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Hey everyone (all you millions of people who check this blog every day, just hoping for a new post from us) We've moved our blog over to Wordpress. The url is the same except for wordpress: stalisha 'dot' wordpress.com

15 Months

She had her 15 month appointment this week. Her head is still 95th percentile while her weight hangs out around 30th. My small girl with the big head.

She was content to look at the books until her doctor came in, at which point she waved by and tried to leave. She does not love people messing with her. Unless it involves finger nail polish apparently. You can’t tell in the picture, but all twenty of her nails are painted purple. She begged one of her sitters to do it. Anyway, that’s off topic, but it did not make me look credible when I told the doctor that she cries no matter who tries to make her sit still. I might have a girly girl on my hands.

Easter Camping

As long as I can remember, my family has spent the days leading up to Easter camping at Huntsville State Park with many other families from the area. These were days of family bike rides, smores by the fire, alligator hunting, and late night games – the best of both worlds because you got to hang out with your family and your friends at the same time.

One of the things I was excited for when we moved back to Texas after college was the chance to rejoin the annual excursion.  Although 2013 technically marked Naomi’s first Huntsville camping trip, I think this year she noticed a little more…and she loved it!

The first morning she woke up, looked out through the mesh at the trees beyond, and grinned. That grin lasted pretty much the whole time. Case in point:

It didn’t hurt that we also introduced her to her new bike seat…

And took her on her first egg hunt…

Maybe next year we’ll even let her eat some of her candy.

She also got some quality time with grandparents, aunts, and uncles (especially Aunt Mary!)

Which meant that Stephen and I got some quality time as well. We even found an alligator hanging out in the nearby cove.

Citius. Altius. Fortius.

The opening ceremonies of the Olympics are a funny contrast. The Olympics offer the world a chance to join together and compete in a peaceful (though not always friendly) manner. It is an international event. At the same time, it's a chance for the host country to showcase itself and say, "Look how cool we are." interesting contrast.

Anyway, I look forward to the next couple weeks. We'll see if Naomi is inspired at all. Of course, first we have to teach her how to dress herself properly.

Learning from Naomi

Don't be afraid of falling. 

Or of climbing high.

Learn to catch yourself (with style). 

Then get up and keep going. 

But rest when you're tired.

Find a place that's just yours.

(Preferably one with a view)

Go outside and smile.

Don't refuse a push,

Or a ride.

Better Late Than Never?

Found this draft from July that for some reason I never published:

Alisha's brother Erik got home from Korea a week ago, so we though we better come down and introduce him to Naomi. Apparantly he never even saw pictures of her pregnant, so we need to make up for some poor communication.

As part of our trip, we went to the Houston temple with Erik and Alisha's parents. Three years ago, we were sealed together there. There was something poignant about taking our baby to the place where our family began.

I love visiting the temple because there is so much to learn there. Much of the ceremony focuses on the creation of the world. It reminded me that one of the most important things we can do as children of the Creator is to create. It may be a lot of work to figure out how to create as an attorney, but I know it can be done.

While her parents and grandparents were in the temple, Naomi got to spend the time with her Aunt Jenni. Hooray for wonderful sisters-in-law! Naomi was asleep when we went in, but very awake when we came out. Awake and very smiley (well, after she ate). We were able to take lots of pictures.

Naomi did wonderful all day. Starting with the temple trip, then lunch at the Olive Garden. After that we went to the beach, then went swimming. Naomi stayed happy through it all. She had a couple short naps, but she was awake a lot of the afternoon and evening. She drifted off while eating (which she hasn't done for a while). After she was done Alisha handed her to me and I just laid her in the crib. If only it were always that easy. She proceeded to sleep for 10 hours straight. Maybe we should have big trips like this more often.

Who does she look like?

 

There are a standard set of questions that you get asked at every stage of babyhood. When you’re pregnant, it’s “How are you feeling?” and “When are you due?” and “Is it a girl or a boy?”. When you have a newborn, it’s “How are you sleeping?” and “Who does she look like?”. These are pretty legitimate questions and to most I have a straight forward answer. However, I haven’t quite figured out how to answer the one about her appearance. I have seen babies who look exactly like one of their parents, but I think that usually requires a bit of hair. So, here are some of our baby pictures. You should tell us.

