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. 

family stories: adele and ernesto de forcade

My great-great-grandmother, Adele De Forcade.

This week I was lucky enough to interview my aunt and 91-year-old grandmother about our family. They told me several stories about my great-grandmother Tina, great-grandfather Raoul and my great-great-grandparents Ernesto and Adele.

Adele was born in Verona, Italy (home of Romeo and Juliet), married Ernesto De Forcade at 17 or 18, and had two children, Marie and my great-grandfather Raoul. 

Ernesto built railroads, and he was involved with the construction of the first railroad in Naples. The family moved to Naples during that period. When Raoul was eight, Ernesto traveled to Brazil to build a railroad, and he died suddenly.

Adele was still young, so she remarried. Her second husband was an attorney who spoke ten languages and travel extensively, even to the U.S., which wasn't very common at that time. He adored Adele and adopted Raoul. He purchased two apartments in Naples and a home on Capri for the family. These homes are still in our family to this day.

Adele died when my grandmother was four years old. Although her second husband was her senior, he died in 1936 when my grandmother was 16. My aunt described him as a bit of a health freak who chewed each bite of food 33 times. He also documented everything very thoroughly. My family live in the apartments that he purchased all of those years ago, and they have found boxes and boxes of his papers.

In the picture below, I see my father in Ernesto, his namesake, and I see my cousin Elena in Marie. Although my grandmother heavily favors her mother, I also see Adele in her features. 

Marie, Ernesto, Adele and Raoul De Forcade.