Time flies!

My "baby" turned 12 on Sunday, August 19th. Can't believe it! In a year, I will have not one, but two, teenagers! On her actual birthday, we were in Dallas, at the Soiree, so my sis-in-law got the cake for me. I had emailed her a pic of Gracen in volleyball camp, it was a great picture. The cake had the picture on it and also all these bright colored flowers, it turned out so cute and she absolutely LOVED it! I remember bringing her home from the hospital, when she was 3 days old, with an IV in her head because she had contracted Group-B strep during labor and finally had to be delivered by C-section. When she was born, she wasn't breathing and was very pale and floppy. Her first Apgar was a 2! They had to resucitate her with a bag and mask. (Thank God I didn't realize any of this at the time) Anyway, she came around pretty quick, but she was still very sick, due to the strep. So, for 7 days after she came home from the hospital, Lon & I had to administer antibiotics to her via the IV in her head. Very upsetting for Mom! I remember the nurse coming to our house right after we got home with her and having to place a new IV, because the old one had blown her vein. In order to put the new IV in, she had to shave her head a little bit, so she asked for Lon's razor and gave her a little reverse mohawk. She said "First haircut Mom!" about as nonchalantly as you please as she shaved my precious new baby's beautiful blond hair! Then she asked me to hold her down and keep her still while she put the new IV in the top of her head. Well, Gracen screamed bloody murder when she poked her, obviously! I was crying, my mom was crying, Lon was crying.....everyone was crying! As I think back on all this, I cannot even believe they expected me, the mom, to put the medicine in her IV and to hold her down while they jabbed her with a needle!! Unbelievable! Well, we all survived and now she is the most beautiful, smart (of course!), loving 12 yr old you would ever want to meet. Every birthday, my mom always says to her "I remember you coming home from the hospital with that needle in your head." and Gracen just grins & giggles. Happy Birthday my precious baby girl. Love, Momma