Happy Birthday to My Baby

Justin turned nine on Sunday. I still can't believe that I am a mom and that have a nine year old. Justin loves to hear stories about himself and from our childhoods. He is an artist and has said so for at least seven years now. Justin was such a fun baby. I loved spending all my time with him. He did a lot of things early, although I had no idea at the time. He said Mama at six months and then crawled the next day. He crawled straight to the couch and stood up, then walked around with one hand on the couch. He walked at 10 months and ran on his first birthday. He also had all his teeth by his first birthday. Justin was really funny, he would say a word once and not say it again for months. Then around his first birthday he started speaking in full sentences. Of course we thought he was brilliant, but not too unusual... until we had Emma who didn't talk until after she was 2 1/2. Although she was probably a little more unusual.

Justin has always had a great sense of humor. He loves to laugh and make other people laugh too. He is a wonderful brother to his sisters. He used to complain a lot about wanting a little brother. I told him we were done having kids, but even if we did have another one it could be another girl. He said he would move in with his friend down the street. Justin's favorite color was orange for a long time. Now it is black and red. I sometimes think he says black just to irk me. When he was in preschool he came home really upset one day. He said he was asked what his favorite color was and he said orange and then pink and blue and every color. The other boys teased him about liking a girl color like pink. He didn't understand and wanted to know how there could be colors for boys and colors for girls. He loved every color. Justin also made me a bracelet in preschool and used some alphabet beads on it. It had an F and a U. I cried trying to hold back the laughter. It was a lot like a mother's day card he made me in first grade. He had cut out a hand holding a bouquet. He glued it to the card, but the middle finger didn't get glued and was sticking out. He seems to have a thing for gifts for me because when he was around 3 or 4 he made me a mother's day card at church that said "my mommy likes to lick me." I was entertained by this card, but also confused so I asked his teacher why I got a weird card. She said "oh, I thought that is was just something that you do." My response was something sarcastic like "yeah, I lick my kid." I always look forward to gifts from Justin. He loves to give gifts and make people happy. I love my Justin and am so happy to have such a wonderful son.

Road to Happiness

Today is the anniversary of Ginger's death. It has been a very difficult year and I have allowed myself a lot of time for self pity. Today I decided that I wanted to do something different. Here is a list of things that I am grateful for.

My family: I am so glad I married Charlie and we were blessed with three smart, healthy, funny, unique, wonderful children. We have loving parents and siblings who are some of our best friends.

America: I may not talk about it enough, but I am a very patriotic person. I usually have to blink back tears during the national anthem. I LOVE this country. I am so grateful for the freedoms that I have and would never dream of living anywhere else.

God: I am grateful for the knowledge that I am a child of God. He loves me and has a plan for me. I feel his spirit and love for me daily. I cannot imagine the loneliness and despair that must come without this knowledge.

Friends: I have wonderful friends who care about me and actually like to spend time with me. Two of my favorite quotes are "friends are people who know all about you and like you anyway" and "a friend is someone who makes you a better person." Ginger is an example of one of these friends and I will always cherish our time together and all the things she taught me through her example.

Misc.: ocean, plants, autumn, spring, Halloween, Christmas, pets, air conditioning, books, school, cooking, races, contests, smell of soap, running in the rain, and the love of a grandparent.

Four is Not a Bore!

My little Mia turned four on Sunday. Justin and Emma were really excited too. They bought her presents and helped wrap them. Justin bought her a necklace and bracelet. Then he put them in a box filled with confetti and hearts he had cut out. He wrapped the box around once with duct tape. It was really funny and sweet. Emma got her some new sunglasses. Every time she opened a present she screamed "Oh my gosh!" and threw the tissue or wrapping paper over her shoulder.

At dinner we each went around the table and said something we like about Mia and each time she would giggle. At church she told everyone who would listen that it was her birthday and she was planning on having three more very soon.

