I'm famous... or just infamous.

Right before I had Henry, I went back to my hometown and went out to dinner with my Mom and sisters. When we got to the restaurant, I recognized one of the waiters as someone that I had gone to high school with. I guess you could say that when we were in school, we had been very casual friends... maybe even just acquaintances. Needless to say, we hadn't really kept in touch over the years since high school. You can imagine my surprise when he came up to me and said hello, and asked about my pregnancy. His comment was "Wow. This is your fourth baby, isn't it? That is just unbelievable."

Ummmm, yeah. How did you know that, strange waiter man, who hasn't seen me since graduation and doesn't even know me well enough to know my married name?

So, was this strange waiter man stalking me? Nope. I've just realized that I'm sort of the high school class of 99 freak show. I mean, who does what I've done? I can just hear it...

"Do you remember her? Yeah. She already has four kids. How crazy is that?"

Even those who didn't know me, at least know about that girl who has four kids already.

This April, I'll turn 27. I'll turn 27, and then in May Jordan will turn 7. So I was young when he was born. I was young when I got married. My old high school boyfriend came to my wedding reception, and he hadn't actually graduated from high school yet. That was weird.

When I was pregnant with Jordan, and we came home for Christmas vacation, several of my old friends from high school came over and marvelled at my now swelling pregnant belly. I'm sure they were fascinated, and probably very glad that they were not in my shoes.

Sometimes, I wish I had a little more time to be young and single and do things that were important to me at the time... but then, what was I to do once I met my husband? It's not like my heart was really giving me a choice in the matter... after him, nothing else really mattered.

So I've dealt with the good and bad of my age... for a long time, people assumed I was the Nanny, or a teenage Mom that they should feel sorry for. Then, it flip flopped and people started adding five or six years to my age, assuming that since I had three, and now four kids, I must be older than I really am.

When we were in school at BYU, Josh served in the Bishopric of a single adult student ward. I was pregnant with Jordan at the time at the ripe old age of 19. I remember seeing members of the student ward all over campus and having them speak to me, not as a fellow student, but like I was grown up. Someone that would be friends with their parents. Most of them were older than I was.

Now though, it really isn't a big deal. It's as if I've finally met that great middle ground where age doesn't actually matter. 22, 29, 39... a Mom is a Mom no matter what her age or experience. New Mom's at age 40, young Moms at age 32, or Mom's of 4 at age 27. We're really all the same, aren't we?

Perhaps I've just stopped caring or worrying about my age. These were my choices and I'm proud of them. I don't regret one single bit, or one single baby. So, yes, strange waiter man... this is my fourth baby. My fourth, beautiful, wonderful baby that brings me more happiness and joy than I could ever imagine. What have you been doing for the past 9 years?