{"id":24307,"date":"2018-10-24T16:30:44","date_gmt":"2018-10-24T23:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.momservations.com\/?p=24307"},"modified":"2018-10-24T16:30:44","modified_gmt":"2018-10-24T23:30:44","slug":"so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/24\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\/","title":{"rendered":"So Here It Is: First Birthday Without You"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Momservation: <\/strong>There are two gifts we should give our children: One is roots. The other is wings.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&#x263a;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 &#x263a;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 &#x263a;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_24309\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-24309\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-24309\" src=\"https:\/\/momservations.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Logan-and-Mommy-newborn-300x228.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"228\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-24309\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Logan and Mommy. Your first birthday together, Oct. 24, 1999<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>So this is how it\u2019s going to be.<\/p>\n<p>I changed your diapers. I fed you in the middle of the night. I soothed you when you cried. I read to you every night. I washed your stinky socks. I played endless games of Hide n Seek. I made you three meals a day. I helped you with your homework. I took you to every practice, went to every game. I never went to sleep until you were home. I always kissed or hugged you goodnight.<\/p>\n<p>How dare you grow up?<\/p>\n<p>When you became an adult last year at 18 it didn\u2019t bother me because you were still home. You still loved hugs from your \u201cMommer.\u201d You never went to bed without hugging me good night. I could see your fuzzy head every morning poking out from under the covers. You still brought your pack of friends over to play at our house. You still burst through the door when you got home looking for your dog or your sister or your mom or dad. You were a man with your giant body and beard, but I was still happily taking care of you under my roof.<\/p>\n<p>Why did it have to change?<\/p>\n<p>We were so happy. We played together. We laughed together. We ate dinner around the table together. We took family trips. We had game nights and movie nights. We cheered you on. We had backyard parties and BBQs. We made cookies together. We went on adventures together. We made dumb jokes and we sang and we drank Slurpees. We spent every day together; weekends; holidays.<\/p>\n<p>\u2026Your birthday. We have spent every birthday together.<\/p>\n<p>Except this one.<\/p>\n<p>Now you\u2019re gone and I have no one to make a homemade yellow cake with chocolate frosting for. Dad has no one to wake up early for to go get a dozen birthday donuts. Your sister has no one to say to her, \u201cThanks Buckwheat\u201d or \u201cJerry\u201d or \u201cCheesehead\u201d or \u201cWendy\u201d or whatever you\u2019re calling her that month when she gives you the perfect funny\/silly card because you get her humor. Darby, your favorite \u201cpupper,\u201d has no birthday song to bark for right on cue. The grandparents have no favorite birthday dinner to come over for.<\/p>\n<p>I get that it was time to leave. You had done all the growing you were going to do at home. College awaited you, promising to make your life even better. And it has. I\u2019ve never seen you happier. That\u2019s all I\u2019ve ever wanted for you\u2014to be happy. That\u2019s all I ever wanted for us\u2014a love that would give you wings to fly.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-24308\" src=\"https:\/\/momservations.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Mom-and-Logan-208x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"208\" height=\"300\" \/>So, here it is: Your first birthday without me, the one who brought you into this world. Your first birthday where I\u2019ll have to settle for the sound of your voice over wrapping you in my arms, amazed at how big you\u2019re getting, wondering how I\u2019m ever going to let you go.<\/p>\n<p>Happy 19<sup>th<\/sup> birthday, baby boy. Continue to soar. I\u2019ll get used to this empty nest feathered with the warm, wonderful memories of raising you. Just make sure to fly home every now and again to give your ol\u2019 Mommer a peck.<\/p>\n<p>#GrownAndFlown\u00a0\u00a0 #FirstBirthdayWithoutYou\u00a0 \u00a0#AlwaysBeMyBabyBoy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The empty nest punches just keep coming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":24308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[2480,2481,2,2482,2483,2484,86,3,5,2485,6,1361],"class_list":["post-24307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-parenting-2","tag-always-be-my-baby-boy","tag-emypty-nest","tag-family","tag-first-birthday-without-you","tag-first-birthday-without-your-kid","tag-grown-and-flown","tag-kelli-wheeler","tag-kids","tag-momservations","tag-nineteenth-birthday-blues","tag-parenting","tag-teens"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>So Here It Is: First Birthday Without You - Kelli M. Wheeler<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/24\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"So Here It Is: First Birthday Without You - Kelli M. Wheeler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The empty nest punches just keep coming.