My Birthday

Last Monday, the 3rd, was my 28th birthday. To be honest I was expecting the day to really really suck. Wes ended up having to work in the morning until after lunch (it is normally one of his days off). I had big plans for the day...and the first of those was to have Wes get up with the kiddos and he could do the morning routine and deal with it all while I blissfully slept upstairs and could just roll over and turn a *blind ear* to all of the chaos downstairs. However, the morning ended up being just as crazy and hectic as usual and my hubby did not get home until around 4. He did bring me home some very very nice deserts and he did take the kids outside so I could just have about an hour of "me" time. I actually got to take a shower that lasted for more than the 2.5 minutes mine usually do. Then Wes called his aunt Brenda and she was willing to watch the kids for us so we could go to dinner. Our original plan was to go to dinner and a movie and my Mom would watch the kids, but with my Dad's heart attack and he had just left the hospital the day before my birthday I didn't think it was even fair to ask her to still do it so I thought we weren't going anywhere! Anyway, we went to Kotos for dinner and had a really nice time. We both really love going to Koto's and just enjoying the entire experience...the Mai Tai's were pretty good too! The day overall was not what I expected but not as bad as I expected either.
We waited and had my family over this past Saturday for cake and ice cream. Ever since we were very young we have always gotten together for each and every birthday. We have never missed one. This is not my first birthday without my brother Brandon here, but it seemed to hurt more than it did last yer. It was very hard to be here enjoying cake and our families company without Brandon's face right there with his goofy grin and his loud booming voice picking on anyone he could find in his cross hairs. Yes, we made it through the day and yes we did have a good time...but a piece of all of us was still missing. I miss him more and more each day. Watching the kids grow up and not having him here to see it, especially his godson Riley, has been hard. But we will keep going and hopefully at some point the birthdays will become more survivable without him here.
On a lighter note I got a really great gift from my Mom! She of all people knows how important family time is and she gave me the gift of time with each member of my family. She gave me a gift certificate to Gardeners Supply and to lunch to have a date with my hubby. She gave me a gift certificate to go mini golfing with Aiden and one to go get manicures with Calleigh and to go to Shelburne Farms with Riley. I have to tell you it is one of the BEST gifts I have received. I don't get enough one on one time with my kids or my hubby and I am greatly looking forward to spending such great time with each of them! There will definitely be posts on those days as they come up!