The Life of a Running Momma: Another Year Older

It wasn't until I talked to my best friend, Erin, that I realized this year was a special birthday for me. She called it my golden birthday. I turned 29 years old on the 29th of July. Pretty cool really! It was also a golden birthday because I got to spend the entire day with my precious children! Did I feel older when I woke up? Nope! Do I feel older than I did a year ago? Heck yes! I feel older and wiser and happier. I'm now the mom of 2 and life is good. Things are going so much smoother this time around with Elise because I know what I'm doing. Or at least know what I'm doing better!

Right now Krispy Kreme has birthday cake batter doughnuts. I've been itching to try them for a while so the night before my birthday we picked some up. I had a coupon for basically half off a dozen doughnuts so we bought an assorted dozen. The morning of my birthday I got up early to run before Ty headed to work so I could get my run in without the stroller. It gives me more time to play with Carter before we head for a morning outing and it lets Elise take a morning nap in her crib which works better for her. I headed out for 3 miles and when I returned Ty met me at the door to say good bye. Both Carter and Elise were still asleep. It was eerily quiet and I didn't know quite what to do without them. I decided first things first and hopped in the shower. I enjoyed bathing without constantly checking in with Carter and watching Elise. When I got out I dressed for the day and then started a pot of decaf coffee. I normally don't drink coffee but had decided to treat myself on my birthday. As I was getting ready to start some chores Elise woke up. Little Miss had slept in until almost 8! Carter was awake shortly after and I was so excited for our special breakfast. I pulled down the doughnuts so Carter could choose which one he wanted. He chose a birthday cake batter doughnut so I gave him half of one and then I pulled out the same kind of doughnut for myself. As I poured myself a mug of coffee Carter asked for some too so I made him a little mug of chocolate milk. I put a candle for us to blow out in my doughnut and Carter wanted one too so I got him one. He actually sang me Happy Birthday and then we blew out our candles. Even though he had a candle of his own he still understood it was my birthday, not his. We enjoyed our breakfast while Elise sat in the Bumbo watching us. It was the perfect start to the day!

After breakfast Elise went down for a nap. Carter and I were off to get dressed and read some books while I baked some sweet potatoes for lunches and for dinner later in the week. When the sweet potatoes were out of the oven we got busy baking my birthday cake which I had picked out during our grocery store trip on Monday. Carter was quite excited about it. He picked out all the decorations and I told him we would decorate the cake after nap time. He kept talking about how Oma, Opa, Uncie J, Uncie Taco, and daddy would be over for cake and pointed out pieces they were going to get. As the cake baked we read more books and prepared to blow bubbles outside. Literally as we were walking outside armed with the monitor Elise woke up. We headed back in to get her and while we were at it I changed her diaper and had Carter go potty. Then Carter blew some bubbles outside while I got the stroller out and ready to walk to storytime at the library about a quarter mile from our house. I loaded Elise and our bag of library books right around the time Carter dumped out the small cup of bubbles I'd poured for him (I only pour a small amount in his cup and tell him if he pours it out we're done because he pretty much always dumps it out after a while). That meant it was the perfect time to head out. Carter wanted to ride which was unusual but worked great because we were running a little late. Elise was awake so she got to get of the stroller for storytime. I love it when she's awake because she gets to interact and listen to the read alouds. At the end of storytime the librarian got out a parachute which the kids loved playing with. Then she announced its time for bubbles. Carter absolutely loves the bubble machine and I was lucky enough to catch his reaction to her saying it was bubble time in a photo. The pure joy he displays in the picture is something else. The storytime is called stay and play so after bubbles she brought out toys. Carter walked around playing with different things. I played with a container of musical instruments with Elise, playing them for her and then helping her play them. After storytime we checked out books and headed home. Carter walked on the way home and found a giant stick to play with.

Mixing the batter for my birthday cake.

I was wearing a hair tie on my wrist so he grabbed one as we were leaving, cracks me up!

Elise enjoying read alouds.

Carter's favorite part of the parachute time was when they got under it.

Carter's reaction to hearing it's time for bubbles.

We got home just in time for lunch. Elise went right down for a nap and Carter and I decided to eat a picnic lunch on the front porch because the mosquitoes are terrible in our backyard. When we were finished we blew bubbles for a bit. Elise started to wake up as we headed inside so I quickly got Carter down for nap. Then it was feeding and snuggle time with Elise before she went back to sleep. I uploaded pictures and published a Wordless Wednesday post while both kids slept. Then Elise woke up as she had been struggling to begin with. I went and got her out of her crib. We read a couple of books and then I took her to bed with me while I took a short nap.

We were having leftover spaghetti so I had him take his shirt off.

Snuggle time with Elisey Girl!

I love cuddling up to her for a little nap!

I woke up after 30 minutes and went to the kitchen to clean. Right as I walked in Carter woke up so we got started on cake decorating. Carter wanted me to ice the cake and then he took over from there. He had picked out some presents and party hats that were made out of sugar. I had to be really careful peeling them off the paper. One of them broke so I let Carter eat it and after that he'd point to the one he wanted next and say, "Oh no, broken!" He's so funny! When we were finished Carter wanted to read books so we sat in our reading chair and read library books. We found out my dad had a lot to do at work and had gotten a migraine partway through the day so my parents weren't going to be able to make it for my birthday. Carter took the news surprisingly well because he was so sure his Uncies "felt good" and would come over. I had told him Opa wasn't feeling well so they weren't coming. His immediate response was, "Uncie Taco, Uncie J feel good?" Thomas decided not to come over because he had a lot to do at his house, but Jeremy still planned to come. Carter was content with that.

Snuggle time with Carter while reading.

When Ty got home we went out to eat at the sushi restaurant he's taken me to every year for my birthday excluding the one when I was pregnant! Carter was very well behaved at dinner which made for a very enjoyable outing. When we got home Jeremy came over for cake and Carter actually sang me Happy Birthday along with Jeremy and Ty. The past few birthdays we've celebrated he got upset when everyone started singing and wouldn't join in. I gave Elise a bath and then headed out to take Harper on a walk while Ty bathed Carter. I'm trying to commit to taking Harper on a daily walk again and sometimes it's hard to get in! When I got back the house was quiet with sleeping babes so Ty and I sat down to relax and enjoy some television. Then it was off to bed! The celebrating didn't stop there as we will celebrate with my parents this weekend along with celebrating their anniversary. I had such a wonderful birthday and I'm looking forward to what my 29th year has to bring. Thanks to timehop I got to travel back on memory lane for some birthdays past. While all those years were fun, I'm so glad to be 29!

We've taken a picture in front of this same statue at the restaurant for my birthday every year.
This year Carter was just over 2.5 years old and Elise was 4 months old!

Last year Carter was just over a year and a half old.

2 years ago when Carter was 7 months old!

While I'm looking back at old pictures, 3 years ago we had Carter's gender reveal the day before my birthday and then I felt him kick for the first time on my birthday!