This is a busy time of year for birthdays in our house. Kayla, Kevin, and Ashley all have birthdays that are exact weeks apart, so they all end up having their birthdays on the same day of the week. This year it’s Saturdays. Kayla’s birthday was last week, Kevin’s is today, and Ashley’s is in 3 weeks.

Kevin is planning on his favorite meal – steak on the grill, baked potatoes, sauteed mushrooms, and green beans,  followed by his favorite birthday dessert – yellow cake and chocolate frosting (must be store bought mix and canned frosting). He will follow that up tomorrow with a gaming day with the guys. They will set up their computers together and play a group interactive game just about all day. They start at about 10AM, and game for 2-3 hours, then break for food and such, then game for 2-3 hours, and so on until 10-11PM. It is a good time for all! The girls and I will hang out here and rest because….

We were supposed to leave for Pittsburgh tomorrow, but nature intervened. Ashley has been running a fever for the last two days, some kind of cold type virus that she just needs to burn off. She was miserable enough this morning to suggest that she wishes I could leave her home and take Kayla so our vacation wasn’t spoiled! The other force of nature is a freaky little snow storm. It is going to miss us here, but wipe right across the entire route from here to Pitt. Shannon is supposed to get a few inches of snow Sunday evening into Monday all day. Leaving tomorrow morning would mean driving with and in the storm all of the way into Pittsburgh. Not my kind of driving. So, we are postponing until Tuesday. Roads should be clear, Ashley will feel better, and we will all have a better time!

Yesterday was report card day. Both girls had great reports, and Kayla has another Honor Roll certificate. They both continue to make progress with their music, and we now have a tuned piano for Ashley! Hopefully, the next post will have some Pittsburgh fun!

Twelve. A nice dozen. The hours on a clock face. The signs of the zodiac. And now Kayla’s age! It is so hard to comprehend that she can be 12 already! Twelve years ago, Kevin and I drove through 3-4 inches of freshly falling snow at 6AM to get to the hospital. Despite the best attempts by my doctor and myself (including a 2 mile walk around Gurnee Mills when I was 3 days overdue), Kayla was not budging and was now 8 days overdue. We headed in so that she could be induced. They got me all hooked up and monitored. My doctor came in about 7:30AM and broke my water. He said he would check on me mid-morning and that sometime after lunch we would have our new baby. Around 8:30AM, the contractions were getting painful enough that we started the epidural. Kevin was asked to leave, so he decided to head downstairs for a milkshake. He ran into Mom, who had just arrived. Back in the room, I was complaining to the anaesthesiologist that the epidural was not working. He thought I was joking, but had a nurse check on me anyway. That’s when my doctor was paged to come for a delivery – about 9AM. The nurse grabbed Kevin, who was a bit shocked that it was time already. Kayla was 3 sets of pushes and 37 minutes later. 

And now here we are 12 years later. She was my kid who toddled across the room for the first time on New Year’s Eve that year when she was 9.5 months old. She loved her bugs and kept ladybugs in ice trays (ladybug condos). She loved her animals, and still sleeps with Down the Slide – her Beanie baby kitty that she got when she was 18 months old, named after a day playing at the playground just down the road. She has morphed from our baby to a little school girl to a big sister to a kid to a blossoming young lady, all in what seems like the blink of an eye.

I will try to scan some photos and put up a picture sequence for you of Kayla from baby to now. We are proud of who and what she is becoming. She chose to get up this morning and go to church in 31 degree cold to help set up food for the Mobile Food Pantry. She plays her clarinet music, all Harry Potter and How to Train Your Dragon. She loves her Pokemon cards and books.

And…..she loves her new gift! Thank you to all who were a part of it! Here is the video:

Right now, we have 5 pre-teen girls running around in the basement. Ashley escaped to Mom’s house for the night. We hope Grampa is feeling better! Here’s to our last year without a teenager! EEEEEEEEKKK!