Happy 15th Birthday, Tim!!!!!

My firstborn is now 15 years old!!!! (here he is at 5 years old) Can you believe it??? I can't believe it! It seems like we've been planning for his 15th birthday forever. (So much so that it seems like he should be turning 16 and not 15!)

I remember how scared I was when I went into labor with him. Only 19 years old and Ian and I were in college...pretty much poor....and walked miles and miles in downtown Worcester, MA just to get to the grocery store or doctor's office. I remember being so big and pregnant that, on one of our last trips to the store without a car, Ian had to carry ALL our weeks' groceries by himself because I could barely make it home. The day before Tim was born, I started having labor pains and (after talking to the doctor...who said I wasn't in labor at first, but had a bladder infection....what an idiot!) Ian and I spent some time at the library.

I kept thinking that, after today, everything will be different. I'll have a little baby to take care of and who will look to me for everything. (A truly frightening thought at the time.) After 29 hours of intensive back labor and no drugs (in which I seriously begged Ian to kill me or shoot me or something), Tim literally F-L-E-W out and was born. For all of you moms out there, you know what that moment feels like. When you look at the baby that's come out of you and think, "I can't believe he was inside me all this time!". And that wondrous, fantastic, beautiful moment when you hold that baby in your arms.

Unforgettable.

I remember holding Tim for hours and hours after that. Ian was sick and asleep in the hospital pull out bed and I just sat up all night long, never letting Tim go. The nurses gave me that look when I didn't want them to bring him away or put him down, but I'm glad I didn't care or listen to what they said. He was my baby. My first baby.



Now, he's still my baby, even though he's over 4 inches taller than me (here he is with Ben, showing off his new haircut) and I have to have him bend down to hug me. He's on the honor roll in high school almost every quarter and is taking sophomore classes as a freshman. He reads like the devil (just like Ian and I) and can usually be found in his bed reading in the semi-darkness. ("You'll ruin your eyes!!!", I always say, to no avail.)

I probably blabbed on and on about him last year on his bday, but I felt that I had to do it again. LOL!

I wish him so very much happiness today and for every wish of his to come true (within reason...believe me....he can think of some kooky things, he IS Ian's son, after all!)

I love you so much, Tim! Happy, Happy Birthday, sweet boy!

P.S. Look what I got last week!!! (Sorry I had to swipe your pic, Cayli!)



Cayli posted the winners of her contest and I won her beautiful handknit (!!!) stole. I could NOT believe it. It's even more impressive in person and I have to remember to look back and see what yarn she used. It is extremely soft. I'm looking right now for some pretty sundress to wear the stole with. Thank you so much, Cayli! I'm totally spoiled : )