They Say It's Your Birthday

Two weeks before her due date, my mom's blood pressure was rising and it was decided that I needed to come early. I was born June 2nd around 9:30 at night on a Wednesday.

Birthdays for me have meant the Spaghetti Factory, and white frosting on bakery cakes and glitter crowns at school and the start of summer. Then, one June 2nd, I got my driver's license and was introduced to the world of transportation. A little later, I graduated High school and turned 18 on the same day. That was also the day I was lovingly nudged into real life.

Since those early days of routine, my life has been a smattering of change. College came and I traveled and I moved in with roommates and I felt a little vulnerable to all of it. But, I could always look towards my birthday with a sense of relief. I knew it was coming and I could depend on that.

The best birthday I had was one June 2nd when I jumped out of an airplane and finished a long list of things to do before I turned 25. The very next year, it was my birthday and I was looking at engagement rings and what it might be like to marry my best friend.

Last year, I was newly pregnant on my birthday and sick to my stomach with hormones and some potent nausea. Worst of all, at my birthday party I couldn't tell any of my friends yet that I was going to be a mom. It was too early still and I've never been good at waiting.

Tomorrow however, I will turn 29 and I will celebrate the beginning of the last year of my 20's. I am going to bake my birthday cake, (a Pavlova actually) and cover it in strawberries and kiwis. I'm going to read stories to my baby and then ride bikes with my husband in the afternoon. I'm going to eat some mighty fine Mexican food with my family for dinner and I'm going to pat myself on the back for making it another year.

All in all, birthdays are very important. They always should be. It takes a lot to get a baby here and it takes a lot to make it from year to year. After going through this process to get here, and to get our baby girl here, I can't think of anything else to do but celebrate. When our girl was born I looked at her and thought about the fact that she made it. I had been waiting so long to see her and I know my mom was waiting to see me too.

So here's to another year Kate. Life is totally do-able when it is one year at a time.