My tribute to Josh

My oldest son will be 7 years old in just a few days. We had his big friends party today and I am pretty sure all the boys had a great time! (All except for one boy who cried off and on the whole party. He hated the games, the cake, the ice cream and threw a fit that the trophy I gave him was too small.)

Anyway, as a memorable record for Josh, I want to share that first experience when I found out I would be a mother.

After 5 years of marriage, I remember Dave saying, "Kristine, aren't you feeling ready to start trying for a baby? I think we are getting to that stage now." I was dragging my feet. I still didn't have a big desire for a baby at that time. But I knew he was probably right and maybe we should start trying although I wasn't too thrilled about the idea. That conversation happened in March 2003. The next few months went by and I was as busy as ever working full time and in the middle of my masters at the University of Utah. I had an amazing opportunity to do a summer opera program in Urbania, Italy for 6 weeks. I knew if I ever wanted to do something like this, this would be my only opportunity. The thought of being away from my husband for 6 weeks sounded difficult, but I knew there was no way I could ever be away from my husband and BABY for that amount of time. So, I did it. I took a pregnancy test a day before I left at the end of June. It was negative. I boarded a plane with 10 other singers from my program and I didn't give pregnancy another thought.

Once we landed in Italy, we had a three hour bus ride up through the mountains to the quaint little town we would be living in. I sat at the back of the bus, and in the middle of a conversation, I ran to the front yelling stop the bus. I threw up everything I had in my stomach and then felt perfectly fine. I thought that was weird and went back in as if nothing had happened.
The next signs that I was pregnant had to do with my reaction to smells. I would catch a whiff of something in the sewer or a certain smell coming through the town and I would want to throw up, yet it never seemed to bother anyone else. I was constantly gagging and also getting very edgy when I needed food at that precise moment. After 2 weeks of this, I finally asked myself, "Is it possible that I could be pregnant?" I had that gut feeling that I was.

I had made a good friend named Zita (traveling around Italy, but from Budapest) who spoke wonderful Italian. I had her come into the pharmacy with me to ask for a pregnancy test. No one spoke any English in Urbania. Zita and two of my room mates came home with me to discover the results. I could not read any of the test. I had no idea what I was doing. This was my first pregnancy!

Sure enough- I WAS PREGNANT! It was a beautiful hot sunny day and I literally was running and jumping around in circles because I was so shocked and excited. We were all screaming and hugging each other. We pulled out the camera and had to take a picture because of the excitement and joy! That was the first moment I was truly excited to be a mother. I had not wanted to be pregnant until that very moment.

I decided I wanted to keep this a big surprise for Dave when I came home in 4 weeks. Do you know how hard that was to keep a secret from him and my family?!! The only person I called and told was my sister Kate. I just started crying and crying on that little pay phone in the middle of nowhere. It was hard to make it though the next few weeks after that. All I could think about was being pregnant. The fatigue set in big time and I couldn't get through the day without a nap, although in our busy schedule, there was no time for a nap. We were traveling all over Italy, singing in beautiful churches and old opera houses. Suddenly my desire to dedicate my life to singing (like all the other people in the program) vanished and all I wanted was to be a mother.

I flew home a week early. It felt so good to be with Dave. I asked him if we could go on a walk in City Creek before we go out to dinner. Walking next to that winding stream is where I told him the big news. Joshua, I have loved being your mother from that very first moment. You changed my life forever. I love you so much!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY my leap year baby!
Love, Mom
(By they way, I CAN NOT TELL YOU how many people made the joke, "Well, I guess we won't know if he is Dave's child or not until we see if he looks Italian when he comes out! ha, ha, ha)