Happy birthday to the love of life.

Today is Ben's 26th Birthday. I love having an excuse to celebrate this man. Ben is the love of my life and I wouldn't want to spend this life with anyone else. Sometimes I just sit and stare at him amazed that he's mine. It's an overwhelmingly content feeling.  I don't want to be to redundant because I spoke about all of his many wonderful qualities a few weeks ago in a previous blog 5 Years and Counting, so instead I will recap our birthday festivities.

On Saturday night I threw Ben a surprise Birthday party at his favorite restaurant. With the help of our besties, it was a true success. We had to wait longer for a table than was ideal, but everyone was so patient and so encouraging. There were 20 people there from all the walks of our lives together in one room to support, celebrate and encourage my husband. It was a beautifully chaotic evening. Ben does not get to see a lot of these important people as much as he did before the move and I wanted him to still feel loved despite the distance. Following dinner we headed to our best friends house for a smaller celebration where we laughed, enjoyed wings and chocolate fondue, and spent the night. We truly have the greatest friends. In all honesty, they are more like family.

For the big gift... I got him tickets to a show here in Providence. He is a big foodie and this gift definitely hit the mark. I usually struggle with gift buying. I'm just not very creative, but this gift made his eyes light up and I knew I had this one in the bag.

Today is Ben's actual birthday and I woke up early to make him breakfast and serve it to him in bed. The smile on his face was worth my tired eyes. I wanted him to feel as special as I know he is. Madi had big birthday kisses to share and it was a giggly birthday morning. During the day, Madi and I baked and decorated his birthday cake. We blew up balloons and each wrote him a card. Of course, Madi's was mostly just colored all over :) We then picked Ben up from work and headed out to dinner together at Red Robin. But nothing can top listening to Madi sing happy Birthday to her Dada before she helped him blow out the candles. She adores him and she was so excited to celebrate with him. It was a memorable day.

Happy Birthday Benjamin. We love you!