undertakingyou

Naomi and Alana on a lazy afternoon.

My wife took some pictures of our girls on a nice day. I realize this is a shameless plug, but here is one of those pictures of my daughters.

So, some know, and maybe even less care, but my wife and I have had our second child today. Let me give the short details and some pictures. After the pictures I plan on talking about the day and my experience.

Alana Lyn Smith: Born May 13, 2011 at 13:29. 7lbs 4oz. and 20 inches long.

Alana Lyn Smith

Alana Lyn with Dad and Sister

Alana Lyn with Mom and Sister

Alana and Naomi

So, as for the day:

We had really been hoping that Alana would be born on the thirteenth. For many reasons. Becky and I started dating on a thirteenth. We got married on a thirteen. Naomi was born on a Friday the thirteenth and we wanted Alana to be on the thirteenth too. I was nervous that Alana would come earlier. In fact, Becky kept having sporadic contractions on the evening of the eleventh. What made me more nervous is that work was at that moment being quite busy and I really needed Thursday to get everything set up with the five families that I am working with. But I digress, we scheduled to induce labor and needed to be at the hospital at 7:15 am on the thirteenth. I didn’t want to leave anything to chance.

On the twelfth I got home from work and felt a huge relief from stress just knowing that work was behind me and now I could focus on Becky and Alana. Lisa, Becky’s sister, came over and spent the night so that she could take Naomi with her in the morning. We relaxed and played games with friends. While playing games Becky got a call confirming her c-section. Becky had to tell the person that called, the callers name was Buffy, that she was not having a c-section and that they had better not cut her. Apparently the doctors office got things mixed up, but Becky straightened them out.

This morning was one that was filled with a certain amount of anxiety. Becky woke up at 3:00 AM and could only sleep sporadically after that. We went to the hospital and walked in right at 7:15 where Dr. Ward jokingly asked us if we were ready for our c-section. We all had a tentative laugh about that one. I thought the mix up was only mildly funny and Becky was starting to get anxious with the anticipation of everything. Once checked in everything got underway.

I will say I think this was an easier labor than with Naomi. I realize that as I say that there are women out there that are saying, “What would you know? You didn’t have the labor”. But it was faster than Naomi by about 12 hours.

One other thing that is amazing to me is the instant connection that comes with a new child for me. It happened with Naomi, and again with Alana. On each occasion I had the feeling that before me was one of the most wonderful things in the planet and I had, and still have, the strongest desire in the world to take care of these wonderful things. It is fascinating the instant feeling of love and devotion to this person that I have never met before now.

Becky was able to really quickly recover and Alana is really a well natured and good child. One interesting thing, while Naomi was with Aunt Lisa, she started to really have a hard time. To the point of having a tantrum. Lisa and Nonnie asked her what was wrong and Naomi replied that she was scared that we would not come and get her now that Alana was here. Bless her heart. There is no way that we would actually do that of course, but it is interesting to see Naomi’s reaction to having the new sister actually here, and not something that is just some abstract object in Mommy’s tummy. When Naomi got to the hospital we had her hold Alana, had talks with her and of course, grandparents bought her presents. That helped.

So all things considered it has been an amazing day. I really like the scheduled birth just because it was very easy to take care of Naomi and have everything ready. Sunday afternoon Alana will come home for the first time. I want to thank all those who have wished us well so far.

Let me preface this by saying that this is not a discussion about my stance on California’s proposition 8, the legislation that defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman. This article is about what I view as the real and much larger issue.

Lets first examine what happened in California’s proposition 8. A proposal was made. Supporters of both sides campaigned by every means that they could to gain even more supporters. Voters turned up at the polls in record numbers to cast their vote on an issue. The votes were counted and like every contest one side lost and didn’t like it.

Regardless of what side of this issue you are on this is what happened. The issue could have been about changing all roads to be painted white instead of black asphalt. To do white would allow more sun to be reflected and city tempratures to come down. To leave it black would cost less and actually prevent accidents because the sun wouldn’t reflect in peoples eyes from the road. The cycle is the same, proposal, campaign, voters, and counting. It has been going on for a long time.

This process of rules being established by vote of the people is the foundation of a democratic society.

Now this is where I get scared. Yesterday the federal court overturned California’s proposition 8 and all I see is people praising this wonderful decision and how awesome it is. I saw it tweeted, on facebook, in newspapers and radio programs. It was even hailed as a huge justice on ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ by one of the judges. But what were they praising? The were praising that the democratic process just got overthrown.

Yep, my whole concern with this issue is regardless of how I vote if I don’t do it the way ‘they’ want, my vote will get the ol’ heave-ho and ‘they’ will have it however they want. It doesn’t matter the issue folks. It could be about what color to paint the street. Nope, you did it wrong, and we are going to repeal it. Tough crap!

The fact that people are thinking that this overturning of the law is just about marriage is absolutely beyond me. This could be about anything you find important. From school budgets to gun control to whether to go to war. If you don’t do it the way ‘they’ want they will just find a way to get it done anyways. I think that George Carlin’s words say it best. Basically, ‘they’ don’t care about you, ‘they’ will do whatever ‘they’ want.

What I would rather see, what I am shocked is not happening, what should be done is have everyone on either side of this issue protest with big signs that say “Stop F***ing America!”. Later, we can all play part of the democratic process again. Get a new bill proposed that overturns a previous bill, campaign our hearts out, and then have the voters come out. When it as all done, we can count the votes and see where it stands. Until then, I guess a whole bunch of people are really happy being raped over by Uncle Sam and the broken American System.

Below are some photos that I took with my Canon Digital Rebel XTi prior to and during the fireworks on the 23rd.

The other photos all ended up blurry because it was dark. But these were pretty good.

For those that had been interested I have traded my 1964 Bug. The kid that has it seems like he will treat it really well and I am glad that he got it. As I was getting it ready for him I drove it one more time and just thought about how fun of a car it really was to drive and have. All the looks that I got and people wanting to know about that classic car.

But I digress. I traded it for his 1988 Chevy pickup. I am currently getting the title but then I am going to put that up for sale. If it doesn’t go fairly quick I will take it down to Carmax and see what they do.

So two questions, first does anybody want a pickup truck? If so message me or comment and I can get you the info. Second, does anyone have experience selling a car to car max? Good or bad I am curious to hear it.

Today is my birthday. Although you might not care, I learned long ago that if I sat there and felt sorry that no-one remembered my birthday, and I didn’t tell them about it, it was my fault. So I am just saying, you know, so that you are aware. I don’t expect gifts, just a hello would be nice.

As I look back on this year in review it has been very, very interesting. Promotion at work, starting my own business, my wife starting a business, home improvements, changes in my role at UTOSF, and then my daughter growing and time still rolling on, what a ride.