I Am Having a Baby with Jewel

Just when the world thought that famed pop-singer, Jewel Kilcher, and I couldn’t get any tighter, I am happy to announce that we are HAVING A BABY TOGETHER!!

Well, we are having our own separate babies within months of each other, but it’s still pretty cool.

My history with Jewel goes back to the mid-nineties. I remember seeing her in concert at the Beacon Theater in NY for the first time. I was enamored by Jewel’s witty banter with the crowd, her lyrics, and of course that voice. After that show, I discovered an online community of fans. They called themselves the ‘Everyday Angels’ or EDA’s (from the song I’m Sensitive).

That is when my relationship with Jewel’s music really began to blossom. I traded live shows and rare recordings with other Jewel nerds. It turned out that Jewel had 100’s of songs that were never recorded that I LOVED!

The next time I went to a Jewel concert I requested one of her more obscure songs by screaming it from the top of my lungs in between songs. She looked right at me and said, “I don’t remember that one anymore, sorry!” I thought that was awesome because she talked to me.

I attended an exclusive free fan concert in Nashville in 2001. Jewel’s boyfriend Ty, surprised her by showing up during her set list. I yelled that he should go on stage and give her a kiss. She replied to me by saying, “Don’t tell us what to do!” I loved it, because, again, she talked to me.

After a show, all of the EDA’s always hang around trying to take pictures or chat with Jewel. On one of these occasions Jewel asked us all if we saw she and Ty in Vanity Fair magazine. I immediately let her know that, “Yes! I saw you guys and Ty was drinking a Heineken!” I thought that would prove that I really saw them.

She quipped back that, “Yeah and he eats red meat too…” Which meant that she was not only sarcastic (love it!) but also that she talked to me for a third time.

My best moment with Jewel was in 2010 at her album release party. It was an interactive digital concert that was broadcast in lots of cities all around. The interactive part meant that we were able to vote on things like songs that she would sing and what she would wear. We also had the opportunity to compete in a Jewel trivia contest. The questions were pretty difficult (i.e. where is Jewel’s grandmother from?) but I answered them all correctly and quite quickly. I found out within a moment of winning that I would be chatting with Jewel on the phone (and the big screen) immediately. Of course I was a total dork! I mean, what could you say in that situation that doesn’t sound dorky? Oh yeah, I also won an ipad that she signed on screen for me (notice the angel she sketched ☺):

Now that you have some background of my relationship with Jewel, here are a few quotes from family and friends who had just realized that Jewel and I were “having a baby together”:

-- "This obsession of yours is going to far now..." (For the record, I wouldn’t call it an obsession.”)

-- "Jewel is having a boy! You should totally have a girl so that your kid and jewel's kid can fall in love and get married one day!" (Ha-ha good plan, we could be grandmas together!)

-- "I would say that you did this on purpose to be pregnant at the same time as Jewel, but then you would need to know her cycle... um... is that something that is discussed among EDA's? Never mind I bet it is." (Eww… no and no. Not planned and we are NOT THAT creepy.)

--"Well I guess you and Jewel really are kindred spirits." (Yep.)

I am going to see Jewel in Dallas in April for another free fan event (because she is awesome, and loves us ☺) I am making it my mission to get a picture with our two baby-bumps side by side. (Is it possible to get that in a non-creepy way?).

Another piece of advice from one of my students on the art of parenting:

“Watch everything your child does, then watch Oprah to find out what it means.”