Happy (OLD) Birthday to Our FAVORITE Guy!

Happy Birthday to you... Happy Birthday to you... Happy Birthday to our MOST FAVORITEST GUY in the WORLD... Happy Birthday to you!!!

Justin turned... OLD... on Sunday... and the Cox Fam came in to celebrate with us! We were so excited to have a house full of fun to help us ring in another fantastic year of Justin! He is literally one of the BEST guys I have ever come across... BEST... in so many senses of the word. And I'm not just saying that because I'm his wife and he's my baby-Daddy... :) I'm saying it because it's true... ask anyone... they'll tell you! Promise! :)

But poor... pitiful... sad... wearisome Justin has taken this birthday... his OLD birthday, pretty hard! It's actually not his OLD birthday it's his 29th birthday! I don't get the whole crying over turning a year older thing... I really don't! So it is very hard for me to sympathize. The way I see it... for every birthday we GET to celebrate we should be jumping up and down and praising God... because we aren't guaranteed another minute... much a less another year... right?! BUT sweet Justin just can't get there... it's the whole, "I competed in the Hell Run... and I was sore for the next two days phenomenon!" Or... "I really have to be careful with my weight these days..." And the... "my back just ain't what it used to be!" But when I look at Justin the only thing I can think of is... MAN this guy has aged beautifully... minus the whole receding hairline thing... but I actually kind of like that! :)

So needless to say it was important that the whole crew be in town to support (RAG) Justin for turning 29... one more until the big 3-0... what am I going to do with him then?

Friday night Nana and Bop came into town just in time for a quick dinner and some play time before Caden and I were ready to hit the hay! We had some serious plans to rest up for on Saturday that included a trip to the pool with Nana and Bop and of course a pit-stop to Sonic before the REAL party crew arrived around lunch time. Aunt Ree Ree and Uncle Tag were super excited to get to spend some time with Caden and I think it is safe to say that Caden was LOVING every minute of the attention and someone to play baseball with. Uncle Tag even had to take a nap on Saturday afternoon... sweet Caden WORE HIM OUT! :) And I said... welcome to my world, Uncle Tag! :)

Saturday night we went out to one of the birthday boy's favorite spots to celebrate in style! Caden of course was FULLY aware of the goodness that was Daddy's birthday as he munched and munched on some yummy chips, queso and black bean dip...

I think it is safe to say that at this point in Caden's life he has NO problems with his pride... bean covered face and all he was thrilled to be watching a little Shamu on Daddy's phone while eating his goods!

How about a look around the table... go with me, will you?

Nana and Bop...
Ree and Tag... and... YEP... ME! You could assume from the looks of this picture that I wouldn't struggle with pride either... and I'd be lying if I said I don't sometimes... but nonetheless it is moments like these that are OH so humbling and pride-crippling!! Justin said I had some black bean in my teeth... what else is a girl to do?!

Birthday boy and his Momma... 29 years later!!

And our sweet fam... this is pre-notification that I had bean in my teeth... and POST-insult from Uncle Tag who assured me when I was worried about the angle Cori was taking our picture from that it "didn't matter what angle Cori took the picture from... it wasn't gonna be a good one!" Talk about a pride crusher!! HA! But oh such truth he spoke!! Again... humbling... oh so humbling!!

Of course, I shouldn't just rag on Uncle Tag for "handing me some truth"... because even Nana said that "if ANYONE should be eligible for a Handicap Parking Sticker... it should be you, Katie!" Amen sister... I never thought about asking for one... but I think I might just have to look into it! :) Pregnancy can be a real PAIN in the... (fill in the blank!) :)

And here we are again... humbling... the humilty forced onto pregnant women!! Astounding! BUT I'm thankful for it... well at least for the outcome of it... I could do without the humbling, of course! :) And He's thinking... "Um, no ma'am you sure can't...Miss Worried About the Camera Angle!!" And to that I say... "Lessons, shmessons!!!"

While waiting for our check, Caden decided to pop down and see what the view was like at the other end of the table... pretty "cheesy" it looks like! :)

Once we made it back home, Caden played in the water ball and the rest of us took it easy... not a bad way to clean off some black bean dip!! :)

And just before Caden called it a night we sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, DADDY... one of Caden's favorite new songs! Aunt Ree Ree used the 29 candles that Nana INSISTED she use to spell out "OLD" and so it was officially his Old Birthday after all... the candles said so! :)

Isn't he a handsome, happy guy?!!

And no the smoke alarms did NOT go off... but no promises next year! :)

The next morning on Justin's actual birthday, the boys got up early and played some golf... despite the hurricane force winds! And Caden took the ladies to the pool!! It was a little chilly in the water that morning but C and I managed to rough it! :) Floaties on...

Mommy and Caden... CHEESE!!!

A happy boy in the pool... he LOVES the water... just like his Mommy! :)

After the pool, we HAD to stop at Sonic... because it is a tradish... a two-day tradish... and Nana even treated us to some lunch too! After we were full up on Sonic's fried goodness we chilled on the couch and waited for the boys to come home!! Poor Caden was "YEADY" for his nap but we were waiting on the boys so he could tell everyone goodbye!! He ran upstairs got his paci, his friends and came back down and waited... and waited... and waited...

So he really didn't wait all that long, but by the time 1:30 rolled around he really was YEADY and slept for a while that afternoon! All of that swimming, entertaining, baseball playing, bean dip eating, happy birthday singing... can REALLY wear a guy out! Phew!!

What a fun weekend to celebrate Daddy! We didn't do much the rest of the day on Sunday but we did top it off with a little Justin/Katie date night on the couch catching up on all of our DVR'd shows...

Happy Birthday Justin!! Whether you are or not... Caden, Kaki and I are THRILLED that you turned 29 on Sunday! We love you to the moon and back... and back again!!