It was almost like a normal day; nothing fancy. I didn't have a sleepover with my best friends (twelfth birthday), go to Disneyworld (sixteenth birthday), attend a play (twentieth birthday), or pray to go into labor (twenty third). I just spent the day playing with my husband and my kids.
It was so normal, I may not remember what I did today in even a few months from now. But it was wonderful, because I spent the day thinking about how lucky I am to have these four wonderful people in my life.
I have a husband who is willing and able to take a day of vacation to ease the burden that motherhood can sometimes be. He took time out of his busy life to focus on me, on making me happy. He woke up at 6:00a.m. to take care of our sick son. He made pancakes for me. He let me go bra shopping without an entourage. He took me out to lunch, and when we discovered on arrival that my favorite place is closed on Mondays (what's up with that?) he turned around and took me to a new place we had never tried before. He held my hand when we went on a walk. He took care of the crying baby so I could spend a few minutes talking to my sister-in-law. He made dinner for me so I could cuddle with our sick son and then made dessert so I could talk on the phone with my mother-in-law. He put the two older kids in bed so that I could nurse the baby to sleep.
I have a daughter who wants to show me her love constantly. She drew five giant pictures for me to hang up in my bedroom, using only my favorite colors so that I would be happy when I looked at them. She picked yellow flowers with sparkles on them because she knows I love yellow and sparkles make everybody happy. She told me she needed a bra too, so that she could be just like me. She tried several times to convince her daddy to bake me a cake. She played asked me to play candy land with her because it is so fun!
I have a son who woke up coughing more than breathing, but wouldn't let that stop him from singing "Happy Birthday" to me over and over and over throughout the day. He was so eager to give me the flowers he picked out that he fell on them while running up the stairs to bring them to me. He shared his package of skittles with me. He asked to hold my hand on our walk. When he woke up from his second nap of the day, he wanted nothing more than to sit in my lap and be cuddled until he felt better. He carried around the baby blanket I made for him because it gives him comfort. He helped me open my birthday present from him because he was so excited to give it to me. He gave me a hug as soon as family prayer ended, because group hugs are his favorite.
I have a baby boy who smiles as soon as he sees my face in the morning. He laughs when I tickle him or play peekaboo. He gave me kiss after kiss after very drooly kiss. He would rather spend time with me than almost anything.
I'm another year older. And each year I age is another year I get to spend being wife and mother to these wonderful people who light the candles of my life. How could I be anything but joyful?
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