Created in His own image

So God created people in his own image, God patterned them after himself; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1:27

Today we reached a new landmark in Carver's life. We fed him real food. Well if you can call rice cereal real food. I don't think I would eat it myself, but the books and others say start him out on cereal and not steak. What do you do? He was pretty excited to try something new for a little while. Sometimes I think he gets more excited about the attention that he gets from us, rather than whatever new thing he is experiencing. He loves to see his Mama and daddy. He loves our attention. I love to just look at my son. He is a beautiful creation. I look into his eyes and see a little bit of me and a little bit of Laura. How complex this little man is. In the past few weeks he has been making many more noises than just grunting and crying and a little bit of cooing. Today he started opening his mouth wide open when making sounds. He realized that a whole new array of sounds come out this way. He was so excited to just talk to his daddy. I spoke back to him telling him things like "I love you" and "you are so precious" - you know the normal new parent things. Then I got thinking that my son just wanted to talk to me. Not only did he want to talk to me, but I wanted to listen to what he had to say. I told him that he was important and I always wanted to listen. Whether he wanted to disagree or tell me about nuclear physics, I just wanted to hear him out. I wanted to because I cared about him. I adored him. Tears came to my eyes as I thought about this. A little while later I realized that I have a father like this. I have a Father that created me in his own image. A Father that loves me so much that he gave what was most precious to Him to save me. I have a Father that adores me. He likes me and wants to just hear me out. He wants to see me grow and he wants to see me experience new things. He wants me to be who He created me to be - like Him - in my own way.

It doesn't get much cuter than this

Bird poop?

Life's a Beach

Carver's first trip to the beach was a success - well as long as you don't think of the umbrella that flipped inside out and spikes went flying everywhere. He enjoyed the sand and just hanging out. We bought a little spiderman tent for our next outing as long as he doesn't fly away with wind, he should be a little better protected from the sun. Unfortunately, yesterday I snorkeled for a few hours with sea turtles and thousands of beautiful fish without any sunscreen on. Yeah, that was a bright one. I am quite fried. Hopefully it will feel better soon.

ahhh....vacation

We are here and relaxing. So nice to have a vacation. We arrived Friday night and were a little hungry so we had some food that was native to Hawaii and we could not possible get in Washington: McDonalds and Teriyaki. Well at McDonalds we just had Cokes and Laura tried a Taro pie. Tried consists of one bite and then spitting it out. I prefer the good ol' American Apple Pie. We then went home and were pretty exhausted so we went to sleep. The time difference is 3 hours, so Carver woke up at his normal time 7:30 - Seattle time. So I was able to get up and see the sunrise. My parents house has a deck that overlooks the mountains and the ocean and Gilligan's island. It was pretty amazing to just enjoy the morning. Normally you are supposed to sleep in late on vacation. I imagine that will come eventually. For right now, I am just enjoying the weather and being around all my family. Today we go to church and then to North Shore - should be fun.

Calculating my daily schedule

So I have a few days left of normal life before my vacation. I seem to keep a pretty busy schedule, but sometimes I wonder where my time has gone. I am looking into some new opportunities, I just don't know what is possible. I believe that if I am to start something new, I probably need to drop something. Whatever the decision, it's time for some discipline and a little better time management. So last Friday I started writing down every single thing that I do and how much time it takes. I am going to do this for a week and then analyze it with a fine tooth comb. I believe that I am going find more free time than I think. However, free time is also unwinding time. How much of that do I need and can schedule it? I'll let you know my results.

Star Wars Geek in the Making

For the past few months, we have tried to keep Carver from watching the TV. He desperately wants to see what is on this colorful contraption. I think he gets to watch some Fox News with his Grandpa but just a little bit. He is probably a little Republican in the making. But anyways, tonight -actually right now is the Premier of the new Clone Wars TV show on Cartoon Network. In order to prepare for it, we decided we needed to see the Clone Wars movie in the theater. So we grabbed the baby and watched a matinee and Carver was mesmerized by the Big Screen. He did jump just a little bit at the first Jedi Force Jump. But after that he was good. He was awake for about the first hour, but then fell asleep. I imagine he might receive his first light saber in a few months. We probably should wait until he starts walking or at the very least standing on his own. Do you think he is destined for dorkness?

Four Months Strong

Carver reached four months this week. It's still crazy to think of myself as a parent. There is definitely more responsibility and a little more planning is needed. But he is worth it and we have decided to keep him. He is growing very rapidly. He does not seem to like to spend time on his tummy. However he loves to stand up. He can hold himself up by just holding onto your fingers for a little bit. I think he might walk before he crawls. That will probably mean a lot more work for us - baby proofing our house and all. We had his checkup this week and the Doc says he is looking great. Here are his stats:

Weight: 15 lbs 1.2 oz - 51%
Height: 24.75 inches - 43%
Head: 43 cm - 74%

So he has a big head - there is a little bit of an argument on who he gets that from.