Saturday, December 21, 2013

Our Journey to Clayton Charles

I almost don’t know where to start with this one……except that this story I am about to share has been one of the most amazing, stressful, terrifying, humbling, eye opening, and toughest experiences of my life. But you know what? I would not change a thing about it. It has helped me become a better person and has taught me what unconditional love really is (in more than one way!). I want to share this story not just because I am proud of how we got our son, but also for other women and families that may be going through the same thing. I hope it brings them some peace of mind to know that there IS a light at the end of the tunnel, and most importantly, to NOT give up on their goal to have a family...so here is goes J

If we can rewind time a little bit to January of 2011….Jeff had a reverse vasectomy so we could try and naturally expand our family (if that isn’t one example of unconditional love, I don’t know what is!!!). When I first met Jeff, I knew that he was “snipped” but I loved him so much that none of that really mattered to me. I knew it would make it difficult if we ever wanted to have kids but I also knew that it wasn’t impossible. Having children was always something that I knew I wanted…..but I really had no idea what we were in for. You see, Jeff and I did not end up to be one of those couples that were able to just “do the deed” and boom! Out pops a baby. Though the reverse vasectomy worked, we went through a whole year of trying with no success. We watched friends and family get pregnant left and right. Though we were overjoyed for them, we were desperately wishing we could have the same “We’re pregnant” news to share. 

We decided to see a fertility specialist in November of 2011. We gained new hope and decided to try Inter Uterine Insemination (IUI).  In a nutshell, it’s basically a process where the doctor monitors when the female is going to release a mature egg. Once the egg decides it is go time, the doctor inserts sperm and hope they find their way to that egg! Well, Jeff and I did this three times. Each pregnancy test was negative, and each time, I would grow a little more depressed. It was really tough on both of us. We eventually decided to try Invitro Fertilization (IVF). This was a much more complicated procedure, but at this point, we were willing to try anything just to get to that moment of having our baby in our arms.  I underwent all of the nasty self-administered injections in my belly for two weeks, had an egg retrieval surgery, got REALLY sick from all the meds, and finally (and luckily) we were able to get three mature eggs of mine out of it. Unfortunately, since I got so sick from all the ovarian stimulation medication, we could not do what was called a “fresh embryo transfer”. Normally, they would grow the embryos outside of utero for about five days before they put them right back in you. We ended up having to freeze our embryos in order to preserve them while my system calmed down a bit.

Picture below is our three fertilized embryos:



August of 2012, we were finally ready to have a “frozen embryo transfer” in hopes that just one of the three embryos would attach and result in a successful pregnancy. To sort of cut to the chase, I got a positive pregnancy test. But of course there had to be issues with my “beta count level” blood test that said I was pregnant, and the size of the embryonic sac,  and the size of the embryo etc etc. There was NOTHING enjoyable about this time. Most people would be beaming with excitement that they were just pregnant. All I could do was worry about all the complications I was having in a very early pregnancy and that I may not get to meet our little bundle because of it.  Unfortunately, my feelings were correct. We lost the baby at ten weeks. As quickly as we watched the heartbeat on the monitor of our little dream come to life, we just as quickly watched it stop and fly out the window. We were both devastated and didn’t feel like we were ever going to get that end result of being parents TOGETHER.  I was getting ready to just accept it......but something, or someone told me to research adoption. In the back of my head, I always knew it may have to be our option. But why didn’t I think of it sooner!?



I immediately started looking online to see what adoption agencies were out there. I found one that had the best reviews there was….Adopthelp is their name. I thought of all the ways of how I would ask Jeff if he would consider it. I was actually nervous about what he might say…..or how he may feel about it. Seeing that he already had four biological children, I didn’t know if having an adopted child was a thought that ever crossed his mind. Turns out, I was nervous about asking him for nothing. He said “yes let’s do it” so fast I almost started spouting off the reasons of why it was positive before computing that he had already said yes.
In late October of 2012, we signed up with Adopthelp. What I really loved about them was not only their high success rates, but the fact that the birthmother actually CHOOSES your family to place her child into. You are not just placed on a wait list and put with the next kid that pops out.  

