Happy, Happy Birthday, K!!!!!

K turned 8 today! I am so proud of her and pleased to have her as my daughter. She is a wonderful girl with so many talents. How blessed I am to be able to watch her grow.

I realized I've never done the birth story thing with her. Here is the condensed version: I was teaching school in Oregon until June 23rd (the last day of school). Then, I was ready for the baby to be born (we did not know what gender). We had had the due date changed three times, so I really didn't know when the baby would be born (June 30th, June 6th, July 8th). I spent one night walking and walking and walking (trying to induce labor). DH got bit by a hamster, so I was on hold talking to the Advice Nurse at like midnight to see if he needed shots or anything. I went to be around 12:15. At 12:30ish, I thought I'd wet the bed...not so...my water had broken. I was so nervous that when I called Labor and Delivery I said something funny..I can't remember exactly but maybe "My labor broke." or "My waters in labor." Something silly. I remember wondering how I would ever get to the hospital, since the waters kept gushing and I was afraid to leave the toilet.

Eventually I did. DH gave me a blessing and we packed a bag and headed to the hospital (one mile away). After about 16hours of labor I had an epidural..heaven! Then she was born about two hours later. I remember that DH, the doctor, and the nurses were all worried about making sure she was okay...while I was immediately checking to see the gender. DH finally spoke up and said, "Oh, what is it?" and the doctor replied that he had not checked. I was able to yell out from the bed, "It's a girl!" We really wanted a girl...we only had a name for a girl and we were ready for her.

That wasn't so short, but I could've made it longer!

Unfortunately, today did not turn out to be a spectacular birthday. As you might have figured out, DH and I are on the verge of a collective nervous break down. We have so much going on: finding an employee, training said employee, finding babysitters, getting ready for the trip, running a blossoming clinic, having a birthday, feeling sick, and various other extremely important and time consuming duties. Did I mention that we have a baby and two big kids as well? Let's just say that life is not easy right now and that I am not getting much sleep.

So... for K's birthday.....
We went visiting teaching (yea to TXMommy!)....then TXMommy watched my kids (again...second time in less than a week...I owe her BIG time!) and I went to train at the clinic (AGAIN). Then we went to get the license plates that just came in for our van and ran into a whole bunch of problems that kept us at the dealership for about three hours. By then it was 7:00 and I hadn't yet wrapped the presents or made K her cake...so we stopped at WalMart and bought one. I thought it was nasty, but K loved it and that's what counts. She began opening presents at 9:30. What a day!

Luckily for her...she already had her party, she told me we needed to do whatever it took to get ready and she would have a smaller birthday today, and SHE GOT A KITTEN! (Well, all the stuff for her kitten. We will pick up the little guy when we get back from our trip). Personally, I think her parents are crazy for allowing this, but that is what she really wanted. When we brought out the cat litter box, scratching post, etc...she got tears in her eyes when she realized what all the stuff meant...her very own pet for her to take care of and love (or should I say her MOM to take care of....I just have a feeling).

Well, it is now 12:49 am and the kitchen is still a huge mess and I have yet to sleep. Little Dan might wake at any moment, too!

I still have laundry and packing and so on and so forth to do. Thank goodness for an inspired mom. My mom is flying here tomorrow to help me finish getting ready and then driving with me to Colorado so I don't have to do it alone (I've driven alone before...but never this exhausted). I am grateful for her sacrifice to come and I know that we would've canceled the trip without her. I think the drive from CO to UT will be okay alone (with the three kids). K is getting baptized with her cousins (three of them are three months or less apart!). It will be such a wonderful occasion! It's just getting there that is difficult!

(I have pictures to post, but I'm too tired...check back soon!)