Happy Birthday LilBlue!

Oh my, can I just say I am having a hard time believing you are 21...it just DOES NOT seem possible! Let me just say I think you are ABSOLUTELY amazing...I mean seriously, you are incredible. You have faced so much in just 21 short years. You have braved many a path, crossed several bridges and literally jumped hurdles to get where you are. When I say, "you is kind, you is smart, you is important" I hope you believe it deep within you.

I have blogged about your birth already, and I have another post to share my thoughts of that day you were born, and then last year when you entered the 2's I made mention of that big milestone. So this year as you enter the age of what many refer to as "adulthood" I will once again share my thoughts...like there was any doubt that was gonna happen! And you may or may not be thrilled about that. Some may think you are a little old to hear this but I think most of these things bear repeating...so here goes! (And I did get the inspiration for these thoughts from another blogger, but I did not bookmark the page, I cut the info into a word document, so I apologize in advance and if you read this too and remember where, send me the www and I will link it - I am now starting using pinterest for saving many things and I have also started to paste the weblink into the things I save in a document not on this totally addicting website!)

1. EVERYONE is NOT doing it - you have heard this your entire life and it does not change ever...it can and will relate for the rest of your life. But I hope you know now that you are the legal to buy one that you will not succumb to any pressure to do things you know will forever change your life. Trust me, you are not the only one who won't and the sad thing is the ones who are, are most likely thinking and wishing they wouldn't of. And if all else fails see #7
2. Do not pretend you are dumber than you are...this is pretty self explanatory but it is worth reminding you on. I know that being the "stupid girl" can and often does have it's perks but it's a short street; so don't be dumb it's not cool!
3. Do modesty it IS classy - Cover yourself up appropriately always. Showing the world what you have is why men your fathers age are looking at girls your age and it's just wrong! You have a great I mean impeccable fashion sense; keep it and keep it covered, all of it!
4. Marry someone similar to your father...I know that sounds nuts but trust me on this. Your father is an absolute fantabulous husband. He loves me with all his being, he cherishes me and most of all respects me. You want someone like that...seriously! Also pay attention to how your potential mate treats his mother.  Lots to be said there.
5. SEX - yes, I am going there! I know many of your peers believe that casual sex is harmless and the world makes no mistake in advertising this as true, but it's NOT true, it's a big fat lie. It might feel right and all that! But the bottom line is sex was designed for marriage...no one ever regrets waiting til they are married; plenty do regret that they didn't. You get my drift.
6. Girls are mean - I know you know this, you have experienced it. So please don't be a mean girl, it's not becoming. You are still fresh enough out of high school and in the middle of your college life that this is still a player so just remember this. Remember to be the girl who let the drama roll and not be in the midst of it, starting it especially. Be the girl who treats others with kindness who rises above the meanness of others.
7. We can and will ALWAYS be your excuse, use us! We are okay with you using us as the reason you cannot or do not want to fillintheblank. It can get you out of many an uncomfortable situation and we DO NOT MIND being thrown under the bus, in fact we would love it. Trust me! We want you to be able to say no in your own right but you can always just toss out the "I can't my parents would kill me" or even "my parent's won't allow me to" or the one that would be spot on "my mom would have a coronary" it's sooo okay! REALLY! If it helps you NOT to end up in a bad situation that's the point and come up with whatever it takes.
8. We love you! I know we haven't done it all right, in fact we have probably done more wrong, but we did what we thought was the best for you at the time. Looking back we know we were wrong in some situations, sorry! We also hope you will stick with your roots and trust HIM, who never fails. It's fact, He don't mess up, we do...He loves you even more then we do, look to Him. He will help you to be beautiful on the inside and it will carry over to your outside, promise!

So daughter, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I know you are going to be an amazing adult, we are so so very proud of you, and we love you much more then you could ever fathom. And if you have read this far you deserve a little pictorial treat. So I leave you with the last 10 years of birthdays beginning with that most spectacular day ever, the day you were born!

 1991- Just hours after you were born! (OKC, OK)

1992 - Happy 1st Birthday! 

(Your party pictures are really dark and did not copy well)

1993-You were really into the blowers!

1994 - With your two favorite men!

 1995 - Hakuna Matata :)

1996 - Chuck E. Cheese was a huge hit!

1997 - Making cupcakes at school (COS, CO)

 1998 - Growing up right before our eyes!

 1999 - Requested homemade angel food cake this year!

 2000 - Oh gee, you are not a baby anymore! (DC)

2001 - Back to angel food and going double digits!

Happy, happy birthday LilBlue, we do most certainly love you...

Friday Flashback

With January drawing to a close, I decided to post one more of the two most precious ones in this world to me! I still cannot believe I am the mother of an 18 year old young woman...my!

Join in the Friday fun over at Candid Carrie's, it's the most rockin' party on the planet!!!!

Happy Birthday Lil Blue!!!!

