Happy 5th B'day Helaman

Today was Helaman's 5th birthday. I remember so well the day that he entered into this world. It was a painful labor....it took them 2 hours to get me my epidural. I remember that I just sat there in the bed with silent tears streaming down my cheeks and I was so sure that -- even though I had been through this twice before plus I had a survived a c-section -- I knew I was going to die!!! Then came the epidural and just 2 short hours later out came our wonderful little boy. The first few hours and even days were a little concerning - he was born with holes in his skin...there were 4 or 5 spots on his back and bottom where it looked like the top layers of skin had not formed. The doctors and nurses had never seen anything like it and we were quarantined for 48 hours while they ran tests. We knew it was a serious concern when David returned to visit us after running out to get a bite to eat and our door was decorated with caution tape and there was a cart right outside the door that had sterilized gowns, caps and masks that were to be put on anyone coming in my room. We called my dad and brother, Jarrod, to come and give Helaman a blessing and we immediately knew that all would be okay and I was able to enjoy not having to share a room with anyone else! The tests all came back normal, they never did determine what caused it and we have never had anyone else with the same problem.

So, here we are 5 years later. Helaman is such a sweet heart. He is willing to share anything as long as it is his idea. Should you ask him for something that he really loves (like his DS) he might at first say no and that he is playing, but just hang out for a second and then he will offer it to you. He loves to make people feel better and really doesn't like to see people unhappy. You can usually find Helaman watching Star Wars, playing his DS, kicking his soccer ball (yes he does it in the house all the time!), eating some kind of candy or dessert or just smiling. His smile is amazing. He has the greatest dimples. Helaman is my athletic kid and loves sports of anykind. At the school's carnival he made every hockey shot that he tried. It was so cool!! We are so blessed that Helaman came to our family and we love him so much! I can't imagine life without him!!!

This year for Helaman's birthday we took him and two friends, along with the rest of our kids, to the Sacramento Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento last Saturday. It was really fun and the kids enjoyed seeing all the big trains and then playing with the Thomas trains upstairs. We ended up back at our house to have lunch, open presents and eat cake and ice cream. It was a fun day. Today we finished up the birthday celebrations with a trip to Gamestop to spend the money burning a hole in Helaman's pocket on new DS games and then going out to dinner at Hometown Buffet. It was a great day and Helaman was so excited when he discovered that as soon as I can locate and purchase Star Wars episode 3, he will be the proud owner of all 6 episodes of Star Wars. (Please no one mention to him that he doesn't own Clone Wars!)

So, happy birthday to Helaman!!!!!!!!