My Baby Jac is Turning 13

I am definitely not the first Mom and I won't be the last to say that I can't believe my baby boy is going to be a teenager.  It is so hard to comprehend that my overbaked-half-grown-infant-child is turning 13 years old.  I've never referred to him as my little baby because my pre-maternal visions of motherhood did not include my oldest son as an infant.  He was overbaked by ten days and while I had envisioned cradling this tiny little peewee baby, as Lindy and I are relatively averaged-sized people, I did not forsee myself cradling a baby with legs that extended past my waist.  There was baby...and then there were his legs.  He was 23 inches long and 8 lb 12 oz at birth.  He didn't have an ounce of fat on him and still doesn't to this day.  He's been this long, lanky kid since birth.  My cousin, Lana, won't recall this but I remember us comparing our babies' measurements and her son had the exact measurements at one year as Jac had at six months.

If you believe the much-bandied-about adage that you can double a child's height at the age of two and predict how tall he will be as an adult, then you might see Jac peek at 6 feet 4 inches someday.  (Honestly, I hope this doesn't hold true because it would make Ethan 6 feet 0 inches and Gavin 5 feet 8 inches as adults.  Not so great for the Gav).  I thought Jac would pass me up last summer but he didn't.  In April he was 5 feet 3 1/2 inches--just one inch to go--but his inseam and feet are the same size as mine.  Crazy.  He's in that terribly frustrating clothes-buying stage of not yet a man but not really a boy.  You would think I would rise to the challenge since I love shopping so much, but I'm tempted to let the boy wear his jeans until they're "manpris" (the male version of capris) just so that the next time I buy clothes for him we can just stick to the men's department.  Right now he can wear a boy's size 18 in shorts and some men's jeans in 29-30.  Do you know how hard it is to find jeans in 29-30?  I guess most men are carrying around a bigger gut than Jac.

I've really enjoyed being part of Jac's life while he has grown into this amazing young man.  He was a sweet little boy and has just grown into this polite young man that is sensitive and intuitive and easy-going.  This year has been quite an experience for Jac and me since we've both had braces for the last several months.  I've teased him about how we need a photo shoot with his Dad to capture this time as mother-turning-40 and son-turning-13 brace-faces.  To say that his father and I are proud of him seems so insubstantial compared to the way we really feel about Jac.  We expect amazing, beyond our imagination things for Jac and we speak that out over him and tell him all the time how we know he is going to be everything God calls him to be.  For the record, he's still set on being an astro-pastor.  If you don't know what an astro-pastor is you''l have to go back and read the post I wrote about Jac last year when he turned twelve.  I had already started this post when I went back to read that one to make sure I wasn't too repetitive and I noticed that I named it "My Baby Jac is Turning 12."  I guess in my heart he will always be my Baby Jac.  Lindy and I knew he would be John Addison but decided to wait and actually look at his face to decide whether to call him John or Jac.  We immediately knew he was Jac and my co-workers took to referring to him as "Baby Jac" and it stuck.

Eating in Little Italy in Manhattan

Jac at Hershey Park on his "best chocolate day ever"

Jac spent the last two weeks with his grandparents in Springfield and about halfway through he was very homesick.  I think more than anything he missed his brothers.  We were skyping with him and Jac was just laughing and grinning at his brothers' shenanigans in front of the computer.  Up until now, the relationship between Jac and his almost 10-year-old brother Ethan has been kind of hot and cold--the standard "Jac won't play with me," "Ethan won't quit bugging me" arguments that you probably have in your house on occasion if you have two or more children.  This past Thursday night Ethan was desperate to Skype with Jac but didn't really say why.  After they finally connected later that night I asked Ethan what he had wanted to tell Jac.  Ethan had earned his "Cut and Chop" card in Royal Rangers this week at church, which from my understanding is a big deal and means that he has passed all the requirements to be trusted with a knife.  (Don't quote me, but it's something scary to Moms and exciting to boys like that).  Also, Commander Matt gave Ethan a cool new knife for earning the card that he wanted to show to Jac.  When Ethan and I were discussing their interaction he said Jac had told him he was proud of him.  Oh, did that ever melt this mother's heart.  I have such high hopes for my boys' relationships as adults and this is a good step in the right direction.

