Birthday Celebrations: A Time Line

1994: An exchange of gifts. Sarah receives an oversized Winnie the Pooh bear and Jerry a carefully selected shirt inspired by the movie, "Cool Runnings". We were dorks, we were in love, we had just turned eighteen. Mid-Late 90's: A blur of celebrations, drinks with lewd names slammed in plastic cups. An intense bond with friends. Singing, dancing and general acts of public indecency at Urbana-Champaign. 98-06: An extension of the 90s save the thrifted flannels. Thankfully, we had bit more style. We were young, single, adventurous and employed in Chicago. We followed "new on the scene" on metromix like a religion. We hit all the big restaurants while they were still BYOB. 2007: We had just returned from Mexico. On the 19th of May, I had an inclination I was pregnant, on your birthday it was confirmed. Little did we know what kind of turning point this would be. Current Day: Prayers that we find a babysitter. All celebrations must end by 9 p.m. and in a sober state lest we suffer grave consequences the following morning. No babysitter? Dinners at 5:30, booths and highchairs are a must. Proper attire includes shorts and stained Ts. Birthday wish is to not feel like a human jungle gym for the evening and that some how the five extra minutes spent getting ready (total of ten minutes) pays off. Blowing out the candles and making wishes for our family. Taking a moment to share a smile with you over what we have created...totally beats a shot of Jaeger any day. I love that I've been able to enjoy this evolution of birthdays with you. *Below: A portrait of Dad