Happy 10th Birthday Kiddo #1!!

On May 20th, our kiddo #1 turned 10. Double digits!! We don't know where a decade has gone, but know that this last decade has been made all the more special and wonderful with this precious human being a part of it.

This child brings a smile to everyone's face with his genuine sweetness, respect, helpfulness and humor. Words cannot describe how special he is!

On his birthday, we took out the photo album of his first few months and in every picture, he is full of smiles, love and life! That is our kiddo #1!

I cannot help but remember the fear we felt during kiddo #1's first few hours of life. He was over a month premature (but born at a whopping 7 pounds, 4 ounces) and stopped breathing suddenly after only a few minutes of life. I could only hold him for a moment before they rushed him off to the NICU. At 4am the following morning, I was awakened in my hospital room by the staff asking me for permission to put him on a ventilator. By 4:30, I was in the NICU holding his little hand and remained there.

Thank God he only had to be on the ventilator for 24 hours. Between the oxygen and jaundice, he wasn't released from the hospital until 6 days after his birth. But, all the days since then have been those of joy. We cannot imagine our lives without him a part of it! Happy Birthday Kiddo #1! We love you very much!

His birthday celebrating started on Sunday morning with a moon bounce party at a local establishment for he, his siblings and 13 friends, for a total of 17 very happy, tired kids by the end of the party! They bounced, bounced and bounced some more, had pizza and made a craft. It was a lot of fun. Sunday afternoon saw the family arrive for a wonderful dinner made by my mom. Of course, kiddo was spoiled with lots of his favorite things including the model you see in the photo from one of his aunts and uncles. On his actual day, his siblings gave him gifts and breakfast, his mommy and daddy gave him gifts at lunchtime and his grandparents gave him gifts in the evening, followed by a dinner at his choice of restaurant. I know he had a wonderful time.