Laur Star Turns 31

It's my BIRTHDAY! I am drafting this the day before because I will probably be busy PaRtYiNg on my birthday. And by partying I mean hiking, thrifting, and requesting foot rubs. Jared will make his signature salmon and asparagus for dinner. Hopefully we'll roast s'mores up the mountain, but probably not because Jack has football at 6:00. Maybe we'll just do backyard s'mores this time and presents. I'm trying my hand at planning my entire birthday out start to finish, and while the plans really don't look all that crazy (hello baby stage), I am excited. Sometimes I get the birthday blues before my birthday, but so far I haven't and I think planning out what I know it will look like instead of having this vague idea hanging over my head about "I hope it's special" when I don't have a clear idea what I actually want that to look like . . . I think this way is better. I'll let you know next week! 30 was a great year for me. Made it through a pregnancy, made it through a childbirth, met a sweet little Alice. It was a big year and I'll remember it forever. 

^^How cute is this baby???!?!?!!! Love her so much it hurts. 

^^The power of advanced preparation, for all people, but especially for kids! Jack had a field trip to the fire station at preschool and me and Jared forgot all about it and didn't mention it to him ahead of time, so when he got to school that day he was taken completely by surprise by all that went with the field trip. His teacher said he looked a little scared most of the day, and he spent the rest of the day telling me he "didn't like it," without much more detail than that. I knew he would be doing the same field trip the next day (most kids only go to preschool Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday--Jack does both). He was not excited to hear this. So we spent the next morning watching a video of Blippi doing a field trip to a fire station, and we talked about firefighters and played fire station for a bit. The field trip went MUCH better that day. Not scared. Excited when I picked him up. Thought the experience was "cool" instead of "bad." Love him so much it hurts!

^^Dad of the year with baby of the year. Love him so much it hurts, too! I'm one lucky birthday girlie!