I bumped into a woman the other day that I used to work with at a hospital. She was the physiotherapist on the same floor that I was the SLP. She said she’ll never forget looking across the table at me during one of our team meetings and noticing how sick I looked. She then noticed that I wore seabandz on my wrists (used for nausea on cruises – and morning sickness!) and she recognized the signs. I was pregnant.

I laughed and told her that the kid I was pregnant with was turning 17 this week.

She almost fell over.

Where does time go?

In my office I have a whole bunch of my favourite pictures on my wall. One of my favorite pictures is this one. This was Zach‘s first day in grade one. (And coincidentally it was taken hours before my second date with Rob – my first real dinner date with him though!)

Zach had been playing on the monkey bars and fell and hurt his arm. One of my friends came over and wanted to take a picture of all the kids on their first day. I couldn’t get Zach to smile. For some reason though I love this picture and I keep it very close to me in my office and look at it frequently wondering how we got from there…

To here:

And all the amazing stuff in between.

I consider myself a very lucky person to be the mom to this kid. I must be pretty special to get him as my son forever:) (ahhh, I see where his arrogance comes from….)

Here are 17 of the many things I love about Zach.

1. He is an extremely hard worker. As he gets older, he just works even harder. Very impressive.

2. He has a great sense of humor and can always make us laugh.

3. He’s a very responsible guy. Responsible for himself and responsible for others, including looking out for his siblings (most of the time.)

4. He is a storyteller. He likes to share information, and he gives lots of details which I appreciate! I love that he’s a recorder too – photos, videos, journals.

5. He has a strong sense of justice and tries to be fair.(But sucks to learn that life often isn’t fair, but I love that he’s going to try to treat everyone fairly.)

6. He’s a very loyal guy. He is a very good friend, brother and son. He’s got your back. And your front. And will give you fashion advice.

7. He is filled with enthusiasm when he wants to do something (another story if he doesn’t want to though…)

8. He’s direct. He says it like it is. (Hmmm wonder where that comes from?)

9. He’s good at sports and is a great captain of his team.

10. He’s really organized. Sets a plan and then follows it. Likes to think ahead and anticipate things.

11. He’s not afraid to be himself and stand up for himself. He’s has a very strong sense of self and character.

12. He’s also not afraid to apologize and is usually quick to forgive

13. He has a strong spirit and desire to serve.

14. He always responds to my texts quickly and let’s me know where he is. He’s quick and witty too. On text and in person.

15. He’s smart. He’s curious and investigates and searches and learns.

16. He has a deep passion for travel and plans to see the world and I have no doubt that he will!

17. He’s sensitive. He loves beautiful things and is in constant search of thin places and thin moments. I love that he has a playlist called “beautiful songs”.

Happy birthday Zach! You bring so much to our family and I couldn’t love you more!!

Some birthday celebrations.

On his actual bday:

See how quick he pulls those candies off!

We went out for Chinese food the next day (he was with his Dad for his bday dinner). Rob and Sam were at a soccer tournament unfortunately. Zach, Rachael and Zandra were all at Center Island in the afternoon and then I picked them up and we went for dinner :

And back home for cake: