Over the next few days, my husband spent several hours cleaning and unpacking boxes in the basement. I figured that some of the guests he had invited haven't seen our new house yet. I always like my house to be clean for first time guests, so I did a lot of cleaning, too.
The day of my birthday arrived. I planned to finish up the cleaning, then go shopping for a new outfit for my birthday dinner. Plus go out to lunch with the kids. Chris told me to make sure that I was home by 3:30 -4:00. I did think that was a bit early to go for dinner, but I do have some friends that work early shifts, so that wasn't too unrealistic.
At 1pm, the kids were still asleep. I went to the garage to throw something away & noticed that my car wasn't there. I texted Chris & asked him why he had taken my car instead one of the other two like he usually does. He replied saying that he thought that my car still needed its emission test, so he was going to do that on his lunch break. (For some reason, all 3 of our cars have tags that expire on my birthday, not his!) I wasn't too happy, but I wasn't stuck at home, so things were ok. Finally, after 2, the kids finally woke up. They both gave me a cheery "Happy Birthday, Mom". But I barked at them because since they woke up so late, we didn't have enough time to go out & have lunch or shop.
I sat in my clean living room & played games on my tablet.
Around 3:30 or so, my sister called to wish me a happy birthday. She lives in Las Vegas and always calls me on my birthday. She actually sang the birthday song to me. Our grandmother & mother would always do that & they weren't around to sing it anymore. We talked for a short while because she was out with a friend.
Then, about 4:10, the doorbell rang. I went to answer it. There was a tiny baby in a car seat sitting on my front porch. I recognized this baby as my nearly 3 month old niece. I looked around and saw my sister poking her head out behind the garage. My husband appeared, too. I was stunned. I totally wasn't expecting them. The kids had no idea either. Chris wasn't sure they would be able to keep a secret, so he didn't tell them.
This was such a wonderful surprise. My niece was born in October & it was killing me that I hadn't met her yet. They stayed 3 nights.
Here are a few pictures from Bethany & Charlotte's visit.
Hannah & her little cousin.
Hannah & her friend, Rachel, playing with Charlotte.
And feeding Charlotte.
James & baby.
Chris & a baby.
Babies eat & sleep a lot!
We didn't have any empty drawers (or cribs) for baby. So we improvised.
Charlotte & me.
Bethany, Charlotte, & me.
James making a face because baby was fussing.
The visit was too short! We miss them already! This is one of those times when it's hard to live so far from family. Thanks, Bethany, for such a wonderful birthday gift!
