It's My Birthday Too, Yeah!

Most of you know that I adore reading. I can chew on multiple books at once, or even swallow one whole in a single day. My earliest memories of reading include winning a "Read-a-thon" in kindergarten for reading the most books. I think I got a paper certificate and a coupon for a free ice cream cone. But, I digress...

Today has been an incredible birthday. It started (at my request) with presents in bed (like breakfast in bed, but without the crumbs). Jeff brought me an amazon.com box to open, crudely assembled with scotch tape. I opened it to find a stack of DVD's that we already owned. (Ok - inside joke here between Jeff and I, which I'm too lazy at the moment to go into detail about... but trust me, it was funny.) He left the room, and returned with another gift. I then opened a (very very very nice) book light, to which Jeff attempted to make me believe was the only gift he had for me. Pfft.

He again exited the room, and returned with a third gift (which by the way, these were all wrapped with Christmas wrapping paper). Beneath the wrapping lay a cardboard packing box with a rippable seam on one end. I grabbed ahold of the seam, noting the words along the dotted line, "Once upon a time..."

Within very impressive, beautiful packaging was a case for a Kindle. What's this?! A Kindle case? Jeff then acted surprised, as if a Kindle was supposed to be included in there. "I'm seriously upset. I'm going to have to call them to see why it isn't in there." I have to give him kudos for his acting ability here, though I knew him well enough to know that he was trying to mess with me.

He left the room for the last time, holding another Christmas paper wrapped box behind his back. Underneath this paper was another cardboard box that contained beautiful packaging inside. Within that, was my very own Kindle courtesy of Jeff and my brother Greg. (Again due to laziness, I'll include stock photos, but you really should follow the link to see what it's all about.)

I've been reading on it all day. It is one of those things were you can't grasp how amazing it is until you have it in your hands. Seriously, the screen looks like paper. It's ignited that same excitement of the little 5 year old girl trying to work her way through as many books as she can. But, instead of ice cream at the end of the day, I'll have birthday cake.

S

They Say It's Your Birthday!

Happy birthday to the most wonderful Mama and wife ever! I remember watching the Beatles Anthology and Paul telling John, Ringo & George that when he dreamed up the song 'Scrambled Eggs' (soon to get renamed, wisely, to Yesterday), he also dreamed that The Beatles would soon be breaking up and so they couldn't wait until July 30th 1980 to write their hit song, Birthday. Alas, it didn't come out on your birthday but we all know it was written for you. Take for example when they sing:

'La la la la la la la

Yeah we'd like you to dance'.

They're actually singing:

'Shau na na na na na na na

Yeah we'd like you to dance.'

And all those times that you could play their records backwards and hear strange things, they were actually saying 'Happy Birthday to our bestest fan, Shauna.'

It's on the internet(now) so it has to be true :)

We love you so much hunnee, thanks for being the light of our lives and we can't wait to celebrate your special day! <3>

Fun Love

I know I've probably made you all queasy a few times with the way I gush over Jeff. But this time, you won't be reading about candy, hearts, flowers, or silly mushiness. Instead, I present you with a simple experience that I couldn't resist sharing.

Last night, Jeff and I were having a quiet moment on the couch, hanging out and eating ice cream after Harper had gone to bed. I reached over to give him a taste of mine. He opened the hatch, so to speak, but my aim was a bit off, so ice cream dribbled down his chin. Sure enough, (without thinking), I used the spoon to scoop the dribble - then went one step farther and proceeded to feed the dribble to to him. We both burst into giddy laughter. Though we couldn't stop laughing to say it, we both had a great understanding for the fun of our relationship and how parenthood has really taken over every little thing of our lives (which is not a bad thing).

No more than 5 minutes later, Jeff had spooned a bite of his for me. I could sense him in my peripheral vision to my right, so swung around towards him. Oops! To my surprise, the spoon full of Phish Food ice cream was now right in front of my face. In a flash, my nose and the spoon collided, leaving me with a chocolate covered nose. Queue the raucous laughter.

While just one of the many ingredients, love should be about having fun... and loads of laughter.

Proving Us Wrong

For quite some time, Jeff and I have maintained our assumption that Harper would skip crawling and go straight to walking. After all, my mom said I did the same when I was a baby. Well, this week he proved us wrong.

Jeff and I were chatting while Harper was playing on the floor. We were casually talking while watching him play, when Jeff asked, "Is he crawling?"

I had been looking right at him, and my brain didn't quite register that he was indeed crawling. Well, I'm not totally sure you could call it a crawl. He's definitely on his hands and knees, but he more scoots along the floor in a crouched position. We'll have to snap a picture or take a video to post. It's adorable.

However, within 24 hours, he took his first unassisted step. He's definitely not ready for independent walking, but he's quite close. He thinks it is a fun game to pull himself up, let go, then catch himself on me if he leans forward, or have me catch him if he leans backwards. Once he's stable again, he lets out his big belly laugh. Thankfully, he only plays this game when someone is around to catch him. I'm thankful that he understands that it is a game only to be played with a grown up.

He continues to capture everyone's heart with his incredible smile that fills his face with joy. His laughter is just as heartwarming, and I can't get enough! He is also becoming well known for dancing his heart out anytime he hears music (or even just about anything resembling music i.e. my singing to him). He's almost a year old, and I can hardly believe time has gone by so quickly.