Thankful Thursday

As a "Mommy Blogger" I talk a lot about my kids! (That's an understatement I know!) I am very Thankful to be a Mother, and for the four great kids I've been blessed to call mine. I've talked this past year about my first born turning 20, and about my twin baby girls becoming teenagers! But today, this Thankful Thursday, happens to fall on my second son, Zach's 19th Birthday!

When Zach was born, Nov. 18th, 1991, my first son Kyle was only 16 months old. And we had not slept much in those 16 months. To put it nicely, Kyle was a very high maintenance child. I honestly didn't know how I would handle another one. I shouldn't have worried.

Zach slept through the night solidly from about 6 weeks on. (I was VERY Thankful for that!) And where Kyle always needed to be entertained, Zach kept himself entertained. He was the type of kid that you could give some matchbox cars, or some army men to, and he would literally sit there for hours, content to play alone, in the little world he created. One day John & I were watching him play & we said could you imagine if someone had an only child & that child were like Zach? They wouldn't really know what parenting was!

Out of my 4 children, Zach is really the ONLY truly shy one. The rest of us are loud & boisterous, even the girls are learning to like being the center of attention. We like crowds & being around people, the more the merrier! All except for Zach. He has always been content to just be at home. A real homebody! When an adult would ever speak to Zach (even adults he knew) he would hide behind my leg.

Raising him was a real challenge for John & I. We didn't want to ever force him to have to be more like us, cause that's just not him. But we worried about him spending too much time alone. We tried to encourage him to be less shy & to make friends. When he was little he was fine with just being with Kyle & his friends, then when he started pre-school he naturally made his own friends. And it was in Jr. High & High School that he really came into his own. Senior year he made good friends & started a Long Boarding Company, and would stay out all hours of the night Long Boarding, cause that's when the parking garages are not in use. :)

Zach is very smart & has always gotten really good grades. He has an academic scholarship that is paying for College right now. (Another thing I am extremely grateful for!) I remember getting a call from his Elementary school (whenever the school called, we always KNEW they were calling about Kyle! And all but for this one time we were right!) This one was about Zach, he was in about 3rd, or 4th grade & his class was lined up & walking some place on campus, one of his friends had to tie his shoe, so a few of them waited for him, when he was done the class was long gone, so the group of boys decided to go around the building to catch up. Well the other side of the building was "off campus" & they thought the boys were trying to leave school. The other parents might have been upset, not us. We were thrilled! Zach got in trouble at school, and with other kids! :) We thought it was great! We were talking about this "incident" recently and Zach was saying how they scared him so bad, telling him this would permanently be on his record and that colleges would not look favorably on it! Now that he's in college, he sees how ridiculous that is, but to a kid, how frightening! I guess it scared him straight! :)

All of his life people have always told me how quiet Zach is. I just say "Just wait till you get to know him." Because when you do, you will see, he's actually the funniest & most sarcastic of us all! Hard to imagine, I know! And get him started on certain subjects & he won't stop talking! Believe me!

So, today my baby boy turns 19! He goes back in forth between majoring in Music or in History in College. He is an Awesome Guitar player! But, right now he's looking into career fields in intelligence in the military. That is very scary for me. We will see where he ends up, he has the whole world ahead of him. And on this Thankful Thursday I am extremely grateful he is my son.

Happy Birthday Zach!

We Love You.
And are very Proud of you,
Today & Everyday!