Yah Mon, it's my Birthday!

I took this of myself, of the view, at 7am on my birthday!

The kind staff left me this message.  Notice the spelling:)

Today is my birthday! I keep forgetting, which could be an obvious sign of my aging. Or, sheer avoidance. But, it is in fact my birthday. I am 36. However, in my moment of realizing it is the anniversary of my police car arrival I think I am 37. I am not sure if I am grateful for the extra year of youth or optimistic that 37 will still feel this good!!

I am spending this day at The Caves, in Jamaica. No other words are necessary to make that point clear!
I couldn't ask for a better day, a better way, or better company to spend my birthday. Since being here I've battled a bad case of the runs and haven't been up past 10pm yet. Also, my back hurts, which should be resolved by my 4pm Jamaican massage. Coupled with our 530pm sunset hot tub experience. If it were not for these subtle hints of ageing I would not feel a day over 35:)

After our massage!!!

Down these steps into the hot-tub cave for sunset!

The view

The view,  again

Popping the champagne!

Cheers!

36 is an uneventful age. Except if you count the fact that today is the Royal Wedding, a day the world could not stop talking about, making this April 29th highly anticipated. I would like to personally thank Kate and William for taking the spotlight off of me on this day and allowing me to sunbathe in Jamaica without the paparazzi and enjoy my aging in peace.
Life is not much different since my post last year. My wardrobe remains as is, my DVR records the same silly shows and is always nearing the 90% full marker since I rarely make the time to watch. My laundry still piles on end and I still enjoy the same things. I am proud to say that different from last year, although I still (happily) have the husband and three boys, I no longer have those extra ten pounds that separated my mid-twenties from my mid-thirties. I had to sacrifice a large portion of my brain, the part that houses short term memory for keys and ATM cards, particularly, but it seemed like a fair trade. Despite the weight loss, however, I still have the membership fee of pregnancy branded on my belly as stretch marks and the baby hips to go along with it. I wonder if sacrificing my spontaneous desire to jump from a 30 foot cliff would be considered market value?

On this start of my 37th year I am relaxed and calm and quintessentially happy. Calm Caribbean waters may be responsible for the relaxed feeling but the happy comes from within. This I know is true.
Birthdays are a time to celebrate. Grateful, always, for another year no matter the number. And today's celebration was way more than I would have ever asked for. Our night, eventually, finished off with candlelight dinner overlooking the wave-crashed cliffs, another fantastic meal at the Caves, and a team of Jamaicans singing "Happy Birthday" to me.

Idyllic setting aside, however, I can't wait to have my boys sing happy birthday to me. Birthdays are for celebrating life.....but its not complete with out them. But, that's two days from now. For now, it's back to my perfect blue sky!!

Til next year!

Jamaican Me Crazy!!

Todd and I love Jamaica. It always seems to be, for many reasons, the vacation spot we return to most. We've been there a half dozen times already and intend to continue adding to the tally. In fact, we were supposed to be there right now. Literally, at this moment, we would have been 48 hours in to a Jamaican vacation, soaking up the sun, and relaxing. We also would have been there with four of our great friends and having the time of our lives.
When we found out I was pregnant, we knew I would be 33 weeks along when we boarded the plane for Negril, we were not worried. We figured we would still go, enjoy ourselves, and relax even if I looked ridiculous in a bathing suit and couldn't enjoy one cocktail while I was there. Uncomfortable or not, five days in warmth and relaxation had to be better for the pregnancy than five days in the middle of the winter chasing two year old twins. Not to mention this was our first adult only vacation with the Sperlings and the Klaus' in a very long time. And so, we counted down the months, then the weeks. With just two weeks to go a minor complication in this pregnancy landed me on modified bedrest and prevented the trip altogether. Disappointed as I was at the time, it was Todd I felt bad for. He had been so excited for this trip and I felt as if I had destroyed his dreams. He has been handling it ok. Now that it is the week of, however, I definitely feel the disappointment of being here and not there. I can taste the salty caribbean on my tongue, and the delicious coca bread from the poolside grill in my mouth. I imagine Beth and Dave and Erik and Lori enjoying hummingbirds with extra splashes of vodka, and I laugh as I picture Erik throwing off the fruit and umbrella that is surely accompanying the drink. I know they are having a great time and are likely thinking of us less then we are them. We'll get back to Jamaica, this I know, and we will probably even have the luxury of travelling with all of them again, but it definitely is a sore spot that we had to miss out. I know, though, once we hold Zygie for the first time the trip we almost took to Jamaica will be a distant memory and the love of our child will remind us it was worth it.