BECOMING MRS. ALLAN

On Wednesday, I celebrated my 34th birthday!

and a happy birthday it was. I love my birthday and as I get older, it's tougher to carve out time and make it a day of celebration. This year, I had to work. No time off since any day off is one less day of maternity leave! A lot of people asked me how I felt turning 34. The answer..pretty damn good. I'm not one to shy away from age, instead I like to look at all I've accomplished from one year to the next. I have a husband I adore. He's my true partner in every sense. We have a nice balanced relationship where neither one of us wears the pants in the relationship or  solely makes the calls. At the center or this relationship is just a great mutual respect for one another that keeps it going and nurtures it every day. We own a house that we're slowly making into a home. Sure, it might not be the biggest, best and fanciest house, but it's ours. We worked to save for it and work to keep it up and improve it. We're not ones to "keep up with Jones" and appreciate what we have, because, again, no one gave it to us and we worked for it.

Aside from all that stuff, this past year is obviously exciting since we're waiting for Baby Allan to arrive. I've had a pretty good pregnancy so far (29 weeks tomorrow...ahhh where is time going??). I've been able to maintain an active lifestyle and haven't been sidelined by too much. It's just been such an experience to see both my husband and myself transformed by this little baby growing inside of me. From the way he rests his head on my belly every night to the conversations about what she'll be like or who she'll look like to the way our families have come together to introduce this little girl to the world and help us prepare...overall it's been a pretty amazing experience. I know what great aunts our sisters will be, what amazing grandparents our parents will be and, most of all, I feel so incredibly lucky because I know what a hands on, caring, loving, father my husband will be. I also think I won't be too shabby in the mom department as well!

So, as I look at the journey I took from 33 to 34, I look back with a sense of accomplishment and a great deal of excitement because I know that 34 will be the most transformative and amazing year yet.

And..because we all love a bump picture and because I feel like I'm growing exponentially every week...my birthday bump at almost 29 weeks!