A Happy Birthday

We had a BIG weekend!!

On Saturday, we drove a little over an hour to visit one of our favorite towns. We use to go to Southern Pines a lot on the weekends to walk through the downtown area or go to dinner there for a little something different. This time we were also attending the birthday party of one of Maggie's little boyfriends in a nearby village. This gave me a chance to visit with my favorite mommy-friends and Maggie a chance to visit with her old boyfriends and make a few new friends. (Of course, Big Daddy was there with Ellie too!) Ms. K gave me yummy smelling candle for my birthday and Ms. A brought matching dresses for Maggie & Ellie. A good time was had by all!

Sunday was my birthday! I was greeted with a sleepy "Happy Birthday" from my sweet Maggie. She insisted on giving me my birthday present immediately. I decided to get a new Vera Bradley handbag since I'll one day stop carrying my Vera Bradley Baby Bag constantly. I was also surprised to receive a new Liz Claiborne bag from Gammy Gladys. It arrived by mail on Saturday.

I've said before that Big Daddy isn't big on celebrating birthdays. He always gave me gifts and cards when we were dating, but then stopped once we got married. I decided a couple of years ago that he needed to change that for Maggie's sake. Maggie thinks that everyone deserves a party- regardless of their age.

Big Daddy planned a little party with just my family and said he would take care of everything. The surprise was that my favorite little preschool girl also came with her parents. I had an idea that she would be there, but of course, I didn't let Big Daddy know! I had a great time catching up with Kelly Grace and getting to know her as the young woman that she has grown up to be. She'll be leaving for college in two weeks and I spent a little time telling her all about her three to five year old self. She is a remarkable girl and I couldn't be any more proud of her. After everyone left and I had put my girls to bed I fell apart and cried because Kelly is leaving for college! I'm worried about her safety and if she'll be happy and about how she'll adjust to being away from her family and how her sister will adjust to driving to school by herself every day. I'm planning on going by to visit (she lives at the other end of our street) before she leaves and I'm hoping that her mom doesn't start to cry in my presence because I'll absolutely fall apart if she does!

Anyway... my most memorable birthdays have happened in the past few years. Some good and some bad.
2005- I had been off of birth control for a year, thought I'd never get pregnant and found out that my then sister-in-law (she and my brother-in-law have since divorced and he's remarried) was pregnant. I found out I was pregnant shortly after, but I didn't have a very happy birthday.

2006- I had my sweet Maggie, but was still in the fog that I now know was post-partum depression. I was having a lot of issues dealing with Maggie's vasa previa and spent most of my birthday imagining what my birthday would have been like if she had died. Not real happy, but better than the year before...sort of. This was also the year that my mother-in-law called a couple of days early and argued with me about when my birthday was on top of everything else. I swear I could write a book about the crazy things that woman has done!

2007- I woke up with a horrible summer cold, Gammy Gladys saved the day by bringing gifts and lunch, I felt awful all day and had to cook dinner- even prepared one of Big Daddy's favorites. I was in tears by the time my daddy called to wish me a Happy Birthday. It wasn't the greatest day, but it was even better than the year before.

2008- I decided to take my girl out to lunch. We ate beside of the father of our soon-to-be triplet-friends (Collin, Chloe & Keegan). Maggie had a fit in the restaurant and I felt awful that the triplets' daddy couldn't even have a peaceful lunch without a child having a tantrum! It was so much fun to take my daughter out for my birthday, even if she did have a tantrum!

2009- No real celebration, but we woke up for the first time in our new house. Great gift after 7 weeks in that cramped little apartment.

2010- A real party, cards made by Maggie, my sweet Kelly Grace and great chocolate desserts. I think it goes down as my best birthday yet. Although the year that my parents gave me a bike without training wheels and my dad spent the evening pushing me around the yard comes as a close second.

August 1 is also my paternal grandmother's birthday. She turned 94! My dad went to the nursing home to have cake with her and his brother's and sister before my party. She didn't really know that it was her birthday, but was asking why everyone was there. When I was little, she used to always tell me on our birthday that I was her best birthday present ever.