Having a baby makes life more difficult. I know I am not supposed to say that since I have one, but it is true. Simple tasks now require timing, a willing baby, and worst of all effort. (I’m sure there are more things I could list, but this was all I could think of). Even enjoyable tasks are put aside because it simply isn’t possible. Playing music is one of those things. I have my mandolin left out, but the second I look at it, Bella wants to play. Extremely cute and awesome that she can strum, annoying when I want to play.
A few months ago Colette and I started making sure we went on one date a month. Before Bella, Colette and I never had a problem with this. Even when our schedules were completely filled, we still made time for us. I guess it just comes or at least it should come naturally. If you aren’t willing to make time to be with your spouse or significant other, there’s something wrong. But now that we have Bella, it is that much harder to get alone time. She’s always there. I get why people tell you to take care of you marriage first. It is so easy to get sucked into everything always being about the kid/s.
Now before you yell at me. I love Bella as much as possible, she just makes things a little more difficult.
The world, including the church, is full of broken people. This brokeness is manifested physically, emotionally, and spiritually. When honest with ourselves we feel our broken nature and long to be made whole. Enter Jesus, the beginning and the end, the creator of this broken world, though he did not create the world broken and does not wish it to remain so. He wishes to transform us, to mend our broken bodies and souls.
Last Sunday, our church held a night of worship and prayer. A night for the broken to come before their creator and to be made whole. Since that night, stories of restoration have made their way around. Was anybody healed physically? I don’t know and have not heard.
This past weekend my daughter was sick. For several days we could not keep her fever down. On Monday afternoon as Bella laid in my lap sleeping, I was thinking about this night of healing and all of the people Jesus and his disciples healed. I said a simple prayer for her to be healed, nothing I haven’t done before. This time was different. I knew that Jesus was going to rid Bella of her fever. Nothing I can explain, just a certainty that it was done. An hour later she woke up without a fever. Was she healed or was she finally over her fever? Believe what you will, but in the midst of that moment I knew Jesus had touched Bella and healed her broken body.
The month of November has some important dates. November 4th is Bella Ruth’s birthday. We were thinking of having a small party, but it is her first birthday party so we opted for lots of food and lots of friends. I cooked for two days and made some awesome food, if I do say myself. Enough friends and family showed up to fill the house with silence as people watched the football game on T.V. All in all it was a short party, but tons of fun.
November 18th is my wedding anniversary. This year is number three. I know I said this last year, but that number seems so small. I feel like we have already been married for a lifetime. Our lives are no longer separate, we are the same person and I couldn’t imagine life without Colette.
In case you missed the news, last night Bella Ruth took her first steps. She has been walking while holding our hands for a while now and just recently took the plunge to walking while only holding one hand. She has a blast doing this and we love encouraging her to try new things. (I’ve never understood parents who stifle their child’s develoment. It just seems mean and selfish). Then last night she took one more plunge and tried a few steps all on her own. I was sitting on the floor playing mandolin and she decided, as usual, that she wanted to play as well. (I almost didn’t play because I knew she wouldn’t let me actually play anything). She was standing near by and just decided to walk over instead of crawl. Mom got home from class a few minutes later and Bella Ruth showed mom her new skill. I don’t think Bella Ruth knows what this means for her quite yet, but I think she will get there.
I have been wanting to get Bella Ruth her own twitter for awhile now. A few days ago I finally did it. Sadly, @bellaruth was already taken, seems we need to come up with a less common awesome name. So I got her @Bella_Ruth. I am not a huge fan of the underscore but it is better than nothing. I mean Bella Ruth needs her own twitter account. And now all the parents who read this think I am crazy, but allow me to explain. This really is for my own entertainment. Bella Ruth doesn’t write any of the tweets and won’t for quite awhile (she is not allowed to play with my phone or the computer). Yes my life is this boring.
So, if anybody really wants to follow I suppose they can, though I do have her updates blocked and I am not going to allow just anybody to follow. I am not a terrible parent.
This is why we purchased a video camera: to capture video that we can watch over and over while the rest of the world is bored. This is why I have my own blog: to post boring videos and to talk about things nobody really cares about but me. This is Bella Ruth doing her favorite thing: playing with Gizmo.
A few days ago my good buddy James Pierce flew up to visit. He had been living in Costa Rica so it is great to see him again. Since his arrival we have been fairly busy. Here are the highlights:
Went to Bella’s first A’s game with James, Joel, Jen, and Colette. They were playing the Tigers, who might just be worse than the A’s so we actually won the game. That was pretty exciting. Even more exciting: dollar hot dogs. That means I ate four. Not all at once, but that is still a lot of hot dogs. Bella had a great time and so did everyone else.
My so called friends tried to convince me to use facebook. I don’t want to. It will be one more thing to keep up with. I would much rather blog. This debate created some great conversation and laughs. (Especially at the people sitting behind us, as they acted like junior high children when talking about facebook).
Ate lunch at the Pita Pit. I know what you are thinking, “This is supposed to be highlights.” Well this is my blog and Pita Pit IS a highlight.
Played a show with The Art of Whimsy that ended up being 3 instead of 2 hours. I didn’t play the whole time, but it was a little longer than expected. Jordan Emmans played on our second set and that is always a good time. I also had the opportunity to play one of Jordan’s songs with him while Nathan changed a guitar string. It was good times. A bunch of old friends showed up which just makes for even better times. To make the night even better Bella learned how to clap. I think she is as excited as we are.
So that brings us up to today. Looking at it, it doesn’t seem like that much stuff, but it has been busy. I promise. The future holds game nights, breakfast with friends, and a barbecue of fresh salmon.
As a side note: there were too many things to link to on this post.
While Colette and I were in Maui we took Bella Ruth to her first aquarium. She had a blast and loved all of the sea life. These are some of my favorite photos from the day.
Colette and I are in for trouble. Bella is only 7 months old and already has taken more of an interest in walking than crawling. Her main purpose for crawling is to get to something that she can pull herself up on and walk around. She makes her way around the coffee table, reaches across to the couch and back again, the rocking chair, our legs, anything about 6 inches off the ground she is standing herself up with it. In the last week or so she has also discovered that she can climb. This where the trouble begins. Fortunately, she hasn’t made it anywhere dangerous but I can tell the thoughts are there. To give you an idea of what I am pretty sure we are in for, here is a little story from my childhood.
Growing up my grandparents had a staircase that they were always careful to block off. I certainly did not need to go climbing up the stairs by myself, I was too young. One visit, just like always they blocked off the stairs. Everything is safe, right? For whatever reason I was left alone for a very short time. When my mother returned I was half way up the stairs, but not on the safe side of the railing. No, I was climbing up on the outside of the railing, on what was no more than half a foot.
I’m glad we don’t have stairs, but I’m wondering what ways Bella will find to scare us to death.
