typical night.

last night i picked up james from daycare and follow his nightly ritual. this is new and i think its hilarious. he wants a sippy of milk (he'd prefer chocolate and usually gets it, just this one time a day) and to watch nick jr. now, i'm not saying that i want my kid to be addicted to the tv or anything but in reality he is at daycare all day and they do not even have a tv in sight. so, if he wants to watch some education on tv, per nick jr. commercials, then i'm okay with that. anyway, he wants to chill out and just relax. feet up, arm on the arm rest and do nothing. i don't blame him. i'd love to kick my feet up and chill when i got home from work. in fact, i've had plenty of those days in my past. but today, my reality is far from that. as soon as i got home i changed clothes, started laundry, dinner, picking up toys and vacuuming. i'm aware how glorious my night sounds but hey, i'll love coming home tonight to enjoy it.

as i'm running around breaking a sweat, i look out the back window and see this:

livin' the dream.

until utah got in the way.

a personal pool, shades, putter and the water hose. this is james' version of heaven.

obviously my kid is a genius because he knows that if he wears sunglasses, the water that he insists to splash won't get in his eyes.

mom, no more pictures! but how do you like my six pack?

okay, i'll flash you my baby blues.

now go finish my dinner.

summer time.

man, summer time used to be great. fantastic actually. no school, no work, no responsibilities. bliss. then one day you graduate and get a job. then you realize you no longer get a month off at christmas, a week off for a spring break vacation and three months off during the summer. what?!?? this is definitely the part about being a grown up kind of stinks. i mean, i know this is an odd post right after my "i love being thirty" post but i can still be thirty and wish i had a summer break.

we make the most of the summer around my house. it is painfully hot though. a body of water is required to be outside. do i have a pool? no. do i wish i did? no, not really. i would just be a nervous wreck about james and the dogs and it would just be one more thing to clean. but it would be fun. well, i take that back. we do have a pool. a james' size pool. and he loves it! he tries to jump in it but white boy doesn't catch any air. this is what you see.

yep. a face plant. a teeter totter, bruise you shins, face dive right into the water.



james loves it!! he'll laugh and do it over and over again.

good thing he's not thirty. i think it looks painful.



water park.

since the pool and water hose are just so much fun, we had to get more creative. he'll say "outside, outside, outside" over and over until we cave. then before we know it we're finding sunglasses, sunscreen, water shoes, and toys and anything else he wants to complete his outside fun. now james has his own little water park. he'll squeal with delight and spend time wearing himself out.

see? he's "jumping" in before i can even take a picture of his new water park.

this picture cracks me up! i'm too sexy for this slide!

he's like his momma, we like our shades.

hello ladies! wanna come over to my house?

i'll be nice and share my slide.

thirty.

in the great words of jenna rink, "thirty, flirty and thriving" pretty much sums up how i feel. i turned the big 3-0 a couple of weeks ago. and hell-o? the party just keeps on going. i've had three celebrations thus far. each one completely different yet have made me feel so special. the love tank is full!

first up was a birthday dinner. this was actually around my day of arrival.

who says 30 is old?

not us! 30 is the new fun!!

next celebration - dallas. you don't understand, i don't leave my child. i'm slightly obsessed with him, if you didn't already know. it was a pretty spur-of-the-moment trip. kind of. i have talked about going down to see my sweet friend, jill, but never could leave. well, plane tickets are cheap but they bump up without warning. one day, the price was right and i just booked the trip. let the fun begin.

meet jill. her birthday, 30 also, was just 3 days following mine. we had to celebrate. boy! did we ever celebrate. it truly shows how good of friends you are when you have no plans but good company and make the night one you'll always remember.

don't do it, bonner!!!

yep. i did. and i'll get into trouble for posting this. but let me give you a recap. we went to dinner, had some cocktails and had some fun. we insulted the food, met the chef and got free food and cake. we have new quotes like smile for the camera, they know it's our birthday?? and i run. i really wish the bottle of wine were facing the camera because it was delicious. i would buy it again. i'm sure for half the price too.

saturday night out in the big city is more fancy than my usual nights at home in stretchy pants. it's good to get dressed up, get your hair fixed and get out every now and again.

and

now that you think i've taken too many photos and talked too much about my own birthday, i'll remind you that it is my blog and i haven't posted in a while.

my next birthday celebrations was hosted by my dear friend sugs. you remember her? i've talked about her some but specifically in this post. so, she was out of town on the birthday dinner night so she offered to have my family over and cook. ummm. yes please! and thank you!! this was just the perfect cookout celebration i could have asked for. james was a wild man, but no one cared. she had chilled wine that went down too nicely and just some great company. oh! and delicious food.

insert a photo that will make your mouth water:

i'd eat some if it were in front of me. i've found myself craving it actually.

family photo op. i mean, mr. h and i are smiling looking at the camera. that is a feat in itself. james, well, obviously he wasn't feelin' it. but hey! i'll take what i can get these days.

auto timer = greatest invention ever.

and my favorite picture of the night is below:

thank you to all my friends (and family though i don't have any pictures from their generosity. shame on me!) for being so wonderful. i truly love you.