Happy Birthday Mario!!!

Three years ago at 5:56pm, I lost a bet but gained a son. Mario and I picked 6 hour windows for when MJ would arrive. He let me pick first, I thought I was being generous and hopeful for myself when I picked 6pm to midnight (since my water broke that morning at 6am). Mario picked noon to 6pm... ummm...sure. MJ's first act in this world was to help his father win a bet

We didn't have a full birthday celebration since Mario is traveling in Arkansas. MJ woke up to some fun decorations and spent all day begging me for cake. He even took a picture of the cake in the refrigerator. We only opened one gift which was from Nana (my Grandma). And finally, we spent a lot of time getting our webcam set up on our new computer so that Mario could sing happy birthday with us while we cut the cake.

But I think the most memorable part of the day for me was just after bathtime when I was holding Mario. I reflected how three years ago I held him for the first time. I had him all swaddled in a big towel... he's a bigger now than he was then, but he still has the same eyes. In my little moment I started crying and I think the tears confused him. He told me he was sad too, and I tried to explain how I was just happy. Then MJ, who normally requests extra cuddles after his bath, told me he had to brush his teeth and pick out books. I guess his memories of January 16, 2005 aren't as vivid as mine.

Here's MJ for photo-shoot #1

And here in photo shoot #2, MJ was about to eat dinner and have cake and was not interested in taking a picture.

He perked up a little by now.