Happy Birthday Monkey Boy!

5 years ago at this very moment Hunter made his great escape and changed our world forever! Now just given his timing for this great escape should have been my first clue as to just how stubborn he was going to be! My actual due date was September 24 ~ my OB assured me that first babies are RARELY EVER EARLY! Ha! At the time Scott was still working offshore and due to be home on this day ~ however since first babies are RARELY EVER EARLY we managed to swap his schedule around so that he would in fact be home on my due date ~ undoubtedly a move that worked against us instead of for us! You are also probably keenly aware that September is football season ~ my OB is a Coon ass and traveled back home for all of the home games ~ bet you already figured that this particular weekend was a home game ~ again great timing on Hunter's part! When I finally decided that I was indeed in labor, and that my water had broken, it was already dark so there was no getting Scott off the rig until the next morning ~ so here we have daddy MIA and OB also MIA ~ the two men who were supposed to be there for this event! Hunter was already defiant before he took his first breath! All of the guys on the rig kept telling Scott it was okay ~ the bright side of the situation was that by the time he got home Hunter would be all pink and clean ~ they had a point there! At 8:56 AM Hunter FINALLY made his debut ~ my water had broken at 2:30 the afternoon before so this was an all night affair ~ he weighed in at 7 lbs. 10.5 oz. and was 21 inches long ~ certainly not a scrawny little thing being that he was 11 days early! Could explain why he is such a mammoth today!

Fast forward 5 years and here we sit today ~ where have the last 5 years gone? I find that I ask myself this an awful lot ~ the time really does fly by and they are little for such a short period of it ~ it's almost like you've been robbed of time! I can't believe he is already 5 ~ at this pace he will be driving before I know it! I hope his driving skills improve as he ages ~ I have seen him drive on those video games with a steering wheel ~ YIKES! In all fairness he does drive his jeep quite well ~ it's just those virtual worlds that he is so frightening! At least I still have a little less than a year before he packs up and heads off to "real" school ~ although by the time he gets there he will be mistaken for a 2nd grader due to his size! The last 5 years have brought about many good times and many challenges, but the good times undoubtedly outweigh the bad ~ having little people definitely involves a very steep learning curve for the grown-ups in their world ~ just when you think you have them all figured out they throw you for a curve. Live and learn!

So my little monkey I wish you a Happy 5th Birthday ~ it is sure to be one you will never forget! The party was cancelled due to Ike and we are now celebrating the "official" day in Dallas with my surrogate family and making the best of it that we can! There will be cake, presents, and a fun filled trip to Chuck E Cheese, and then in a couple of weeks we will celebrate in the way we originally intended!