Is He My Baby or My Boy?

I realize that, technically, Luke is both my baby and my boy, but lately he has been growing so much that he seems more like a little boy than a baby. I also realize that in a month or so I will look back at this post and Luke will seem so little. After all, he can't crawl or sit up without help. But he has mastered the following skills:

• He can take his pacifier out of his mouth and put it back in again
• Jump in his jumperoo
• Roll (or fall, whatever you want to call it)
  
• Stand with help (this, he may prefer over all other positions)
  
• Scream and avert his head when I come after his nose with the aspirator
• Put everything within his reach inside of his mouth
• Play in the exersaucer until he realizes that Mom isn't playing with him.
• Sleep without being swaddled.
• Grow so fast (and so tall) that Mom has no idea which clothes will still fit him.

These may seem like small things, but to me they are signs that my baby is growing up. However, he will only be 5 months on Thursday, so I still have some time before he's asking for the car keys. I'll enjoy every minute!

Luke likes to stay on top of current events.

He can't quite get his foot in his mouth. He must get his flexibility (or lack thereof) from Andrew.

Sorry about the PDA

When I thought of updating the look of our blog, I really didn't intend to put a kissing shot (despite the really cool backdrop of Lake Erie). However, Andrew brought up the point that our blog really can't be called The Stacey Sizzle without a "sizzling hot" picture on the front. I had to concede. In the meantime, I might try to think of a different name for our blog. One that might go really well with a boring family picture. The Stacey Sampler is already taken. I don't know...maybe Sounds of Stacey, Crazy Staceys, Stacey is not my first name... what do you think? It doesn't even need to have the name "Stacey" in it. I'm open to suggestions.

By the way, the 6 month wait is almost over and I couldn't be more excited. Just like American Idol got me through the first trimester of pregnancy, Lost got me through the third (the second was a breeze). I would come home from work with huge swollen ankles and could hardly move. I basically couldn't walk after 6pm. That's when we discovered that you could watch old episodes of Lost online and we finished all 4 seasons in a couple months. When I realized (back in the beginning of August) that I would have to wait until January to find out what happens, I thought I might stop being a fan. But because they promised to end in two seasons, I think I'll stick it out (even though television is kind of waste of time... I guess Lost is a guilty pleasure).

There are a few things that could happen that might cause me to quit watching. First of all, if Sawyer and Kate hook up again, I think I'm out. How can anyone be attracted to Sawyer? Second, if they bring Charlie back and I have to hear that "You all everybody" song that he sings, one more time....I'm turning off the TV.

So we'll be watching tonight. I'm making cookies and green smoothies (the green smoothies help us feel better about eating the cookies). Feel free to come watch with us.

Christmas Traditions

We finally found our camera cord. It was actually right next to the computer where I thought it was. I guess that tells you how unorganized my computer desk is right now.

Christmas was great. I have wanted to post some pictures for a while. This Christmas I thought a lot about traditions; both the ones we already have and the ones I'd like to start.


Here are Luke and Andrew watching A Muppet Christmas Carol. Holiday movies are a great tradition (although I fell asleep during this one...falling asleep during Christmas movies might be a new tradition). Luke is also wearing his Christmas pajamas because it is Christmas Eve...another cool tradition.



My family likes to read through Luke 2 (the story of Christ's birth) on Christmas Eve. This year, Luke got the part of baby Jesus (the competition was slim). This is probably Alek and Dallyn's 11 or 12th time being Joseph and Mary. They are good sports. Luke really enjoyed his manger bed.



Luke also really enjoyed eating all of his presents.




It is important for us to be with family around Christmas (even though last year we went to Puerto Rico...sometimes tropical destinations in the winter trump the competition). Here is Luke with his two great-grandpas (he is named after them "William" + "Lynn" = "Wynn").


Here are more cousin pictures. Luke has been so lonely the last few weeks without his cousins' nonstop attention. I keep telling Alek that the ladies like a guy who is good with babies...he should post this picture on facebook.

When we go to Utah, we love to see the lights in Salem. This is the view from Andrew's grandparent's window. They light up the trees and put them on the pond. It's pretty cool. We also went to see the lights at Temple Square but forgot our camera.


A relatively new family tradition is to go tubing at Soldier's Hollow. This is my sister Erin, who is cute and available.

We always have a lot of fun at Soldier's Hollow and it is the only time I will get involved in snowball fights.

Luke didn't tube with us, much to the disappointment of his cousins...maybe next year.


Andrew really knows how to relate to 16 year olds. It just comes natural to him :). I guess that is why he was called to work with the Young Men in our ward (church).

Here is the whole family... minus Eric who stayed in Florida this year and Greg who had to work.