One giant leap...

Beautiful isn't it? That picture will get some context later on. Here's another:

I'm a dad now. It's still strange to say. I look into the living room and my daughter sleeps peacefully. I find myself pacing the living room at four in the morning, without a complaint in my mind because my daughter is falling asleep with her head on my shoulder (Alisha may point out that I don't do that multiple times every night. Of course, even though Alisha does, she is more cheerful when Naomi wakes her in the middle of the night than if I wake her up in the middle of the night - something I learned early on never to attempt).

There's something about being a dad that I can't put in words. So enjoy this parable (I won't be offended if you just look at the pictures):

I remember when I was in middle school that I had a plan to be the first man on Mars. I knew exactly what I needed to do - letter in sports throughout high school, get good grades, go to the Air Force Academy, and become an astronaut. I talked to someone from church who had gone to the Air Force Academy. I looked up all the info on becoming an astronaut I could find on the internet. I would read about Mars every day and thought about it all the time. I have a notebook where I laid out all the things I needed to accomplish to achieve my dream. I distinctly remember planning what I would say as I set foot on the surface of Mars while I was in the shower.

I planned on looking a little less goofy.

Then one night as I lay in bed, waiting for sleep, I was thinking about the fact that it would take at least six months for the ship to get from Earth to Mars. One year for Mars to return to the right spot in its orbit to send the astronauts back. Six months to return to Earth. That would mean two years away from my wife and children. And the dream was eclipsed by another.

You may think I'm exaggerating a little, but just ask Alisha. My dad told her that story the first time he met her (parents are obligated to embarrass children, aren't they?). And when I heard James Lovell speak about the first time he saw earth rise over the moon, I cried. I'd given up something wonderful.

I've waited for Naomi for a long time. I may never enter space and witness that earth-rise, but I have held my daughter in my arms. I'll take that over Mars any day.

Roaming Part II

When Stephen and I realized that I would be on maternity leave still during his spring break, we realized that we should do something epic with our free week of vacation. Well…epic didn’t really happen. We couldn’t think of anything truly epic we could do with an infant in tow and without spending money. However, we did get to spend some needed time with family.

And we did get in some more practice traveling. Naomi does really well in the car…as long as she’s asleep. About 90% of her awake time is spent screaming. Not a car seat fan I guess,  but I don’t blame her – you have to face backwards, they’re not very cushiony, and so restrictive. We learned some useful tidbits. I’ve worked out that it takes about 50% longer to drive places now than it did when Stephen and I were ‘single’.

Next time we’ll have to do better at planning interesting places to stop. This time we stopped at an Urgent Care facility parking lot, a warehouse store parking lot, the side of a highway and a gas station Wendy’s. Not that that these places were too boring – the highway had purple wildflowers and the Wendy’s was tactically surrounded by a raucous bird army. Still, though, it might have been more fulfilling to stop at the museum of Texas prisons or the giant Sam Houston statue or even that pleasant tree-filled rest stop we accidently passed. We’ll have to work on that.

Our time time in Lake Jackson was filled with Naomi being passed between grandparents, Josh vying for favorite uncle, and getting the boys ready for their epic 50 mile canoe trip. We also got in some canoeing, took Naomi to see her first alligators (except she slept through that), went laser tagging, (except that Naomi and I sat in the car and ate) and did a little rock climbing in a Houston gym.

Brazos Bend



Family Pictures (Not extremely successful…Naomi was not in a smiley mood)

After Lake Jackson, we hung out with Dave and Tanya and family in Dallas. Naomi was definitely the center of attention there. The dogs were super jealous. Especially Simba, he didn’t get nearly as much attention from Stephen as he usually does. The young kids were especially interested in where Naomi gets her food. Ethan would tell anyone who would listen that Naomi eats from my belly. At one point, Audrey asked me if Naomi was eating my shirt.




We also got to attend the temple in Dallas. It was the only day then and since that Naomi has really taken a pacifier. I was stressed about leaving her since sometimes she cries the entire time, but we returned to a perfectly pacified baby and an peaceful (well, as peaceful as it gets when there are six kids at home) household. Heavenly Father reminded me that day that He is watching over us; it was a testament to me that the temple was where He wanted us to be that morning.