Birthday Reflections

Today is my 31st birthday.  It has been a great day.

There's a big difference between kid birthdays and adult birthdays.

This morning at breakfast Griffin asked, "So mom, what theme did you choose for your birthday?"  I chuckled and told him I didn't pick one because I wasn't having a birthday party.  Nolan chimed in, "Then what's the point of a birthday?"

We did enjoy doughnuts for breakfast. :)  Jared made me eggs Benedict for dinner with a few alterations for my dietary restrictions.  Eggs Benedict has been my choice for birthday dinner since we were in college (or maybe longer ago than that).  My friend Megan baked delicious cookies for me and our whole Sunday school class.  I may be 50+ pounds lighter than I used to be, but I still enjoy tasty treats on my birthday.

And I didn't exercise today.  Birthday rules.

We still had our usual crazy Sunday morning, complete with a few extra struggles with the kids.  Originally, I was secretly hoping that someone from my Sunday school class would offer to teach for me today so I could have a week off.  It was especially difficult to find time to study my lesson last week while Jared was gone.

But when I got to church this morning, I realized that I really did want to teach my class.  Those are my people.  I care to my core about them.  Even though I get nervous to the point of nausea each and every week (about teaching), I loved spending my birthday morning with my friends from church.  It was also so fun to get birthday greetings, hugs, and even a few cards.

After we got home from church, I changed into pajamas.  And I stayed in them the rest of the day.  It was glorious.  I really wanted to do something creative, but I ended up spending time on Pinterest and other websites looking at creative ideas.

I did spend time admiring my kids.  Nora and I put together a puzzle, and I colored with Nora and Nolan.  Griffin kept blowing me kisses all day long.

The boys made me birthday cards, which is pretty much my favorite thing ever.

Front of Griffin's card:  Happy Birthday Mom

Inside Griffin's card:  I {heart} You

Amazing, right?

Later in the day, Nolan proudly brought me a card of his own.

Front of Nolan's card:  To Mom, From Nolan

Inside Nolan's card:  Happy B-day Mommy, Hope you have a g-r-e-a-t B-day!  The picture says I {heart} and has an arrow pointing to a drawing of me.

Seriously, these are the things that keep me going.

I told Jared that last year was such a milestone birthday.  I felt like I had accomplished so much by my 30th birthday.  It was also a celebration of my weight loss journey.

This year I naturally looked back on my life since my 30th birthday to assess my accomplishments.  I told Jared that I didn't feel like I've accomplished anything in the last year.  His reply was, "A child with Asperger's.  That's what you've accomplished."

I suppose he's right.  Last year at this time, we hadn't even begun the evaluation process with Griffin.  This year, we have learned so much about him in addition to getting his actual diagnosis.  I had not realized that all of the "Griffin stuff" has gone down in the last year.

I'll be honest.  It's been a rough week with Griffin and the Asperger's.  A stupid dentist appointment (Griffin getting a filling) did me in, and I ended up breaking down in front of my Bible study ladies.  We're in a rough patch. 

I don't know why these patches catch me off guard.  Did I really think parenting should be easy?  It's work.  Some days are a lot more work than others.  The last year has been a bit grueling in the parenthood department.  But the hard moments have given us new eyes for the victorious moments. 

So the year from 29-30 was about losing weight, taking a little more pride in my appearance (within reason!), and finding release through blogging.  The year from 30-31 was about facing parenting challenges head on and growing in my relationship with God.

What will the next year hold?  I'll let you know as soon as I do.

Jessica