Blessed

We saw The Fighter yesterday.  GREAT movie.  It's an amazing story of overcoming incredible odds to accomplish great things.  I'm fascinated by people like Micky Ward who push through such seemingly insurmountable odds to achieve their goals.  I'm sure that most anyone who has achieved great things has had to work hard and has probably made sacrifices along the way, but it's my opinion that some are faced with much greater adversity than others.

Today I watched the documentary referenced in the movie about Dicky Eklund, the protagonist's brother.  It's about crack use in Lowell MA, a small industrial town with high unemployment and bad socioeconomics.  Those profiled in the doc are crack-heads of the worst kind.  Missing teeth, hazy eyes, weird skin color...junkies.  They coherently and articulately explain how crack is destroying their life and ruining their future, and how they wish they had never started using it.  In the next breath they go on to explain how they love it more than "anything in the world."  It's hard to believe anyone could ever extract themselves from that sort of situation and get back to any sense of normalcy.  

I know there are a lot of bad decisions made to get some to the point of those profiled in the movie.  However, there are also those who are born into bad situations.  Abusive homes, addicted parents, regions with no access to education or geopolitical stability.  And yet out of each of the aforementioned environments incredible people emerge, Nelson Mandela for example.  

It occurred to me as I began to think of instances where individuals overcame incredible odds to achieve uncommon success, that in every case there is a person or people who help to pull these unlikely victors from their seemingly helpless station and buoy them up.  It made me wonder, as someone who lives a life of comparative ease, am I one of those lifting my brother...? 

I Love That Babies

Are completely pure. To them everything is wonderful and fresh and new.  A baby will look at a button on a couch as if it were the most interesting thing in the world, and use every bit of concentration and motor skill they poses to explore all aspects of that button.  Nothing is that wondrous to adults.  Adults see way cooler stuff everyday and give it nothing more than a jaded glance.

I think we could learn something from babies...

Blaire even thinks piggy-backs are cool.  Babies...

Fun With Jane and Larry

We spent the weekend in Brawley with my parents.  We had a lot of fun hanging with the folks, and it was great for Blaire to spend some time with her grandparents.  I even have to give Grandma and Grandpa an assist for Blaire's first word.  Blaire said "Dad" for the first time on Saturday with a little help from the grandparents.  Good times.  Thanks Mom and Dad!

Pioneer Museum, Imperial CA.  Blaire learned about beef.

Blaire needed to make a call...apparently to someone in 1901

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the fun weekend!

With One Word...

Blaire proclaimed me the winner of the first word contest.

Blaire at Seven Months ...

Stops traffic (no really, people in cars have literally pulled over to say, "that baby is so cute!").

Has a big girl smile (almost 4 teeth now!).

Thinks her Daddy's her boyfriend.
Sleeps on her tummy with her little tushy in the air.
Does a great impression of "The Godfather" and "Chewbacca".
Enjoys squash and sweet potatoes - bananas, not so much (takes after Daddy on that one).
Loves Los Angeles (hiking, beaching, celeb spotting, farmer's market shopping).
Hobbies include: sucking on toes, running with mom, music class, watching the big kids play at the park, and being kissed by mom a zillion times a day.

One year ago

One year ago we had a secret.  It was just between us.  I had been nurturing and loving my tiny secret since October.  I sang, read, prayed and dreamt for my secret every night.  And then, on February 2nd, we decided it was time to share our sweet secret (oh, and shock the pants off everyone at the same time).

February 2nd, 2010.  The day I announced I would be a mommy.  What a great day it was.