L turns eight!

OK, I'm going to try not to get sappy here. But eight years ago, after 17 hours of labor, this sweet, red-haired, beautiful, amazing baby made his entrance into this world and made me a mom.  Eight years ago. And today that little baby turned eight and I'm having a bit of a hard time wrapping my head around it.

What can I say about my L? He is beyond smart. He is inquisitive and curious about everything, and he keeps the questions coming all day long. He is sensitive, he doesn't like feeling like anyone is mad at him or like he is in trouble. He is kind and friendly and able to make friends anywhere he goes. He is funny and make us laugh daily. He is an amazing big brother, and overall just an amazing kid. I can truly say he is one of my favorite people in this world and I love him more than he will ever know.

OK, OK, laying off the sap, I promise. He had a pretty great birthday. He woke up with our usual tradition of balloons in his bedroom and got to have fruit loops as a special birthday breakfast treat. His brothers reaped the benefits too!

Then I was able to leave R with a friend for an hour and take him lunch (McDonald's, of course!) at his school and stay and eat with him. I hope we never reach the day where he is not excited for me to come to his school and eat lunch with him and hang out with him and his friends. It was his special day, but he made me feel pretty special and loved.

And then came the big birthday celebration. We invited all of his best friends over for pizza and cupcakes and presents and then we had a birthday sleepover! Are we a little bit crazy for having seven kids under the age of eight sleeping under our roof? Especially when I'm pregnant? Probably. But they had so much fun, it was worth every second.

 (Grandma and Gramps are in town too and stopped by to celebrate!)

I feel so lucky that I genuinely love all these kiddos. L has an incredibly nice and sweet and fun group of friends, and even though they are loud and rambunctious and all boy, we absolutely adore all of them.

They ate way too much sugar and stayed up way too late, and we did have to run one of them (the little brother of one of the friends actually, so he was a little younger) home at 2:30 in the morning when he got a little homesick, but overall I'd say it was great success!

Happy eight birthday, L! We love you more than you can even know!