that Flo-Rida and Rick Ross put out, but the real hip hop, ones that tell stories through gritty sometimes vulgar details and metaphors. And coincidentally, on Lisa's birthday March 9, was the same day my favorite rapper Biggie died. Its such a strange connection that I draw between Lisa and Biggie. In fact, every year I usually joke around about how I only remember her birthday because of Biggie's death. I remember back in '97, [before Lisa and I were a couple, we were great friends in high school] she gave me a ride home from a friends party in her '84 hatchback Maxima that strangely enough had power windows and doors and a clown horn. On that misty dank night at like 3am we were listening to the radio and it was then that I learned of his death and I was really shocked. Now almost everyday I listen to Biggie. Even in the house, I like to blast it on our surround sound. Lately however since Lissy is pregnant, I've been cutting back on it and playing more classical symphonies. And while I would love to expose my kids to the art of hip hop, for now, I need them to stay calm in their mommy's tummy and Biggie might just get them all riled up in there.

Last summer, a good friend of mine, JoeB, came across a Biggie Doll he had in his closet and since he knew I was a fan of his tunes, gave it to me. I thought it was the coolest thing ever and decided to make it part of my toy collection that I have on display on top of my living room TV. Check it out below! The bottom pic on the right is of MegaMind, Prickle from Gumby and Spiderman. If you notice the broken arm that Prickle is holding, I actually found that piece on my porch and decided to give it a home.

So anyway after eating, our friends came over the house for a few hours and we had some yummy baskin robbins birthday cake courtesy of the Patels. And of course to pay my respects, I played some Biggie joints on my iPad. Pam was shocked at the vulgarity of "Gimme the Loot" to which I apologized...I think Lisa has learned to tune it out by now...I've been blasting that song for the past 5 years in the house!