happy birthday, my darling

My little boy is becoming not so little. Today he celebrates his 6th birthday. 6! I can't believe it. Now he needs two hands to count up all the fingers in his age. It's hard to believe. I know he is still a little boy...but he barely fits on my lap anymore. He's going from being a small boy to a medium boy. Oh boy.

6 years ago we weren't sure if this day would be his birthday. Late in my pregnancy I developed preeclampsia, and my doctor prescribed bed rest. I was at 37 weeks and she wanted to induce me. Over the phone she told me to be prepared to go the hospital directly after my next appointment with her (her office is across the street from the hospital.) She said, pack your bags.

My husband and I were excited. The morning of March 7th we drove down to Northwestern. On our way we noticed the license plate on a car slightly ahead of us on the freeway. It said, DUEDATE. We thought, Oh my gosh! Maybe it's a sign!

A little while later I was just drifting off to sleep when my husband nudged me. There was another car in front of us (actually it had cut in right in front of us.) This license plate said, BOBBIE. We looked at each other with wide eyes. It was thrilling.

We didn't know the sex of our baby, but we had names picked out, and Bobby was our boy name. Still...the license plate was a little tricky. Did the spelling of that name mean we were actually having a girl? or was it another sign - a not so subtle sign - that our little boy was on his way home to us?

Well, you know the answer, and today is the day to celebrate that wonderful arrival. Our little cherub. Our Sweet Boy. We simply couldn't love him more.

Happy Birthday, my darling boy!