happy birthday Alec...(robyn - stop crying)

My life as I know it is forever changed.

I have a TEENAGER!

For the last year I have blogged about having an 'almost' teenager. I have cried about him starting middle school, him passing the sacrament, him participating in a school dance, him sleeping more, him rolling his eyes at me, girls calling him, his feet getting bigger than mine, him playing too much basketball, him getting too close to high school and him being the person who changed our lives clear back in 1996.

Thirteen years ago, I was just a kid myself. Jeremy and I were 19 and too young to have a baby. Little did I know that when I left for the hospital that night my life would become brighter and better forever. He came in 2 and a half hours with NO medicine at all, at a whopping 9 pounds 3 1/2 oz.! He was gorgeous with huge brown eyes and lots of dark hair. Today those huge eyes and lots of dark hair are still my favorite thing on him! He is often told he looks just like my dad and I love that he looks a little like me. We like to call him Ralph Maccio, he is my own Karate Kid!

I think all who know him, know how special he is, and what a difference he makes in others lives. The biggest difference is in my own life. I don't know why J.P. and I got to be his mom and dad, but we are sure thankful he is our gift. After having him I realized that life wasn't just about me. Not only did I have to take care of this little perfect person, as we raised him I had to make sure he knew who he was. A child of God. Things only got better after he was here. Thirteen years later, I feel just as lucky as that day!

Speaking of luck, Alec is a little superstitious. He has been #13 in basketball and soccer for years now. He loves the number 13 (which is hard for me...it's an odd #), and really feels like it brings him luck. He chooses it for EVERYTHING, and can find a reason in anything good that it had something to do with the number 13. One Jazz game he went with Dawn on the front row and Mehmet Okur gave him his arm band. It had a huge number 13 on it....how lucky is that! He also is a fan of the four leaf clover. It all started with a little stone I gave him that had a 4-leaf clover on it. I have since kept that up and the latest thing was when he won a big game, I gave him a hat with a 4-leaf clover on it. He is just like me. I remember how superstitious I was when I was a kid. I really felt like things helped me win games and have good days. To this day, if I see a penny tales up, I won't touch it, but heads up and I have to grab it even if I am running past and people are looking. If you ask me, he has been blessed. He has had so many opportunities that I never had and that many people will never have. I'm fine if he thinks it was luck. But I know the saying

"I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it." ~Thomas Jefferson

Well this is his 'lucky' year. He is the big 13 and he KNOWS this is going to be the best year ever! He believes this little number is going to be the difference!

This is my Alec. A few weeks ago I was going in him room to put clothes away and this is what I saw on top of his dresser. I had to snap a picture of it because I was so touched. Not only was it clean but he wrote a note to himself to "Work Hard". He does. He works hard at being a good person, student, player, brother and son. He is a teenager now and I know we'll be having our disagreements, and he'll seem distant, and sleep a lot (crying again), and all that stuff, however I know him and I know he'll be ok. He'll work hard.

When he was about 9 he was afraid of teenagers. He especially was nervous about this one house and would run past it because he thought 'bad' teenagers lived there. He told me then, that if he EVER acted like a mean teenager that I could ground him forever. I told him to remember that he told me that and now....I will definitely hold him to that statement.

We try to be like each other, here we are two years ago, both with braces...yes, my second time, his first -

Before...

After!

At least his teeth will be straight for all this craziness!!!

So wish me luck in this great adventure, something I thought would never happen. I know I only get my Alec for another maybe 6 years, and I am going to make the most of it.

Bring it.