Birthdays of past & present.
Gracee Rae’s 1st birthday party is just 50 days away, so let the planning begin!! I have always loved planning a good party, but now I get to plan a birthday party as a mom and I could not be more 
excited! For one – it’s another annual reason to host a fun celebration and for two – it’s my baby girl we get to celebrate!
Starting to plan her birthday had me reminiscing on birthdays past, all the special traditions, party themes and surprises. I’ve always loved birthdays and I can’t lie, especially my own. I am very blessed to have grown up in a house where my parents made every birthday truly special. They always found a new way to surprise us and to let everyone around us know that it’s our birthday.
There were a couple birthday traditions in our house growing up, but the one that surpassed all the years and continues to this day is birthday breakfast in bed. Each year you could count on waking up to the birthday song as breakfast was delivered to you in the comfort of your bed. What better way could you start your day? I think back and this tradition even continued while I was away at college, thanks to my mom informing my roommate about the breakfast protocol. Freshman year in my dorm – my dear roommate woke me up to a bowl of cereal delivered with the birthday tune. I think the most fun part about this is being able to share the tradition in return. My sister and I always shared a room, so it was fun for the two of us trying to create a breakfast on our parents’ birthdays and sneak it into their room. Or this year I had to be creative with Justin since he is up much earlier than me and Gracee; so during Gracee’s early morning wake-up, I placed love notes all around the house, leading him to breakfast treats on the kitchen counter with the Keurig ready to go for his morning commuter coffee. It may even take more creativity with a one year old, but I am up for the challenge!
What’s a party without a good theme? One of my favorites was a Princess Party, when my mom hired a “Fairy God Mother” to come and bring beautiful sparkly dresses for me and my guests to become princesses for the day! I loved it! Another was my 16th birthday, when the MTV Show – “My Sweet 16” was popular, so my mom and I had our eyes set on throwing quite the Sweet 16 bash. The party was at the Gig Harbor Yacht Club, with a DJ and my dad behind the bar mixing mocktails. It makes me chuckle now looking back on it, but it was so much fun! College parties always had a theme and my mom was in full support of it! I had a “Barbie Hoes and GI Joes” birthday – mom sent a care package full of Barbies, pink camo balloons, and ordered a pink Barbie cake just for the party. Sophomore year we threw a “Rockstar” party and mom sent a case of Rockstar energy drinks to keep the excitement going through the night. No matter what, you could always count on my mom to contribute the boost we needed to make each birthday special.
I will never forget coming down the hallway in junior high to find a baby photo of me poising in a little bikini on the front of my balloon covered locker, to me it said, “mom was here”, to everyone else it said, “Happy Birthday Brittany.” This was always a fun birthday surprise during school years, birthday decorations all over our lockers. After finding this adorable (but horrifying at the time in junior high) baby photo of me on my locker, I never knew what to expect walking into school on my birthday. I got clever after awhile and knew I wanted to get to school early just in case she put anything embarrassing, so I could catch it before everyone showed up.
My mom knows how to celebrate birthdays! She has set the best example for how I can take time to celebrate my little love and to celebrate all those around me. For some birthdays can be just another day but for me birthdays have always been a day I have look forwarded to, simply because of my family taking the effort to love/celebrate me. I am beyond thankful for every sweet birthday memory my family and friends has created. I am so excited to have many years to share this same love with Gracee and to celebrate her not just on her birthday but every day!