Happy Birthday to Laura!

Four years ago, I was wheeled into the NICU after emergency C-section recovery and held the tiny little hand of my little baby girl. Born 2 months early, under quite stressful conditions, having had no amniotic fluid for 16 weeks, and on maximum respiratory support now, this tiny little girl was fighting for her life. Actually, she had been fighting for 4 months already...since the doctors had sent me back home to wait for her to die after my water broke at 16 weeks. She looked so beautiful...even attached to too many tubes and lines to count. I felt helpless as all I could do for this perfect little baby was to hold her hand, somehow hoping she would be able to gather my strength with her and feel how much she was loved. I knowingly listened with tears glistening in my eyes as her doctor apologetically told us that there was nothing else they could do, but to wait, most likely meaning that she would not make it through the night.

Well, look at her now!!! Little Miss Laura is nothing short of a miracle. She is amazing from before she was born to everyday since birth. She is spunky and stubborn, silly and crazy, smart and creative, and absolutely loves life. What a happy day this is to celebrate the miracle of her birthday!!!

Today was filled with things that she loves to do. She played "My Bedbugs" on the computer this morning without a time limit, took a relaxing bath in the big tub with Thomas, and we went to the Mall for the day, where we met up with both Grandmas. She got to visit Build-a-Bear for the first time ever. She immediately picked a pink and sparkly bear "skin" with which to stuff. She was quite leary about the whole process of kissing the heart to be placed inside, and pressing the foot pedal to activate the stuffing machine. However once the bear was stuffed, she enjoyed giving it an air "shower" and brushing it's fur. She named her "Princess" and picked out an adorable outfit--pink, or course! Crispy had a great time too, and made a very cute turtle, dressed him up in Minnesota Wild gear, complete with the cutest little breezers and skates, and creatively named him "Turtle Z".

Laura wanted a hamburger (a surprise) for lunch, so we ate at Applebee's in the mall. She chose chicken fingers instead, and we ate our ice cream cone cupcakes while we waited for our food to arrive.....dessert should always be first! She opened a present from Grandma C, and wanted to start putting the puzzle together immediately, but luckily our food arrived to divert her attention. The waitress brought her a special birthday sundae to top off her meal.

She had to spend the rest of her day waiting to open the mountain of presents in the living room. Most of the waiting time was spent riding around the new Plasma Cars I put together this afternoon. These things are awesome! They work not by foot power, but by arm power, moving the steering wheel back and forth to make it go. Within minutes, everyone had figured it out. With a weight limit of 220, this is a great toy for adults too! We had a blast racing around the kitchen, and later, the basement. A perfect thing for these long winter days cooped up inside....energy so positively expended. Everyone needs one, preferably two of these in their home. Everyone! Check one out...many colors to choose from, and shipping is free with some with Amazon Prime:http://www.amazon.com/PlasmaCar-Red/dp/B000GUEXBG/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1202937910&sr=8-1

Jonny and I played a rough game of parents vs. kids as his last basketball event of the season. It was fun to play, and we showed them some mercy, but not enough to embarass ourselves. Meanwhile, Alex played in the pep band at a girls varsity basketball game. Laura's wait finally ended at about 8pm, and she was a stitch to watch and listen to as she opened each present. She had been so moody and odd about getting special attention earlier in the day, but now, she was all for it. Her comments were continuous as she opened one present after another, often not even stopping to look into the box, but saying a brief thank you before moving on. She was especially pleased with her first Webkinz panda, and a special light-up princess wand from daddy.

She made a wish for more Max & Ruby toys before blowing out the 4 pink and purple candles on her cake sprinkled with pixie dust left by Tinkerbell. As an extra special treat, Laura, Melissa, and Crispy had a sleepover in the new Dora pop-up playhouse and tunnel.....it takes up about half of our living room! They were so excited as they placed their sleeping bags and pillows inside by the soft glow of the Tinkerball lantern....Crispy chose to sleep in the connecting tunnel. Melissa read one of Laura's new Max & Ruby books as a bed time story. With a smile on her little face, and all of her favorite things beside her, Laura drifted off to sleep. I am pretty sure that she had a very good day!