Tuesday, April 29, 2008

My 28th Birthday

My 28th birthday was on Sunday. We had a great time together as a family and Brian treated me like a princess all weekend. First, he let me sleep in both Saturday and Sunday and got up with the kids (lately, that's been 5:30am!). Those of you with little ones know that's a huge gift in itself! He made breakfast on Sunday before church and Natalie came to wake me up saying, "Happy Birfday, Mommy!" After church, we had lunch and Natalie and Brian baked me a cake...chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. It was delicious! :)
After cake, we went on a walk and to the playground. The kids loved it since Brian isn't usually with us when we go.

We set him on the ground by the slide and next thing we knew, he was climbing up it! He's a boy, all right! :)
Check out Natalie's feet... she loves that "jumpy bridge."After the kids were in bed, Brian made me dinner all by himself...
...and even set the (coffee) table with candles and music. We had a relaxing and romantic dinner together, reminscent of how we used to always eat dinner, pre-kids. I am so blessed to be married to Brian. He works so hard all day at work (getting up at 4:30am everyday) and then he comes home and is super dad to the kids, always asking how he can help. And then he takes time to talk with me about my day and to spend time with me in the evenings. You're the best, honey, I love you! Thanks for the terrific birthday! :)
And since we didn't have a blog last year, I have to brag about how awesome my husband is a little more... it would take forever to write it all out but for my birthday last year, he planned an incredible surprise getaway. Let's just say it involved arranging for our neighbors to watch Natalie, a scavenger hunt around the house with clues about what we would be doing, staying in an amazing room at the Hawaiian Hilton Village down in Waikiki, a fabulous Thai restaurant, a beautiful diamond necklace, and fireworks on the beach. I was way pregnant with Blake but here's one picture from the night. Thanks again, Brian. You are too amazing for words! :)
And here's some more of the kids. Blake is standing and crusin' all over the place!


Don't ask... she wanted her baby on her body like that.


She loves to dance and spin in circles.All her animals lined up... I asked her where they were going... "To Gamma's" :)

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday again! :) Sounds like it was a wonderful weekend! :) Love the pics of the kids - Blake is getting so big! ;)

Our European adventure... said...

Happy Birthday!! Enjoy your 20's while they last! I will be turning 31 this year.....yikes! Thanks for helping me get started with PC. I wish you were here to sit down with me and give me the one on one help. I am a little scared, but I already have my friend Jennifer to have her first party next week. Wish me luck. I love all the pictures. Maybe next year we can go to conference together. I am still trying to convince Billy to let me go, but I think it would benefit me at the end. I am just blessed that I know someone going already and they have a room. I understand the move part. I had to put everything on hold while we got settled here. I wish you all the best. I love all the pics. Oh, if you look on my page, I found out how to put a counter on it so I know how many people have been looking at my site. I stole it from another girl I know! Talk to you later. I know I will be really hounding you for awhile trying to learn all this stuff! Take care

Linda said...

Ah, but you're so young! Lucky you! On MANY counts. To have a wonderful husband who takes such lovely care of you!

For my 40th birthday...wait, let me set the stage. Scott's 40th was 3 months (and 6 days) before mine. He didn't want any big to-do (he doesn't make friends easily and didn't want his soldiers here, so no party, etc, etc). So, I got him an iPod...thought he'd like it when he takes the band on tour, etc. Of course, he loved it.

So, three months later, it's MY 40th. He didn't ask me what I wanted, didn't ask if I wanted a party, etc. I'm HOPING for a surprise (I DO have friends here), or a nice quiet dinner out...and perhaps the reciprocation of an iPod.

I get a movie from the kids (National Treasure). And from my husband....a nylon running suit. Yeah...for my FORTIETH birthday...the "over the hill" one...says a lot about how he thought of me. Guess his love language is NOT gifts, lol! Truly, I was hurt and disappointed. He rounded it off by giving me, for Christmas (18 days later) a pair of earrings that I can't wear because of the metal (he IS aware that I must have 10K gold posts due to metal allergy) and a book on photography. At first glance, the photography book was a good choice...then I tried to remove the dust cover (so as not to ruin it) and it was STUCK onto the book...and the first few pages were water-stained and damaged. He'd not even bothered to look INTO the book to see if it was okay. Sad.

But he redeemed himself this year with my digital SLR, so there's hope for him yet.

Count your blessings, and count Brian TWICE!

Oh..and Blake? WHAT gorgeous eyes he's got!!!

Jena said...

Happy 28th! I'm so bad at posting comments, but I do check your blog regularly and love seeing all the pictures of your precious kids! It's hard not getting a little envious of all those beaches, palm trees and awesome outdoor restaurants in your picts though...I would LOVE to visit Hawaii someday! Anyway, I don't know if I'm not looking in the right place, but I couldn't find where to e-mail you, so I was thinking a post of some yummy grilling recipes would be a great idea. :-) Have a wonderful rest of the week!!

Jena said...

P.S. Owen does the exact same thing with his animals...lines them up everywhere! He actually does it with anything he can get his hands on...spices, blocks, tub toys...I love finding his "lines" everywhere...one of those things that will be a little sad once the phase is over!

Anonymous said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,Jen!!!
Brian always was good at making one feel special. Thanks for being a great sister-in-law.I love you!

Anonymous said...

Hey sista.
So pictures are perfect. Totally adorable They are getting so big
and I miss them s much. PS I love brian. I'm so glad you guys are together. I can't wait to see you all! I love you I love you I love you.

Anonymous said...

PS. you look really beautiful and young in these pictures... jealous.

Erin said...

I remember we always used to say that whoever married Brian would be one lucky girl! So we know you are lucky! :) What a great birthday weekend! Just sleeping in two mornings in a row would have been enough for me, yet you still got more! lol Great job Brian!

Kimberly Bauer said...

Hey Jen,
Love the picutres, I show your blog to my friends here and show off how cute your kids are. I am so glad you had a great birthday. I love seeing the pictures. can't wait to see you.
love ya
alex and kim