Traveling Family Car Games

     I look at ads for new cars today and most all of them boast about tv's in the back to keep the younger children quiet.  The commercial shows young children happily sitting in the back, with ear phones plugged into their ears, as they sit and stare at a screen that is built into the back of the front seat of the car, each watching a show of their own.  Mom and dad are in the front seat listening to music from their own generation.  On the commercial it all looks great and quiet but one thing is lacking.  Quality family time. 

     While the children's brain's are turning into a pool of mushy goo by over watching SpongeBob SquarePants and another Justin Bieber music video, they are missing out on the opportunities of what is around them outside of the car.  A city kid may miss out on seeing a deer or a cow as they drive through the rural areas.  A country kid may miss out on seeing the lights and sounds of a big city that they are traveling through.  Perhaps there is some rich history that the parents could tell the children about the area.  This is all part of taking a car ride, to be with one another and to enjoy each other's company. 

     In long car rides my sister, brother, and I would find ways to occupy our time.  We didn't have tv's in our car.  We only had each other for entertainment.  Below I am going to list some of the things we did to help entertain ourselves in the car.  Some are widely known and other's we made up.  Perhaps you have a game that you remember playing in the car with your family when you were little.  Remember how much fun it was to pass the time?  Why not pass those fun moments onto your family?

1. Mad Libs:  Every child loves adding words to create a funny story.  These can be printable right off the computer or bought at a variety of stores.  Not only is the outcome of the story funny but it helps a child learn their parts of speech when they have to think of a noun, verb, adverb, or adjective.  Have mom think of a word, then a sibiling, then dad.  When you get different people thinking of different words the story could get very creative.  
2. Letter Game:  Have a person pick a letter from the alphabet.  Have another person be a writer or have a really good memory.  In a circular motion everyone has to say a word that starts with that letter and see how many words you can think of.  For instance, if the letter is "C" mom might start off saying "Carrot".  One child might say "Cake" and another child might say "California" and dad might say "Carborator".  The writer would have to write down every word so no one repeats a word.  If someone does repeat they get a strike.  If you cannot think of a word you also get a strike.  Setting a timer is optional for how long it should take someone to guess a word.  After 3 strikes a person is out.  At the end it is fun to see how many words can be known with a certain letter.  This game helps a child build up vocabulary.  Some words they may not know and want to know the defination of it.  It can also help with spelling.  If the letter is "T" and a child says "Pterodactyl" a parent can explain about silent letters and "Pterodactyl" actually starts with a P.  
3. Billboard Alphabet Game:  The object is, as a family, to get through the entire alphabet by looking at the billboards or license plates of other cars.  If there is a billboard of McDonald's then you shout out "A" for McDonAlds.  Then perhaps passing you is a car with the license plate QBX 620 a person would shout out "B".  "C" could be from a sign that says "Bridge May Be ICy".  See if you can get through the whole alphabet before reaching your destination.  Those traveling through a city will do the alphabet much quicker than those out in the rural areas.  You can add some excitment to it by seeing how many miles it takes to get through the entire alphabet.  Just remember the mile marker you are passing when you start and subtract it from the mile marker from when you are finished or set the odometer.  Play the game again and see if you can do the whole alphabet in less milage.  WARNING:  The driver can particpate but make sure the driver doesn't get too distracted looking around.  It may cause an accident. 
4. Roadside Tally:  See how many things you find along your trip.  This was a game my sister and I made up.  Some of the things we would put on our list is "Tire Monster" which is huge broken piece of tire, "smooshed unknowns"  which is a dead animal that cannot be indentified.  Each dead animal that could be indentified had its own category.  Live animal's also had their own category.  Sometimes Adopt-A-Highway would leave their garbage bags on the side of the highway waiting for someone to pick up the bags.  We would call it "Trash Monsters".  "Cars on the side of the road" would have it's own category.  "Hitchhiker" would be another category.  Everytime we passed something in the category we would make a slash mark under it.  We would often go from Saginaw, Michigan to Houghton Lake, Michigan and we would find around 4 "smooshed unknown's", maybe 2 "Cars on the side of the road" and maybe a few "Out of State" plates.  The fun part is that you create your own categories.  You can just do types of cars or different semi trucks you see along the route.  This game helps a child to look around the world around them.  They may catch a deer coming out of the woods or something they may not have noticed while staring at a tv screen.  It may also help them be conscience of the world around them and not to pollute if there is too much trash or debris around.  
