If I am going to post everyday, I have to have some sort of structure. From now on, I will have Thankful Thursdays, and Flickr Fridays. Let’s just see how that works out…

This Thursday is no different than any other day in my life - I’m thankful that I am N’s mom. So, so very thankful that it was me who was picked to be HIS mom. He’s the best thing that ever happened to me, and I love every single solitary second I get to spend with him.

This week has been absolute turmoil in my life.  My job has come crashing down on me with a force that is trying to knock me to my knees, but the real truth is it has been a blessing in disguise. I have missed most of my boy’s soccer games this season, so everything that has happened this week, I see now has been with much reason. This week has been full of his soccer tournament games… and I have missed so much, just in this short season. Maybe it just feels like a lot to me, because until I started this job, I missed NOTHING. Not a single moment of his life did I miss. Then, I had no choice, and it hurt.. gosh, it hurt so bad to not be there for everything. I realize it’s not always possible, but it was killing me inside.

However, this week I have been granted the week off (read that how you want, lol)… and do I care? No, not in the least. It hasn’t crossed my mind, or bothered me in the least… because you see, I have been at every game this week, and have been on the sidelines screaming and cheering (in typical Heather fashion) my boy on, and tonight they secured their spot in 2nd place. I am so proud of him, he is doing SO well and he loves it SO much - AND I GOT TO SEE IT ALL!! I’m very, very happy… and extremely thankful that the random events that led up to me being able to see my boys games this week happened, no matter what the consequence.

So, why am I taking this trip down memory lane with the pictures? I’m not sure. I love the kid he has become, but I can’t help but miss the baby that he was.. and also, be very thankful that I was granted the opportunity to stay home with him and never miss a moment. That is a blessing in and of itself. Nothing measures up to that.

One Hundred Years from now
It will not matter
what kind of car I drove,
What kind of house I lived in,
how much money was in my bank account
nor what my clothes looked like.
But the world may be a better place because
I was important in the life of a child.

I took these pictures before N lost his other front tooth, but I wanted to share them because they are my new favorite pictures of him.

A few days after these pictures, we went to my friends house and his daughter came out and was going to hug N, in which case he darted off because you know, girls have cooties!! Well, she’s10, and she caught him and took him down… face first… he came up  with a mouth full of blood, and was completely fine until HE saw the blood (he goes grey at the sight of cartoon blood, no kidding).

I told him the only way to stop the bleeding was to just pull the tooth all the way out (it was barely there, and gushing blood). I had no idea if this was true or not, but the faith of a child is amazing - he yanked the tooth out, and whaddya know, the bleeding stopped! Now I have to get some new pictures of him with the missing front teeth, because I simply adore it. It’s the cutest thing I have ever seen. Besides this….

He did so well with this photo shoot. Believe it or not, it lasted only minutes.. and I promised him that if he would just look at the camera, just LOOK at it every so often, I would take pictures of him doing whatever he wanted when we were done…

Maybe I’m biased, but do you see those eyes? They melt me straight to the core of my being. Why is it that boys always get the most beautiful eyes and eyelashes? Oh wait, I know the answer to that…

Anyhow, it was killing me - the way the light was reflecting in his gorgeous eyes, so I had to get as many shots as possible. Once I was sure I had at least a handful of decent ones (the ones I’m showing you are my favorites!), I let him do his thing…. I cannot speak for him, I can only say in his defense, he is my son, and he is 6 years old. Here is his pose of choice…

Halloween was fairly decent. Instead of our normal route around town, we opted to go to a friends Halloween Party, which doubled as her son’s 10th birthday party as well. They went all out with the decorations, and took the kids on a hayride around town. N was Ironman this Halloween - the first time in his 6 years of life he has been anything other than a Power Ranger. It was a welcome surprise, as I have an obscene amount of pictures of my son as a Power Ranger…

Naturally, I went on the hayride with him. Most parents chose not to, which I can’t quite understand, but anyway maybe that’s just me. Maybe I’m just anal like that, but my 6 year old is not going to be cut loose on Halloween night to run wild without my supervision. He may not get to do it when he is 16 either, who knows.

We did have a moment this night. You probably know the moment. The one where your heart stops, your world flashes before your eyes, and you can’t speak or breathe… My son ran out in front of a car. I could have, literally, died on the spot. The car was stopped, letting kids cross the street and one of the parents told the kids to all stop at the end of the driveway they were in to let the car pass, and they did. No sooner than I saw this, I realized that N was getting his bucket filled with candy and probably didn’t even hear what was just said… then, as quick as lightening and as fast as that thought crossed my mind, he turned and ran, straight into the street, directly in front of the car. Luckily, the car had just let off of the brake and was barely even moving, but it was enough to scare the living bejeezus out of me, and him too… because when he came to me the look in his eyes was sheer terror. I hugged him and said “Sit down, right here by me.” And he did, without an argument, and he skipped the next couple of houses while we both just sat there and absorbed what just happened, and what could have happened.

I watched him sleep most of that night, thanking God repeatedly for looking out for him. I have never been so terrified in all of my life. As minor as it may sound, the slightest idea of losing my child sends me over the edge, and that just about did me in.