Birthdays change when you are old

OK, so I know that I am not "old." But I am old enough that birthdays are not a huge thing to me anymore. I really think it is the being a mother thing, you know? Jessa was born 11 days before my 28th birthday. And I must say that I almost forgot that birthday, and ever since then, well, birthdays, I'm just not that into you.

On Jessa's first birthday, I realized what it was. See, on my own birthday, I did not do very much. A doctor performed some surgery on my Momma, and then I was born. I do not even remember it! But then the days that my babies were born, now those were special days, days to remember, days to celebrate.

So Friday was my birthday. I was born 34 years ago in an Army Hospital in Germany. It is a happy day, right? But I had no big plans.

Back in the day, I used to whoop it up. Like my 21st birthday! Wow! I was a senior at North Georgia, and all I had all day was cake and beer. A healthy and tasty combo, I am sure you would all agree. Or my 26th birthday, we were in Germany. David threw me a party. He cooked (on the grill), baked (a cake), blended (margaritas), and cleaned it all up. He rocks! I had all my good girlfriends over. And I'll always remember my friend Tara gave me the Survivor soundtrack. Awesome!

Then there was my 27th birthday. He drove 70 miles one way just to take me out to dinner at Ft. Lee only to drive another 70 miles the next morning back to school at Ft. Eustis. But that was about the last time I remember being truly excited about a birthday.

I mean, I always thought I would really celebrate 30. That is a big one, right? I had a friend getting married in Australia. Perfect! A big trip to celebrate, right?

Wrong, I was 7 months pregnant with Spencer and had ice cream at the Varsity with my 2 year old.

Two years ago, I spent my birthday with one of my dearest friends at her house at Ft. Gordon. She said, "I'll take you anywhere you want to go for a special birthday lunch." I chose McDonald's! That way, we could talk while the kids played. That was all the gift I needed: chatting with another Mommy and watching the kids have fun.

This year, my parents took the kids and me out to supper. The kids voted Olive Garden so that they can get the waitstaff to sing to me, and then they can help eat the chocolate cake. Shockingly, David was out of town and missed the embarrassing singing spectacle. I did get a basket with flowers, a balloon, a bear, and chocolate in it from my sweet husband. And the card said he has lined up a babysitter (Bay) for a special night put and belated celebration on Tuesday. Yay! I got lots of cards, flowers from my parents, and a ton of wished on Facebook. Gotta love Facebook!

Well, we did go to Olive Garden. It was pretty good. The kids had fun and LOVED when there was loud clapping and singing that made my face turn red. They were most disappointed, however that there was no chocolate cake. We have seen them give cake to others recently. But maybe they stopped it? Oh well, Spencer picked out a fancy chocolate cheesecake dessert. We got it to go. And my kiddos and I ate cheesecake out of a Styrofoam container, drank big glasses of milk and watched the premiere of Spongebob: Truth or Square. And I cannot think of anything that I would have preferred doing - except maybe if David were on the couch with us.