I should have named him Elmer

Several years of fertility treatments had yielded no results. On my 35th birthday I declared enough. There would be no more children. God surely laughed at me that day. My pregnancy was confirmed via a roller coaster ride 8 months later. Not an emotional roller coaster - one at Six Flags, where I came off of it, running towards the trash can puking my guts out. I was indeed pregnant. But I was past my cutoff date. My mind was not able to grasp this fact because I was too "old." A couple of nights later I lay on my bed moaning repeatedly to Zac that I was too old to be having a baby NOW. Like those 8 months made all the difference in the world.

Zac left the room and returned, carrying a flashing red road hazard light. To this day, I have no idea where he got it. But he swung that light back and forth over my body repeatedly, chanting in a monotone voice, "you're pregnant, Mom, deal with it." With each chant, I would give my standard reply, "but, I'm too OLD." Exasperated at last, he set the light aside, looked at me and said, "well, Mom, God must not think so." Such a wise 12 year old son. I went to wash my face and came back to find him sitting on the bed, happily making a list of names for the new baby to come. Zac was excited from day one.

Andi was not so excited. To say she was very UNexcited would be a huge understatement. To say she was upset, disgusted, mad and otherwise irked as only a 13 year old girl can be, would be putting it mildly. She did not graciously accept the fact that we would be moving from our dream home on the lake to a house in town where I wouldn't have to worry about safety issues so much. She did not take joy in my pregnancy. She was not thrilled that at her high school orientation her mom was "the one who was having a baby the next day." She did not take kindly to being woke in the middle of the night to go to the hospital to welcome Jacob into the world. Nope, not happy at all. I'm quite certain that this picture at the hospital was taken after she was threatened with severe grounding if she didn't appear to be happy.
Notice that Jacob was a Duke fan even then.













Alas, Andi did not want these changes in her life and she knew, without a doubt she would never like "this kid."

She was wrong. How wrong was evident when she asked 2 years later if she could take Jacob with her to school for "show and tell." She had to write and deliver a speech and she wrote about the greatest blessing our family ever received....her unwanted little brother.

He was an easy kid to fall in love with. We thought he was funny and obviously he thought himself pretty funny too. He brought joy and sunshine into our family on a daily basis. He made bad moods almost obsolete because he was determined that everyone should be happy.

He made the days fly by and it didn't take long for me to forget just how OLD I was and instead, how young he made me feel. Jacob loves God with all his heart and prays with faith most adults would envy. He asks endless questions, loves obscure facts and silly jokes.















He is a tender hearted, gentle spirit who loves mischief and playing tricks on his family. He is very easily one of the people I enjoy spending time with most in the world and he is turning 9 years old tomorrow. When I stop and think that his time at home with me is probably half gone, I cry. It has gone much too fast.

Without Jacob, there would have been no reason we would have ever done foster care. Without Jacob, we never would have adopted any other children. Without Jacob, we would not have Carly, Wesley and Ryan as part of our family.

So why should I have named him Elmer? Because, as Andi has said, "Jacob's the glue that made us a family." Such a wise girl -- eventually.

Happy Birthday Jake. Momma loves you.