A really sweet birthday :-)

So, a little background should probably occur here first...
Background 1: Today is my birthday (haha...a valuable piece of information for understanding this post!!).
Background 2: When I was growing up, we used birthdays as a chance to really celebrate that person-so they were pretty special. The person whose birthday it was (don't kill me, grammar police!) would pick everything from what meals they wanted that day, to type of cake, party, etc.
Background 3: Josh doesn't like his birthday. Josh doesn't usually keep track of dates. Therefore, we have never celebrated my birthday as a couple. Because I lived far from my family, I didn't celebrate with them either-so it's been something along the lines of 5 years since I've celebrated my birthday.
Background 4: Background 3 is something I have unsuccessfully struggled with for years,doing my best to not care, then when that didn't work, to pretend like I didn't care, then when that didn't work, breaking down into tears at some point along the way.
Okay, now for the post:
So this year, I think for the first time, I really would have been mostly okay with a muted celebration. I'm not really sure why....maybe I'm tired from all the activity of the last few months, maybe I'm fooling myself in thinking that I would have been okay, or maybe my mind is preoccupied with my little kicker, and so I am becoming a tiny bit less selfish? Either way, I wasn't expecting much this year and wasn't spending/wasting energy worrying about it either.
I was at work today (doing paperwork..ick!) and my Dad walked by the office (my dad works in the same building as I do, even though I don't see him that much because we work in different areas). He paused to give me a hug and say happy birthday, which set off a chorus of "I didn't know it was your birthday!"s from my coworkers (this was during lunch). I was pretty embarrassed and stumbled out something along the lines of "Oh, well...yep, it is!" (I mean, what should I have done? If you telegraph around the office that its' your birthday it's basically like asking people to do something special...not exactly my style) Anyway, they all said happy birthday, I said thank you (quite red faced I'm sure!), and then we went on to the afternoon.
Well, midway through the afternoon, the administrative assistants came back to my desk with huge armloads of stuff. They gave me a happy birthday balloon, a beautiful purple orchid (I hope I can keep it alive!!), a dozen chocolate cupcakes, a big container of blueberries and another of blackberries (they have noticed apparently that I eat a LOT of fruit...mostly because it never makes me sick!), and some warm fun colored socks! It made me feel really loved and appreciated and was very sweet of them (the gifts were from the department as a whole, but it was awfully nice of the AA's to go out in the 40 degree rain to get them!).
And THEN I got home and my husband was/is in the middle of cooking an elaborate (and delicious looking/smelling!) dinner, he had bought me gorgeous flowers, written me the sweetest letter I've ever gotten for my birthday, bought me ice cream, and proceeded to inform me that there was also a present for me! Yep, friends, he really went above and beyond this year. I am relaxing like a queen on the couch and he's doing all the work...isn't that sweet? And the baby is kicking, which probably doesn't sound like it should be sweet, but it is. :-)
I also had birthday cards from my grandmother and aunt waiting, and an email from my mother informing me that we are going to do a family celebration on Sunday after church. This is definitely the best birthday I've had in quite some time! I feel very special and loved today. There have been several things that have made me feel really loved lately, and it has been so nice. :-) I hope that all of this helps me learn to trust God more, rest in His love (because I am always this deeply loved and more by Him!), and allow others to love me without feeling guilty or trying to push it away.