SIX years ago today!

Happy Happy Birthday, Little Miss Niamh. 6 years and 1 day ago we were childless, fairly newlyweds, new homeowners, living in the armpit of the San Fernando Valley, California. The dog was loved beyond belief, he went to the dog park daily. I worked night shift and slept my days away in said Valley armpit, with air conditioning blowing. Your Dear Old Dad worked at a job he absolutely loved, and tolerated the minimal pay. Then, that night, 6 years and 1 day ago, at about 6:00pm (according the the notepad I still have where I started recording contractions as I was taught to do in my birth class), I started having contractions. (Get ready, Men, here comes a birth story.) I called your Daddy-O at work, a mere 45 minutes away, and he wanted to know if he should leave work or not. "Yes, Dear, please do leave work." 11:30pm, I cried running across the parking lot to the ER at West Hills Hospital. I only ran because I really wanted an epidural. The faster I entered the ER, the faster I could politely demand that they call an anesthesiologist. (To my Home Birth Midwife friend, don't judge me. I am a woman who believes in drugs.) By 11:45pm, I was pain free and happy. By midnight, I was 9cm. SEE! I practically did all the laboring at home without drugs. The nurses informed me that my OB had insomnia and she didn't like being called to deliveries until the last minute because if she woke up, she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. Honestly, I didn't care, I was pain free. I think Dr. Beaver (go ahead, make fun of her name) arrived bedside about 3:15am. At 3:34, after only 3 pushes, we were parents.  Niamh Mairead Westover, your 7 lbs changed everything. I won't go in to great detail, but Eddy wants to remind you he has only seen the dog park about 5 times in the last 6 years.

Look at you now....all 36 pounds of you. You are fiesty. You love your brother. You love your parents. You

are a loyal friend. You don't like physical exertion, but you like the idea of trying new activities if you can get a new outfit (uniform) out of it. You are learning to read and write and speak Spanish. You have figured out that your name is not spelled the way it sounds, and I have caught you adding a "v" at the end of your name to make it right. You have great wit and delivery when trying to be funny. You still love your yellow blankie and thumb. People say you look just like me, but they didn't know me when I was 6 and looked like a very out of shape Dorothy Hamill. You are beautiful. You accomplish childhood milestones right when the books say you should. You were born one day early, spoke your first words at 7 months, walked one day after your 1st birthday, toilet trained at 2 1/2 years. You love the colors pink and purple and want us to move to the purple house right around the corner. You are disappointed when I buy you the good quality German wood toys instead of the pink plastic junk from Taiwan. You steal candy in the middle of the night, and tell the truth when we ask you about it. You are stubborn and impatient. Some day I hope that gets you far, right now it only gets you in trouble. You still nap 3-4 hours when you aren't in school, and I don't know if you will ever weigh enough to get out of your 5-point harness. You are the best little girl in my world, Niamh. I absolutely adore you.

The real Birthdate

With her buddies from California, Niamh is at the end.

One Year Old!

Blankie and thumb

Ixtapa, Mexico

Second Birthday!

Blankie and thumb

This shirt was the first clothing item she obsessed over.

Grandma said she could use some makeup.

Third Birthday!

First Bike Race

Fourth Birthday!

Fifth Birthday (in Mexico!!)

Fifth Birthday at home!

And then, I started the Blog. See previous entries for the best photos of her Fifth year.

Happy Birthday, Niamh!