Supermom Chronicles

I can't believe it's been 5 years since our lives completely changed forever. About this time (1:25pm) I was being admitted to the hospital with my first pregnancy, 2 days overdue, for a surprise last minute induction because my blood pressure spiked during my OB checkup. I remember my doc saying those words that struck instant fear into my core: "Well, you're going to have your baby today." So matter-of-factly. I remember thinking for a split second, "How do you know?" But then realization set in that I was about to be induced. He could obviously see the surprise mixed with fear in my face because he gently placed his hands on my knees and quietly said, "Don't be afraid, everything is going to be alright, you can do this." This being my first pregnancy, I had the common motherhood dream of my water breaking, the excitement of rushing to the hospital, everything going relatively "naturally" as Mother Nature intended. So the idea of induction, a surprise one at that, didn't sit well with me. Anyway, the hospital was across the street from my doc's office, so off we went walking. Shortly after admission, they had me hooked up to monitors, IV lines, etc, then my doctor broke my water. Wow, it didn't take long. I had the epidural around 3:30 or so, started pushing around 5:45, and she was born at 6:02pm. Wow, has it really been 5 years?? I remember it like it was yesterday.


Well, now I can say that not only have I survived 3 births, I have just survived our first official birthday party. Up until this point, we've always just done family dinners to celebrate birthdays. But now Faith is old enough to enjoy a real party, which took place this past Saturday at our house. Faith is really into flowers right now, so that had to be her theme. We had eight 4-5 yr olds running around, and thankfully a few parents hung around to help out. I underestimated my abilities, especially with James in the mix. He had a blow-out diarrhea right smack in the middle of the party. Thankfully his grandparents were here to help, and they quickly took him upstairs for a bath. Here is the flower cake I created. I asked Faith what kind of cake she wanted (expecting "chocolate" or "strawberry" as the answer), and she immediately replied, "I want a chocolate cake with white icing with pink sprinkles and my name on it and a #5 candle." I think I met her requests!




The party started off with plain terracotta pots for everyone to paint and decorate as they pleased. That was fun. There was just as much paint on some of the kids as on the pots. Here Cole is really concentrating on his project.








While the pots were drying, we all came in for hot dogs. The kids got to create their own dog, adding mayo, mustard, ketchup, chili and/or cheese as they desired. Obviously the best part of lunch for the kids was the creation process because very few actually ate much. Then came the cake. Faith smiled so big when we all started singing. It was great!






Next we all adjourned to the living room for the opening of presents. Check out this awesome balloon bouquet that my sister, Cara, brought for Faith. Gift opening was quite an adventure. The kids kept closing in on Faith & I like vultures over a fresh kill. I kept having to play defense and scoot everybody back so Faith could rip the wrapping paper. All the kids would scoot back for about 3-4 seconds, then start moving in again. It was pretty funny.




Finally, we went back outside to plant flowers in our newly decorated pots. Each kid got his/her own set of gloves, spade, and a watering can. They got to pick out the color of flower they wanted to plant and scoop the dirt themselves. You could tell they were pretty proud of their creations. I think their favorite part was using the watering cans. Here are some of the partiers at the end (3 kids are missing from the photo).

So overall, I think the party was a success. Faith definitely had a good time. Her friends got to take home their plant and gardening tools as "party favors". Everyone seemed pretty happy. As for me, I went out with my sister that afternoon and celebrated with a couple of Don Julio Mexican Martinis from Trudy's.