Cradle-Robber Cam

Tuesday, August 25, 2015 Katie & Cam 1 Comments

I can't believe that I am married to a 26-year-old. If he was rich I would totally be considered a gold-digger. HA

Last year we celebrated his birthday, like, a month late because of how busy we were getting married and all. And although it was fun, it just didn't really feel like anything super special because it was so past due. So this year I really wanted to make it perfect for his big two six. The night before his birthday, he fell asleep at 7PM for a nap that lasted to the next morning. So, lonely and bored, I stayed up late making sure that the house was perfectly clean and had cinnamon rolls in the fridge to bake in the morning before work. 5 o'clock came around and I pulled them out to rise. Cam then decided that (for the first time ever) he wanted to hang out, cuddle, and talk all morning. I couldn't pass that up so I laid there, trying to enjoy the moment while thinking of how I could get them in the oven with it still being a surprise. Finally 7 o'clock came and he hopped in the shower while I threw the rolls in the oven and let them bake. The instructions said that it would only take 18 minutes to bake, yet 25 minutes later they still weren't "golden brown" and Cam was running late. So he went off to work. Hungry.

The best part? I didn't even pack him a lunch for that day. But I had the whole thing planned; I would order him Jimmy Johns for lunch and it would be a sweet surprise. But as he was closing the fridge door, obviously disappointed that he had no lunch, he told me that he would just pick something up during work. Getting nervous that he would pick up lunch before I had it delivered, I got on the phone at 10AM to order. Little did I know that Jimmy Johns in Seattle only delivers within a 1-mile radius and there were NONE that were close enough to his work. So I sat there, staring at the phone thinking, "I just sent my birthday boy to work with no breakfast and no lunch." Ha I am the worst.

So, being the problem-solver that I am, I hopped in my car, rushed to Seattle, picked up his lunch, and took it to his work. At 10AM. HA and once I got there and surprised him, all of his work buddies came and welcomed me. I don't know if I was just flustered or excited or what, but I got super nervous all of a sudden. All I could think was, "These are the people that pay him the big bucks." So, of course, I was all, "Oh hey, Cam talks about you all of the time. He wants to steal your job." HA WHAT. Please excuse me while I learn how to act in social situations. Haha but then his lead boss came out and she was a big Bachelor fan; finally I felt calm. Well besides being really excited to meet another Bachelor fan. Finally Cam graced me with a good old, "Well babe, I better get back to work" so I rushed out of there, took a deep breath, and headed back home to decorate, wrap presents, and make a cake.

Growing up my mom always had our age in balloons waiting for us when we got home from school. So like for my ninth birthday I had nine balloons. I always loved it and I want to continue to do that with our kids one day. So I blew up 26 balloons, taped up some streamers, and hung a little banner. Decorations? Good enough.

Okay, first, let this be said. If I had to define myself I would probably say that I thrive off of last-minute ideas but really, really good intentions. That was this cake. I was going to frost the cake white, sprinkle on a black G, and outline it in red sprinkles. Then, without thinking ~~obviously~~, I added just a drop of red food coloring to the frosting. Pink Frosting. So what do you do? Add more red? I added an entire tube of red food coloring and I had a somewhat darker pink frosting. So I bailed on the whole white cake idea, decided that Cam was colorblind enough to think that it was red, and sprinkled on a G. Upside Down. HA strike two, Katie. After scraping off the top of the cake, remaking a stencil, and re-sprinkling the G, I had to finally just tell Cam to fake excitement and that next year it would be better.

When Cam finally got home from work he was SO EXCITED. Like big smile as soon as he opened the door that made the butterflies in my stomach go wild. He clipped this balloon that his co-workers got him to the pup and Herschel had the time of his life trying to catch it.

Traditions are big deal to Cameron. I remember when we were first just talking, he was at a Christmas party that his family throws every year and he really just talked about how some of his best memories came from family traditions that he had growing up. In my family, on our birthdays, we always ate our favorite dinner, opened presents, then had cake. Cam, of course, wanted jalapeno stuffed burgers and fries but was still full from his lunch, so I made up a small plate for him to chow down. Because, presents.

Herschel was not impressed with the party hats. UGH I LOVE HIM.

Cam opened every present like this^^, and stopped to pose with each box and each torn piece of wrapping paper and each present. HA that kid!

It's so weird to me that all he wants for presents is sports memorabilia because my dad and brothers were never like that. So I keep trying to get him things that he would like that have nothing to do with sports. I got him a hot chocolate mug that he liked at Target and a subscription to a root beer of the month club. To both presents I could just tell that as much as he appreciated the thought, he was praying that in the next box there would be something Georgia related or autographed or ,at least, sell-able on Ebay.

Then for the real presents. His authentic Le'veon Bell Jersey (made with the right material) wasn't scheduled to arrive until that weekend so substituted his other Steelers Jersey in its place. Finally came some excitement/relief as he realized that I actually had gotten him something sports related.

Lastly came the authentic Herschel Walker signed Georgia helmet.

Followed by the biggest, realest smile I had seen all night. And maybe a tear or two.

Crushed it.

We celebrated by trying to selfie. We put my camera on a shelf so it was more of a shelfie. HAHA. I didn't take the time to focus my camera so all of the pictures were blurry and I ended up falling down in the last two. May I direct you back to the "last-minute ideas but really really good intentions" thing.

I really am so grateful to have the chance to celebrate Cam all day long. He kept saying, "I wish every day could be my birthday" and it really just made it the best day ever. Because even though it felt like so many things were going wrong throughout the day, it was still a special day for Cam. And he still appreciate the entire day from start to finish.

Happy Birthday, Cam. I love you more than Herschel loves popping balloons.