Our Boy

Ten years ago on this day I became a Mom. Having nine younger siblings means that I was rarely without a baby on my hip growing up--always trying to copy my Mom in every way as a young girl and teenager. I used to say that every outfit I owned was christened with baby spit up and I was proud of it. I loved my siblings as if they were my own. I remember telling my Mom that the only reason I'd want to get married was so that I could have a baby. 

Then I fell in love and saw other purposes to marriage. I married the man of my dreams. We decided that the responsible thing to do was to wait till Chris finished college and I finished law school to have our first child. We were on the five year plan. A year and a half after we were married, CJ joined our family. Funny how God works sometimes. 

CJ was our sidekick for 4 years as Chris and I refused to face the fact that we were parents and no longer just two young people dating. I saw CJ the same as I did my six little brothers growing up. I'm still in shock that he's actually mine. CJ liked that idea and refused to consider himself our son. He loved being our buddy--he braved so many adventures with us that we would probably never consider for our girls. 

It is so awesome to see him become more like an adult and help us in ways we probably wouldn't expect of any other 10-year old. He makes breakfast for us sometimes, does not only his own laundry, but also helps his sisters and us with ours. He helps his Dad on the house building project, he starts the car for me, pumps the gas, gets the girls in the van when we need to leave, and so many other things too numerous to list. We don't know what we'd do without our sidekick and are still in awe and so grateful that he's actually ours. 

Here's to the best decade in our lives and many more to come. We are so grateful for our boy. Happy Birthday CJ!