5. Going On A Picnic:  This is another alphabet game.  One person starts off saying, "I am going to a picnic and I am going to bring an Apple."  The next person would say, "I am going to a picnic and I am going to bring an Apple and a Ball."  The third person will have to say, "I am going to a picnic and I am going to bring and Apple, a Ball and a Cat."  Go through the whole alphebet, repeating the long list as you go.  See how much you can remember and see if you can do this.  This game helps spark creativity in what to bring to a picnic.  It also helps with memory recognition as they recall all the things that are being brought to the picnic.  You can expand the game from here with doing just foods, book or movie titles, colors, people's names, etc.  
6. A Pad Of Paper and A Pen:   Many things can be done between a few people, a pad of paper and a pen.  Instead of listing them seperately I decided to list them together.  You can play Tic Tac Toe, Dots, Hangman, or Pictionary (Draw a picture and have the other person guess what it is).  Another game is a story game.  It is good with 3 or more players.  The first player writes down a sentence.  The next player, after reading that sentence, writes a sentence of their own.  Before passing the paper to the third person the second person folds over what the first person wrote.  The third person can only read what the second person wrote.  They have to write a sentence.  It goes on and on until someone ends the story.  Each time it is passed to the next person the paper gets folded down more and more.  The person after the last person wrote, when the story is done, unfolds the paper and reads the whole story.  It can get wacky and crazy so prepare for some laughs.  Another game with paper and a pen is for one person to say 5 animals names.  The next person has to draw a crazy creature using the 5 animal names.  Take turns and see what unique creatures you can create. 
7. Who Can Say 20 First:   The goal is to get your opponet to say 20 first.  A person can only say one or two numbers at a time.  It helps a person strategize a game in how to make the other person say 20 first.  It greatly develops their thinking skills and for younger children their counting skills.  
8. Books:   A book is not a game but it can be turned into one.  If two people have the same book, let's say a Bible, see who can find Psalms 90 first or who can find the book of Jeremiah first.  Maybe someone reads a paragraph out of a book or a full page.  Then the other person has to make up the rest of the story.  Again, this uses the imagination and creativity in their thinking.  It lets children know that there can be different options to ending a book.  
9. The Other Car:   Look into a car that is passing you or you are passing.  Talk about that car.  Where do you think they are going?  Are they on vacation or running errands?  Are there pets in the car?  What kind of pet would this person in the other car own?  Are they talking on the phone or singing to music?  If you wave hi at them would they wave back?  In playing this game remember to be polite.  Don't make silly faces or give them the bird.  Keeps the comments positive and up beat.  It shows the children to think positively about other people and it helps them wonder.  
10. Trivia Games:   You can buy packs of trivia cards for all ages at any big box store like Meijer's, WalMart or KMart.  I am sure some truck stops may even sell small packs of trivia cards.  If dad is driving then mom can read off the cards.  She can ask a question to see who knows it or direct it to certain people.  You can keep points and see who reaches 20 first or just have fun and pass the time.  Everyone can learn from bits of trivia they hear and sometimes kids can suprise themselves with things they remember from school.  Just don't make it too hard for the children's age group.   

     Those long car trips do not have to be torture for you and everyone in the car.  Use this time for conversation and getting to know each other better.  Getting there is half the fun of the whole trip and it is with these memories that the children will remember.               

Hidden Among The Toys

     It was shortly after the 2000 year.  I was visiting with my sister being very much pregnant with my third child while our little children played together.  Her oldest daughter is 18 months older than my oldest son, who was 3 and a half at the time and who is a year older than my daughter.  Having them all close in age made it fun for visiting and watching the children play and interact with one another.  My sister also had twin boys around 6 or 7 months old at the time.  Although the children loved looking and holding the babies they weren't quite mobile enough to keep the older children's attention much of the time.  The older children were much happier playing with the toys in the bedroom.

