A Birthday.

January 6, 2012

A Birthday.

I set my alarm for 6:45am. Plenty of time to wake up Everly early so that she could see the decorations that Brent and I had hung for her late the night before. Instead, at 6:15am, I heard the thump thump of little feet down the hallway and saw her tiny frame, wrapped in fuzzy red pajamas standing at my bedside. “I see sumfin’” she said, pointing out the door. “You do?” I asked shaking off the sleep. “Yes. Balloons” she said pulling at my arm to get out of bed. I tried to convince her to join us for a few more minutes and snuggle in between her brother, father, and I, but the girl had spotted her birthday decorations and she wanted to explore.

She danced in the streamers and bopped the balloons around while Brent headed for the coffee pot and I turned on the lights. “Whose birthday is it today?!” Brent asked “MINE!” she happily chirped back. We practiced holding up two fingers to show her age, opened a few little gifts and enjoyed seeing her and Arlo play together with the new wooden tea set and play foods.

By 7am, we had lit candles on a fruit covered cheesecake I had picked up for the occasion and she blew them out like a pro. “Sing again?!” she asked, so we lit them back up, sang once more and she gave them a second blow. We served her up a big slice and I shook off the “I can’t believe I’m feeding my child cheesecake this early” thoughts while she spooned big gobs of it into her mouth.

I knew weeks earlier that I would have to miss her birthday due to an all day marketing meeting offsite and I wanted to enjoy as much time with Everly as I could get before I had to head into work. The rest of her day was spent surrounded by family and balloons in every direction. Brent sent me texts on their activities to keep me updated. As I slumped in exhausted at 8:30pm that night, I found the last of our family waiting for me - Everly still awake an hour past her bedtime - so that we could finish the day with one more slice of cake, one last birthday song and final blow of two little candles.

It’s hard being a working mama sometimes and it felt especially heavy knowing that I was missing such a big day in my little girl’s world… but I was comforted knowing it was such a fun day of celebration and joy for her. If I have learned anything as a parent, it is that these moments are what we make of them - and I’ll treasure every early morning tea party or late night sugar buzz I get.

Love,