Three Generations

Joy To The World

As I think back to last Christmas I remember that on that day a year ago we were still in the hospital with Stella and we were learning that we had to stay in the hospital for fear of an illness. This Christmas we gave thanks that we could spend it in the comfort of our own home like we had planned to do last year.

I can't wait until you're older and you come running into our bedroom at 5am and start asking us to go open gifts and check on the cookies we left for Santa.

This year you were still the first one to wake up but that was just because you love to be up bright and early in the morning.

My guess is also that you will be a little disappointed when your a teenager and you go to look in your stocking and find spoons and socks. You can count on me making sure that you get some every year.

Something else you can count on is that some of your presents will be wrapped in newspaper every year. Yeah, I know. It sounds nuts. But its something we have done in my family for a very long time. Why you ask. Cause we were low on funds one year and that's what we had. The next year came and we just did it again. Every year after my mom use to say I want y'all to wrap your presents in newspaper and make it a part of your family traditions so you can remember that times will be ruff but you will always be OK. I think it was her way of reminding us to stay humble and cognisant of how fortunate we were. Some Christmas growing up were full of gifts and others were a little more scarce. Being young I'm sure my attitude was different, but now I look back on those days and am grateful for all the blessing we did get.

Sorry Mom, I gotta log this story for Stella cause I think its important. You see, gifts were important for my mom and she loved giving them. There was this one year however when we were in high school . It was around June and people would come over and walk into the living room and said. "Hey, your Christmas tree is still up." We would make jokes about loving the holiday or being to lazy to put the tree back up the next year but the truth was that my mom refused to take down the tree until she could buy us some presents. The tree eventually did come down once she bought us some presents. This year more than ever I understand the pressures of being a parent. So many expectations and ideals of what to be and do. This year has given me a great appreciation for the work my parents did to provide me the wonderful life that I am given. Thanks mom and dad.

Stella this year was blessed with many gifts from many people and she loved every one of them. Christmas I am sure will evolve into many things for her as she grows up and experiences it at different stages in her life. One thing is for sure, we will always work hard to make sure she knows its about family and love celebrating the birth of Christ. After all, he was the greatest gift ever given the world.

So I Kinda Miss Spoke

In prior posts I said Stella had been walking. I was incorrect in that characterization of her actions. She had taken her first steps but she was not in fact walking. It was not until early December that she was actually walking.

Oops!

Here some photos taken on December 15th, 2010 documenting the occasion.

The few of you who probably still follow the blog have probably already known this for some time as I am just posting this on February March 2011.

My Gift to You

Stella,

Just so you know. I advocated strongly for having a small party on your first birthday. I simply thought that spending a bunch of money on a big party would be waisted on you as you would never remember the day. I mean, who does. I even told your mom and Grandma that we could get away with taking photos of you at a park and tell you we had a birthday party and you would never know the difference. Those kids running around in the play ground we could have told you were all your friends.

When people would ask me what to get you for your birthday I would tell them gifts really weren't necessary as you have plenty and you either grow out of it if it was clothes or stop playing with it in a week if it was a toy. Usually after that question people would ask what are yall getting Stella for her first birthday? I would tell them a rocker that your mom really liked for you and that we thought you would enjoy. (For the record, its March and you have used that thing once.) It was great cause we got it on black Friday at a great deal. What was funny about it was that we hid it in the garage in plain sight of you. Every time we drove into the garage we would laugh about how we would have to hide gifts in the future and not be so obvious.

Now, discussions about your first birthday party started about a month after you were born. So I always had it in my mind that I had to do something special for you. Well, I decided that I wanted to get you something from me that would mark the year you had been in our lives.

When you were still a thought in our minds we couldn't have imagined the joy you would bring to our lives. You have given us purpose and pride. Your smile and laughter is always the best part of our day and the gift we receive from you every day.

Your mom had explained to me that there was a ring that she had seen that she thought was pretty cause it was made of your birth stone. Your birth stone is aquamarine, but I call it blue. I saved up my pennies and bought you the ring so that one day when people ask you about your first birthday you can show them the ring I got you on that day. And maybe some day you can wear it as part of your, "something blue."

Your mom wears the ring until such time as you are old enough not to put it in your mouth and are less likely to lose it. She also has the card that came with it stored away for you to read. I hope you enjoy my gift to you as you are truly a gift to me.

Its Been One Year!

Oh where the time has gone!

Stella's birthday fell on a Thursday this year. Work had already given Belinda and I Friday off so we decided we would take off Thursday just to spend time with Stella and prepare for her birthday celebration. On the day Stella was born the doctor made us promise she would always have a party for her as he wanted to make sure she wasn't cheated for being born so close to Christmas.

Doc, we are one for one.

Even though we wanted to have an elaborate party we knew that it would be wasted on Stella as she has no interest in petting zoos, jumpy castles, sky divers, hot air balloons, or margaritas. So we decided to make it a small affair.