     At the time my sister lived in a small apartment getting ready to buy a house.   We were in the kitchen starting to get a late lunch ready.  We decided to feed the twins first then the older children since they were happily playing in the bedroom.  My sister and I talked and laughed as she fed one twin and I fed the other jarred baby food mixed in with a little baby cereal.  Moments passed when her daughter entered the kitchen area looking around. 

     "Where's Bam-Bam?"  she asked.  Bam-Bam was the nickname we had given to my oldest son, Christian.  He had beautiful white hair and was a solid little guy like the cartoon character from the Flintstones. 

     Lisa and I looked at each other bewildered.  "What do you mean 'Where's Bam-Bam'"?  I asked her.

     "Oh, he's just gone."  she says in a matter-of-factly childish voice.  She turns around and prances off, her blonde pigtails bouncing off her sholders.

     "GONE?"  my sister and I shout out.

     We both stand up from the table and dash into the bedroom.  My daughter Beth and Abbie resumed playing with Barbie dolls on the floor.  Other than that the room was quiet.  My sister opens her bedroom door and looks around.  No little boy to be found.  I look into the bathroom which is directly next to my nieces bedroom and across from my sister's bedroom.  Even though he wasn't fully potty trained yet I was hoping to see him on the toilet.  Nothing.  I met up with my sister in the livingroom.  From there we can see every room in the apartment.  We stood there in awe looking around trying to make sense out of the whole situtation.  From the kitchen table we can see the only door in the apartment and we didn't see it open.  Besides, it was locked with a sliding chain lock. 

     "Do you think he could of tried to open the door and was able to squeeze through the opening?"  my sister asked me as we both stared at the door. 

     My brain went numb.  He never tried to leave the house before.  But there is always a first time.  I shrugged my sholders and shook my head, "I don't know.  I am not sure." 

     "I am going outside to look.  Stay here with the kids."  she directed to me. 

     I go back into the kitchen.  Could he have climbed into the cupboards and we didn't notice?  I thought.  The twins were happily slapping their hands into their plates of mushy goo and sucking on their fingers.  I bend over and open up all the cupboards.  Nothing.  My chair was up against a sliding glass door which let to a small porch.  I know he wasn't out there.  I could hear my sister calling Christian's name from outside.  The windows are open?  Could he have pushed on a screen and fall out?  My sister's apartment was 2 stories up.  I run into my sister's bedroom.  The screen was intact.  I jolt into my niece's room.  The screen was intact there too.  Where could he have gone?!  It seemed as if time was standing still.  Seconds were dragging on, so it seemed.  I looked at my niece's bed and quickly bent down to look under it.  Nothing.  I look around her room.  In her closet was her toy box with chalkboard sliding doors.  The doors were closed.  I had to look.  I slide one door open and there was my son!  He was fast asleep in the toy box.

     I went over to the window and called out to my sister to let her know I found him.   She runs upstairs and flys into the apartment.  "Where is he?"  she calls out relieved but wanting visual confirmation. 

    I smile and point her over to the toy box.  She looks in and sees him sleeping.  My daughter and niece laugh at the site of Christian in there.  "There's Bam-Bam!"  my niece calls out.





Christian asleep in my niece's toy box.



His feet on the other side of the toy box.

     

 

    

I slide him carefully out of the toy box and lay him down on the couch.  He never once opened his eyes as I transferred him to a more comfortable, and noticable, location.  I don't know what made him think to fall asleep in the toy box and not in another area more comfortable like the bed or the couch.  I know I will never know.  I don't think I took my eyes off of him for the rest of the day. 

Imaginary Friends Don't Use Bathrooms

     There is a playful innocense in childhood.  Imaginations drift to their furthest potential in those young developing years.  Somewhere in time we lose that creativity in our minds.  We stop using that playfulness our minds can produce and replace it with an older way of thinking.  Here, I think back to that time when I was a young child who had fun with an imagination that was endless.

