Birthday Bonanza...or something like that

Birthdays for a summer salesman are often cut short of the celebration that I believe every birthday should be! So, although he still had to spend all day walking around in the 100+ Texas temperatures on his birthday, I took it upon myself to make his day as special as possible!

Kirby has been having trouble getting comfortable enough to sleep well at night. He has quite literally destroyed the extra fluffy and comfy pillows my parents bought for us by mashing his around trying to form it into something that helps him relax. SO the night before his birthday I snuck a TempurPedic - memory foam - cooling gel - pillow on his side of the bed and pulled the covers up over it (after placing a big bag of sour patch kids smack dab in the middle)...to hide the surprise, and stuck a little pre-birthday card on top of it all. He actually didn't notice the card at first as he walked around the room talking about his day at work, and changing into comfy clothes. But, when he did, he went straight over to it and started reading. About halfway through the card he laid down, hitting the bag of sour patch kids which made a rather obvious crinkly sound. So, he pulled out the candies, and finished reading the card, while unknowingly laying on his brand new pillow. Toward the very end of the card he made a quizzical face and rolled his head back and forth before shouting "HEY" in a rather accusatory voice. Then he pulled the new pillow out of it's case to inspect it excitedly...and that's about it. He expressed his love and appreciation, then our night concluded like normal. We ate his sour patch kids, while watching Netflix in bed.

The next morning was it, the birthday morning. So, I set my alarm for 5:00...and when it went off, snuck quietly into some sweats and a T-shirt, grabbed the keys, and set off to pick up his birthday breakfast. (FYI I did warn him the night before that I had an early-morning errand to run, so he wouldn't freak when he found me missing). Anyways...me and my big belly drove 20 minutes at 5:00 in the morning to pick up some adorable doughnuts that spelled our HAPPY B-DAY KIRBY complete with a little heart shaped doughnut...and a cronut since those are his fav (Just not as cute, duh). I then went to work "decorating" the breakfast table and setting out the rest of the food. Now, anyone who knows me and Kirby, knows that breakfast in bed is kind of our thing...birthdays, Christmas, Christmas Eve, Fathers' day, random mornings when one of us sleeps in, we normally do it all. But I didn't want to bring in just a box of doughnuts, and I wasn't about to bring in just part of the message. So, instead I just snuggled back up into bed with him like nothing had happened and waited for him to get up. And when he did, I followed him to the dining area where my little surprise was waiting. He, of course, was sweet with his thank yous, and snapped a couple pictures before we partook of the birthday breakfast...then it was off to work for him, and back to work on birthday extravaganzas for me.

 

Last year I made Kirby a Samoa Cookie Cheesecake for one of his birthday treats, and that's all he asked for this year. I literally started baking it the second he left, and barely added the finishing touches in time before he came home that night. But, the important thing is that he had his cake! Since the hard working boys out here do not get home until close to 10:00 some nights, and start again early the next morning, we didn't really want to have a party in the middle of the week. So I ordered a couple pizzas, and we had Kirby's brother and his girlfriend over for a small party that really just consisted of pizza, cake, and opening presents. But it was splendid nonetheless...plus he got his fair share of birthday fun with his friends the following weekend!

 

I LOVE my sweet Kirby. He is my sweetheart, my hero, my knight in shining armor, my everything. 

Happy birthday boo, I'm all about you!

Maternity Pictures

I love pictures. I take tons of pictures, save them on two computers (just in case), print them to fill albums, and frame and hang them all over our house...but if we are being honest, I never saw myself taking maternity pictures, let alone loving them as much as I do with these.

My body has changed, a lot. And I would be lying if I didn't find myself looking back at pictures from before I was pregnant and missing my body more than I imagined. I sometimes don't recognize myself, everything about me looks different! Not only have a blown up like a balloon (no thanks to this Texas heat), but it's as if everything from my skin to my smile has changed. And you know what? I'm more than ok with that. My body is doing incredible things and I love it for that.

My life has changed so much over the past 34 weeks...and despite all the trials we have been faced with, I am happier than ever before, I feel closer to my husband than ever before, and I am only 6 weeks away from being able to kiss the little boy that I have been growing for almost 9 months. This is all part of the journey that our little family is on, and I want to do everything I can to hold on to these feelings and memories that we are making, and that is exactly why I found myself taking these maternity pictures and being so glad that I did.

Thanks to my parents for buying me such a nice camera for Christmas, and my sweet friend Lauren for standing out in the Texan heat to take these pictures for us, aaaand of course thanks to Kirby for being such a trooper and taking so many pictures with me!

Baby, You're a Firework

The fourth of July just happens to be my favorite holiday. It falls smack dab in the middle of summer for one, and holds some of my favorite memories. Any holiday that can be spent outside all day is held in high regards in my book...and those patriotic hymns...man. I have said this before and I will say it again, for some reason, (aside from hymns about the restoration/pioneers), those patriotic hymns get me all teary eyed just about every time. Plus, I love that for a whole weekend every shirt, swimsuit, soda can, just about everything in sight becomes all red, white, blue, and star spangled. And then there is the food...the barbecue, kettle corn, snow cones, all of it. I love it all! But let's get down to the real reason this holiday is #1 for me, those fireworks! Nothing is more exciting or beautiful than watching the night sky light up over and over again with color and light so bright you can see it when you close your eyes. 

This year, after a pool party and barbecue with Kirby's office, we just so happened to stumble upon a perfect night. We had done some googling to find where we should watch fireworks, and found so many results that we didn't know where to go or what would be our best option. 

Our friends had done the same, and randomly, together, we picked a show on Lake Lewisville (mostly because it promised food). So a 20 minute drive later we pulled in to Little Elm. It was about 7:00 in the evening and still scorching hot and unbearably humid. So we meandered around...picked up some of the necessities (aka kettle corn and a snow cone), met up with a few more couples, then decided it was time to park our blankets at a nice clearing we found in the grass and wait for the show. 