We went through the crazy amounts of paper work, a home study, constructing a profile pamphlet of our family to show to potential birth mothers, financial hardships to pay for it, and a new learned patience. Adopthelp began to “advertise” our family in December of 2012. Each month we received an email letting us know how many birth mothers had viewed our profile and what their decision status was. Though Jeff and I were still grieving over our loss in October, we had a new found hope. The thought that we could receive a phone call at any minute telling us that we have been chosen was exciting…and it kept us going
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February 15, 2013- I will NEVER forget this day. Jeff and I had just finished a work week and needed to get our grocery shopping done. We were at Costco.   I had just found a desk in the furniture aisle I wanted to purchase. Seeing that we already had a full cart of groceries, Jeff went to fetch a flat cart to fit the large box onto. While he was gone, my phone rang. The phone number on my caller ID showed up as “blocked”. Normally, I do not pick up blocked phone numbers but for some reason, I did this time.  It turned out to be Mia from Adopthelp. My first thought was that we needed to fill out more paperwork. But instead I heard, “A birth mom chose you guys, she lives in Wisconsin, she is pregnant with a boy……oh yah, and she is due in three weeks”. *pause* Wait what? Did I just hear this correctly!? Once it finally computed in my head, I started uncontrollably crying. Jeff returned with the flat cart and immediately thought something was wrong. I shook my head as if to tell him that I was fine and not to worry because I was crying. I was finally able to get the news out of my mouth to tell Jeff. We both were in a state of shock. Mia told me that she would be sending us an email with the birth mother’s information and photo. We had 24 hours to decide if we accepted the match or not. I stopped her and asked, “Is the baby a drug or alcohol baby?”. Since the answer was no, we didn’t need to see a photo or anything else for that matter to make up our minds. The answer on our half was YES! We stood in the furniture aisle of Costco with a full cart of frozen groceries calling family and friends to relay the good news.

Later that night, we were told my Mia that the birth mom wanted to meet us and was available for a phone call so we could introduce ourselves. Jeff and I sat in the living room with the phone in hand ready to dial her number. But I hesitated for a good ten minutes. There were a million thoughts running through my head. What do you say to someone that is going to give you their baby!? This birth mom was about to do a selfless act for our family that most people couldn’t even fathom. We finally just dialed the phone number and decided we would just go wherever the conversation took us. We spoke to our birth mom for over two hours. The conversation was WONDERFUL and we learned that we had so much in common with her. We spoke about life, kids, hobbies, jobs, family….and our new son on the way. At the end of the night, we agreed that we wanted to move forward with this adoption.

The next couple of weeks were spent doing oodles more paperwork with Adopthelp, talking to our birth mom on the phone, painting a nursery for our soon to be son, and stocking up on tons of baby supplies and clothes! It was so surreal just stepping into a Babies R Us to shop for a baby that was for Jeff and I. He was going to be ours. For once, we weren’t shopping for someone else’s baby shower and it was becoming more real. In a matter of 2 ½ weeks, we furnished and painted the entire nursery. We were ready as we could be. And then all of our plans decided not to go as planned……you see, our birth mom, Gina was supposed to fly out to California with her sister to have the baby. On the night of March 7th, 2013, my phone rang. Gina was supposed to get on an airplane the next day so I figured she was calling to say something along the lines of, “I will see you guys tomorrow”. Instead I heard, “Jenna, I am in K-mart and I think my water just broke”. Crap. The next few hours were spent throwing “warm” clothes in a suit case, booking an airline reservation to Wisconsin, and getting to an airport as fast as we could in hopes that we would not miss the birth. My main concern was the weather. Wisconsin was in their prime stormy snow season. 

Early morning, March 8th 2013: Luckily, we (Jeff, my mom, and I) were able to get a flight that was not delayed. Once we were finally at the gate ready to board the plane, I gave Gina one last phone call before we took off to let her know when we would hopefully be there. Since Gina was in very active labor and in tons of pain, I instead spoke to Gina’s sister. She told me that the Doctor said the baby was coming soon.  We boarded the plane and tried to get some sleep before we landed.

When we landed in Wisconsin, I immediately turned on my phone so I could call Gina to hear an update…….but before I could do that, a picture text message popped up on my phone. It was a beautiful picture of our new son, Clayton Charles Willkomm. It read, “Hi mom and dad. I arrived at 10:27” (photo she sent shown below). I couldn’t contain my tears of joy. It was so surreal.



