Quarter of a Century

Tuesday was my 25th birthday. Jeremy was the first to wish me so. Of course, who else would be up at 3 am?!? I am convinced that there is no sweeter husband than mine. His note on the table was perfect. Mom called at 7:45 wondering if I was awake. She reminisced as she recalled my Dad dreading turning 25. As for me, it feels good. I like the sound of it. Morgan called on her way to campus wondering aloud as to why she enrolled for an 8:35 class. I remember the feeling.



After short conversations with family, I got up to open our bedroom door and immediately wished that Jeremy had opened the blinds in the dining and living room. I just knew that if there had been more sunlight my first thought would have been brighter. And then I opened the blinds myself. Rain! Dreariness! Thankfully I had breakfast plans with a dear friend and so the day was actually off to a great start regardless of the weather. Normally I love rainy days but today I really wanted to see the sun!

Ben and I met Brenda at IHOP for a yummy birthday breakfast. Pancakes, eggs, grits, turkey sausage and coffee. Delicious and Brenda's treat! It was a sweet time and truly made my day! In my opinion there is no better meal to eat out. Ben slept peacefully in his carrier next to me nearly the entire time. I feared that would not be the case based on his first dinner out with Mommy and Daddy last Saturday. (We decided to eat at the family-friendly Chick-Fil-A and soon found ourselves outside at a picnic table!) After IHOP we made a quick stop by the post office and zipped home for his second breakfast. As for me, I was stuffed!

Following his feeding I put Ben in his one of his favorite spots to sleep: his baby swing. This was not possible the day before because of a little accident. We were both glad that the swing was available again.

Mid-afternoon we headed on our way to the dreaded dentist. Dreaded mainly because for some reason I made our appointments back-to-back. I thought one of us could sit in the waiting room with Ben while the other had someone else painfully floss their teeth. After some thought I came to the conclusion that appointments on different days where one of us could stay home with Ben would be better. Oh Mommy Brain!

My appointment was going smoothly until the dentist actually came in. For someone who has only had one cavity in her life, I was in for a shock. Four. And about FIVE more on watch. Some say pregnancy will do that. Maybe it's the water? As for me, I think it's purely genetic. My Mom is a faithful flosser and takes exquisite care of her teeth but frequently leaves appointments with similar news. My Dad does the opposite and gets told to keep taking such good care of his pearly whites. Jeremy drank a gallon of sweet tea all to himself this week and passed his dental inspection with flying colors. In fact, my dental history has been so good that we decided to cancel my dental insurance this year. Yes, great timing. Happy Birthday to me!



Let's just say (for purposes of keeping our marriage OUR marriage) that my birthday did not get better after the dentist. It was a rough evening for the Gardner fam but forgiveness is a beautiful and necessary thing so we recovered.

Jeremy decided that we would re-celebrate my birthday today and it's already been wonderful. He made us french toast this morning and we played each other in Blokus while Ben lay next to us and watched, cooing as I took the lead : ) Jeremy promised that he didn't just let me win. Then we had our favorite sandwiches from Jersey Mikes for lunch and he has an activity planned for later today. I hope it doesn't get rained out again.

Last night some friends came over for games and bday fun. We had a great time. I am so thankful for our wonderful friends here in Raleigh. I cherished the adult time while Ben slept!

Ok, I have about 15 minutes until the little cutie wakes and about 15 million things to do before then . . .