32 years ago today...

I became a mother!
Brock, my first son, was due on Dec. 30, 1976.

I thought we would be having a competition with Santa that year.

I found this cartoon when I was pregnant with him, and kept it all these years.

However, he did not arrive until Jan. 20, 1977.
Exactly 21 days late.
21 very long days to me.

The 2 pictures below...do you think they look like the same baby??
The first one is of Brock as a newborn.
The second of his daughter, Elora.

Brock 1977

Elora 2002

Brock was a very interesting child to raise. He was opinionated from the time he was quite little. He loved to argue even,
and challenge many ideas and plans.
Made for some lovely moments as his mother.
Brock and Logan

In preschool he was the only child in the class who hid under the stage during "graduation". He wanted nothing to do with that ceremony and tried to tell me for weeks, but I thought for sure he would change his mind once he saw the rest of his class cooperating.

In kindergarten they had "hat week". Every day that week the children would come out in a large line of 34 students wearing the hat they had made that day. Brock was the only one who would not wear his. He preferred to carry his instead, rolling his eyes.

He also could be incredibly charming, and to me, no matter what he did I thought he was totally endearing.

Brock "working" with his dad

He excited easily. If he was happy about something his entire body showed it.

When he was 3 he wanted to go to Disneyland. He heard his little friend Chris was going, who lived across the street, so he decided he would go with him! He was still in his pajamas when he could see out the front window that Chris and his family were getting ready to leave. So he hurried into this bedroom, tore off his pajamas, put both legs into the same leg of a pair of pants and literally hobbled out the front door. He tripped being his legs could not move well, and fell down the stairs of our front porch. We both cried.

Once an older lady across the street brought Brock, age 4 at the time, his very own box of homemade frosted Valentine's cookies. She said she was not giving any to the other kids in the neighborhood but she couldn't wait to give some to Brock since "he gets so excited about things."

Brock was born with honesty. It was truly the way he arrived here. He tells it like it is. As his mother in law says, "Brock is brutally honest." Some may say that is not always a good thing, but one thing is for certain...you never have to wonder...'did he really mean that?'

I could always count on him to tell me the truth. One December when he was about 10 he decided to sneak into my closet where I was hiding all the presents I had bought. Apparently he checked them all out because later on he came to me with his confession and a very humble apology. I would have never known he did that but he wanted to clear his conscience.

Brock has attitude written all over his face here.
Better days were ahead.

Besides his honesty, he has a very strong resilient character, he is also compassionate, and he has a grateful heart. And did I mention his creativity? You can see that here and here and how about the caricature of his family he drew below:

I am proud of the man Brock is today. His first priority is his family.
He is a kind and gentle Dad to his 2 daughters. Elora and Campbell adore him. When he even walks in the room Cami goes wild with excitement.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROCK!!!
It is an honor to be your mother.