Me at 28 (28 weeks and 5 days pregnant)

I turned the big 28 yesterday (now I'm really in my late 20's!) and was surrounded by birthday wishes from all my friends and family. Thanks everyone for all of the calls/emails/messages.

Like most people, birthdays always make me think about the past, present and future...or do people always think about the past, present and future during Christmas? My birthday is so close to Christmas that it's all the same thing to me anyway!

My past
Ten years ago, I turned 18 and was a senior in high school. I didn't know where I was going to college yet and the world was full of possibilities. I was surrounded by great friends who I still have to this day. I felt like I owned Houston, driving around in my blueberry Mazda Protege. Life was good.

A year ago, I spent my 27th birthday at Walt Disney World...it was the best birthday ever! It's definitely hard to top WDW. :) We spent the afternoon on the Fantasia mini-golf course and had dinner at the very fancy Victoria and Albert's at the Grand Floridian. We did the wine pairings with dinner...I don't think I've been that drunk since!

My Present
Fast forward to the present and I definitely did not expect to be pregnant a year ago. It was such a wonderful surprise and I feel truly blessed to be where I am at today. I've always said that I wanted to have my first child before I turned 30 (30 seems to be the cut-off point for a lot of people), so it's not too crazy that we're expecting our first child now. It's just that there's a lot going on at one time between the house, baby and busy season at work, but I don't think that I'd have it any other way. I've been surrounded by such caring people through my family, friends and co-workers, that I feel like I can handle anything.

I got the "unfortunately" phone call from the doctor's office yesterday informing me that I've developed gestational diabetes. I was so upset, that I left work early and went home. When I got home, I found Steven baking a birthday cake for me. It was so sweet of him and I was so sad that I couldn't sit there and eat a huge slice of cake. I spent the afternoon and evening talking through my roller coaster of emotions with friends. Thanks Mae and Kathy for listening to me in my state of madness. I'm really lucky that I went to the High School for Health Professions and ended up with two best friends who are doctors! I definitely did not see that as being a high school perk 10 years ago! They made me feel so much better about the whole GD situation and it made me realize at the end of the night that I've got a great support system and I'm truly lucky to have the friends I do have in my life. I can't wait until the baby comes...Maria will be getting midnight calls from me, and, in a couple of years when Alice graduates from vet school, she'll be getting phone calls about Carrie and Button! If I end up having a C-section, then I can definitely turn to Melissa! Hmmm...it makes me feel kind of useless...anyone want an audit, I don't do taxes, just audits. :)

We had dinner at the Roaring Fork in the Intercontinental Hotel (and, of course, didn't order dessert). We used the last of our cousin wedding gift certificates. The amount wasn't on the gift card, and I thought it was for $100 and Steven thought it was for $50. We ended up spending $77 and the gift card wasr $75, so it turned out perfectly! I'm sad that we're out of gift certificates now, does that mean we're not newlyweds anymore? We still have a few shows left at the Paramont. So far, we've been to Sarah Vowell, who was the voice of Violet in The Incredibles and has a show on NPR,and George Orwell's 1984. Let's just say that Sarah Vowell was much better than 1984! Coming up, we've got: Dave Barry, David Sedaris, a Spalding Gray tribute (not sure who that is, but that's part of the fun), and the Kodo Drummers. The Kodo Drummers is actually the week that I'm due. If the baby hasn't come yet, maybe the drumming will coax the baby out. :)

The best birthday present I got this year was from Steven (besides the cake). He's been working on knitting a scarf for me for over a year now and he finished it for me as a surprise while I was on one of my marathon phone conversations yesterday. It's self striping Noru yarn from Hill Country Weavers that I absolutely love. He even looked up how to bind off the scarf in one of my knitting books and he wove in all of the loose ends. I wanted to make sure that I'm wearing the scarf in my birthday picture. Isn't it pretty?

The Future
Hopefully a year from now, I can say that I'm a mom to a healthy and happy 10 month old baby boy, who will have a name by then! I look forward to whatever this next year brings. Bring it on!

Thanks everyone again for all of the birthday wishes!