I know this blog is supposed to be about Randall, but I'm going hijack it just this once. This birthday was pretty much the least eventful birthday I ever had, despite it falling on a Friday. I woke up bright and early around 6:45 am after having gotten up twice (once at 1 am to change Randall's diapers, again at 3 am because he was crying, but then he fell back asleep). Pumped breastmilk for 15 minutes, went downstairs and saw Steven eating oatmeal for breakfast. Asked him if he could make me some, to which he replied, "I have to go to work. Make it yourself." As I was going to get the ingredients, he had a change of heart and remembered he was supposed to be nice to me because it was my birthday and made me oatmeal as well.
Afterwards, I went outside, brought it both the Wall Street Journal and the Houston Chronicle. Ate the oatmeal and read the papers for another hour or so. Got up, stretched and went back to sleep at 9 am. Woke up again at 11 am when my mom came over to meet me for lunch. Brushed my teeth again, got dressed, pumped again. She drove us to Sweet Paris in Rice Village and my mom treated me to lunch. We had crepes. I also got a chai tea latte with nonfat milk. We made plans to have lunch with our husbands tomorrow to celebrate my birthday. My mom then dropped me back off at my house, I got in my car and drove to work.
Worked. Tina bought me a cake, but we left it in the fridge for everyone to eat on Monday since Mr. Wilbanks was out of the office and the girls at the front desk were too busy today to take a break.
Returned home around 6:15 pm. Pumped again. Asked Steven what our dinner plans were. He hadn't made any. Bounced around a few restaurant options for the next 30 minutes and eliminated them if they were not family-friendly, close by, or had a long wait time. I was a little disappointed that I had to come up with places on where to eat since I was starving. Plus, I had done this exercise earlier today with my mom in trying to come up with a place for lunch tomorrow. I had suggested Osteria Mazzantini, a newly opened Italian restaurant where every dish was delicious, and one in which I wanted to introduce to my family. However, she rejected it after looking at the online menu saying that the selection of food seemed limited and pricey. It seemed Steven wanted me to come up with a dinner option tomorrow night too.
Perhaps the highlight of the entire day was a surprise bouquet of multi-colored roses (some even dyed a light green?) and a heartfelt, romantic card that Steven presented to me right before we left the house for dinner. It was the card that meant the most and I teared up reading it.
We spent the next several minutes driving back and forth along Holcombe from Union Kitchen to Osaka. Both had full parking lots which meant we would have to wait. In the end, we went to Black Eyed Pea, a casual family restaurant only a 10 minute drive from our house. It was a place we would usually go to because there is never a wait for a table, the food is decent and inexpensive, the service is good, I like the booth seating, and their bread rolls are the best - soft, freshly-baked, light, and buttery. Senior citizens seem to love the place. However, tonight was the busiest night I had ever seen it. Fortunately for us, there still wasn't a wait and we got seated right away. Before Steven's Caesar salad and our entrees arrived but after our bread rolls and drinks were served, we were asked to move to a different booth in the back near the restroom because the sling which was holding Randall and his car seat was blocking a walking area. We moved over and finished the rest of our dinner. Steven paid the bill and we headed home.
As soon as we got home, I pumped again. Yes, I have to pump every 4 hours or so to keep up the milk supply. I do cheat a little during the nights where I'll go 6-8 hours without pumping. Steven and Randall started our weekly conference call with his parents and younger brother Jonathan in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. We chatted for about half and hour and then Steven got Randall ready for bed.
Steven and I caught the tail end of Jay Leno's monologue on The Tonight Show and then Steven fell asleep. I responded to emails and Facebook messages from friends wishing me Happy Birthday. I still have 6 minutes left of my birthday and it feels as if I'm too old for them. It's gotten to the point where it's just another day.
I am blessed that I have everything I could possibly want: an incredible husband, an adorable baby boy, a loving and supportive family, a flexible and dynamic job with an awesome boss and coworkers, lots of good friends (although dispersed all over the world), a beautiful house, a luxury car, and most of all, good health.
