This is 30.

This morning at 8:30 a.m. on the dot, I'll be 30! (Fun fact: Caroline was also born at exactly 8:30 a.m. We are soul mates like that.)

At 8:30 a.m. today, I'll also be in the process of getting our very last ultrasound for baby Ainsley at our high-risk O.B. (We'll have one more at our regular O.B. later this week or early next.)

At 8:30 a.m. during said ultrasound, because a woman's mind never stops running, I'll also be going through a list in my head of things I need to accomplish today. I'll be mentally jotting down a to-do list that will need to take place before our second doctor's appointment at 1:00 this afternoon.

Mop the kitchen.

Pick up Dreft and orange juice.

Vacuum the guest rooms.

Check on the status of the wall monogram for the nursery.


Not exciting things, by any stretch, but things that need doing. And I'll do them happily because I've waited so long to be in a place in life to do them.

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I'm not sure what I thought 30 would look like, but I like my life so much more than I ever did when I was a scared, naive 21 year old, (though that 21 year old thought she was big and bad and brave...little did she know...)

As I woke up this morning on the couch -- yup, it's that stage of late-pregnancy where sleep-sitting on the couch is more comfortable than trying to roll out of bed every 20 minutes to pee...

Where was I? Oh, yes.

As I woke up this morning, I heard my husband making coffee. I heard Caroline singing in her crib. I heard Ari, our German Shepherd, "greeting" his dog neighbors through the fence. I heard the low hum of our dishwasher, scrubbing away the sauce from last night's spaghetti dinner.

The spaghetti dinner where Stephen and I laughed so hard at Caroline that we had tears in our eyes. Because it's a hilarious thing to watch a toddler eat spaghetti.

I heard the dings of text messages coming through from my family and friends - the people that sweeten my life so much.

I hear the sounds that fill my every day and make me realize that the best days are being lived right. now.

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This year's birthday celebration certainly won't be the wildest or most extravagant. It won't consist of drinking champagne or wearing a sexy little dress. (Though I fully intend to do both those things after this kiddo gets here because FUN.)

But it will consist of sharing some kisses with my husband. It will consist of putting up the last of the Christmas ornaments with Caroline taking them off the tree no sooner than they're hung. It will consist of getting to see the last 4D ultrasound images of our sweet second daughter's face before I meet her in the flesh. It'll consist of me thanking God for all the birthdays leading up to this one - all the experiences and not-so-easy years that make me appreciate this stage of life so much more.

Today's birthday will be the best yet.

If this is 30, give me more.