Ah, high school. Not all of us had the perfect high school experience, but we can all imagine what that would look like thanks to the movies.
My mother-in-law Denise was the quintessential high school girl in the 1970s. When I look at these photos, I can practically hear awesome classic rock and roll playing in the background. I love how carefree and happy she looks in the top photo. Of course, that might have something to do with her driver...
Yesterday marked four months until our due date. Baby boy is kicking hard enough that his daddy can feel him, and we're talking more and more about what life as three (plus two fur babies) will look like. I know one thing -- this little guy is already very much his father's son. In addition to some stubborn tendencies, he seems to love music, and he's very active in the mornings. I suspect he's going to look quite a bit like him as well. Wasn't Jonathan the cutest little boy?
Jonathan's second birthday.
That sweet face really hasn't changed, and he still looks dashing in a suit and tie.
Christmas 1984.
Opening presents with his mom and grandmother.
In England, we had a multiple week break around Easter. Many of those Easter holidays were spent in California where we created traditions that will continue with this next generation -- Easter clothes, See's Candies and colored eggs!
We received a box of See's goodies from my mom this year, so Baby H. has already tasted its first See's chocolates, jellybeans and lollypops. As you can see from the photo below, See's chocolate bunnies haven't changed much since 1988...
Easter morning at Grandma's with our See's chocolate bunnies.
My goofy facial expressions haven't changed either...
Easter dresses from the neighborhood kids shop. I loved those horrible white shoes because they didn't have straps. That bunny has already made itself at home in our baby's nursery.
Jonathan and I don't dye eggs very often, but we are excited about doing this with Baby H. in a few years. My favorites were (and still are) the sparkly eggs.
Coloring Easter eggs.
Messy but so much fun.
Our handiwork. Check out mom's LA Gear hightop sneakers with purple laces!
Another Easter tradition was an indoor chocolate egg hunt. We continued this tradition after we moved to Mississippi. I remember finding random chocolate eggs for the rest of the year because my mom hid them so well.
I can't wait to continue these fun memories with Baby H!
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.