Quarter of a Century

That is how long I have been breathing air. Yup, it was my birthday and I am now 25. I'm not sure what to think about it. I've mostly been looking forward to being 25. I can rent a car now. Allegedly my insurance rates will drop. And it sounds much more respectable to be married and have 2 kids at 25 than it was to be having a baby at 22. ;-) But now that the day has arrived, 25 sounds much older than 24. I'm in my mid-twenties! When did that happen?!

We started the birthday celebrations Sunday night. My parents came over to return Jilly (she'd spent the afternoon and evening grocery shopping and napping in the fishy bed at Granny's house) and bring us our birthday cards. Since Steve's birthday is only 4 days after mine, we always celebrate together. Paul got to spend quite a bit of time cuddling with Jason.

I don't think he'd gotten to hold him much since the day he was born. So it was really nice to see them together.

And Paul is so gosh darn photogenic that it's hard to find a bad picture of him. Plus, having a cute baby snuggled with him can't hurt.

I wanted a picture of both grandparents with their grandkids. Jilly loves her grandparents so much and Jason is sure to build just as strong of a bond with him.

Jilly and Granny.

Then on Monday it was MY day! I got so many Happy Birthday wishes from friends and family via Facebook and text message. It was wonderful!! :-) The kids were pretty well behaved most of the day, so that was nice. Steve stopped by the store to pick up the remaining ingredients for my birthday dinner, then brought me home my beloved Taco Bell Gorditas. YUM! We lazed around for awhile, then picked up the house. My delightful dear friend Candace brought me this beautiful birthday cake. I was so excited for it! And it did not disappoint!!

Steve and Jilly got to work on making my birthday dinner- funeral potatoes. Steve would pour the ingredients in, then Jilly would stir.

She loves helping in the kitchen and this is one dish that we can have her help with. Frying bacon is not such a toddler friendly kitchen activity. ;-)

We had the cake later in the evening, after Jilly was in bed. It was so delicious!! My house smells like frosting and I love it. Jason got a bit fussy in the evening, but after a good swaddle and me standing up with him, he fell deeply asleep and stayed that way for a few hours. :-D

Earlier in the day, there has been a knock at the door. The UPS man came to wish me a Happy Birthday too! He came bearing this lovely gift from my SIL Becky and her brood. The picture isn't the clearest, but if you look close, you may be able to see it. This is a necklace of a family. The two parents are up top, then have their arms circling around two kids near the bottom/front. It's three dimensional, so a little hard to describe. But it's beautiful and very sweet. After Jilly was born Steve and my aunt Juliet got me a lovely heart necklace. Over a year ago, the chain to that necklace broke and I lost the heart at work. I searched and searched and never found it. It made me really sad, because I thought of that necklace as my "mother heart", since it symbolized my new role as a mother. Now, this new necklace will replace that one and represent both my kids. I love it.


I had a wonderful birthday. It was a very low-key day. I didn't even go outside (which is okay because it was cold and rainy). But I felt lots of love from everyone and enjoyed my day nonetheless. :-) Thank you to all of you who made it a happy day for me!!