Birthday.

Today was my birthday! I love birthdays. Not because of the presents and stuff like that (though those are great) but because I'm always reminded on birthdays how wonderful my friends and family are.

Birthdays are also great, especially for me because mine is so close to the middle of the year, because they're like a second new year's celebration. A time for reflection. This one has been particularly introspective for some reason. I'm not sure what's been driving it but I've been feeling the need to be more grateful. In all honesty, my life is great. I may not have the home I want (we're apartment dwellers) or the second baby I want or the savings account size that I want but I have a wonderful family, wonderful friends, a job that keeps me on my toes, a freelance business that's taking off, a doting husband and a daughter who is as sweet as sugar.

My only real goals for this next year of my life...the big 33...is to find gratitude, and to improve my health.

And with that -- THANK YOU to everyone who made this birthday so wonderful. Whether it was a phone call, a gift, a "Happy Birthday" in person, or a birthday wish on Facebook, you have all made my day, and I love every one of you so much.

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Four Years Old.

Four Years Ago
I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl

48 Months

2,496 weeks

17,472 days

419,328 hours

25,159,680 minutes

All of them the very best that I have ever lived.

Happy birthday, Angelica Josephine!

 

Tell Us Something Good - Angelica's Birthday PARTY!

<a href="http://jellybean529.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gu5_FVUWDiU/TbOiTxKXERI/AAAAAAAADyQ/xx_xAhBhkHE/s200/somethinggood.jpg" alt="Angelica's Awesome Adventures" width="150" /></a>

It's Tuesday! Come tell us something GOOD that's going on in your life this week! The rules are easy...just make a post on your blog about something that made you smile this week, then come back and add YOUR "Tell Us Something Good" post to the linky below! If you want to share the button, you can grab it from the box at the top of this post too.

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Angelica's birthday season is officially over! Her birthday party was this past weekend and it was a ton of fun! We rented out a private bounce house place so the kids had it all to themselves. Since they couldn't go anywhere, that also meant that the adults (well, most of us) could take some time to stand back and relax.

I didn't get many photos myself...I'm hoping that some friends will come through and fill in the gaps for me. Sometimes that happens when you're the party host. I actually didn't get ANY good ones of the bounce house action. And the battery in my good camera died, so I had to use my old point and shoot that's really seen better days. But here are a few of the ones that I caught of the special day!

Homemade cupcakes! They looked prettier in person.

Angelica and her cousins taking a juice break.

Bouncing on the indoor track.

Blowing out her candle

Cupcake shenanigans with Rylie and Bryce!

Thank you to EVERYONE who came and made her day so special. She was so happy to be surrounded by friends and family, it really meant a lot to her, and it meant a lot to us, too.

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Link up below with me and LeeAnn from The Life of Rylie...and Bryce Too! Let's spread the joy!

*Please note: This linky is only for those participating in Tell Us Something Good. You are welcome to link up a recent post about something good in your life, we just ask that you include the Tell Us Something Good badge somewhere in your post. We hate to have "rules", but we want to be fair to those that are participating. Thank you for understanding.*

Three.

It's after midnight here, so I can officially wish my precious baby a happy THIRD birthday.

We celebrated her last day of the "terrible" twos in style. We spent the morning at a local indoor playground that Angelica LOVES. I pretty much made her day by buying her an adorable handmade ladybug hair clip in the shop. We went grocery shopping and I treated her to a cookie and small bag of candy. We visited with her cousins, who came to play in her splash pool.

I'll have a whole post dedicated to her third birthday  soon, but I didn't want today to go by without acknowledging that three years ago today -- the day she came into this world, showing her fiery personality and zest for life by screaming her head off before she was even fully out of the womb -- was the best day of my life. And every second of every minute of every day since then has been completely and totally worth it.  Life has not been the same at all since the day she was born, and I would not change a thing.

Happy birthday, Angelica. Mommy and Daddy love you more than words can say.