HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASPEN!!

Today is Aspen's 7th birthday. Is that possible??? I know we say that as each of our children age another year, but with Aspen it is especially poignant because we have always referred to him as "one of the little boys", when referring to him and Ash. Now that he is 7, it is probably about time to stop saying that, I guess.

The year Aspen was born was my most stress free Christmas ever. We knew we HAD to be ready for Christmas early because I didn't want to be caught in the hospital with no way to buy presents, put up the tree, etc. So all the presents were bought before Thanksgiving, the tree was up early (and taken down ON Christmas evening, along with all other traces of Christmas) and I was completely prepared. I have tried to do that every year since but something about the whole nesting thing spurred me in a way that year that hasn't happened since.

Aspen was also my first planned C-section. I walked in happy and dolled up, ready for post-op pictures. They wheeled me in, I waited about an hour and then the nurses whisked me off to deliver a baby. With one shot and about 30 minutes, a new baby was brought into the world- completely healthy and wonderful and cute as can be.

Since then, Aspen has grown to have a special place in our hearts. He is so good at figuring things out that I am amazed. At six years old, I honestly find myself asking him how to do things sometimes. One of my favorite memories was when he was three years old. I went to town for about two hours and when I came home Alexis and Aiden met me in the driveway and told me Aspen knew how to ride a bike. "I know" I said. He rides his bike with training wheels all the time. They corrected me and said, "No. He can ride WITHOUT training wheels." He had just decided he was done with them so he found Dad's tools, took off his own training wheels and taught himself to ride a bike- at 3 YEARS OLD IN UNDER TWO HOURS!

He is a little older now but has the same determination. Case in point- when his teeth become even the least bit wiggly he will tell me, "I'm going to go pull my tooth out now" and will come back in five or ten minutes with a tooth in his hand. Once I even got after him because he was pulled out two teeth that were not even loose. We have no idea how he handled the pain but pain never seems to bother him. If he comes crying because something is hurting him we know he is genuinely injured.