All those years ago...

You know what? It is true- time does fly. Many years ago, 22 to be exact, my only biological son was born. I have been blessed to count 2 other young men as my "own" (love you Bobby and Andrew!) over the years as well, but I only gave birth to Bubba. John Ryan (known to our whole family as Bubba) is a very special guy. He is beyond talented musically and writes as well as any published author. I am very proud to be his mom.

You know, he wasn't always going to be "John Ryan". The whole time I was pregnant, I would imagine that this was a son. This was before routine ultrasounds, so I was only guessing. I would call this son "John Joshua"...John, after his Daddy and Pawpaw, and Joshua- not sure where this name came from though. I imagined us calling him "Josh". This was just perfect, I thought. Until he got here, that is.

Bubba got here 2 weeks early. This was great for me, since K'Lynn was just a baby girl herself at the time (22 months old) and I needed to just get on to this next phase. He was born on a cloudy Wednesday and we came home in SNOW a day or two later. Maybe that is why he loves snow now...loves to ski and snowboard. When he was born, the doctor cleaned him up and showed him to us. I immediately looked at Kyle and said "That isn't Josh!" (disclaimer: since this was 22 years ago, I might not have said this exactly. It's just how I remember it, so don't call me on it if I am stretching a little!) I looked at this hairy little guy and knew his name couldn't be Josh...his name was... hmmm... Ryan. That is right, his name was John Ryan. It has fit him perfectly ever since. Who knew what a blessing he was going to be for our family all those years ago...I love that kid!!

I should also add at this point that I love my girls also, but it isn't their birthday yet!!!