oh four twenty two.

today is my thirtieth birthday.
i know, right?! it's a miracle i've made it this far.
so much randomness from the past thirty years has filled my head today. most of it hilarious and nothing short of crazy shenanigans, mind you. but i managed to squeeze in a little reflection, too.
and alas  - a punch list of the top three things i've decided to hold on to from the past thirty years:

1. laugh as much as you possibly can until your sides hurt. if you can make me laugh, you're pretty much golden. there's no faking it here. i have the loudest laugh of anyone i've ever met. and if you hear it, you know it's true. and genuine. and that it's one of my most favorite things to do. i can find the humor in the most mundane situations and it's usually my saving grace. it also helps to grow up the fat kid and laugh before everyone else laughs at you. just sayin. when i get really tickled i start clapping like a seal with no sound coming out whatsoever. that's when you know you've really got me. my abs are usually sore the next day. but it is a feeling i wouldn't trade for the world. no matter how ridiculous i look or if you seem to find the same thing(s) funny or not. i also sometimes snort, but that's neither here nor there.

2. i do what i want. this one took some time to grab ahold of. took some hope thrown my way and support i didn't know i needed. it's not like i take this to the extreme - i'm not getting arrested for crap or anything, calm down. if i feel like eating cherry berry three times in 24hrs. i do it. if i get a notion to load up and head out to mexico. i do my best to make it happen. life is short. and not promised. and i spent the majority of my first thirty years doing what everyone else wanted me to. and it was not that fun. and i am a FREAKING 10 on the fun meter. people's opinion of whatever it is i happen to be doing is no longer factored in to every decision i make. so yes, yes i'll have cheese sticks and waffles for dinner. thankyouverymuch. stomach aches will go away eventually. people don't stay mad forever. and someday that band will no longer be together and you'll have wished you went to see them. do. what. you. want. crazy how those five little words have impacted my life. crazy how they give me wings. (ps. just for the record, i have no desire to go to mexico. that was a total example.)

3. it's okay to love people once in awhile. sometimes. see these walls. the ones all around me. they're all there for a reason. i can probably tell you how each brick got there, too. but once in a blue moon, i let them down. not often mind you. not frivolously. certainly not just for any-and-everyone. once said walls are down, though - it'll take 10,000 armies to put them back up. it's an always kinda thing with me. i'm not wishy-washy about much of anything. but my heart especially. i guard it like fort knox. but in every risk i've taken, every time i've let them fall - i haven't regretted it once. i don't regret it, because i know exactly how i got to that point and that i do everything i can to make sure i'm not a brick in someone else's wall (hey there, pink floyd. so cute how y'all thought i'd make it through a post without some sort of lyrical reference. adorbs. really.) sure, i get that not everyone will appreciate how much it took for me to be so vulnerable when it seems like such a second-nature thing to do for everyone else. i understand that i tend to care too much for people that don't care a thing about me. but at the end of the day, i can sleep a little easier knowing that i loved without hesitation. occasionally. ;)

here's to the big dirty thirty. 

how we spent july eighteenth.

 so in the last days of december, maybe the first weeks in january... i can't really remember, we discovered a sweet little surprise -- 

well hello there little one!

sorry to not know you were even around for almost three months.

my bad. i love you.

we told all of two people when we realized what was going on - and lucky for us, those two could keep a secret and didn't tell a soul until we were ready.

we found out we were having a 

B-O-Y 

a few weeks later!
 

people had no idea how long i prayed and prayed for you.

and just like we did with kiddo numero uno, we kept your name a secret too.

gotta give the peeps something to look forward to.

 {21 weeks}

i wasn't sick at all. 

and i ate A1 on everything. 

like it was going out of style.

 {28weeks}

i stayed in the a/c as much as possible.

or in the pool. 

had me a nice little tan going on.

{36 weeks}

this is the last shot of the 'ole belly.

it'll be the last one EVER.

so glad i chose to take it in the bathroom mirror...

july eighteenth two thousand eleven

oh my goodness - a baby in july. are you serious? so hot. so huge. and so ready.

so i didn't tell anyone i scheduled myself to be induced.

because i seriously couldn't take any more.

and i didn't want to hear anyone elses opinion about it. 

so there ya go!

d.might and ava dropped me off {oh yes - dropped me off} at the hospital at 6am.

since we didn't tell anyone - ava came with us.

after they dropped me off, they went to breakfast.

it's not like i could eat anything anyways! 

so i just napped.

the eating thing and the napping thing would be the theme of the day.

i napped on & off most of the day.

d.might & ava came & went as they wanted.

while they went to moe's for lunch, the dr. broke my water.

and then i napped some more.

around 4pm the nurse came in and said 

'you should probably call someone, you'll have him anytime!'

so we did.

ashes was the first to arrive.

followed closely by pops & gigi.

and they got there just in the nick of time.

ashes snapped this pic of the three of us.

the last pic of just our little fam of three.

i love ava's sweet little hands.

and then they kicked everyone out.

mimi & pawpaw joined them in the waiting room.

now, here's were there are two different version's of this story.

which is why i'm blogging the CORRECT one.

yes, it is true i napped literally all day.

yes, it is true that i continued to press the nurses button to come check me because i was hungry and wanted him out already.

i hadn't eaten all day!
and i was getting HA-ngry.
not good, y'all. not good.

that is still considered labor, people.

and at 6:00pm - on the dot. 

