My Baby is 5!

Okay so today is Ethan's birthday and he turned 5! It is so hard to believe he is 5 years old. I can still remember taking the pregnancy test on that Thursday night and really not believing it was true. I remember taking it down to Angela's house and showing it to her and sharing my excitement with my sweet friend. I can remember being oh so big and pregnant with him and miserable in the early June heat. I remember leaving my classroom that last day and saying goodbye to my career for a while, maybe forever. I remember eating Japanese food and going to Best Buy that night and feeling like I may be in labor. And then I remember the doctor saying, "It's a boy!" and the feel of my new baby boy in my arms and saying to Steve, "can we name him Ethan?" and "do we get to take him home?" I have never felt such love in all my life.

He was perfect and I was his Mommy.

I also remember when he turned one and we moved away from everyone and everything we knew and it was just the 3 of us. Ethan and I really bonded in those days while daddy was at work and I was unpacking boxes. I remember at 15 months old having to send my little man into surgery for his ears and hand and how hard it was to see my child in pain. I remember his terrible twos and then his terrible threes. But I wouldn't trade it for the world. He is one of the sweetest children I know. His heart is just precious (most of the time that is---when his sister doesn't have any of his toys!)

I remember dropping him off at Mom's Day out for the first time last August with tears in my eyes as I drove away, thinking, he is just getting so big. I sometimes get him in my lap and tell him not to get any bigger, to just stay little. He told me this year that he was sorry for turning five...there is his tender heart again. I reassured him he did not need to be sorry for turning 5 that Mommy was very proud of him.

There are so many more memories of my buddy and I am grateful that God has chosen Steve and I to be his parents. He is our little man.

This year marks a new season for us. Ethan will start school at home and he is so excited. So, it is not that sad for me, because I'll have him here with me. I will have the wonderful privilege of teaching my son to read and write....to love school...to be more like Christ. Yes, I can't wait for the next 5 years and I know they will fly by just like these have.

So, my baby is 5! Happy Birthday buddy!