Celebrating 8 official years of being a mom! To my beloved "Boo."

Eight years ago today, God bestowed upon me the honor of being a mother for the first time.  Not a day goes by that I do not cherish that gift.

When Dustin and I were first married, I had no desire to be a mother.  I didn't grow up necessarily wanting to be a mother.  Not that I didn't pretend to be a mother to my baby dolls as a child but in reality, the desire was never truly there.  I had no illusion about how easy it was to raise a child.  I knew it was going to be hard work and when I was young, that simply didn't appeal to me.  I was a very difficult child.  I came from a hard place and thus I was a hard child to raise.  There was no reason to desire raising a child like myself. My parents poured a lot of time, tears, and attention into me and it was never easy.  However, Dustin and I agreed that we would at least have one child because he so desired to be a father.  It's funny how time changes everything.  I remember the point in our marriage when we decided that WE wanted children, not just Dustin.  It was a visit to the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo among a few other events that helped triggered my desire.  I remember having a conversation with Dustin indicating that visiting the zoo was getting a bit dull with just the two of us and that it might be time to consider adding a child so we could renew our interest in the zoo again.  It's really quite silly but no less true.  And so our journey began . . .

Fast forward eight years, and here we are, the proud parents of a bouncing eight year old boy (yep, he's still very bouncy) on his way to manhood along with four other equally important, equally wanted, equally prayed for children.  Being a mother, I can imagine no greater honor on this Earth next to being a wife.

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY TO MY GERIK!  My compassionate spirit, my creative genius, my math whiz, and look out ladies, he's a looker (I am NOT biased!  Just telling it like it is).

I thought my 9:30 am appointment on February 23, 2006 with Dr. Rumsey was to schedule my induction but at 11:30 am, I was giving birth to my son via c-section.  Gerik was breech at 40 weeks 1 day in my belly . . . little stinker!!  He still giggles and tells everyone about how he was butt down instead of head down.

Moments like these make it so worth while.

My baby "Boo"