All about Raley Week

In honor of Raley’s upcoming birthday, I have written a few posts all about him!! I’ll try not to brag too much or cry too much, or ramble on too much, but when the subject matter is so awesome it’s kind of hard not to get carried away.


Jayme and I had been married for almost two years when we decided the time had come for clones. I stopped taking The Pill and we put years of practice into work (little humor there!). It only took three months to get pregnant and by our calculations he was actually conceived on our anniversary (you’re most welcome for any mental imagery). Because I am nutty like that, I knew about when I would get my first clue as to whether or not I was expecting right around my birthday. Jayme was scheduled to be gone on a training exercise so I promised I would not tell anyone before he got home... if there was anything to tell. I took the test ON my birthday and received my best birthday present ever in those two pink lines. When Jayme came home a couple days later, I first saw him through a chain link fence as I handed him his car keys. He couldn’t take the suspense and asked me if I had taken (or needed) a test yet. I made him kiss me through the fence first then I said, “Welcome home Daddy.” Since pretty much everyone in the family (or the world!) knew that we were trying, no one was particularly surprised when we called them with the news. Everyone was happy for us though. I had a fairly easy pregnancy and his delivery only had minor complications (story to come later).

Raley has grown into an awesome kid. He is so much like Jayme and he is so much like me! He and I share a love of books, and coffee. He and Jayme share a love of science and anything spicy. He looks more like me and my side of the family, but he has Jayme’s mannerisms and sense of humor. He loves superheroes and because of that, so do I. He can tell you all about almost any DC or Marvel comics character. We regularly watch all the cartoons or movies that are superhero themed along with Star Wars, Star Trek, Transformers, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. Of course we also love Spongebob, Tom & Jerry and Popeye. He and Jayme will watch almost anything on the History Channel,  Discovery Channel, or Planet Green.

When he grows up he wants to be a scientist. This hasn’t changed since he was in Kindergarten and first wrote it in his school journal. Lately he has talked about studying Paleontology and perhaps using that knowledge to be a science teacher. This year (as a 4th grader) there has been more science curriculum in school and he has flourished in it. He can tell you almost anything you want to know about dinosaurs and has his own theories on why they are extinct and how they evolved. He sees the natural world as a wonder to be explored by learning about how it formed and where it’s going next.