the best birthday EVER!

*DISCLAIMER: the content of this post may cause annoyance and/or mild nausea due to the boastful and overly sentimental subject matter


today i entered the last and final year of my 20's. a little scary, but i think i'll be okay.

we had a busy weekend planned but my mom specifically planned a little birthday dinner for me with the family on saturday night. i was tired. really tired (had one of those nights before where natalie kept waking up for no apparent reason) and after drinking that first glass of my favorite wine (chenin blanc -- can you believe a nun introduced me to it :D), i was ready to call it a night. and we hadn't even had dinner yet! i *forced* myself to stay awake for the food (HA - who am i kidding, i could never pass up EATING!!!) and then spent some quality time with the family opening gifts, chatting, and watching the kids at their best -- being silly. (there is no need for entertainment when you have kids around, for sure!) thanks to: mom and dad for the wonderful dinner, my MIL eileen for making my favorite dish of hers (ate the leftovers for lunch today), and celena for actually making me a cake - MARBLE, my favorite!

today, on my actual birthday, russ asked me what i wanted to do after church and i told him: ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. all i wanted to do was relax! he had planned to cook dinner for me tonight and i could not wait :) normally, i do all the cooking around here, not that russ doesn't know how to, it's just that i'm one of those controlling people in the kitchen and i'd rather do it myself, if you know what i mean. russ is great at doing the dishes, and i am more than happy to hand that chore over to him! (we make a great team in the kitchen!) but tonight, he was cooking me filet mignon, baked potatoes, and steamed sqaush and zuccini -- i was so excited! meanwhile the kids had already eaten their dinner (fishsticks, noodles and lima beans - am i a bad mommy for that?) and they were watching their favorite movie (toy story) in their room. we figured that would keep them occupied long enough for us to eat our dinner. russ set the dining room table for two, started some music -- our wedding CD, poured our glasses of wine and we sat down to eat the feast he had just prepared. PERFECT. then here comes natalie running in the room, her eyes getting bigger and bigger as she approaches and sees what's on the table -- fresh sourdough bread and olive oil with herbs for dipping -- one of her favorite things to eat. how could we refuse??? - we pulled up a chair for her right in between us and the three of us shared our romantic birthday dinner for two. anyway, dinner was DELICIOUS thanks to my wonderful hubby and i ate waaaay too much. oh and special thanks to eileen for the olive oil canter and dipping set. we definitely put it into good use tonight!

i almost forgot to mention the absolute best part of my birthday: it happened when i was picking up little russell from the nursery after church this morning. when he looked up and saw me standing there he said "HI MOMMY". my heart just melted - that was the first time he's ever said that to me on his own (without being prompted) and it was a moment i had been waiting for, for a loooong time! and then, as if he knew it was my birthday or something, he was the sweetest, most affectionate and loving kid throughout the whole day.

i have to say i couldn't have asked for a better birthday than the one i had this year!

* thank you to my dear friends and family for all the birthday love ---> e-mails, phonecalls, cards, e-cards, gifts... i was even serenaded a couple of times with the birthday song - thanks heather & ryan, and eileen ;)

admiring my pretty [bright] cake

(those corona bottles really make the picture...)