Double Digits

At 9:36 this morning my little boy, my baby middle son, will officially turn TEN! This is a big milestone for him, and even a bigger one for me.
The last 10 years have held a lot of changes and growing as a parent, and as a person who is capable of being the type of parent that I want to was meant to be. I have gone from being a young wife and a teenage (19yr old) mom to a (20 yr old) widow and single mom of two very small (19mo and 4 mo) baby boys, shortly after my first husband passed away I turned into a mom that I wasn't very proud to be, I just wasn't as involved as I should have / wanted to be. Through a 5 year journey, 4 states, 8 apartments, 3 elementary schools, a two year illness that turned out to be a mass amount of food allergies,  more cocktails than I am proud to admit and some VERY caring, supportive and understanding family and friends, I came to find myself and who I truly believe my kids needed me to be. We own a home, the boys are fairly successful in school, they have some good childhood friends, I have met and married an amazing man / father and together we have a wonderful little baby boy to add to our expanded family. I have become grounded, centered, I have found my way back to God, and I have learned I am still learning how to be a good mother, how to be there for my kids and how to teach them to be who they are destined to be, instead of who I think they should be.
So here is to the last decade, may the next one be even brighter, happier and full of giggles!
*** This slide show starts when Devin was a little over two years old, all the rest of my photographs are on film (yes film) and my scanner wasn't working.