Twenty-one years ago

Twenty-one years ago, my wife was pregnant with what was to be our third child. Everyone (except me) thought it would be sweet if the child was born on Valentines Day. We woke up that morning with my wife thinking this was the day. We hurriedly got our two girls up and gave them their Valentines presents, knowing we may not be home that night. Then we called a neighbor to take care of the girls before and after school.

We hadn't chosen a girl's name yet (which turned out not to be a problem). I had decided that if the child was a boy, he should inherit my middle name as his middle name. I hadn't made that decision with the first two, which was ok, since both girls would have seemed silly with James as a middle name. During the labor process, my wife thought about changing the first name, but all her choices started with "J" and the idea of JJ just didn't seem right. Little did we know, even without the JJ moniker, we were due for some dynamite (the link shows my age).

A few hours later, we were in the delivery room, still with no girl's name, but at least settled on a boy's name. Ultrasounds were not common and we didn't know what to expect. We had experienced similar but opposite problems the first two times around (no boy's name chosen back then). When our pediatrician told use we had a "little Muggsy", we knew we didn't have a problem this time either. I guess with what the doctor charged for his short time in the room, he could afford to be a big Hornet's fan.

After the birth, I went to the nurse's station to get some ice & water. OB nurses are always excited and asked "what did you have?" New dads (even experienced new dads like me) can be counted on to say something stupid, my answer was "just some water." After they laughed and explained their question better, I told them we had a boy.

Today, my youngest celebrates his big day. We've been through a lot together. I have the privilege of taking him on baseball trips every few years, camping now and then and other father-son experiences. He's seen enough changes to last him a lifetime, but I'm sure more changes are on their way. Hopefully, these changes have prepared him for a bright future. He certainly deserves it.

Adam is now a student, a bass player in a Christian band (when he can), and more than that, a young man. Happy Birthday Adam! Enjoy your special day. We love you.

A Quarter of a Century

Quarter of a Century. Saying it that way makes it sound like a long time, doesn't it? Twenty-five years ago, my wife & I were expecting our second child. She awoke early and couldn't sleep, so she went in the other room. Around 5am, she came and told me we needed to think about the fact that she might be in labor. Being the loving, supportive husband I was, I told her she probably wasn't and rolled over.

When I heard the slamming of the door accompanied with a muttered "FINE!", I made a wise decision. I got up. After sitting with her a few minutes, we decided it was time to go to the hospital. We finished packing and called a neighbor who had agreed to take care of our 2-year old daughter. As we finished packing her things, he called back and told us to remember a car-seat and something and something and something. I told him that he was more nervous than I was.

On the way to the hospital on the planned route (this was still pre-rush hour traffic) I saw a road-sign that looked familiar. I was pretty sure I knew where the other end of this road was and it would be a quicker route, so I decided to try a road never travelled before (at least by me). The funny thing about roads in Charlotte, they all have similar names. There's Sharon Rd, Sharon Lane, Sharon Amity and I ain't Sharin' Sharon. No wait, that last one is a song by Jim Stafford.

Anyway, when I got the end of Sharon something it wasn't quite where I thought it would be, but it was close. My wife was not amused or impressed. We still got to the hospital before rush hour and in plenty of time.

Ultrasounds were not as common 25 years ago, so we had no idea if we were expecting a girl or a boy (even in that day, those were still the only two choices). We entertained a lot of ideas about determining the sex, tried a boiled egg resting on the belly and a few other tricks, but these were mainly for fun. Our nurse that day told us that the baby's heartbeat would tell you, but many times it was wrong. But she had great confidence when she told us THIS one was a boy.

We took the nurse's prediction seriously, as we had chosen girl names but no boy names. Between contractions for two hours we discussed names as we had discussed for the last nine months, still with no resolution. Fortunately for us, no decision was needed as our little girl was born early that afternoon. I'm not sure if the nurse ever knew about her mistake.

Happy Birthday Katie. You've gone from being my little "bean green" to a wonderful lady with 2.2 children of your own. We love you. Hope today is as happy for you as my day was 25 years ago.

What a weekend!

The weekend was busy!! As normal for our house, we had an invader for the weekend, our 18 month old grandson. He has more energy than both of us combined. The big event was a surprise birthday party for my 80 year old mother (Happy Birthday Mom!).

I was nominated to put together a slide show with old pictures, so I finished pulling them all together Friday night. Of course first, we had dinner with some of the folks who had come into town for the surprise.

Saturday involved finishing up last minute details and getting ready for the party. A little setup, a little moving furniture, then everyone started arriving. Three hours of meet & greet, take tear down it all and then to dinner again (we're a family that likes to eat).

Saturday night we crashed as soon as the 18 month old invader would let us. Sunday morning, I had the privelege of hearing my favorite singer worship her (& my) Lord by singing at my mom's church (another birthday present for Mom). And of course after church, what else, but go eat again.

Yes, a busy weekend, and no time to think about things I normally blog about. But it was a good weekend.