Today will be a short school day, thanks to the fact that most of their work was completed yesterday, and also because it is G's birthday. Yeah, I'm a mean mom, making her do some schoolwork today. We are on a serious schedule to finish up so that we can go off on our big Colonial American expedition ASAP.

My little late-night buddy is nine today. I had the pleasure of being the first to wish her a happy birthday just after midnight, as we finished up a chapter in Harry Potter.

Her wish for today was to bake a cake, so a little later, when we know what time Dad and L will return, we'll get busy whipping up a lemon chiffon cake with apricot coulis.

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Warning: Birth Story Ahead...

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The Friday she was born, I'd had a morning appointment with my OB/GYN, who told me nothing was happening yet, but it would probably be over the weekend. Being that he was a friend of ours and he would not be on duty that weekend, and he had missed the birth of our first daughter, he told us to be sure and have the nurse call him at home so he could be there for us.

My MIL offered to babysit my oldest, giving us a chance to enjoy a nice dinner out and we managed last minute reservations at our favorite, wildly popular restaurant. Labor started halfway there. Big ones, less than two minutes apart. So much for dinner.

At the hospital, I decided I'd like to try an epidural this time, but because we were cash customers (read no insurance), the hospital required payment in advance. I told them I would be glad to go back down to my car RIGHT NOW and fetch my checkbook. My husband chuckled, "She must be in transition..." Ha ha, Mr. Funnyman.

They hooked me up on the table and out she popped. Start to finish, 45 minutes, completely natural, no time for our OB friend to arrive. I must say, she was perfectly beautiful and very alert and I felt great, ready to hop off the table and go home, but very hungry, so G ran out and brought back stacks of mini brick oven pizzas for everyone. She could have easily been named Margherita (mmmmm, fresh tomato and garlic...) Several doctors, also fans of our favorite dining spot, expressed regrets over our forfeited dinner reservations.