I have a teenager!

I've left this blog unattended for the past few months and there has been a lot going on.

Today is Clint's 13th birthday, he is officially a teenager now.

We celebrated his birthday this evening with my parents, and my sister in law and her kids who were both passing through Ft Worth at the same time.  I bought Clint a .22 rifle for his birthday and I took him to the gun range to test it out, then had him help me out on a couple of chores this afternoon.

I still remember so many details about that morning.  I remember Sarah waking me up after only a couple hours sleep and telling me it's time to go to the hospital.  I remember loading her into the car and having her growl at me to "hurry up" in the midst of a contraction.  I remember discovering that "oh wow" is nurse code for "Oh Shit!"  I remember how fast everything happened.  I remember rocking Clint and the only song I could think to hum was the Marine Hymn.  I remember Sarah being wheeled out of the labor and delivery room and hearing another family saying "hey, they just got here!"  I remember the last time I ever spoke to my Grandma who died the next morning.

We have had four more kids since then but Clint is our oldest.  I honestly can't think of any life experience as surreal as having your first child.  I distinctly remember loading up Sarah and Clint at the hospital and thinking "this is all a mistake, someone is going to leap out and stop me."  The day after we left the hospital, we flew to Wichita to attend Grandma Bowersox's funeral.  The first time my parents saw Clint was at the now closed airline terminal at Wichita's airport.

Becoming a mother was one of Sarah's two major life goals, and I am so proud to have been a part of it.