     I was the youngest in my family.  My brother is 4 years older than me and my sister is 7 years older.  There were times when I wanted to play a game that was more in my age range like Candy Land or Go Fish and no one wanted to play with me.  I would ask my mom but she would be preoccupied with something.  Often she would tell me to play on my own.  And I did.  I invented a friend.  Jody was her name.  She was about my age, dark hair and great at everything.  We would play games or Barbies, go on adventures outside, dance and even swing on the swingset.  I had a great vivid imagination and sometimes my imagination would step outside of the boundries and leak into the real world. 

     One day Nonnie, that is what we called our grandmother, was watching me.  I think my mom was at a school event for my brother and sister.  Nonnie was busy doing something and "Jody" and I were busy playing house.  We would act like we had important guests coming over for tea and we were preparing for their arrival.  We even dressed up for the occasion. 

     I excused myself to use the bathroom.  A pretend knock was at the door.  "Hang on, Jody.  I am almost done."  I would call out.

     I opened the bathroom door.  "Oh, You have to use it too, Jody?"  It may have looked like I was starting off into thin air but in my mind "Jody" was really there.  "Okay, you can use it now.  I will even lock the door for you so you can have some privacy."  I turned the lock and shut the door.   I went back to my bedroom and resumed setting my bed up to be used for the tea party.  We had very important stuffed animal guests that were to arrive at any moment now.

     Our house had 2 bathrooms in it.  Actually one was a half bath.  It was very small.  A daddy long-leg spider often camped out in a small web in the corner right above the toilet.  My sibilings and I avoided that bathroom because of it.  The spider could of used the advantage of us sitting on the toilet to swing down on its web and crawl into our ears and lay eggs.  It probably wouldn't of happened but we were young and we didn't want to take any chances.  Our main bathroom was the only door in the house that had a lock on it besides the doors that lead outside.  This was our main bathroom in the house.  

     Nonnie comes around the corner to use the bathroom and found out it was locked.  "Jill?"  she asks seeing if I was in there.

     "I am in here."  I call out to her from my bedroom.

     Confusion crosses her face.  "If you are in the bedroom who is in the bathroom?"

     "Jody is in there."  I state matter of factly.

     "Oh, I didn't know you had a little friend over.  When did she come over?"  Nonnie says as she is entering my bedroom. 

     "She's been over.  She's my imaginary friend!"  I said giggling. 

     Nonnie looked at me with her eyes popping out of her head, "Your IMAGINARY friend?"

     "Yep,"  I reply innocently back, "She had to use the bathroom." 

     "How are we supposed to open the door!?"  Nonnie asks the question out in the air rather than to me.  "I need to use it!"

     She quickly goes to use the smaller bathroom.  She came back with a coat hanger that was straigtened out.  She used one end and stuck it into a tiny hole in the door handle trying to unlock the door.  It wasn't working.  The lock was the kind that you had to push in and twist.  She ended up calling my mom's boyfriend to come over and see if he could do something to open the door.  He came over and they both pondered over the door. 

     I remember sitting on my bed, across from the bathroom, hearing them trying different techniques to open it.  I even heard talk of taking down the door.  As a child it sounded like a major project.  I felt horrible.  I didn't mean to cause such a commotion.  Nonnie somehow knew I was upset.  She came in to talk with me.  She told me that I should of known better than to lock the door with no one inside.  She went on saying it is fine to have imaginary friends but have them lock the door by themselves next time.   I remember laughing at that.  The door finally opened and all was well with the world again.  "Jody" and I resumed our tea party as we had our important guest waiting. 

     Somewhere in the time of growing up "Jody" faded away.   I cannot help but smile as I look back at my childhood and my over active imagination. 

Oh, Those Rodents!

