Thursday, January 13, 2011

7 years.

It was January 12, 2004 ... I was at home anticipating the birth of my first child. I believe I was to be induced the next day and had already wrapped things up at work. My grandmother kept me company and we waited for Kyle to come home early from work ... for no real reason, he says, other than he just had an inkling that he should be home.

By 3 p.m. ... Kyle was home and we were hanging out with my grandmother. I went to get up from off of the couch and swoosh. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh! I had been told that having your water break spontaneously was rare and I never dreamed that it would happen to me. I froze and had no clue what to do. I crossed my legs, bounced up and down and yelled for someone to get me a towel ... I had to stop the flow!

Well ... if you have ever had a spontaneous water break, you know you really cannot stop the flow. 

It was time ... we knew we had to get to the hospital, but first I wanted to jump in the shower to wash off my legs. Ha. Kyle about had a heart attack and I'm pretty sure he thought the baby was coming right then. Whatever dude, home girl needed to clean her legs.

By midnightish ... after laboring for about nine hours, it was time to push. Baby boy was coming and I was told he had a head full of dark hair. That shocked me!

I pushed ... and I pushed ... and I pushed some more.

The baby was sunny side up and clearly has a head like his momma ... read: big ... and after about two hours, they gave me two choices ... forceps or vacuum.

I chose vacuum.

It did not work. They pulled on baby boy's head so hard ... no luck. All I can picture is the doctor attaching the vacuum, putting her foot on the hospital bed for resistance and pulling with all her might. No luck.

Goodbye labor and delivery ... hello operating room. A little prep, a little tug and a baby's cry.

We are proud to announce the delivery of our first child ... a boy ... Mason James at 3:12 a.m. on January 13, 2004 ... weighing in at 8 lbs 9 oz and measuring 21 inches long.

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4 weeks old

Dear Mason ...

Today you are 7 years old ... my first born, my little man. I realize this sounds so cliche, but where have the last 7 years gone? You are growing up so fast ... Momma wishes she could just freeze time for a little bit.

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And yes, you still call me Momma ... your teacher thought that was so cute today when she heard you say that. Be still my heart.

I love how you look out for me and even more so, I love how you look out for your sisters. You are such a compassionate person and I thank God everyday for giving you that quality. I love watching you comfort your sisters, asking them if they are okay, including them in everything you do. If I could record and rewind those moments a million times over ... I would.

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Your favorite food is macaroni and cheese and you often beg me to take you to McDonald's. Blech. Your favorite color is red. You love playing video games and you think your phone iPod Touch is pretty cool ... you stick it in your back pocket, just like an adult. You are very picky about what you wear ... you especially love wearing your pro football jerseys ... give you a polo shirt and you cause a ruckus. Every morning your hair has to be styled just so ... but you won't let me spike it, I have tried and tried. You like Justin Bieber ... and I say, more power to ya ... everyone has an idol, right? You love cars and motorcycles. And all you wanted for your birthday was Mighty Beanz ... and that is all you got ... lots of them. Although, I'm still trying to figure out what makes them so desirable, but whatever makes you happy, right?

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You have come so far this year in school, with your reading especially. You love math, just like your Momma. I don't know what it is, but something has clicked and you are reading like a champ. You also are very artistic ... your teacher often tells us you have the grandest imagination of all the kids in your class. We are so proud of you!

You are such a great little ... err, big ... athlete. You excel at every sport you play ... you are making your Daddy proud. Well, you make me proud too ... but you know, I try to pretend I don't care about sports. Right now, you are very into football ... but you tend to like baseball a lot too.

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Speaking of big ... you wear a size 8/9 in clothing and a size 3 shoe. You are the size of kids that are two or three years older than you ... Daddy just says that means you are sure to be a pro athlete. Momma says you have just got the Bosman genes. Just give me a few more years before you pass up your Dad and I, okay?

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You and your cousin, Ethan, who is 4 years older than you.

Happy, happy 7th birthday, Mason. I feel so incredibly blessed to have you as my son ... definitely a very special gift from God. You are growing up so fast, but in so many ways you are still my baby boy.

A million hugs and kisses,
Momma

PS ... a birthday in the life of Mason ...

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11 comments:

  1. What a beautiful post! Happy birthday Mason! He sounds like my 9 year old....he loves his itouch, Justin beiber, mighty beans, sports,clothes have to be just so....although my Cody needs to grow just a bit to catch up...lol...

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  2. Oh my goodness Bethany...Mason sounds soooo much like Jack. The births even sound similar! I know exactly what you say when you thank God for giving him the quality of compassion. Even the picture of Mason waking up with balloons on his floor...we did that for Jack on his 4th birthday...although we filled his floor all the way up to his bed (I still can't believe he didn't wake up with balloons on his bed some of the night). Happy Birthday Mason! God has big plans for you!

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  3. he is such a cute boy! His sisters are lucky to have him! Your labor soaunds similar to my first....water broke at home and after 26 hours of labor and 3 hours of pushing, it was off to the operating room for a c-section.
    Hope he has a great birthday!

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  4. Just found your blog through Moments with Love...oh my goodness! Our boys sound very similar! Same age/size even...I beg just a little more time before he passes me up too! :)

    We, too, are adopting a little girl from Russia. We are currently just awaiting our court date...

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  5. Happy Birthday to Mason! What a great post!

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  6. happy happy birthday to mason!! i, like you, would just like to freeze time a bit ;) i can't believe emme grace, our oldest, just turned 8! it seems like we just had her first birthday....so i guess we just really have to soak up every little moment with our littles :)

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  7. He definetly looks older than 7. Maybe 10. But of course he was born the size of a 2 year old, right Mom? Ha! ;)
    Happy Birthday, Mason!!!

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  8. Oh how time flies mama... Enjoy him, he's a doll :)

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  9. Carolyn B-G from FB: Happy belated Birthday, Mason!
    He is only a few weeks younger than my little one who happens to have DS. What a handsome boy Mason is! And I *love* it when my boys call me mama :-)
    Hope you all had a great day!

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  10. Happy Birthday Mason! You have such a cute family!

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