Happy Birthday to.....ME!

Today I turn 31. I am not like most people who hate birthdays and freak about getting older. If you know me you know I LOVE my birthday. To an extent that I can be annoying about it! Well today is no different than any other year. I have gone on strike from the kitchen today. I am not doing laundry. I will not be doing anything that doesn't sound fun. It's MY day.

Today I woke up at 4:30 am to the sound of my phone telling me I had a text message. Usually if my phone goes off at those odd hours it's spam messages and I'm pissed! but this morning it was my sweet Daddy sending me a birthday message. So I read it, responded, and smiled. What a great start to my day! Then at 6:24 my phone went off again. It was my sweet husband this time. Now if you read my blog you know he's usually a stick in the mud. So getting a birthday text from him is a big deal. I got up to get ready. I have a big morning of pampering planned for myself. I walked in to my kitchen and started the new Kuerig he bought me for my birthday and look at our chalk board that I write our menu on and there's another birthday message there! How special do I feel? Such an amazing day already. Then I get online and see a ton of messages on Facebook. And I get a very sweet email from my "Emma". This day is just awesome. My lunch with my grandparents and spending the rest of it with my sweet little family will complete this perfect day. I love my birthday. It's my Mom's fault. She always made it a big deal. I'm glad though. I hope I can make Talent love his birthday like I do mine.

Week 13/52

This week the theme is blue. I decided to take a picture of an early birthday gift I received from my parents. I am always looking for new bags since I am a mom and have to carry SO much crap. I hate carrying a diaper bag now because I don't really need it anymore. Talent eats big people food and doesn't take a bottle. So all I need are a few diapers, some wipes, a bib, and maybe an extra onesie. To me it is totally not worth carrying a diaper bag for. And they are cute anyway. So I find big purses with lots of pockets and use them instead. I can put my stuff and his in it and it's perfect! I've been using my Ed Hardy purse for a while but really wanted something new. So my Mom and I just went to look and I saw this purse hanging there saying "take me home, I am perfect for you". I opened it up and the pockets inside we're exactly what I need for our stuff to all be separated! And it is a GORGEOUS bag! So happy early birthday to me! I am in love with this bag! I could have had it in charcoal gray but this teal blue was so different, I had to have it!

Week 12/52

Hands. This week is a post about hands. Last week I posted a picture of Talent's tiny little toes and this week you get to see his sweet little hands. This little boy has me completely wrapped around his little finger. He probably knows it too. The last week has been a rough one on me for many reasons I care to keep to myself. This little guy and my sweet husband are the ones that keep me going. This week I have gotten to play with my camera a little and was able to capture this very sweet picture of Talent. He was watching The Lion King and you can see his sweet little hands. He's got one thumb in his mouth and he's so focused on the movie. Lion King is his very favorite. I love Talent two guys in my life so much. I am very thankful for them this week. And just for the heck of it, here's and oldie but goodie. It shows how tiny Talent was the very first time Seth held him in his hands. You can tell Talent felt safe there. Seth has a safe feel. I always know when I have him I'm in a safe place. He is my rock and I don't know what in the world I would ever do without him.

Remembering.

Today I came across a news article about a fallen firefighter. I saw the picture before I even saw the heading and I knew what it was about. My heart beat just a little faster, my eyes welled up with tears, and my breath got caught in my throat.

Seven years ago I attended a fireman's funeral. It was for my Pawpaw Bazil. He was one of the sweetest, kindest, bravest men I ever knew. I remember vividly seeing them lift him up onto the back of the fire truck, his fire truck, the one that he built and drove. The one that we all have pictures on and climbed all over as kids. I remember following it with its lights going and the sound of those sirens. I remember the last call they put out on the radio for "Bazil 'Pops' Wright" as we were all at the graveside. I remember it like yesterday. I wore a fire engine red long sleeved shirt, black pants, and big curly Texas hair---because that's what he would have loved. I think about him all the time. I hear sirens and my heart breaks all over again. Seeing the article and reading it today stirred something inside of me that I've been pushing aside for a long time. I miss him. I don't think you ever stop missing people. Sure it gets easier I guess. But there are still days I really miss him. Today reading the article about another fallen fireman, I know how his family feels having been through one of those ceremonies. I can promise you never look at a fire truck the same way agin.