     It was February 2004.  We lived in Allegan.  Our children just received money for Valentine's Day and wanted to go shopping.  I told the kids (aged almost 7, almost 6, 3 years old and 1 year old) they can buy what ever they want with their money at the store.  I loaded up the children and headed towards Meijer's in Planwell, Mi..  We walked around the toy aisle as the children debated on what to get.  As the older children looked I would see what toy James (the one year old) would like to have as well.  Nothing seemed to grab my or the kids attention. 

     We walked around the store for other ideas.  Then we walked past the small animal area.  It was like magnetic beams shot out of their eyes and dragged them across the aisle to look at the birds, hamsters, guinea pigs, and the multitudes of fish.  Oh no!  I dreaded.  The older two looked at the prices and the money they had in their hands.  They didn't have enough.  Whew!

     Moments later Christian and Beth approach me with a smile across their faces.  "We know what we want,"  they said, "We want to buy a hampster!"

     "Oh no!"  I reply back.  "You don't have enough money."

     "Yes we do, "  Beth chimes back, "If we all put our money together then we have enough to buy 2 hampsters"  she says excitedly.

    "No! No! No!"  I firmly said.  "We already have a dog.  We do NOT need a hampster!"

     "PLEASE?????"  the 3 begged beautifully.  James would sit in the basket of the cart pointing over at the rodent's in the glass aquarium.  "You said we can have ANYTHING in the store?"

     Mental note to myself at that moment:  NEVER say the words ANYTHING IN THE STORE ever again to my children when we go shopping!   

     I looked down at their angelic faces.  I know deep down this novelty will wear off in a week and I would be the one cleaning the cage and feeding and watering it.  Drats!  The kids pinned me in the corner when I said that.  It was their money and I did say anything.  I think just the brillance of them realizing that they can combine their money to get a larger priced item at that age made me give in.  "Okay.  Beth and Christian, you both pick out one and Ashton, you pick one out for you and James."   I chipped in the rest for a cage, food and a ball where the hampster can run around the house in.  Sadisticly, I envisioned one of the hampsters running around in this plastic ball and our dog (about 5 years old) chasing it and trying to flick it around the house where the hampster was at the mercy of the dog.  Okay, I was ready to bring the hampsters home now.

     We brought the hampsters inside and I was giddy to see our dog's reaction.  He sniffed them a few times and left them alone.  I had the kids pick out their names.  Beth and Christian agreed on Pinky because a crazy cartoon Pinky and the Brain.  Ashton picked the name Lilo for her black and white hampster after the movie "Lilo and Stitch" which was a popular Disney movie at the time.  Sure enough, a few weeks later, the kids paid no mind to the hampsters anymore and I was left to tend to their cleaning and feeding.

     Fast forward 5 to 6 months.  We ended up moving to a small town in Osceola county (See Spontaneous Life Changing Decision April 18, 2012 blog  http://ymaout.blogspot.com/2012/04/spontaneous-life-changing-decision.html  on that story).

     It was a warm night.  The children were in bed fast alseep.  We were watching a movie in the living room relaxing.  I was on the couch and Brian was stretched out on the floor.  Suddenly Brian jerks back, "What the hell....?"

     I look over at him confused.

    "Something lifted up on that vent!"  The heater vent was right next to the TV.  We both stare at it for a moment.  Nothing happened.

     I sit up and Brian joins me on the couch and we resume watching the movie.  We both heard a sound coming from the vent.  A loud scratching sound.  We picked up the remote and hit the mute button.  We both stare at the vent and listen to the fumbling, scratching sounds.  The vent lifted up again and a head stuck out from the vent.  "A RAT!"  Brian shouts.

     "A rat?"  I wanted to make sure I heard him correctly.

     "We need to kill that rat!  We cannot have rats in this house!"  Brian commands.

     We quickly unloaded a medium size box to use as a trap.  We planned on waiting until the rat comes out, lay the box on its side for the rat to run into and then tilt the box upright to capture the rat and then killing it. 

