Saturday, November 24, 2007

happy birthday matt!

(matt dressed up at thanksgiving this year)


today matt turned 22. unfortunately he is not at home to celebrate with us. he left yesterday with his girlfriend's family to go deer hunting in northern wisconsin.

he has never gone deer hunting but it is always something he has talked about. this summer he took the hunter's safety class and is using the rifle that was bob's dad. bob used to always hunt with his dad until matt was born. i'll never forget what my father-in-law told me when matt was born. "you couldn't have made me prouder than to give me my first grandson but you couldn't have picked a worse time to have him, in the middle of deer hunting season." i think bob was secretly glad as he mainly hunted with his father to spend time with him. over the years the attraction was no longer there for bob so staying home to celebrate matt's birthday was a good excuse. bob also said i wasn't real keen on the whole idea. but it is definitely popular if you live in wisconsin. unless matt gets one tomorrow morning he will be unsuccessful his first year.

i don't know where all the years have gone. certainly i'm not THAT much older than when i had matt. matt has always been an easy going kid. even at a young age, he slept through the night (8 hours) at 4 weeks and by 8 weeks he was sleeping 12 hours. i remember bob used to ask me to keep him awake so he could see him in the evening.

matt was my climber though. when i was pregnant with mark i had to put up gates to keep him out of the kitchen. as i had really bad morning sickness for a few months i spent a lot of time on the couch. if i didn't block off the kitchen matt (at about 17 months) would push chairs over to the counter, climb up on the chairs, then the counter tops and then try to climb up and into the kitchen cabinets. you can imagine my panic the first time i saw him doing this!

this is the first birthday he has not been with us and it seems so different. i'm sure he is just fine with it and so are bob and mark, it's just a mom thing. we will celebrate tomorrow when he gets home and before he takes off for school.

you have continued to be a real joy and blessing to raise and be around matt. i'm so proud of the young man you have turned into. i hope you have a happy birthday. i love you mitts!!!

5 comments:

Lori1955 said...

I can't believe you have a 22 year old son. You must have been about 10 when you had him, right? :)

Happy birthday Matt. I know you are a joy to your mom. Hope the deer hunting goes well.

~Betsy said...

Happy Birthday, Matt! How exciting for you to deer hunt on your big day. Most guys around here hunt, too. Thankfully my son sticks to hockey. :)

Nancy, Matt sure sounds like a pleasure to have around. Your pride beams through in your words. He sounds like a great guy - although a bit of a climbing challenge as a baby!

Joanne said...

Happy Birthday, Matt!! Nancy, Matt is one fine young man. Isn't it funny how no matter how much older they become, we as mothers still worry about them. I agree with Lori, you don't look old enough to have a 22 year old. My oldest daughter will be 30 in February. That just seems SO odd. LOL

Unknown said...

My son turned 37 this year and my stepson is 39. Our oldest grandchild turned 16 this year and the others are growing up so fast.

It is amazing to me how quickly the years flee from my grasp.

As for deer hunting I don't think I could shoot one. Even if I were starving. Now maybe if my family was hungry I could.

First deer hunting, then marriage and grandchildren you know.

rainbowheart said...

Happy Birthday Matt!!!!!!!And I hope that you have a wonderful hunting trip.