I am not saying any of this so any of you feel sorry or are worried about me. I just need to have it off my mind. Let it out there that I miss my Pawpaw Bazil. He was a great man. Someone I wish my husband had gotten to know. I wish Talent had gotten to meet him. Someday in Heaven they will have a lot of fun together. But for now I have a lot of stories to tell Talent about him.

Week 11/52

Feet!
This week I'm supposed to write and post about feet. If you know me you know I think feet are gross. Well, except for tiny little baby feet! My sweet boy has the sweetest little baby toes on the planet! I just snuck into his room while he was napping to take a picture of his tiny (well not as tiny anymore) toes for you! He is never still enough to get pictures of them when he's awake! He walks all over the place so feet pics are near impossible! I never thought I would love feet. I never thought I would touch feet or kiss little toes but this little boy has the most kissable feet I've ever seen. Not much about him that I don't love. He's pretty amazing if I do say so myself. Anyway, here's the picture of his sweet baby toes and also a pic of him sleeping so sweetly! Enjoy!

Back in black!

So a few weeks ago I got this hair brained idea to lighten my hair. I actually did this about two months ago probably. I have lived with this reddish brown color for as long as I can possibly stand it. I've always heard "once you go black, you never go back". Well when it comes to my hair, I can testify to it being true. I changed it back to black yesterday and feel so much more like myself. I don't know what I was thinking when I decided it needed to be lighter! I was born with really dark almost black hair. It lightens a little in the sun during summer but it has always been super dark. I'm glad to be back in black and back to normal. It feels better.

I've been making some changes around here. I've started doing the 30 Day Shred and I am seeing such a difference in how I feel and how my clothes fit. I've only been doing it two weeks and the difference is amazing. I also started The Fat Smash Diet. And although it isn't easy and I haven't been as dedicated to it as I have been to Jillian, I am learning some things and seeing big changes in my body. I put on shorts I haven't been able to wear in two years this week. It felt amazing. I have a pair of capris I haven't been able to wear since I got married and I want to fit back in them. I think I will be able to soon! I have a group of women cheering me on an encouraging me. It's the most amazing feeling to know I'm not alone and that I have amazing friends standing beside me along the way.

Things here are looking up. I got A serious wake up call on our trip. I really was able to see just how out of shape I am. I have a son that I want to be able to keep up with. I can't do that if I am this out of shape and over weight. So, I am more determined than ever. And any of you that know me, you know I will meet this goal I've set. I'm excited about it. 5 lbs down and several more to go, but I will get there.

weeks 9 & 10 of 52

Okay so I'm officially 2 weeks behind. I will be posting this weeks challenge pic later on in the week. I just have been super busy the last few weeks. We went to Yellowstone for Talent's first vacation. We were gone for 9 whole days. That's a long time for anyone, much less two new parents and a one year old. It was a great trip and we saw a lot of beautiful things. Check out my other blog My New Found Love to read all about it and to see a few pictures from our trip!

Week 9's challenge was sports, I would post a picture about the OKC Thunder but to be perfectly honest I'm SICK to death of hearing about everyone and their dog "Thundering Up"....so I've chosen to post my favorite picture of Talent in his OU gear from our session with Keelie. I'm ready for August, when there is not a Saturday in my house that the TV isn't on college football. I'm ready for fall when it's football fever and getting close to college basketball time. See in our house we watch pro football, but not much NBA. The NBA is so showy and they are really lacking some class. It takes the fun out of the game for us. Not that NFL isn't showy, it is, but you can still get into the sport, the NBA just doesn't have that feel. At least it doesn't for us. We live for college sports. So while we support our OKC Thunder, and I'm glad that an Oklahoma team has made it as far as they have, I'm ready for my college sports to start.

Week 10's challenge picture is supposed to be shoes. Well I'm going through all the possible pictures I could take of the shoes I own, wear, love.... and honestly, I can't figure out what I want to post. So I'm going to a picture of my favorite girls and our shoes....we are all barefoot in the picture with our shoes in front of us! But yeah, the shoes are in the picture! I'm posting this picture because while these girls were here we did this photoshoot with Ashley. We had such a fun time! I always tell my Mini's they need to wear cute shoes, they always argue....girls.....I swear! When I was their age, I wore the most ridiculous shoes! I swear I don't know how I walked without breaking my ankles! I am missing my Mini's and Leaoma so much. So here's one of my favorite picutes from our "Girls Only" shoot! And my Mini's don't even look the same now! Bethany graduated last week, I can't even believe she is going to college!