I always thought that when I turned 30 I'd do something earth shattering. I'd go on some wild vacation, or change the world...
But it was just a jeans and t-shirt day, and I wouldn't have it any other way:
Tann and I getting ready to pick up Hunter from school. There was a huge lightening/thunder storm so we left early to get him. Tanner and I are always thinking of reasons to pick Hunter up early from school. What can we say, Hunter's just one fun guy to have around!
I counted Friday here in China as my birthday (b/c China is one day ahead of the US). Here are some highlights:
1. Helped some neighbors with finding some houses in the area.
2. My gals planned a lunch for Morgan and I (her birthday is one day later than mine). Everyone was heading out to a goldmine find of a restaurant: A MEXICAN RESTAURANT in Shanghai!! I ended up not joining them b/c Tim and I had to get some police clearance documents during his lunch break at work (part of the adoption process). Thanks gals, I hope everyone had a great time! Happy Birthday to you Morgan! And thanks for wrapping Tim's present:).
3. Tim got me my ever so coveted waffle iron, and had it sitting in his office wrapped by the time we showed up. I was so touched that he actually had a mapped out plan for my special day! He is also is getting me a tennis racket, and told me not to tell anyone about the waffle iron, b/c he thought it was a weird b-day gift. What can he say-- he has a weird wife! It's exactly what I wanted!!
4. The boys and I met Tim for dinner at "Johny Moos", which is an American burger joint. We went all out and got ice cream, drinks, the works! Loved it!
5. Tanner kept singing "Happy to you Tanner!" over and over.
Here's the part that melted my heart.
The night before my birthday, Hunter asked Tim "when I wake up tomorrow, is it going to be Mommy's birthday?" Tim told him "yup." Hunter was sooo excited and said "YES!!"
The night before he asked me in the car "Mommy, do you want me to buy you a Cinderella or Snow White dress for your birthday?" Then he said "Maybe Cinderella, because Snow White's dress isn't as beautiful." And then "And I will get you a necklace too."
He must've brought it up at least 3 times during the day. What do you do when his only English speaking playmates lately are girls?!
He also said:
"Mommy, then I'll also get a Prince suit to wear, and then we'll dance together!"
I smiled and brushed it off. Silly boy!
Then later that night, just after Hunter put his PJ's on upstairs, He peaked through the railing of the loft and said (looking downstairs into the living room where I was):
"Mommy, I'm sorry I never got you a princess dress for your birthday today." He was honestly sad he wasn't able to get me one. You should have seen his little slumped posture. My heart broke. I'd never seen someone so excited for my birthday before. He knew I didn't like Star Wars or Transformers, so he really wanted me to have something I would really like. Something girly. He had thought of the girliest thing he could.
On a split second, I said back up to him (he was still looking at me though the slats of the loft on the 2nd floor):
Me: "Hunter, I think you did actually get me one!"
Luckily just the night before I'd skimmed a parenting book called "Preschool Wise", and in he book, they talk about how wild the imagination of a 4 year-old is.
Me: "Hunter, I think you just forgot you put it in your back pack."
Hunter: "I did?! I did!! That's right!" His little feet tapped down the stairs as fast as they could while he giggled out loud.
I pulled out the two washcloths in his backpack (they require those for all the face and hand washing they do in Chinese schools), and tucked in the backpack the necklace I'd worn that day. I tuck one washcloth into my pants, and one in my top. Isn't this the part where the mice in Cinderella make her dress out of scraps? Well maybe that's why I'd gotten away with it. He totally believed in my set up.
He tucked his sword in the waistband of his dinosaur pajama pants and said:
"Okay mommy, this is the part where we dance."
And we did. Me and my little prince, me in my Cinderella dress. And Hunter went to bed happy he'd remembered to put my Cinderella dress and necklace in his backpack.
Thanks, Hunter. Not many people can say they danced with a prince on their 30th Birthday.
Friday, August 15, 2008
My 30th Birthday... will never be forgotten
Posted by Suzanne at 9:37 PM
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12 comments:
So I am either a big baby or I am just a complete wreck from such a crazy weekend, but my eyes filled with tears when I read that story. I just love having boys! They are so fun and really so sweet. Happy Birthday Suzanne!
oh my. that is the sweetest story! When he said "I'm sorry I didn't get you a princess dress mommy," my heart just broke for him. What a wonderful moment in your life and his was created by your quick thinking! I love being a mom. And I love hearing about you as a mom!
Happy Birthday. I loved your story. What a great mother and no one loves us as much as our sons do they?
I told my mom about my wonderful birthday, including Hunter's prince story.
She said "isn't that so cool that Heavenly Father showed you that book days before that happened, b/c he knew you'd need that information? How neat that it is that important to Heavenly Father to make a little four year-old happy."
Yes, gals, I agree, being a mom, and an aunt (for those of you waiting), is the greatest gift from God.
I will be eternally grateful for my Mom and Step-Mom. Naturally, they compete with eachother. But for this little post, I want to thank Susan too.
