My 30th Birthday!

I turned 30 on Thursday, and I had such a great day. I pretty much just ate my way through the day... which was pretty awesome for my 30 week pregnant self. Last night, I had a few friends take me out to dinner, and that was so wonderful. LC, Erica, and Mare are some of my closest friends here in Dallas, so it was such a treat to just sit at a table with them. I'll be honest though, I felt like something was up. Corby was awfully weird before LC and I left for dinner... so I just had a sneaky suspicion something was going to happen. I figured more girls from our small group would be at dinner, but I was wrong! On our way home, LC encouraged me to go a different way home... a way that meant I wouldn't pass our street. I still wasn't positive something was happening, but my brain was working overtime! I walked it to our house to find some of our best friends here in Dallas...to celebrate me! It was such a fun night! LC and Corby completely outdid themselves. I realize I shouldn't have said this right when I walked in... but it was one of the first things to pop in my mind... "Corby, did you clean up the house?!?!" It was an absolute disaster when I left for dinner, so I would've been mortified to have a house full of people with it being dirty. Thankfully, he did what he could during the hour and a half I was gone, and the house looked great! He told me to stay out of our room, but it really wasn't that bad either. 

LC made signs, stickers, and water bottle labels that were really fun. Corby got me a delicious cookie cake with a pony on it. I guess animals are my cookie cake theme...I've had a bear, a dinosaur, and now a pony. And without discussing the pony cake, LC got some boot pinatas. So I guess I had a cowboy themed party! Pinata time was pretty hilarious! The kids did their best, but it was quite difficult to break. Chris, LC, and Ashley took a swing at it... and I must say, Ashley was quite impressive! It took her several swings, but she broke one of them right open! 

I really wasn't dreading the age 30, so it's not like I needed some big celebration to make the day better. But this was so much fun, and I'm so thankful to everyone that came!!! 

 This sign cracked me up! 

 Another sign hanging up in the house

 A very blurry picture of my delicious cake

 The boot pinatas

 Harper taking a swing at it

 LC going to work on the pinata

 And Ashley dominating the pinata! 

I love Ben in the background...so proud of his wife!

Wearing the pinata boot and loving her sucker!

It took her quite a while to fall asleep last night! 

The cutest lab rat around!

Harper's eye doctor asked if I would let her be a part of an eye study, so we said yes. They don't ever do anything to her actual eyes, so it's completely harmless. It doesn't take very long, and she had a lot of fun doing it. We also get paid...a whopping $5 each visit! Clearly the Retina Foundation doesn't bring in a lot of cash. At the end, they told her to pick out a prize. She stood at the box for a while, looked at me, and said, "I don't know what to pick." I looked in the box, and it took so much for me to not laugh out loud at the options. It was filled with extremely old (hopefully not used) happy meal toys and other random little "toys". Harper finally settled on this tiny bear but it's become a favorite...so I guess they know what they're doing. I was really proud of her and how well she followed all of their directions.


















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An unfortunate event...

Pregnancy was kicking my tail on Sunday, so I rested most of the day. By the evening, I was pretty nauseous. It clearly got worse when Corby had to cook his chicken for his weekly lunches. The smell just about put me over the edge. So being the problem solver that he is, he grabbed my favorite candle and lit it in the kitchen.

He joined me in the den and massaged my feet (he's the best!). He looked into the kitchen and saw the entire candle up in flames. Like...the whole thing. It required water being dumped on it for us to get the flame out. Thankfully we saw it before it sent my cookbook in flames...and burnt down my cabinets! The countertop underneath the candle didn't fair so well. Our countertops are already pretty terrible and stain ridiculously easily....now I can say they melt, crack, and burn easily. Too bad that remodeled kitchen is the 3rd project on our list!




The aftermath of the candle



My poor countertop...and being at the edge of the counter, there's no way to cover it!

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One last trip...

Since I can't travel after this month, Harper and I decided to fit in one last trip. Leah and Mike moved to Fayetteville a few weeks ago, so it seemed like the perfect place to go! My mom came up for the weekend, so Harper was thrilled to be with KK and Tia (she missed ZZ!!!).

The drive up there is a little boring but once you get on 540, it is gorgeous. Out of the blue, Harper said, "oh momma...look at that beautiful hill!" She continued to talk about the pretty mountains and bushes. It kind of made me sad for her, that she doesn't ever see nice scenery!

Our days were filled with seeing friends and being with family. We ate at all of my favorites...which means the scale won't be my friend at my next appointment! We went to some neat antique shops, enjoyed the amazingly cool temperatures, and simply had a great time! I love that place and can't wait to go back!



Farmer's market fun...she loved getting her face painted! She also insisted on carrying our shopping bags! And her favorite thing...asking me to take pictures of her in front of random things!


Time with the family was spent watching the Olympics, playing outside, and having "sleep over parties"...her newest obsession!


Before we left, she got some extra time with her friend, Cilla. They had a blast getting pedicures!!!


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Pop-pop's birthday weekend!

Gama (Corby's mom) planned a special weekend for pop-pop's birthday, and we had a blast! We all met in Austin at the Lost Pines Hyatt. Harper had a great time with her cousins and grandparents. She mastered the doggie paddle and now thinks she's an Olympic swimmer. But seriously...the Olympics really did make her want to swim by herself. Thanks, Missy Franklin.




Nightly s'mores was definitely a highlight!



She went on a pony ride and had a blast riding Buddy!



Harper, Lake and Maddox had such a fun time together!



Time with Gama and Pop-pop...and chocolate!


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Sweetest Baby on the Block!

My best friend, Mare, was able to bring her precious Olivia home a few weeks ago, and I was finally able to meet her last week. Due to the fact that she was born so early, there are major restrictions with visiting her. Harper won't get to meet her until after RSV season (probably April) and if anyone in our house is sick, there must be a well period of over a week before I can go visit. If you know Harper, you know she is prone to a terrible cough that always brings on croup. I'm so thankful I went last week because croup hit her hard on Friday night. We are so thankful for Olivia's life and will do anything to keep her healthy! So it will be a while before our families can all hang out...but it will be well worth the wait!

When I went to visit, I got to hold her for about 2 hours. It was heaven on earth! Mare is right...she truly is the sweetest baby ever! She's so content and just sleeps so peacefully. I'm hoping that she rubbed off some of that peacefulness onto Henley. Here's to hoping #2 will be a little less high maintenance than #1 was for us!









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USA! USA! USA!

We are big fans of the Olympics! I grew up with a mom who loved everything about them, so I come by it honestly. There are rules when you watch them with her, and you must abide by them...or you're out! I'm definitely following in her footsteps with the individual flags I have for us to wave whenever it just needs to happen! I love that Corby loves them so much too! And don't worry...we're definitely converting Harper. Swimming, so far, is her favorite!

Last night, our friends, Ashley and Ben hosted an Opening Ceremonies party. It was a blast! All of the food was inspired by our international competitors. I brought an Olympic ring fruit pizza...that of course was an idea from my mom!

















Go Team USA!!!

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