32

Brad turned 32 yesterday.  We did most of our celebrating the weekend before.  His requests for his birthday were that he wanted to relax a little bit and then go out and do something fun as a family that we had never done before.

We surprised him and sent him out on Saturday to play a round of golf with some friends.  After that we went ice skating and out to dinner as a family.  Sunday was spent relaxing a bit more and we made him a special birthday dinner of from-scratch spaghetti and meatballs and an old-fashioned double decker chocolate chocolate cake.  (Did I mention I spent the time while he was golfing on Saturday preparing for all of these totally from scratch foods I had never made before?)  That chocolate cake recipe was the most intense I have ever made.  Making and melting all of the chocolate for the cake and the frosting.  I've made plenty of frosting recipes before, but never with the complex instructions and ingredients of corn syrup, whipping cream, and required ice bath before the frosting could be whipped!  It was definitely a labor of love.  I told him that unless it was the absolute best chocolate cake he had ever tasted I would not be making it again.  I haven't yet received an official verdict from him, but I think I am off the hook!

 (please ignore the finger smudges all over my giant mirror--have I mentioned I hate that thing?)

Boy do I love this man!  He is such a wonderful and dedicated husband and father and he is still SO much fun to be around--even if he is working like a dog.  The past few months have been pretty hard on him as he has had a lot of stress at work and not enough time at home.  I wish there was something I could do to make his road a bit easier, but I can only hope that when this residency life is behind us that we look back on it and say it is worth it.  We've had many discussions lately about how we never really understood just how hard it would be and how long it would take for him to fulfill his dream of becoming a doctor.  I wonder if it wasn't for the mounds of student debt, if we would be willing to stick it out.  But Brad is certainly not a quitter and I hope our girls will see that attribute and follow his example.  He often puts in 90 hour work weeks and makes sure that when he walks through that door at the end of the day everything is exciting and he has the energy to play hard and have wild crazy fun with our girls.  Even if he is completely wiped out, he won't let the girls see that.  He always wants to make sure they know that they are the best part of his day.  I know I could never do what he does and I am certainly glad I get to just be his support.

Ella had been saying for weeks how she couldn't wait for Daddy's birthday.  We had so much fun showing him how much we love him.  We are all so glad he was born 32 years ago and is the most important part of our family.  Happy Birthday BRAD!