my hubby is 29 years young

ah, I wish there was a better way to say this, but I kind of dread Jeremy's birthday.

I'm the kind of girl that loves surprises, and Jeremy's the kind of guy that's terribly hard to plan for.

Last year, I was ready to pop, so I had Jeremy's dad pick out a set of drills for me, and baked him cupcakes with homemade frosting. Oh, also a "daddy's little project" diaper bag, and called it good (since you know, I was going to give him a baby in a couple weeks...).

This year, I wanted his big day to be more detailed.

(it was not stressful at all, 7 days before my giant test...)

So, the morning of May 21st, I woke up to get this ready:

Amelia's shirt says, "I love DAD" // so glad she was in a smiley mood that morning.

We ran into dad's room and woke him up by singing 'happy birthday'.

ahhh, I melt every time I see Jeremy's face light up...

Jeremy made us breakfast (because he's amazing), while I fed Amelia.

and afterwards, Amelia helped him open his presents.

They were pretty cheesy... like a lunchbox/cooler because he got a new job.

Then we went to the zoo.

Amelia had been saying, "azoozoo" for a few weeks, so we got some season passes.

enjoy some pictures:

I said, "Amelia, hold out your arm!"

and whaddya know...



I kept telling everyone it was Jeremy's birthday...

When we went through the chick-fil-a drive-through, they gave him a free ice cream!

I was thrilled!!!!

Jeremy and I have this thing... we go through their drive-through, order two large fries and five chick-fil-a sauces, park in the parking lot and chat (usually Amelia is taking a nap).

We did this a lot when he worked graveyards, and I would beg him to not go to work and stay with me that night.

He would hand me my fries, and tell me that we would be alright, and this wasn't forever.

Thank goodness it's over and he has a regular job now. :)

Also, Amelia kept giving me this "smile" all day long.

um...?????

And then, Jeremy decided the lawn had to be mowed, on his birthday of all days!

Amelia and I sat on the porch and watched him go back and forth,

and every time he came back, she would yell "DA DA DA!!!"

love her.

Finally, we went to Olive Garden for dinner.

(So I had planned this surprise movie party with Jeremy's dad and brothers at 7 pm. Iron Man 3, I didn't really want to see it, and all the boys really wanted to see it, perfect right?)

It was tricky, because usually the OG is packed for dinner, so we left a little after 5. Unfortunately, it wasn't busy at all, and we got out of dinner by 6:30 pm.

 I had to stall, driving around the District.

Jeremy knew something was up, but he thought there was a surprise party waiting at home.

ahhhhh, just love surprises! :)

so, finally I drove him to the front of the theaters, told him to get out, and handed him a note (that said, "you're watching Iron Man 3, with your boys, at 7:10 pm)

ha! his face was priceless.

speaking of priceless...

I can't look at this picture without cracking up (Melissa Jane, please show your husband this picture).

I texted Kellen and begged him to get a picture.

Instead of having someone take it for him, he "sacrificed himself".

 He's great, and I'm so happy!

Jeremy came home late.

I sang him happy birthday with my homemade cupcakes (wink wink).

He blew out his candles, and we talked.

Oh, how I love my man.

I can't believe I met him when he was 24 years,

and we have grown so much individually and together.

Sometimes I get sad that we're "old" and working and we spend less time together than

when we were dating and we were only apart when we were in school.

It may sound naïve, but I miss him a lot.

Then I look at our home, and I look at our darling babe, and I see all our blessings,

and I'm so grateful

because it all wouldn't exist without him.

Happy Birthday Jeremy Ray,

I love you more than you could ever know.