29!

i turned 29 on saturday. my birthday started as every day does at this stage of my life - groggily nursing a hungry little babe in the early hours of the morning. as i sat there, i found myself reflecing on this past year of my life. 28 was quite a year, with it's share of ups and downs. i don't want to spend too much time focusing on the downs, but the ups...oh, there were many of those...some of them i want to record here...

...experiencing the breathtaking beauty of big sur on our trip with jeremy's dad last summer.

 

...perfecting my honey sweetened lemonade iced tea drink. yum.

 ...whale watching, and seeing dolphins, sea lions, and seals in the wild. 

 ...falling more in love with jeremy as the year went on.

...our road trip home after a summer in california. 

...jeremy's birthday morning when i took a pregnancy test and was totally shocked when it was positive! and the look on jeremy's face when i asked him if he wanted his first birthday present, he said yes, and i pulled out the pregnancy test and showed him. what joy!

...spending each tuesday morning in study and fellowship with a wonderful group of girls who are also married to seminary students. so thankful for that support system in my life over this past year.

...the day we spent at an orchard as a family last fall. watching our girl carry around the baby goats

and hearing her talk about it for days afterwards.

...the murder mystery event we planned for our youth group.

...finding so much joy in watching our girl grow and being able to start having actual conversations with her.

...finding out we were going to have a baby boy! watching my belly grow and feeling his little kicks as he grew.

...a romantic cabin getaway with jeremy in january.

...making a rainbow cake with our girl for her second birthday.

...the everyday joy of watching our girl grow. introducing her to new things...ice cream bars, water balloons, sledding, snow angels, finger paints, amusement park rides, acorn collecting, and kiddie pools.

...seeing jeremy graduate from seminary.

 2 days before our little guy was born - very pregnant!

...reaching my goal of having a natural birth at home! my biggest life accomplishment to date (and potentially ever).

 ..seeing our little guy for the first time and then falling in love with him in the days that followed.

...introducing our girl to her baby brother.

...taking our girl on her first train ride.

...realizing how much i love being a mom - even more now that we have two.

 a year full of blessings, i would say!

my birthday celebration really began on friday evening. some kind friends from church ordered us a pizza and we had pizza, beer, and birthday cake for dinner. our girl was really excited about singing happy birthday to mommy, and of course, eating cake. on saturday morning, she eagerly wished me a happy birthday. i headed out for a haircut in the morning. it was a nice quiet hour of time to myself. 

it was a hot day, so after i got home, we decided to pack up and head to the beach. we stopped at panera for delicious strawberry poppyseed chicken salad (a favorite of mine!) and made our way to the lake. we had fun digging in the sand, wading in the water, and watching our girl play in the waves. a thunderstorm blew in about an hour after we got there, so we headed for home. we all had showers, read some books, and put our girl down for bed. after she was in bed, jeremy picked up indian takeout, we shared an order of yummy, but spicy, chicken tikka masala, had a glass of wine and some leftover birthday cake, and watched our show online. i even got a birthday back rub!

(lest you think the day was perfect...our girl had some digestive issues which ended up resulting in quite a bit of laundry, and our little guy was spitting up a lot - including twice straight down my shirt! that contributed to the laundry as well. by the end of the day, jeremy and i were quite ready for a break from poop, pee, and spit up, though we did agree that it made for quite the memorable day!)

ANYWAY...i am excited to be entering another year and am eager to experience this new year of life. i am so thankful for my life and the people in it. i am most thankful for God's grace that carries me through each day (especially as i adjust to mothering two little ones!), and for the assurance that he is with me always, through each year. here's to 29!