bir-dayyy bir-dayyy thoughts...

i'm watching my first few hours of "34" float along in while "33" passes into history... :) it's kind of funny... i swear that, aside from a few aches and pains (probably from being pregged up and not the healthiest weight), i feel like i did when i was 18... age is really relative, isn't it? i don't know if i will feel the same way when i turn 40...or 50...but i am sure i'll be ok. :)

i think back to 3 years ago... it was right after i had become a momma for the first time...and ry kept asking me what i wanted for my birthday... and to be honest, while i was sleep deprived and still in awe, i couldn't give him an answer... i finally said, "what more could anyone want?" as i was holding Katherine... and then i cried... (he probably walked away confused wondering what in the world was wrong with me! :))

then, for a moment, i was taken back to the years when i was a kid... it was my mom's birthday and i'd ask her, "what do you want?" and she'd just smile and say, "ohhh, i don't know...i don't need anything, really..." i would get annoyed because i couldn't figure out how anyone could NOT want something for their birthday...perfume, a sweater, a CD...anything??!
i hope that doesn't make me sound shallow... i don't mean it THAT way... but if it's your birthday, people around you usually want to give you something special to celebrate your day and you can ask for anything!

well, i think something happened to me on that early morning in October of 2008 when i had Katherine...
after a few hours of holding my daughter and staring at her incredible creation, i understood why my mom would never have any gift ideas for her birthday...
when you have a child, i think you probably receive the biggest gift of all...and the best one, for sure... and there isn't anything in the world that you could really ever want any more...nothing that important, anyway...
and so, for the last 3 birthdays, i have had a tough time thinking of anything that i could want for a day that celebrates the day my mom became a mom and i became part of this Earth...

see, i guess life's perspective changes... time with my extended family becomes more important...hearing their voices on the phone is cherished...and spending the evening with my own family trumps anything that could be wrapped up in a package...

so, on this 34th year, i can say i feel rich and have everything i could ever want... that's a pretty good bir-dayyy bir-dayyy, if you ask me... :)