a birthday story

So, as some of you may know, last week I officially entered my 30's.  Okay, so yes, I was 30 for a whole year, but not until I turned 31 did I feel like I really entered the 30's.  I was just 30 before.  But last week I took that next step into a decade that has always sounded so ancient to me.  There's no turning back now.

To honor my big day, my parents had us come down to O-town so they could make my birthday complete with dinner and cake and all that jazz.  My mom gave me the option of having her make her homemade pizza (which is my favorite pizza by far!) or taking us out to dinner to the local "fancy" restaurant.  It was a hard choice, but the temptation of no food preparation, no clean-up, and no dirty dishes won out in the end.  Plus, it's a breeze taking 3 kids ages 4 and under to a restaurant.  Right?

When we arrived at the restaurant, we found out that there was a big party going on, so the only seats left were in the bar area with very tall bar stools.  Great for kids... ha.  My parents were highly disappointed since they frequent this restaurant every Friday night and are used to their "usual" seats.  But we made do although the "girls table" (yes, we had to sit at different tables) tipped precariously back and forth causing our food and drinks to slide all over.  And poor Tate had to sit in two highchairs stacked on one another and still could barely reach his food on the table.

Eventually the food arrived.  All was good.  I was about to take the 4th bite of my delicious meal when...

"Mommy, I peed my pants!"  Millie's sad (and very loud) sob rang through the "bar."  And she was right.  She and her chair were soaked.  I couldn't be upset with her though.  It was completely my fault - I had totally forgotten to have her go potty before we left and in the excitement of ordering dinner, she forgot she was wearing big girl panties.  So I took her to the bathroom to clean her up, but I didn't have an extra set of clothes for her.  Luckily, we had one diaper left in the diaper bag, so I put that on her and washed her shorts in the sink with handsoap.  Since they were soaking wet I didn't want to put them back on her, so I just had her wear her diaper back to the table.  Good thing we chose the "fancy" restaurant.  This may have been okay at McDonald's, but it was quite out of place here.  At least we were in the "bar."  I'm sure she's wasn't the first to be pants-less in there...

Back at the table, my food was still warm.  All was not lost.  And then Tate started fussing.  Loudly.  Hmm...I thought, it's not like him to be so fussy.  I wonder what's wrong with him.  We let him fuss a little more, thinking he would stop, but all he did was get louder and louder.  Being the courteous restaurant patron that I am, I didn't want him to disturb the other diners, so I picked him up to hold him on my lap.  But as I lifted him up, I felt a squishy substance oozing through my fingers.  Yes...  Poop.  It was poop.  Lots and lots of poop.  I panicked realizing that we didn't have any diapers left.  But my mom came up with the perfect solution...  Chad trotted off with Tate to the men's room while Mom took Millie to the ladies' room.  When they returned, Millie was wearing her soaking wet shorts (commando-style) and Tate was happy in his clean diaper lent to him from his sister.

Another successful meal out.  However, it ended on a good note when I got my free birthday cupcake.

Which, of course, my girls quickly devoured.

But back at mom and dad's, there was this big yummy cake waiting for me.  Angel food - my favorite!

Please try to hold back on your nasty candle comments.  Yes, it's a wonder the house didn't burn down.  Yes, it did take nearly an hour to get them all lit.  Yes, it took me several tries to get them all blown out.  Yes, the candles cost more than the cake.  Ha, ha.  You've had your fun.  Now get over it.

Anyways, not only did we celebrate my birthday back in my hometown, we also got to go to the good ol' Southern Iowa Fair!

The highlight for the girls was riding the ponies.

Millie's face was priceless.

After the rodeo Addie attended, she's now an old pro at riding horses.

It's much easier to stay on a horse than a sheep.

And of course, the fair isn't complete without posing by a race car.

Well, that's my birthday story.  If you learned anything, I hope it's this: When given the choice, always choose the homemade pizza.

I'll leave you with this sweet picture: