Now that it's June . . .

I thought I should do a post about Charlie turning one on May 3.

In June of 2006, I was holding a 7 month old Katie in my arms while listening to a talk at church. Everything was going fine when it suddenly happened -- I got this feeling, this overwhelming feeling that I needed to have a baby. I thought, "Um, hello. I have a baby, actually, already. See? The one sleeping in my arms? I've got this covered." But the feeling would not go away.

And so I proceeded to get pregnant two months later, destined to have children who were a mere 18 months apart. Honestly, it's not the hardest gig in the world. My mom had 5 kids in 5 1/2 years. There are all these people running around who have 2,3, 6 kids at a time. Having two closely-spaced children and a much older one who is a terrific helper should not be all that scary. But I was terrified. Completely chicken. I admit that sometimes I did not feel all that happy about being pregnant.

These feelings persisted even after getting my first good look at the little tike and finding out for sure he was Charlie and not a Lucy. But the problem wasn't really the baby. It was me. I felt all wrong for the task at hand. Someone else should have been taking on the challenge of this new life. But it was a little late for that to be an option.

I alternated between being excited and just very, very anxious almost all the time. I didn't share my trepidation too much because it just felt wrong not to be elated all the time.

Finally, Charlie came into the world. Each labor is different and this one included some neat firsts for me. It was the first time I could feel my contractions to push (my epidurals in the past had been VERY effective); it was the first time I could feel my child coming out of my body; and it was the first time my baby was put onto my chest right away, before being whisked away for cleaning, measuring, etc.

As I think back on that experience, I cannot help but cry. I don't have the words to express the emotions that I felt as that life just slid out of my body and into the world. And then when they placed that little boy on my chest, all I could think was, "he's mine, he's mine." I knew Charlie belonged with me.

And now when I think back on all the fear I experienced before I met Charlie, it all seems like so much foolishness. There has never been an easier baby to care for in all the world. He started sleeping through the night at six weeks old. He barely ever cries. He is my only baby who was ever happy to just hang out in a bouncy seat. He eats everything (including anything he can find on the ground). He is mellow, laid back, and content. He can entertain himself without any seeming need for attention, but when there is playing afoot, he jumps in wholeheartedly, chasing brother and sister about and jumping on mom and dad.

And have I mentioned he's gorgeous? Nothing could have prepared me for what a handsome lad he would be. He was a cute baby, but the older he gets, the cuter he becomes.

And he is so loved. Katie and Alek adore him. Alek especially is so happy to have a little brother. And Charlie just lights up whenever Katie and Alek walk into a room. Besides teaching our children the gospel, I feel like the greatest gift Josh and I could have ever given them was each other. I'm so glad we did. And I hope we are not done with our giving.

I'm so grateful for that feeling that wouldn't go away, that feeling that I needed to cast aside my notions of the "right time" and trust in the Lord's timing. I can't imagine my life without Charlie and the joy that he brings. So a belated happy birthday to the boy who constantly reminds me that I'm much better off when I listen to the Lord instead of myself.

On his actual birthday.

His first taste of cake, at his party two days after his birthday. (It didn't turn him into a demonic monster, I just don't know how to fix the red eyes in photos yet.)

Charlie's puppy dog cake. Charlie reminds me of a dog so he got a puppy party.

And a video for good measure. On Charlie's actual birthday.

What Happens When You Stay Up Too Late?

You scroll through your sister's blog, looking at the faces of her beautiful children who you wish your kids could grow up with and cry over photographs of your siblings and parents who you miss terribly.

And then you write a post about it.

Interesting (Good) Day Today

I don't know if you guys know this, but I'm on the Events Planning Committee at work and am the chair of the Summer Event Subcommittee. We're having a barbecue and concert in the park at a local ball stadium and my committee members are working on the invitation. We decided it would be fun if the invitations were made to look like CDs, complete with cover art. Since the band that is playing is a 70s band, we found pictures of 70s groups to superimpose our faces onto. My friend and her son have been doing some photoshopping and this morning she sent me one of the pictures that is going to go on the invitation. Voila.

I don't think I've ever looked better.

This afternoon, a co-worker told me she thought for the longest time that I was 21. She couldn't believe that I had three kids. She said it seemed like I took really good care of myself. I was so happy.

And then my other co-worker said, "she has a baby face."

Call me crazy, but I don't consider that a compliment.

Oh well.

I came home tonight to a totally clean house, including a cleaned off dinner table (this is miraculous, by the way) which had been set for dinner. Within minutes I discovered that I was the guest of honor at a special dinner that Josh had made and that he and Alek had also bought me a card and a couple of gifts. There was no special occasion. They did all of it just to thank me for the things I do for them. Isn't that sweet? In general, Josh is not very good at noting holidays, but he will do nice, romantic things like this completely spontaneously.

