The birth of the boy...who is now FIVE!

Then...and now. The boy is five today. The boy is FIVE today. How did this happen?! He is tall and thin and athletic and funny and sweet and a toot all at the same time. He loves cheese and sugar and his sister, believe it or not. He loves his family and he loves his God...most...more than his family and will tell you that a lot. I think he likes the orneriness of telling me he does not love me the most. I don't mind. I hope he always loves God more than me. He is supposed to. :) He loves sports...ALL sports, but he only wants to play baseball and soccer. He is thinking about trying football, but is afraid he might get hurt. I think he will get over that. Football is very big around here. He is so lanky though...not the football build. He could be a quarterback, or a receiver, or a kicker...that would be safer. :) He thought about hockey, but he is afraid he might get his teeth knocked out. That is okay...we live in the middle of Oklahoma where it has not been uncommon lately for the temperatures to reach 107 degrees...not a lot of frozen ponds about. :) Currently he only wants to play sports for fun. He refuses to play on a team where they keep score. It stresses him out. He is so afraid of losing. I have no idea where it came from, but he truly freaks out. It is sad and we are working on it because...well...sports are competitive...life is competitive.

Five years ago today, I was married to a great guy and was the mother of a smart, funny little 2 year old girl and we owned 2 houses. On this day, we sold our old house on the way to the hospital to have our son. It was CRAZY! We pre-signed papers and went off to the hospital. The girl went to Nanny Boo's to spend time with her cousins and was away from me for 4 days...the longest she had ever been away from me in her life. Ultrasound confirmed that the boy was still breech and the c-section would go as scheduled. I was a wreck and so scared of the surgery and anxious to meet my son and scared that I was forever altering the life of my daughter. In short...I was crazy. The morning is a blur. They took me in and gave me the spinal block and draped me and brought my husband in. He held my hand and talked to me the whole time...I was his concern...he is cool like that. I had THE most AMAZING anesthesiologist! He calmed my fears when I would panic and he told me everything that was happening behind the drape. I was mad that I was not allowed to watch...good call by my doctor. When they finally pulled my son from my body, (and the cord was NOT around his neck...there was NO reason for the little toot to be breach!) he was silent. This was a deafening silence filled with fear. The anesthesiologist was calm and told me, "I can see him. He is pink and he is moving and he looks good. Give him a minute and let them suction him." Sure enough, I soon heard his sweet cry. They brought him over and let me kiss his head and take a quick picture(the one you see above this post) and then they whisked him away. I made his daddy leave me and go with our son. He was 7 pounds, 2 ounces of pure baby perfection. He looked exactly as he does now only smaller and with less hair...it is almost weird. We had not settled on a name yet. I only saw him for a moment, but I knew him the minute I saw him. His name was obvious. I went to recovery and 15-20 minutes later my husband came to check on me. He said, in his cocky way, "I know who he is." "Oh yeah, smart guy...who is he? I just told the nurse who he is." He said our baby's name. My jaw hit the floor. That is EXACTLY who he is and we both knew it without ever talking to each other about it...creepy! I could not wait to be reunited with my sweet baby and explore every inch of his perfect baby self. I wanted to smell him and touch his sweet, soft baby skin and rub his precious little fuzz covered head. The whole day, and the 3 that followed are both hazy and clear all at the same time...Morphine itch and all.

Today, I am still married to the same great man...who is even greater, if that is possible...and I am the mother of a smart 7 year old girl and a funny 5 year old boy, still living in the same house we first brought him home to. We still have our 2 great but aging dogs and a couple of years ago we added a pet rat to the mix. I am enjoying this journey through life getting to know these great little people who call me "Mommy" and watching them become more every day. It is not all sunshine and roses, but the good does far outweigh the bad and there are more good days and happy moments than not. I am far more blessed than I deserve. Sometimes I feel like I am dreaming. If I am...don't wake me up.