Happy Birthday, My Bigger One!!

Today, is Issei's 10th birthday.
When he was born, Mommy was 35, Daddy was 41 and they had absolutely no idea as to how their lives were going to change. Oh...we knew things would be different, but...yeah...we were pretty much clueless!!!

I could get very deep and say that I felt as if I had waited my whole life for him. That, when he came into our lives, I...we...were complete. Those first weeks were so crazy...I was (am!!) a capable and smart human being and yet, this little creature turned me into an insecure, WTF-am-I-doing-??-kind of person. And then....at along about 3 weeks, Issei decided to have colic and our lives were no longer our own. But...we survived...it wasn't easy.

I used to wonder how the hell some women could hurt their children...especially babies and had no compassion for those mothers. And then....I saw, with my own eyes and heart, how that could happen. If you have a baby that cries...constantly...only stopping to nurse or sleep...for days...weeks on end...the thoughts are there....sometimes just slightly...But...the difference between those women who hurt their babies and me was that I could see what was happening. My mom, at one point in an international phone call, told me to put. the. phone. down...go out side for a minute and just breathe. I have never felt so scared in my life. The very thought I had that if I could just make him stop crying for a minute it would all be okay, scared me to death.

I look back on those times and thank God for my family in America and the friends I have here and there. Without those people, I'm not sure how I would have managed. So 10 years may be a bit long to wait to say "thank you", but....you know how I feel and how much you all mean to me.

So...now...back to better times...This morning, I was going through some old pictures to find one, or two, or three, to download (10 years ago, we just had a regular old camera!). I see these and just smile....he really was a pretty baby!!

This picture was taken on the day we went to the temple for his blessing. My mom was here and it was a beautiful day. Amazingly enough, on this day, he didn't cry...well...not so much anyway. When the priest started chanting and banging on his little drum, that kind of shook him up (and Grandma Linda!) a little, but the day passed very nicely!!!

This was Issei in the hospital, the day after he was born!! It's amazing how, between this picture and the one before, he lost all his really nice "baby hair"!!!
He was such a peanut!!!

And this is how Issei and Mommy spent 80% of the time for the first 3 weeks of his life!!! Sometimes we were on the sofa....sometimes on the futon...sometimes in the rocking chair. I think we were both surprised at how tired we made each other!!!

And now...Issei and Mommy 2008!! (We got over that being so tired!!...well...he did, anyway!!! I just handle it better now!!)

We will have 2 celebrations this year. Tonight was just us....with taco salad and a very "interesting" (as Daddy called it!!) cake. I will post pictures tomorrow....Issei is inviting some friends over on Sunday to have cake and play. The cake is a surprise...they think they are just coming to play!! (We tend to do things differently here at the Kuroiwa House!!) He has given me his request for a cake....and since my motto is "I'll try to make anything once...twice if it works out good!", I will do my best!! This won't be my biggest challenge, but it will be in the "top 5 most interesting cakes" list!!!

Happy Birthday, Issei. We love you!!!

(you knucklehead, you!!)