Happy Birthday Wes!

We celebrated a milestone in Wes' life on Saturday.

Watch the video to see what he did to usher in his 50th year!

Greatest Birthday Gift

My daughter-in-law Carolyn is one of those people who give a lot of thought to the gifts she gives. One of the very endearing things about her is the fact that she cannot wait to give her presents away and it is not unusual for me to receive something early.

So when Ben and Carolyn came by on Saturday with my birthday gift, I wasn't too surprised. A couple of bottles of wine and some delicious cheese. They knew that with selling the house and all, I didn't want anything that I would have to move. But the real surprise was in the card they gave me:

Yup. That's right. I'm gonna be a grandma, for the first time. Woo hoo! The whole family's thrilled!

November 10, 1983

A memorable day. I was pregnant "out to here" and anxious to have this baby who was already 5 days overdue. It was an uneventful day and at 11:00 PM I went to bed, hoping that perhaps, tonight would be the night.

It was.

Around midnight, my water broke and Wes and I headed for the hospital. We had a lovely young woman living with us at the time and I gently knocked on her door to tell her we'd be leaving. It was great not having to worry about Ben who was only 2 at the time.

I hadn't been at the hospital long when labour was becoming too much for me to handle. I asked for an epidural and was given one almost immediately. The pain and discomfort left and Wes and I both actually dozed off for a few hours. It was the most peaceful, pain free labour I could have had. After a while, I noticed that something was feeling different. The nurse checked my progress and told me that I was ready to deliver.

Eric was born, with the help of forceps at around 6:00 in the morning. I couldn't see much but I did hear my doctor say, "Wow! Look at the size of that shoulder!" And then someone else said that perhaps there was a future for Eric in football.

And then he cried. Anyone who has delivered a healthy baby knows that sound. It is the most unbelievable, amazing sound in the world. I will never forget the first cry of each of my children.

There was some concern for Eric's health because of his size so he was whisked to the intermediate care nursery along with all the other wee little babies. I was sent to a recovery room to wait for the numbness in my legs to subside, worrying about my baby, reminding myself that he was in the best place possible. Besides, Wes was with him.

A few hours later, he was brought to me. He wasn't the cutest newborn, especially with forcep bruising, but he was absolutely precious. He was almost 11 pounds and considering he had to move through a pretty small passage, he did quite well.

Today, Eric is 24 years old and still precious to me. When I look at him, I still see that helpless, beautiful baby. At the same time I see a talented, intelligent, compassionate man. It's been fun watching him grow and I'm looking forward to the next 24 years.

Happy birthday Eric!

Happy Birthday Kristen

My baby is 19 today. I've often said that the only good thing that ever happened on Halloween was that Kristen was born.

We will attempt to have dinner tonight before the little ghosts and goblins start arriving at our door and before Kristen, her friends and the other teenagers in this house leave for their various festivities

My parents are here too. Mom and I were reminiscing about this day, 19 years ago. She remembers it well because she was visiting us.

It was 5:00 PM, October 31, 1988 and Wes and I were at the hospital in the final stages of labour. My poor mother, who probably thought that she would never have to deal with Halloween again, was at my home, trying to get 3 little boys dressed and out the door while other little ghosts and goblins were already looking for treats.

An unforgettable night.

Happy Birthday John

It's a day late but I want to wish my big brother John a happy birthday. Michele blogged about his cool car. I need to tell a story about him too. One that he has probably forgotten.

I received a VERY COOL pen as a Christmas gift when I was in grade 8. It was orange and had psychadelic dots all over it. It (not I) was the epitome of cool, back in the seventies. I was very careful of that pen-didn't want to loose it or anything because I did have a habit of losing things. (My mom went a little balistic once, when I lost a pair of pants. How can you lose PANTS? You WEAR them. How can you lose something you're wearing?)

Sure enough, one day, the pen went missing. A week or 2 later, I noticed that a boy in my class had my pen and was using it. He didn't even look guilty or try to hide it. Frank was a smallish, wiry kind of guy with a temper so I was not willing to confront him. But I knew someone who would.

I wrote a note and passed it to brother John. I still remember walking over to his side of the room and casually dropping the note on his desk, all the while keeping a close eye on the teacher. Passing notes of any kind was absolutely prohibited. If the teacher got a hold of the note and read it aloud, Frank would be embarrassed and I was a little afraid of what might happen on the playground at recess.

After recess, John walked to my side of the room and dropped the pen on my desk. Although he had denied stealing it, Frank was quite willing to relinquish it to John.

I actually kept that pen until the ink ran out. I think I even bought a new refill for it once. I don't know what ever happened to it but every time I used it, I remembered that even though John and I had some major sibling rivalry going on, I could always count on him to stand up for me.

Thanks John. Have a great 52nd year!