Baby Cal Birth Pics

He Has Arrived

Caleb Ross Jr was born at 9:33am EST in Fairfax, VA. 6 pounds and 14 ounces. 20 inches long. The little fellow came after an hour of labor. He is a cutie and, so far, very well behaved. He looks like his big sister Madge, when she was a baby. (We're having internet connectivity problems at the hospital, so photos will have to wait at this point.) Thank God for a peaceful delivery, for a healthy baby and healthy mom. Mares was a champ all the way through. The girls haven't had a chance yet to meet their little brother, but they will this afternoon. I can't wait to see them as they hold him. We love you, Baby Cal. Welcome to the world. Welcome to our family.

Birth Watch Update

.........

Just kidding. (This is not our baby.)

The baby hasn't come yet. Mary has been getting some strong contractions over the past few days, increasingly yesterday. The contractions have been frequent but not regular. It appears that some are weaker (more in the back) and some are stronger (more pressure downwards). I'm not sure how much more this little guy can drop! I hope and pray it'll happen over the weekend. Due date is tomorrow. Hopefully, the little guy gets the memo!

NYT Article: Accepting That Good Parents May Plant Bad Seeds

Here's a zinger of an article that everyone (and his or her mother) will have an opinion about.

A couple thoughts

For years, mental health professionals were trained to see children as mere products of their environment who were intrinsically good until influenced otherwise; where there is chronic bad behavior, there must be a bad parent behind it.

While not true all of the time, I still believe that that this is true 75% of the time.

We marvel at the resilient child who survives the most toxic parents and home environment and goes on to a life of success. Yet the converse — the notion that some children might be the bad seeds of more or less decent parents — is hard to take.

I would argue that this is becoming a trend: many children with advantaged backgrounds, because they've been afforded the option to choose, choose lifestyles that contradict the expectations of their parents (whether at the moral, emotional, physical, or financial level).

Not everyone is going to turn out to be brilliant — any more than everyone will turn out nice and loving. And that is not necessarily because of parental failure or an impoverished environment. It is because everyday character traits, like all human behavior, have hard-wired and genetic components that cannot be molded entirely by the best environment, let alone the best psychotherapists.

True. But, true to form, reductionist postmodern psychology does not view the human person in an integral fashion and completely disregards free will. Sure: some elements are hard-wired and/or genetic and/or environmental. But by and large, the choices that we make define who we are. We are responsible for our choices, not for the way we were raised or our natural proclivities.

Birth Watch

Okay: the countdown has begun.

We went for perhaps our last doctor visit before the birth. The doctor said that the baby had dropped significantly more and that labor could begin any day now. Everything is looking good.

Mary said that she been feeling back pain/contractions over the weekend. They've intensified over the past 24 hours. Exciting!

Thanks to our years living in Hawaii, we have an excellent birthing song. The refrain goes: "Drop, Baby. Drop, Baby. Drop. Drop [all your love on me]." That's what we're asking our little guy to do: drop, baby, drop, baby, drop.

A nice rendition of the song here and original here. (Warning: it's one of those infectious songs.)

Just Cuz She's So Cute

What more can a proud father add, except this: We love you, Guadalupe. Thanks for brightening our lives!

Some Perks of Summer Reading

We love books. We go to the library on average at least once a week. We read at least a half dozen books on a daily basis with the girls. Now that it's summer, our local library hands out some extra perks for reading--gifts (swag), and free food coupons. The girls enjoying the fruits of their labor!

















Note Maddy's lady-like posture. So cute and funny!

Pita on the Potty

Now that she's 2 years old, Pita must feel the added responsibility. We were proud of our girlie going number 2 on the toilet.

At Fantasy Park

Since the weather was in the 100+F (38+C) most days this past week, Mary took advantage of the mornings (like 8am) to take the girls out to play at one of their favorite parks--Fantasy Park. She took some great photos there. The girls love. Madge has been loving the fireman's pole and both girls have been enjoying the tire swing.

One Week to Go!

The baby's due date is 1 week from today! Woohoo! We've been enjoying our last moments with him in utero. We'll undoubtedly enjoy him outside the womb, too, but this is an irrepeatable time (I'm sure Mares will be saying "thank God" when this little guy finishes growing at 6 foot 4 inches...he, he, he).

Anyhow, Madge and Peach continue to pour their love on their little brother. We can't wait to finally meet you, little guy!

Ee-Ah?

On Sunday before Mass, Madge asked if we could go to Ikea for breakfast after church. Before we even had a chance to respond, Pita joined in the chorus. With head tilted to one side, she politely asked with a questioning tone, "ee-ah?". (It's probably fortunate that she can't say the word properly, otherwise people in the pews around us would've been thinking about a different place during the homily.)

It cracked us up. Pita has a vocab of ~50 words and yet Ikea (ee-ah) is one of them! We had to go after Mass for a 4th of July breakfast at Ee-ah: so traditions begin.

Article: Why Morning People Rule the World

Interesting article on why morning people rule the world. As an impartial observer on the issue (I arise at 5am every morning :)), I find the article encouraging.

However, to the credit of evening people, the article states:

Yet the research continues to mount, arguing that evening people have qualities which should be nurtured. They tend to be more creative, intelligent, humorous and extroverted. They are the balance to morning people, who are said to be more optimistic, proactive and conscientious.

Furthermore:

Evening and morning are the right and left sides of our brain, the creative and the analytical, both of which we need to organise, process and advance our lives.

Great Wolf Lodge Vacation (Belated)

About a month ago, in early June, we spent a couple days at Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, VA. It was intended to be a family getaway vacation before the new baby comes. Obviously, his arrival will alter family dynamics in many ways. The vacation was excellent and allowed us many special moments with the girls.

