WOO WOO! It's a celebration.

It's June!!!

And June means it's my birthday month! Hurray! It's Taylor's too, but mostly mine. Why you ask? Because Taylor likes to be recognized on his actual birthday with a delicious meal and a treat and he's done. He doesn't really care about gifts, never asks for anything, doesn't really care to do much out of the ordinary, I mean, the dude is a creature of habit which makes my heart happy because we all know I hate being thrown a curveball in life. He is predictable and that is a control freak's dream. See why I married him?
But, Me? I drag my birthday out the entire week, sometimes more! Woo woo! I love my birthday and I know that sounds so snotty and selfish and spoiled but It's not about me me me. I don't care if I get a darned thing for a gift (although it's fun, duh) or that I turn a year older (okay I care a little bit that I get older now that I'm over 25 but whatevs) I care about having a good excuse for a little cele-bra-cion if ya know what I mean?
One of the few benefits of having a "blended family" (picture me making quotes with my fingers and rolling my eyes) I hate that term, but anyway, a perk of that is getting to celebrate your birthday ALOT! We used to celebrate at each house (mom's and dad's) and at grandparents houses too and usually had a birthday party with my friends. Those all had to be on separate days so that makes for at least 5 days of birthday hoopla. Now we all know I love a good holiday (I was ashamed of myself this year for not going all out for New year's, Valentine's day, St. Pats, Easter or Cinco de Mayo like normal because I was hugely pregnant/ new mother and hugely uncomfortable/exhausted, but normally I go all out for stuff. We are talking decorations and festive food to match and even clothing, painted nails you name it. I LOVE IT!
So my birthday provides all of that. I get to decorate the house with streamers and balloons (And pretend they are for Taylor's birthday which is 12 days later) and make a cake or treat for myself him and go shopping for myself him and celebrate with our families. When I was little it was the same, my parents (at both houses, god bless them) decorated for our birthdays, made cakes, gave gifts, served our favorite meals all day, even threw birthday parties with friends (sometimes I got two, one at each house!). Spoiled brat I know. It really boiled down to the fact that I lived with my mom and stepdad the majority of the time and so that was all the norm over there because my mom is obsessed with holidays and traditions too. And my stepmom always tried to one-up my mom and so I got it all over there too. I was conditioned at an early age to drag out the partyin and live it up for the week of my birthday and I'm cool with it. So now, I just do it for myself on my birthday (my mom still does it too) and everyone elses! I already have my stepdad's birthday cake planned out this year and his isn't until the end of July.  I could care less if anyone comes to my house or sees the decorations or even touches or sees the cake, it's fun to do and even more fun for me to sit and have a glass of wine and enjoy some color and festivity in my life and thank God I'm alive and healthy another year. P.S Taylor is in big financial trouble when Henry's 1st birthday comes around.....momma is gonna make it a BLOW. OUT! Because life is worth celebrating. It's not all fun and games, sometimes life gets hard. Really hard. I actually forgot about my 18th birthday because I was going through some hard times and my dad was really sick. So when you have the opportunity to celebrate the good part, why not do it. As Leann Womack says "when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance". That's pretty much how I feel about birthdays. Live it up, enjoy being alive for one day.

I don't think there is anything wrong in celebrating life or holidays even if it's my own. I loved that my parents let me pick a party theme each year and decorated for it and made cute cupcakes and goody bags and such. It made childhood magical and fun. It made me feel so special and looking back now, so incredibly loved. I want Taylor and Henry to feel that way too, special and loved and not just on their birthday, everyday! I try to go out of my way every now and then to do fun little surprises for Taylor and he is the same. It's what keeps our life interesting and enjoyable and reminds those around you how much you appreciate them. Just knowing Taylor thinks enough about me to  clean my car for me or offer to give me a foot massage makes me feel special to him. It's also why I pack his breakfast and lunches for him now and why I can't wait for Henry to start eating solid foods. I've been dreaming of the day that I could make my kids green pancakes with whipped cream and lucky charms marshmallows on top for breakfast on St. Patrick's day and light a sparkler sticking out of their waffle covered in strawberries and bluberries for the 4th of july. Little things, to let them know I love them and I'm thinking of them. I want to make Henry's childhood special and fun and start traditions that he can carry on for his kids too. I can't even begin to describe the smile on my face when I think about covering our fireplace screen with fake spiderwebs and plastic spiders for hallowen when I was little or how much fun it was to open the box of Christmas decorations each year with Alabama's Christmas album playin on casette tape and start decking the halls. That stuff is important to me, its priceless and I love my parents for instilling that in me. So I will wait patiently until Henry can eat real food and appreciate the ridiculousness his mother has in store for him around each holiday but I have made a promise to myself that each day I will tell him I love him and show him even more. The little things are what makes life worth living for me and the birthdays are the cherry on top.