Caution: Now Entering the Teen Years

What was I doing 13 years ago on August 11th, you ask? Okay, so you didn't ask. But, I'm going to tell you anyway. I was a 24 year old young woman whose life changed forever at 12:15 p.m. It was a Sunday. I was pregnant and NOT supposed to be having a baby yet. However, Jessie had other plans. She has never been patient... even in the womb. She made her debut almost 6 weeks early. Weighing in at 4lbs 1 oz. She lost some of her birth weight and sat at 3 lbs 12 oz for what seemed like eternity. I should have known then that she was going to be a stubborn one.

I had a c-section and they wouldn't put me in a wheel chair to go see her. Finally, after hours and hours (or so it seemed), they rolled my entire bed down to NICU. I'm sure we must have been quite the sight in NICU. Jessie's fan club came busting in (Daddy, MaMaw and Grady) along with one proud Mommy.

Bless her heart, she hadn't had enough time to grow a bottom. Her little bottom was flat and she didn't have a butt crack. It was a crease. My mom told me later that it scared her. She thought something was wrong with her back. She didn't realize that the poor little baby was born without any junk in her trunk.

Jessie was quite the little princess. She was the first grandchild on my side of the family. We were also the first of our friends to have a baby. Therefore, she was spoiled rotten. She thrived on all the attention. When we celebrated her first birthday, we marveled at how far she had come in the last 12 months. She had put a little bit of junk in her trunk (not much) and was hitting all of her milestones. Initially, the pediatrician adjusted all of her milestones to match her due date vs. her birth date. Thankfully, we only had to do that for the first couple of months.

Once again, we look back and marvel at how far she has come. The last 13 years haven't been a piece of cake. However, Jessie has persevered and is a wonderful young woman. She has a strong testimony of the gospel and she continues to reach and grow each day to strengthen that testimony.

As we enter the teen years, we know that we are going to continue to see her stubborn streak. However, that is okay as long as we get to see her sweet loving side, too. We love you, Jessica Taylor.