     We watched the vent intently.  We were on a mission.  I stood off to one side so the rat would run in the other direction where Brian was holding the box waiting for the rat to run into.  The vent started to lift up and down.  We were curious as to why the rat could lift the vent but neither one of us wanted to get a closer look.  The vent was lifting higher.  We could see his head.  His head would stick out and then go back in.  I look up at Brian with delight.  We were going to catch us a rat!  His head popped back out again.  The rat decided to make a run for it and fully came out of the vent.  He ran for the box and our plan was set in motion.  Brian was able to scoop up the rat with the box and the rat was trapped.  "There wasn't a tail on the rat!"  I shout out.  "It's tailless!"

     "Sometimes rats will get their tails caught on something and they lose their tail.  It's quiet common."  He assured me. 

     Brian went to look for something to end this rat's life.  "I want to take a closer look."  I say to Brian.

     "Why?  They are nasty rodents that we must get rid of!" 

     "I never seen a rat in real life before.  I want to see it before we kill it."

     "Be my guest."  Brian says back motioning with his hand for me to go to the box. 

     I look at it.  Cute little thing.  I think to myself.  I take a closer look at his nose.  There was some fur that has been rubbed away at it.  "Honey, I don't think this is a rat."   

     "What makes you think that?"  Brian inquires.

     "His nose.  There is fur missing from his nose.  I think this is Pinkie."  Pinkie had a habit of gnawing at the wires of his cage so much that he rubbed away the fur from his nose.

     "There is only one way to make sure."  Brian walks over to the hampster cage in the other room and peeks in.  Pinkie was missing.  Brian goes back over to the box and looks at the rodent in the box very carefully.  "You are one lucky hampster!"  He picks up the hampster and places him back into his cage. 

     Sadly, a year later Pinkie's life came to an end.  His cagemate Lilo had already passed on earlier.  They are both buried outside next to a tree that the kids like to play on.  I don't think they kids think much about the hampsters but I have learned two lessons:  Be care of what you say and always look twice before killing something.  It could be a pet. 
      

The Adventures of Super Hornet

Look!  Up in the sky!  It's a bird!

No, It's a plane?

No, It's...It's...

SUPER HORNET!!!!!

    Flying around Saginaw Township Super Hornet is looking for little children who are fast asleep in their beds not wanting to wake up to get ready for school.  As he buzzes down Center Rd. he notices a little girl not wanting to open her eyes to start the day.  Little does she know that if she doesn't wake up she will miss the bus to school.  There is only one thing left for Super Hornet to do.  DIVE BOMB! 

     A small buzzing sound fills the air.  Suddenly I am tickled endlessly as my mom tries hard to wake me up.  I scream, "I"m awake! I'm awake!" in hopes to stop the tickling. 

     That is pretty much how my mornings started as a young kid.  I was never a morning person but somehow Super Hornet always saved the day is getting me out of bed.  My mom would do the same to my brother and sister too.  I don't know how she came upon the making of Super Hornet but it worked as far as getting us up out of bed.   

     There would be times as soon as my mom started in with her announcer voice of "Flying around..." we would pop out of bed in lieu of being tickled.  Other times we would bare through the rhetoric and try to stop the buzzing hand looming overhead only to fail as she used her other hand to tickle under our arms or in our sides. 

     I have carried on the tradition with my own children of having Super Hornet attack.  In the morning  I go into their rooms.  I usually start with the boys.  As I tip toe across the room I catch myself saying, "Flying over the village of Sears..." then I hear the boys shout out, "I'm up! I'm up!"  They will pull the covers over their head as I get closer.  No one knows which one Super Hornet will attack first.  I can hear giggles of anticipation coming out from the covers.  I pick a ramdom boy.  Scream of laughter come from under the covers as Super Hornet tickles the belly.   The other boys, not wanting to be attacked, usually jump out of bed.  An awake child is Super Hornet's only weakness. 

    I walk over to the girls room.  They hear my footsteps.  Already I hear shouts of, "I'm awake!  I'm up!" coming out of their room.  Super Hornet buzzes inside their room.  Their eyes are still shut.  The buzzing gets louder and louder.  Then about this time they sit up.  Super Hornet never fails to save the day! 

     So beware citizens of the world.  You never know where Super Hornet may strike next to awaken you from your deepest of slumbers. 

