Mommy's A Year Older

Dearest Joshua David~

Hello little miracle!  Guess what today is .... it's my birthday!  Unlike last year where you were still in the hospital, I got to spend parts of the day with you and daddy at home!  

You were wide awake again this morning for breakfast as daddy and I were getting ready for work.  You ate all your cereal and took your whole bottle by the time Penny walked in the door.  :-)  You had more apple juice in a sippy cup for her, and she also fed you another half of a baby cookie, some cheerios, apple sauce, and some sweet potatoes.  

This morning you two had floor time.  You played with your blocks and worked on stacking them.  You're still learning how to put toys in and out of a box and not just throwing them.  You two had story and music time as well. 

You two played a lot in the bonus room and then you took a nice nap for Penny.  You haven't been able to go on your usual walks since the weather has gotten colder, but you all still had fun indoors.  :-)

When I got to work, everyone wished me a 'Happy Birthday' and one of my coworkers was having a birthday today too!  So, Judy and I had a double birthday party!  We pretty much ate cake and cookies all day.  :-P  Another staff member made Judy a homemade chocolate cake and she made me a homemade giant cookie with 'Happy Birthday Dr. Watson' written in white chocolate!  Yummy!  She made it on a pizza pan!  Ha!  They were really good!  I wasn't quick enough to get a photo before it was cut into, but you can still read some of it in the picture that I took.  Plus, I got to bring the leftover cookie home to share with daddy!  

You and daddy where quite sneaky today!  I thought we would just celebrate over the weekend and do something low key this evening .... but as soon as I walked through the door I saw and smelled a wonderful surprise homemade dinner that you two had cooked!  Well .... daddy said that you helped, but I could have sworn you were playing with your toys to the side.  ;-)  I'm sure you helped by keeping daddy company.  ;-)  Daddy had made chicken parmesan from scratch!  He knows that Italian food is my favorite!  It was SO good!  Your daddy is a wonderful cook and that was such a surprise!   And, he had picked up a cookie cake too!  So, we have lots of cookie to share with people! I didn't need anything else after that .... but you two continued to surprise me!

The gift that you all got me was too much!  I told daddy that, but he insisted that you and Peanut wanted to get this .... I knew daddy had something planned and I had a feeling you all were making something together, but I was expecting something small.  I unwrapped your gift and inside was a little envelope .... and inside that contained electric mandolin strings!  At this point daddy needed to explain what was going on .... I asked if he had ordered me an electric mandolin because that would have been way too big and generous!  The answer was a 'yes' and 'no' .... daddy ordered a kit so that we could build and make our own mandolin together!  How thoughtful and creative!  The kit should arrive sometime this month and then we can build it together as a family and have fun with it!  Daddy got the 5 string kit (verses the 4 string) so it'll be something new to learn together!  Generally, the 5 string mandolin is tuned CGDAE with the C string being the added bass string.  When tuned like this, the lower four strings are tuned like a mandola, while the upper four strings are tuned like a mandolin.  

Your daddy is really good at the guitar and banjo, so he can help me learn neat things on the electric.  :-)  Plus, it's definitely going to encourage me to practice the mandolin more often.  I noodle around on the acoustic when we're home together sometimes, but it's always better to play with people if you want to really improve.  Daddy said that he would play with us!  

You, Peanut, and daddy are so thoughtful!  I couldn't even have imagined such a wonderful gift!  It'll be so much fun to do this project together and then to play music together as a family!  You have such a loving and encouraging daddy .... you, Peanut, and I are so blessed to have him!  

What a wonderful birthday this has turned out to be .... I got to spend it with the most important people in my life .... daddy, you, and Peanut .... and I received several birthday wishes from family and friends.  I can't believe a year ago today we were in the hospital by your bedside waiting to take you home with us.  Time has flown by .... just one year later you're healthy and we're expecting little Peanut to join our happy family.

You'll meet several people over the course of your life who don't like to celebrate their birthdays because it means they're 'getting older' .... but you and Peanut should remember this .... each year is a joyous blessing from God!  Each birthday we get to celebrate the miracle of birth and see what our Lord has done in our lives!  I tease that I celebrate my birthday during the whole month of December, but I really do love birthdays .... no matter how old I get .... it means God's not done with me yet and there's still things I need to be doing on this earth for Him!  I hope you and Peanut will always have fun celebrating your birthdays!  

Oh, and you fell asleep next to me this evening as daddy and I were watching television .... watching you sleep, feeling Peanut kick, and having daddy next to me was the perfect way to end another perfect birthday!  :-)

Sleep tight my little Joshua!

I love you so very, very much!  :-)

~Mommy