Look-A-Likes?

People tell me Jessica looks a little like me. I don't know what you're talking about.

Even people who know she's adopted say it's the eyes; the nose; the round head that look similar. Well, the birthmother picked us out before even she knew what Jessica would look like. I'm pretty sure her decision was based more on personality, where we lived, and our cat.

Just to prove looks have nothing to do with it, I've lined up pictures of me as a baby (left) with Jessica's recent shots (right). See for yourself:

See? Nothing alike! I mean, lots of babies have round cheeks, thin brown hair, and blue eyes. She could look like a lot of people.

We may adopt more children who look nothing like us. What's important is that they feel that in our family, they have a place in the world.

Still think Jessica and I look alike? Well, maybe a little . . .

Babymelon

I couldn't resist buying this watermelon dress as soon as I saw it. I love these pictures of Jessica, which I took in our Chasewood neighborhood in Sept 2010, at age 7 months. They show her eyes before they changed from blue to hazel, that she was sitting up, chubby, happy and bald as an old man!

Jessica Lately

I apologize for the big gaps between posts. We traveled a lot this summer, and are looking forward to a lot of time at home for the rest of the year. I have so many things I want to do, and there are so many pictures it's intimidating to tackle.

Jessica turned six months on Aug 28, 2010. She is bigger than 97% or more of her peers for height, weight, and head circumference. And on Sept 14, with a runny nose and a smile, her first tooth appeared. I was at the church with some other women, setting up for sewing night (for our Nativity pageant in December). I stopped to feed her some squash & oatmeal for lunch, and I saw she had a little tooth peeking out of her lower gum, and another about to come up next to it, and I flipped out! She runs her tongue over it, and of course, chews on everything.

It's hard to see her tooth in this picture, but it's the best of about 50 pictures.

Jessica is getting much better about sitting up. And she still loves baths.

Most evenings, Dave still pops her in the umbrella stroller for a walk . She tans nicely. This night though he took her swimming.

After working 40 extra hours last month, Dave took Friday off before Labor Day weekend. He was so excited to play with Jessica in the water, he forgot about the cell phone in his pocket. Oops. Good thing it was old. We were in too good a mood with a 4-day weekend in front of us it didn't "dampen" our spirits. And we actually caught this moment of brilliance on camera:

I'm just as glad his brain got a rest--he works so hard. Below is a non-swimming visit to the beach a month ago.

Jessica stares at us when we eat. She and Smokey are good beggars. Dave wants to feed her everything, and I spoil the party. "No toast; it has butter on it." "No box rice; too much salt." I'm fairly certain he slips her a lot of food when I'm not looking. She can hold her own bottle, and gnaw on biter biscuits, but she can't pick up Cheerios yet. That's another milestone I'm looking forward to.

Dave is excited for college football season. He insisted getting both BYU and Univ. of Texas longhorn baby clothes, which I'm sure will get good mileage with future kids. I asked him, "In 2011 when BYU & UT play each other, will you be rooting for the Lord's school or worshipping the golden calf?" We laughed. We like watching sports--we enjoyed watching the US Tennis Open this weekend.

She still gets called the Gerber baby once a week, and her fat cheeks and thighs attract lots of attention, with reassurances it will come off as she grows. I love dressing her. Thanks to all those who donated to this cause: after 10 years of waiting, clothing and caring for this little doll makes me terribly happy. And when she's cranky, I'm terribly happy I've got a husband who loves her too.

This is by far her girliest outfit, and although I got some good smiley pictures, I want to include some realism. "Darn prickly grass! Church was fun, but I need a nap! Pick me up now!" "Gladly child. I want a nap too, and it's too hot outside to take pictures."

And she is getting AROUND. She rolls and reaches and rolls some more. When she cries, I know it's time to rescue her because she's scooted backwards, away from her toys, and underneath the furniture where she can't roll over. She is so wiggly she needs a toy to distract her during diaper changes, and loves rough-housing and happy screaming. When I push her in the shopping cart, she can raspberry so well she sprays me with spit, even at arm's length. I'm bad because I encourage it; it is funny.

She likes it when I play with her ears or sing her favorite songs. She likes other people and loves little kids. She opens her mouth like she's singing opera when we she sees a spoon full of food. She loves paper, fuzzy and noisy toys, books, and especially our kitty. She gets the giggles when she sees herself in the mirror or dogs, which always gives her hiccups. What a goon.

I had a happy realization a few days ago when I saw her on her stomach, reaching for something higher than her head. It was a precursor to pulling herself up on furniture, then walking. I've seen her figure out lots of things, and reach all these milestones, and it culminated in this thought: "This girl can learn. She is going to grow up and have a happy, normal childhood, and life." I figured that before, but now I am just really happy for her.

What a good kid. That's all for today.

Orlando Vacation Part 4: Kenny and Megan in Jupiter, FL

After playing at the theme parks and Jessica's baby blessing and temple sealing, all the family left except my brother Kenny and his wife Megan. They loved board games too, so we played several. Megan won "The Totally Insane Card Game" which s like Uno, but with 40 weird action cards.

