The Best Birthday EVER!

Thursday was my birthday. I turned 22. Wow. Can I just say that I truly feel solidly into my twenties now? It feels like a big birthday even though in comparison to last year's 21, it's not really. But wow, I really do feel older this year.

I have to be honest, Birthdays are a big deal for me. They have been ever since I was a little girl. My family always made a HUGE deal out of birthdays... lots of presents, fun parties and a day dedicated completely to the birthday boy or girl.

One of the first "newlywed culture shock" moments for me came 22 days after our wedding day. It was my 19th birthday and I was beyond excited for what my first birthday as a married woman would bring. I woke up full of expectation... and was greeted with... NOTHING. I found out later that birthdays weren't quite the same big deal at Bryan's house growing up as they were at mine. His family celebrated them, of course, but not quite with the same "shabang" that I was used to. Later
that day, Bryan presented me with what he thought was a spectacular gift.. a beta fish. Yeah, you guessed it. I was less than excited... although I wouldn't have let him in on that... I remember that even though I understood that birthdays obviously just took different priorities in our minds, I still felt pretty disappointed.

Well, now here we are 3 years later and Bryan knows me just a little better ;) He knows that birthdays are special to me, and let me tell you... this year he went out of his way to make sure this one was VERY special :)

I woke up on Wednesday morning to the sounds of sizzling bacon and soft music. Moments after I had rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, my handsome husband walked through the door with a tray of sausage, egg and cheese on a toasted english muffin, some bacon and a tall glass of organic berry juice. The tray was even complete with a single red rose in a beautiful vase :) Exquisite!

Our family sat there enjoying our special breakfast in bed! (Peyton thought it was QUITE the event!)

After breakfast wrapped up, Bryan gave me a kiss and told me to shower and dress for the day. "Take all the time you'd like" he said, "I'll dress the kids." It's been a long time since I've taken my time in the shower like that :) I even rinsed and repeated.... ;)

We spent the morning together enjoying each others company. I had a pretty bad cold, so Bryan told me he was going to keep the whole day low key so that I could enjoy it even being sick. Once the kids were down for their noon-time nap, we pulled out our favorite board game (Cities & Knights of Catan!... love it! hahah) and enjoyed a quiet house, each others company and some very good conversation. During our game, Bryan served me a light lunch of shrimp cocktail... (You have no idea how amazing that is for me! I LOVE LOVE LOVE shrimp cocktail, but haven't been able to have it since I've been pregnant!!) I enjoyed it so much! Dark Chocolate was a perfect dessert... After our game, Peyton woke up and Bryan announced to me that I wasn't to do anything with her. It was my "day off" ;) ;) He slipped away upstairs for a few minutes and when he came back down, he told me to head up to the bathroom. I went up there, and when I opened the door I was met with candles EVERYWHERE! The bathroom had been covered in rose petals and a vase of roses stood on the counter. Soft music played and the tub held a full bath of sweet smelling bubbles :) My amazing husband served me a glass of bubbling pomegranate-apple cocktail, handed me the latest issues of my 2 favorite fashion magazines and then told me he was headed back downstairs to take care of the kids. Again, "Take all the time you'd like" was his gift to me! I sunk into that tub, sipped on my drink, poured over my magazines and enjoyed a solid hour of PURE BLISS!

After emerging from my sweet smelling heaven, my mom came by to pick up the girls.... Bryan surprised me by taking me out to my favorite restaurant for dinner.. just the two of us :) It was absolutely perfect and blissfully romantic. After dinner, we browsed a few shops and I picked up a great pair of boots, a beach bag for summer, and a new book. We picked up the kids and headed home to our clean house (courtesy of my husband during my bath!)

Once the kids were tucked in bed, Bryan gave me one last gift. My absolute favorite perfume... Paris Hilton.  (who by the way, makes the most INCREDIBLE perfumes. Every single one of her scents are absolutely beautiful. Think what you want about her as a person, but she makes some incredible perfume!!!)

As I lay in my husbands arms that night, I couldn't help but be blown away by how blessed and cherished I truly am. We've come a long way from the beta fish birthday, haven't we?! I love that Bryan went out of his way to make each moment of my birthday truly special. I am loved... and I can't remember a happier birthday.