Birthday festivities!

So I'm a little more high maintenance than Max when it comes to birthdays. My main criteria is that I don't want to cook for myself or do dishes on my birthday, and I want to spend time with Max. Max has been out of control with busyness getting the next door house ready to rent. He was planning on leaving on a hunting trip the day after my birthday and really wanted to get a renter in before he left but also finish all the indoor repairs and updates. After he got home from work, he would eat dinner than work on the house sometimes until 1 or 2 am. It was getting pretty stressful for him...and me too. So the very selfish side of my got frustrated thinking I wasn't even going to see him at all on my birthday. ( I know I sound like I monster...but I'm also a fan of saying it like it is. There could also be some pregnancy hormones involved here.) Let me also say that all of Max's hard work is done to take care of his family, because he works so hard on the property we are able to live in this nice house, because he works so hard at his job we are able to eat and even have some luxuries, and because he does take time to be with Charlie and me, he have a happy household. I can't say that I've seen Max ever sit on the couch and turn the TV on to relax...it is so rare for him to take a moment to himself. Even though he really deserves it. So that being said, I was kind of expecting a sporadic birthday. The night before I found out that Max would be able to come home for breakfast (after an early meeting) and lunch. He had to come home for breakfast to meet with a laborer that he hired to work on the house next door. He came home just as Charlie and I were waking up. I went downstairs with my robe, bed head, and thick goggle glasses. Max greeted me at the bottom of the stairs and showed my an interestingly wrapped package sitting on the couch. It was wrapped in some magazine I had never seen and could only assume it came from his work. He recommended that I open it right then. I thought I should wait until Charlie got up or at least until I put my contacts in. I usually don't like to open presents until the day is done so that way I have something to look forward to all day long.He was persistent and obviously very excited. I opened the box and found...a brand new....    

Nikon DSLR camera. We have had a nice camera on our wishlist for several years now...and that wish grew when we had Charlie...I just really wanted good quality photos of him that we could keep for a lifetime and pass down to our descendants. 

            Now here is a little back story that Max began to relay to me when I opened it. 2 weeks earlier (a day after Max's birthday), my friend Kerri came over so our kids could play and we could visit. She had mentioned that she had gone to Best Buy that morning and they found this amazing deal on this camera. She said it was a one-day only deal. That kind of turned me off because I'm not an impulse buyer and I hadn't been doing very much research on camera prices. I have been wanting one even more recently since Anna came to visit in June and took amazing pictures. I haven't been satisfied with my point & shoot camera and all it fails to capture. She spoils us I tell you! That evening Max went to a church meeting with Kerri's husband, Corbrett. I started researching cameras and found the deal that Kerri was talking about. The more I researched, the more I realized that this seemed like a really great deal. I text the link to Anna (our personal life photographer, and amazing friend) and asked her what she thought. Her response seemed less enthusiastic than I was hoping. She mentioned that cameras will always go on sale when new models come out and you can usually get used for cheaper and she is definitely partial to Canons. I've heard her mention buying used cameras before from people who are upgrading their equipment so I had no reason to doubt the truth in her response. I asked her what I would look for when shopping for a used camera and she just said to send her the craigslist postings that I thought were great deals. I felt that was very generous of her to help me so much in our camera pursuit. As I started looking at craigslist I was finding that the prices weren't much lower and I didn't want to spend the same price for something with wear and tear. I kept going back to look at the best buy deal and felt that it was a great deal. Max got home and I told him that I had researched the deal and talked to Anna and what Anna said and how I doubted her! Max just told me that it wasn't a good time for us to spend money on a camera and there will be other deals. (Let it be known that it's usually me trying to convince Max not to buy stuff) I left it at that but continued to casually research cameras and play with the ones on display at Costco. 

              So, after opening my birthday camera I'm thinking "How did this happen?" He told me that on that same night I was researching cameras he had called Anna earlier than I had texted her (she really has to be involved in all our big life decisions. She is the one who taught Max how to say "will you marry me" in Armenian so he could propose to me) and her response was more like "Buy it now,  that is a great deal that comes with 2 lenses and you can always continue to use the lenses if you upgrade the camera..." She also warned Max that I had contacted her and was now doing some craigslist shopping. I also found out that Kerri's husband had bought one too the same night and Kerri knew about it immediately. I see Kerri at least twice a week and she kept it a secret the whole time, never mentioning the camera. I got a little emotional after Max told me this..I know it was part hormones but mostly it was because I had a bunch of good friends excited to surprise me. I guess, maybe I should be concerned that My husband and friends are awesome liars but really they are just excellent surprisers! 

            After some hugs and kisses Max went next door to start the laborer on his work while I got Charlie up and made a Cream of Wheat breakfast with fresh strawberries. Max came home to eat with us then had to head back to work. 

That morning I turned on Sesame Street (ELMO! as Charlie calls it) while I set my camera up and started to read the manual. Yep, I wasn't being the best mom. I think I even let him watch more than one episode which I usually don't do. I've found that it's the only show that catches his attention. He loves it. 

Anyway, I learned a little bit then took Charlie outside to start his modeling career. 

 I was pretty pleased with the close-ups..

I was not as pleased with the not-so-close ups. I need to figure out some settings...Anna?

I played with my camera for awhile and shortly after I put Charlie down for a nap, I had a possible tenant come over and look at the house next door. He loved it and came in to fill out an application. Max usually deals with this stuff but I was home so I did it this time. Shortly after that Max came home with Subway lunch for me. We ate lunch together then enjoyed a short home date while Charlie slept. I'm thankful to the people Max works for. He took more than the normal hour off by coming home for breakfast and lunch but they are kind and know Max works so hard while he is working that they allowed it. 

Max had to go back to work again so Charlie and I cleaned up the house to get ready for a little birthday party that Max had planned. We planned to go out to eat with some close friends then come back to our house for ice cream sundaes.

When Max got home, we were ready to head out the door to go to Red Robin. We met Richard Marissa, Lacey, Kerri, Corbrett, Madeleine, Joe, and Lindsey there.  

I meant to be better about taking picture that evening but I didn't do that great! Here are a couple.

Kerri and Madeleine

Richard with Lacey dancing on the table with Ketchup. 

Then I was practicing taking pictures in the dark with no flash and I caught this handsome man.

Lacey's growing up. 

I'm pretty sure Madeleine and Charlie are best buds. 

After eating ice cream sundaes we played a round of catch phrase. We were grateful our friends didn't mind keeping their kids up so late. We had a lot of fun and I definitely felt the love from everyone...especially Max on my birthday.

After everyone left, we left the dishes in the sink and read our book together. 

We were then able to go to bed at the same time which has been a rare treat over the last couple of weeks seeing as I am exhausted by 8pm and Max is working on the house next door until the wee hours of the morning. 

    I was amazed at how hard Max worked to make me feel special on my birthday, he went above and beyond. all while running around so busy all day long. ( At one point during the day he called me to ask me a question then forgot he had called me while I was still on the phone because he was trying to do and think of a million other things at once.We laughed pretty hard) It was an amazing birthday! I really am spoiled!