i dunno guys...i just don't feel "it" yet. 35? even with all these bills that come to the house every week. lol. adulting and parenting is hard....but not impossible. i had no idea where i was going with this 35th birthday post but i'm going to go with my gut and list 35 things i've learned in this life so far below...
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say hello to our little 29 week acorn squash-sized baby! i seriously wish i had done this week by week with the boys. heck, i'm in the grocery store often enough to make it happen. they both now know what the heck acorn squash even is plus i love having hands-on fun with learning when food is involved. who doesn't!? 
so guess what else went down during my 29th week of pregnancy!? Mr. Egwuatu and i celebrated 9 years of marriage together! meeting him on campus at UH back in 2000 happened yesterday. yall hear me? yesterday *sobs uncontrollably* :( anyway, around this time last year we were in Maui frolicking on the beach, but this year we stayed local for a change. not only cause of the current zika threat, but cause of other current financial obligations, a new full-time kindergartener, and because Lord willing, we plan to do it BIG next year for #10 (and take that family Disney vaca before Dego turns 3...CAN NOT WAIT). it's saving season for us. so, we found some local things to do and enjoyed our special day together, just the two of us.
we <gasp> started with a 530am workout, whoop! Sonny joined the #5amWorkoutClub for a day and was front and center for my Barbell Strength class. he is clearly not one of us, haha.
(he was really just taking a quick breather)
"A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance, and tenacity. The order varies for any given year."
can't argue with that. season after season, we come out stronger, wiser, and closer....only by the grace of God.
happy number 9, Milk Dud Sonny. <3
we took our time, laughed, joked, and enjoyed our lifting session together. no rush whatsoever. usually our boys are in the child center so we have to get it in before the time limit is up and the staff comes to hunt us down! this was needed.
and so was this! Sonny found the cutest, yummiest little cafe for our post-workout breakfast.
then we went home to.....REST! oh and clean up our house before hurricanes Chiso & Dego returned.
matchy, matchy! we dined at Caracol for our anniversary dinner. i have been wanting to try this place since my birthday this past April! i was looking for a nice restaurant back then and one of my Lifetime Fitness class members suggested we go there. weeell, Sonny had already made plans so this occasion was perfect for checking it out. our taste buds were in HEAVEN! YUM!
then, it was on to sing and rap our faces off with P. Diddy at his Bad Boy Reunion Tour Concert!!! we don't do concerts often..in fact this was our very first one together! pregnancy narceolpsey didn't take me out and we were literally up and on our feet for most of the performances reminiscing and jamming. great show!
remember this lil' lady!? 
she was born on our anniversary last year and we met her via Skype while in Maui. we are another year older and she is now one. happiest of birthdays, baby Natalie!
basically, September 15th ROCKS ;)
thanks for reading!
i posted to IG recently that our vacation was postponed cause of the zika virus outbreak running rampant in Florida and other tropical and domestic areas (be safe, mamas) at this time.
getting a glimpse of this guy or gal helped me get out of my feelings rather quickly though! we were just gonna roll Sonny's birthday festivities right on into our trip at that... so unfortunately i was very bummed for a few days after Hubs and i decided to call it off. i had been looking forward to our very first family vaca all summer long. it's just not worth the risk at 6 months preggo though. plan b? #StayCation at one of our fave places in Houston to go! besides, we've got 1 more year to get Dego into Disney for free before he turns 3 so it's all good, haha. he will be more aware of what is even going on by then, and i'll also have time to save a bit more so we even can stay and play longer. just looking for the positives, as usual.
saturday morning, august 6th: happy birthday, papa!!
excitedly running to give Papa his gifts! i barely captured them in time.
the love they have for this guy...it's such an incredible thing to witness.
we are a fit family, forreals! Sonny and i could both receive workout shoes and gear for every single birthday and be completely fine with that.
headed to birthday breakfast! we don't eat breakfast out much at all; only everything else. always a treat.
originally i planned on going to The Breakfast Klub, but changed it up while en route. the food is fantastic and worth the wait, but that super long line with two hangry kiddos? nah, son. i made a game-time decision and headed to a place i knew would be a family hit, Barnaby's Cafe! definitely one of our breakfast faves.