Dinner was delicious and I got great gifts. I got this to put on my desk at work and remind me of my goofy family and this just because Josh knew I wanted it. The gesture was so nice that I barely even thought about how he shouldn't have spent the money. :)

Also, Alek finally completed his Bobcat for Cub Scouts today. Hooray!! Alek really is so excited. Now I just have to help him finish his Wolf badge before his birthday in July. I think I can, I think I can.

To top off a great evening, I got to play American Idol Karaoke Revolution for a little while and I sang this song in honor of my sisters. Now I have to put it on my MP3 player.

A Pretty Cool Picture

By my amazing husband, of course.

He Didn't Wear His Kilt

Our really cool friends gave us tickets to the Scottish Festival at the Yolo County Fairgrounds which was held the last weekend in April. It was pretty awesome and we plan to go back next year. Right off the bat, we found information about the origins of our last name, so that was pretty cool. We had a harder time finding Josh's family tartan anywhere. I guess it's not all that common. We could have had a kilt custom made for him for $700, but oddly enough we chose not to do that. Instead we managed to find a tie made out of his tartan. He loves it.

Josh at the Scottish Festival entrance. See, Jen, he is still alive.

What would a Scottish Festival be without bagpipers?

Or Scottish folk dancers?

Or a restaurant made out of a double decker bus?

Or a visit from royalty?
(This is Mary, Queen of Scots, before her untimely demise.)

Bring Your Child to Work Day

Bring Your Child to Work Day was on April 23 and Alek was finally old enough this year to come with me to work. I'm on my company's events planning committee and we were in charge of the activities that day. We had a lot of fun. One thing we did was give the kids a tour of the building. I work in a 19 story building, which my company owns, although we only occupy four floors. The rest are either rented out or are parking levels. On the tour we got to see all the different control rooms and we got to go on the roof. See?

Alek and Christian next to the inner workings of the building.

Alek on the roof. Look at that view!

Alek and Christian on the heli-pad on the roof.

Christian is the son of one of my co-workers and Alek did not know him before that day and will likely never see him again. But they bonded instantly and spent practically the entire day together.

We also played games with the kids, let them do chalk drawings on one of the parking levels (we'd blocked it off so it was safe) and had an ice cream social. We had a good time and Alek loved being able to hang out with me for the day.

Alek in the lobby of my building.

Best News I've Heard in a Long Time

Yes!

http://buzzsugar.com/1625856

It's Been a Long, Long Time

So you may have noticed that I haven't updated my blog for a long time. There are a ton of things I want to say and even more pictures that I want to add, but it happens to be 12:52 a.m., so I will have to do just one post tonight and get back to the rest tomorrow.

Now for some pictures.

Katie had her first ice cream cone at the end of March on one of our Family Home Evening excursions. She reminds me of her Aunt Heather in this picture.

Charlie just wants to say,"hey!" If you expand this photo, you can tell that Charlie has green eyes. They 're so awesome.

One of the ways in which Josh and I differ is that he has a green thumb and loves to garden. He bought this rose bush during the fall semester when he was taking his horticulture class. I do love having the beautiful roses to look at. They spruce up our pathetically small patio.


Charlie is a lover of the simple things in life. He loves to sleep. He loves to cuddle with stuffed animals. And he loves to spit up on my carpet.


Every once in a great while, we do something cool like take our kids to the river.
This was one of those times.


Alek and I had a little photo shoot last week. This picture cracks me up.
Side note: This is not a Boston Celtics cap. This is a Celtic Football Club hat. And it's football as in soccer. And it's a Scottish team, not Irish. I know you were thinking they were Irish, because that's what I always think. And then Josh has to keep telling me that they're in Glasgow.



One last picture. Alek and I had this little photo shoot last week because I was feeling kinda skinny that day. So I asked him to take some pictures of me so I could show you all how skinny I am getting. Looking at the pictures, I am not sure why I was feeling so skinny. The outfit is clearly not as flattering as I thought. I am wearing size 10 pants in the picture below, however, and that is pretty exciting. I still have a ways to go and I am having a super hard time right now sticking with the program. But at any rate, here I am: the skinnier Jessica.


And by the way, I do realize that my house is a mess in every single one of these pictures. If I waited until my house were clean to take pictures, then there wouldn't be any pictures. I spent all day cleaning on Saturday and my house still looked like this. It's pretty hopeless.

More pictures forthcoming, including shots from: Bring Your Child to Work Day, Young Women's Conference, and Charlie's Birthday. I may also post a video. Oooh!