My two 2 little sweetie pies pre-Gavin

Turning 13 is going to be a big deal in this house with our three boys and Lindy plans to take each boy on a trip--just the two of them--to "seal the deal."  There might be more information on this later--and perhaps I can convince the husband of Not Your Average Pastor's Wife to be a guest blogger on a later post describing what is so significant about turning 13.  Their trip is already booked and it's a surprise to Jac where they are going.  I know they are both going to have a blast.

Jac, I love you, I'm proud of you, and I'll never quit hugging and kissing you and telling you always how much you mean to me and how much you have changed my life.  You are one of a kind and I can't wait to be known as "Jac Carnett's Mom" in whatever direction God plans for your life.  Stay true to Him and you can never truly fail.  Psalm 18:30 says, "As for God, His way is perfect."  What more do we need?  Love you, babe.

Baby Jac on June 9

What I Learned On My Trip to Israel and Jordan

It was amazing.  Did I say that already?  It was a long journey to Tel Aviv; but it was doable, even in coach.

1.  I learned that Melatonin is pretty good for helping you sleep on the plane and for combatting jet lag.  I took Melatonin to help me sleep, as recommended by several people and my doctor; and it helped.  Just fair warning that one of the side effects is "vivid dreams" and vivid dreams I had.  I also took it a couple times after we arrived in order to sleep at night.  Israel is 8 hours ahead of St. Louis so we really felt flipped around and worn out on the first day.  When they served breakfast on the plane it was 3:00 a.m. to us.  Crazy.  The first day was spent touring the city of Tel Aviv and it's all a bit of a blur now due to the jet lag but the hotel we stayed in was right on the Mediterranean Sea.

2.  The Mediterranean Sea was as beautiful as I had always imagined but pretty cold in April.  It was a dream of mine to see the Mediterranean.  Unfortunately, the water was pretty cold and I didn't go in further than my ankles.  I did enjoy a nice little catnap on the beach while Lindy braved the water further than me.

We packed up early the next morning and drove down south to the desert.  We went to David Ben Gurion's home.  He was the prime minister of Israel when Israel was declared a country in 1948.

3.  I learned what a "tel" was while in the desert.  They are large hill-looking things that are actually one ancient civilization stacked upon another.  We heard the phrase "lower is older" several times.  One tel had remnants of 25 different civilizations.  We think about some things in the U.S. being "old" but compared to thousands of years of history in Israel our 200 hundred-year-old stuff at home is pretty inconsequential.  

That late afternoon we arrived at the Dead Sea and it was a sight to behold.  I have long dreamed of seeing the Dead Sea and floating in it.

4.  I learned a whole lot about the Dead Sea.  The salt and mineral content of the Dead Sea is 6 times that of the ocean and nothing can live in it.  Hence, Dead Sea.  When you get out of the water your skin is really oily feeling from the high magnesium content.  The high mineral content causes you to float so it is literally impossible for you to sink to the bottom.  Besides, due to the saltiness of the water you would not want to put your eyes under the water anyway.  You are instructed not to splash when you go in the water because you don't want the water in your eyes or anyone else's.  Our friend, Roberto, had some issues with the weightlessness in the Dead Sea and had several of us yelling at him as he was splashing around to get his bearings.  If you lean back your legs automatically pop up and it's a bit of a challenge to get your legs to go back down in the water.  Of course, I came up with a technique to counteract this right away, but it is a little unnerving and makes you feel out of control to not be able to put your feet on the bottom.  Dead sea salt and mineral items are sold all over the world.

5.  I learned that it's a good thing that being a nurse combined with childbirth times three has eradicated all sense of modesty for me in a spa setting.  I opted to have a salt scrub at the hotel spa and it was quite an experience.   Apparently, an "all over" salt scrub by a Hebrew-speaking woman is just that--"all over."  And it was vigorous indeed.  I felt thoroughly scrubbed.

The next morning we were packed and on the bus by 7:00 a.m.  We visited Masada.  I learned so much that day and plan to read the writings of Josephus.  If you've never heard of Masada, just google it and read all about it.  It is an extremely significant historic event to the Israelis and I was enthralled with everything I learned.

