her birthday

i just went over how we celebrate birthdays in our little family, so if this seems like a repeat post then don't think you are crazy.  we just like to stick to what we know.

it was leg day, so that meant we got to go some place REALLY good for breakfast.  which obviously was the waffle house.  i was worried ice cream/whip cream/cookie butter on a waffle was going to be a little too sweet for breakfast, but no.  it was perfect.  good thing calories don't count on birthdays!

after we went to the mall to buy a thing or two (and to return the present i got dawson for his bday - fail), and then went to a movie.  one of my most favorite food splurges in the world is movie theater popcorn with extra butter.  and to then go back and ask for even more butter.  heaven.

my mom and dad took us out to eat at the dodo, and uncle freddie and alex joined us.  tyler had work and kylie had drivers ed so they missed the party...

and oh what a party it was, because after dinner we went to nielsens!  if you know me at all, you know this is my favorite place. 

some how my beautiful mama got out of being in any pictures, dang it.  but she was the one who brought candles, and i got to blow out my birthday candles on my fav dessert (vanilla concrete with coconut and almonds) instead of a cake.  amazing.

thank you to my husband, my family and all of the friends who text/called/social media-ed me and made my birthday fantastic and showered me with love.  26 is going to be a great year, i can already tell!  

his birthday

dawson and i have developed a routine for special occasions and i have to say i really love it.  

every time we are celebrating some thing, we will follow roughly this same schedule:  

sleep in, work out, go out to breakfast, do a few fun activities (usually one involving dash), and then going out to dinner.  

oh it is the best.  even if it's the other person's "day".  so here is how we did dawson's bday celebration:

we started with a work out at golds gym with all the gym bros.  dawson thought i was dumb to take a picture, so he wouldn't stop working out.  being 25 makes him soooo hardcore.  but not as hardcore as all the bros in tank tops behind us.

then we went out to breakfast at the original house of pancakes.  we enjoy stuffing our faces with fat and calorie laden breakfasts (hey, we didn't just work out for no reason!).

then we ran some errands (ok, not the most fun, but having the day off together because it was MLK day made it fun), did a little house hunting, and took dash to the dog park with his friend benji.  

after that we were somehow hungry again.  don't act so surprised.  we had heard alamexo was delicious so we splurged and went there for dinner.  it definitely did not disappoint.  we even had the restaurant to ourselves because i guess it isn't hip to go to dinner at 5pm?

the queso was to die for.  i still dream about it at night sometimes.  but as you can see, the portion sizes weren't what you would call large, so we decided we had room for dessert.  off to cheesecake factory we went.

aaaand ending with a s'mores cheesecake, it was a perfect day celebrating the fact that dawson was born!

happy birthday kylie!

happiest of birthdays to the cutest little sister in the world!

i begged my parents for a sister for years and years.
finally when i was 9 years old, my dad told me a secret...
my mom would be having a baby in 8 months!
i was the first one to know, and i had to keep it a secret from everyone.
i'm pretty proud of my 9 year old self for not telling anyone for months.

somehow i knew the babe was going to be a girl.
i was just meant to have a sister.
after sharing the same room with her for 6 years
and being her weekly babysitter while my mom worked night shifts,
i feel almost like a second mom to kylie.
i can only hope my own little girls are half as cute as she is!

i love her to pieces and don't know what i would do without her.
can't believe this precious little sister of mine is 15 years old.
she has turned from the cutest little baby to the most gorgeous teenager.
those boys better keep their hands off!

happy birthday kylie!

birthday girl

25.

this was probably the hardest age for me to turn yet.  am i REALLY in my mid-twenties?  i feel like i could wake up tomorrow and go to high school and pass for being 17.  but in reality, 30 is right around the corner!  ok maybe not RIGHT around the corner, but it seems like it is.  i'm pretty sure i even saw some wrinkles on my face this morning.

my birthday this year was a little bit of a reality check.  no more are the days when my birthday lasts all week long, one party after another with people who really just want an excuse for a party.  when my cell phone starts blowing up at 12:01am by everyone that is up late and wants to be the first one to wish me a happy birthday.  and where my facebook wall and other social media is plastered on by hundreds of people that i may or may not have actually spoken to in real life.

instead my birthday was spent with family and my closest friends.  the people who were there throughout the years and still are, and will be for the rest of my life.  i might not have felt quite as popular as i used to in my high school and college years (according to facebook and bday shout outs), but growing up has made me realize that it really is "quality over quantity" that counts.

dinner with my gf ashlyn, lunch with my besties brittany and jenn, and then a birthday/superbowl party with the whole whittingham fam damily.  and of course my handsome husband by my side the whole day.  i couldn't have asked for more.

best 2 weeks of the year

after china we decided to have a smaller "14 days of birthday" than last year.
we may dream of having a money tree in our backyard, but i keep checking and it never seems to be there.

so this year involved a few less pricey activities and A LOT more food and treat eating.    

trust me, i'm not complaining. 

so here is some of what this year involved..

 half-off sushi:

^^^ i thought a mullet was a good look for a date

 movie night:

nielsens:

catching up on downton abbey:

making daw's favorite cookies:

daw showed me what he ate for 2 years,

at this authentic peruvian restaurant:

exploring ikea:

celebrating both our bdays with friends:

yay for both being 24 for two weeks!  and yay for being 25 now so i can boss dawson around again!

happy birthday dash!

i love this little guy more than you could even imagine

(which i'm sure you can imagine is a lot).

we spoiled him today with new clothes, new toys, and new bones.

he even got a few bites of human food!

he is such a good dog, he deserved it.
plus it was his FIRST birthday! that's a big deal!

dash really is my BFF.

dash runs errands with me, 

exercises with me, 

is more excited than dawson when i get home from work,

watches tv with me, 

helps me clean up dinner (didn't you know thats how we wash our dishes?), 

cuddles with me, 

listens to all my stories, complaints, and exciting news, 

and much more.

sure dash loves dawson,

but we both know i'm really his favorite.

(just ask who he sleeps on every night)

"dogs have given us their absolute all.  we are the center of their universe.  we are the focus of their love and faith and trust.  they serve us in return for scraps.  it is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made."