HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETER

Saturday was Peters birthday.

#9.

where has the time gone?

Peter did really well this year.

We are 6 months between biopsies. He did well in school. He worked extra hard with his PE teacher (Thanks Coach C!!) to increase his stamina, endurance and athletic prowess. He really improved!! He was a terriffic kid in school for the month of march, and had a great make a wish trip back in October. What a great year he had.

so Happy Birthday King! I love you!!!

Will post pictures later.

Happy Birthday Charles!

The big 35. wow. just...wow.

We were just children when we got married, how is it possible he is that old now? time flies.

So how did we celebrate?

well usually we go out to dinner, and I get him something silly, usually Yoda related, or a star wars themed potato head or pez dispenser(yes I realize i am enabling his dorkiness, I cant help it. I love this man o' mine: white, nerdy and all.)

So since his birthday fell on a sunday he asked me to prepare his favorite meal.: Lasagna.

Oh, and no cheating. I couldn't just go out and purchase a frozen one and call it a day. He wanted my "takes all day" lasagna. The kind that uses sausage and beef, homemade sauce and lots of ricotta and lots of mozzerella.

(I wish this picture was actually of my lasagna. Mine never looks that perfectly pretty when i cut into it. But it sure as heck tastes amazing. Thats one thing I am good at. Pasta dishes)

And he's going to need me to go ahead and get him a chocolate cake...that would be great, thaaaaanks (thats for all you Office Space fans out there).

Thank goodness for Harris Teeter. They have GREAT cakes in their bakery section, so he got the double fudge cake(which makes a great breakfast with a tall glass of ice cold milk) . It is rich moist devils food with fudgey frosting. I get heart palpitations just looking at it.

My parents came over and we ate lasagna and garlic bread and salad. We worked off some of the calories playing the wii(getting embarassingly whooped by a 5 and 8 year old) and then had a slice of Chocolate cake.

so all in all charles had a great day.

Carolina Panthers win + Homemade lasagna + Chocolate cake= great 35th birthday.

so thanks Panthers for helping a girl out!!

and Happy Birthday White and Nerdy. Here's to 35 more years of Lasagna and Chocolate cake!!

Finn's birth story

Today is my baby boys 5th birthday. I can hardly believe it.

I was induced at 40 weeks (let me rephrase. i FORCED them to induce at 40 weeks). a few days previous I had gone in for my weekly appointment.

"any contractions?" (No)

"Any Cramping?" (No)

The exam revealed that I was at a 0 with 0% effaced. I was tight as lid on a new jar of pickles. I was due August 3rd. It was August 6th.

I grabbed the doctor by the shirt collar and tie, pulled him towards me and said "GET...THIS...THING...OUT..OF...ME!" He backed up against the wall "Nurse! Nurse! Security!"

Ok i made that up. But I did say "I cannot take it any longer, you have GOT to get this little fool out of me. He runs around in there 24/7/ He never sleeps, I have sciatic nerve pain, I am tired, I am huge. I cant do this any more. This is my 3rd child and I am at my wits end. When can you induce?" He looked at me and weighed his options. If he said no, he had 4 steps to make it to the door...did he dare risk it? He was kind of an older fellow, and a pregnant lady on a rampage is no joke. Common sense prevailed.

"How about tomorrow?"

So we went in on August 7th, and they started me on a special concoction to get my labor kickstarted. And boy did they.

It was miserable all night, and then the next morning they cranked up the Pitocin. The contractions were off the charts and I had no medication to help me through it. I wanted to get through it as naturally as I could. They called in the Anesthesiologist to give me an epidural at 5pm and finally (and mercifully) broke my water at a 3-4 cm. I had labored hard and long and was only at a 4.

I told the doctor" Dont go far, he will be here in 15 minutes". The Dr, thinking he knew more about birthing babies than I knew about ME birthing MY OWN babies kind of scoffed.

"You are only at a 4. You have a few hours" and he sailed out of the room.

"Dont say I didnt warn you!" I yelled after his backside and bald spot.

20 minutes later I was pushing, my epidural barely having time to work. Finn was a "sunny side up" baby, meaning he was born face up instead of face down. I had to push HARD to get him out. But thankfully, as a dr once told me "You are built for having babies".(read: cow) So I was lucky and only had about 5 pushes worth...but I had to push extra hard.