Two Bumper Stickers I've Come Across Recently

1. Smile. It confuses people.
2. Annoy a liberal: work, be successful, be happy
   

Happy 5th Wedding Anniversary. Thank You for Loving Me for Always.

Dear Caleb,

Can you believe 5 years have fluttered by? They surely have fluttered. I held our girls in our arms today as I knelt at the back of Mass, offering it for you, for us, for our marriage, in the hopes that we will one day be together in eternity, and I just felt completely blessed by God's humbling gifts of our girls' lives-- the fruit of our marriage. Thank you. Thank you for being open to God's call, to His desire to expand our family, to working so hard to do your utmost in planning-- as far as we can see (and still being flexible with the curves and detours of life!)--our lives. You have made me so very happy, that it is a privilege and just a joy to sit with you, beside you, as your wife, at the end of a day and to lean on you, with the knowledge that we have our marriage in Christ, with our hearts set on Him, Who is always giving us the grace to incorporate the here-and-now for the always...eternity. As I look back to our wedding day, I happily recall Father's singing of our nuptial blessing:

May God bless you, hold and keep you. May God's mercy shine on you. Guide your work and guard your resting. Make your love forever new.
May God join your hopeful spirits. Fill your hearts with truth and courage. Trust to share both joy and tears. Teach love to your children's children. Make your household learn to witness living faith through all your years.
May God bless you, hold and keep you. May God's mercy shine on you. Guide your work and guard your resting. Make your love forever new.
May God make your home a refuge where you warmly welcome strangers, and the lowly find a place. Make your caring kind and patient, help you meet the needs of neighbors. Finding Christ in every face.
May God bless you, hold and keep you. May God's mercy shine on you. Guide your work and guard your resting. Make your love forever new.


A look back at past anniversaries:
A note from you to me...
And, me to you...
What a beautiful anniversary this was... in the hospital.

Our Wedding Song: Nada Valgo Sin Tu Amor by Juanes
Translated in English: I Am Nothing Without Your Love
English Translation (below):
As we weather while the time passes us by, it begins to appear that in the end our hurt outweighs the years.
And so I desire to spend my years together with you, my eternal love, together with my family, together with my friends...
I am worth nothing, I have nothing, if I don't have the best: your love and companionship in my heart.
Better a year late than a decade without you. It's worth it to finally have my heart replete.
Hence I always want to be conscious of your steadfast love, be we near or far from the end.
I am worth nothing, I have nothing, if I don't have the best: your love and companionship in my heart.
Come, my love...
I feel weak when I am without you, and I become strong when you are here. Without you I don't know what it's like to live. My life is a tunnel without light. I want to spend more time with you, take back the moments I have lost, and conquer the immense fear of death so as to experience eternity with you.
I am worth nothing, I have nothing, if I don't have the best: your love and companionship in my heart.
Hence I always want to be conscious of your steadfast love, be we near or far from the end.
I am worth nothing, I have nothing, if I don't have the best: your love and companionship in my heart.
~Poetic translation by CO


You make me so happy. I thank you for your love, your commitment to love and share yourself with me, with us, and with so many others without counting the cost. You have taught me so much, and what a blessing to have you in my life as a channel of grace to God. I know we are to each other, and that brings so much happiness to me, knowing that we have our way to God through one another. Thank you. How happy I am for taking that trip to Steubenville back in 2003 and finally meeting you. It had just been a little bit of time before that I was praying that if we did meet what a blessing it would be to have just a dear friend, someone to have as a spiritual friend. Did God ever bless me?! That was the best trip I ever made, and I am still reaping the benefits of that 5 hour road trip. Woo-hoo! Thanks to God for 5 years, two gorgeous gilly-wills, and a soon-to-be-born son later, I am thankful for marriage. Thank you, God!

All of my love,
Mares

Happy Wooden Anniversary!

To my beautiful and wonderful bride of 5 years: Happy Anniversary! Can you believe it that five years ago today we made our vows to one another? I still remember like yesterday how smitten I was as I watched in awe as you walked down the aisle of the church. You were almost as gorgeous then as you are now! (Your beauty, like a fine wine, grows more refined and exquisite with the passage of time.) Since then, we've traveled and lived around the world together (a few times!), we have three children (well, 2.978 kids to be exact), we have our first home, we've experienced together so many of life's joys and sorrows. My only regrets are not being able to love you 25 hours each day and those moments when I let my emotions get the better of me in our conversations. We have shared so much together already, and yet, this is only the beginning! Growing old together sounds like so much fun, you old cougar of a wife! Hopefully, we'll have another 60 years of marriage before God calls us to himself. Thanks for all your love and patience over the years. Thanks for staying true and faithful. Thanks for carrying me when it was necessary. Thanks for being my rock and my support. "My better half" is so hackneyed, but I can't think of a more appropriate phrase!

According to Wikipedia, wood is the traditional gift for the fifth wedding anniversary. Here's my favorite wooden joke for you, one you know too well!

A shy teenage boy with a wooden eye is attending his high school prom. He finally musters up the courage to ask a girl if she would like to dance. The girl happens to have a hair-lip. She, full of wonder and joy at being asked to dance, blurts out, "would I, oh, would I!" [You have to say this out loud in your head.] He retorts angrily: "Hair-lip! Hair-lip!"

Oh well, Happy Wooden Anniversary! I hope you don't get any splinters today! I look forward to our date evening out tonight! Get ready, Beautiful!

Yes, we still look teenagers (with that puppy-love look in our eyes)...too bad we didn't meet till we were in our twenties.