Birthday!

Today was my birthday – we had such a great time, starting with last night…Anna Claire’s friend, Sarah, came to dinner with us (her mom gave birth to Sarah’s little sister yesterday – Rebeca Grace!) to one of our favorite restaurants, Coastal Flats…after dinner, the kids ran around the town center, then we went home and they had some ice cream. Sarah got to spend the night at our house and the girls had a fabulous time…at 10:00 pm, they were still snuggled in AC’s bed, giggling, talking, eating Goldfish, drinking water, and playing with their flashlights (and about 1300 pieces of Polly Pocket stuff was on the floor – I have no idea how they didn’t step on something!).

This morning, Gary, the girls, and I went to breakfast at a local joint here, then we ran a couple of errands on the way home (which included some new shoes for me – woo hoo!). And Gary carried the shoes – I love me a man who carries my packages so I can shop unencumbered! J We decided to make a quick stop at Target, but as soon as we pulled into the parking lot, Leah vomited all over herself in the car…Happy Birthday, Momma!

Sooo…we went home instead, gave Leah a bath (she was much happier), and played at the house. Then we all took naps (heavenly), then went to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, where Leah threw a massive tantrum – she was SO cranky. I’m thinking she may be getting sick. Anyway, the food was great and we made it out of the restaurant without Leah throwing herself on the floor and screaming, so in my mind, it was a huge success.

I got some fabulous gifts – a couple of seasons of Frasier, my favorite Bath & Body Works lotion, a couple of CDs, Season 2 of The Closer, an offer from my brother and sister-in-law to treat us to dinner and babysitting when they arrive in 2 weeks (yay!), a beautiful necklace from my parents, and some other great things…but the best was just spending it with my amazing husband and two beautiful girls, and talking to the rest of my family on the phone…I am so blessed.

Tomorrow, I’m going to lunch with a couple of girlfriends to continue the celebrating – can’t wait!

It was a wonderful day, and I’m happy to say that for the first time since I was diagnosed with cancer, I was able to really enjoy my birthday and I wasn’t melancholy about it…in the past, it’s been an emotional day for me with very mixed feelings. Today it was just awesome and I enjoyed every minute…and it helped that it was 80 degrees and sunny!