Happy Birthday to my Little Man

Five and a half years ago, as we were leaving my 20 week ultrasound appointment revealing Carter’s gender, I looked at John and said, “What the heck will I do with a boy?” Don’t get me wrong, when the technician announced that I was carrying a little man, tears streamed down my face. Since we already had Jenna, I was super excited to see what was in store for me by having a boy.

But let’s face it; I am not used to boys. Most of the kids I babysat as a teen were girls. John’s family is very female dominant-- out of the now 14 grandchildren, only 2 are boys (one of which is Carter). And of course, my job has me teaching shuffle steps and changements to mostly little girls. I was not used to all the boy toys—Star Wars, Legos, and superheroes. I was not used to their rough and tough, play in the dirt way of fun. And I was certainly not used to changing boys’ diapers. While I was super excited for the new challenge of raising a boy, I was still unsure of what my future held.

But on October 1, 2007, I fell in love with a man for the second time. (The first time was with John. And yes, of course, he still holds that special place in my heart.) When I looked into Carter’s little puffy newborn eyes, I knew that I knew exactly what to do with my boy—LOVE him.

Over the past five years, Carter has proved that he is a boy’s boy. He likes to get dirty and make messes and taunt his sisters with silly words like poo poo head. And even as young as he is, Carter has some stinky feet. Carter loves all the movies and toys, I know nothing about: Star Wars, Wii, Spiderman, Batman, etc. He has even recently found a new love—“playing with” and watching Daddy play paintball. While I know nothing about most of these things and quite frankly have no interest in any of these things, I love to watch Carter get excited about them.

Although Carter is 100% boy, I can affirm without a doubt, he is a Mama’s boy. His sweet smiles, big hugs, and slobbery kisses melt my heart. And while I can’t relate to much of that stinky crazy boy stuff, I know the love I have in my heart for Carter couldn’t be greater. Happy 5th Birthday to my little man. I love you!!!!