Happy Birthday to C!

C turned 6 today! What a crazy birthday. We are currently in Colorado with my parents. We celebrated with DH's family on Sunday night in Utah before we left. Then, today we celebrated here without DH. When we get back to Texas, we will celebrate again with DH. It is a very long celebration for him this year. Today we took him to a local older amusement park. He had a blast and he is a little daredevil. It is cool to watch the thrills and expression of pure joy on his face. Both he and K had a blast!

It is amazing to me that he is already six. He is a very smart, funny, and talented boy and I am very proud of him. I am always in awe of his wit, intellect, and talents. He can make everyone feel at ease. He is very generous and loves to take care of his siblings. He is also responsible and willing to help me out all the time.

Like K, I have never told a birth story of him, so I will share one briefly. It isn't very long. The unique part is that we were living in Portland, OR at the time. On a whim, DH decided that we needed to take a trip to Seattle, WA. He called me at around 10 am and we left around noon, I think. The drive is only about three and a half hours. So we were tourists all that night and the next day. The hard part, though, was that every so often we'd have to stop walking and wait while I had a contraction. I wasn't too worried, as K's labor had been so long. The contractions were long and we were a long ways from my midwives, though. By the time we got home, I was still having a lot of contractions. By the next night, I had a lot of contractions and they didn't even go away when I laid down as the others had. This was still new to me, as I had had my water break with K and never felt the build up of contractions. At around midnight, I called Labor and Delivery and they told me to go ahead and take a bath for an hour to see if it made the contractions stop. I did. They didn't. I didn't make it an hour. I called back saying they were worse than ever. They said that this is the sign they were looking for and that I was truly in labor. I called my friend Danielle to babysit K and we got to the hospital around 2. C was born before 4:30. He was a fast labor. A truly funny story is that with K I had finally gotten that epidural so I didn't feel much. With C, when it came time to push him out I remember chanting (as a wild woman mantra)...."This is why the scream in the movies." over and over and over again. Looking back, I don't know how DH or the nurses and doctors didn't just die laughing.

On a completely different note, every day since we left has been full to the brim with activities. My kids have been with all their cousins, all their aunts and uncles (except my brother who is on a mission), all of their grandparents, and their only living great-grandparent....all in one trip! Amazing. K was also baptized. I have taken over 600 pictures so far (the blessing of having a 1 gig memory card!).

Once I get back home, I will add pictures and detail it more..but for now...Happy Birthday to C. Happy Birthday to C. He looks like a six-year-old and he is one too! (This is his made up version of the song.)