Birthday and Wishes

Poor Stephen was asleep after we got home from dinner. I was sad he missed out on all the fun. I had a good birthday. I was treated to breakfast at Mimi's Cafe too. It is our favorite breakfast place. I don't think we have been there since this same time last year with David's family. Since David was sick on Monday, he and Natalie dropped me off at Target and then went birthday shopping for me after breakfast.
This is the cake designer. David was the baker. Natalie told David the cake should be pink, red, and purple and it NEEDED flowers. I think they made a pretty good team.
David told me that Natalie was so excited to shop for me. He told me that she said she wanted to pick out something, "girly and fun. Maybe pink...maybe sunglasses."
All day long she kept trying to give me a small package to open. She was so excited about it that she was jumping up and down. It was hard for her to wait for the evening. Sadly David missed getting a video of her reaction when I opened that little package from her. Her face lit up and she hugged her arms around herself, just beaming. She got me pink earrings. It was THE best moment.
I loved her excitement as she showed me the card and envelope she picked out that made noise and as she proudly showed me where she signed her name. Natalie also picked out a matching pink necklace for me. After every item I opened she told me where they bought it. Then she gave me the gift from Stephen (which she picked out too since the poor guy was sleeping while they were shopping as well as when I opened it). It was two packages of sour skittles and a DVD set of Alf. She was so excited to tell me about why she picked that Alf. When I opened a beautiful shirt from Grandma Burraston, Natalie happily declared that it was "a church shirt." And she told me all about how David's gift to me worked in the water for swimming and to tell me my heart rate when I run and excercise.
I had a great birthday. I was surprised at how many people wished me happy birthday. I got a lot of calls, even from people I would not expect or usually hear from, it was sweet. My friend, Karen, from church left carnations at my door too. Super sweet! One of my favorite things (besides my Natalie) was a message my Mom left me. She sang Happy Birthday to me on her message. It almost made me cry. It made me feel like a little girl for a minute and I imagined my Mommy holding me and singing to me. That was special.
Natalie also got me this heart shaped coin purse. She always wants to get people wallets and stuffed animals for gifts, those are usually on the top of her list. When I opened it she told me, "Mom, I picked a heart shape so you would know I love you!"





Natalie's Make A Wish granter, April, came over today to do a little project with Natalie. It is a countdown for her MAW trip...only 12 weeks to go. Natalie is getting SO excited to go see her 'real' princess friends. Every Monday until we leave, we will take a ring off and then do the activity on the ring. Mostly there are just fun things, but there are a few things to get ready for our trip. Natalie got to decorate all the rings with Disney stickers. She loves doing stickers, so it was a perfect project for her.






Natalie took the next three pictures. Aren't they good?



The Colonel likes wearing Daddy's hat! He wore it all day yesterday.
"Mom, he's buttering me up!" Natalie and sleepy Stephen hugging. Giving butter and cake is a saying we have around here, it means lots of kisses to "butter" someone up and then cake is when you do a rasberry on someone's cheek. Natalie made up the cake part all by herself.