Twist 'em like a pretzel, show 'em how to wrestle, S-J-H!!!

I have to start this post by saying....AHHHHHHH, I have a teenager!

My perfect little 7 lb, 3 oz blue-eyed, blond haired baby boy turned 13

on February 18., and I'm seriously thinking "Where has the time gone???"! He is such a great kid and has the biggest heart, and this mom could not be any prouder of the man he is becoming. So....this post is all about HIM!

Haden made the Syracuse Jr. High wrestling team, and their first meet was on his birthday! When they started, he was weighing in at about 109-110 lbs. We were thinking going into it that, being a 7th grader, he would be wrestling JV, but the Varsity team didn't have a wrestler in the 115 weight class. So...Haden decided to step things up a notch and wrestle VARSITY and wrestle up in weight class to 115 lbs. Any of you who talked to us during the season or read my facebook know how his willingness to "take one for the team" so to speak turned out. Not once, in all his matches did he wrestle anyone younger than NINTH GRADE! He ended up only winning 2 of his regular season matches and 1 of his North End tournament matches. We felt alot of disappointment, discouragement, and him mom shed alot of tears on his behalf! LOL! So yes, this year's wrestling season was a hard one, but trust me when I say he gave it EVERYTHING he had and next year, he is going to RULE that wrestling mat!!!! I am so proud of him for sticking to it and not giving up, for never once complaining about practice everyday after school and 6 a.m. practices on Fridays (his mom, however, complained about those), never complaining about being tired, sore, or burned out. I am so proud of you Haden and I love you so much!

This pic is at the first meet on his birthday:

Warming up...
Warm up wrestling before the last meet:
Just before taking the mat at the North End Tournament and
getting some last minute advice from dad...

More of North End...

Ok...this pic is blurry because I was screaming and shaking

the camera. He pinned this kid just a few seconds after I took

the picture! Yay!