On August 27th, 19 years ago, there I was at work: 35 weeks pregnant. I was happy as a clam taking calls and eating carrot cake that Doris Williams brought. Sometime early in the shift, I
uh..hum... warning: graphic personal details ahead....
expelled my mucus plug.
Then I started having stomach pains. Weird. Finally, after several hours of denial and ignoring the increasingly painful contractions, along with some heavy cajoling from my co-workers, I gave in to the idea that I might be in labor and drove myself to the hospital, cringing with serious labor pains along the way (I like to point this out to show how incredibly
When I got to the labor and delivery floor, my cervix was dilated to 7 cm. "We'll try to stop the labor, but you are pretty far along, so it probably won't work." I was cautioned.
The stoppage efforts were futile and just before midnight we were the shell-shocked, unprepared, proud parents of a healthy 6 lb 2 oz little girl.
For three days, we couldn't think of what to name The She. And then the perfect name presented itself and Possum and I both loved it: Janessa. No middle name. Just Janessa.
Her name has varied over the years. In kindergarten, Janessa came home one day and announced that she wanted a middle name. And she wanted it to be May. Janessa May. Then a couple of years later, she wanted to be called Daisy, after her favorite flower. Daisy May. Her daddy called her "velociraptor" when she was a baby for reasons we will discuss another time when it isn't Daisy's birthday. She's had a host of other nicknames as well.
Whatever she is called, Daisy May has lived her life just as she entered it: ready and anxious for the next challenge... prepared, excited, and full of vigor. She has kept our lives busy and happy and far from dull.
As I did for her brother's birthday, here is a game called
19 TRUTHS about DAISY MAY
19 are true. 5 are false
1. Homecoming queen her senior year of high school
2. Has played the violin for 15 years
3. Absolutely loves and still keeps in touch with her first violin teacher
4. Maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout high school until she forgot one assignment her final semester
5. Went skydiving on her 18th birthday
6. LOVES math, LOVES to color, and LOVES sour candy.
7. Can quote the movie She's the Man word for word. Come to think of it, she can quote Princess Bride, Raise Your Voice, Big Fat Greek Wedding, Miss Congeniality, Napoleon Dynamite.... just pretty much any movie she's seen word for word
8. Has an extra toe on her left foot that she calls Little Nubbin'
9. Loves serving her mom breakfast in bed
10. Been on a volunteer health mission to Bolivia
11. Dreams of being a ventriloquist someday
12. Works as a dental hygiene assistant
13. Can do wicked impressions of popular YouTube videos
14. Is a sucker for cheesy romantic chick flicks
15. Can make delicious bread
16. Has handwriting a professional calligrapher would covet
17. Has had more dates than a California grove of date trees
18. Idolizes her grandparents
19. Hates potato salad. Loves to suck on watermelon rinds
20. Won't sing in public even though she has an incredible voice (shhh.... don't tell Daisy I said this, but PLEASE ask her to sing sometime)
21. Boy magnet - boy magnet - boy magnet
22. Supports her three brothers in everything they do
23. Favorite snack is bananas and cheese. Together
24. Rode a bucking bull for 7 seconds
Bonus: A dead give away that this one is TRUTH because shared below is the positive PROOF.
25. Can say all the prepositions.
You bring us happyNESS!
Thanks for 19 wonderful years.
1 comment:
You described her perfectly! She's amazing. BTW, I forgot that is how she made her arrival! But he's kept us all happy since that day, that is for sure!
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