Pictures of my soon-to-be-married son, Alexander ( May 7th ) & some of lovely Laura

Besides writing a poem to read at the reception on Friday, my other task was to do a poster board of photos of both Alex and Laura, at various stages of their lives for display on the big day.  Some people actually show videos or slides but I am not that talented.  It has made me feel a bit nostalgic, looking back at my towering son, now 6'4" - he's grown quite a bit from his original 8lbs 9oz and 21 inches in length!  Sadly, some of our family pictures were ruined when stored downstairs in my Pacifica house which developed mold and caused everything to turn black and stick together.

Some of these you may have seen in my blog posts before but here are some new ones as well.  They all brought back so many memories.  Sometimes, I wish I could roll back the years and hold that sweet baby in my arms again. 

Alex, 4 days old

I used to work in the operating room at Mt. Zion Hospital in San Francisco where Alex was born.  I got there fairly early on the Friday of August 27th, the day of his birth and, since my contractions were still eight minutes apart, my obstetrician let me go across the street to visit my friends in the O.R., admonishing me to be back when they were five minutes apart.  Well, people kept coming up on their breaks and, next thing I knew, my contractions were four  minutes apart.  By the time we got an elevator, got back across the street and up the elevator to labor and delivery, I was pretty uncomfortable.  When the nurse checked me, Alex's head was already showing.  "Wait a minute", I said, "where's my epidural"?  Too late - I didn't get it till after he was out!  All 8lbs, 9 ozs of him!  And he had this headful of hair, sticking out in every direction!  For this photo, I had to try to tame it with water.

Alex, in his baptismal outfit

Alex at 3 months

Laura was a really cute, baby, too!

Alex in the 2nd grade, 7 years old

Carmen and the testosterone trio, salvaged from the mold

Alex at 10

Alex and Jeremy after our trip to Hawaii

Laura is getting more beautiful

Jeremy and Alex at judo

Terra Nova football, offense and defense, #78, Fall 1999

Class of 2000, Terra Nova High School, Pacifica, CA

How about this firefighter!!

Freshman year at U. C. Davis

Happy to be playing football again!  American River College defense - undefeated season!

They look pretty happy!

At American River College

Left to right, Jeremy ( curly ), Shawn and Alex

aka The Testosterone Trio