Upon arrival to the hospital, I started getting nervous. I was trying to figure out if I should greet Gina first, or our new son, or the other way around. I couldn’t believe the time was actually here! Jeff and I were going to get our moment to hold OUR baby together. I grabbed the diaper bag we packed and Jeff and I made our way to the hospital entrance hand in hand. My mom followed behind us taking pictures of the moment.



Room number 255. We were outside the room ready to meet Gina and our new son. We took a deep breath and walked in. In the hospital bed, we were greeted by a smiling Gina. I went straight to her and gave her a giant hug.  I also had the pleasure of meeting her sister, Tenisha, and Gina’s boyfriend, AJ. After I said hello to them, I turned around to see the most beautiful little face I have ever seen. Clayton. He was just beautiful. A nurse was in the process of bundling him up under the heat lamp so we could hold him. I stood by and just watched in awe. I was already in love with this precious little boy. I turned back around and gave Gina another hug making sure she knew that we were so thankful for her and our son. The nurse just as quickly slapped a hospital bracelet on my wrist and placed little Clayton in my arms. Our moment had finally arrived.




The next couple of days we stayed in the hospital with Clayton. The hospital gave us our own room and everything. It was right next door to Gina’s room so it was pretty awesome. We took turns carting Clayton back and forth from room to room giving him very large doses of love. We got to bond with Clayton and also with Gina.  After two days in the Hospital, we got to bundle our new little dude up and venture out into the snow…..to our hotel room. This was one of my least favorite parts of the trip. There is NOTHING fun about staying in a hotel room with a newborn baby for a month!

In a nutshell, the whole month (which was only supposed to be two weeks) we were on pins and needles. I won’t go into too much detail out of respect to the birth father, but he definitely did not make this process easy for us (We never got to meet him to hear his thoughts. But if he ever reads this, we want to thank him too. Clayton is here because of you and Gina…..and we are forever thankful for our beautiful son). In fact, we thought we may not be going home with the little boy we already called our son. I was about to set myself up for another let down in the baby department. I tried to keep busy to keep my mind off of things that were negative. I ran, I changed diapers, ran some more, ate a ton of food that was awful for me, visited with Gina, and slept as much as a baby would allow me too. We also got the wonderful opportunity to meet Joanna Ivey and her beautiful family. Joanna is the very talented woman who created our profile pamphlet to help “advertise” us. She also happens to live in Wisconsin. Her and her family opened up their home to ours and invited us over for dinner. It was a great way to help get our minds off of the things that were going on. A month went by very SLOWLY and luckily, things worked out for us just fine. God was truly watching out for our new family.

April 5th, 2013: We were allowed to take our son home to California! I couldn’t wait to go home. I missed my bed, my family, and the warm sun. I was tired of living out of a suitcase….and using a communal washer and dryer (gross!).  Sitting in the airport in Wisconsin that evening was unreal…… I couldn’t believe that Jeff and I were bringing this beautiful baby home with us.


The months flew by when we got home. Clayton was growing quick! We watched a lot of firsts. First Disneyland trip, first 4th of July, first Thanksgiving, first Halloween, first teeth, first trip to the beach…..memories I will cherish forever. I went through emotional roller coasters like you wouldn’t believe. I knew deep down that the adoption was pretty much good to go. We were just waiting on minor technicalities. Six in home visits from a social worker, more paperwork, and waiting on courts. On average, it takes 8-10 months to finalize this type of adoption. This was a hard wait period because for me, I over think most things when it is important to me…..”What if something goes wrong with the paper work and we lose our son?........what if a new issue pops up that they didn’t expect and the adoption can’t happen?”. I did my best not to think like that but at times, it would cross my mind. Thank God nothing came up and there were no red flags after the Wisconsin fiasco.

December 20th, 2013……This day was just as special as the day we met Clayton. The day we finally went to court to close the book on this very long journey and make the adoption final. This particular date also happens to have a lot of significance to me. Not just because it is now the day Clayton legally became our son, but it is also the anniversary of my dad’s passing. This year marks 15 years since my dad has been gone. I don’t think it was just a coincidence that our hearing date just happened to fall on this date.  I believe it was my dad’s way of letting me know he is always with us and rather than being sad on this day, that I should be happy. Instead of remembering how awful this day was for me as a teenager, I will instead remember my dad’s life and how amazing he was. And now, I can also remember how amazing I felt when the judge told Jeff and I that Clayton was ours FOREVER.