The British Nazi nurse tried to give me an episiotomy, but I held her back with a crucifix, garlic and holy water. "well", she said in her snooty Liverpool accent, "If you would would rather tear, be my guest". Yes I would rather tear than you cutting my va jay jay open with scissors you sadist!

The Dr sailed in just in time to catch him as he fell onto the table.

"I TOLD you not to go very far" as I said smugly.

"Yes, now shut up" as he sticthed up the little tear.

"I TOLD you I didnt need an episiotomy" I gloated at the British Nurse Nazi.

"Yes, now shut up" she said as she started poking and prodding and yanking out my epidural.

"So tell me, was it really worth it to have an epidural for only 30 minutes?", she asked condiscendingly.

"YES!" I practically screamed at her. "It gave me a chance to rest. I had been doing hard natural induced labor for 23 hours with no sleep. Gave me time to not have to think and I was able to relax a little before having to do the hard work".

She stomped out of the room in a huff, obviously condeming me to hell for requesting medication, her passive agressive contempt not garnering the results she had hoped.

But Charles Finn McBride was a beautiful baby. My first words as they put him on my chest was "He looks just like Peter!".(he was a tad smaller than peter by an inch and 1/2 a pound)

8lbs, 20" long.

The Liverpool Vampire sailed back in and immediately tried to get him to nurse. Finn did not take kindly to it.

She said I was doing it wrong. Finn still did not take kindly to it. They brought in a lactation specialist. Finn STILL did not take kindly to it. At one point it was hurting so bad and the vampire chippy said to me "Oh come on, it cant hurt that bad".

Lady if I didnt have a diaper on I would totally jump across the room and b-slap you right now.

We had a parade of visitors(we had a family reunion going on at the same time. I opted to have a baby, rather than attend.). Cousins, aunt and uncles. Thay all declared Finn "just precious".

We went home 24 hours later(insurance kicks us out you know) and here we are 5 years later!!

Finn you are my sunshine. You alwaya make me happy. You have such a joy and zest for life. you wear your emotions so close to the surface. You express joy and laughter and just make me so glad that I am your mom . You are so smart and funny and my special guy. I am so proud of you! You are starting Kindergarten this year and it makes me happy, yet at the same time a little said. I wont have you around to keep me company during the day and wont have you around to make me laugh.

I LOVE YOU FINN FINN!!

Happy Birthday To Me

So my birthday was yesterday.
I went to bed on Saturday looking and feeling like this:

I woke up one day later, another year older, feeling like THIS:

Birthdays suck.

However I did get to go see a movie. I wanted to see Mama Mia and almost made Charles take me .(But he hates ABBA and he called me "a cruel Mistress" for inflicting it upon him.) So I chose something we could both be happy with. We went to see Dark Knight on Friday. It was GREAT. Heath Ledgers Joker was sadistic, yet AMAZING. It is such a shame he passed away, his Joker will be legendary. I don't know how they will replace him in the upcoming movies. The movie is very dark and NOT for kids under 13. (that was the #1 question I was asked this weekend) So, I got My Christian Bale with no shirt on and he got a comic book movie. It's a win-win.

Yesterday after church we went to my mom and dad's house for my birthday lunch. Every year my mom makes me italian sausage and green peppers, pasta sauce and rice. She asks every year "What do you want for your Birthday dinner?" and I just look at her and say "You have to ask??"

So it was a good day.

Today My day is filled with laundry and packing. I am taking the boys to Virginia to go camping and to go to the beach. Charles family reunion is this week and I am leaving tomorrow morning. I HATE the day before a trip. I always get stressed and ugly and mean and my fuse is shorter than ever. So my kids are hiding in their rooms, it is as if they sense danger (Danger Will Robinson, Danger!)

And for those of you in Charlotte, come by Kia of Monroe this week to see my husband and buy a car from him!! (He cant go to his own family reunion, sad isn't it??) Ask for the white guy with the peeling nose. They'll point you his direction.

But he has promised he would sell 2 cars this week, so I am FULLY expecting a big paycheck when I get home Red and Nerdy!! Mama needs Lasik eye surgery!!

I will be back to Blogging again on Monday the 28th.

Happy week!!

Blog Patrol result

So in my Blogpatrol I discovered that someone ACTUALLY googled "Corey Feldman Birthday" and found my page. (This post)


It kind of makes you wonder who it was...was it C.F. Himself?? Things that make you go hmmmm.

