HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHAWNY-BABY-KISS

What a happy day to celebrate the birth of Shawn/Dad. Yes-I know it was a few days ago, but in our house I like to think we celebrate the birth WEEK, which can be proven by the fact that the decorations are still up. While Shawn was at work, we got busy decorating for our island-themed party, to bring a little sunshine to the rainy day. By the time Shawn came home, the sun was shining, so we really didn't need the decor to help us out. It was a fun party that the girls were excited to dress-up for and surprise Dad. A little Brazalian music set the stage for some fine dancing in the living room by our "hula" girls. (We like to celebrate diversity whenever possible) Here are a few pictures of the Hawaiian-with-a-hint-of-South-America extravaganza:




This is not the typical expression of Brooke in front of a camera




Now that's more like it....and NO-I was not in a hula skirt, for everyone's sake.



Dad is holding Brooke tight-due to her undiagnosed illness of BTSD...(more on that later)



Way to go DAD! Happy Birthday to our #1 guy in the house!!

Now on to the BTSD I mentioned earlier. Brooke suffers from what I like to call "Birthday Traumatic Stress Disorder." Let me explain. Brooke has been petrified of this Happy Birthday plate we have that plays the Happy Birthday song when you push the button. It lights up and everything and even goes, "Happy Birthday, dear 'mmm mmm" so that you can fill in the "mmm mmm" with that special person's name. So cool, right? She HATED it. She would run and hide and cry and DID not like it. So we put it the closet and never really talked about it. For some reason, over the past year, the fear has developed so deeply that she can no longer function, but loses all ability to communicate and basically shuts down. The fear is that intense. One time, she was so overcome with fright, she curled up on my lap and fell asleep. The fear was too overwhelming. Here's a picture of it:



Not the best picture of me-but I was loving it, actually, because who doesn't love a good snuggle! Anyhoo, it has gotten worse, where now she can't even talk about birthdays. Her preschool teachers no longer sing the Happy Birthday song when it's someone's birthday in class. They have to do some alternative celebration song, so Brooke feels more comfortable. Great. So now I'm like one of those whiners who demands the Christmas decorations be taken down at the mall for fear it would offend that one Kwanzza person who might go strolling by. I told them they didn't need to change a universally accepted tradition for my daughter's weird phase, but they answered sweetly that they don't want anyone to feel threatened in their class, blah, blah, blah. Don't they know a little suffering is good for a person? Seriously, though, it is a real legitamate fear. Tonight, in fact, we brought up that her birthday is in a couple of weeks and she started talking really silly and fast to change the subject. We'll see how this all pans out, but any suggestions on how to unfear a child from birthdays? Maybe when she sees her presents she'll snap out of it. We'll see.

ODE TO THE PATHFINDER

A few months ago, we had to regretfully say goodbye to our dearly beloved Nissan Pathfinder. I never knew that parting with a car could bring such emotion. Any emotion, really. But, she had become a faithful and reliable member of the family, being the vehicle to many a memory and life-changing events. Here is a trip down memory lane for all of you who only knew her as the birth mobile:

Shawn receive this sweet ride after his mission and it took him to his first semester at BYU where he met yours truly. No, I was not privy to taking a ride in it yet. Other girls took the front seat, until he finally came to his senses and asked me out. (a year later!)The Pathfinder took us on many a fine outing:


Here we are on a beach in Oregon-that's my head.


This picture was taken when we were driving back to Provo (in the PathFinder) from a biking trip to Moab. It was late, and he was tired, so we talked and talked to stay awake. I realized that night that I was in luuuuuuuuvvvv.

The Nissan saw us through many more significant events. It even got decked out for us(thanks to some helping hands) on our wedding day.



Whenever I saw the Pathfinder pull into the parking lot of our first apartment, my heart skipped a beat. Oh, to newlywed bliss! Then it towed all of our belongings across the country to begin dental school. Once again, the Pathfinder proved to be a loyal car, as it faithfully carried me to work, picked up Shawn from the train station after school, and to all of our many church-related activities.
It's most precious cargo was our first child, and it wouldn't go faster than 10mph when we drove her home from the hospital. So considerate.



Little Rachel leaving the hospital.



Then we left PA after dental school graduation to begin our new life in Washington. The Pathfinder was no longer adequate enough to tow our belongings so Shawn towed it behind our big moving truck.

And then there is the most exciting event which occurred on the corner of State and 4th Ave in Marysville. Little did Shawn know all those years ago that he would be delivering his second child in the back seat of his car. Here is Grandma Colleen with Rachel picking the car up from the birthing site:



We had to say goodbye to the PathFinder because, quite frankly, it was turning into a money sucker and it wasn't worth fixing. During its final days in our possession it decided to give us a little more drama and would just quit running as Shawn would be driving it to work. He knew how to wiggle the battery cables just so to get it to start again, but I didn't. He started taking our van to work, which left me carless. This wasn't so bad because school is within walking distance, but, of course, the week I don't have a car is the week it decides to rain. One morning, out of sheer desperation, I thought "What the hay-I'm taking the car." Not 3/10th of a mile into our trip, it stalls in the middle of the road. That was officially the end of my love. We donated the car to a tech school so some random kids can tinker with it to their hearts content. To them it's just another car they have to fix to pass off their shop requirements, but to us, it will always be so much more. Sniff, sniff.



Dr. Shawn posing with his little girl, 4 years after he brought her into this world.



Mommy and Brooke, remembering the first time I held her in the backseat.