A Letter To My Unborn Son

To: Jaxon Thomas Lucas… My Little Dude,

It’s late at night, and I can’t seem to fall asleep. This has been a pretty regular thing for me for as long as I can remember. Tonight is littler different, though. I was laying in bed tonight thinking how in less than two months you will be here. Each day closer to your due date feels like Christmas. I’m just waiting and waiting for you to get here. So I wanted to a little note from me to you.

First, I just wanted to say, Thank you so so much for being a dude!!! I wanted a boy so badly, and I’m glad my wish came true. Second, I hope you have red hair like me. But if not… It’s all good. From what I can tell from your ultrasound photos you are a super cute and chubby baby with tons of resemblance to your mother and me. But I know these pictures don’t do you justice. I ready to see that handsome little face of yours. But I know in use a few weeks you are going to make your grand reveal. Let me tell you; you have a big crowd waiting for you. 4 (very excited) grandparents, a good many aunts and uncles, and too many cousins to count, even a newly adopted 1st cousin. You even have two puppies that are working on their manners for your arrival (they really like the couch), a little kitty that’s super funny but has a mind of his own that we can do nothing about. So I apologize in advance if he thinks your toes are a toy. But most importantly you have 2- first-time parents who are 100% ready for you to come. People ask if we are nervous or scared. You mom and I will quickly respond “We are not afraid, just ready to have you here.” The only thing that I’m worried about is what bottles you will like. There’s like 1,000 types of bottles out there, so I hope you like the bands we picked. Amazon said they were good!

This big family that is so patiently waiting for you but I wanted to give you a few tips for when you get here:

Gammy (your mom’s mom) she is a strong, very independent, loving person with some strong opinions. She will undoubtedly want to have you at her house EVERY day! Sometimes I wonder if she is more excited than we are for your arrival. Although she might be close, I think we’re still more excited =). The key with this grandmother is always to listen to what she says. She’s a pretty smart lady, but she does know how to “crack and whip” if you act up. By crack a whip, I mean you could be doing yard work if you get in trouble. She will defiantly teach you to write from wrong. Don’t let her being from the North fool you. She knows that young boys should have manners and be polite. This advice is for years down the road of course. She will also teach you how to stand up for yourself when the time comes. One small note…. Don’t talk politics with her! 

Poppy (Your mom’s Stepdad) is one of the nicest people on the planet. It took your Gammy a few tries to find him, but he’s a keeper. He will undoubtedly have you in some overalls and Minions T-shirt but trust me, if Poppy can pull this look off, I think a mini version will be much cuter. Poppy can also build, fix, and make anything with his hands. You’ll probably know how to make more than me by the time you’re 7, because of all he will teach you.

Mime (my Mom) will defiantly be to one telling you, “Don’t climb in that” or “You’re swinging too high!” She can worry a little too much sometimes… Ok, she worries a lot but after all the crazy stuff I did as a kid, I think it’s safe to say she has good reason to be a little cautious with a child of mine. She couldn’t be any more elated to have two grandkids right now. Your aunt and uncle (my brother and sister-in-law) just adopted the sweetest little girl. So I’m sure there will be a lot play time and Mime’s house. Just some advice, if she does yell at you and tell you to stop swinging so high, you can probably blame it on the next person I’m going to introduce. He’s a slight bit of an instigator when it comes to things that Mime doesn’t always like. But she will defiantly teach you how to stay safe and “look both ways before your cross the street.”

Paw Paw (my dad)… Like I said, Paw Paw has tendencies to let you do things that Mime might not. At least when I was young that’s how it usually worked out. His tickle game is very strong! So when he tickles you for 5 minutes straight, and you can’t breathe, and you feel like your going to pee yourself. Just yell for Mime, she’ll take care of it for you. The thing you will notice about Paw Paw is, he is a hard worker. He works 80 hour work weeks… On a slow week! AND then still looks for things to do around the house when he’s off from work. It’s crazy! But he will teach you a good strong work ethic that is second to none. He had me cutting grass at the age of 10 making pretty decent money. I was the only 10-year-old on the block that needed a bank account because the Piggy bank just wasn’t cutting it anymore. But make no mistake he will teach you some cool things. Most likely how to work on a car but the key word is “teach!” He is happy to show you how to do something, so you know how to do it, but he’s not free labor anytime you need some help. So pay attention when he is teaching you some things. Oh, and when he whistles for you when you’re playing down the street. You better come back as fast as you can. This whistle means serious business. You don’t want to make him whistle twice.