How hard to be the 2nd Mother to someone elses kids?! And yet, she knew all of our favorite colors, shoe sizes, hobbies, interests, and nourished us. She had dinner on a consistent basis by 5:30 at night. She instilled family traditions. On St. Patrick's day we had an all green meal every year. Green tortelini, green sherbert 7-up floats. Each time we hung Christmas lights, we'd come into a warm house with caramel rolls and hot cocoa. She was loud at basketball games. She combed headlice out of our hair. One Summer we came to her with ring-worm. She scrubbed the spots with toothbrushes to clean them and cured us while we stayed there. She let me braid her whole head in little mini braids with tin-foil at the ends, and wore it to work that way. She bought me books and read to me at night, clear into my teen years. Some nights she'd talk to me and fall asleep on my bed beside me. Those nights I'd be so excited to have her there, I'd keep waking up to make sure she was still there.
At the age of 26 she married my Dad, and all together became the grandmother of 5 kids right off the bat. Today she has a million, and is only 51 years old.
She and my Dad are empty nesters right now. She was never able to have children of her own. But she magnified what the Lord gave her. She ran with it. She was truly, in every sense of the word a FUN mother. And I have tried to pull off her "Mary Poppins" attributes, and fall short every time. Seriously, who has a family tradition for almost every holiday, and is consistent in maintaining them?! She still sends me a new Christmas ordnament each year based on my interest that year. An ornament for each of us. She mails out Valentines Day Cards. Her Christmas card list is over 230 people deep... after she cut back. She taught seminary for some time, and it was so cool to hear all the great rumors about her from the highschoolers when I was in Junior High. She sings too, and plays the piano. She plays "On Golden Pond" for my Dad. He jerks a small tear sometimes when he hears her play. She has naturally blonde hair. She can get away with pure red lipstick. She still talks to her mom on the phone every other night. She loves to call 911, and it is a family joke. She can sing a high C, and we would always have her stand in our vaulted entry way to do it for our friends. She wears a 6.5 shoe, at least when we were young... and her toes always looked so cute painted. She served a mission in New York and is still in contact with companions there. She graduated from BYU, studying communications and interior design. She never spent her money to decorate her house exactly how she wanted it, but sure knew how to tie everything together to look like it was exactly how she wanted it. Even the metallic brown wall paper and rust carpet in our teenage years house. She had laminated chore charts, with magnets representing each of us. She would pretend to spank us in the other room when we got in trouble then tell us to pretend to cry when we came out of the room. Susan has big teeth. She calls them horse teeth, but they fit her smile; I've always liked smiles that conqured the entire face when lit up. Susan always kept the art supplies well stoked. She had a sticker basket with several marked envelopes dividing them by topic. She let us use them. She got me my first library card. She taught me how to organize my closets and pantry. Hers always looked perfect. Perfect, I said. She had each child pick out their color of hangers for their closet, and so they never got confused. She taped up "New Era" motivational posters up and down the hallways to remind us "who we are" and "what we stood for". She always gets her visiting teaching done, every month. She likes to say yes more than no. She let us raid the pantry after Holly and I moved out. She still signs our Christmas presents from Santa in her special Santa handwriting. She has handwriting that looks like this very computer font. We used to test her to see if she'd ever have a sloppy day, but never. Except once Barry caught her at a drive-thru at the bank, she was writing a very quick note. He felt like he conquered the world when he was the one to catch her. Susan knows how to make REAL desserts.
It's 10:30, and it's time for bed. Which reminds me, she was also consistent in having 9:30 bedtimes in our teen years, but sometimes let us sneak out to hang out with her. She was that kind of person, the kind your friends wanted to hang out with too. I still call her and tell her everything, and she listens all the same. She loves us kids MORE than as if we were her own. Because it didn't come natural, she made it natural. We love you Susan, you are truly a work of God.
Sorry gals, didn't know I'd go so long on that one. Just felt it necessary for you all to know that I have two maternal influences in my life. I love it, and wouldn't have it any other way!!!
yah, my 30th b-day is coming up shortly and i'm still of the mindset that its going to be earth shattering fun. lol.
That is a great story. You are looking awesome, have you lost weight? You look very trim ;)
Plan something huge for your 40th!!!! Maybe if I put a bug in Chris' ear he'll think of something for my 30th... that's 3 years away so he's got time!!
Um can I say that you look unbelievable to be 30??? Happy Birthday!!!!
Happy Birthday, my dear friend! You are a princess in your own rite and I'm so happy that you were able to celebrate with the dearest little prince in the world. So sweet. Thanks for sharing!
Miss you. So glad that you are in my life!! :)
Happy Birthday! What a great family to celebrate it with. Miss you!
cutest story EVER! will he come to my 40th? My 30th was a looong time ago, but I'd love a good dance partner when the big four zero hits. Have him bring some prozac, I might need that too.
I just caught up. I love reading your blog. I talked about you on girls trip this last week (you look great, you would have put us all to shame...except for Erin's new boobs!). Here's what I've learned from you...
When I first met you I learned that you wanted 2 boys and that you wanted to someday live in China and adopt two Chinese little girls. I was like, OK then. And now here you are. You are the perfect example of positive thinking. You pictured your life in your head and you planned like you knew it would happen and it did. I envy that about you. You have inspired me to think bigger, think more positively and most importantly, believe it can happen.
Happy birthday! I'm so glad I know you!
Suzanne! Stop being my stalker!! I'd love to be your buddy! :) I was looking at your blog after you offered some photos & I thought, "China? Wait a second... when was the last time we spoke?" ha!
Happy belated birthday, by the way!! Sometimes "normal" birthdays are just the most special.
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