This journey was unlike anything that I have ever experienced before. Like I said in the first paragraph, I would not change a thing. I think this is the way God meant for me to create my family. Jeff and I still stay in close contact with Gina. She is AMAZING and we are lucky to have her as part of our family. We send her oodles of photos of Clayton every month (mostly through text). She knows we love her very much and how grateful we are for the amazing gift she gave our family. Besides my own mother, she is one of the strongest women I know. So Gina, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for Clayton. He is the light of my life and a dream come true for us.  We can't wait to reunite with you one of these days :) I also need to thank my mom. She stuck with us through this entire process.  Without her, none of this would have been possible for us. She also takes amazing care of Clayton when Jeff and I are at work.  ALL of our friends and family: thank you for supporting our decision of adoption and thank you for accepting Clayton for the wonderful little boy he is. I am excited for the future and watching Clayton grow into a successful young man. Until baby number two, I am checking out J

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

PRANKING YOUR KIDS IS FUN....

Sometimes, you just have to mess with your kids. Isn't that what they are for haha? Anyway, Jeff and I were sitting in our living room contemplating what our day would entail.  We came up with two ideas: to hike Cowles Mountain and to go to the movies.  We came to the agreement that we would see "The Gray". Since it started at 2:05 PM, we figured why not pull Kekoa out of school early so he can come as a nice suprise for him.  We don't get to spend as much time with him as we would like so this seemed like a great idea. Besides, the kid is a straight "A" student. He deserves a treat once in a while.

Anyway, Jeff decides to call the school to let them know we would be picking him up at 1:15.  They told us they would have Kekoa waiting in the office for us when we arrived.  I told Jeff once the teacher tells him he is being picked up early, he may think something is wrong. Why not go with it and make him think he has some crazy doctor appointment? Well that is exactly what we did.  Jeff and I planned out the whole thing and agreed we would tell Kekoa we came to ge him early because he has a physical for baseball and it includes a hernia check as well as a new procedure.....a rectum exam. I wasn't sure he would fall for it but let me tell you, he did hahaha.

Jeff and I completed our morning hike and made it home just in time to take a shower and get dressed before we had to pick up Kekoa from school.  We arrived at his school and went straight to the office.  As Jeff was signing him out, Kekoa comes to me with a worried look on his face asking, "Mom, am I in trouble?" I respond to him and tell him that he is not in trouble.  I told him baseball now requires the players to get a physical and we were going to the only opening they had for the next month.  His next question to me was, "Do they do the turn your head and cough test?!" I was trying so hard not to laugh as I responded, "yes, they do the hernia check as well as a new test they now require. A rectum exam."  The three of us continued to walk to the car and I could tell he was not quite sure what a "rectum exam" was.  He of course thinks it has to do with his genitals and asks, "is that a wiener check?" Jeff responds by telling him, "you are getting a butt check."  Kekoa seemed to be in disbelief and said, "But I didn't wipe (the kid has jokes).!?" but quickly chimes in again and says, "just kidding just kidding!! How do they look in there? Do they have to go in my butt to look?"  This is the part I had to look away so I wouldn't blow the whole prank and start laughing.  Jeff told him how a rectum exam was conducted as I was turning my head away from both of them. "They stick a probe up your butt with a little camera and once it is in there, it expands and pulls your butt apart." Kekoa gets a look of shock on his face and says, "man I am nervous now."

As we drove towards the movie theatre, Kekoa is still in belief that he is getting a very serious physcal.  Jeff continues to tell him how they don't put anything to lubricate the probe and how it might hurt.  We pulled into the Edwards Theatre parking lot and told him he had an appointment with "Dr.Edwards."  Kekoa says "is it an appontment with Edwards cinema?" We starte laughing thinking he had figured out we were not going to the doctor but to movies instead.  He then asks us if we were going to the docotor before or after the movie. Jeff and I start laughinng even harder and finally tell him flat out that he does not have a doctor appointment for his butt.  He started laughing and gave us the typical teenage response of, "dude you guys suck!"......he still thought it was funny and was a great sport about it.  We got away with a funny joke and enjoyed the movie too :) Messing with your kids is fun sometimes ;)

Friday, January 20, 2012

Making a Difference...

