Thursday, September 12, 2013


Every year at Christmas I love to bake cookies....lots of them.  Christmas 1994 came too fast and I didn't get the cookies made for Christmas Eve so I baked them for New Years. In late January, 1995, I noticed that I suddenly gained 10 pounds.  I knew I had eaten my fair share of those Christmas cookies but certainly not 10 pounds worth.  Cliff kept saying, You're pregnant, Rebecca."  I thought he was crazy.  I was on my way to set up for my Wednesday night kid's class at church when I decided to swing by the drug store and pick up a pregnancy test and prove him wrong.  Was I ever shocked when I looked at the results on the test.  I called him and said, "You're not going to believe this....
I'm PREGNANT!!!"
 From the beginning, I knew this would be my last pregnancy. We both knew that 4 children would complete our family. I loved being pregnant and I tried to take everything in and cherish everything that comes with expecting a child....the anticipation, the first flutterings of life, and the growing intenst love for a child I hadn't even met yet.


We had 3 chilren in our home - Joshua, Amy, and Jacob. I was afraid to hope for another girl.  The day of the ultrasound arrived and to my absolute delight, we were told I was going to have another daughter.  I chose her first name, Emily.  Her dad chose her middle name, Melissa.

 She arrived September 11th.  She was healthy, beautiful and an extremely laid-back content baby.  Emily has been my constant "side-kick" her entire life.  When we moved here to KS and I began working, she was able to come to work with me.  I set up a shelf for her in my office with little toys and videos.  To this day, some 15 years later, I still have a little basket of toys on that shelf.

Cliff and I knew she would be our last baby and we would calculate how old we would be when out last child would turn 18.  I don't quite know how the day has arrived so fast!  She is ready to fly.  Emily is talented and creative, strong and independant.  She knows what she believes.  She has strong convictions and a strong faith to back up those convictions.  She is responsible and very very sweet and kind. 

Happy 18th Birthday, Emily!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 comments:

Elizabeth said...

I'm still wondering how she turned 18 already. It doesn't seem possible that that much time has passed. I'll never forget the day she was born and how we all squeezed into your room, trying to be the first to hold her. It was just a few days later I found out I was pregnant with Anna. Emily is a great kid/adult and you should be proud!

Elizabeth said...

I also remember the cookies!!!