Part of the day we went to the store to get the necessary decorations. And by this I mean balloons. Stella is fascinated by balloons. Once she gets one in her hand she will not let go of it. The same was true for this day. We got her the balloons and she was as content as content can be. Even when we got home she would not let them go and insisted on walking around the house with her bouquet all day.

Belinda had ordered Stella her birthday outfit long before the actual day so she was dressed and ready to go before the guests had arrived. I on the other hand was running behind schedule. From day one I said I would be making Stella's first birthday cake and I was not going to go back on my word. Belinda was ok with me making the cake but she made me concede that I could not make the cake and cook the meal at the same time. Um, yeah she was correct. People were already over and I was still trying to decorate the cake. Now, I never claimed to be a professional baker, but I think for a first time job I did pretty good. Their were actually two cakes made for the day which is why it REALLY took so long. One cake was for Stella and only Stella and the other was for everyone else.

Stella had her own cake because we assumed that when given the chance to taste her first cake she would jump right in there and get dirty. We put down floor covering around her chair and had it all planned for the big candle blow. Grandma had been working with Stella for weeks now and she showed every sign of being ready. If you asked Stella to blow out the candles she would take this huge breath of air in and then blow it out in such a way the front of her hair would move. It was great.

So there we go putting the cake in front of her. Everyone is singing happy birthday and the only thing she wants to do is touch the candle. We got to the end of the song and everyone is telling her, "blow out the candle Stella. Blow out the candle."

Didn't happen.

 Belinda blows out the candle for her and then puts the cake right in front of her. She makes this look to Belinda that express a confusion for what has been put in front of her. In an effort to start the destruction of the cake Belinda tries to feed a bit of the frosting to her.

Didn't happen.

In fact, nothing happened. My child does not eat sweets. Can you believe that? I consume a disproportionate amount of sugar and my child refuses to eat anything sweet. Well, I will consider it the blessing it is while she is still young.

Here are some more photos of the day.

Just Because

Stella working on a routine to perform for the guests at her birthday party.

Custom Made Aprons

Before the holidays were around, Mrs. Chapa had told me that she had always wanted to make aprons for her, Belinda and a grandchild during Christmas. For those of you who don't know Belinda lets just the kitchen is where people keep the microwave.

Seeing as how Belinda does not enjoy baking I was honored to wear hers instead.

Mrs. Chapa had been working on the aprons during Stella's naps so it had taken her some time to get them all finished up. Ever so considerate, she made sure to choose a fabric that was festive but still masculine in nature. The goal was to use the aprons to make the cookies and sweets we wanted to give to our neighbors. 

Although I had plans for making ten different types of cookies each more ornate than the other we went ahead and made just two. Probably a much better idea given time and my inability to keep things simple. So we started with some chocolate chip cookies and some pan de polvo. Them suckers were tasty. The crew consisted of Mrs. Chapa, Alexis (my niece),and I. Stella was an honorary member of the group.

Mrs. Chapa went on and made some empanadas in addition to what we had already made just for good measure. We used an old book to get the ingredients for the pan de polvo and I suppose we didn't realize the receipt was meant to produce enough cookies for a Mexican wedding. We were eating pan de polvo into February. But boy were those things good.

Christmas Decorating

We started early this year putting up decorations for Christmas. While I wanted to go all Griswold on the decorating we had to bring it down a notch as little hands love to grab everything in their reach.

I'm not sure if it is obvious from the photo but the lower region of our tree remained free from ornaments to keep Stella from bring the whole thing down. We implemented a plan. We would pretend like it was just another piece of furniture that just happened to grow out of the ground. And though it was there, We would never acknowledge it. The plan kinda worked. During the entire season Stella didn't have any interest in the tree but maybe once or twice.

Last year around this time we were preparing for Stella's arrival so very little decorations went up. This year I told Belinda that there was no excuse for not putting at least some lights up around the house.


We have a one story home. I grew up in a tri level home. As a child we would climb up on that roof and walk around up there like it was nothing. So in my mind putting up lights on the roof of this house was going to be a piece of cake.

Allow me to digress. I remember it was around this time at work that I was being surrounded by people who would complain, complain, complain. Now everyone complains. I complain. But something about the people at work that was getting to me is that they were complaining about something that could be remedied but for their in actions. I remember noticing that people were choosing to abstain from finding solutions and condemning proposals by others. One of my hopes for Stella is that she becomes a "doer." I hope that she becomes one of those people who will see problems as opportunities to succeed and grow rather than reason to be complacent or apathetic. Problems are not reasons to fail. Thinking of this made me want to post a part of a speech that I hope she will strive to be. Its was a speech often labeled "The Man in the Arena" given by Theodore Roosevelt on April 23rd, 1910. The primary excerpt is this:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

At this point you might be asking yourself if I have a subscription to Successories products or Chicken Soup for the Soul books. The answer is yes - probably since the age of ten. With that said I would like to bring you back to our Christmas decorations.