{just in time for dinner}

he decided to make his appearance...

ava was the first person to get to come meet him! she loved on him and open presents by herself first.

and then we had her go out to the rest of them and announce her baby brother was here.

dax william {d.dub} weighed in at 8lbs 9oz and 21' long.

my little linebacker.

we immediately subjected him to crazy fam pics, despite his persistent crying.

i only put this pic on here because my hair looks pretty and oh so shiny.

and you can see my sticker ava gave me for being so good all day.

true story.

sweet baby boy.

oh man, my mom makes stupid faces, too?!?!

why you no like the duck face, d.dub??

he'll learn.

back to the eating part of the day.

i kid you not, i was so hungry.

i couldn't make up my mind if i wanted a supreme pizza, a tunafish pita, or some cake.

and texted my sister a ridiculous amount of times trying to decide.

she had her fill, i guess.

because she brought me all three of them!

and yes, i ate them all.

and i'm pretty sure i hear the hallelujah chorus over my chomping.

the night wound down with a visit from my kwim and ethan.

my heart was so happy that she came on his birthday!

the next day was what i like to refer to as a 'parade of visitors' and it lasted all day long - but i was so happy to have everyone i loved the most there! 

ninner, papa tv, and sissy came first thing the next morning, and kiki, and massey and kel, and uncle b. {bearing sweet tea that i'm sure was Heaven sent}, and monkey, and nan, and friends and cousins and well wishers galore.

even well wishers i have yet to meet, but i'm pretty sure are fantastic.

and this little gem... well, i have it framed.

my sister keeps the best company.

dear bolivia, can we be bff's too? i'm just as cool as my sister.

i swear.

'um, yes, waiter?'

'table for FOUR please'

and that is how we spent july eighteenth.

fin.

2010 in review : MAY : you say it's your BIRTHDAY

some sweet little girl turned FOUR years old!!!!!

and of course, got a little 'frosting' from her daddy ;)

which she obviously loved... :)

she was pretty excited for something else, too...

a purple elephant pool!

and then proceeded to dress up & dance & twirl - as customary on your birthday (who are we kidding, for her, it's everyday :)

and then the princess tired of having her picture taken...

but loved that she won the cake from the local radio station, again!

happy fourth birthday, tutu!

we also celebrated with a few close friends at the local gymnastics place!

bff's - SO SWEET!

and just a few days after little tutu turned four years old, we welcomed another precious girl...

zoey rochelle

may 15, 2010

7lbs. 2oz. 19.5"

because the more birthdays you have, the older you get.

oh yes, yes indeed.

dusty has turned the big 3-0!!!

he's not much on parties, so we celebrated with just a little cake & a few presents.

ava is singing 'happy birthday to you!' in the pic above - precious!

of course, anyone's birthday is automatically ava's birthday, too ;)

she had to help him blow out his candles.

he is pretty close to getting his AARP card, so it's a good thing she helped the old guy out.

we would hate for him to have gotten winded - which comes easily now that he's thirty.

i am in love with this pic of my loves.

it is so wonderful.

what?

what's that you say?!

didn't i have a birthday the day after dusty's big three-zero celebration??!!!

why, yes.

yes, i did.

however, since i'm so young and all - no one bothered to take pics of my on my twidley 27th.

and i'm really not complaining ;)

{this post is not intended to insult those above a certain age range. it is, however, to point out that when filling out any sort of form from now on, dusty will have to check an 'age-range' box that will take me many a few more years to get to. Lord willing.}

{nineteen-eighty-four}

On this day, 25 years ago, my life changed forever...

I got a baby sister.

Seriously - has it already been 25 years?

I can't recall how I felt about it at the time, being I was only 19 months old & all - but I can recall how I've felt about her the past 25 years...

I can recall sharing a tiny room with her not because we had to, but because we wanted to.

Even when the one of us got in a tizzy and broke the other one's cheerleading trophy.

I can recall getting so upset when she called me about her first major wreck that I almost threw up.

Instead, I just yelled at her really good when I got to the scene. I was just so thankful she was okay & not hurt & I was so mad at her for scaring me so badly.

I can recall staying the night at Ninner's & laughing ourselves silly & breathless... until the kicking started, because she was so over on my side of the 'line'.

The last time we both spent the night there together, just a few years ago... the same thing occurred.

Poor Ninner. It drives her crazy.

I can recall thinking how crazy I thought she was for getting up at 5am just to do her hair for school.

She's never had a problem getting up early for things, something we all know I simply cannot do - not to mention her hair is still fab.

I can recall taking a pair of shoes I knew that I hadn't worn back to the store, only to have the Clerk lift them out of the box to see that they were in fact, worn. I knew exactly who the culprit was.

Although I'd get fired up when she'd steal my clothes & shoes, I sure did love getting to share everything with her.

I can recall how in her younger years, she could only wear certain brands of clothing & only carry certain bags & such.

I am so proud of her for having a career in something that she not only loves, but that she is incredibly wonderful at. Have I mentioned she has a designer handbag named after her because she's just that awesome??

I can recall us driving home from school in the afternoons, jamming out to Faded and All My Life with all the windows down in the Golden Nugget, shifting gears as quick as I could.

It thrills my heart that she comes over & rocks out to Miley with me; & better yet, shows Ava some pretty sweet dance moves. She's got skills.

Of course, I can also recall the fights we had growing up over little & big things, this, that & the other.

But even through the fights, I know she's my Sister & no matter what, I will always love her & would never want to hurt her intentionally {execpt for that bloody nose that one time - still sorry for that one}.

I can recall her going through a period where she'd mix mayonaise with her ketchup to dip her fries in.

That's just disgusting, I don't care who ya' are.

She is one of the funniest, smartest, and most beautiful people I know.

And even though she's back closer to home, our lives are still busy as ever & I miss her hanging out with us during the day - just because she can - or taking us to places we've never been before that were right under our noses or calling me {blowin' me up} 4 bazillion times a day just to tell me what she's doing or to call the campus police for her {HA!}.

What a remarkable young woman she has grown to be in the past 25 years...

My Marrreeeeee-eee-eee-yaaa-

Maria, I love you.
Happy Birthday.