Happy Belated Birthday Monica

I was out of town so I wasn't able to post a blog honoring Monica's birthday. It's a day I could never forget. She was our first born and with that came much anticipation of who she would look like and a lot of worry about how the delivery would go. I remember being so nervous and excited all at same time. I wanted to do everything natural. I didn't want any drugs and I made Alan promise me that no matter how hard things got not to let them give me drugs. You can guess what happened next. Things did get hard and after a few hours I was begging for drugs. Alan was true to his word and refused to let me have them.

Well, you can say I got pretty ugly and the poor man had no choice but to let me have my way.

Though the drugs gave me great comfort they did nothing to speed up the birth of this little one who was trying so hard to come out. After 12 hours of labor the doctor was concerned that the baby was in distress and wanted to do a C-section. I wanted to try just a little longer and he gave me a half hour. Alan gave me a blessing and it was decided to do the C-section. It was something I feared all along, but after the blessing I was comforted and knew it was the right thing to do. She was born looking a little blue because the cord was wrapped around her neck. She was born on Tuesday evening, August 19, 1986.

I remember that it was several hours before I got to see her for the first time because I was so drugged up from the surgery. But she was quite the sight to behold. To me she was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. She definitely was the cutest baby in the whole nursery. She was a very happy baby and she had a winning smile. She loved to be in the middle of the laundry pile when I would fold clothes. Her favorite stuffed animal was this purple bunny that her Abuelita Hernandez bought for her. We had to take it everywhere we went or she would fuss. She was such a daddy's girl and her daddy was her world. When she got fussy she would always calm down when her daddy would hold her. When she was older she loved to go to work with her dad at the TV station.She would even pretend she was doing news updates in front of the camera.

Monica had many admirers. Her cousin Ben was one of her biggest fans. When she was born, he loved to help me take care of her. He would feed her and hold her. Monica loved him just as much and to this day they are just as close.

She had other admirers like her Tia Ines and her other cousins Evelynne, Jessica, Eric, Jason and her Tia Elena.,Tio Marco and her Grandma Pilbeam.

The rest are just some of my favorite pictures of Monica. Here she is blowing kisses for Mom.

She had the biggest brown eyes we've ever seen and they would always capture everyone's attention.

The girls loved it when Aunt Helen came to town and putting curlers in their hair was so much fun.

Here is Monica when she was two. She loved all the Disney characters and Minnie Mouse was her favorite.

This picture was taken when she was two.

Here she is in deep thought at age four.

Being a big sister was a big job but one that she took very seriously. Sometimes she even forgot who was the mom. She was so good at entertaining her siblings.
She took dancing lessons and loved all the fun dances she learned. It was fun to watch her. She was a quick learner. This was from a performance at The West Acres Mall in Fargo, ND.
She was always a loyal friend. This picture was taken at girls camp. These girls she has known since she was three years old. The two girls on the left Kimra and Chelsie are married now. It 's hard to believe that my girl grew up so fast and she's now out on her own As parents we dream for our children and hope for the best. It's hard to watch those milestones because with each one you know you're letting them go. From the minute they take that first step, lose that first tooth, go to kindergarten , and get baptized, they are becoming independent. They are learning to govern themselves. The rest is just a blur and if you think it gets easier with the next one, you're sadly mistaken. So, all you parents out there, hold on to your little ones, take a long look at those little faces everyday and enjoy every toothless smile every freckle and don't sweat the small stuff. Oh, and don't forget to tell them that you love them everyday.


To my girl Monica,we love you ! You were our first gift and may you treasure yourself as our Heavenly Father treasures you so that you can be a gift to yourself , to your young man (who also loves you) and a gift to the world. Happy Birthday, you are a celebration of Love!!