The Big 3-0

Yesterday I turned 30.  That's kind of a big deal, right?  I mean, three whole decades of being alive!  Normally, people are a bit more reflective of their lives on such a day.  I didn't have a lot of time for reflection, but I did decide to do an experiment.  I wrote down everything I did for the day.  You moms out there may be able to relate to my daily activities.  For posterity's sake, and whoever else wonders what a stay-at-home mom of three young children does all day on her birthday, here it is:

Our day starts at 2:30am when sweet baby Samuel woke up for his nightly snack.  I nursed him while watching the news, and put him back to bed.  At 6:30am (which was actually sleeping in) Jeremiah and Lily came in my room to wake me up.  I got up, turned on PBS, and made them their morning "pink milk" and toast.  Samuel woke up at 6:45 and got a new diaper, a new outfit because he had wet on his jammies, and his second breakfast of momma's milk and then baby oatmeal.  While feeding Samuel his oatmeal, I ate my breakfast of Irish oatmeal.  Lily decided she wanted oatmeal too.  Then it was time to clean up the dishes, switch the laundry, and brush my teeth.    

You may think this incredibly fit and non-saggy-in-any-places body comes naturally to me.  It doesn't.  Next up was exercise with Jillian (30 min. video.)  Followed by a quick shower.  By then, Samuel needed some mom time and was promptly nursed and put down for a nap.  Then it was time to get beautiful (or make some attempt at it) by "doing" my hair and makeup.  Changed Lily's diaper.  Time to clean the living room and find Lily's shoes in anticipation of leaving the house.  Lily then decided that she wanted broccoli and insisted that I get her some and some Ranch to dip it in.  (Parker's child).  Samuel baby woke up and we were off to take Jeremiah to preschool making sure he had his favorite toy and book as well as a paper with his favorite color and favorite food written on it to give to his teacher.  Once he was dropped off, Lily, Samuel and I headed to our favorite place to go while Jeremiah's at preschool; Target.  The mom's oasis with it's big carts and variety of things to peruse - clothes for mom, clothes for kids, shoes, toys, baby stuff, and clearance! 

We met up with my big (only due to age) sister Jen, in the baby clothes section.  After hearing that all I had planned for my 30th birthday was a trip to Target, my fabulous sister said, "I don't think so!  I'm taking you somewhere!"  This wonderful "somewhere" turned out to be the oh-so-heavenly Jamba Juice where we met our friend Xin Lan and her daughter.  We sat and sipped our juice (Caribbean Passion for me, thank you). 

It was then time to pick up the boy.  Lily insisted (she does a lot of that) on riding in Jen's car, so we met up at preschool and got Jeremiah and switched Lily, after minor fit throwing.  Then it was home for lunch!  Sandwiches as usual.  Ham, cheese, and pickle.  Samuel also needed lunch and his next nap.

While eating lunch we were watching "Signing Time" and it was about birthdays!  I told the kids this was of course because it was my birthday.  They were very excited about this (especially Lily).  After "Signing Time" it was time for Lily's nap.  She was NOT excited about this.  I changed her diaper, brushed her teeth, and sang her 3 songs. 

Once she was down, again it was time for cleaning - washing dishes, sweeping the floor, and sneaking ice cream with Jeremiah.  I got a few minutes of relative solitude while Jeremiah played games on the PBS kids website, so I read over the Sunday school lesson I'm teaching this week.  Then I skyped with Emily and Eleanor and was sung a beautiful version of "Happy Birthday". 

Samuel woke up, wanted to nurse, and fell back asleep.  I put him down and came out to get in some cuddle time with my Jeremiah boy.  Two minutes later, Samuel was awake again.  My sister Amber and my mom called and we chatted for a while as Samuel ate more baby oatmeal.  Lily woke up around 3:30 and the kids helped me make my devil's food birthday cake they had picked at the store for me.

Parker coming home from work is the big event of the day!  On this day, he got home around 4:00 and had a card for me and yummy sandwiches from Jason's Deli left over from work.  Dinner!  He and the kids then went down to his car to get my surprise.  Jeremiah came in with a balloon, followed by Lily with another balloon, followed by Parker with 28 more balloons!

To sum up the rest of my day - we frosted the cake, sang happy birthday and blew out the candles.  Then we tried to take the kids bowling only to find that someone had reserved 20 lanes, so there were none left for us :(  We went to Dixon's in hopes of playing Wii bowling.  After Parker tried for 20 minutes to get the Wii to work, Jeremiah played the boxing game, which was actually very entertaining to watch, and it was time to go home.  Got home, Parker got jammies and teeth brushed for kids 1 and 2 while I changed and fed kid 3.  Family prayer, and Jeremiah and Lily were off to bed.  This is my wonderful quiet time.  It so happened that "The Biggest Loser" finale was on which is my favorite episode of the whole season.  Parker and I watched it oohing and aahing at how the contestants looked after losing so much weight.  Put baby Samuel down for the night, and then finally it was bedtime for me and Parker!  Parker fell asleep in about 3 minutes.  It took me just a bit longer. 

I have the life I thought I'd have by the time I was 30.  It didn't necessarily go the way I had planned out (thank goodness!) It turned out WAY better.  I have a husband who is in love with me, wonders why I wear makeup, and is my absolute best friend.  I have 3 beautiful, funny, spunky children who all love their mom.  Happy Birthday to me.  I've heard of people going on far away trips, or jumping out of planes for their 30th birthday.  I am living a much different adventure, and I wouldn't have it any other way.