Being a police officer, you wear many hats. Besides the obvious role of arresting people who commit crimes or citing people who commit traffic violations, we are also expected by most of the public to be able to do or know anything under the sun. One moment we may be a marriage counselor during a domestic violence, and the next moment we may be consoling a family for the death of a family member. Sometimes we get called because someone just wants advice, they can’t get their child to go to school, or they simply just want a shoulder to lean on.

The walks of life we encounter are so large I can’t even talk about it all in one day. Most of the time we don’t deal with the most well behaved cliental in our society (90% of the time haha). Sometimes, you may deal with someone so rude or see something so horrible it will ruin your day…... Or sometimes your whole week. Some things you see will stick with you forever…..good and bad things. Sometimes, you get the opportunity to do an act of kindness for someone you don’t even know and hear an, “I appreciate you”. Those days make you walk away from your job feeling good. Feeling like you made a difference in someone’s life. I know I can’t change the world but I can sure try to do my best with the resources I am given to help ;)

Today at work was one of those days that will stick with me forever. Jeff and I came across a young lady who truly impacted my outlook on life. Her sincerity and friendliness warmed my heart and I will never forget her. It all started when Jeff and I were investigating a hit and run collision near a Starbucks. Jeff was parked in the parking lot while I was inside the establishment giving the victim some information regarding his report. When I came back outside and sat down inside the police car, Jeff showed me two yellow bracelets that said “Livestrong“ on them (many people are very familiar with these). He told me a woman had come by the car and asked if, “you and your partner would wear them.” Jeff told me the woman had little to no hair and was most likely a cancer patient. A survivor maybe? I opened up the packaging and put the bracelet on. Jeff did the same.

As we sat in the same parking lot typing a report, I saw the female who gave Jeff the bracelets exiting the Starbucks. Her vehicle was parked next to ours. The female was wearing a purple velvet jogging suit. It appeared that she had lost all of her hair minus a little bit of fuzz. Since our window was rolled down, we held our wrists out of the window and thanked her for the bracelets. She responded by saying, “Please pray for us.” We told her we would and the female began to get inside her car. I looked at Jeff and told him I really wish I could hear her story. Jeff responded by asking me if I wanted to go stop her and say a prayer with her. I told him “sure”. We exited the vehicle quickly and stopped her before she could drive off. As Jeff opened her car door (and before we could even ask her what her name was) she stated, “I am so tired.” I looked at her face and saw that she was crying. Jeff and I held out one hand each and she grabbed on while still crying. Jeff asked her what her name was and she told us it was, “Debra.” We all bowed our heads and Jeff led us in prayer. It was a beautiful prayer. A prayer that asked for healing in Debra’s life and thanking God that we crossed paths with someone so great. After the prayer she looked up and told us how wonderful we were. She kissed and hugged us both. Without even asking her what her story was, she began to talk. She told Jeff and I she has Leukemia and was given 11 months to live. She has been battling the nasty disease for three years and recently decided to stop treatment so she could live the remainder of her life without anymore hospitals or medicines. She was “tired.” She went on to tell us about how she just planned her own funeral and her decision to be cremated. It broke my heart to watch her cry and to hear the pain she was enduring. Though she had a roller coaster of emotions, and despite her situation, she was so positive about everything. The conversation continued. We spoke of her journey with cancer, her 4 kids, her grandkids, her life growing up, how people raise their kids now a days, and about God. We even got a few giggles out of her J It was a breath of fresh air to talk to someone as great and free spirited as Debra. It was hard to find the right things to say to her. I just stood there wishing I could say everything to take all her worries away and to make her cancer better. Listening to Debra talk all while keeping a positive outlook over such an unfortunate situation, reminded me that you can always find good in everything no matter how horrible it may seem. Her positive outlook came from her faith in God.

So anyway, Long story short (not really haha), Debra was happy we stopped and let her vent to us. She enjoyed our prayer and our conversation. It brought a smile to her face and I hope it helped make her day for just a little while. I hope she knows that she made my day and I am happy that we crossed paths with her. Debra, Jeff, and I chatted for quite some time in that parking lot. Debra began to get tired so she eventually had to leave. She told both of us that she loved us followed by a kiss on the cheek and a firm hug for each of us. She drove away and waved good bye. I hope she doesn’t stop fighting and I hope she knows that I will always remember her. She has made a positive impact on my life…..so thank you Debra! Keep fighting J

Sunday, October 9, 2011

A new beginning...

