17-years-old

 

Well it's official, this handsome guy is 17-years-old!  His school picture turned out so good that we bought it to hang on our wall. 

Since we didn't do a photo shoot I will put some football pictures on this post.  There is a lady that takes pictures at all of the games and she gets some great ones.

This past year has been a tough one for Jonah.  Between his car accidents, his first break up and just the hard stuff that comes along with being a teenager, it has been rough.  It's been hard to find a balance of letting him grow up and have the freedom he craves and still having rules and expectations. It's been hard on him and it's been hard on us.  I always thought grown ups always knew what the right thing to do was, well that hasn't been true for me.  I'm often wondering what the right thing to do is and nothing is as simple as it seemed before I had teenagers.  At the end of the day my relationship with my kids is the most important thing to me. I would rather let things go then jeopardize our relationship.  I hope Jonah knows how much we love him and that we really do have his best interests at heart. 

Jonah is not a worrier and it drives him crazy that I am.  The things I worry about just don't make sense to him.  I try to look at things from his perspective and not parent out of fear.  Jonah is so good at enjoying life and making everything fun.  I love his carefree attitude and his excitement for life. 

I love that Jonah doesn't let fear stop him.  He will always go for things and try the hard thing.  Football is a great example.  It's not easy to be the Varsity Kicker with no kicking experience.  He set a goal to be the kicker and he has been working at it for the past year.  He had a lot of nerves those first few games, but he didn't let that stop him, he just went out there and did it.  Even if he misses, he walks back out on the field in front of everyone and tries for the next one, that takes guts! I love watching him push through fear and discomfort to go after what he wants. 

Jonah is fun to be around.  His friends wished him happy birthday on Instagram and almost all of them talked about how funny he is.  He is hilarious! He has great social skills and can talk to anyone.

Jonah is very intentional about physical fitness.  He loves to push his body and work hard. He is very proud of his muscles and he has worked hard for them.

Jonah loves to be with his friends.  If he isn't with them he is usually on the phone with one of them.

Jonah wants to help people.  A while ago Jackson went into Jonah's room in the middle of the night and threw up all over his bed.  Jonah tried to take care of it by himself so he wouldn't have to wake me up.  When he realized Jackson had been sick all over the house he woke me up and he said, "sorry I wanted to take care of it so you could sleep." That was so thoughtful of him.

Jonah is just an all around great guy.  He doesn't want to talk very often, but when he does I see how deeply he thinks about things and his concern for others.  I love when he is in a talkative mood and shares things with me.  I'm proud of him and so grateful to be his mom.