Saturday Visitors

We started off our day today welcoming a friend, and past coworker of Mariana Alexandra and her 5 month old baby Laura. Of course, there was a lot of baby talk.

Alexandra and Laura - Mariana and Magnolia

Laura (5 months) and Magnolia (6 weeks)

 They brought Magnolia a welcome gift that will come in handy this summer.

Gifted by Alexandra

 Shortly thereafter, we had a visit from Grandpa Thom. Who also came bearing gifts.

Magnolia and Grandpa Thom

Gifted by Grandpa Thom and Grandma Mary

Gifted by Grandpa Thom and Grandma Mary

Plus, a welcome gift for the new dad - an insulated whiskey glass with an internal glass skull. Now my whiskey won't get excessively warmed by these oven mitt hands I've got.

My dad also brought a large Mexican casserole for Mariana to eat during the week, and a baked cake for dessert. We are still in awe at the generosity of everyone and once again, we all had a great day. Thank you to everyone. Now its time to mentally prepare for the Seahawk Patriots Super Bowl game tomorrow. Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast is sure to be entertaining come February 2nd.

PUMA Soccer

IF you weren't paying attention 3 days ago, the United States Men's Soccer Team (USMNT) lost their 2015 opener away against Chile. As my favorite game analyst put it, "The US have one win from their last nine, and have been outscored 9-0 in the second half since the World Cup. Going back to the tournament itself, 14 of the 18 goals the US have given up have come after the break."

Not great news for a soccer fan. But, on the brighter side, the Women's World cup is nearly here. With soccer on the brain, Magnolia's sports closet is already increasing in preparation for a full childhood of being a soccer star. These cute PUMA outfits are top notch and we can't wait to start training.

Gifted by Bob and Jay

Gifted by Bob and Jay

Dress Up

Magnolia received a few more outfits from Bob and Jay. Mariana and Magnolia decided to play dress up, even though these outfits are for the not so distant future. Mariana and I need to start contemplating building a walk in closet to house Magnolia's ever expanding high fashion wardrobe.

I love GRANDMA

A special Thank You

When having a baby, there are many things you think about and plan about and forecast into the future. There are things you prepare for, ask questions about, and project forward in order to bring a new family member into the fold. And then there are residual effects of having a baby that are quite logical, but that I never thought about when preparing for and planning for a baby. One of the most special is how having this baby unites and rallies the family together. Phone chatter, emails, and snail mail are all up 1000%.

Something I could not have forecasted with the coming of my baby was my Uncle Bob's desire to take a part in this new, female birth. It has been a near avalanche of mail deliveries over the past several weeks, and sparked an exchange of lovely cards and a weekend phone call. Prior to that phone call, Mariana asked me when the last time I saw my uncle was. By my best estimation, I was perhaps 17 years old. Now, I am an old man on the cusp of earning "over the hill" birthday cards. Such a large space time continuum planted and grew between that 17 year old boy and this old man, that 23 years elapsed into a wall of separation. Yet, this wall was an illusion that dissolved on the birth of my first and only daughter of a child. I can only say that I truly appreciate my phone call with him that unfurled to us sharing and exchanging stories and comparing our mutual love and respect for my father.

I have shown here only a fraction of the gifts he has sent to Magnolia. Many of which are organic cotton, and if Magnolia is anything like her father, she will appreciate the quality of good fabric on her delicate skin.

I am struggling to stay up to date on this blog, and as a result, several of these photos are days old. Even today, another package was delivered to our door with two beautiful items I will post in the next coming days. Thank you to Bob and Jay. Expect many beautiful images of Magnolia in these clothes in the not so distant future.

Gifted by Bob and Jay

Gifted by Bob and Jay

Gifted by Bob and Jay

Gifted by Bob and Jay

Gifted by Bob and Jay

Gifted by Bob and Jay

Magnolias's Wisest

As the story goes, when Jesus was born, the Wise Men came bearing gifts. Another case of life imitating art, Magnolia apparently has a whole slew of Wise Men and Women in her life who also come bearing gifts. Upon checking my mail box the past friday, I found a mountain of package addressed to Magnolia. Mari and I, in contrast, only raked in a few pieces of typical junk mail.

Magnolia's first package contained a wonderful little watermelon ensemble from My Dad and Mary. This has cute written all over it. I spoke to my dad and he told me a wonderful story how watermelons always remind him of his childhood visits to grandparents who lived in Texas.

