11 years ago....

...I was snuggling with my brand new son!  :)

Ethan was born on July 17th at 12:30 a.m.

I had a waterbirth at home, which saved me from a c-section. I doubt any doc would have "let" me labor for 44 hours! I LOVED my birth and wanted the freedom to labor and birth as needed. I had that freedom and the result was a very strong, confident 19 year old who became a staunch advocate of a moms right to labor and birth as she wishes. Within that first year I became a childbirth educator, labor doula and a midwife's apprentice/assistant and was well on my way to becoming a midwife.

Ethan Chandler weighed 10 pounds...a hefty size considering the doctor told me I was "to small" to give birth vaginally to any baby over 7ish pounds. (how did he know that at 6 weeks of pregnancy?) 

My "little" baby was 22 3/4 inches long!!! Poor little guy never even fit into newborn clothes or diapers. He was a chunky monkey. Years later my dear hubby admitted to me that he was worried that we would have to send Ethan to "fat kids camp" because he was so big. Naturally, this made me SO mad since Ethan was fully breastfed till about 9-10 months old and all that fat was normal. Josiah knows better now...believe me  :)

So today we will be celebrate my baby being 11. Bittersweet, letmetellya. 

Ethan is a fantastic kid. He is kind, helpful, sensitive, smart, a wonderful big brother, gentle, obedient and a JOY to have in our home. He brings us laughter with his dry humor...he always has a soft answer...he cries with those who are hurt and he laughs with those who are merry...he is a true friend to his family and beyond. I love him with every fiber of my being and I count myself blessed by the Lord to have him as a son...to be entrusted with his upbringing, his education and his manhood. I pray that the Lord will give me the strength, courage, patience and wisdom to bring him up in the teaching of the Lord and to prepare him to someday have his own family. 

11 years.

What will the next 11 years hold???