Turning Twenty Six

WOW! I had such a great birthday this year. I really got spoiled rotten and it was so much fun! Here are the exciting things I got to do this year...


Luke got a sitter so that the two of us could go out to dinner and hang out for a little while. Ever since before I got pregnant, I had been wanting to eat at The Happy Sumo. Finally of Friday, we got to and it was delish! Afterwards, we strolled around the mall doing a little window shopping at some of our favorite stores. Sur La Table and Anthropology are a must when at the Gateway.

THEN...

Saturday morning, Jill and I headed over to Market Street Grill for a breakfast feast! The food is always so good and I'm glad that I got to share this with someone who equally enjoys this place.

And Finally...
We had a little BBQ yesterday with family and a few close Friends. As always there was some great food! Luke prepared all the meat and did such a wonderful job.


Since it isn't everyday that ALL of Oliver's cousins get to come over at the same time, I took the opportunity to take a picture of them together. I can't believe that there are 15 kids in this pic and we were still missing James and Jack Veigel. Oliver is so lucky to have this many cousins! Love you all!

AND the birthday cake. For some years now, the Baker side has had the tradition to sing "Happy Birthday" in the most annoying, high pitched, off key, and loud way. I don't know where or when this started, but everyone looks forward to the singing on birthdays. Whether it's over the phone or in person, it's definitely a must! So, they sang to me and then they started to chant "take a bite". I guess one bite wasn't good enough since I was careful not to get my face smashed into the cake so what do they do? Start chanting "One more bite" I refused, and so my brother and his 2 older boys, grabbed the cake, held my arms and shoved my face into nearly the entire thing. Good thing there were cupcakes too.

This birthday was a very special one for me. I don't know if it's because the whole birthday process has come full circle with me giving birth to my own baby and understanding what it's like to be a major part of creating life for another person, or if I am just being tender hearted about another year gone by. Regardless, it was an incredible birthday. Thank you everybody for making it a memorable one.