hot chocolate :) we never skimp on the whipped cream round here. 
steak, eggs, and pancakes for the birthday boy,
Chiso requested red velvet pancakes outta nowhere! they were delish. lol
i ordered the green eggs (egg whites with spinach and cheese, chicken apple sausage, home fries); i just can't order anything else. #iaintsorry
after trying to get Dego to look once i just let him be. that baby was hungry and i understood.
we usually need a nap after we eat breakfast out, so it was the perfect time to check into our room at hotel Sorella. the last time Sonny and i stayed there, we were celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary in 2011. i was pregnant with Chiso (5) and surprised Sonny with the news that weekend! we're back again, 2.5 kiddos later. 
admiring my huuuur! my sista-friend Ogechi keeps me fly and not looking a mess!when Sonny is on vaca, Sonny is on VACA. all he wants to do is...nothing! so i took the boys to the pool while Sonny enjoyed a quiet birthday nap. 
afterwards, we went back upstairs to freshen up. i sent Sonny over to the Lifetime Fitness (best gym evaaaaar ;) ) City Centre spa to get a needed back massage that he enjoyed. it only made him sleepy again though but it worked out because Dego had just began his nap in my arms. Sonny and Dego went to nap some more while Chiso and i headed to the gym for a pre-dinner workout.
i actually got a fantastic workout in cause Chiso was fascinated with the cardio machines and had a blast all by himself lol. i will post our workout vid and entire workout in my next post!!
loved my relaxed, dinner fit that night! those jeans were always a lil' loose in the hips on me, but they are now the perfect size for my 6 month belly. deets below!
look... between IG stories and Snap Chat i am so done with social media some days!! every app is basically vying for our attention and i sometimes feel like i have to be active on every single thing... and that just isn't true.
we walked right across the courtyard to Ruggles Green, another game-time decision made by the birthday boy in the family's best interest. Texas de Brazil was my first option, but the boys kept asking for pizza so... 
we found a great people-watching table on the RG patio while a live 1-man-band band played Sunny 99.1 type hits on his saxophone. he was amazing! there were kids running, playing, and dancing everywhere and the boys couldn't wait to finish their food and join them. what a seriously perfect family night. 
we skipped across the courtyard from RG to Red Mango for fro-yo! the boys wanted to make Sonny a homemade birthday cake, but we weren't able to whip it up the day before we left. so, i planned to just buy a mini one or a cupcake from Sweet, which is what i did.
we thank God that everything worked right on out. cheeeese!
back to the room to sing happy birthday to Papa and his candle-less cupcake! not even room service had one we could use :(
Chiso picked out a yummy s'mores cupcake.
we sang and split that thing 4 ways! we then put our jammies on and watched tv 'til we all fell asleep.
next morning, breakfast time again! we headed downstairs to enjoy Sorella's beautiful continental breakfast buffet. 
afterwards, more pool time for my water babies. 
i am so honored and grateful to share and celebrate yet another birthday with Sonny and our 1st family staycation was one to remember. happiest of birthdays, Hubs!
and another one!
y'all know by now my hubby puts it down for special occasions! he revealed to me that he had a weekend getaway planned for my bday (April 7th) buuuut he forgot all about my weekend fitness classes and clients. bummer. he recovered nicely though and we enjoyed a memorable, kid-free, staycation instead. instead of IGing the play-by-play of the entire weekend like i planned, i decided to put my phone down and unplug for a lil' bit and truly live in the moment. 
the big day! thursday morning i woke up at 4:15am full of energy (enough energy for a douchebag selfie LOL..it's been a good while...allow me this one), threw on my birthday fit, and hightailed it to the gym to teach my Lifetime Fitness class.
i could not wait to wear this! both the top and bottoms are on sale right now!
i go grab a kiss from my hubby before i leave in the mornings and he had these in his hands, sitting in the dark #creepy. hurray for no more silent cardio! i told him to find me a new pair (after snapping my old pair in half over Easter weekend) and he came through for ya girl and even upgraded me to wireless.
seriously... the gifts and all the extra hoopla... those things are nice and added blessings no doubt. but this is what makes my heart happiest. being with my lil' family.
