How do I have a 7 year old?

Yesterday was first my babys 7th birthday. SEVENTH! Holy cow! Hello, my name is Stella. I'm 29 and I have a 7 year old. It's amazing...she suddenly has grown up a little more. Yesterday for the first time Kimberly curled up on the sofa with a Junie B. Jones book and read 2 chapters. This is the child that I was planning on putting in a summer reading program because she was behind in reading this year. Well slap me and color me purple. Now that I know that she 'can' read, I just need to make sure that this summer she 'does' read.

Her party was a huge success! The day started off really bad. Like ridiculously bad. Like I wanted to cancel the whole thing, pull the covers over my head and cry myself to sleep. We planned to blow up the inflatable slide from last year so Kim and her friends could put on their swimsuits and have some fun in the sun. But it was raining. Not only was it raining, but it was raining only over our house. You could see sunshine on every horizon, but there were black angry clouds thundering overhead. Also, Jeff and I could not find the stakes needed to secure the slide into the ground. We tore apart every storage closet, and searched the garage and the attic high and low only to come up emptyhanded. And I was somehow blamed for the loss. Then I went to McDonalds to order Happy Meals for all the kids and 99cent burgers for all of the adults...and I had the wrong debit card. I had them swipe it anyway for good measure, and it was declined. o.v.e.r.d.r.a.w.n. Yep I was the asshole that just ordered $100 worth of food with no way to pay for it. Shoot me now. I drove back home and got my other debit card, all while crying hysterically.

Thankfully, bad things only happen in 3's and I racked up my 3 'bads' before noon. It could only get better from there. The sun started to shine, my friend Laura came to the rescue with stakes to secure the slide so it was safe enough to use, and debit card number 2 worked splendidly. I showed up back to my house with happy children running around my backyard...eager to tear into their Happy Meals. Even better was that I was surrounded by my friends. Suddenly I realized that nothing was really that bad after all and that I might be a little hormonal and over reacting. :D The last few children left at 9pm and I had so much fun! It was Kimberly's birthday party, but it also felt like the kickoff to the summer. I am definitely ready for days filled with swimming, sun, hot dogs grilling and ice cold beer. Just kidding, I wont be drinking beer. Just a little wine. I'm kidding people! mostly kidding...

I only have 10 or 11 weeks left of this pregnancy. Hallelujah! I had a doctors appointment today and after the doctor checked me over, she said "Okay great...see you in 2 more weeks!" Just so you know, that means I am in the home stretch. Every appointment up until now has been once a month. My wonderful doc also gave me another ultrasound. I have been nervous because the baby doesn't kick a whole lot. Today my fears were compounded becasue the nurse couldn't find my sons heartbeat! Ack! Once the little dude was up on the ultrasound screen, we saw that all was well. He is head down and his little hands are smashed up next to his face. His butt is in my ribs and his little legs kick towards my back. I guess he is just sort of a quiet baby. He does more shifting and slow rolls wheras my other two kids actually caused me physical pain with their thrashing around.

Oh! And I am please to officially announce this little dudes name. We completely scrapped the old list and had to start fresh. Jeff and I were in a stalemate...big time. But we finally agreed! Sometime in August, we will be welcoming Griffin Jacob to the world. Kimberly, Kennen, and Griffin. We were unable to keep going with the 'K' alliteration but I still think that Griffin somehow matches. Plus, it just feels right. And when Kennen says "Gwiffin' my heart just melts. :D

p.s. the ultrasound tech said that my baby is already 3 1/2 lbs! Holy macaroni!