Jason

Today, my second child (my oldest son) turned 7 years old.

Jason Lloyd Thomson was named after the missionary who baptized me (Jason Sterzer) and Rick's Grandpa Lloyd. He was born 3 days after we moved into our Menifee house. I can hardly remember back when I had only a 2 1/2 year old and a newborn. I do remember painting the entire downstairs 4 different colors during that first few months. He was an easy newborn, and I only had one other child!!

The pregnancy was tumultuous to say the least. No foster children, but we lived in 3 different homes before we were finally able to habitate the Menifee house. Originally, when I found out I was pregnant, we were living with Rick's Aunt Wauneta. It was challenging, but we were fortunate that she was being so generous, allowing us to stay there and save our money for the house. After about 6 months, we began to get on each others nerves a little too much. And Aunt Wauneta struggled with having a 2 year old around. We moved into my brother's house in Corona. After a month, we found a cheap apartment to rent (also in Corona) until our house was built. We lived there for about a month and a half before we were able to move. And 3 days later, I went into labor. It was the first child we had where we traveled from Menifee to Orange County for the birth. Fortunately I went into labor in the middle of the night - traffic wasn't an issue.

Jason was 9 lb 2 oz - a big baby, especially after Hattie who was only 6 lb 12 oz! My mom and my friend Amy were in the delivery room with me and Rick. I remember hearing my mom say "You just gave birth to a three month old baby!" as soon as he came out. The doctor kind of stumbled back to catch him.

He was a good baby - so so fat, but he quickly became Mommy's Favorite. Now he is a sweet, smart little boy who adores his baby brother Parker and helps his mother a great deal. He can be a challenge to manage emotionally (lots of whining, and oh! what a temper!) but he is getting better and better each week. We are so proud of him in school. From homeschooling we knew that Jason was very confident and proactive academically. He was always quick to get to work and completed his assignments without (too much) arguing. He likes to please, and has an innate pride in accomplishment. When he entered first grade at the public school, his teacher took to him immediately. She noticed that he excelled and began assessing his skills. Finally, she spoke to me and to the principal about possibly moving Jason into 2nd grade. I wasn't concerned about him physically or academically, just emotionally, but in the end we decided that it would be better for him to be "average" in a higher grade than for him to be too advanced in his current grade. Mrs. Bannon was a great teacher, willing to do the extra work to make sure Jason was being challenged, but what would happen when he got into 3rd, 4th, 5th...? If he was bored, he might start to misbehave... So we decided to put him ahead into 2nd grade. And he has done great! Socially he struggles a little bit, but he is learning and growing and finding friends. I am so proud of him. Academically he has no trouble at all and he is even learning multiplication already!

He is good at doing his chores (vacuuming, taking out the trash) and has taken to Parker (his "Mini Me") like none of the other kids have. I am so proud of my handsome boy. I love him so much and am proud to be his Mommy.