23 years old!

I've been hesitant to write this post because it means my birthday is really over, which also means Melody and the baby have really already come and gone. I have been looking forward to it for so long, it's hard to believe it's over. I guess I should dwell on the positive which is that we had such a fantastically fun time. Julia is an absolute delight. I even liked her few bouts of crying because it reminded me that they were really here to be with us. So Let's see if I can recall all the fun.

I went to meet everyone at the airport on Thursday evening. We went to Cami's to introduce the Turpin boys to their little cousin/niece. The little one's were so excited as you'll see in the pictures. Cami wrote more about their new friendship on her blog. We ordered Chinese for dinner and then Melody the baby and I headed to my apartment. The baby wasn't having it. She decided to cry louder than Melody claims she has ever heard. We made it home after a feeding stop in a grocery store parking lot where I purchased our traditional birthday cereal while the baby ate. The cereal has been a tradition as long as I can remember. My parents would let us kids pick out any cereal in the whole grocery store that we wanted. No need to look at the price or anything. This was very exciting since we ate a lot of oatmeal and cream of wheat, or store brand bagged cereal. A box of Lucky Charms or Trix was such a treat. We have come a long way from the younger days when Alpha-Bits was our birthday choice. Now I'd much rather have the ones we chose this year (see pic), or any hot cereal compared to any of those gross sugary ones.

So on Friday, the actually birthday we got up earlier than we thought (baby's decision) and got right to eating our cereal and getting ready for the day. We gave Julia a bath in my tiny bathroom sink, It was hilarious and she was a great sport. And even though we told each other no presents, we each had a small token to give each other. We went to pick up Lili who was staying at Cami's for lunch and a little shopping. Cami generously offered to babysit (her kids were home from school so she couldn't come along) and we went to Silver Spring to eat at one of my faves, Lebanese Taverna. We had a nice lunch of Mediterranean cuisine, shared a Jamba, when to a little market that I love and had a great time. Mom and Dad were at a conference until late in the night so we were going to save any family celebrations for the next night. We headed home and made a huge plate of nachos for dinner. What is more appropriate for my birthday. We were going to go to Ritas for a gelati, but Julia was not having fun in the car so KC, by his suggestion, when to get a couple of pints of Haagan Dazs for us to share. I LOVE the pineapple coconut, and KC prefers Sticky Toffee Pudding. It was such a beautiful night, Melody and I just sat on the patio and talked while we waited for KC to return. It was so fun to just relax and chat.



We went to sleep and when I woke up around 7:00 I was so happy to hear the Melody and Julia were both still sleeping. They didn't get much the night before. At about 8:40 they work up and we started on our birthday desserts for Sunday. We made a flourless chocolate cake with a ganache glaze, a Pithiver (pronounced pi-tiv-yay) with red wine poached apples and pistachio frangipane (shhh, we used wine and coffee in my kitchen that day). We decided we would make it a dessert buffet and also use the delicious fruits of the forest pie Molly gave me. These things have to be done in stages, so we finished what we could and went to Cami's to hang out with everyone. We went on a beautiful walk and then headed to dinner with the fam. That night we all went to Carrabas, one of my favorite places (it might be the fact that it's the place where I realized I liked KC, but the food just happens to be SO SO SO GOOD). Melody and I even each got a huge bowl of delicious ice cream with sugared pecans. What a fun night. We badly missed the family who wasn't there. That would have made it that much better.

On Sunday, Melody came with us to church, where I had hardly any kids to sing with. The baby was a hit though. I had a great time showing her off. We made some more progress on the desserts then all got much needed Sunday afternoon naps. We than did our finishing touches and headed to Cami's for dinner. We all ate way too much dessert. And Molly, if you are reading this, everyone was raving about the pie and I had to keep reminding them I didn't make it. Sarah Lee has secrets I just don't know. We played a couple rounds of Wakee Six, and Lili came home with us since I was driving to the airport in the morning. We had one final sleep over, and took the inevitable drive. I was trying not to think about them leaving until it actually came. It made me so sad to come home and see the pack-and-play still assembled. I can't wait to see them again (that includes you Lili, even though I have been talking about M&J the hole time). I'm glad Mom and Dad are still here to ease the separation a little. We had a fun time shopping yesterday and I'm sure there is more fun to come.

I love being with Melody. With out even trying, she has a way of making me want to be a better person. She helps me remember what is important and how I can improve. She's one of the kindest people I know. Someday we WILL live by each other and I can feel this happy all the time.

Many thanks to everyone for all the gifts, cards, and phone calls. I am so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family. If you are still reading, you are a real trooper. This is slowly taking the place of my hand-written journal so I like to add a lot a details. Here's a cute video of Julia's cute voice and smiles. I've already watched it a few times and can't get enough. We love you guys!