Daxton Justin Olsen

My son Dax turned 6 today so this post is dedicated to him.

I purchased my home as a single mom in 2001, married my husband Justin in 2002 and had Daxton in 2003. November, November, November…

Daxton was a blessing. His older sister Jill was born in 1992 and I really didn’t think I would be able to have any more children. It was shortly after Justin and I were married that I discovered that I was pregnant.

The pregnancy was great. I gained the typical amount of weight and had the usual aches and pains. I remember how exciting it was to find out he was a boy. Justin was pretty stoked about having a boy and I know that is what Jill was hoping for. My official due date was November 28th, then the 21st with a scheduled c-section on November 14. I went into labor in the wee hours of Wednesday, November 12, 2003.

I got up that morning (not having rested real well that night) and decided that I may as well go to work. I got in to the shower and my contractions didn’t subside, but got worse. I talked withJustin, who was already at work and told him that I thought we ought to call the doctor. I told him that I was going to finish getting ready and then call Dr. Craig at 9 when the office opened. Jill was home with strep throat so I called and asked my mom if she would leave work and come over. I also asked her if she would stop at Macey’s and pick me up a blow dryer because it had blown up that morning while I was drying my hair.That said, I still had a very bad hair day!

The doctor told me to meet her up at the hospital and they would see if I was really in labor. Sure enough, at about 12:30 the doctor asked me if I was ready to have a baby and had the nurses start prepping me for surgery. I called in to work and told them I was at the hospital and all I remember about that was listening to my replacement ask me a whole load of questions we hadn't had time to cover during her training and all the while I am thinking, "do you realize they are giving me a shave right now, I don't have time to talk"!

Dax was born at Logan Regional Hospital at 1:56 pm on Wednesday, November 12th. He weighed 6lbs, 5 oz and was 18" long. He had dark hair that had a little curl to it and dark eyes.

He was very alert and could hold his head up.

The family was able to watch him in the nursery be prodded, poked and Justin was able to wash him off. Justin was also able to feed and love on him while I was in recovery.

When I finally got to see him (it was quite some time later), he was just this beautiful, dark little person. He had long fingers that he liked to fan out across his chest. He had dark penetrating eyes and he was so quiet. It was love at first sight.

1 year - what a monkey. Dax was scaling my kitchen cabinets before he was one and could climb trees with ease.

2 years - still scaling. This kid had incredible balance and I never had to worry about him losing his footing or landing on his head.

3 years- adorable. He was such a busy little guy. His favorite movie at the time was Napolean Dynamite!?

4 years - already developed great wit. I remember him coming in to the bedroom with one of my ladies magazines. He had turned to a Dove ad, it was a cover fold out that featured 3 naked ladies. He said, "Mom, these women don't have any clothes on." Then he raised his eyebrow and gave me that, "this magazine is going in my bedroom" look and walked out with it. I turned to Justin and said I didn't think there would be any way our next child could be so dang cute and funny.

5 years - such a handsome young man. Even though he is busy and rambunctuous and doesn't sit still very often, he is still good natured and sweet to his mom. He knows when I am having a bad day and gives the best hugs and back scratches.

6 years - Dax has changed so much since he started school. He loves it. He loves to do his homework every night and practices his letters and sounds every chance he gets. His teacher tells us he makes friends easily and is already showing leadership abilities. She also said that he has a talent that not many other kids have at his age; he can talk to his friends AND do his work at the same time. He gets his multi tasking skills from me.

I adore my little man!