Happy Birthday, Ian!

Wow! What an amazing guy you've turned out to be. My hopes and dreams for you were just a glimmer of what I thought could be possible when you were born 9 years ago. I remember that day as if it were yesterday. We woke up early and headed over to the hospital, knowing that it was finally the day you were going to be born (after 2 failed prepadil treatments). I was so ready for you to come. I'd spent the previous day (your due date) walking the Galleria in hopes that you'd decide to get things started on your own rather than us having to induce, but you needed your own invitation into the world.

We knew you were a big baby. At my appointment a couple of days earlier, the doctor guessed 8, 3/4 lbs. We knew you were stubborn. . . you hadn't rotated to heads down until about 37 weeks. EEK! After 13 hours of labor, there you were. .. my gorgeous boy. You know the story . .. I wasn't committed to calling you Ian until I saw if you looked like an Ian. There was concern whether you were okay because the cord had been wrapped around your neck and you were rushed to your little bed unit with doctors to look at you. And your dad proclaimed you were definately Ian. He was right though. (And the doctor was almost exactly right! You were 8 lbs, 14 oz, and 22 1/2 inches long! Big baby!) Here's a picture of you at about 16 hours (If all works right on my first blog photo attempt!) I wasn't a scrapbooker back then and the photos aren't nearly as good as I wish they were, but this shows what I remember most about you. Those long legs that you refused to let us swaddle up in a blanket, even from day 1.



Now, you're 9. You just finished the 3rd grade. You made all A honor roll for the year. You were commended on the TAKS this year. You love to read (you little speed reader you!). You can't wait for the 6th book of Harry Potter to come out on July 16th. I don't think there's a subject at school you don't like (unless coloring is a subject. . .and well, PE's not your favorite!). Your teachers all talk about what a sweet, sweet kid you are. And you're working on soccer. Hoping this week, a little soccer camp will help improve your skills.

Tonight, we took you to Red Lobster for dinner. You wanted the Popcorn Shrimp for your birthday meal. We met with with your local Allison relatives (well, the old and new Uncle Chrises were out of town on business trips, but everyone else came). Took us a while, but we finally figured out a boy of your age might like to bring a friend along, so your best friend Grant came too. Didn't take the folks at RL long to figure out it was your birthday and soon they were draping you with Lobster necklaces. You got such a kick out of it, especially when the manager came over and handed you his business card and asked you to come by and apply next week for a job. You quickly replied "Uh, no thanks!" and handed it back. Here's a picture of you back in February. I took a series of pictures of you and the girls for your dad's Valentine's gift and this was one I liked of you. I'll have to get a Lobster one up of you, but haven't had time to download them yet.



So, my sweet, sweet first born. . . my first blog entry is dedicated to you.

Thanks for teaching me how to be a mom. Thanks for helping me out on the learning curve, and making it easy for me. Thanks for being such a loveable kid. Thanks for being someone who's so easy to be proud of. Thanks for being you.

I love you Ian . . . to the moon and back, no matter what you do, you'll always be my E.

Mom