The Best Part of Being A Mom

Sorry, y'all...

Another personal post.

;)

But look at it this way, 

you get a peek at what I'm using essentially as a diary.

;)

I should start keeping a real one tucked under my mattress 

like I did in high school.

LOL!

So...

This past weekend was the cumulation of our season of wrestling.

{I PROMISE no more post about wrestling this year!  LOL!}

The Iowa AAU State Wrestling Championships in Des Moines.

I talked about it HERE and HERE.

From our local newspaper today:

Noah is 2nd from the left on the bottom row.
Ian is on the far right of the top row.

Wrestling is a sport all its own.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, can compare to your child 

being on that mat, especially at a district or state level.

Shoot...

Who am I kidding?

Local tournaments are just as intense.

LOL!

It's the nature of the sport.

The emotions are just unbelievable.

By the time we got home Sunday evening, 

I felt like I had been through such an emotional wringer 

that I wanted to sleep for a month.

I laughed.

I sobbed.

And several times I did both at once.

Elation for one and tears for the other.

Noah had a tough time this weekend.

Of both of the boys, I surely thought it would be Ian 

I would be comforting at the end of Saturday.

Instead, it was Noah.

Funny how that happens.

Noah wrestled his heart out.

But fell short one round from placement.

But that's how it goes sometimes.

It was heartbreaking to watch him sob for an hour after he lost.

And then to be so stinkin' happy for the other at the same time.

Ian...

Well, if you read my post HERE, 

you understand why this weekend was so huge for him.

And for us.

Ian went out and left everything on the mat this weekend.

Despite two humdingers of body slams to the hard mat...

Despite two matches of it being down to the whistle...

He did it.

He made it to the placing rounds!

On Sunday morning when he was one of the participants 

of the Grand March, which is all the top 8 wrestlers 

in 58 weight classes in 3 divisions in the State...

These are the top youth wrestlers in Iowa.

Well...

I sobbed.

I mean, like funeral crying.

UGLY crying.

Great big gulping sobs of pure emotional break down.

LOL!

And even 15 minutes after it was over, 

I was STILL struggling to get my emotions in check.

To see my baby boy out there with his head held high, 

knowing how badly he wanted this, and knowing 

how he has struggled the last 4 years...

Nothing like it.

Nothing.

And I never thought I'd feel like that.

Sure, I expected to feel the pride in him.

But to be so absolutely overwhelmed?

No.

Didn't expect that at all.

And I do believe Scott's eyes looked suspiciously moist and a little red.

The silent look we exchanged over the top of Noah's head 

said more than any words could convey.

What a priceless moment in time and one I will cherish 

for a very long time, if not forever.

Even though Ian's last two matches in the placing rounds 

didn't go his way and he wound up with 8th place, 

to know that he was on the podium out of hundreds 

of wrestlers in Iowa...

Well...

I still shake my head over it and grin.

(And maybe still tear up.)

Sure, he wasn't on top of the podium or anywhere near the top, 

but for a kid that didn't even qualify last year 

and the one time he did qualify in 2011, he went 2-2...

It's an amazing accomplishment.

Needless to say, this sums it up the best:

It was a terrible, wonderful, horribly awesome weekend.

And I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Despite the whole emotional roller coaster...

THIS is the BEST part of being a mom.

To see the highlights from Ian's matches and one of those horrible body slams, 

where my heart and breathing just stopped, check out the video I made for him below 

{and yes, he picked the music.  ;) }