Thirteen Candles

Little Dude's now a teenager!!!

Today is my first born's 13th Birthday. 13 years ago today, I was in Ballard Hospital in Seattle with my husband by my side and a whole army of friends and family pulling an all nighter in the waiting room, anxiously awaiting "Roo's" arrival. 13 years ago today, our lives changed forever. We became parents. Our parents became grandparents and our siblings became uncles and aunts. Most importantly, I became a mother. It was the greatest day of my life.

In typical Spencer fashion, he took his own sweet time coming out. Happy and content where he was and not very motivated or eager to leave his warm, comfortable surroundings just yet. Just like now, he needed to be pushed and prodded to get going. He needed to be nudged. I pushed for 3 hours as he held strong and refused to leave his warm confines. His home of the last nine months.

The doctor got all dressed up in some sort of HASMET (sp?) type suit and tried to vaccuum him out with a machine that looked like something the men from "Ghostbusters" carried. But he was all turned sideways, refusing to budge. A specialist was called in to "extract" him, like a dentist removing wisdom teeth. This doctor was considered an expert in the Forceps department, having delivered over 10,000 babies that way over the years. He reached in, grabbed him with the forceps, turned him and "extracted" him. It's no wonder he was stuck, what with his size 15+ head and all!

I laugh now thinking about it. Realizing Spencer is who he is. That he was born that way. That even the doctor had to drag him out of the womb, kicking and screaming, just as I have had to drag him any and everywhere, still kicking and screaming because he's just happy to stay home and chill. Just as he was 13 years ago today.

I'm very excited and grateful to begin this journey into teenagehood with him. There have been periods where I wasn't sure I'd even make it to this point to see him turn 13. People say that kids grow up so fast and that you don't want to be in a rush to see them grow up. For me, and my situation, I'm very thankful that they do grow up fast. I could be living on borrowed time and I want to pack in and experience as much as their life journeys with them in the time I have left.

So I am very excited about Birthday #13 and all that it brings and I can't wait until #14 rolls around!!

Happy Birthday Little "Roo." (his nickname when he was in my belly and we didn't know what sex he was).

xoxoxox

Mom aka Shauna

PS. Tonight we celebrated at his favorite restaurant, The Sushi Boat, where he ordered Udon Soup and opened up his gifts: his first cell phone from us, a Bleach Wii Video game from Kaelin and Tien Tae Jitsu lessons (he's an orange belt) for the summer from GRannie SEattle! He scored!!! AFter dinner he got some Mochi Ice cream on the house and then we went home and he had a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake!