29 on the 29th

Its my "golden birthday" having a birthday the same age as the day of the month! When I was a kid I thought it would be much cooler, but its just the same as any other birthday. :) Vanessa gave me a great birthday gift. She fell asleep around 9:30 pm last night, woke up at 4 am to eat, then fell back asleep til 8 am. I feel rested and it was wonderful to sleep that long!! The other kids slept in too, and I got to shower by myself. We have started bringing up the swing to our bedroom at night. I put her in the swing after nursing her and she goes back to sleep much easier. She really fights going back to sleep after waking up in the middle of the night, so the swing was the trick. We're considering buying a 2nd swing just for the upstairs, its a pain to haul that thing upstairs every night. I should say its a pain for Dave, I haven't done it yet. But its really helping! Dave surprised me with "breakfast in bed"! He made me some scrambled eggs, and had picked up some "birthday cake" donuts and a mocha for me at Starbucks, and also a glass of orange juice. It was a fun morning. The rest of the day was also quite pleasant. A friend of mine (Kelly Fischer, she started the local ICAN chapter in Cedar Falls and also assisted with Vanessa's birth!) offered to watch the kids for me this morning, so Violet and Calvin went to her house at 10 am. They had TONS of fun with her! I went to Kohls and Target to spend some gift card money that was given to me after Vanessa was born, and spent some lazy time perusing the aisles at those stores. Dave and I got to have a little "date" for lunch before we picked up the kids. They slept well for their naps, so all in all, its been a resful, relaxing day for me. Soooooo thankful!! Thank you Lord! Moments to be refreshed and get a break really help me to take a look at the bigger picture, appreciate my kids so much more, and be thankful for all the blessings in my life.