My 27th Birthday!!!

Yes it is true, I am another year older. I turned the BIG 27 on Monday, which is strange because every year on my birthday as long as I can remember my mother would say, "I can't believe that you're this age or I can't believe that you're that age when I'm only 25." I guess that means I am older than my mom now by 2 years.

Ever since I have had kids of my own (2+ years now) I have a very different outlook on my birthday. As a kid you grow up thinking, "Oh this is MY SPECIAL DAY and it's all about me for one whole day!" This is still true I suppose, but now I think more about my parents and what they were going through on the day of my birth. My dad even called me on Monday and said he had this pain in his lower back for some reason which suddenly reminded him of sitting in the hospital for hours upon hours 27 years ago. It made me laugh! I hope I can tease my girls like that someday too!

Every year for my birthday it has become a tradition to go to The Cheesecake Factory. I'm not really sure why I always want to go to the same place and order the same exact thing every year, but it just works out that way. In fact, the entire time that I have know Jordan he has taken me to The Cheesecake Factory on February 25Th. You just can't beat their crab cakes and orange chicken! It's a special meal for me no matter how many times I've had it! I just hope that wherever we end up that their is always a Cheesecake Factory nearby so that I can keep going on my birthday!

Me as a 27 year old!

I can't believe that I'm that old already!

I had to take a few pictures of my sweet girls on my birthday and this was my favorite one!

Gosh, they make me smile!

The Hill girls' - They love being sisters!

Notice I dressed them both in my favorite color...purple. Taylor was okay with that as long as she got to wear a skirt.

Taylor and her Daddy at Paradise Bakery. Jord took us there for lunch and it was SO good!

Bentley at Paradise Bakery for lunchtime.

Me & Tay at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner....

.....she was excited because we told her cake was coming and that she got to sing Happy Birthday to me!

The yummy cheesecake dessert! We chose the caramel turtle one! It was delicious!

Taylor is a great helper when it comes time to blow out the birthday candles!

Taylor is such a awesome kid! She made my birthday great!

Taylor wasn't shy about finishing off the plate!

And sweet Bentley...always in her car seat. I guess she just loves sitting in something really soft - she was so good at dinner!

Bentley made my birthday great too!

The four of us at The Cheesecake Factory! I had - yet again - a wonderful birthday!

Family Birthday Dinner

This past weekend was really one big party! We had the surprise BBQ for my birthday with our friends on Friday night and then on Saturday we hosted the "Family Birthday Dinner" for all the February birthdays at our house. These usually include me, my aunt Natalie and my cousin Kalie, but Kalie is away at College so it was just me and Nat. We missed ya K and hope you had a great birthday! It was SO wonderful to see everyone and I was really excited to show them our house and what we have done since moving in back in December. I have such a great family that we always have a great time together, but it was really neat to see Taylor and my little cousins that are just a year older than her play and interact. They seriously had a blast together! That is by far one of my favorite things to see - my daughter laughing and having fun!

To my family - Thank you so much for making the trek out to our home to help celebrate the birthday's. It was so fun to see all of you and spend time together! Thank you also for my wonderful gifts - I ALWAYS get so spoiled by you guys! Love you lots!

Me & my sweet Bentley at the party!

Our dinner table.

It was exciting to be able to fit such a long table for our guests. I've never been able to fit 16 people at one table in our house before! Pretty cool! (Thanks Jill & Jessica for letting us borrow your tables & chairs)

The flower centerpieces for the tables - I love fresh flowers! Someday I would like to always have them on my kitchen table!

Taylor & Parker having FUN!

Jackson, Carly and Taylor - Pretty as can be! I only got a few pics of Jackson wearing one of Bentley's bows because his mom made him take it off! At least the one he picked was ASU colors!

My AMAZING aunt Jamie and her baby boy Parker.

Me & Natalie opening birthday presents.

Gift card from Jamie to Ulta - YES!

Just a few pics of me opening more gifts!

This is the awesome bag that my cousin Maggie gave me! Thanks Mag! It is currently my new diaper bag and I love it!

The birthday girls - Natalie (who is pregnant with her 2ND boy) and me!

Maggie made cheesecake for dessert and here we are getting ready to enjoy it! What a great party!

Surprise Birthday BBQ

Last Friday Jordan surprised me with a small, but very sweet Birthday BBQ! He planned the whole thing himself and managed to keep it a secret from me which is something that I don't think I will ever be able to achieve when it comes to surprising him!

We just had a few of our friends over and their kids (which was really nice because Taylor had someone to play with), and we enjoyed delicious food! Jordan did a great job making me feel special and important! I just love him!

The delicious birthday cake he got for me.....not only good, but VERY cute!

Taylor helping me blow out my birthday candles.

Me & Tay ready to eat some cake!

Jord cutting the cake! YUMMY!

Our friends the Manutai's - Beau, Klorissa & not-so-little Kalli

Our friends from the West Side - Ryan & Jessica Taylor

Me & Klor

Taylor not wasting any time enjoying her cake!

Talan (Ryan & Jessica's little boy) digging into some cake & ice cream!

Kenadee happy as can be eating some b-day cake!

Sweet Kalli playing happily!

The kids - Just look at those faces!

Taylor & Kenadee playing on the "kid" laptop.....

.....and not even a care that they are in their underwear for the world to see! What precious girls!

Sitting Pretty

It's amazing how quickly kids learn things. Bentley is still my little baby and she will be for awhile, but every now and then it hits me that she won't be forever! She is already sitting up pretty good with just a little help. I think she would just about have it, but she likes to arch her back so much and kick her legs that she doesn't quite have it all by herself yet.

I came across a few pictures of the girls playing together with some of Bentley's toys that made me realize just how fast they grow and develop. I swear it was just the other day that I was watching Taylor crawl for the very first time.

We bought Bentley a walker to strengthen her legs. She likes it, but doesn't love it. In fact, I think everything new that we get for Bentley, Taylor is more interested in playing with. I still have to tell her to get out of Bentley's walker sometimes and we bought it like a month ago. Secretly I'm actually kind of impressed that she can fit in it! I'm really enjoying watching my girls interact more and more with each other! They have so much fun together and seeing that makes me thankful for my life!

Bentley in her Bumbo for the very first time.

She didn't know what to do with it.....I guess there isn't much you can do with it, but she sure looked cute sitting up without someone holding her!

Thanks Evonne - I'm glad you got the purple one!

Taylor protecting her sister?......

......or wanting to kick her out so she could have a turn?

Look at that smile! She couldn't be any happier!

Bentley's new walker. Jord was lowering it as close to the floor as possible so her cute little feet could touch.

Bentley in her new "Princess" walker & Taylor checking out all the gadgets!

She was excited!!!!

Just playing - in matching polka dots!

This was actually the first time I dressed them the same and it was kind of FUN! One little tiny shirt and one bigger shirt, but both the same...pretty cute!

My girls!!!! I love them!!!!