And now we are 3

Today is the toddler's birthday. Three years ago this precise moment, I was knocked out asleep. That kid wore me out. Still does, lol.

She made her grand entrance at 3:09 in the morning, 25 hours after my water broke at home. DH says that doesn't count as the beginning of my labor, as it wasn't until ~4:00 in the afternoon -- and with the help of pitocin -- that I began to feel any contractions, but I think that for future guilt-inducing purposes, we'll say I had a 25-hour labor. It sounds better. More dramatic.

Even if her impending arrival didn't cause me a lot of pain right off, it did leave me exhausted! I'd been awake all day Saturday (complaining that she'd never get here, that I felt about as likely to deliver within the next few days as I did at the very beginning of my pregnancy). I went to bed at midnight, and woke up at 2am when my water broke. I then stayed up all day Sunday -- wondering when those elusive contractions would start up -- and into the morning on Monday, by that time swooning both from the pain and from the occasional burst of Nubain through my IV. By the time she finally showed up, I'd been awake for nearly two days straight and gone through the most physically and emotionally exhausting experience of my life. When I finally got to sleep, I slept like the dead.

We're having a celebration tonight at Chuck E. Cheese's. Her best friends, our home teacher's family (including their five kids, ranging in age from 4 to 14), will join us for pizza and cake and tokens and games. The toddler is absolutely beside herself with excitement. We went to the grocery store this morning to pick out her cake (sadly, I'm not the good kind of mom who bakes cakes from scratch) and three balloons. She chose all mylars: A smiley face balloon; a heart that says "Happy Birthday!" on it; and a football balloon. LOL. I didn't know she was such a fan.

We got her two gifts: some bath visors -- hopefully that will alleviate some of her fears about washing her hair -- and a big stand up "Scarecrow" doll (which isn't really a scarecrow at all, but rather a red raider, the university's mascot that she's loved ever since she saw him at a basketball game). I think the scarecrow is going to be a big hit.

Ah, I love this child. It's still unreal to me much of the time that I am somebody's mother (let alone two somebodies'), but the most amazing thing to me is that I got such good ones. My toddler is bright and curious and articulate and energetic and funny and kind.

And awake from her nap now, so off I go....

~RCH~