My birthday

Having kids makes my birthday a rather quiet affair, at least when compared to theirs. However, the girls have been impatiently counting down to my birthday ever since Cadence started school (they may not understand how far apart the days are, but they DO understand the order of things. For example, they know the next big thing is Halloween).

The girls, super-sweet Megan specifically, spent all morning telling me "happy birthday" and coloring pictures for me. Megan even used her budding reading skills to write "Mommy, happy birthday" completely unprompted, though the concept of words being written/read left-to-right is still optional in her world, probably because being left-handed, it's easier to write "backward".

Turning 29 was not a huge deal. As I've mentioned to lots of people, 29 actually seems like a young number when you add in my 3 kids, at least in this day and age. I know I'm not the youngest person to have children numbered/aged like mine, but I am actually one of the youngest ones I associate with. However, to make me feel "old", we gave Connor his first haircut. I'd been debating it for awhile. The hair was uneven, several inches long behind one ear, and not behind the other. So, we grabbed James's hair clippers and buzzed it down to a reasonable 3/4" all over. In truth, he didn't look too much older when we finished. He actually reminds me of his 9 month pictures, since the boy hasn't really changed much since then, except his hair and height. :-P Still, he's super cute.

As for my birthday celebration itself? Saturday afternoon I splurged on a haircut that wasn't at Supercuts or Great Clips and added in some highlights. I also got a 2-hour break from parenting, which is nice in its own way. Currently, I'm fretting over how clustered/bright some of the highlights are, but I've been assured it should tone down in a week if I can just wait it out.

Finally, Sunday, we had the missionaries over for dinner and treated them out to steak and sausage, along with some roasted potatoes and steamed broccoli. The whole night was rounded out with a tasty layered cheesecake, regular on bottom, pumpkin on top. There was concern it wouldn't turn out when Connor turned the oven down on me and I didn't realize it until I thought it was done cooking. Luckily, overnight in the fridge allowed it to set up and it was delicious.

Heh... gotta love how a post about my birthday is 90% about the kids. Life as a mom, I suppose. :-)