Celebrating...ME!

Springtime is a busy time for us with celebrations. We celebrate the birthdays of Maura, Grammy, Tristan, Brent's sister Amy, Me and now Baby Alex. It's easy to get lost in the shuffle! Brent did a great job of making sure that my Mother's Day didn't go uncelebrated. He sent me flowers from the kids, took us all out to lunch on Sunday and even let me take a LONG nap on Sunday afternoon. It was wonderful! The most wonderful thing was the photo book that he made for me on Snapfish. I loved seeing all the photos of my adorable kiddos with all of Brent's comments below. What a guy! Not all was picture perfect, though. Above is the one and only photo from Mother's day. My camera chose that day to die and I didn't get it charged till that evening. Maura chose last night to do battle with both of us, so this photo was snapped in between tantrums and just before bedtime! Ahh, the things we'll remember! I do cherish my two kiddos, tantrums and all. They have enriched my life so much. I can't imagine how BORING my world would be without them and they have shown me so much about myself. I hope that God will continue to show me how to be the best mother to them that I can. They are my greatest blessings!

OK, now flash back two weeks! If you would have asked me when I was 16 how I would spend my 31st birthday, I'm absolutely certain that whatever I told you would not have involved Chuck E. Cheese. The mouse's house is exactly where I found myself that celebrated morning, however! I wouldn't change a thing, either. I took my two kids out for a fun lunch so that we could get out of the house and do something exciting! Tristan looks excited, doesn't he?
We love Chuck E. Cheese and always have a great time--not to mention that we won cotton candy! What mommy could ask for more for her birthday?? Thankfully, that wasn't all I got for my birthday! Brent took the kids and I out to a nice Chinese restaurant for dinner. We didn't realize just how nice it was until we got there. Not exactly kid friendly!
Tristan loved Chinese food just as he loves any other kind of food. He loved it so much that he couldn't keep his hands off his daddy's plate. He just kept grabbing for more. He was stuffing the rice in so quickly that he was practically throwing it into his mouth. It looked like there had been a rice rain shower underneath his high chair!
Brent brought along my gifts, but by the time we got to this part of the evening, we really just needed to pack up the kids and slink away quietly. Next time, we'll get a babysitter! We bought some cheesecake on the way home and put the kids to bed and watched a chick flick! Aww, it was awesome! It would have been nice to celebrate my actual birthday with my family, but we celebrated a few weeks before up in Kentucky.
Don't ask me why the cake says "O Yeah." Mom wanted to use up some letters that had previously spelled out "BABY SHOWER", and try as she might, she could not get it to read "HAPPY BIRTHDAY." My adorable kids were there to celebrate with me, but sadly, my adorable husband was not!

My little girl made up for it with snuggles. Tristan got a good laugh when he impersonated Hitler. (Don't ask me if I would have ever allowed my eleven month old FIRST CHILD to partake of ice cream cake!)
Micah and Maura were so exhausted from our big meal that they had to take a snooze. She looked at Micah that night and told him, "I'm a little bit afraid of you." I'm not sure why--I think it's because he's so silly with her! She loves her Uncle Micah, though! My baby boy got some present opening experience prior to his own big day.
Our kitty, Thea, came and visited for the time we spent in Kentucky. Maura loved having her kitty back, even if it was only for a few weeks. She still hasn't figured out that Luna is GONE and never to return. I'm not looking forward to that discussion. Tristan discovered steps on this visit. Yay. I spent the whole visit running after him to keep him from climbing up them.
I loved celebrating my birthday with the ones I love. I can't believe I'm 31! It sounds so old to me! I'll just have to wait another 20 years and it'll sound young!