27!

27 it is, 27 it is! Holy heck, being closer to 30 is an actual feeling now - like I'm actually experiencing a sensation of "time sure is marching on." Instead of feeling how I thought I would feel edging towards the end of the glorious 20's (decrepit), I actual feel somewhat curated! Like life is getting sweeter, more meaningful and just FULL in general as Chad and I have moved from (drunken) late teenagers into the early twenties, parenthood, mid-twenties and into these exciting years of raising actual kids instead of babies and toddlers. Almost like we're editing our lives down from "give us all your hand-me-down furniture and while you're at it, your life experience" to "let's take life slow and really let go. God's got this!" It's a bevvy of new sensations, I tell you! This year's birthday feels heavier than all the past ones, but in a good way. I don't know if that makes any sense, but hey! 

Anyhoo, per the usual birthday obligations, I'm sitting here with a nice little Starbucks and enjoying quiet time. Carter, being the big humongous 5 year old that he is, is playing video games. VIDEO GAMES! I remember turning 22 and him being an exact 1 month old on this day. I remember being very excited for a date night out with Chad later that night, but semi agitated because the first time we left Carter (1 week earlier), had resulted in anxiety all through dinner and the longest movie of all time (Avatar!). That night was a blast, celebrating the ole' 22. How young we were! What a blast we were having! Geeze louise, God works some serious miracles - the grace he handed down to us during those years are not lost on me now that I have had some significant time in between. Ahh, the gift of hindsight!

I woke up today squished between Kota and Carter, the three of us pretty much pushing Chad off the bed - the best type of wake-up. I couldn't believe it was my birthday! I felt a weird sort of freaked-outness because it's my first bday far away from my family and good friends - maybe that's why today felt a tad bit heavier than usual? Anyway, after realizing (happily) that we were out of coffee therefore we HAD to go to Starbucks and doughnuts, driving around town lifted my semi-funky spirits. 75% of me was in this great mood because it's my birthday, but then 25% of me felt funny. After cruising around the sunny town, I felt better. Way blessed to get to be here with my favorite little peeps while we talked about Daddy getting home so Carter can "SHOW YOU YOUR BIRTHDAY SURPRISE, MOMMY!"

Okay, I feel like this has got to be my most depressing birthday post of all time! I'm not trying to be a downer, I guess I'm just feeling "deeper" this year, which is a good thing, right? It IS a good thing, I've decided. I'm stoked about it! But after rereading above paragraphs I kind of want to go crack myself open a beer or something to get the party started in my own mind! That's not going to happen (until children are in bed), but it's like I want a "deep thinking" breakout! 

So in honor of birthday awesomeness, here are a few of my favorite things from 26!

- Buying the house

- Leaving cramped living

- Chilling out about baby #3.... Realizing partying it up with 2 babies is a gosh darn fun time! Why worry about another one at the moment?

- The homemade tamales we had on New Years Eve. LIFE CHANGING. They needed a shoutout.

- Chad becoming a serious health officianado!

- Becoming obsessed with wine

- Meeting neighbors who I don't feel are transient beings! Benefits to home ownership!

- Celebrating 5 years of wedded bliss with Chadly

- Gifting our parents an awesome Vatican tour with my sister and brother! When they opened it on Christmas they almost cried and so did all of us! It was one of the best things of all time!

- Really digging our old car. That thing is a beast! I mean, there's nothing like a new set of wheels, but when you are emotionally wrapped up into how well your car functions (is this thing going to get me all the way to Mission Viejo?), you really appreciate it! Hahahaha

- Last summer. I'm a tad bit sad because nothing beats Ladera Ranch in terms of summer, and clearly that won't be how our next season will be, but I'm thankful to have had that amazing time last year. We hit the pools from April - September! It was amazing and so stress free - thank you splash pads and 2' pools!

- Getting on the same page with Chad decor wise! I know this sounds so lame, but this was actually a very stressful part of our lives together (hahaha - we are ridiculous). He actually cares a whole lot about how the house feels and everything surrounding that thought (is it clean? Is there enough light in this room? Is this functional? Do I like how this looks?). It used to drive me nuts because I, honest to goodness, always thought he wanted our marital habitats to be "fraternity house 2.0." I had ZERO faith in him, but also considered my own decor sub par. I've chilled out in the last few weeks and hey! I actually like the way the guy thinks! PALM SLAP TO THE FOREHEAD.

Okay, that felt great!!!! Now I'm going to go play 15 minutes of video games with Carter (he looks forward to this time together every day! It used to bug me... "I'm not going to sit here and play video games," is always what I thought in my head, but begrudgingly would still do it because he would get so down about it. But now I think it's a cute way for him to communicate with Chad and I). Anyway, cheers to 27!!!!!