Here are some of my cute nieces and nephews.



Finally, Andrew and I really like to cook. It has started to become a tradition, the last few years, to make pizzas from scratch for the holidays. I can't take much credit, Andrew has a knack for Italian food.

So there are a few of our family traditions ...at least the ones we got pictures of (and not including the Stacey family traditions). I'm always looking for fun new traditions so let me know if you have any good ideas.

Waiting for Pictures

I'd like to post some pictures, but we currently cannot locate the cord that connects our camera with the computer. Hopefully we'll find it soon.

In the meantime, I wanted to welcome some of my family members to the blogging world. Over Christmas break, I set up blogs for Erin, Jerry and Melanie, and Michele and Randy. So far Erin is blogging like a pro, Melanie downloads cool songs (but that's about it), and Michele has yet to post anything. If you know any of my family members, you should check out their blogs and maybe it will motivate them to post (see blog list to left).



The other thing that I wanted to mention is the Freedom of Choice Act that President-elect Obama has said he will sign as soon as he becomes President. I know that I have some pro-choice readers out there, but take some time to look over the submitted proposal. A few points I agree with but a lot of points I do not agree with. I think it's important to be informed about what's going on and the future results of this kind of legislation.

http://change.gov/open_government/entry/advancing_reproductive_rights_and_health_in_a_new_administration

If you want to sign the petition against the act, go to

http://www.fightfoca.com/

I started writing a long blog about why I feel so strongly about this issue, but it became too overwhelming for me to tackle. So I decided to just sum up my reason for being pro-life with two simple (perhaps, over-simplified) statements.

1) Roe v. Wade was a decision made by Supreme Court judges. I believe that when we make laws, the people should decide. If we all voted and decided to make abortion legal, I wouldn't be happy, but I would respect the opinion of the majority. I don't believe a few people should make such a critical choice that affects everyone. Decisions about abortion "should be left with the people and to the political processes the people have devised to govern their affairs."

2) I don't know for sure when life begins. I have my opinions, but I'm not positive. However, if I'm going to err, I would rather err on the side of preserving life rather than err on the side of destroying it. I believe our nation will be blessed as our respect for life deepens.

I have more reasons other than those stated, but I just couldn't articulate them quite like I want to.

Interestingly, and something I just recently learned, "Roe" whose real name is Norma McCorvey, only brought up the issue because she was a rape victim (which she later said she lied about). She later became a pro-life activist and stated, "It was my pseudonym, Jane Roe, which had been used to create the 'right' to abortion out of legal thin air. But Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee never told me that what I was signing would allow women to come up to me 15, 20 years later and say, 'Thank you for allowing me to have my five or six abortions. Without you, it wouldn't have been possible.' Sarah never mentioned women using abortions as a form of birth control. We talked about truly desperate and needy women, not women already wearing maternity clothes".

Hopefully I'll have pictures from Christmas soon.

No man is an island

This is a few days late, but it was my friend, Janay's birthday and I've been thinking about my favorite Janay-memories lately. As one of my oldest friends, she has seen me through the good times and the bad. I thought I'd blog about one of my favorite stories (anyone who was a big fat nerd in middle school might also appreciate this).

I had known of Janay for a long time because she went to the same church as me, but she was a year older so I never really talked to her. It wasn't until I was in 7th grade and she was in 8th grade that we ever even spoke. In school, we ended up in the same drama class. We talked sometimes, but it was a big class and I was really shy. Then, a few weeks into the year, it happened... the most embarrasing moment of my life (up to that point. I've had way more since then).

In the drama class, we were required to do a voice audition by singing along to any song we wanted to. I was pretty worried about picking the wrong song...I had no idea what was cool. I ended up picking a song that my Mom and I thought was pretty cool (big mistake). You're listening to it right now (unless you've turned it off, wondering why I put that random song on my music mix). Our family has been huge ABBA fans since the 70's...how could I go wrong?.

Well, if you've ever seen "About a Boy" the scene that follows might best describe how the audition played out. The crowd was silent and confused, my faint voice shook as it tried to stay on key...I think I might have heard a kid say, "where in the world did you find this song?".



Now, Janay was no Hugh Grant. She didn't save me and walk on stage...I'm pretty sure she didn't know the song. But she could recognize a nerd's cry for help when she saw it. She became a great friend to me and even offered to give me a ride to the church youth choir practices (was that a hint?...I'm not sure).

The next year, the ABBA Gold CD came out and every popular kid in school was suddenly a big fan. I guess I was just cool before my time.

So thanks Janay for being a pal (and all others who knew me when I was "cool before my time").

"All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated...As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness....No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

-John Donne