Aaron is 26 years old now.

On Thursday, September 17, 2009, we celebrated Aaron's 26th birthday like rock stars. Well, maybe not rock stars, but definitely larger than usual. Of course Aaron had to spend the half of his birthday in class, but when I got off of work and he finished his school stuff, we started the birthday bash events. 

Aaron is a pretty low maintenance guy in that he wanted one thing for his birthday. I'll get to that later and leave you in intense suspicion, but it was yet another indicator that we are getting OLD. We started out the evening by getting semi-dressed up (which never happens anymore unless we are going to church) and going to a restaurant in Oxford called 208 where we splurged on a great, delicious, expensive, and fabulous meal. 

The good news about this great, delicious, expensive and fabulous meals is that it was one that was FREE. Ahh, free food. It tastes so much finer when you know that your checking account will not shake its finger at you at the end of the month. No guilt, remorse, or shame for choosing $35 veal smothered in some kind of sauce that was absolutely superb. The reason the meal was free was because I'm awesome. At my job. I guess. A few months ago, the attorney I work for gave me a gift certificate as a "thank you" and a "you are the best paralegal on the planet" and a "I'd be lost without your excellent organization and people skills." Well, that may be pushing it, but it was a very nice gesture, and it was even nicer that we waited to use it for Aaron's birthday. This is Aaron holding up his birthday card that for some reason seemed beyond hilarious when I was picking it out:

Just in case you can't read it, it says "Happiness is like peeing in your pants. Everyone can see it but only you can feel its warmth." Of course I wrote a heartfelt note inside, but also inside there was a printout of this, which Aaron is very, very, very excited about. The reason I chose to get Aaron a pistol is because he has been wanting one and talking about getting one for at least five years or so, but never has because there are always more pressing needs, such as food, shelter, insurance, etc. In the meantime, this is what has been keeping us safe: 

Your eyes are not deceiving you. There is a shotgun hanging off our bed, locked and loaded at all times. Aaron saw this gun holder contraption on a redneck television infomercial and picked up the phone and went to dialing away to order this genius invention. How great is it that if an intruder comes into our home, we don't even have to get out of bed! Aaron can just reach over to the side of the bed, grab his shotgun, and pull the trigger. Poor intruder guy will have no idea that there is an Aaron Rice on the other side of the door just smiling and waiting. Well, maybe not smiling, but definitely waiting. 

I guess I had ulterior motives for getting the pistol. Knowing that this time next year there will be a very mobile toddler boy scurrying around the house and there is also a loaded shotgun two feet off the floor does not sit well with me. So now we will retire the shotgun-on-the-bed holder and keep a well concealed pistol in the bedside table. Actually, I didn't actually buy the pistol yet because I knew Aaron would want to spend hours upon hours researching every detail of every pistol on the market, but sooner or later, he will add a pistol to his gun collection. 

Enough about guns. That was quite the rabbit trail wasn't it? Back to the birthday festivities. After enjoying our free meal, we walked over to the other side of the Oxford Square so we could get Aaron his only birthday request. This is the only thing he asked for:

Glenlivet 21. This is what Aaron wanted for his 26th birthday. We walked to Downtown Grill, the only restaurant/bar in Oxford that sells this drink. Just in case you aren't familiar with scotch drinks, Glenlivet 21 means that it is 21 years old, which means that is VERY expensive. As much as I would like to say I bought Aaron a $400 bottle of Glenlivet 21, that was obviously not an option. So he opted to enjoy a $32.00 glass of Scotch, and to say he enjoyed it would be the understatement of the year. 

After every single sip, he explained its greatness and why that sip was better than the last. He savored it, swirled it around in his mouth, smelled it, studied the bottle, closed his eyes and tried to make the moment last forever. He got goosebumps as he sipped it. He smiled the entire time. I listened to him explain the history of the Scotch drink, the study of the Scotch drink, the art of Scotch, and much much more. He enjoyed that $32.00 drink so much that after he took that last sip, his legs involuntarily took him back to the bar to order another $32.00 drink. That's right, $64.00 for two drinks, but it was worth seeing the satisfaction and joy in his eyes. He could have gone back for 10 more and I wouldn't have said a word because it was so fun seeing my sweet husband so happy. For the first time in a very long time, we sat at a small bar table, just the two of us, and talked for a couple of hours about whatever we wanted to. Aaron drank his 21 year old Scotch drank and I sipped on some sparkling water, and it was nice. We were in no rush whatsoever. Well, toward the end of the night I started getting a little ancy to get home because my lower back felt like somebody took a sledgehammer to it, but other than that tiny little setback, it was a much needed and great evening. 

We left Downtown Grill and came home and immediately began to devour the Baskin Robbins ice cream cake that Aaron requested. It wasn't until we had eaten half of it that I realized that I should take a picture of it because it was Aaron's first "Happy Birthday Daddy" cake. 

It was much better than my Kroger ice cream cake on my 25th birthday. It was delicious, and the perfect ending to a perfect birthday celebration. 

On Friday night, the day after the birthday festivities, we joined our friends, Liz and Madison, for a concert at The Lyric on the Square. Has anybody ever heard of Bobby Rush? Well, here is a very small taste of what we watched for a couple of hours:

Having never heard of Bobby Rush before, I certainly didn't know what to expect. My eyes were opened. Wide. It was actually a blast and I enjoyed every second of it, until the sledgehammer-like pain overcame my lower back and we left. 

Last night (Saturday), reality set it in as we put Clark's crib together. It was a very surreal moment that we didn't really know what to do with. Even though we did it together, of course Aaron did 95% of the work while I took pictures. 

When we were finished, and the crib was built in its entirety, and I put some of the gifts that Clark has already been given in it, all we could really do is just stare at it. What an odd thing to have in our house. 

First of all, isn't this crib beautiful? Probably ten minutes after I told my mom I was pregnant, she made it clear that she wanted to buy his crib. We don't have bedding for it yet, but my grandmother, Yaya, who is turning 89 years old this October, has already hand-made Clark about 10 little blankets and a couple of pretty big blankets. They are so sweet and perfect for swaddling a little baby in, and I can't wait to use them. Thanks so much, Mom, for buying this for us! It's perfect! I can't even imagine how weird it is going to be to actually see a baby in it, but at least we have about 3 months to get ready for it. 

I suppose that is everything exciting that has happened lately. The next exciting thing on our agenda is my doctors appointment on Thursday where they are going to test me for gestational diabetes. They are going to prick my finger, test my blood sugar, and then make me drink a gigantic glass of sugar water. An hour or two later, they will prick my finger again and see what my reaction was to the sugar. I'm thinking about asking the doc if I can just go to Big Bad Breakfast and fill up on syrupy pancakes to get my sugar overload instead of having to ingest a nasty orange flavored sugar water. I'll let you know how that goes. I'm actually kind of anxious about this appointment, because the word diabetes scares the bejeezus out of me. If you happen to think about me on Thursday, please send up a prayer for me. 

This blog has been way too long. I guess that's what happens when I only blog once a month or so. Well, I'd like to end by saying Happy 26th Birthday, Arnie. I knew you when you were 16,  and it has been so much fun watching you grow into the man you are today, nearly ten years later. I can't wait to see what's in store for you and our family.