Close To You: A Birthday Post!

On the day that you were born,
the angels got together
and decided to create a dream come true . . .

Not too shabby, eh?!?   ;p

I decided that since my parents were pretty much the major part of this day being a thing, I'd call them up and ask them to share one of their first memories of the day of my birth. So without further adieu, the story of me:

From mom: 

You were born in the afternoon and you were two weeks early. I was so surprised when I realized I was going into labor that I just packed a bag real quick and jumped in the cab wearing my pajamas and my hair rollers. It was like a Carol Burnett moment! And I gave birth to you in my pajamas and hair rollers too! You weighed 6 pounds. And we gave you your name—we had it picked out and it's the one I really wanted to give you. I wanted a little girl so bad and I got what I wanted! I was very happy to have you. You had jaundice, so I had to keep taking you back to the hospital for check-ups. I told the doctors that I'd keep bringing you back, as long as I could bring you home! I wouldn't trade you for anything in the world.  You were very smart, very cute, very everything we ever wanted.

From dad: 

The day before you were born, I was out in Stuttgart, which is almost 2 and a half hours away from Nuremberg Hospital. I worked that morning on the 2nd and then I went home to get some sleep. When I finally got home, my sergeant called me and told me to call him back. When I did, he said, "Hey boy, somebody called and said your wife is going to have your baby! You need to come home right now!" I was half asleep, but I went home, got packed as fast as I could through the snow, and drove to Nuremburg. I was so tired, I stopped all along the way at three different Gast Hauses to get some espresso to make it to you! I finally got to the hospital and asked if the baby had already been born, and they said no, and I was so relieved! After you were born, I was so excited to see my baby girl! You had a tremendous amount of beautiful black hair. You were so beautiful, my Mandy Pandy.

They also shared some other milestones with me and some of their thoughts of who I was as I was growing up. It really made me appreciate the way they navigated through my shenanigans. I have truly lived a blessed life full of ups and downs and I am looking forward to another year of wonderful milestones and memories!

Today's wonderful birthday wouldn't have been as awesome without hearing their stories, and without the love I got from ALL of my friends! Here are some other great moments from my special day:

 A sweet note from one of our work volunteers, Gale

 A fruit tray that Gale got me—she knows I'm doing the game on diet, so she brought me fruit with Greek Yogurt! Then she and my boss sat down and told me all of their favorite things about me and what they appreciated about me. :) 


Then I went over to Alisa's house and she treated me to pizza from my favorite pizza joint, Pagliacci Pizza! She also baked me a cake and invited some people to come over and join us for a nice evening before my big trip—PERRRRFECT!

My friend Maggie brought over this creative snack tray for me!

 This is the AMAZING cake that Alisa baked for me! It was yellow cake with chocolate frosting—my fave!! I had told her daughter that I was turning 4, so they got me a 4 candle to blow out.  ;p

 All my cards and my birthday balloon from the evening!

And I finished the night, coming home to
this sweet birthday message from my housemates!

Today, I truly felt celebrated! I'm looking forward to many more years of celebrating!