Valentine's Day

On Valentine's Day Rory turned five. I can't believe my little Rory Bear is five, because I am pretty sure he was just born a day or two ago.

Rory had a dramatic birth in that he needed an emergency c-section and Kelly was at work an hour away. When I called Kelly I was casual....finish what you are doing, come when you can, it will be fine...because that is what I thought. My mom then called him from her office (she worked on the maternity floor) and told him to get moving. Quickly.

I was fairly calm until they wheeled me into the operating room, sans Kelly. He still wasn't there and everyone kept telling me they were just getting me all set so when he arrived we would be ready to go. So...for those who haven't witnessed a c-section, once they are ready (a) a curtain is raised so you don't actually see the surgery and (b) you can't feel anything below that curtain. Once we reached this point (and still no Kelly) I desperately wanted to yell "hand check" to be sure no scalpels were at work, but instead opted to ask every 47 seconds where Kelly was. In hindsight, hand check probably would have been more entertaining.

Kelly suddenly burst (yes, burst, I am not be dramatic at all...) through the door and according to him, the scalpel went to work before the door shut behind him. Much like the day we were married, an overwhelming sense of calm came over me when I saw him and I knew everything would be okay.

As they were delivering Rory I asked Kelly if we could change his name from Rory Christopher to Rory Kellogg. It felt important to me that Rory's name had a family connection, and Rory sharing his father's name felt right.

I am blessed to have this thoughtful, funny, clever, energetic little boy in my life every day. He has taught me so much about life and love.

And how sometimes, it is best just to go and eat the cake rather than take 25 pictures of the cake and candles.