My birthday - the last before motherhood :)

It's amazing to me that dreams really do come true.  I don't know why I doubt that they can, but time and time again, things always seem to work out.  Color me crazy, color me cliche, you can even color me corny...but I never thought that I would be uttering these words: my dream is coming true!  I have dreamed of many things throughout my life, most of which involved varying forms of medicine and becoming some type of doctor/ healthcare professional, but the one thing that remained constant throughout my entire life was being a mother.  It is the only thing I can claim with full confidence that I have always wanted to be with an unwavering desire.  I love kids and I love working with kids and most of all, I want to feel that special, unbreakable bond between a mother and a child.  Albeit downright terrifying, I do take comfort in knowing I'm becoming one after a long line of nurturing and caring and supportive parents before me.  I really have had some great examples set in my life and can only hope that I can be half the parent that these models were before me.

Track back to one year ago...I sat at my house with my husband and my family and blew out candles on my birthday cake.  Everyone knows you make a wish on those candles for the year to come and I am no stranger to concocting up desires of my own.   I do not wish for a dream car or a dream house or a dream man (I already have him!), the wish I had been wishing for the past two years was, "I hope this year is the year I become a mother."  Back to this present birthday, I could barely think of anything I truly wish to get because I already have it...errrr him, growing in my belly.  And for that, what a terrific birthday this has been!  Absolutely nothing can top it.  Nothing.

My birthday was on Friday and it carried over into a truly great weekend!  The girls at school had been asking for a bit what I wanted to do for lunch on my day and random as it seems, all I wanted was Jimmy John's!  Lunchmeat is a pregnancy 'no-no' and I have only had it once (I caved a couple of weeks ago and had to get it...I had made it like 4 months!), so I decided to treat myself on my birthday to something I've been DYING to have!  So, that is what we did and I enjoyed every. last. morsel.  Page (my team teacher) brought me a monogrammed 31 gifts bag filled with Grippos, Ale-8s, AirHeads, and a Sonic giftcard.  Samantha (another team teacher) brought me a Lilly Pulitzer wall calendar (it's like the gigantic agenda/ planner I have and am head over heels in love with!) and Joe (our new team member) brought me a Speedy giftcard with explicit instructions to get Baby Jack and me some Ale-8 slushies which are heaven on earth to me...the keys to my heart!  Boy, you'd think these people know me or something.  Bahahahahahaha!!  I guess I am far too transparent or am a creature of habit?!?  I even had a student bring me a new box of cereal!  ha!  He said since that's all he ever sees me eat, he figured I could use a new box!  Hilarious...left me smiling all day.  I also was grinning ear to ear because of how sweet my students genuinely are and how special they set out to make my day!  I was talking to Page across the hall and when I turned back around into my classroom, they began a round of spontaneous singing to me.  I had one student who I know doesn't have much, sit at his house the night before and color me two of the most beautiful and thoughtful cards I have ever seen!  I know they were not easy to make and clearly took a LONG time to construct...they were amazing!  His gesture and sincerity truly left footprints on my heart and a lasting impact on my soul.  I know he wanted to make my day special and came up with everything he could give and well, I cried and cried.  He is just so sweet.


I also came home to a delightful surprise: my father had snuck over during the day and removed our old breakfast area table and replaced it with a new one and matching chairs!  We have been needing, and I have been asking for new chairs for our old table for a while now, but much to my surprise, I came home to new chairs AND a new table to go with them!  He had it all set up with a bouquet of red roses and cards from he and my mom and my niece and nephew.  It was awesome!


While at school, Brad sent me a bouquet of beautiful pink roses (my absolute favorite) and before school, he had surprised me with a new bottle of an old favorite perfume, "Lolita Lempicka".  He too kept asking what I'd like to do for dinner on my special day and I honestly did not want to do anything or go anywhere!  Like I've mentioned before, I've never felt so content in my life as I feel at this point, so when asked what I want: I kept drawing a blank.  I honestly and truly only wanted to spend a quiet night at home with my the love of my life and order carry-out from somewhere...which is exactly what we did!  He came home with a cake from my favorite place: Magee's and then we ordered carryout from Harry's (it had to be somewhere that would satisfy my constant buffalo craving...I got the buffalo chicken minis, per usual).  I also got to catch up with Lo and Katie via phone chats and relaxed for the night with my hubs.  It was perfect.

Beautiful roses gracing my desk!

a sorority sister got me started on this back in college and well, I love it!  It's so unique and I love it even more so that not too many people I know wear it or know of it...thus, making me smell unique :)

Saturday, our friend Kody had his wisdom teeth out so B and I took him a Frosty.  Then, it was time to get my annual eye exam and well, I'm pumped that I did.  Not only were my last pair of contacts ripped (both eyes...and yes, I was wearing them still), but my glasses were held together by mighty putty!  I learned that my astigmatism is back slightly and that my contacts prescription has gone up.  Thus, I got new contacts and....NEW GLASSES!  YAAAAAAY!  After the exam, we watched the UK game and then headed to my birthday dinner with my parents at Bonefish Grille.  I love that place!  It was super yummy and we had a great time!

excuse my foulness :)

Today, we topped off my birthday weekend with our favorite family friends: the Blanks at Chili's for lunch.  It has been a sensational weekend and a birthday that was magnificent for many reasons.  I am blessed to have the people in my life that I do and I cannot wait to celebrate my next one with an added voice in the birthday song serenade...my baby boy!  Here's to 28: a year that's sure to be GREAT indeed!

Thank you everyone for the well wishes and for an overwhelmingly terrific birthday!
Love,
Abs

PS, hope you LOVE our new look!!