Tuesday, August 14, 2012

The Memories of Vacations

We checked into a motel and everyone was settled down for a good night's sleep. Instead of a boring story of a good night's sleep, let's talk about an early start to the day. I awoke at 3 a.m. to find the light on and Christie up moving around as if she had been awake for more than a few minutes. (A big hint giving cause to this assumption was the computer was turned on.) Her reply to my inquiry if she was o.k. was short and succinct. She couldn't sleep because of 1) my snoring, 2) Zebediah's continual squirming, 3) John and Shekinah talking to each other in their sleep, and 4) the a/c unit alternating between off and on. She had been up since 2 a.m. and was trying to figure out how the room coffee maker worked.
I got the coffee in her hands and we talked for a few moments and then Zebediah woke up with a smile on his face and a little squeal of delight. This caused John to awaken from his slumber and he came over to "check on Zebediah" which inevitably meant enough noise was committed to awaken Shekinah. By 4 a.m. we are all awake! Aaaahhhhh nuts. So much for going back to sleep. Well the good news is by 5 a.m. we were all showered and dressed for the new day of adventure.
Note: It is now 6:00 a.m. and Zebediah and Christie are sound asleep. And John and Shekinah have found switching between Nick and the Animal Planet channel on TV is entertaining so all is now at least calm in the motel room - just in time for the sun to come up and my alarm to go off. So now I will wait for the Cheetahs to catch their food on the Animal Planet channel and for Christie and Zebediah to wake up once again and then the adventure begins for the day. Ah yes. This is the stuff by which we remember vacations!

Friday, August 3, 2012

Move Over, I Need My Space

     A king sized bed isn't big enough.  How has it come to this?  My wife maintains that our baby, Zebediah, sleep in our bed until he is 5 months old.  (Hey, some things are the way they are.)  So here is this baby that needs his space - and that space is half of the bed. 
Amanda Hall holding Zebediah Hall

     Yesterday I mentioned that Zedediah turned over for the first time. 
Now that he has gotten the hang of it he turns from his back to stomach during the night.  Of course he needs room to do this.  This morning I woke up on the edge of the bed and found my wife on the other side of the bed hugging the other edge.  Zebediah was smack in the middle of the bed "sleepng like a baby" taking up 3/4 of the bed!   
     So it has come to this.  I get 18" and the baby gets 36"of bed space..  Oh the sacrifices of being a dad.  I now have a new countdown.  42 days to September 13th - and I can reclaim by space!  Meanwhile, we know who commands the activity in this house.

     The picture here today is my oldest daughter holding her younger brother for the first time.  There is only 32 years, 9 months separating them.  It was good to be able to visit with Amanda for an hour between planes at DFW airport last Sunday.  Since she lives in Seattle, rare moments together are indeed precious.

     Meanwhile, enjoy the day.  God is good and life is good.

 

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Let's Try This Again

19 months since my last post.  Wow.  Time flies by so fast.  I have often thought to sit down and write some posts but as writing is not easy and more of a chore than joy to me it is oh so easy to let other activities take my attention.  Now that I have my excuse out of the way, let me attempt to bring you up to date on what has been happening around these parts the last year and nine months.

     July, 2011 saw my wife and two of three children immigrate legally from the Philippines to the U.S.  The third child is attending college in the Philippines.  This immigration process is pretty slow and costly.  I often joked that it would have been cheaper and faster to fly them to Mexico and walk them across the border.  Once in the country, they would not be sent home since our government would not separate  a family!  Anyway, they are here legally.
     August, 2011 brought school days to this household in ways never experienced before.  Public school for the first time.  Since my first wife (Joyce) and I home schooled our children we were exempted from the "joys" of public school.  John (4th grade) and Shekinah (3rd grade) did really well in school considering they were handicapped in language and experiential knowledge.  They both ended up on the A and B honor roll.
     September - December, 2011  Two fun examples of experiential knowledge learned during this time would be:  Not only does snow cover the ground but it falls from the sky.  Having seen pictures of snow Shekinah knew snow covered the ground, but missed the fact that it actually fell from the sky.  So one missed question on an assignment due to the lack of experiential knowledge. Another example is when the temperature dropped to 70 degrees in the Fall, all three were freezing and thought snow must be just around the corner.  Never experiencing temperatures below 75 degrees brought days of endless wonderment as each noticeable drop in temperatures brought the prospect of snow that much closer.  Finally in October I told them that before snow came the trees would lose their leaves.  This declaration brought funny looks and countless questions and discussions and the realization that there are four seasons in the year.  Needless to say, it has been a year of learning adventures for these three new Americans.
     January - April, 2012 found Christie and I visiting a mid-wife on regular occasions in preparations for our soon to come baby. 
     April 13, 2012 is the day Zebediah Buyan Hall was born and my life reverted back 30 years to the last time there was a baby in my house. 

Which brings us to the event of the day.  This morning (August 2, 2012) at 3:30 a.m. Zebediah turned over by himself.   Forget the Olympics.  This far surpasses anything that will be accomplished in London today.  And so a new day dawns and it is onward and upward (and another diaper to be changed.) 

Also of note.  I will not wait another 19 months to post again.