Can you believe he is 17

I often ask myself where the time has gone. Has it really been 17 years since Nick arrived in our family?
Wasn't it just yesterday that he was this little sweet baby?

 Let me tell you the story of  Nick.
I have to back track just a bit to show you how Nick fits into this picture. When Kris and I were first married...I mean the first sacrament meeting we went to as a newly married couple, we sat listening to the opening prayer and the person praying was blessing the little children in the ward. I immediately had the impression that we were not to wait to start our family. I was overwhelmed with that impression and leaned over to Kris and said "I just had the weirdest thought" and I proceeded to tell him what I had felt and with a smile on his face he told me he had felt the same thing. I think we were both in shock and did not know what to think about that. 6 short months later we found out we were expecting Nate. When Nate was 9 months old, I had a very special spiritual experience in which I heard a voice in the middle of the night saying "mommy, I am ready to come to earth" I didn't know what to think of that and remember saying "I don't know who you are, but go back, I am not ready for another baby" This happened 3 nights in a row and I knew this person was a girl, a very strong and valiant girl. When Nate turned 1 I found out I was pregnant. I thought it was the girl who had come to me previously. The night before our 20 wk ultrasound, I dreamed about Nick. I saw a baby with dark hair and the sweetest little smile. I saw him dressed in white. The feeling around him was one of peace. When we went to our ultrasound appt I said to Kris "This baby is not a girl, this is a boy" and I told him of my dream. We then had this confirmed at our dr. appt. We were indeed having a boy.

He arrived 3 weeks early on November 18, 1993. He weighed 8 lb 13 oz. My smallest baby. He arrived at 8:18 am and was perfect. He had dark black hair and was a very peaceful baby.
That would be the word I would use to describe Nick to this day. Peaceful.

And now 17 years later...he is not this little boy, this little baby...anymore. He is a gentle, handsome, smart, genuine, funny, creative young man.

Some of Nick's favorite things are
1. Apple Pie
2. Archeology
3. History
4. Playing Magic (a card game)
5. Reading
And he is way into Mythbusters, Ghost Hunters, History Channel and Scify Channel. So for his b-day we got him a night tour of Alcatraz Island and prison. We also got him a digital voice recorder so he can try his hand at communicating with the ghosts of Alcatraz. We will see what happens.
But let me just say, that as his mom, I think Nick is one of the coolest people I know. He is so good and so good to me. He loves the gospel, he loves the Lord, He is faithful and he is pretty darn amazing!

HAPPY 17TH BIRTHDAY NICK. WE LOVE YOU