Friday Flashback to 16 January 1991- wee hours of the morning. I was back up for nightly relief and feeling something was amiss because I had done more then tinkle. Hmmmm, I had lost my mucas plug, w/o a lot of details, it was IMO a bit more then that and at home alone in the middle of the night I was a bit frightened; so I called the “nurseline”. They suggested I come in to be checked and make sure all was well. After dressing and hopping in the car for the drive over to the base hospital I thought to myself, I sure hope I don’t need anything besides me. After all, my due date wasn’t until 22 February… At 11:33 a.m. a tiny little girl entered the world, she weighed in at 5#s 9oz. She was 19 inches long. While she was considered preterm, she was not premature, she was absolutely perfect in every way, 10 fingers, 10 toes, dark full head of hair, and a cute button nose, I was thrilled! I had just birthed totally w/o drugs, partly because I wanted to and partly because it just went very quickly and I didn’t have time to change my mind!

This is Unlce G, MiBs identical twin, who was the first of family to arrive within an hour of her birth.

Since it was the wee hours of the morning, the ER folks sent me upstairs for “monitoring” I was monitored throughout the night, the doctor showed up around 8:00 a.m. and “checked” me, then said we are going to have a baby today, I told him we could not have a baby today it was too soon and that I wanted to go home. He said too late, you are in labor (they had internal and external monitors on but I really wasn’t’ feeling the contractions) and that baby is coming out today. It was then I started to get a tad bit panicky, I was alone at the hospital and no one even knew it…and now they were telling me I was going to have the baby.

Quickly phone calls were made to family in MO, they would be leaving ASAP. Local phone calls to church family were made and “sisters” were on their way. Within minutes of the “sisters” arriving, the baby was coming and MO family arrived within a few hours of her birth. It was not at all how I planned it, it was very emotional and knowing that my husband missed it made me all the more weepy.

“They” were able to get a line through to MiB so I did get to talk with him. All I could really tell him was that she was beautiful. He says he knew something was up because he had called the house in the night and no one answered; then when he was woke up and told to go wait for a phone call he said he just had that feeling something was going on. He was relieved to learn all was well.

What I didn’t know was that “the war” broke out. That was not revealed to me until the next morning, when I was being discharged from the base hospital because they are deploying the med folks. My family had kept the TV off in my room, I had no idea, they didn’t want me to worry, yeah right!

LilBlue has been dubbed “Stormy” since she was born the day Desert Storm began turns 18 today, Happy Birthday sweetheart, God truly blessed us the day you were born! 143

Come join the photo phun over at Carrie's place; you'll be glad you did!!!

Friday Flashback

It will soon be time to celebrate the birth of LilBlue...this is the day she got to meet her father for the first time at about 2 months old. Hard to believe this has been nearly 18 years ago; BIG flashback for me!



The homecoming was not without adventure...it took a trip around the world to bring MiB back to us in OK. He left the "sandbox" and traversed via plane through Diego Garcia, Japan, Alaska, then desparate to come home jumped in a car with three others who drove straight through from Chicago.

This was BEFORE cell phones and the not knowing was killer, all we knew is that he had left the desert. Then he was here, then there, then here, with no idea how long at each stop. You just have to love mil-air...cause it's all ya got for this type deal! Finally on US soil, but in ALASKA for heaven's sake and still dependent on mil-air we were still clueless as to his arrival home. Then another flight into the lower 48 to Chicago. This is where it got a little sticky, once in Chicago, it was commercial air and on your own flights to OKC; guess what? they were all the NEXT day so a couple of the guys decided they would rent a car and take turns driving it on in to OKC rather then wait on flights.

And about 12 hours later we were reunited after a looong 7.5 months; he left home a newly pregnant wife, but returned home to a new mother, with a most beautiful baby girl to introduce to a very excited father! It was so emotional, so exciting, so memorable, definitely a day that is etched on my heart forever. His first words were, "she's so little" and she was.

More on the birth of our one and only LilBlue in the days ahead!

Oh, don't forget to play along with Candid Carrie and the gang for Friday Foto Fiesta! It's fun and best of all completely FREE :)

Friday Flashback

Another one of my all time favorites from the toddler files and she is still a horse lover today!

I am playing along with Carrie and the gang again this week with Friday Foto Fiesta and it is such fun, come out of lurkderville, start you own blog and join me! I know you are out there reading :)

Friday Flashback

Daddy's little Airman! Just love the look and such an easy time for her to be happy!

I forgot I am playing with the gang over at Candid Carrie this week...it's really fun!!

Friday Flashback

The good ole days...when a little wooden man wood keep her happy at home for hours at a time...aaaah, to have her young again, okay, maybe not!

Some of the blogs I read participate in this on Fridays, today I am "playing" too...Candid Carrie's Friday Foto Finish Fiesta

Friday Flashback

This just makes me smile....