15 years ago... in May

15 years ago I had been sent home from the hospital twice.  15 years ago I was in labor for days.  15 years ago I spent 13 hours on Pitocin.  15 year ago after vacuum, forceps and two nurses pushing on my stomach and way too many doses of my epidural we were blessed with Cole.  I cannot believe that 15 years have gone by.  I think of the stages and milestones we have gone through with Cole and it is amazing.  Crawling at 6 months, first word at 9 months, walking at 10 months and now he is on the countdown to driving and dating!  How did that happen?  I don't feel 15 years older, but when I see pictures, I know I have aged.  I am excited for him and what his future holds.  Starting high school, driving, dating, college, and a mission are such huge life changing experiences.  In the next few years he will make some of the most important decisions in his life.  I hope we have helped him learn the skills he needs to be able to weigh his options and do what is right for him.  He is such an amazing part of our family.  It is so nice to have an older boy, that can lift heavy coolers, and 50 pound bags of sugar and help do yard work.  It is even nicer to see an older boy working on his Duty to God, marking scripture chains, preparing a family night lesson, playing his violin and piano, getting straight A's and having great friends.  I love that he loved EFY and Youth Conference and that he talks about "when I am on my mission".  I loved that he gave a talk in sacrament meeting on the "10 minute miracle"  ... spending 10 minutes a day in the scriptures and that I learned something from him. He planned and prepared his whole talk without any help and he did an amazing job.  He has great talents and it is fun watching him recognize and develop them.  His confidence is growing by leaps and bounds.  I love seeing a confident youth.  It makes me hopeful that they can withstand the pressures of the world.  He has a great spirit about him and we miss him when he is away. 

This year for his birthday he asked for violin accessories... a new case, a new chin rest, a tuner, rosin, etc...  So, it seemed not exciting to me but he was ecstatic. We had spaghetti, alfredo, caesar salad, and bread sticks at home.

 Cole also got his braces off in May!