My BABY is a BIG Girl Now!! Happy 3rd Birthday, Celeste!!

My oh my!! Can you believe that my baby is 3 today?! Time is not on my side with this one, I tell ya. I am still in shock this morning! I love this little one and though she is growing quickly, and changing right before my eyes, she is still my baby. Here is her story...

My due date for her was 8 November 2005, BUT, since I am a planner and Dana wanted to schedule for a substitute at school, I asked my OB if she would induce me. See, I was induced for Alex and loved it! Then Leah came a week early on her own, and I loved that, but it threw me off, and I wasn't as ready as I wanted to be. My wonderful OB said she would take me at 39 weeks, which would be the 1st. So, my little girl is not a Halloween baby, but a "Day of the Dead" baby!! I love that!

My mom came over at 6am that Tuesday while the 2 slept and Dana and I headed off the the hospital. They got me going really quickly, and labor was nice and easy....until...my blood pressure dropped, they had to give me oxygen and shoot me with ephedrine. That was fun. Actually I felt nothing, since my leg where they gave me the injection was numb from my fabulous epidural. I just remember my nurse asking me if I was feeling okay, I had been talking to her for a long time and had felt fine. This was about an hour after my epidural. I said yes, and right then, my head felt so light and I nearly passed out. Dana was busy watching "I love the 90's" on VH1, so he hardly knew what was happening!

Celeste's blood pressure was rising as mine was dropping, so we had to get her out quickly. She was so easy, honestly, I barely remember pushing...I think maybe about 10 minutes and out she came! It was the easiest of all my deliveries, and she was here!

Little, but very healthy and happy:

6lbs 2oz and 18 inches of beauty.

The one sad point was that my mom didn't make it to the hospital in time- when Dana called her to tell her to get there soon, he didn't know how soon- so she was about 20 minutes late. She had been there for Alex and Leah's delivery and this one I so wanted her there- she was a terrific coach during pushing, but this was not meant to be. She was so happy to see this one and so were we!

Celeste was such an easy baby, too. She ate well, and was not a big crier. She is by far my loviest child. She is so cuddly and warm- she always wants to be near you. Here are some pics from her first year...

So adorable, I know. She has never been camera shy, that girl, and is usually very happy to have her photo taken. Here are more:

These are all from her scrapbook, so you'll have excuse the crookedness of some of them.

They say you take more of your 1st child than you do of the rest- but I would have to disagree in my case. Thanks to the wonders of digital photography, I can take as many as I want and it is free- so believe me, there are way more of this one than the others. She doesn't have the scrapbooks like the others, but that is because I don't do them anymore. She will have digital ones instead, and she will not feel like the 3rd child!

Here is 1-2:

Here is 2-3:

I will post some birthday pictures tomorrow after we celebrate her birthday with my family!

We love you, Celeste and hope you know what joy and love you bring to our family- we would not be complete without you! You are our baby no matter how big you get!!