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/24\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Kelli M. Wheeler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-10-24T23:30:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kelli M Wheeler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kelli M Wheeler\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/24\\\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/24\\\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kelli M Wheeler\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ef0acae18761d7be1529ccf2d4d99f43\"},\"headline\":\"So Here It Is: First Birthday Without You\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-24T23:30:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/24\\\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":593,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/24\\\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"keywords\":[\"always be my baby boy\",\"emypty nest\",\"family\",\"first birthday without you\",\"first birthday without your kid\",\"grown and flown\",\"Kelli Wheeler\",\"kids\",\"momservations\",\"nineteenth birthday blues\",\"parenting\",\"teens\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Parenting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/24\\\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/24\\\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/24\\\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\\\/\",\"name\":\"So Here It Is: First Birthday Without You - Kelli M. Wheeler\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/24\\\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/24\\\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-24T23:30:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ef0acae18761d7be1529ccf2d4d99f43\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/24\\\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/24\\\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/24\\\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/index.php\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/24\\\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"So Here It Is: First Birthday Without You\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Kelli M. Wheeler\",\"description\":\"AUTHOR -WRITING INSTRUCTOR \u2013 PUBLISHER \u2013 FREELANCE WRITER\\\/EDITOR \u2013 FAMILY COLUMNIST\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ef0acae18761d7be1529ccf2d4d99f43\",\"name\":\"Kelli M Wheeler\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/42b6e06276ebbd2f83335769170e77f3324477912fe404bfeb83eb04e4e4776c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/42b6e06276ebbd2f83335769170e77f3324477912fe404bfeb83eb04e4e4776c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/42b6e06276ebbd2f83335769170e77f3324477912fe404bfeb83eb04e4e4776c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kelli M Wheeler\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/momservations.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/kellimwheeler\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"So Here It Is: First Birthday Without You - Kelli M. Wheeler","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/24\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"So Here It Is: First Birthday Without You - Kelli M. Wheeler","og_description":"The empty nest punches just keep coming.","og_url":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/24\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\/","og_site_name":"Kelli M. Wheeler","article_published_time":"2018-10-24T23:30:44+00:00","author":"Kelli M Wheeler","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kelli M Wheeler","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/24\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/24\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\/"},"author":{"name":"Kelli M Wheeler","@id":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ef0acae18761d7be1529ccf2d4d99f43"},"headline":"So Here It Is: First Birthday Without You","datePublished":"2018-10-24T23:30:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/24\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\/"},"wordCount":593,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/24\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","keywords":["always be my baby boy","emypty nest","family","first birthday without you","first birthday without your kid","grown and flown","Kelli Wheeler","kids","momservations","nineteenth birthday blues","parenting","teens"],"articleSection":["Parenting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/24\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/24\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\/","url":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/24\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\/","name":"So Here It Is: First Birthday Without You - Kelli M. Wheeler","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/24\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/24\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2018-10-24T23:30:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ef0acae18761d7be1529ccf2d4d99f43"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/24\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/24\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/24\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/24\/so-here-it-is-first-birthday-without-you\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"So Here It Is: First Birthday Without You"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/","name":"Kelli M. Wheeler","description":"AUTHOR -WRITING INSTRUCTOR \u2013 PUBLISHER \u2013 FREELANCE WRITER\/EDITOR \u2013 FAMILY COLUMNIST","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ef0acae18761d7be1529ccf2d4d99f43","name":"Kelli M Wheeler","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42b6e06276ebbd2f83335769170e77f3324477912fe404bfeb83eb04e4e4776c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42b6e06276ebbd2f83335769170e77f3324477912fe404bfeb83eb04e4e4776c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42b6e06276ebbd2f83335769170e77f3324477912fe404bfeb83eb04e4e4776c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kelli M Wheeler"},"url":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/author\/kellimwheeler\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/momservations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}