Happy Birthday Josh!

     Josh turned six today!  I will never forget his birth.  It was 1:00 in the morning on Easter Sunday and my constant contractions had gotten strong enough to wake me up and keep me awake.  After timing them for almost a half hour I woke up Rick and said that we probably needed to go to the hospital.  We wondered who we could call at 1:30 in the morning to be there at the house with our five sleeping children, ages 10 to 2.  We debated a few options but the contractions were quickly getting stronger and more painful and we knew we had to hurry and call someone on the way.  So we grabbed my bag, the cameras, and ward directory and headed to the hospital.  We noticed that Rhonda Gentry's lights were on (Rhonda was my visiting teaching companion at the time) and so we called her to see if she could go over to our house to be with the kids.  She said she would and luckily none of the kids woke up.  Rick and I made it to the hospital and I had a difficult time even walking in because the contractions were so strong at that point.  I barely had time to put on a robe and get on the bed before Josh made his appearance -- just seven minutes after we arrived.  Rick says that it is a good thing we didn't hit any red lights or people may be calling him Doctor Jensen instead of Brother Jensen.

     Now six years later we celebrate the wonderful day when Josh came into our lives.  Josh is a delightful boy and we love him so much.  He has really matured this past year.  I have mentioned in past posts that we have struggled with his temperamental behavior.  By that I mean Josh would let out these blood curdling screams several times a day. Talk about pushing my buttons!  But I am happy to say that Josh has FINALLY outgrown this behavior (for the most part, it still happens every now and again).  Josh is now at quite an easy stage.  He loves kindergarten and always reads his take-home book and does his homework without prodding.  He is really starting to enjoy reading and like I have mentioned before, he is really into puzzles. He can easily do 500 piece puzzles all by himself.  I got him a couple more for his birthday and he informed me that I should have gotten a 750 piece puzzle instead of a 500 piece!  He also loves to play games on the computer.

     This morning Josh opened up his presents from us (more puzzles and two pair of desperately needed shoes since his were completely falling apart).  He also opened up his present from Grandma and Grandpa Westra (Puzzlemania books,stickers, glow sticks, and a long sucker) and he got his card and money from Grandma and Grandpa Jensen today too.  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!  I took Josh, Seth, and Jenna out to McDonalds for lunch, which was fun except for Jenna getting stuck up in the playground.  That has happened with almost every one of my kids -- I really hate that playground for that very reason.  She was crying and scared and since they make it so most adults can't fit I was stuck with coaxing and reassuring from the ground.  I finally got a chair and held up my hands to try and guide her through the tapestry of holes that was preventing her from crossing and she finally made it down.

     Tonight we all went to the ward BBQ at the park which was fun, except Jenna was tired and whiney and kept crying.  The past couple of days she has reverted back to peeing in her pants for no apparent reason -- a fact which is making me absolutely crazy!  Unlike Josh who has matured from "difficult" to "easy."  Jenna is still very much in the "difficult" stage.  I know I should be enjoying every moment of her pre-school age, but part of me looks forward to the time SHE is six!