10 years ago...

10 years ago today...

* I woke up and thought, "We should take our bags with us to our OBGYN appt today".

* I made a mess in my Dr.'s office when my water broke.

* We learned Pitocin makes me nauseous and is not all that effective for inducing labor, for me.

* Raymond and I heard Will's first cries, followed directly by my own tears of joy.

* Raymond got to go out to the waiting room and tell our family and friends that we have a son!

* Raymond and I became parents!

* Both sets of our parents became Grandparents.

* We got to hold our perfect little boy in our arms for the fist time.


That day, 2/24/1999, was wonderful and hard and life changing for a lot people. Today we will celebrate Will's 10th birthday, but to me it is so much more. It is the day I became a mom, Raymond became a dad, my mom and mother-in-law became grandmothers , my sister and sister-in-law became aunts, and our brothers became uncles. Those titles are life changing.

For the past 10 years we have been celebrating Will's birthday with parties and presents and cake. But for some reason this year seems like a bigger milestone for the rest of us, or at least for me. I have been a mom for 10 years. That is not a novice mother anymore. If you have had the same job for 10 years I think you better know what you are doing. The question I ask myself is "Do I know what I am doing?" or should someone have fired me a few years ago?

I know for sure I know more about raising kids now than I did 2/24/1999. I have learned and grown along with Will. It truly is amazing how much our kids teach us while we are trying to teach them. When we try to teach them about how to act, it sure points out the things we don't like about how we act, and how hard it is to change those things. They teach us about our own capacity for love and patience by pushing our limits further and further. And then when you least expect it they give you a glimpse of the payoff for the work you have put into them, by doing something amazing.

I feel honored and blessed that God has given me the opportunity to raise my children.

Happy Birthday, Will! Thanks for making me a mom!