Last year on my birthday, I was about five weeks pregnant. It literally seems like yesterday… I was just reaching the point in my first trimester where I was hit with daily nausea, complete exhaustion and feeling like total and utter crap. I went straight home from work, put on my comfiest pair of sweats and curled up on my couch where I spent the entire rest of the night. I didn’t care how crappy I felt, I was pregnant, and that was all I had wished, hoped and prayed for on my birthday last year.
This year on my birthday, I am blessed with a beautiful healthy four month old daughter. Now that I’m a mother, I really don’t care about material gifts so much anymore. While they’re always nice, all I truly wanted for my birthday and everyday is a happy and healthy family, and to spend quality time with them. My husband asked me a few times what I wanted for my birthday; I told him nothing. I have a beautiful home, a wonderful husband, an amazing and beautiful daughter who I’m able to stay home with every day… so what more could I possibly want or ask for? My answer is nothing. Of course, he still had gifts for me, but that’s not what this blog is about.
My day was simple and perfect. No frills, no thrills, no balloons, not even any birthday cake – then again I’m not big on cake anyway. I took a barre class at 6am, went for a run with a couple friends, met my husband for lunch, took a nap with my daughter and enjoyed playtime and sunshine with her all afternoon. My husband took care of dinner, we had smores for dessert by the fire and talked about how excited we are about our upcoming family vacation. I put aside the piles of dirty laundry, the cleaning that needs to be done, the grocery shopping to fill our almost empty fridge and the many other errands and added chores around the house I do day-in and day-out on top of taking care of our daughter. Today, I just enjoyed being a wife, a mommy and the beautiful life the three of us have created together.
I truly feel blessed every day; even the days that are tough, exhausting and long. A mother’s true birthday blessings are those that can’t be bought. They are the people that enrich my life with love and laughter, and make life worth living and every single day better than the last. This was my first birthday as a mom, and admittedly the first one where I felt completely happy and content with nothing more than the love, smiles, hugs and kisses from my husband and baby girl.