Mia has always been our biggest kid. She was the biggest baby and has remained the tallest for her age. She was 8 lbs. 11 oz. and 22 inches long at birth. I have said that I felt like I was a little sad that my last baby wasn't ever really a baby at all, but in reality she is everything I could ever ask for and much more. She is so sweet and has the best laugh. Our neighbor calls her "the complete package: looks and personality." She is a rough tomboy who loves princess gowns and fairies. She can tackle with the best of them and is never afraid to try. She is extremely bright and has an incredible memory. She loves to sing and dance and tell you everything is okay. If I tell her that I am disappointed in something she did she will reply "that's okay. I will be good." She is a daddy's girl and mommy's angel. When she was a baby Charlie said he would have 8 more if they were like Mia. We love our Mia.

Another Summer Another E.R. Trip

It wouldn't be a summer for the Hibbits family without Mia making a trip to the emergency room. Each year it is a few weeks earlier and a little less severe. I am hopeful that next summer will be incident free. (Fingers crossed!)

July 24, 2007 Mia trips at the park and has a lateral break on her femur. Full body cast.

July 4, 2008 Mia jumps off the 3 ft. pool ladder onto the ground and breaks her foot. Waterproof foot cast. June 25, 2009 Mia decides to cut her own cheese and...

So a few weeks ago I got my cutco knives sharpened. If you are not familiar with cutco let me tell you that they are the sharpest knives ever! I barely put my finger against the end and I bleed. The day after I got the knives back I cut some cheese for Emma. I, being a bad mom, left it on the counter while I played a game with Justin. I was only a few feet away, but my back was to the counter. Mia decided that she wanted some too and helped herself. (Her favorite phrase is "I can do it MYSELF!") She screams and runs up to me and taps my shoulder. Blood is literally running down my arm and all over the floor. Justin grabs a napkin and I squeeze it around her finger. My hands are dripping with blood. After a minute I tried to take a peek, but blood just pours out and I can't see anything. This happens every time I check over the next 45-60 minutes. I hold her finger and call the nurse to see if I can bring her in to the doctor or if I have to go to the ER. Eventually I am told to take her to the ER. We have Kaiser so the ER is about 25 minutes away. I drop off Emma and Justin at my sister's house on the way. Still bleeding. Side note, Mia cried at first for a couple minutes. I asked her if it hurt or if she was scared and she said scared. She only cried after that when I cried, Emma cried and when they cleaned her finger.

We get to the ER and they unwrap her finger. It has stopped bleeding and doesn't look too bad. We get a room and the doctor comes in. He looks at it and her chart. He asks me to tell him about her other injuries and asks if I know why. I say yes and tell him about the last two years. I say "usually she gets hurt in July, but we are trying get done early this year." No laugh. He looks at me and says I seem alright, but he wants to know how a three year old is using a knife. He has a three year old and doesn't understand. I explain what happened and Mia had already told him she cut herself with a knife. I am a little confused by the doctor. I know Mia is independent, but I guess I assumed she was pretty normal. Not compared to his kid. I explain that she has a really high pain tolerance and he says that is good. I tell him it isn't because that is how she often gets in trouble. Nothing hurts so she never stops and has no fear. Later he glues her finger to hold it together. I ask if she can still go in the ocean. "Ocean? She goes in the ocean?" I say yes, she loves to boogie board. "What? She boogie boards? What beach? My kid barely can go in a pool by herself." Now I am the one giving him funny looks.

Perhaps I should let her keep her protective turtle shell on all the time.

Wonder Woman

Emma has been dressing up as a super hero lately. She says that her super hero name is Wonder Woman. Her super power is beating up all the bad guys and villains.

She also put her sunglasses on the other morning and said that she could see so much better now.

After school got out we took the trailer up to visit Charlie's sister, Sarah. It was fun and the kids loved playing with their cousins all day. Their cousin, DJ, loves Justin so much, and Justin loves all the attention of an adoring fan. It cracks me up that my kids think it is cool to make the "I love you" sign in their pictures. Justin will sometimes do it upside down.