Happy Birthday to me

Yesterday was my birthday, Groundhog Day. No, I didn't see my shadow & yes, I've heard all the jokes. If only that movie "Groundhog day" were reality. I'd love to repeat my birthday over & over again.
I had a very nice birthday. It actually started a few days before, when I got part of my present early. I had been wanting this "Prenatel exercise kit". It comes with a set of 2 lb. weights, and a set of those stretchy bands that mimic weights. They have 3 different levels, low, medium, & high. It also comes with one of those big yoga balls. I've been wanting one of those for awhile. Since I've been in physical therapy & using them, I've found them to be very comfortable on the lower back. Plus I've seen women use them on all those baby shows during labor. Since I plan on having a very different labor than I did with Emma (where I was forced to lie in bed the whole time), I'm hoping to be able to use it.
So that was the first part of it. Jeff also got me a package to the local salon/day spa. But that's going to have to wait until I'm feeling a little better. What's the point in getting an aromatherapy massage if you can't breathe through your nose?
He then took me out to lunch yesterday, which was very nice. We went to Ruby Tuesdays. We'd never been there before, and it's very good food. He was able to get off work early, and we got take out for dinner, so we could stay at home & be together as a family, instead of at a restaurant. He got a Dairy Queen ice cream cake, that said "Happy Birthday, Mom" on it. Emma helped him pick it out. So we sat at home, having dinner & dessert. Emma & Jeff sang "Happy Birthday" to me. It was a very nice day.
Emma has been having a field day with "Alice in Wonderland". I really think it's her new favorite movie. She's watched it half a dozen times (or more) since we got it in the mail last Friday. It came with a memory type game of all the characters in the movie. This kid has a really good memory. She wants to play the game all the time, and most of the time, she wins. Of course, there is a fair amount of cheating involved, on her part. But that's only during the beginning of the game. Until she remembers where all the cards are & keeps picking pair after pair. But even when she doesn't sneak looks at more than 2 cards during her turn, she still manages to beat Jeff & I.
She's also getting really excited about gymnastics coming up tomorrow night. Barring any other medical emergencies, she should be going as scheduled. And since it snowed a fair amount last night, I doubt she's going to have preschool today, so I'm glad gymnastics can't be called on account of the weather. I'm beginning to doubt whether paying the preschool $50/month regardless of how many days they're actually going is worth it. Especially since the past 2 weeks have been cancelled. Oh well. I guess that's the price you pay when you live where it snows...a lot. So, back to gymnastics. Emma was practicing her somersaults last night. Jeff was helping her remember her form. And she was getting pretty good. Not at all like the first night at class, where she was rubbing her scalp bald on the mats or falling over sideways. After we saw that she had the somersaults down pretty well, I wanted to see if she would want to try a cartwheel, with help of course. She didn't quite get the mechanics of that one down, though. She's still pretty stiff and doesn't want to be positioned into where she needs to be. We worked on her stretching, and trying to keep her legs straight. She did really well with that. So, I think, even though she missed last week, she'll be ok.