Baby Brother

As you probably know, I have a sister who will make me an aunt later this month or early next month. She is three years younger than me, and our babies will be two months apart. When I found out she was pregnant, I prayed that we would be able to raise children together. One of the all-time great moments of my life was surprising my family with our news at her gender reveal party. We told our entire family that weekend. It was one of the best ones of our lives.

Jonathan has two siblings -- a sister and a brother who have blessed us with two nieces and a nephew. Anthony came along when Jonathan was 11, but they are very close despite the age gap. I remember Anthony coming to Oxford and Collierville to stay with us when he was a wide-eyed middle and high school student. He'll be 25 next month, and his son Haze will be eight months old. It's crazy how time flies.

Haze definitely takes after his mama right now, and it's been so fun to watch his personality develop. He's already proving to be a little flirt. I wonder where he gets that from? 

Anthony and Gerald. He would give his son Gerald's middle name. 

While we're on the subject of genes, I see Julie's daughter Eliza in Julie's smile in this photo. Eliza also loves to help open presents!

Family Traits

Now that we're less than two weeks away from our second ultrasound, I'm really beginning to think about our baby and imagine life with him or her.

Obviously our main prayer is for a healthy baby. The health of this baby has been our number one concern since January 4, but the feeling grows stronger each day that its tiny presence becomes a little bigger. I fully recognize that carrying this life in my body is a wonderful gift, and I feel blessed and honored that Jonathan, the baby and I are on this journey together.

People have asked if I have a gut feeling about our baby's gender. I do, but I don't have a strong preference either way. It would be fun to give my parents their second grandson or their first granddaughter. It would be thrilling to add another Hardin boy to the family or welcome the first Hardin daughter of the next generation. I would love to watch our son with his father, grandfather and great-grandfather, or know that our daughter is the next in a line of strong-willed women. 

If you have been following this blog for a while, you know how happy I am that we will learn our baby's gender on Jonathan's grandmother's birthday (April 9) and that our baby's due date is three days before my grandmother's birthday (September 10). I have spent the last two years documenting our family's history and stories, and now I'm ready to see which family traits and characteristics appear in our baby. Blue eyes and fair skin seem like the two most obvious ones, but maybe we'll have a rebel baby with brown eyes like both of its grandmothers.

Until then, I've put together a family album that goes back to our great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents. God willing, our child will grow up knowing exactly where he or she came from and who he or she looks like. What a wonderful thought and what an exciting journey.

Thanks for sharing our joy.

Jonathan and his grandmother Sadie.

Me and my grandparents Bill and Lucy.

Jonathan and his mother Denise.

Me and my grandma Joan and my mother Julie.

My dad Fred.

Jonathan's mother Denise.

My mother Julie and grandmother Joan.

Jonathan's father Greg and his grandfather Gerald. 

My grandmother Joan.

Jonathan's grandmother Sadie.

Jonathan's great-grandparents Dayton and Elzie with his grandfather Gerald.

My grandmother Lucy.

My great-grandmother Jennie Moore (back left), her brother Andy (back right), her mother Martha, stepfather Jacob and half-siblings Jake and Mayme Van Bibber. 

Jonathan's great-grandfather Dayton.

My great-grandmother Elsie (right) and her sister Myrtle.

Jonathan's great-grandfather Clovis Yates (back, second from left) and his great-great grandparents William and Julia.

My great-grandfather Raoul with his sister Marie and parents Ernesto and Adele.

Jonathan's great-grandmother Eliza Michael (top right) and her siblings. 

My great-grandmother Tina (front, bottom center) with her siblings and parents. 

The 25 Days of Christmas - Day 23

The Hardin family at Christmas a few years ago...and about 10 years before that. 

Like Father, Like Son

These photos of Gerald Hardin and his son Greg were taken in early 1958. 

It is comforting to know that we are not alone in our journey. Our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and great-great grandparents were all here before us doing the very things we're stressing out about today.

Perhaps times were different, but deep down we're all still the same. We owe them a debt of gratitude for blazing the trails before us. They built dreams and memories that we'll share with the next generations. 

That's really what life is all about, isn't it?