Gifted by Grandpa Thom and Grandma Mary

Magnolia's second package contained a few gifts from Mari's friend Pia who lives in Spain. She has a wonderful eye for sharp design and handcrafted a beautiful little wall decoration shortening Magnolia to "Noli".

Gifted by Pia

She also sent this with a little note:
"I know you had a baby girl, but I though you would like to have this anyway....The kit is the authentic kit from Barcelona FC but I had to add the name and number of the number 1 player: SUAREZ. I hope you like it."

Gifted by Pia

We love it! For those of you outside of the soccer world, Luis Suarez is the latest and greatest international soccer striker originating from Uruguay, who now plays for Barcelona FC in La Liga. This has hometown hero spelled all over it.

The third package we opened was from Dave and Judy. They sent us 5 children's books from the Edmond Bookshop, with a small note saying "We wish you a lifetime of joy and ... books." I imagine we are going to get a lot of use out of these books in the over the next year, and  I have already seen Mari reading the spanish/english book to my baby.

Gifted by Dave and Judy

Mon. - Jan. 19, 2015

I keep reflecting back to a conversation I had with my friend Yves several years ago while visiting him in Rome. He was reflecting back on his time with his son, who at the time was a teenager in high school. Like all high schoolers, his time at home was sparse due to after school activities, drum lessons and hanging out with friends.

Yves told me how his parenting, at that point, was all skill, due to the fact he had such a small daily window of time with his son. He reflected back to when he was a baby, and said that as a baby, it was no skill and all time. The contrast of the two, and how the time and skill slowly crossed paths over time really stuck out to me.

I never forgot that small slice of wisdom. And it rings true now more than ever. My time with Magnolia is not difficult, it takes little to no effort, and even less skill. Its just pure time. Like a black hole of time. She loves, and nearly demands, to be held at all times. Loving the comfort,  heat,and motion that come with being in the arms of her parents. Or sleeping on our chests. Or laying across our laps.

Outfit gifted by Barbara

This is how we spend our weekends together, and more specifically how we spent yesterday, wringing our hands through that excruciating nail biter of a Seahawks win over the Green Bay Packers. What an incredible game, that was really nothing short of amazing. It's a true testament of team's mental fortitude to stay strong, and keeping believing while keeping their eye on the prize. It was a miracle to behold, and a great way to spend a Sunday with my beautiful little girl. Go Hawks!

Generosity of many

Over the past month Mariana and I have been gaining our bearings, learning lessons,  and adapting to having a newborn baby in the house. We have finally established a good foundation of how to guide and run this operation, and we are finding ways  to carve out a little time to get things done around the house. One of the things I want to do, is start thanking everyone who has helped us along the way. Starting here. Laura Lopez, a friend and fellow Uruguayan to Mariana, lives in Miami and sent us a box full of baby clothes and misc baby regalia. And when I say full, I literally mean full.

As we start using these outfits, I want to post some pictures here and thank our costume designers.

Outfit gifted by Laura Lopez

Gracias tia Laura para el regalo lindo.

And this by no means supersedes any gifts we received from any one else. Like I said above, I just finally carved out a little time to start this project.

Magnolia's First Month on Earth

Magnolia - January 16, 2015

 Congratulations to Magnolia on turning one month old. She is 1/12th of the way to her first birthday and time is already flying.

Magnolia - December 16, 2014 vs. January 16, 2015

Magnolia's one month milestones:

• Growth - Just from sight I can see she is larger. And by the way my back is feeling, I can tell she is gaining a little weight as well. The doctor says she is a good eater. Yesterday's visit to the pediatrician placed her at 8 lbs 13 oz. 
• Muscle development - She is already developing stronger muscles. Her neck has been getting more and more powerful over the last several weeks, but lately I have also noticed her back is getting stronger. She is beginning to hold herself up a bit, building her core. 
• Vision - Its hard to say what baby's see in the days after birth, but currently here eyes are tracking what mom and dad are doing. And she loves to make eye contact during feedings with the bottle.
• Smiling - Its a rare gem, but every once in a while when we're paying close attention we can glimpse a smile seep into her face and gracefully fade away.

I was looking for a reason to keep up on this blog. I guess now, with a new baby, purpose has found me.