I did my research and found the best deals on Christmas lights around. Decided to fork out the extra money for LED lights as they are more environmentally friendly. It was nap time for Stella so I was going to take advantage of the time and put the lights up outside. I got the ladder ready, checked the lights and created my plan. All this while Belinda is putting Stella to sleep.

Feeling the pride of home ownership within me and the joy of accepting this task as one of my fatherly duties I took my ladder to the side of the house. Climbing higher and higher I kept looking around hoping someone would appreciate my dedication to decorating our home but no one was to be seen. As I got to the roof I knew with my first step that something was different about this experience and the one I use to have as a kid. Though I felt this hint of reluctance I kept going. Placing both feet on the roof I broke away from the ladder.

And just as valiantly as I got to the top of the roof I sat down before I thought I was going off the side of the house. Yeah. This roof was not climber friendly. So I went to get to the ladder and climb down and I couldn't. Something about the angle and the tilt of the ladder made me feel like I was going to take one step and fall right down to the floor. Thankfully I had my cell phone with me so I called Belinda. After fifteen calls to her phone she finally answered.

"Where you at?"
    "Can you come outside?" I asked.
"Where are you?
    "Outside."
"Why cant you come inside?"
    "Can you please come outside so I can explain."
"Fine. Where are you outside."
    "Come to the side of the house. Look for the ladder."
"What are you doing up there?"
    "I'm Stuck. I was going to put up the lights."
"Oh Lord! How you going to get down?"
    "CAME YOU PLEASE COME OUTSIDE!"

Belinda moved the ladder to a position where I could get on the ladder by holding onto a tree which made supporting myself much easier. Right after that I went to Home Depot and bought a Christmas light installer that allowed you to hang lights without leaving the ground.

So here is the moral of the story Stella. Don't be afraid to get in the "arena."  Just make sure you know the arena is on solid ground. And if you happen to be in a spot where your over your head. Your mom or I will be their to help with the ladder.

Thanksgiving

This is the only photo I got from Thanksgiving on my camera. I will have to come back to this entry when I get the rest from Grandpa's camera.

Dancing with Dad

Typical Saturday

One Saturday in November it was my turn to wake up with Stella so that mom could sleep in a little more. So on that day Stella and I were hanging out playing with her toys when she got a hold of the remote for the television. She had always played with the remote, but this time I thought it was more entertaining.

I'm not reading any books on the subject but I would gather that she is learning about cause and effect. So she has learned that if she pushes the buttons on the remote something happens on the TV. So you can watch her take the remote and start pushing all the buttons until the thing turns on. I just thought it is hilarious since our goal has been to minimize the amount of TV that she gets to watch at this age. Guess its a sign of whats to come.

She was probably trying to find the two shows she does watch: Mickey playhouse or Princess Pea.

Guess its better than the Real Housewives saga Belinda and I watch. I mean, that Belinda watches.

Later on that day we took advantage of the nice weather. Even though though I am sure Stella will enjoy watching TV in the future at this moment she loves being outside. Whether it is water the the plants with Grandma or playing in her swing you can count on her being sad when she knows its time to come inside.

Still Running

On November 14th of this year I completed my fourth half marathon. It was not that it was more difficult this year but it was definitely a different experience training. The luxury of time to train is not what it use to be. Long periods of free time are more rare with Stella at this age. Not only that, but I have learned that when you have a infant it seems that when you do have free time you kinda like to spend it doing nothing.

I few years back I was training for my first full marathon. The race fell on the same day as my mom's birthday and it gave me the motivation to push my half marathon training to the full 26 mile run. There was a day in that training, I can't remember which day but I know it was a long run and I know it was at mile 14 that I was thinking to myself how great it was to have Belinda's support. I always knew I would take Belinda to be my wife, but it came to me on this run that I would propose to her at the end of my marathon after I crossed the finish line. I thought it was the perfect analogy to life and our marriage.

A few days later I saw on the news that there was some guy who proposed to his girlfriend in a very public manner and I asked Belinda what she thought about public proposals. Her response, "Don't really care for them. I think they should be a little more private."

I scratched that idea real quick. Moving on.

Somewhere along my training this year I had another great idea. On the last mile before I crossed the finish line I would have Belinda pass me Stella and I would carry her across the finish line with me. It would be great and I could say that she ran in her first marathon (OK, OK, "participated" in her first marathon). I already was visualizing the photo finish and how I would post it on the blog. I was already drafting my blog post on the symbolism of carrying her across the finish line.

Yeah. Apparently I should have let Stella in on the plan that way should wouldn't have caused everyone to run late due some last minute diaper changes and wardrobe malfunctions. I had been looking and looking around for them but never found them in the last mile. Once the race was over I borrowed a phone and learned about Stella's antics. We missed each other by what must have been five mins.

I'm letting you know now Stella that even though I did not propose to your mom after I finished my big race I did propose. What that means for you is that since you did not cross this finish line with me this time you will cross one with me in the future. Got it? Good.

And try not to have that face when you finally read this and learn of my idea. Try to look more like this when you were excited about the meal we had after the race.



I had to find a reason to post this photo just for the funny grin she is making