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Your mom…. She is the most amazing woman I know. We’ve been through a whole lot together, and nothing has ever even tempted us of breaking apart. She is a remarkable person to be around. She’s a little shy in social situations, but I’m sure that you will be the ice breaker for things now on. Because who can resist a red headed baby. Now, your mom is a lot like Gammy. She doesn’t believe in whippings or groundings like my parents did. She believes in manual labor punishment. So if anything goes down, you could end up picking weeds for a few days or cutting the lawn twice a week even though it didn’t need to be cut. You’ll probably wish you could just get a spanking and get it over, but this isn’t how she rolls. But I think you and her will get along just fine. She loves to skateboard, play video games, run around outside and can just as much be “one of the boys.” I’m fairly certain she will love playing one-on-one basketball with you. Well, it might be more like throwing the Football around with you. She has very high hopes that you will be a football player. If you end up anything like me, I.E tall and skinny, your only hope is to be a quarterback. So practice throwing the ball! I know how happy she is to be having a little dude around the house! I know we are going to have some fun times as a family. Word of advice for you, Mom thinks she’s super funny. Sometimes she will even “die” laughing at a joke she said, and it’s not that funny. BUT every now and again, she will hit you with a joke that is so funny you better have a change of pants because you’re liable to pee yourself. Your mom, no different than her mom, is pretty, though. She will have worked three twelve hour shifts every week at the hospital and shot around ten weddings and ten engagement sessions all while pregnant with you! She may not seem tough, but she sure is! Don’t doubt her. By the way, Jaxon, thank you for taking it easy on your mom while you were in her belly. You’ve been pretty entertaining and very easy on your mom. She gets a little tired now and then and sometimes gets a little upset because you sit on her bladder but other than that you’ve been a cool baby!

Lastly, I’m your Dad. I’m fairly sure I will go down in history as the coolest parent ever, but I don’t want to gloat and have this all about me so I will leave that there. In all honesty, I know you are going to be perfect. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to have a boy. My brother and I always had good times as kids. He and I don’t talk much anymore, but hopefully, that will change when you come along. I know me, and you will have lots of fun times together. Just like my dad, I’ll probably push you a little too high on the swing set for mom’s comfort. I’m sure you will have your fair share of bumps and bruises like I did. But you will always have two parents there for you to pick you up and kiss the boo-boos. I’ll be there to check for monsters under the bed because mom will not do that. I’ll do all that I can to take what my parents taught me, learn from their mistakes, learn from my mistakes and do all that I can to raise you. But do me a favor, we know you’re going to grow up so fast, so just try to slow it down for us! You’re our first child. So remember, everything you do is a first for us. We want to soak in as much of it as we can. Be prepared for lots of photos to be taken of you! This is typically how we “soak things in.” We lock in each of those memories with a photo. So just be prepared. Also, don’t be upset if we get a shiny new camera or lens and need you to be a model for a few hours.

I could go on and on about all that I want you to know, but I know we will have plenty of time together when you get here. I worked my butt off for two years to become my own boss so one day I would have the lifestyle of being able to hang out with my little dude whenever I want. We’re hoping Mom will follow suit not too long after you get here 😉

I sit here at 1 am feeling so much better that I came downstairs and wrote this to you, my first child. I know things are going to be way different when you get here. Heck, they already are. I found a baby sock in my laundry the other day, I bought a camera bag that doubles as a diaper bag, you have a whole closet full of diapers and ointments that do all sorts of things, I have an entire shelf of baby bottles… Things have defiantly changed at the Lucas residence, but I can defiantly say we are 100% prepared for your arrival. I hope you are ready for an amazing life because I know we have some big plans for you. So buckle up! It’s going to be a fun ride.

I’ll love you to the moon and back!

Love,

Your Dad