Luke's 14th Birthday

How can it be that I became a mom 14 years ago!!! How can it be that my shy little toddler is now a mouthy young man almost as tall as I am? When did Thomas the Tank Engine and dinosaurs get replaced with Legos, making corny cooking videos, becoming a massive Ranger's fan and a facebook afficionado? And where did all those goofy Chuck Norris jokes come from?

I don't even want to think about what changes the next year will bring much less the next 14!

Luke's birthday fell on a Sunday this year (October 11th, I'm just a wee bit slow to post it) so we celebrated after church with lunch at Campania's Pizza. We love us some Campania's! We came home and Luke got to open his gifts, all the while reminding us that it was his first anniversary with his iPod Touch. I think he was trying to imply that we wouldn't be able to top last year's birthday surprise.

Ha! We may not have topped last year's gift, but we definitely surprised Luke with two framed, professional pictures of Neftali Feliz, the Ranger's pitching wunderkind. I think Luke almost cried.

He was further surprised by the Feliz jersey he received, as he knew that the Ballpark in Arlington hadn't ordered any (because Feliz was called up late in the season). Thankfully, you can order any name and number via the internet. Gotta love it!

We can't forget Luke's other sporting love--Texas Tech!

Any of those shirts would seem to be a vast improvement over the undershirt he's sporting.

I know, I know, Vera has nothing to do with Luke's birthday except for two things: it's always Vera's birthday, and Luke loves Vera to absolute pieces.

Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of Luke in our lives! He is a constant joy in our home and a near-constant source of laughter. I have thoroughly enjoyed each and every stage of his development, and look forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for him during these last years in our home. (You are leaving someday, right, Luke?) I'm not wishing him to go too soon, though, because every morning and night without fail I get a huge hug from my boy. That's priceless!