The Birth of Ashton



After Ashton was born we used 3 different
size of diapers for our 3 children.



     A few weeks before I turned 23 I found out we were expecting our third child.  We were happy.  We just bought our first home on Bond St. in Allegan and Brian was working at B&B Trucking over in Kalamazoo.  We had a three year old boy and a two year old girl still running around in diapers but I guess we were going to add another one to the mix. 

     Our neighbor was also expecting.  She was due October 14 and my due date was set at October 7th.  We would talk, during the summer, of our pregnancies and how they are both developing.  She found out she was having a girl and my doctor didn't see a need in having an ultrasound so it was going to be a suprise for us.  We guessed our first two children correctly and I was thinking this was going to be a boy.  It didn't matter to us if we had a boy or a girl.  We already had one of each so we just focused on having a healthy baby. 

     Our last two children were born in Grand Rapids and we decided to have our next baby born at Allegan General Hospital.  We were maybe two miles from the hospital and it would be easier to deliver there instead trying to get the children ready and find a babysitter and drive 50+ minutes to Grand Rapids when we both know my labors are quick.  I told my doctor that both my last two children were induced and I wanted to go into labor naturally.  He knew my requests and worked with me on it. 

     Our due date came.  Later on in the afternoon I was outside playing around with the kids.  Our neighbor pulls into the driveway all excited.  He said his wife had her baby earlier that morning and they are both doing great.  I rubbed my bellying thinking I was supposed to have this baby first.   A few days later they all came home and I was able to see the new baby.  It was so odd looking at this baby, who wasn't supposed to be due until a week later, who was perfect in every way a baby can be perfect and imagined that right now my baby is fully developed the same way.  She can now hold her little one and mine is still incubating on the inside not wanting to come out.   I was happy for them all yet a little jealous that her pregnancy pains and labor are all done and over with and she can now enjoy her daughter.

Our neighbor's daughter (just turned 1) on the left and her sister in the middle. 
Ashton, on the right, was just a week before turning 1 year old.

     The waiting after the due date is the worst.  Every ache and pain you wonder if this is going to be the big one to set me off into labor.  At one doctor visit he mentioned that we really shouldn't go too much longer after the due date.  I pleaded with him that I wanted to experience going into labor naturally.  I took a stress test and all was well.  So he said we will talk about it more at the next appointment. 

     Sunday, October 15 started out like any other day.  I remember it was a warm day outside.  We did some grocery shopping and even bought a cake to be made praising the republicians to be given to my mom the next day at her office in honor of the Bush vs. Gore presidental election coming up in a few weeks.  She is a democrat and we always taunt each other during elections.  This was going to be our prank to her.  A few people had yard sales going and we stopped and looked around.  Later on that evening my sister came down from Grand Rapids with her almost 5 year old and her one year old twin boys.  Her husband and Brian went to Brian's mom's house to work on a car.  Everyone was having a good time.

     It was getting late and my sister was packing up to head home.  She looks at me, "Are you okay?"

     "Yea, I feel great."  I replied.

     "You are not going to go into labor now, are you?"  she asks.

     "No!  I am fine.  Just sore from running around all day.  I am good.  You can go home.  Brian and your husband are over at his mom's."

     Lisa gave me a weird look and figured I was doing okay so she left.  Christian and Elizabeth were winding down watching a taped Blue Clues on the VCR and I was picking up all the toys and putting them away.  Suddenly and without warning it hit.  CONTRACTION!  It brought me down to my knees.  I was doing good then all of the sudden there it was.  I looked up at the clock so I could time them.  It was exactly 9pm.  It lasted for a short moment.  I looked at the kids.  Their backs were to me so they didn't see me drop down.  They looked so precious just sitting there side by side.  In a few hours they are going to have a sibiling and they don't even know it yet, I thought to myself.  I stood up and a quick moment later another contraction hit.  Okay, this time I knew for certain I was in labor.  I needed Brian.

     I managed to get to the phone and called Brian.  "Hi hun, Can I give you a call right back?  I am waiting for a phone call from Mark about advice on the car." 