We went to the free small Busch Gardens wildlife rehab center right across the street from our house. Apparently Jessica thought the black bears were funny.

We also walked through the new turtle rehab center in Juno Beach.

I drug everyone out to hunt for letterboxes. Dave's sister Melanie made us a kit for Christmas, and I wanted to try it. I looked online, and found out some waterproof boxes had been hidden by letterboxing hobbyists in nearby Riverbend Park. We walked the trails through old settler grounds and abandoned orange orchards. We dug through the overgrowth to find the 2 boxes, and stamped a windblown girl and a Batman in my notebook as proof of the deed.

Our third attempt was unsuccessful, starting with a really hard rain. But Kenny & Megan were as determined as I was, so we got soaked jogging around a pond in a park. We followed the clues to the correct spot, but it wasn't there. The letterbox planter had stuck a magnetic box inside a drainpipe on the top. It was obvious from the water pouring out, that it had been washed away a long time ago. Oh well, we thought it was fun. Dave stayed dry by volunteering to follow us with the car.

We also took Kenny & Megan snorkeling in our favorite lagoon off the Jupiter inlet.

I love this pic of Jessica "reading" our fish identification book. (We eventually gave away all of our snorkeling  gear when we moved from Florida a year later in September of 2011. I loved snorkeling and I will miss that part of Jupiter.)

Orlando Vacation Part 3: Jessica's Temple Sealing and Baby Blessing

On Saturday August 7, 2010, Dave and I took Jessica to the Orlando temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be sealed into our family by the priesthood of God for time and all eternity. Before we went inside, Dave's dad took some pictures on the beautiful grounds. It was a hot and humid Florida day, so we posed quickly.

We dressed her in the long, lacy, all-white blessing gown I wore as a newborn for my baby blessing. Her arms were almost to big for the sleeves, as she is now 6 months old and quite chubby. We all went to a sealing room, similar to the one pictured here. My family sat on one side, and Dave's family sat on the other, and our friends wherever. It was similar to our marriage sealing ceremony that way. 

We knelt at the cushioned alter, and Jessica sat on top. To my relief, she was quiet, alert, and cooperative. Our mothers and Dave were teary. I was just happy. Our little darling would be with us even after death in heaven.

We posed outside for a picture of everyone who were inside the temple with us. From left to right, Ken and Martha Hurst (Jessica's biological maternal grandfather and his wife), Leslie and Gilbert Jaimez (church friends), my maternal grandparents Ross & Yvonne (Vee-on) Bosen in the back, my sister Emily and her husband (Dave's cousin) James Robertson (kneeling) with sons Henry and Wesley. On my right, my mom and dad Jen and Ed Eying.

Behind Dave Kim and Charles Middleton, (adoptive parents too), Dave's Mom Glenene, then her parents Glen and Margene Stringham, then Dave's Dad Richard Robertson. Kneeling in front of them all is Dave's sister Melanie and her husband Sam Jarvis. Moving right is my brother Kenny and wife Megan Eyring (in stripes, my brothers Chris and Jeff, then Rebecca (adopted herself) and Justin Elkins (ward friends), and Keri and Mark Balls (ward friends and temple workers).

The next day, August 8, Dave gave Jessica her baby blessing in front of the congregation at our regular Sunday church services in Jupiter, FL. Our church won't allow us to do this until she is legally our daughter. (Alabama required a five month supervisory period to ensure we were capable to care for Jessica before they finalized our adoption.) So instead of holding and pronouncing a prayer over a newborn, Jessica was a hefty baby.

But there were lots of men standing in the circle around her to assist holding her up. If we remember correctly, it included my father, my mom's father, two of my brothers Kenny and Chris, brother-in-law James, Dave's Dad and mom's father, Jessica's grandfather, and Dave's friend Alan Laabs. Besides spitting up milk on her dress, it went perfectly. Dave is an elder in the Melchizedek priesthood, and gave her a beautiful blessing.

This picture captures my attempts to calm her crying after the services. The photo of us in front of our church was taken quickly, since it was another boiling hot day. The camera lens was smudged, but it was fitting because makes the church grounds look like the steaming jungle it felt like.

After we met at our house for a meal and socializing. We posed on the front porch as each of our guests left. Here we stood with Ken and Martha, who drove all the way down from Leeds (Birmingham area) Alabama. They are active members of our church too, so they were happy and understood the importance of these two ordinances. (You can see Ken's tall genes are partly to blame for Jessica's height. Martha is Jessica's step-grandmother.)

It's hard for my grandparents to travel, so I was so pleased they flew all the way from Bountiful, Utah to join us. Dave's grandparents flew in from Layton, Utah, and Dave's parents visited us from Houston, TX.

My family hung out in Jessica's ocean-themed room. (Our tiny condo wasn't conducive to a big gathering.) Everyone left that day, except Kenny and Megan, who stayed another two days in Jupiter. We had so much fun with our family, who was happy to celebrate Jessica legally and spiritually joining our family, and the end of 9 childless years.