A Whole New World: 26 years

In 26 years I have been blessed with

A wonderful husband who wants nothing but for me and our children to be happy
Two healthy, happy, smart and beautiful PERFECT babies
Parents who only want the best for me and my family and will help in any way they can as long as I ask
A brother who I am growing closer to every day who married a wonderful women who has become my best friend
2 nieces who I love more then I ever imagined and whose lives I greatly enjoy being a daily part of
A second brother who welcomes me with open arms and who married a women who has given me a beautiful niece and a giggle filled nephew
Budding new friendships with women who know what I have been through and have been there too.

What have I done in 26 years?

Earned my black belt in USA Go Ju Ryu at 16
Graduated High School and joined the Army
Survived Basic Training at the top of my class and as a leader among my peers
Graduated Advanced Training certified to be a Mental Health Tech
Served 6 years in the US Army Reserves
Earned my AA degree in Psychology and most of my credits to get my BA (which I will be finishing soon)
Learned and mastered knitting
Meet my prince and married him
Supported my solider through 2 long deployments
Given birth naturally to two healthy babies
Learned and grown to become a good mother and wife
Opened my mind and accepted things I never thought I would

I spent the first half of my birthday moping around because we had no extra money for gifts and Shawn had to go to work. My "special day" was just like any other day. But through out the day I received 28 different Happy Birthday comments on Facebook, many phone calls from my Aunt, brothers and parents, and then Shawn brought me home some pink roses! The evening we went over to my parents house for a carb free yummy dinner and some time with family. I felt so special and loved all night! I got a new camera and a great cupcake frame from my mom. My brother wrote in a card "Birthdays don't get less special, they just change and need something different" I had spent the day telling myself that I was an adult now and that meant my birthday didn't matter any more, but it just matters in a different way. Getting a new camera and using the rest of my birthday money to replace the right ball joint in our car may have seemed disappointing 10 years ago, but this year it makes me giddy! As well as just sitting around with my family talking and watching the kids play....it turned out to be a pretty nice birthday!

Here are some pictures from the day

Lily's special "it's mommy's birthday" dress....hehehe

Johnny had a free Mygym class...oh he loved it so much and had NO trouble with anything at all.

But he was pretty warn out by the entire thing.

His favorite part was this ball pit.

Sitting like a good little boy for the puppet show.

Lily is 5 months old now and enjoys the Johnny Jump Up and playing in general! Look at that dress, it just cracks me up, my favorite piece of clothing she owns! There is a big cupcake on the front.