Meet Jake

Meet Jake Thomas, AKA Jimmy Junior. My husband waited 47 years to have him....I carried him the full 42 weeks and finally they induced me on January 19, 2011. My husband, the calm, tough, rugged man that he is, was helplessly rubbing my back and holding my hand and doing what he could to help me endure the pain. They broke my water and an hour and a half later, after my body felt like I was going to spontaneously combust, Jake arrived healthy and wailing. I was in a pain haze when he arrived, feeling immediate relief from the pressure I had endured for months, but I foggily remember my sweet and proud husband meeting his firstborn child. He cried at the sight of this tiny human who looked exactly like him. I was shaking so badly from going into a shock sort of state after having him, that Jim immediately stepped in as alpha-parent, care-giver and provider, and began his journey as a father.
Jim's voice is very deep and sexy and soothing. He kept kissing his tiny son, and telling him hi, and saying, "I am your dad." But Jake already knew that. Jim had talked to him every day while he was in my belly and Jake would roll around like crazy when he heard his voice. Jim would give him a pep talk towards the end of the pregnancy telling him he needed to come see us and give his Mama a break. And, being stubborn like his dad (and his mom) that little bugger decided he would make camp til them made him come out. :)
Within minutes of Jake's arrival, I watched my tough guy husband morph into a gentle giant. Those work worn hands never put that boy down unless I needed to feed him. As long as Dad was in the house, Jake was in his care. He was right there to change his first yucky diaper, and several 100's since. He gave him his first bath in which the nurses tried a bonding procedure where they removed the dad's shirt and once the baby was bathed they swaddled the dad and baby close together skin to skin so they formed an attachment. I think they called it a kangaroo method of some sort. It was so sweet to see that little human nuzzled in all that chest hair :) My husband never felt so proud.
These two have a kindred spirit and an inseparable bond. They have a need to be together. Jake's first words were DaDa. I feel privileged to have given him the gift of a child. Jim had never been married or had children of his own in his life before he met me. He had accepted that it may never happen for him. I am so thankful that God allowed me to have Jake with Jim. Jake is a gift and a joy and has made our family feel so close and complete. Caleb and Ava love him so much. They help us take care of him. They are so wonderful to him. They don't see him as anything less than their real brother.
Jim is a wonderful father, not just to Jake, but to Caleb and Ava, as well. He teaches them things and spends time with them. He helps with homework and baths and bedtime. He does everything that I do with them and most of all, he loves them and takes excellent care of them, just like he does Jake. Sometimes blended families don't always feel so seamless, but I am very blessed and grateful that mine does.
Friends, your children are a gift from God. Please treat them as if they are. They are divinely ordained to be loved by you, taught by you, and to be taken care of by you. Parenting is the hardest job that you will ever have the privilege of doing. Enjoy those simple things like being called Mommy 15 times in one minute because someday you will just be called Mom. Or stepping on the oodles of Matchbox cars in the middle of the night as you try to tuck them into bed because someday soon he will be driving a real car. Or wiping those tiny little handprints and smudge marks off of your new flat screen TV because they grow up way too fast. Don't miss it in the chaos of getting to work and the sitter's in the morning with your sanity half in tact. Don't hate it because your house is a mess and your car stinks like spoiled milk. Love what makes them little.