Friday 7 November 2008

thirty three

favourite roses

today i've been on this planet for thirty three years. it sounds like such a long time until i realize that i'll live this whole amount of years again, once, hopefully twice before it's all over. and at thirty three it's funny how things are suddenly so long ago. i was thinking about some of my favourite birthdays and one in particular - a surprise party at the black dog in edmonton, my friends had all pitched in and bought me a nintendo 64 (a huge expense at the time) and my on again/off again boyfriend had driven five hours to bring my best friend who had moved to calgary to celebrate with me. it was a brilliant night, a great birthday... i think i was 20, maybe 21 so this was all twelve or thirteen years ago. wow. (and how bad is it that i can't actually remember how old i was??)

last year on this day i was pregnant with mae but didn't know it. we'd been trying to get pregnant for a long, long time and this would have been the eleventh month of disappointment. except it wasn't. i celebrated my birthday with close friends, having a gorgeous night of wine and japanese food at misuzu's (i'm so glad i had plenty of sashimi and shiraz that night because little did i know there was a long drought to follow). a week later i had an appointment with a fertility specialist, we talked of tests to be done and routes that could be taken. a nurse called me to set up one of the tests the following week and i was able to say to her, in a quiet voice at my work desk, "um, i don't think i'll be needing that...". and here we are, a year later, the most gorgeous baby, the happiest mother and the proudest father, celebrating another birthday : )

24 comments:

  1. Happy birthday Leslie.

    Thirty three is a great age. Kind of in the middle of everything - those baby and mortgage years!

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  2. Happy Birthday, Leslie.

    What a lot can happen in a year, eh? Hoping year ahead brings you and your family even more joy.

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  3. Happy late Birthday!! Your story about Mae is very touching and I'm so glad that you were able to get pregnant and have such a beautiful baby girl :)

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  4. Anonymous12:55 am

    Happy birthday!! Hope you had an awesome day.

    Not sure if I've commented before but I've been reading your blog for a while now, I love it. Mae is an absolute cutie.

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  5. Happy Birthday Leslie Hope you had a great day
    Also Long time reader, Love your things- my little girl Ava has one of your Fleurs She loves it Its Dolly's special bedime pillow Kerri

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  6. Anonymous2:08 am

    leslie. a huge happy 33rd birthday to you. i hope this next year is wonderful. in so many ways.

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  7. Anonymous2:54 am

    happy birthday! so great that she was your gift last year, and you didn't know it. so wonderful she came just when you had almost surrendered. babies sure do teach us patience, don't they?

    as usual, i can relate. i too was pregnant on this day, and didn't know it. i figured i'd never get pregnant. we were off traveling in new york city, and later, florida. and when the thanksgiving holiday came...oh, hrm, hey! a positive pregnancy test! haha.

    i turned 33 2 weeks before poppy was born. she was a great, belated gift. :P

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  8. Anonymous4:20 am

    happy birthday leslie. i hope your day was wonderful, and your next 66 birthdays get better with each year!

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  9. Happy Birthday! Hope you had a fantastic day, who knew how much your life can change in a single year, it's amazing. Hope you got lots of big hugs from Mae on your birthday!

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  10. Happy Birthday to you lovely! I can't believe how long ago it feels that you were trying for the lovely Mae... so glad that you've let us share this journey with you, and I hope that you all had a wonderful day for your birthday.

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  11. A lovely post. What could make a woman happier than a new baby and becomming a mama.

    Hope you enjoyed your day and have a wonderful year.

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  12. Happy Birthday. Dreams really do sometimes come true.

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  13. Happy Birthday Leslie! I can't wait to keep up with your adventures over the upcoming year!

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  14. oh, happy happy day to you!

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  15. a very happy (albeit belated!) birthday to you, miss leslie! i hope you enjoyed your day :-)

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  16. Happy Birthday Leslie, I love the baby story :-)

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  17. what a year you've had! i hope this next one is just as good. happy, happy birthday to you! x

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  18. Anonymous11:44 am

    oh, happy day!
    hope you have/had a wonderful day.
    and what a difference a year makes, hey?! :)
    hugs xx

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  19. Best birthday wishes to you on the big double-three, Leslie! I hope that the next year is as wonderful as the last, if not more so, and wish you happiness, health, and all the rest.
    MIss you heaps, and wish I could take you for a little piece of cake in person!
    All the best,
    Sarah

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  20. Happy birthday!

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  21. Happy Birthday deary! Many more wonderful ones to come.

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  22. Happy Birthday Leslie! I hope it was a lovely day!

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  23. Happy Birthday L - they'll never be quite the same again now you have a gorgeous daughter. It's my own birthday tomorrow and Geoff was telling me last night of a plan that Ella wants to bring to reality for my birthday. He didn't spoil a surprise for it's such a strange wish to fulfill, but their enthusiasm, well, it makes you feel even more special.

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  24. Lovely to meet you today, forgot to say happy birthday fellow Scorpio haha. My girlfriend I was with today having her 3rd baby got married on the 7th Nov, I was about 36 weeks pregnant at her wedding (and freaking everyone out by having some wicked Braxton Hicks!). My little girl's b'day is the 6th Dec, 5yrs ago, and I still feel about her the way you wrote about Mae. It was serious babyville today at the market, some many newborns and ones growing. A lovely crowd, I thought.
    Cheers!

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