Miracle Baby

Before I go on to tell about our "miracle baby", a few more memories of our time in Novato have come floating into my mind. It was here that we made one of our first big purchases, a piano. Music has always been important in my life. I have never been blessed with musical talent, but I have always had a love for and an appreciation of good music. I had always wanted my children to have the opportunity to develop any musical talent or interest that they had. Debbie had continued on with her ballet lessons in Novato and showed real talent. Now we started Jeanie with piano lessons.
It was a part of one of our Family Home Evenings that we made paper mache puppet heads using balloons for the mold. We painted faces, added yarn hair, and made clothes. Jim even built us a stage with curtains and lights. When I was the public safety chairman for our school's PTA the older children and I put together a little safety puppet show for the children at the school. The characters were school children, a policeman, and a crossing guard. I don't really remember the story line only that it was to teach children safety in coming to and going home from school. Speaking of school, I'm sure Jeanie, Debbie, and maybe even Kathi (I think she was only in kindergarten at the time) remember the "rod" method of teaching math that surfaced at this time, and the questionable value they had in Dad's mind. That technique didn't last too long.
Because of Jim's job as a field engineer with the responsibility of teaching military personnel he had the status of an officer on base with all it's accompanying privileges. These included the use of the officer's club and swimming pool. I was able to take the children to the pool any time. They loved it! I think more than loving the pool, they loved the snack bar next to it.
Now let's talk about that miracle baby. I guess I have to begin back in Klamath Falls right after the twins were born. Although we wanted at least one more child in the future, my plate was pretty full right then. So we decided to try the brand new birth control pills that had just been introduced. And wouldn't you know, I was that one in ten thousand (or more) who had a negative response. The pills threw me into pre-mature menopause and I stopped ovulating. (I hope I'm not making any of my readers uncomfortable by talking about such a personal subject). The only good thing about that was that I also stopped menstruating. The doctor said that without a reversal I would not be able to have any more children. I was devastated! I remember telling Jim (my husband) how awful it would be to have our son Jim grow up in a house full of girls without a brother. I will never forget his wise words, "If that is the worst thing he has to face in his life, he will be one lucky guy." I'm sure that was supposed to make me feel better, but it didn't.

Now fast forward five years to Novato, California. It is 1965, five years later. The twins have started kindergarten, Jeanie is in fifth grade, Debbie in fourth, and Kathi in second. I have long since reconciled myself to the fact that we would be forever a family of seven. I hate odd numbers! I never wanted to have an odd number of children. It should have been four, or six, or even eight. But not five. But I had no choice. That was until Jim was called to be the Elders Quorum President of our ward. I went with him to be set apart by the stake president, and I confess I wasn't listening as close as I should have to the blessing which he bestowed upon Jim as he was set apart. But on the way home, he said to me, "Did you hear what President Allred said in his blessing?" I had to admit that I didn't know what he was referring to. He answered (and I'm paraphrasing), " He said that the deepest wishes of our hearts would be realized." I didn't know what Jim's deepest wish was, but mine was to have one more baby.

Nine months later on Sunday, March 20, a son was born to us, weighing in at 9 lbs. 2 oz. We felt it fitting to name him John (Jon ... Jim insisted on dropping the the "h" ) which means "Gift of God". He was truly our special gift from God. The doctors couldn't explain how this was possible, but we do. He was truly our "Miracle Baby".

And I was happy. We now had an even number!

More Memories of Novato

The nearly five years we spent in Novato holds many special memories for me. Here are a few that come to mind.

• Watching the twins grow up. Twins have a totally different way of maturing than a single child. It was fascinating to watch. They were best friends and never needed any one else to play with. They developed their own language which only they could understand, and communicated with others when necessary by pointing and sign language. I learned a little of their language, but others couldn't understand a word they said. This was a problem when they were nearing kindergarten age and we wondered if we should hold them back.
• The trauma of disposing of Jimmy's (what we called Jim Jr.) "blanky". Jim loved his blanky, especially the silk binding. He would stuff the whole corner of it in his mouth and chew on it. I had to keep replacing the binding because it would become so stinky and worn. The blanket became smaller and smaller as I kept cutting it down to replace the worn part. One night when we were barbecuing with charcoal in the back yard Jim was standing there watching, blanket in hand. Daddy said to him as he took the blanket from his trusting hands, " I wonder what would happen if we put your blanket on these pretty red coals. Little Jim looked on with horror as his precious treasure go up in flames. No more "blanky".

• Jimmy deciding he wanted to find out what smoking a cigarette was like. Dad obliged by bringing home a pack of cigarettes, lighting it up for him, and watching him put it in his mouth. It was when Mom told him to suck in like using a straw that we saw the reaction that cracked us up. I'll never forget that look on his face as he choked, turned green (almost) and began running around the house ... the outside of the house. He made several round trips before he finally stopped. I don't think Jim ever tried smoking again.

• It was here that we received the news of President John Kennedy's assassination. I remember I was shopping for Christmas, and had just purchased a large stuffed bear that came with a little cub in its' paws. I just knew Deborah would love it. Then the news came over the loud speaker of the store. It's funny what we remember when traumatic things occur in life.
• Adding on to our small church building, the work being done by members of the ward. Jim spent many hours up on the roof of that building. But it was so nice now to have a real chapel with permanent benches, and a separate cultural hall.

• Putting on an original children's Christmas play based on the the story of "The Little Drummer Boy". I talked my my friend, Betty Schmidt, who was a gifted writer to use her skills to come up with this cute play for the Primary to perform for the ward Christmas Party. It has since been performed by several other Primarys in other stakes. I still have a copy of that play.

• Special friends, Wanda Dunn, Lorna Burdette, Irene Laycock, and Betty Schmidt.

• Jimmy and Shelly starting kindergarten even though no one could understand them. We took them to a specialist to make sure they didn't have a learning disability that coused their speech problem. We were assured that as soon as they were split up by placing them in different classes, and with some speech therapy, they would do just fine. It only took several months of therapy and being around other children and they were talking like any other five-year-old.

• Lots of fun church activities.

• Some "not so fun" Officer's Club parties that we were obligated to attend. We once won a prize for the couple that seemed to be having the most fun. Actually we were the only ones who weren't stoned ... and we were great actors. Our prize? ... bottle of liquor.

• Making one of the most important family decisions of our lives - committing to having regular Family Home Evenings. We were motivated by the words of a prophet which were in the introduction to the new Family Home Evening Manual we received. These words were: "If fathers and mothers will faithfully discharge the responsibility of Family Home Evening, not one in a hundred of your family would ever go astray." I liked those odds, I liked that assurance, and I was willing to do my part receive that promised blessing. FHE became, from that time on, a top priority in our lives.
• Being named Novato's "Mother of the Year" in 1966.

• Being blessed with our "miracle" baby, Jon, that same year. More about this miracle and special blessing in my next blog.