Happy Ninth Birthday Kellen

Today my oldest is half way to adulthood, typed with watery eyes! It is so hard to believe. What happened to my baby? He is now a young man. It seems like only yesterday we brought him home from the hospital. He spent his first night home sleeping in a clothes basket. We were getting ready to move and did not want to set up the crib. We didn't have the bassinet yet. I use the term sleeping loosely. It was a horrible night and Tim and I both wondered what we had gotten ourselves into.

We continued to wonder as we spent the next two months with a baby who wanted to nurse constantly, was crying when he wasn't nursing and would only sleep while you were holding him. It was a rude introduction to parenting, and we quickly realized our lives were changed forever. It wasn't all about us anymore.

After the first two months he did settle in. He never was, and still isn't a big sleeper, but at least he wasn't screaming anymore. We took Kellen everywhere with us. He went to the opera at about three months. We took him to movies, camping, concerts, on a cruise, and even to Alaska for the infamous backpacking trip. This picture is from that trip in 2001.

Kellen and Nolan 2004

Kellen talked early, and immediately started asking questions. He still asks me a million questions a day. He loves to learn. He loves to read. Some days I have to force him to go outside to play. Often he will take his book with him.

His hero is Homer Hickam, from October Sky fame. He wants to grow up and go to Virginia Tech just like Homer, and become an engineer.

Birthday 2005

Kellen is a big helper to me. He helps me with the garden, with his younger siblings and with the animals. Though he loves to fight with his siblings, he is also rather protective of them. He is a good kid who is on his way to becoming a good man. He will be there before his mom is ready!

Kellen & Blizzard June 2007