Where Did You Get Those Eyes???

Ever wonder how genetics really work? Have you ever looked at one of your children and wondered where they got those big blue eyes or that hair from?

Genetics have always amazed me. How can two people have multiple children together that look completely different? I don't have to look far for DNA to just confuse me all to heck. All i need is a picture of my Mom and her sisters to really make me go how did that happen. Or even to look at my own children.

Example A of my utter confusion with genetics in my Mom and Aunts. They are all about 2 years apart. They have the same parents but yet all 3 of them look nothing alike.

My Mom, the eldest, was of average height at about 5'4''. She had hair much like mine (or mine much like hers) with multiple colors weaved together that naturally turn in the sun (i know lucky us). She didn't have fair skin but it was not dark or olive toned either. She, as do I, tanned easily and hardly ever burned. Her eyes were green for the most part but often turned with either mood or clothing (as do mine, yet i am told i look nothing like her). My Mom it seems was a perfect mix of both her mother and father.

(Sorry no adult picture of my Aunt Linda)

The second born, my Aunt Linda, took solely after her father (my Grandpa) who was 75% Native American Indian. She is on the taller end of average at about 5'7''. Her hair is like black silk. I always envied her hair and wished i would have gotten that gene. She has dark brown eyes that are both mysterious and demanding. Linda has dark olive toned skin. She gets even darker when out in the sun.

The baby of the family, my Aunt Kay, took after her mother (my Grandma). She is the shortest of all the kids barley reaching 5 foot tall. Her hair is and always has been golden blond and even white as the summer sun bleaches it out even more. Her eyes are baby blue and it always made me sooooo jealous. Kay's skin has always been very fair. She does not burn easily (thanks to the large amount of Indian blood we contain) but never much cared for the sun as an adult.

When you put these 3 together they looked more of best friends than sisters. Just 3 little girls who might have bonded over ice cream at a sleep over instead of being raised in the same house hold at the same table.

My next example would be my own children! Yea i know you didn't have to go far for that one did you.

Phabian looks much like me as a child. He is tall and slender. He has green eyes that change daily and brown thick hair. His skin is much darker than mine but alas his father is black (brown, African American, whatever you wanna call it). He has my head shape and a lot of my personality.

MJ, well he is kind of a mystery to us. He looks, by all facial and stature structures, like his father. He is short and stocky. He has a very round head shape with dark brown eyes. Yet somehow he has managed to gain blond hair (which i had as a child til age 4) and "white" skin. He is also personality wise much like his father.

Side by side you might not guess that they have the same parents. This leads me to wonder and think a lot about what Sione' will look like.

Will he be darker than Phabian? Will he be "white" like MJ? Will he have black hair or take after one of his brothers? Will his eyes be blue like Phabian's were when he was born or will he have a more honey/hazel color?

This all swirls around in my mind. I think it is the hardest yet most exciting part of pregnancy. You want to envision what your baby will look like but there is just no telling how the genetics will mix. Some people have kids that all look the same or take after one parent. Others have multiple kids that look absolutely nothing alike.

I know one thing though...I can hardly wait to see Sione' and welcome him into his mixed up, crazy looking, very different family!