6.  I learned that tour groups travel with an armed guard in the country of Jordan.  After visiting Masada and the Dead Sea souvenir place we arrived at the border crossing to go into Jordan.  This was quite an event because our tour guide and bus driver did not travel across with us.  They were only able to take us to the border and then once we went through border patrol we were put on a different bus with a new driver, a new tour guide, and an armed guard.  Yep, that's right, we had an armed guard who traveled with us for the three days we were in Jordan.

7.  I learned that there is a noticeable difference when you cross from Israel into Jordan.  I hope that nothing I blog about in this post is offensive to anyone because it's not intended to be that way.  For the most part, Israel is very clean with beautiful land and very little trash.  From the border on in to the country of Jordan there seemed to be an abundance of trash to be found.  There are probably many opinions as to why this is the case, and I won't try to parse that out in this blog post, but it's something that's impossible not to notice.  I spoke with a friend of mine who is originally from a middle Eastern country and his thought was that Israel is a much more prosperous country than Jordan and they have more resources to keep things clean.  Also, if someone has always lived amongst trash they start to get desensitized to it and don't recognize it as someone does who is coming in from the outside.  This desensitization can carry on from one generation to the next.  Interesting concept to ponder.

8.  I learned that the food we ate in both Israel and Jordan was excellent and that it wasn't difficult to adjust to a Mediterranean diet.  We stayed our first night in Amman, which is the capital of Jordan, and a large city.  It was a very nice hotel and the food was very similar to that in Israel--lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, olives, cheeses, pita bread, hummus, etc.  There was also a variety of meats and salads and rice served with each dinner.  We had wonderful food everywhere we went but it was definitely a Mediterranean diet.

9.  While in Amman, I learned that it's difficult to distinguish a toilet from a bidet in the dark.  You see, since I live in a house with four boys I have developed a habit over the years.  If I make a trip to the bathroom in the middle of the night I do not turn on the light but I do ALWAYS feel to see that the toilet seat is where it should be before I do my business.  I did the same thing in Amman and when I reached for it I didn't feel the toilet seat.  I reached behind me to try to see if it was up instead of down.  Not there, either.  I was frantically feeling for it in the dark since I was trying to avoid turning on the light at all costs.  Finally I gave up and turned on the light only to find that I had been trying to find a toilet seat on the bidet which was next  to the toilet.  I'm glad I was persistent in my search because I imagine that might have been a mess.    

10.  I learned that riding a camel is an acquired skill and probably not something I would want to have the opportunity to improve upon.  Our second day in Jordan was spent at Petra.  If you've never heard of Petra all you need to do is watch the last half hour of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  When Indiana and his Dad ride their horses toward a building carved out of red stone you will see the treasury in Petra.  Now, that's where reality ends and Hollywood begins in that scene.  They go running in to the treasury and the movie makes you think there is a lot to see inside.  It's just a small empty room which tourists were not allowed to enter when we were there.  Petra was a beautiful sight to behold.  There was a lot of walking involved that day--about six miles in all--but you could rent a donkey, a carriage, or a camel if you got tired of walking.  After lunch several of us opted to ride camels back to the treasury--about a mile and a half.  Having never ridden a camel before I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  I didn't expect for my fear of heights to kick in, but sure enough it did.  When my camel started standing up I gave a little squeal.  Then, as the rider of the camel tethered to my camel decided to see what it felt like to ride a camel that was running I was then riding a running camel.  She was yelling "Yeah, yeah!"  I was yelling, "No, no!"  Just as I was finally getting used to the motion of riding a camel it was time to dismount.  This little action resulted in a bruise on my back for a few days.  As the camel got down on his front knees I felt like I was going to pitch forward so I leaned back quickly.  The post on the back of the saddle hit me in the back.  By then, I was ready to get off and be done with my camel experience.

11.  I learned that it was easier to get in to Jordan than it was to get back into Israel from Jordan.  We sat on our bus for a long time guarded by plain clothes soldiers with M-16s while they had our passports inside at Border Control.  The whole process took nearly two hours and we were pretty worn out by the time we got to our kibbutz in Tiberias.

I guess that's enough learnin' for one post.  I'll have more pictures and points to ponder with the next published post.