I am not a huge blogger…..mostly because there is not a whole lot I care to share and discuss with others. I have had this blog account for a while now solely to read a friends blog who is traveling in Spain. I wanted to stay in touch and read about her adventures. The only way I could comment on her stories was to open up my own account, so I did. I briefly thought it may also be fun to write my own blog once in a while. Writing helps relieve stress and it puts your feelings out on paper. I suppose the main problem I was experiencing was the very common, “Writer’s block.” Nothing really sparked my motivation enough to want to write about it. Today I actually feel like sharing a little about what I did today.

I went to church today. For some of you that may not sound like a huge deal, but for me it was. I haven’t gone to church in about 13 years. For me, it was a HUGE step. When I was a kid, my dad sort of forced the religion thing on me. He would send me cards in the mail every week with five dollars inside of it. Inside each card would be a bible verse which I was required to memorize by the next time I saw him. The first thing he would ask me when he picked me up from my mom’s house was, “Did you remember the verse I sent you?” I would just stare at the ground and say, “nope.” He would put his hand out and ask for the five dollars back if I could not recite it. That was the deal. No verse, no five bucks. How do you expect a small kid to understand bible wording?! I sure couldn’t. In fact, I thought it was boring and I grew to hate it.

Every Sunday, my dad would also drag me out of bed at a VERY early hour to go to church. He used to take me to Calvary Chapel and we would sit in the overflow room and watch a monitor with “Pastor Chuck” on it. Not only did I not understand a word he was saying, but also, it felt like he wasn’t speaking English. Not to mention, I was BORED OUT OF MY MIND. I only went to please my dad. And of course at the end of each service, my dad would ask me, “So what did you learn from the service?” I felt like saying, “if he was speaking in English I could understand, maybe I could tell you!” But I had to sit there and make something up and just let him correct me. I really would just blank out 75% of the time and only listened to enough to bring up a point to my dad at the end to make him think I was listening. So between being forced to go to church, and memorizing bible verses, I became bitter towards God and religion. My dad would get upset when I started showing this. I honestly did not “believe” in certain things in the bible. My thought leaned toward, “If I can’t see it, it must be fake.”

When I was 14, my dad passed away. Not only did that turn me away from church even more, it made me not believe in God at all. I thought, “If there was a God, he would not take my dad from me right now.” In college, I despised religion classes which I was required to take since it was a Lutheran school. The teacher would assign homework that required reading the bible and writing essays about your findings. My paper would end up bashing God. Not my proudest moments but I went through a tough period. And I BARELY passed that class hahah! I also refused to step foot in a Sunday morning service. I would just compare it to boring sermons and “thy” and “thou” bible verses.

So what made me go today? Sadly enough, as most of you have seen on the news, SDPD has lost a lot of officers this year. I attended a few of the services. Jeremy Henwood’s service in particular is when I sort of changed my mind about church and God. Miles Mcpherson from The Rock Church spoke during the memorial service. He was entertaining! And he spoke English! I just thought, if church was like that, I would go. So my husband and I sat down and mutually decided to try it out together. Jeff, my step son Kekoa, and myself went to the night service at The Rock Church tonight. I was nervous and I felt awkward at first. Not to mention, Kekoa asked to sit in the front row. I would have no chairs or other people in front of me to make me feel a little more secure in there. As the service opened up with music, a lot of people were singing out loud and raising their hands in the air. I don’t even dance at normal concerts so this part was not my favorite…..especially in the front row haha! After the music, Miles came out and spoke. I enjoyed the entire service and understood 110% of it. I felt like crying a few times but held it in. I don’t like to draw attention to myself. None the less, it felt good to be sitting there with my husband and son. It made me feel happy inside…..a different kind of happy then if you had just won a million bucks or something.

So anyway, just thought I would share with you all. I never thought I would see the day when I would say, “I want to go to church.” Jeff and I decided to go every Sunday night…I still can’t wake up early so night service is what we settled on haha. I am looking forward to the new experience in my life and the faith is very welcomed. It is also a new bond I can share with my husband J