Having never been to a show there before we faced the same direction as everyone else, but had no idea where the fireworks would actually be lit off, we were just hoping to have a good view.

So we sat there, playing games, swapping treats, and singing patriotic hymns without shame... and then all the lights in the park turned off and seconds later we felt, more than heard, the first firework go off immediately in front of us. 

I have NEVER in my life been so close to the fireworks at any show, let alone one this big. As we lay on the blankets each firework erupted immediately above our heads. They were so close and so perfectly above us that the fireworks took up every bit of the sky in our sight. My heart stopped for a few beats as the magnificence of it all sunk in. 

I just laid there in the arms of my husband, next to dear friends, my little baby dancing in my belly, with a huge American flag blowing in the wind to my right, a little girl behind me singing her own version of America the Beautiful (really just singing America, America, America over and over) and the most dazzling display of fireworks I had ever seen going on right above me...I can honestly say that was one of the happiest moments of my life. Period. (I might have cried a few happy tears).

When it was over, and the park lights came back on, we laid there for a second longer, in awe...and one of our friends said "there is no way we will ever be able to truly explain to anyone else what we just experienced." 

It was that amazing, and a piece of my life that will forever be a special memory.

Plus, to top it all off, we somehow got out of the parking lot and down the congested highway in a matter of minutes! Fate was on our side that entire night my friends! The way home included crossing one long toll bridge...and FYI the magic never stopped. The entire drive across the bridge made the night even more memorable. Every ounce of the horizon...in all directions, was lit off with fireworks going off along the banks of the lake. You could not look anywhere without seeing more being lit off and reflected in the dark waters. 

I think I was living in a fairytale for the night, that's the only explanation.

 {Don't worry, I know how large I am}

 {And don't mind the fact that our husbands wore basically the same shirt and we had matching skirts...and seconds before we left I was trying to squeeze my belly into a similar blue shirt}

 {PS: That's not the lake...that's a park/parking lot, Texas is still flooded}

 {if only we knew then how perfectly placed our blankets were!}

 {I told Kirb I love how happy we look in this picture...and he said "we don't look happy, we ARE happy." He speaks the truth}

{when the only ounce of light is coming from the fireworks}

I wish there was a way to thank every person who has given me the chance to live in this free country, I love every second of it...

A June in Dallas

June looked a lot like May...minus all the flooding and crazy storms. Don't get me wrong, it still stormed, just not so 24/7 if you catch my drift! Kirby still works, I still play, Sodapalooza is still a regular routine, and the local food is still the highlight of our weekends. But, aside from the routine of our week days, the June weekends hold some special memories.

We might not have as much family around us as we would like to, but we are lucky enough to have Kirby's older brother and his family 4 hours away from us in Oklahoma. So the weekend before our nephew turned 4 we were able to take a road trip to visit them for an early celebration! We left immediately after Kirby got done selling on Saturday, getting there late at night, and staying up until about 4 in the morning catching up. Kirby and I slept on a blow up mattress wedged between the little boys' beds...I was sure that when Dominic woke up he would be freaked, but he woke up in the middle of the night, sat straight up, looked at us, and all he had to say was "I have ninja turtle sheets!" Man those boys make me smile and I am so glad Kirby has a little buddy to share his ninja turtle love with. I could go on and on with the funny things we heard and saw those little boys do that weekend...but I will keep it short. I will say though, that around 8:00, after less than 4 hours of sleep, they both peaked their little heads in where Kirby and I were still sleeping, and Dominic just whispered "see?" to Lincoln, as if proving we really were there. After that I was too excited to go back to sleep! Kirby said it was like watching a little girl on Christmas morning. So I spent the next few hours wrestling, bug hunting, and doing all the fun things you get to do when you have nephews to play with and all the other adults are still sleeping! Our little boy is going to have the best cousins...and they are already obsessed with the baby growing in my belly. They got to feel him kick, and Dominic kept talking to the baby and trying to "wake him up" if he wasn't moving. The weekend went by too quickly...but the fun was worth it. We got to watch Dominic ride his scooter and bike at a skate park, play at the pool, have a barbecue, and give Dominic his first "real" baseball hat. Also, can I just say that Kirby and Lincoln have the sweetest bond...they were practically inseparable, and when it came time to leave Linc kept saying "but I want you Kirby!"

Happy Birthday Four Year Old Dominic!

{Road Trip Selfies}

{discussions during our bug hunt}

{birthday boy in a baseball hat}

{Uncle Kirby > Jungle Gym}

{These two...and Linc's Face}

Then on another magical weekend we were able to just barely make it to the last session at the Dallas temple after work...and it was amazing, duh. The Dallas temple is old, big, and very pretty. And while it was difficult to fit in, and a little chaotic to get to through all the road construction, every second of it was worth anything. The comfort and peace we felt there were just what we had both been needing, and the blessings were obvious and immediate. Oh, and the temple date of course had to be followed by tacos and shakes.

The rest of our June nights consisted of more tacos, good old Texan BBQ, movies, friends, game nights, you know...the usual.

Oh and you should probably know that my husband decided to bring home a massive dinosaur of a TV that a customer was getting rid of...and while it isn't the prettiest, it has been so much fun! We hook our netflix up to it, and snuggle on the couch just about every Sunday these days.

I am so proud of my husband and the hard work that he devotes himself to...no matter how crappy he is feeling or how wet and hot it is outside!

I am also missing my family and friends a lot these days...I seriously talk to my mom about every day and we FaceTime them almost every week. I can't wait to be back home with our new addition to the family!

Keep on keepin on,

Love, Madison