they serenaded me with the cutest munchkin voices and i blew out my candles. Chiso almost cried he wanted to know my wish so bad, lol! Chiso also wanted some cake before school so we all enjoyed a lil' bit right then. 
next, we dropped off the kiddies with family and went straight to check into The Westin Galleria! i love staycations. still feels like i'm in another city. we drove down the road to iPic Theaters after that to catch Batman vs. Superman. 
we've heard so much about this place! the movie was already pretty lengthy (2.5 hrs), and we were super comfy, soooo it was basically a nap trap.
i mean they give you a pillow and blanket for crying out loud! i ordered the chicken wrap salad with the dressing on the side, and Sonny ordered the fish tacos. 
birthday hair transformation! i never thought i would go from wearing my hair straight ALL the time to only having it straightened a few times a year. going natural is a TON of work for me but it was definitely worth the switch. this is the healthiest my hair has ever been!
i actually bought a cute cocktail dress from H&M for my birthday earlier that week but saw this jumper as i was leaving out of the store. i got home and couldn't stop thinking about it! so i went back and exchanged my items. i love this thing! my sunglasses and earrings are from there as well. 
would you look at the size of this bathroom!? Sonny wasn't telling me to hurry up and stop selfying, haha, he was only saying that a fridge was all somebody needed to live up in there. i agreed! i'm still getting used to community bathrooms though...... what are your thoughts on them? 
you could say i was excited about dinner! because we stayed in town, Sonny asked a few close friends and fam to join us for dinner at Quattro. also, so much shoe LOVE! i adore them too and had to have them! unfortunately they are in-store only, but this similar pair is apart of Aldo's current spring sale, and this new arrival is just as cute IMO.
i enjoyed the chilean seabass with baby potatoes, carrots, olives, cooked in an acqua pazza broth, and of course i ate off of Sonny's plate of gulf wild snapper, dried tomato and olive crust, broad bean cream, and asparagus. suuuuper yummy!
it was last-minute, so i was extremely grateful for those who came and happy to spend time with my fam.
y'all... the next morning i slept till like 10am. haven't slept that late in years. no kidding. no tiny elbows or feet were there to slap me in the face and interrupt my sleep :) . apparently i needed that! i actually did join Sonny in the gym for about an hour, but i did zero cardio and lifted 'pretty' (basically i barely sweat) so my hair wouldn't frizz up so fast.
cleaned up, dressed, and ready for day 2! i've had this springy, Urban Outfitters dress for a while now. as soon as i sat down in the truck though, my left strap popped right off! i was ready to eat... so we did just that first #FoodOverEverything. i tucked it in and rocked it with 1 shoulder like nobody's business. off to brunch!
we all have those nostalgic treats we order that just make us 100% happy. this is one of mine! hot cocoa with whipped cream from Le Peep. it will always make me feel like a big kid no matter how old i get.
our protein plates! basically... Sonny has a photo shoot in a few weeks and when he's on his best food behavior, so am i. 
we headed back over to the Galleria H&M and i found this super similar 17 dollar slip dress in like 3 seconds flat.
next, my first pedi of 2016. i think! i don't even know, smh
by recommendation, we went to The Palm for dinner. Thanks again, Jerry!
all he had to say was lobster mac & cheese though.
everything was incredible, especially the service! Sonny ordered their 28oz steak with sautéed spinach, 
and i got the lobstaaaaaaaa! the waiter explained that the cheesecake was New York style but it wasn't as creamy as i anticipated. that didn't stop me from take it with me and eating the rest in the hotel bed. good times! 
after another night of restful sleep, it was time to check out. we went straight to Lifetime so i could teach my class there (Sonny took it too!), 
then to my prenatal fitness class so i could put my Preggo Patties through a saturday afternoon cardio workout.
grateful to God and to Hubs for another wonderful birthday spent with the people i love!
thanks for reading!
1 year ago!
i was proud of this guy then, 
and was thrilled to finish side by side with him a year later at this past weekend's Green 6.2! biiiig thanks to my brother for this action shot.
we excitedly got our matching Nike fits together the night before! my running shorts have built-in tights and were crazy comfy. my running tank is sold out online, but here, here, and here are some similar, affordable Nike racerback styles you just might like. this one is on my shopping list too! shop all our discounted Nike gear here:
