Andrew with the Misspelled Middle Name, Born on the Feast of St. Francis

 It's birthday season in the Martin family, and today we celebrate Andrew's 19th birthday!

Andrew was due on October 9th and we thought it would be so funny if he was born two days late on his dad's birthday, especially since JP was born on his mom's birthday.  We didn't know his gender before birth and had decided on Andrew Philip for a boy or Emily Margaret for a girl.  That pregnancy has a few memories that stick out for me, the first being that my younger sister got engaged and asked me to be her matron of honor at her wedding nine months later.  I looked at Phil and said "Well we just can't get pregnant this month or I'll be giving birth at the wedding!"  Hardeeharhar guess who got pregnant that month?  So this is what I looked like at my sister's wedding:

I was very thankful to still be pregnant and not have to miss the wedding, and I danced like crazy that night and ended up giving birth nine days later.  Also during Andrew's pregnancy, my dad's brother passed away whose name was Padraig but everyone called him Poric, and that's how he signed his name.  We decided to honor my uncle by naming the baby Andrew (which is my grandfather's name) Padraig.  When he was born, I was so concerned with getting the spelling of Poric/Padraig correct that I didn't even realize he was born on the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi.  I felt so bad to have missed the naming opportunity of including Francis in his name that I spent the next years convincing Andrew to take Francis as his confirmation name.  He listened and is Andrew Pauric (spelled wrong) Francis.  And now he goes to Franciscan University where they celebrate St. Francis's feast day each year (I think classes are cancelled?) which means Andrew's birthday will be extra fun.

When Andrew was born, he looked like the complete opposite of John-Paul and I still am in shock that they are brothers.  Andrew has always been the type of kid that couldn't sit still.  He started walking at 9 months old and I would have to carry m&ms in my bag to get him to walk where I wanted him to go.  He would follow after me saying mnmnmnmnmnm.  He loved to suck his thumb while rubbing his blankie that had ribbons tied to the corners.  He was my only child to refuse a bottle and went straight from the breast to a sippy cup at 10 months old.  Andrew didn't speak for a long time, saying only "Daditch" until we figured out it was because he couldn't hear us due to all the fluid in his ears.  He got ear tubes at 16 months old and started talking immediately afterwards.

Andrew has played soccer, basketball, track, football, lacrosse, baseball, swim and golf throughout the years.  He's run multiple 5k races and loves to be outdoors and is always up for an adventure.  His coaches have all loved him because he is a very agreeable, coachable kid who practices hard and cheers on his teammates.  He doesn't like to read (our only one!) and doesn't love to sit through movies, but will happily watch football whenever a game is on.   

Andrew works very hard to get good grades and has said since he was a young lad that he "doesn't want a job where I have to sit at a desk all day".  He is currently a Biology major hoping to become a Physical Therapist where he can help people stay active.  

One time I was talking to Andrew when he was in high school, trying to understand why he was friends with a certain group of guys and not with a group I wished he was friends with and he said "Because they are fun.  I need fun friends."  Andrew loves to have fun and acts as sort of the guiding light in his friend group, the voice of reason and the one who could tell them to reel it in.  Teachers have told me that they love having Andrew in the class because he would often help the teacher get the class under control.  Andrew is more of a quiet guy, but easy to laugh and very sarcastically hilarious.  He likes peace and quiet and is definitely an introvert.  We always say he was born into the wrong LOUD, CHAOTIC family.  He likes to go to bed early and wake up early, eat a balanced diet of healthy foods, and looks after the little ones with such care that I know he'll be an amazing dad someday.

Andrew has impressed us so much with his business sense at the Ice Cream Cottage this year.  He has a knack for marketing and managing and he was a lot of fun to work with.  When you parent your young kids, you hope that one day they will grow up to be the type of kids you want to hang out with and Andrew certainly has become that for us.  Andrew, you are a delight and we miss you every day that you are away, but we can see you thriving and what more could we ask for?  Happy 19th Birthday Andrew Pauric Francis Martin!