I got a kick out of it.

Happy Birthday Corey Feldman

When I was 11, 12 an 13 I had the HUGEST crush on Corey Feldman. He was just my favorite person in Hollywood. I saw all of his movies, I recorded every single Entertainment tonight piece that may have even mentioned his name, I watched MTV all day to see the Video "Baby you can Drive my Car" just to see him. My walls and doors were PLASTERED with every magazine page from Tiger beat, 16, Bop etc. I had pictures of his crazy side, his sensitive side, his meloncholy side.(I mean look at that picture. How could any tween during Corey Mania resist that mug??) I had all the articles about him, I knew his favorite color, I knew he didnt eat meat(That was OK, I could eat my steak in private) I was OBSESSED. If anyone joked about him, made fun of him, talked bad about him, I was his #1 staunchest defender. Nobody crossed Sarah on Corey Feldman Rampage. And for those girls that were the Corey Haim girls. Pfft, hand to the face.

Then 1990 rolled around, Newsies was released in theaters and my new obsession was born. Christian Bale. I am still a diehard Balehead to this day, and he is still #1 on my list.

I am sorry Corey, I just outgrew you, but thanks for the memories! ( and thanks for not responding to the 15 letters I wrote to you, thus breaking my 12 year old heart. I will bill you for THAT therapy session.)

I wonder what happened to all my posters??

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ANYWAY onto my REAL story

As many of you know Charles has two colors. uber white and lobster red.

yesterday at work they were outside all day. ALL DAY! It was a nice sunny day with a deceptively cooling breeze. With a breeze you always think "Oh hey, this isnt bad, I'll be fine!". You never think about the UV index or the suns scorching rays when there is a nice breeze to keep you somewhat comfortable. You cant feel the sun searing your flesh when the wind is gently blowing your hair and keeping your pits dry.

It wasnt pretty.

Charles came home and was a GLOWING Neon Red. All he needs are rubber bands around his hands and can go join his comrades on someones plate at Red Lobster. YOWZA.

His face is so burned his skin is puffy and his eyes are practically swollen shut. His skin is tight and shiny and red.

Luckily being a balm maker I had some pure aloe butter I scooped out and shmeared all over his visage. It seemed to help a little bit and now his skin is as smooth as a baby's butt!!

But thanks to his adventure without sunscreen, he has a new nickname.

So, please to enjoy Red and Nerdy's sunburn. This picture hardly does it justice You have to see it in person to appreciate the "Glow". Even his lips are sunburned.

Maybe I can call him "Old Glory". He has the red sunburned face, and the rest of his body is still super white, and the blue eyes. He isnt a human being, he is an American flag masquerading as a salesman! Do I have to take off my hat and put my hand over my heart when he walks by??

Pictures from Peters day

Here are just a few pictures from Peters little family birthday gathering on Saturday. We grilled out hot dogs and hamburgers and had fruit salad and pasta salad. It was nice, just the family and gram and papa and Pooty(Oliver the cat). We are going to be having a little party later on this summer for him and Finn combined at Monkey Joes with church and school friends.

His cake with 8 candles. We got his cake from Dairy Queen and had them put a Transformers Optimus Prime Edible Image on it. He would have preferred Bumblebee, but beggars cant be choosers.His cake was half chocolate and half vanilla with a fudge crunch center.

Peter opening a bunch of Transformer related presents: slotted paper robot figures(you piece them together like those styrofoam planes)

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And Yes, Transformers UNDERWEAR!!

He also got a Transformers T-shirt with a SONG in it. There is a special button you push on the T-shirt and the Transformers Theme song plays. "Transformers, more than meets the eye. Transformers, robots in disguise. Autobots wage the battle to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons" So now he will have his own personal theme music wherever he goes!

Peter licking of the last vestiges of frosting from his candles. I think everyone does that on their birthday. I remember seeing my dad do that from one of his cakes when i was little and I thought it was a pretty cool idea, so I started doing it too. I think it is just one of those things, like turning frosted mini-wheats frosted side up in your bowl. You dont know why, you just do it.

Well Pooty was feeling left out and wanted to open presents too, so he dove into the tissue paper and shredded it to bits, leaving a nice little heaping mess all over the rug.

Finn wanted in on the candle action as well, so he purloined one of Peters candles and sucked off every trace of sugary goodness...and some wax.