PreachTeach: Blog by Erica

I love birthdays. I especially love MY birthday.  Being spoiled and pampered is fun, and quite frankly, I enjoy any attention I can get!

Yesterday, I turned 31. Birthdays as a mom, at least for me, turn out a little different than the pampering I envision: 

1. My birthday began as my oldest son woke me from my sweet slumber,

2. with a bloody nose.

3. My daughter grabbed a fork to “help” me eat my oatmeal.

4. She said, “poop,” climbed off my lap and walked towards the bathroom.

5. I plopped my 17 month old daughter onto the potty. She pushed, tooted, and reached for the toilet paper.

6. Leaving her naked in the bathroom, I went to grab a diaper. I returned to poop on the floor.

7. I cleaned up poop. At 7:30 am.

8. My four-year-old, who is most like me and loves his sleep, yells for me to come downstairs. “Mommy, I need your help here. My bed’s all wet.”

9. I did a load of laundry.

10. “Poop!” I found my daughter standing in the potty reaching for toilet paper.

11. I braved taking all three of my littles to my favorite hole-in-the-wall diner for breakfast. I forgot they only take cash.

12. With my baby on my hip, I retrieved cash from the ATM across the street, which is located in a bar.

13. My son and I high-fived because the baby finally went down for a nap (she skipped them all last week). Hooray! It’s 12:30.

14. Baby’s awake. It’s 12:50.

15. Baby girl has little red dots all over her forehead.

16. I did another load of laundry.

17. “Poop!” Once again, I scooped her up and plopped her down. She pushed, SHE POOPED, she laughed.

18. I sent out multiple text messages of my happy little girl on the potty.

19. My daughter had a bath and I liked 150+ birthday messages on Facebook.

20. I became friends with my first grade teacher on Facebook. She said, “you’re just as pretty as I remember!”

21. The kids and I… okay, really just I, popped popcorn and built a fort.

22. Fox and the Hound made me teary eyed.

23. Grumpy baby girl went down for a nap… again… for real this time. Hallelujah! It’s 4:00.

24. I left all messes to be picked up by someone else. (This is what it looks like when I really do nothing all day!)

25. We went out for dinner to which my six-year-old forgot to wear shoes… so he wore Grandma’s golf shoes inside.

26. My mom lost her wallet,

27. so my brother paid for dinner!

28. I sat at the end of the driveway, waiting for my husband to get home.

29. Tried a birthday selfie. This was the best I could get, 

30. My husband put the kids to bed, did the dishes, and took me for ice cream.

31. I realized I have 9 more years til I’m 40…

Not quite a day of pampering, but quite a special day indeed!

Thanks to all my family and friends for the birthday love! Here’s to the next 31!

XOXO- Erica