Jessica Kelso

Yesterday I turned 24. So far so good. I woke up to find blueberry pancakes, a princess balloon, and a couple of awesome presents from my husband waiting on me. We had plans to go to Islands of Adventure for the day, but the rain seemed to have other plans for us. We were slightly at a loss as to what that was. . . so we ended up going to lunch, getting some new plants for the yard, and then I was actually able to drag Kevin along to go shopping with me. My birthday is pretty much the only day of the year he will step foot in a clothing store without complaining! Which I’m more than okay with. Afterwards, we went to Tampa with friends to eat at my favorite Thai restaurant. It was delicious as usual. Our little nephew Owen even called to wish me a happy birthday which was the cutest thing ever!

Every year on my birthday my mom seems to talk about what a miracle baby I was and the story of my birth. I’ve heard it quite a few times by now. How badly she wanted a girl, but had convinced herself it was going to be another boy (I have two older brothers). How the doctor wasn’t quite ready and told her not to push, but I wasn’t very patient (hmmm, so that’s where it started?) and came out like a football and the doctor had to catch me. I always like hearing the story especially since I’ve never seen pictures. My parents weren’t the best at taking pictures when we were little, especially when we were born. I’ve always missed being able to see that time. But there was something about the story this year that really made me realize the extent of how truly special I was to my mom. Now having gone through the roller coaster of emotions in trying to have a baby, it all kind of overwhelmed me and made me sad to think of the times I was mean to my mom and gave her a hard time. She wanted me so bad. I mean, I’m sure if she had her choice she would minus out the tattoo’s and a couple of the different stages I went through, but she wanted me and has completely accepted who I am today. It only took me 24 years to figure that out. Thinking of that also reminded me of the love God has for me, and how it’s 1000 times more than my mom’s and that just absolutely blows my mind. It’s amazing. And realizing all that made for a great 24th birthday.