I think it came as a shock to a lot my friends and family when I announced I was pregnant. Heck, when I told my mom, she asked me at least five times "if I was lying." After all, I had been very blasé about having kids in the past and sometimes even shared a little negativity on the topic. Ok, I'll just admit it, I was not a huge fan of "jam hands" unless you were a kid of a close friend. And mind you, most of my close friends don't have kids.
Me holding Jack the first day he was born.
But my entire perception of kids changed on June 26, 2007 when little Jack Kennedy, my nephew, was born. Once I met him, I was done for. I never thought I could love a kid so much. To this day, I would do anything for him, and I hold grudges against any kid who does him wrong. Yes, I am still mad at Henry from daycare who pushed Jack down the stairs when he was three. And it is not much of an exaggeration when I say Randy and I have seen Jack almost everyday of his life. We took him to his first movie, watched his first play and sat their proudly as he graduated from preschool. The old Sarah would have been like ... a graduation for preschoolers, what a crock!
Today, that intense love has grown to include two nieces, Izzy Kennedy, 2, and Adelyn McClure, almost 10 months. I just feel bad that I can't spend as much time with Adelyn as she lives two hours away versus the 10 minutes I have to drive to see the Kennedy kids. In fact, Randy and I eat dinner with the Kennedys almost every night. And of those nights, there is always some form of kid entertainment ... sometimes good, sometimes bad. There was the time Jack cried so hard he gave himself hives for not wanting to try a tiny piece of pork, and then little Izzy made us laugh when she was standing on her chair and was told to "sit on her pockets," and the little stinker responded "I have no pockets" as she was wearing yoga-type pants.
But as much as I love these kids, the jury was still out on whether or not I wanted my own. My inspiration came when my friend, Amy Taylor, told me she was pregnant in December 2011. I figured if she can take the plunge, so can I.
Amy and I met in college and we share the same mentality on a lot of things, even motherhood. I distinctly remember the conversation we had on the subject in July 2011 while on a wine tour in Michigan. We talked about how if we were going to be mothers, we would have to get things moving along soon because of our age (we were both 35 at the time). Neither one of us wanted to be 40 years old having our first and only kid. I told her if she planned on trying, she would have to let me know because I did not want to go through pregnancy alone. Well she didn't tell me and went ahead and got herself knocked up. She said that she and her husband got pregnant almost instantly. She thought it would take up to a year.
After Amy's baby news, I started thinking I need to stop being afraid and just do it (pun intended). I convinced Randy, sort of, we should try. Well the same thing happened to me. I got pregnant fairly quickly and only after a few tries at that, one might consider it immaculate conception. And when I saw Amy's baby girl, Avery, for the first time this past July, I was able to share my baby news.
So, all I have to say is that if it weren't for Jack, Izzy, Adelyn and Avery, I just might not be blogging about Lydia today. These wonderful kids have changed my entire perception on motherhood and made me realize just how much "jam hands" can actually enrich your life.
(From left to right: Izzy, Jack, Adelyn and Avery)
