Can he really be 25?

Happy Birthday, Adam!

I don't like using cliche's but "where has the time gone?" really says it all. It seems like not too long ago...I was sitting in the living room with Viviana (our exchange student from Ecuador) when I realized that I probably was going into labor with Adam. She was so excited that she couldn't stand the thought of going to school that day. But off she went....

We found out that we were pregnant just days before Viviana came to live with us for the school year. I know that this sounds funny, and probably not a story that you might expect me to share for a birthday wish, but I just can't think of Adam's pregnancy without remembering her. She took her responsibility of being a "big sister and big sister-to be" very seriously. When I was tired of chasing two toddlers around the house all day, Viviana offered to give Kirstin and Jordan a bath and read them bedtime stories. It delighted my heart to see a young woman who had never made a bed or prepared a meal before arriving in Taos... playing and cooking and baking with the girls so that I could sit with my feet up once in awhile. She would love to rub my tummy and tease me that I must have swallowed a basketball because that is what it looked like from the side view.

She came home from school that day and we told her that we would be heading to the hospital. She gave me a big hug and kiss and said "buena suerte" (good luck). Hours later when she held Adam for the first time, she would say over and over again, "he's so beautiful....he's so beautiful" between her joyful tears. It's true...he WAS a beautiful baby!

When AJ was six weeks old, it came time to say our sad good-byes at the Albuquerque airport for her to return home. I was seriously concerned that she would not give him back to me before boarding the plane:) She lived with us for a pregnancy and then some but she will always be part of my memories of being pregnant with Adam. Can it really be 25 years ago????