My Baby is Turning 11

I was having one baby.  I knew if I had kids I would have just one.  Being an only child myself, I knew this was a great thing.  Spoiled at holidays and the center of the world for several adults.  Seems simple.  That is what I wanted for my child.  Then I married a man with a son.  OK, I can be a step mom and still have a baby.  Chaz is an awesome kid and unfortunately we didn't get to spend nearly the time we wanted with him, so having another was a good idea.  So we had Sam and if you read my blog, you know about Sam.

The thing is (and there is always a thing) she was such a good baby.  I got tricked.   So when Sam was about 2 and a half or so we decided that this parenting thing was easy and we could surely handle another baby.  It would have been nice for Sam to have the courtesy to be potty trained, but that wasn't to be.   So I got pregnant pretty quick.  This was great news to Grandma, who lived here at the time.  She spent so much time with Sam, and was so wonderful to the girls.

I didn't feel very good when I was pregnant with Haley.  I attributed this to the fact that I had a toddler to take care of, but looking back I think it was more than that.  I ended up having Haley 7 weeks early.  She was so tiny.  I still have an ankle bracelet that is the diameter of a quarter that slipped on and off her foot in the hospital.  We never cut it because it came off easily.  She was that small.  We had some scary days with Haley.  Thank God for our neighbor next door who I consider her angel that literally saved her life when the hospital let her go home way too early. 

So Haley was what you call a needy baby.  She had an apnea monitor and demanded to be held all the time.  Grandma came in very handy here because she loved nothing more than to rock Haley all day long.  I jumped in to feed her every two hours.  So Haley quickly became Grandma's buddy.

Haley eventually grew, but she is still a peanut.  She is healthy as a horse and besides colds never sick.  She is bright beyond her years and stubborn beyond anything you can imagine.  She would literally sit on the stairs in time out for two hours rather than give in.  This trait carries through to current day.  I love her to pieces, but you can't change this kid's mind.  She tells stories beginning with the time the dinosaurs roamed the earth.  She is all about the details, and don't get them wrong. 

She is a love bug.  She loves her kitties and guinea pigs.  She sets up obstacle courses in her room for the pigs, and I don't think they appreciate it.  She is a mommy to all Webkinz.   She sings in the choir at school and gets great grades.  She is going into the 6th grade which just about does me in.  

Just yesterday my good friend Sandi was going from JC Penney's to Walmart and every place in between to find clothes for the baby that was determined to come into the world early while I stayed in the hospital.  Those preemie clothes she so graciously bought just hung on that tiny baby.   My sweet pea.