Rock Chalk Babyhawk: 2008

Sunday, December 28, 2008

The Joy of the Holidays!

We have had such a great holiday! Lots of time off of work and school and so much fun! We'll start the post with photos from Aunt Steph and "Uncle" Josh's visit right before Christmas. Babyhawk was in quite a mood and wouldn't let Steph look at her, let alone hold her or play:

She did, however, enjoy watching herself in her Christmas program... over.. and over.. and over:

We had a movie afternoon. Babyhawk really enjoyed her little bowl of popcorn:

Later, during the movie, I heard a thunk and looked over... Babyhawk had fallen asleep in her high chair. She slept there for about an hour:

We got super crazy one night:

And got to open a gift early:

Then we got cleaned up for Christmas Eve Mass. She did her trademark "orange juicer" dance to all of the Christmas Hymns:

Babyhawk was so excited for Santa that she pretended to be asleep during the car ride home:

Christmas morning!:

Opening gifts really takes it out of you:

Babyhawk got three new babies, in addition to the one she already had so she had baby parties all weekend:

The week finally caught up with Babyhawk after her Sunday afternoon walk... she is still asleep as I type this...:

Have a great week and be safe while celebrating the New Year. Rock Chalk!

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Must be Santa...

Papahawk and I have "Must be Santa" running through our heads day in and day out after Ms. Babyhawk's first Christmas Program. It was a success, she looked cute and she even busted a few moves:

Here are a couple short video clips of Babyhawk's rehersal's earlier in the week:

Then we had Mamahawk's work Christmas party. It was a great time! Papahawk got a star for all of his support throughout the year:

Mamahawk won some cash and got a pretty fitting ornament this year:

And then... the young folks went out!

This week we will be completing the final preparations for Babyhawk's second Christmas. We had a warm-up event when Aunt Stephanie and "Uncle" Josh stopped in on their way through to Atlanta and it wasn't pretty. I think it was due to no nap that afternoon and a nasty fall that resulted in a pretty fat lip. Steph and Josh were good sports even with the screaming baby - we'll post those photos as part of our Christmas post later this week.

Have a great week and a very Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

One man and a baby...

I was away for work ALL week, so Papahawk and Babyhawk got some real quality time in. Papahawk took some video and photos of their adventure...

Reading in the sunlight:

Beep beep!

Babyhawk did all of the cooking for the week. Thanks Aunt Jen and Uncle Hubie for the new toy!! (also thanks to the teachers at daycare who gave dad the ole assist on the hair duties this week):

Then mom got home and brought a package in from Grandma that contained a beautifully wrapped Christmas gift. Babyhawk didn't realize the box and popcorn wasn't the gift:

She almost fell asleep for a nap inside the box!:

Brendan and Kristie had their first annual "Ugly Christmas Sweater Party." We had a good time...(and yes, we are both wearing women's sweaters.:

And finally, there will be a Babyhawk news alert soon... we have had some pretty solid solo steps happening here at home and with the teachers and therapists at school. Put the champagne on ice, the celebration will be soon!

Have a great week everyone!

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow...

It is starting to look at lot like winter around here!:

We got a beautiful tree this year. Babyhawk doesn't seem to be too interested yet, but we were sure to put all the breakables near the top:

So much fun:

She is movin'!:

And, finally, a Christmas card teaser thanks to Paper Boat Photography! We had snow during our shoot this year!

Friday, December 5, 2008

Babyhawk's first showing...

Babyhawk is a featured artist at The Gallery, with her work displayed along side that of the talented Sarah Rogers:

Babyhawk's Grandma is the Executive Director of the Center for the Arts, so she was able to pull a few strings...

Monday, December 1, 2008

Turkey Day Vacation!

For Thanksgiving this year we traveled to Iowa and met up with all of Mamahawk's siblings and their families, plus Grandma, Papa and Great Grammy V., Great Grammy E. and Great Grandpa E. We swam and swam and ate and played wii and talked and then swam some more. It was a crazy time - but we all had a blast!

Here is a view of the 3 indoor pools. Thankfully they were really warm!:

Babyhawk had quite a time picking out a swimsuit:

Splashes!:

Getting a few z's in before the cousins arrived. This was one of the few naps Ms. Babyhawk took all weekend long:

Six little monkeys sitting on a bed:

We got to welcome Babyhawk's newest cousin Baby"E"! She was born Thanksgiving day at 4:31 pm. She is gorgeous and looks just like her mom:

She was our good luck charm for the Kansas game on Saturday!

The goofy girls! Babyhawk with her cousins A and K:

A and K decided to put a sticker tattoo on Papahawk. It says "LAZY":

The two Amigos. Babyhawk had so much fun with her cousin "Baby J."

Babyhawk crashed hard each night:

...and she entertained herself the whole way home. Between telling her baby very animated stories, reading books, drawing, watching her show and sleeping, we did this:

Congrats again to Uncle Dustin and Aunt Vinnie on little baby "E"... we are so glad we got to meet her. And thanks to the rest of Mamahawk's crazy side of the family for making the trip, (you too "Uncle Jared"!) It was so great to see you all again. Let's do the same thing next year. Love you all!

Welcome to Holland

by Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this...

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland??I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills...and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy...and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things... about Holland.