a teenager!

Today my baby is 13! Yes ... today Michael is a teenager! It seems impossible that so many years have passed since he was born. After being on bedrest for over a month, Kraig and I were eager for Michael's birth! He was due on Valentine's Day, but thankfully arrived 10 days early. From the moment I first held him right after he was born, my heart was filled with love.

He was always a sweet and cuddly baby. We could hold him for hours while he was awake or asleep and he loved it! When he was about 5 months old we could sit him on the floor in front of a basket of toys where he'd keep himself occupied for over an hour.

As a toddler he already talked about Jesus and his love for Him. When we moved to Waconia in 2000 when Michael was just 3, I started working part time so he spent almost 5 hours a day in daycare. There he would tell other kids they needed to have Jesus in their heart.

When we moved to Iowa Michael had a hard time saying goodbye to his friends and was concerned about being so far from his grandparents, but he learned to love it there!

When he started school at East Middle in Sioux City Michael seemed to blossom. He loved the challenges of middle school and started to do better than ever in school. The teachers talked about him as a very sweet and quiet young man who they adored to have in class. After some of his closest friends moved to a new school district, he began spending more time hanging out with new friends, which prepared him for the move to Ohio.

Michael adjusted to the move amazingly well. After working extra hard last winter to catch up with the new classes and phase of coursework here, he consistently gets all A's. We keep teasing him that he needs to push a little harder if a grade gets down to 94%! Ha! Sometimes Michael will begin studying for a test 2-3 days beforehand. At this rate we think he'll adjust well to high school and college.

Michael is very sensitive and compassionate of others' feelings and has fun hanging out with his brother quite a bit. Not only does he enjoy learning, but has become a health "nut", being careful with what he eats and drinks...focusing on more yogurt, fruit and even salad sometimes (which he used to dislike) and avoiding pop or too much junk food. He does 100 sit-ups many nights and is looking forward to our new workout area in the basement. Hopefully it will fill in the gaps between soccer seasons.

I am so proud of Michael and am eager to see how he continues to grow and mature as a teenager!

Happy birthday Sunshine!

Love, Mom