Yearning for a girlbaby has been my life’s lot. It all started when I began my family. First a boy (yay) then another boy (yay) and the third pregnancy I thought to myself – Come on now, I deserve a girl baby. I remember musing over these very thoughts standing next to my bed with the results of my pregnancy test clutched in my sweaty hands and saying a silent prayer. (Now I’m about to tell you something – suspend your disbelief and reserve your judgment of my mental stability)
In that very moment, I heard a genderless voice saying clear as a bell “Well, you are finally going to have your girl.” (Like all right already – stop your moping around – it’s going to happen)
You have to understand the context of the times. It was well before ultrasound and new-fangled modern prenatal technology. (We even used cloth diapers in those days and photos were taken with film, no cell phones, no computers, rotary dial phones with curly stretched out tangled cords) In those days all we could do is wait and be surprised and buy yellow and green until the blessed birth
I told everyone it was a girl – I had full confidence- they thought I was crazy. (Okay – maybe hearing voices is an indication of something along those lines) I began to plot and dream. What would a Rebecca/Scott Bennion girlbaby be like? I immediately presented a “must have” list of character traits to God so I could plan for our lives together. After all, I knew what I wanted. What happened to my vision?
Aubs-Xena Warrior Princess!
(You are kicking yourself right now wishing you had thought of this nickname – It SO fits, right?)
My plots and plans collapsed into happy dust because Aubry exceeded all my expectations. Come with me down sweet memory lane – If you ever wondered how Aubry became Aubry, today I disclose all and probably a bit about my neurotic mothering.
First order of business - the obligatory baby photos:
Disclosure 1:
Even as a little baby Aubry had a sense of style coupled with a fierce and fiery will. And if you ever wonder where her obsessive fingernail polish fetish came from – here is the origin: As a trick to relieve me of carrying Aubry every minute of her life (she insisted) I stood her on the kitchen table and painted her toes and told her to stand still till they dried. Ha – it worked! I could vacuum, sweep, do dishes and fold laundry with both hands. Truly a win/win proposition for us both.
Disclosure 2: (It was the 80’s okay?)
Today, Aubry’s signature asset is her beautiful hair right? What you don’t know is that as a child her hair was really terrible, thin, limp, and straight as a stinkin stick. I was determined to have a curly haired girl baby. See the losing battle I waged with home perms and curlers over Aubry’s early childhood years.
A rare concession of defeat or maybe my own lazy Aubry hair style day
By the time she was a bit older, she grew tired of the constant hair drama. She gave herself her own nickname – the crab. And I don’t blame her. She was more than patient with my curling and complaining about how she had inherited the “other side of the family’s bad hair”
Disclosure 3:
I actively cultivated her “girliness” and amplified it to the umpth degree while I had control over her wardrobe. Not only did she HAVE to sport curly hair but she simply had to wear “eyelons” (Her own word for tights/nylons). Mandatory for the first 10 years of her life - every Sunday she wore her curly hair and “eyelons” with pink, white or red hearts – Thanks Target!
Disclosure 4:
Aubry was an independent little thing who knew what she wanted and how to do it. It’s always been that way. She didn’t need anyone to have fun playing and getting things done (although she had lots of sweet playmates who are her friends today) and she was fearless and adventurous. Notice the classic confidence with the “hand on the hips” Aubry pose.
Disclosure 5:
As Aubry grew became detail oriented, meticulous, a good student, a steadfast and obedient daughter and a loving sister to her brothers. It was a foreshadowing of her adult life. How did that happen I wonder? It was the sainted combo - Me, Dr. Seuss and Horton the Elephant.
Disclosure 2 revisited:
By age 12 something magical happened to her hair. It was no longer really, really bad “Bennion hair” but beautiful and thick and shiny. (12 years of my constant prayers were finally answered) Also by that time, it was hands off for the mom. She was in charge of her own dang hair. A good thing! See the evolution of her hair over her teen years below
Disclosure 6:
Another signature asset of Aubry’s is her beautiful smile. For that I say a big fat THANK YOU to the Child Molester Orthodontist. Yes it’s true – he pleaded no contest to having illicit relations with a teenage girl/ patient and was a convicted child molester just before Aubry became his patient. Be assured I was at with Aubry’s side during every visit. But didn’t he do a good job aside from his personal character flaws???
Disclosure 7:
From the very beginning Aubry had early tendencies toward creativity and compulsively insisted on clever and original Halloween costumes. This was always with her – it was innate and very cute over the years.
The finished product – Aubs-Xena Warrior Princess is fully cooked and ready for the World!
To my bestest ever traveling companion traipsing around Eastern Europe, France Italy and Switzerland, to my wardrobe Nazi slash advisor (only when I wear white socks in public) to the greatest shoe and purse shopping fashionista ever, to my stylin and flashy “queen of everything”, to my one and only girl -- baby! Happy Birthday, you make me so proud (your just like me!)
ILYKL
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