Happy 9th Birthday Maggie

Once again, we have strung out a birthday for as long as possible!!  On Monday, Maggie’s grandmother picked her up and took her shopping and then they had a fabulous Italian dinner out!  Maggie was looking sassy in her new outfit!  On Tuesday, (her actual birthday) she had a few friends over for a pool party.  I am surprised that she hasn’t had a pool party before now.  She is our only kid who has a birthday in the summer and we have always said how lucky she is to be able to have pool parties!  The girls had a blast.  They ate pizza, swam and went to the park behind our house.  They were so cute together and chit chatted the whole time! 

Maggie wanted to go to Smashburger for her birthday night dinner.  We really love that place!  They are so nice to us!  It may or may not be because Dan tips them!!  We have found that when you have the vast amount of kids that we have, restaurants sigh when we come in.  A tip seems to help them not avoid us all together.  I told our server we were celebrating Mag's birthday and he brought her out the most ridiculously big dessert ever.  It was 4 HUGE scoops of ice cream with whip cream, chocolate and Oreo crumbles on top. We all had some!

We went home to have left-over cake from her party!  She opened her presents from the family and ended up with some nice spending money!  She got some really nice outfits too and was the most enthusiastic model I have ever seen (and super cute too!)  

On Friday, she went to the Town Center with my mom and they had a fabulous time in Justice and Claire's!  She was so proud of her $4 pink purse she got on sale and also picked out two adorable bathing suits!  They also enjoyed cheesecake factory! 

Maggie was one of the most beautiful babies I have ever seen.  She was a chunky, healthy looking baby, which is hard to believe now because she is so thin.  I always marveled at her beautiful eyes.  The rest of my kids have a lighter complexion like me and Maggie has always looked like she has mascara on with her dark lashes.  She had the brightest blue eyes and would raise her eyebrows up and down when she was happy which was most of the time.  She was such a blessing to our family.  I remember being so afraid to have her.  Bubba never slept and I couldn’t wrap my brain around having two non-sleeping children at the same time.  She loved her pacifier and her gigi (blanket) and would just lay in her bed, watching her mobile and go to sleep all by herself.  

I remember being so nervous when I was about to have her.  She was due on 4^th of July.  My doctor that I loved was going out of the country and I was sad that she wouldn’t be with us for this birth.  Her practice was no longer going to be delivering babies.  The day of my last checkup before she left town was 22 days before my due date.  I woke up early with an intense contraction.  I started having contractions at 17 weeks pregnant with Maggie and had them the whole pregnancy so I just ignored them but this one was different.  I sat on the couch for an hour and had them just a few minutes a part.  I was pretty scared because I didn’t know if Maggie was ready or big enough to be born.  I woke Dan up at 7 and told him I thought I may be in labor and of course he was like, “GET DRESSED!  CALL THE DOCTOR…”  I had an early appointment and told him to relax.

The doctor came in and we talked about her trip and then she asked me how I was doing.  I told her I thought I was in labor and she seemed concerned because of how early I was and how fast I delivered.  Sure enough, I was already 7 centimeters dilated. She sent me to the hospital and put me on a monitor to see how fast my contractions were.  After a couple hours she came in to have a heart to heart talk with me.  She confirmed that I was in active labor and she didn’t feel comfortable letting me go home.  She was also concerned that the baby was too early and that her lungs may not be fully developed.  She was going to have an ambulance waiting in case we needed to rush Maggie downtown to NICU.  I was so very scared. I couldn't fathom having my baby wisked away from me and taken to a different hospital.  This is not the way I wanted to deliver my baby.  We prayed and got prepped for delivery.  I could see the ambulance drivers outside in the hall waiting for the word.  I quickly delivered Maggie and when I heard her cry, it was the best sound ever.  They gave her to me and I knew she was totally fine when I saw her chunky little legs. She weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces and was a beautiful girl in everyway.  

The first thing I did was to pop a pink pacifier in her mouth and she took right to it. Bubba never took one and somewhat traumatized me.  He kept me hopping to feed him (and now that I think about it, he still does! LOL)  Maggie was the last baby my beloved doctor ever delivered. She was a University of Miami graduate and I love the picture of her wrapped in our Miami blanket holding Maggie!  I gave it to her in a frame and it's still on her bookshelf.  I seem to always bond with my doctors and we turn into friends.  My doctor even participated in a skit with my friend Paulette. They filmed a video of my doctor training Paulette to deliver my baby since she was going to be out of town.  It was the best surprise ever and cracked me up!  I was so blessed that God orchestrated me having Maggie in the nick of time before my doctor left town!

I was so happy that Bonnie had a sister.  I have always been thankful for my two sisters. They have always been there for me! I pray that when Maggie, Bonnie and Annie are adults, the will be best friends!  Blood truly does run thicker than water! There is a bond like no other with sisters! 

Happy 9^th Birthday to Maggie May!  You are so helpful, capable, smart and talented!  I know God has great things ahead for you and I am so grateful that God gave you to our family!!