Now that all the birthday fuss is over, I can finally share how it went. It was sweet and low-key. Turning 29 didn’t feel dramatically different from recent birthdays, but it included a mix of silly moments — like a foot massage with shaving cream when John grabbed the wrong bottle — and a huge milestone: Clara’s first crawls. Everyone, including the pediatrician, assumed she’d skip crawling and go straight to walking since she’s been scooting on her bottom and recently started pulling up. Instead she surprised us and decided to try crawling, and we even caught it on video.
So yeah, baby news dominates my life right now. Clara is kind of amazing and I can’t help talking about her — she was the best present I could have asked for.
The weather on Saturday was about 70 and sunny, which felt especially nice since my birthdays up north usually included snow. We took a long walk through one of our favorite neighborhoods with Clara and the dog, admiring the charming houses along the way.
We even spotted turtles in the river — Clara was fascinated, while Burger looked mostly unconcerned.
I wore my new Reebok Easytone shoes that John got me for my birthday. I’d been asking for them and he indulged me. They felt fine on the first three-mile walk, but after doing that two days in a row my legs and glutes were definitely feeling it. So yes — they live up to the toning claims after a while.
We finished the day with a nice sushi dinner (we have a bit of a soft spot for sushi).
John and my family gave me some lovely gifts. Besides the Reeboks, John surprised me with a book called Love Life, which has a wonderful greenish-yellow cover. The book is full of gentle reminders about presence and balance, something we’ve talked about a lot lately since it’s easy to stay plugged into the internet instead of stepping away to enjoy life.
- “The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow, but the rainbow won’t wait while you finish the work.” – Pat Clifford
- “If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.” – Lin Yutang
- “I think the most significant work we ever do, in the whole world, in our whole life, is done within the four walls of our own home.” – Stephen R. Covey
- “It is a great art to saunter.” – Henry David Thoreau
- “I haven’t a clue how my story will end, but that’s all right. When you set out on a journey and night covers the road, that’s when you discover the stars.” – Nancy Willard
Birthdays naturally make you reflect on the past year and think ahead — and yes, the idea of getting older is part of that. We joked about renaming our blog Middle Aged House Love, which doesn’t quite have the same ring, but made us laugh.
There was also home-related loot from John’s sisters. We keep wish lists to make gifting easier, and I’d picked out a few prints to add to our hallway frame gallery. One of the prints I received (the road-trip themed piece) was from John’s sister Katie.
John went above and beyond and surprised me with a sweet bee print too — we have a soft spot for bee-themed things around here.
I’m looking forward to arranging these new prints with family photos and keepsakes in the hallway once we open up more wall space and finally hang that stack of frames from Ikea that’s been waiting in the corner of the kitchen. Pictures to come when we get to that project.
My friend Heather surprised me with a bouquet of lilies in a lime green vase — she knew I’d love the color and she was right. I keep popping into the room just to admire the flowers; they make the whole space feel brighter.
All in all, birthday 29 was wonderful and I’m feeling grateful. I don’t know where I’ll be at 30 or 35, but I’m focused on savoring the little things — baby snorts, puppy sniffs, and quiet moments — instead of letting life rush by. Maybe this post is a bit personal or corny, but that’s just where I am these days and I’m happy with it.
Pssssst — For anyone who’s asked about Clara’s toys or the big brown basket next to our sectional, check out our BabyCenter post for the simple “dump & cover” toy storage system that’s working for us.