birthday wishes all around

Today I turned 28. What a year it's been! I can't believe that last year at this time I was 4 months pregnant and now Finley is 7 months old! I really feel like I've grown in the last year and changed for the better. There have definitely been moments like the no sleep moments and the crying moments, but there have been so many more moments of smiles turning into laughter, scooting turning into crawling, cooing turning into Mama and Dada. A year ago today, I was thinking about the little person growing inside of me, but this birthday, the little person has a name, a personality, and a laugh that mommy can't get enough of. Something else that has changed is my marriage. In the last year, I have seen that Matthew is the best daddy in the world. He is a leader, supportive, and most importantly INVOLVED! Almost every night he and Finley will be on the floor crawling around, racing each other to toys, and laughing together. I love seeing my boys together!

It is a tradition that on my birthday, my parents will call me at 6:32 a.m. to sing happy birthday to me. Why 6:32? That is the time that I was born...glad it wasn't 2:30 a.m. =) This morning, after having a rough night away from home, at 6:32 a.m. my phone went off. I picked it up knowing exactly who it was and what it was for. It was the most beautiful rendition of happy birthday that I've ever heard. It made me homesick and so happy all at once. Thanks mom and dad! I also got calls from all of my sisters separately.

Today, we also celebrated Toby's (Dan and Michelle) 1 year birthday. Dan is going away to Iraq on Monday so they celebrated a little early so that he could be here for his party. This is a picture of Dan and Toby. He had a pool party...and yes, it was an indoor pool party.

Matthew and Finley playing in the water. This was Finley's first time in a pool. He was pretty scared at first, but once we lost the float, he did really well.

Another one of Matthew and Finley.

Finley and I in the pool.

The three of us. He always looks so small next to Matthew!

This video was taken after swimming. They had a play area for the babies so Finley and Toby were playing together...which means that Finley was following Toby around and Toby didn't really care. Yes, Finley is ignoring me in this video.

This was taken when we got home today. Finley was in such a good mood. He really does like the peas. He is happiest when he is eating them.