Next Year, I'm Going to be More Specific

Yesterday was my birthday. It was a good day. Well, I guess overall it was a good day. See, when I thought about what I wanted for my birthday, I thought of a few things, both gifts and acts of service. Here was my list:

*Time. For me. Do something I want to do.
*Get my hair cut.
*Go on a date with Braden.
*Sleep in.
*Do something fun with my family.
*Enjoy dinner at Stacey's house.
*Get organized (more of a age 26 goal). So, get storage bins.

Well, I guess I should have either voiced my list out loud or been more specific. I actually did get everything on my list, except for the storage bins. Those seem in short supply. But I guess I needed to be more specific because here's what I really got:

*On Saturday, Braden watched the girls as I went to a baby shower and then to get my hair cut. I expected it to take 2 hours or so but it took 3 1/2 so I didn't get to clean up the house or make dinner for the baby sitter and the girls before going on our date. Thankfully, I had just gotten my hair done so I didn't have to shower, but on Saturday, I was home for 1 hour total between the hours of 9 am and 10 pm and the other hours were spent in a mad rush. (I cut my hair to my shoulders and got it colored...dark. Way dark. Way darker than I think I was ready for. But I'm sure I'll adjust to it and end up LOVING it.)
*We went to the temple and then out to dinner for our date. It was ward temple night so we had arranged with some friends to go out to dinner together after the session, but 2 of them ended up not being able to go to the temple. So, we had invited a bunch of others and thought we'd just meet up with them and arrange it there. We planned on doing initiatories and meeting the group in the Celestial Room, but when we got to the temple, their session was already over (they went an hour early...grr...) so we thought we'd missed that boat completely. Thankfully, we found one couple who had also done initiatories and waited for us so we went to dinner with them. I was so excited for my meal, but disappointed to find my burger was burned. So I asked for another one, but the second was dry. So sad.
*On Sunday morning, I did get to sleep in. I slept in until 9, I think. But that was after being up 4 times in the night with Taryn because she had an upset stomach. I could tell because she was gassy and her burps smelled like toots. I've had that before and I know how much my stomach hurt. Braden and I made breakfast together-homemade blueberry muffins and a fruit smoothie. Delicious. Of course, it was fast Sunday, so the girls and I enjoyed it while Braden was in the other room.
*Do something fun with my family. Okay, this really has to be seen thru the right eyes to be considered "fun". But I will admit I laughed a lot about it. We got to church at 1:50, for church to start at 2. There were 4 baby blessings so the chapel was packed and we had to sit in the gym. I HATE sitting in the gym. But oh well. As we were sitting down, the second counselor in the bishopric came up to me and asked me to lead the music as the chorister was not there. Sweet. I didn't have to sit in the gym! But after a couple minutes, the old chorister came in and I knew she had probably been asked by the new chorister to cover for him. So I started going back to our seats when the Elder's Quorum President walked hastily up to me and said, "Oh, did you hear?" Hear what!? Oh, just that Taryn had vomited ALL over the place. I go to Braden only to find him seriously covered in vomit. All over his shirt, tie, suit, pants, shoes, the floor, the hymn book, Taryn's dress and blanket, and the chairs. Wow. And it was all purple from the blueberry muffins and shake. Great. Here I am thinking, "Glad I was on the stand." Braden handed me Taryn as a few gals helped get paper towels for us and I mopped up the floor. Braden (who has a weak stomach) left to go change out of his now wet suit. Because I knew Taryn wasn't really sick, I just sat back down thinking it was over. No, Taryn had more in store for us. About 20 minutes later, in the middle of one of the baby blessings, she did it all again. But because of the way I was holding her, it just went down my dress and all in her dress so we didn't have the floor problem again. I just grabbed Keara and we went out, leaving my bags and everything for others to take care of. We went to the bathroom, took off all Taryn's clothes, wiped mine off as best we could, and went to the foyer to wait for Braden to come back. I anticipated it would take him about 30 minutes total to go home, change and come back. But soon, Sacrament was almost over and he wasn't back yet. I started panicking because I needed to be back in time for Primary. Finally, after a full hour (!), he came back. We raced home, I changed, left him and Taryn home to fend for themselves, and took Keara back to church. We got back during the closing prayer of sacrament meeting (thank goodness for 4 baby blessings and long testimonies!) so I got to Primary in plenty of time. Whew. I thought it was over and attributed the whole thing to Taryn eating some cheese on Friday. But when I got home and found Braden showering Taryn because she had thrown up 3 more times at home and in her crib, I thought it could be something more. She was still in a great mood and didn't act sick, though. Does that count as a fun family activity?
*We went to Stacey's for dinner and she made a FABULOUS meal for us. It was SO good. And my dessert turned out really well and was yummy. And we sat on the trampoline, looked for frogs, and looked at the stars. It was fun. Oh, and Taryn threw up a few more times at their house. (When we got home, we decided that it had nothing to do with allergies, but must have been food poisoning because it was so violent, lasted 5 hours, and then was done. She ate nothing yesterday but devored breakfast today and has been totally normal.)
*Today, my wonderful cousin, Kami, took the girls from 10-2:30 so I could get things done. I would have rather gone shopping or done something fun, but I spent the day cleaning the house and doing load after load of laundry, since we seemed to produce a LOT of laundry yesterday. It was WONDERFUL to have all that time and I am almost done with everything, but decided to take a small break to blog this.

So, I still have no storage bins. I would love to organize our baby clothes, but I have nowhere to put them. Maybe another day.

When I went to bed last night, I felt fulfilled and that it was a good birthday. Two years ago , Keara pooped all over her bed and smeared it on the walls and ate it for mother's day. This year, we got vomit. As my brother said, my girls reach deep within them to give me their best gifts. Or, as my sister in law said, I'm getting so old it makes Taryn SICK. Whatever the reason, I thought how fitting it was to be doing these things for my girls on important days because it reminds me of what is truly important in life--my family. Even my poopy, vomity, gross, and stinky family. I am so grateful to be where I am, doing what I am, with who I am, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

But next year, I'm going to be more specific.