thirty

My thirtieth birthday was, in a word, wonderful.

I woke up Sunday morning after spending Saturday night with Leah & Susan, 

{so fun} and sleeping in {lovely} while Josh got up with the boys.  

While I was sleeping they decorated with the decorations that Josh's sister Julie sent.  

30th Birthday balloons, streamers and an adorable Happy Birthday banner.

Josh said he's thinking about going into party planning.

God, I love him.

In addition to sending decorations, Julie sent me presents that were labeled with different hours of the day. 

I got to open a present every hour from 5:30am until 9:30pm!  She is amazing! It was so much fun!

 The boys were super excited to help me open all those presents.

 I got Vanilla Bean Noel lotion & body wash, a beautiful rose teacup, super-sparkly lip gloss, silver hoop earrings, a set of {handmade} cards, a bath bomb, cucumber eye pads, M & M's, York Peppermint patties, two pair of {adorable} socks, two {yummy} candles from Bath & Body Works, Cashmere lotion for my chapped hands, an adorable {homemade} apron & cookie dough mix, Scentsy Newborn Nursery Wax, a book- Breathing Water by T. Greenwood & bookmark, Peppermint handsoap to get me in the holiday spirit and new nail polish.

 (Here, I was teasing the boys that they should try my new sparkly lip gloss on!)

 I got to drink my morning cup of coffee in this beautiful teacup.  

Julie, who is also the mom of three boys, said that we moms of boys need a little "pretty" in our lives! 

I agree!

Julie is not the only one who spoiled me.  Josh did me proud and I feel so lucky to have someone who knows me so well. He got me a 24 pack of medium point InkJoy pens. I {love} them!  He also got two journals for me.  And since I had requested a book he couldn't find at Barnes & Noble, he bought me a Samsung Tablet, and downloaded it on there!  (The book is Love Anthony by Lisa Genova. I recently read Still Alice and Left Neglected. I could not put them down!) The Tablet is so cool and so pretty!  He said he knew I had wanted one a while back, and he thought why not get it for me now?

 This was my birthday morning sunrise.

Breathtaking.

{Thank you, God.}

 Grandma also spoiled me. And the boys. 

She sent a $20 for me. And a $1 for each of the boys.

 It only took about twenty shots for Jack to get this picture of me in my apron from Julie.

(In most of them, it's only my legs, or only my right side!)

I am so excited to have a new, cute apron to wear Thursday as we are hosting Thanksgiving!

The twins told Josh what to write in the card he made me. 

Logan said:

"I hope that you have fun presents.  

I love you.  I hope people give you special presents. 

Happy Birthday Mommy!"

Jack said:

"I hope that we can play balloon fight with you. Balloon fights are fun. 

I hope that you have cool presents that you want.

Happy Birthday. I love you."

Even Wyatt had a birthday gift for me. 

When he woke up from his nap, instead of just babbling or calling for Daddy, 

he stood in his crib with a sing/song voice calling, "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" 

My sister also sent me a special birthday package:

3 Colbie Caillat CD's,

a homemade card from Ferris,

and a banner made with material from the twins' quilts.

I cannot wait to hang it in their bedroom!

And lastly, my parents also sent a birthday package:

It contained this beautiful Columbia sweater 

{that perfectly matches my eyes}

an entire box of Lindt chocolate truffles

{holy deliciousness!}

a jar candle, 2 Lipsmackers Vanilla chapstick,

Cinderella, "30" Paper plates, a rainbow of Martha Stewart glitter,

and a birthday tiara that I passed on at my afternoon birthday party.

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After opening my presents and enjoying the morning, 

we got to go to Joe & Krista's for a joint birthday party.

Their daughter Aaliyah turned five on Saturday,

and Josh's principal, Randy, shares my birthday!

It was a really nice gathering.

---

Josh and I ended my fabulous day watching The Good Shepherd

and eating chocolate truffles side by side on our couch.

Life is sweet.

"The more you praise and celebrate your life,

the more there is in life to celebrate."

-Oprah Winfrey