1/4 of a Century!

 I realize that this post is a couple of weeks too late, but Caylea knew it would be.  Between Joe's big birthday bash and us going up to PA to help Caylea & Noah move, I haven't had time to sit and write.

Caylea was due on Joe's birthday but came 2 days later so she could have her own entrance on her own day.  She was born in sunny CA because Joe was stationed there at the Defense Language Institute, where we met and got married.  Kevin Oliver, a long-time family friend, and Joe's mom were there for her birth and it was peaceful and lacking in any of the drama of my subsequent childrens' births.  The pregnancy was easy enough.  I was attending college classes in between bouts of vomiting, something I had with all 3 pregnancies, and life was simpler.  Joe and I took walks together often, played games at friends' homes on base, and just waited for our precious girl to arrive.

I went into labor at 6 p.m. and I knew it was labor because I got the shakes pretty badly.  Caylea was born at 3:30 a.m. on a Wednesday and the look on the doctor's face when she arrived cracked me up.  I'll go ahead and say that I didn't have an epidural with any delivery because I was/am terrified of needles in my spine, and Caylea was supposed to be less than 7 pounds according to her ultrasound and what the doctor measured her to be.  When she came out a whopping 8 pounds 7 ounces, the doctor looked at me and said, "Wow, that's a big first baby!"  

Caylea was very alert and her hair was curly, which really surprised me because, at the time, mine was cut off and hadn't yet begun it's waviness.  Her eyes were brownish-green and I wasn't sure what color they would land on.  They landed on this caramel color with flecks of other colors and her eyes are so beautiful!  She would lock eyes with you and search your face and you just FELT her presence.  

She was always an alert, engaging baby too.  People would often comment on how thoughtfully she would look around a room and she remains that way to this day...a people watcher, a thinker, a person you want in your friend group because she's loyal, honest, trustworthy, and dependable.  Her character was evident long before Joe and I had a chance to practice our parenting on her.

We often call her our Guinnea Pig and we thank her for choosing to be a kind and decent human in spite of her raising, because we made more than our fair share of mistakes while learning how to be parents.  Joe's sister and I often discuss the fact that you have to have a license to drive, but there are very few parenting classes beyond changing diapers and keeping your infant alive.  I'm supposed to write a book one day, but I feel inept both at writing and parenting.  Every good and perfect gift comes from above, and God gets 100% of the credit for the work He did with Joe and me, and with how our children have turned out. 

Caylea is 25 now.  A bonified adult.  A happily married lady.  A dog mom.  A song writer.  A producer.  A friend to Chloe and Josh and to her rapidly aging parents.  She's an amazing human and I am so thankful to be her mom.

My baby pictures of her are buried on a hard drive since I dumped everything from Facebook onto it, and it is on my list of projects to organze that hard drive.  I will likely update this blog in the future, but it looks like I may be transferring this blog to another because this one is no longer allowing people to subscribe.  Until I get myself organized, here are just a few of our beautiful eldest offspring. :)