     I thought for a moment, "Sure.  Call me when you are done."  The words slipped out of my mouth.  There are times when I can be too polite and this was one of those moments.  I should of told him I was in labor but I didn't want to disturb him if he was busy.  I started getting things ready to head out to the hospital and waited for Brian to return my call.

     Twenty minutes goes by.  Contractions were coming and going.  The phone finally rings.  "Hey hun, what did you need."  It was my husband's voice.

     "ummm, I am in labor.  I kinda would like to go to the hospital now." I said patiently.

     Brian stumbled over the phone and said he would be right home.  Soon Brian and Doug entered the doorway.  I was in the diningroom on my hands and knees breathing hard.  Doug takes one look and says, "Yep, she is certainly in labor."

     Doug stayed with the kids and we went straight to the hospital.  We must of got there shortly after 10pm.  Labor was fast and hard.  Suddenly I had to use the bathroom.  I needed to sit.  I was scared to.  I didn't want to push the baby out thinking it was a bowel movement.  I told the nurse my fears.  She asked if I wanted something to make using the bathroom easier.  I agreed.  She gave me an enema.  Trying to use the bathroom and having hard contractions was not an easy task even with the enema but boy oh boy did that ever clean my backside out.  Brian, who is very sensitive to smells, could not handle the poisonous gas that was escaping from the bathroom.  It was so bad he had to leave the room.  Brian was out in the hallway, bending over, gagging ready to throw-up.  A nurse approached him and patted him on the back, "Is this your first baby?"

     "No, it's our third.  My wife just used the bathroom."  Brian said without looking up dry heaving.  The nurse started to laugh. 

     We ended up moving to another room to ease my husband, and probably the nursing staff and doctors, sense of smell.  I do not remember what I ate that day or the day before but it was taking its vengeance out.

     The rest of the labor went smoothly as much as labor could.  At 11:43pm a new Moyer entered the world.  "Congratulations!  It's a girl!"  said the doctor. 

     "A girl?"  Brian and I said at the same time.  We both were thinking this was going to be a boy.  She was going to be called James Reagan.  We even called her James when she was developing in my belly.  We did think of a girls name but we put that name in the back burner of our brains.  For a moment we didn't remember what we agreed upon.  Finally we remembered it.  Ashton Kae.



North and South's naughty southern belle Ashton Main with Bent.



     We chose Ashton from one of our favorite books and TV series that we both enjoy, North and South by John Jakes.  We both enjoy learning about the civil war and even though the character Ashton in the book was something of a not nice southern lady, we still thought the name was pretty.  Kae is from Brian's mom's middle name but we changed the spelling to adapt it to a part of my maiden last name.  It sounded nice together.

     As soon as my sister made it back to her apartment my mom called her to let her know I was in labor.  They immediatly drove back down to Allegan to the hospital to see the new baby.  They arrived  at a set of doors and there was a security guard sitting there in a chair.  The hospital was in the middle of a make-over and there was a lot of the hospital torn up and you had to take different ways to get to certain parts of the hospital.  "Are you here for the lady that was having a baby?"  he asks my mom and my sister.

     Bewildered that he knew that was the reason of their visit they responded, "yes, we are."

     "I think she just had it.  There was a lot of noise coming from that window," he points to an opening in the wall to where a window should be a few floors up, "then I just heard a baby cry."

     "That must be Jill." my mom says and the guard showed them how to get to my room. 

     They enter the room and I was already holding Ashton.  My sister looks at me, then around the room.  "Do you realize there are not window's in your room?!"  All I could do was laugh.  The whole floor was turned around due to the renovations. 

     Ashton's entrance to the world was nothing short of a comedy.  Personally, I like things quiet and private when I am in labor and this was so far from it.  Part of me expected Candid Camera to come around the corner to let me know this portion of my life was a joke and I can redo it to the way I wanted it to happen.  A week later we still ended up bringing my mom her political republician cake to her office but I also got to show off my sweet little new daughter along with it. 



Ashton Kae just a few weeks old.