Feeling Better...and a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

First of all, I need to thank my amazing friends for the wonderful comments to my last post. I have read and re-read all of them over and over and I can't tell you how much it means that you all took the time to send me such well thought out messages. I felt far less alone in my worries, not to mention got a huge pick me up from reading them. I almost did not post it at all...mainly because I have never used this blog as a place to vent about things that bother me and was not sure if I wanted to start. I am also very much a "glass half full" kind of girl and don't tend to vocalize things that bother me. I think on the bright side of everything and hate to put a voice to things that are not happy. I am VERY glad that I did because I feel so much better now.

I feel much more at peace with things now, both due to your comments and an email that Jer's mom sent me. Jeremy truly was exactly like Colin is and it makes me feel better to know that the shyness is simply a character trait and not caused by something that I did or did not do. I am so excited for Colin to start his once a week preschool in the fall because I know that it will be an enormous help toward getting comfortable with other children. I think a lot of my worry is because I have never experienced shyness myself and have been second guessing if I am handling such a foreign situation correctly. Colin absolutely has a much different temperament than other toddlers, but I really do think that I am doing all the right things for him...and I am 100% certain that he is a very gifted little soul. I like that he shows a lot of compassion and caring. I adore that he is so in touch with the emotions of others and I love that he likes to keep his mommy close by. :-) I am so proud to be his mother. He may never be the child who likes big playdates and I have a feeling that big groups and crowded events will never be his cup of tea. In fact, Jer is still just like that, which is why I think we work so well together. Opposites do attract! I may be the social butterfly, but he still loves me. ;-) I do think that Colin looks exactly like me, but has his daddy's mind. That is a very good thing because he is truly a brilliant man.

Speaking of the brilliant man, TODAY is his 35th birthday!!! Colin and I put together a little surprise party for him last night and he was totally shocked when he walked in the door from work. I made him one of his favorite dishes, chicken pot pie. It was TOTALLY from scratch, including the crust and chicken that I roasted myself ahead of time. It was the perfect treat because it is a dish heavy with peas, which I don't like. Poor Jer always misses out on anything with peas in the recipe, so I thought it was the perfect birthday present. I have to admit, even with those horrible peas, it was still absolutely fantastic. Jer said it was good enough to serve in a restaurant, so I think it turned out great! Colin and I went to Cabela's while Jer was at work and picked up his present. Colin was so excited when I explained that we were planning a birthday surprise for daddy and he was very involved, which was so special. He personally picked out Jer's card, which had a dump truck and was designed for a 5 year old, but I digress. He also picked out the balloons, sign and hats and even helped me tie the strings to all the balloons. He picked out where to put balloons and which chair would be for daddy...it was so adorable. I had to have help in Cabela's and Colin told the man "We are getting a present for my daddy!". It was a precious afternoon and Jer was totally surprised, which was wonderful! We took him out to his favorite Mexican place for lunch today and then I made another Jer favorite tonight; ginger fried rice. It has been a wonderful time celebrating! I am so lucky for this day because it brought me the love of my life. Happy Birthday to the very best husband and father in the world!!!!!!!

Colin helping Daddy blow out his candles. I accidentally bought the trick kind that kept re-lighting and the dang things got a ton of wax in the food. OOPS!

The birthday cake...er....chicken pot pie. :-) Jer is not a fan of cake. I know, I don't get it either.
Opening his awesome dump truck card and present!

I love the look on Jer's face...he had NO CLUE what we got him and was totally surprised!