Where Do the Blue Eyes Come From?

OK, so this might come off sort of as a weird question, but I feel like I get asked this question a lot, and it might be fun for our girls to look back on and read when they're older since they may not remember their great-grandparents and what they looked like. Plus, I just find genetics so fascinating, in general...so here I go...off on what might seem like a ridiculous topic.  😊

So neither Skyler or I have blue eyes, (I have brown eyes & he has hazel eyes--which have a little blue, green AND brown in them. They really are such cool eyes). ANYWAY--we don't have blue eyes, but two of our four girls have blue eyes (and the other two have hazel)---so where do their blue eyes comes from?? And how do half of our kids have blue eyes??

Well, the answer is simple--from their ancestors. 😉 Skyler and I don't have blue eyes, but it runs in both of our families and we are obviously both carriers. I have brown, my dad has brown, and his mom (my Grandma Venna) had brown eyes. But my dad's dad, my Grandpa Don Smith, had very blue eyes. So that's where blue is on my side--through my Grandpa Smith.

**but--just to throw this out there--I remember learning about genetics in my botany class when I was a biology minor in college--and our teacher told us that eye color is not exactly the same as other genetic traits where you could make a Punnett Square and predict the probability of certain characteristics. Rather, eye color is inherited more like on a color spectrum---based on how much melanin (eye color/pigment) is present. If there is a lot, you have brown eyes or very dark eyes. If you don't have as much, you have lighter or blue or green eyes.

Anyway--moving on. Then there is my mom, Gerhild, who has green eyes and both of her parents had green eyes. In fact, my mom's entire family all have green eyes. (She once told me that the part of Germany they were from was very highly populated with people who had green eyes. Interesting, eh?)

And then there's Skyler's parents. They both claim to have hazel eyes, but I think they both have a lot of blue in them--especially in Susan, Skyler's mom's eyes. Whatever you call them, they're really pretty! And--both of Susan's parents (Virginia & Gary) have//had blue eyes. So, there's that.

And on Skyler's dad's side (Mike's side)--his mom, Mary Ellen, had hazel eyes and his dad, Myron, has very blue eyes.

So, in summary--Lucy and Ava don't have parents with blue eyes, but 3 of their 4 grandparents have non-brown eyes...in one form or another. And 7 of their 8 great--grandparents have non-brown eyes, in one form or another.  (FYI: I only say "non-brown" because of the melanin fact, not because I think brown is bad or something)

So there you have it--a little family history, mixed with genetics lesson. Ha! 😜