"...is my two front teeth." Well, that's how the song goes, but it took a few days past Christmas for Hale's first tooth to arrive, with another coming in any day now! It was just this morning that we discovered the "break through" of the tiny tooth (much anticipated, I might add) - lower right front. Kevin and I are both very excited, but I'm sure Hale is wishing that this teething business would hurry up and get over with! He has been quite a trooper, though, and seems quite proud of his "accomplishment!"
December 2002 Archives
Two days ago we got back 3 rolls of film (and pics on CD) and posted five new albums to the website. I went a little overboard in some places, but hey - I can't bring myself to delete pictures of that cute boy.
I hope you all understand.
The holiday season has brought about a few more firsts in Hale's life - obviously, his first Christmas, but other quite exciting events worthy of mention: learning to wave bye-bye, "blowing kisses," and giving high fives! Although he is still not officially crawling, he is building up fantastic upper body strength as he rocks back and forth on all fours and scoots around. "Da-da" is his favorite phrase, as he has seemingly completely forgotten how to say "ma-ma."
Lastly, we think we're in for it - at seven months, Hale had his first sledding experience today with some families from our Sunday School class - AND HE LOVED IT! He was quick to beat on the sides of his baby sled to remind us to get it going again if we dared to stop!
Merry Christmas to all of you! This is Hale's first Christmas, and I must say: He's excited that it has arrived. So excited, in fact, that he had trouble sleeping last night and got up (way too) early this morning. No doubt, this is a harbinger of things to come.
And, Hale got a gift from Mother Nature this morning -- it snowed 4" here in Shelbyville last night. We had been dreaming of a white Christmas so we shouldn't be surprised. I hope that the purported 8" of snow a short drive away from us in Indianapolis will not keep us from lunch at my brother Brad's home today.
Well, the gifting hour approaches so I will bid one last Merry Christmas to all.
Woo-hoooooo!!! It's Friday, December 20, which can mean only one thing...the last day of work for the next two weeks (for me and Kevin, at least)! I am thrilled at the thoughts of having two weeks with my two boys. Whatever will we do to fill the time?? Well, tomorrow (Saturday, December 21) begins our round of holiday get-togethers. It's off to Dad Jordan's early afternoon, then our "Friends Christmas" tomorrow evening, where Hale will enjoy playing with his best buddies Jackson, Brooks and Ian. Then Sunday it's Mom Jordan's and the ever-growing Jordan clan; Monday is a private 348north Christmas with just the three of us; and Monday evening we'll be loading up the wagon and headin' down to Shelbyville for the traditional Ingle Family Fun Night, which will take place on Tuesday (and Wednesday and...). So as you can tell, the first part of our vacation will be very busy. But I'm looking forward to it all the same and can't wait to experience Hale's first Christmas with family and friends.
Merry Christmas to all; and to all a good break (from work)!
In my travels around the web, I happened upon this photo of a stained-glass window. The image is that of the nativity, I think. Regardless, it is beautiful.
Perhaps some of you have seen this in person -- it is housed at the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington, London England. Truly an amazing piece of art, depicting an amazing day in our history.
(This photo was taken by Phil Askey, from Digital Photography Review)
I don't consider myself much of a pie in the sky dreamer. That being said, Jill and I are embarking on a project that will perhaps evolve into something: Level 12.
Level 12 will be a student information system -- that is, a computer program and database that allows school districts to manage, collect and warehouse student data as well as create reports about said data. It will be a bit of an undertaking, especially since all of the development work will be done outside of my regular job. I'll have Jill working full-time on it, though.
The basic premise might not seem so lucritive: we are going to develop this software and then give it away. For free. The interesting part will be who chooses to support us, and how many schools are interested. One possible path would be for us to provide support to schools (paid), and another path is hosting the system/data for them (paid). But again, we plan to make the software available as licensed, open-source software (not paid). It should be interesting!
This morning at around 9:00 am, 68 little envelopes of joy started a journey from a small home on North Line Street in Columbia City to locations far and wide. While petite, these envelopes pack a powerful punch of holiday cheer! Look for one in your town -- possibly addressed to you!
They're coming soon to places like Indianapolis, Noblesville, Shelbyville and Frankfort; Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Florida too. One lucky sole will even open an envelope arriving in Japan! (Take a left at Alaska, a right at Hawaii, and you're there.) We're worldwide.
Have a Merry Christmas, and the Happiest of Holidays.
Taking notes from Joe, I ventured into the land of montage/panoramic photography... I'll let you decide how it went.
In my defense, Grandma has so many great-grand-kids, regular lenses just don't stretch wide enough to get everyone in.
Congratulations, Grandma Jordan, on the announcement of the impending birth of Baby Jordan #8! No, Kevin and I are not expecting again (not yet anyway!) - but brother Randy and his wife Jodie clued us in on the news of their pregnancy by hanging an 8th stocking on Grandma Jordan's fireplace mantle yesterday when we gathered together for lunch. Congratulations to Randy, Jodie, Tyler & Emma! Due July 30, 2003 - it will make for an interesting Jordan Family Vacation with an either VERY pregnant Jodie or a new little bundle of joy!!!
We didn't get a chance to see it here in North America, but yesterday there was a total solar eclipse; the moon blotted out the sun for ~20 seconds. This picture is from a town in Australia called Lyndhurst, and was taken by a Reuters photographer. You can see other pictures posted at The Sydney Morning Herald.
I sometimes just look up at the moon, the sun, and the stars and marvel at creation.
Kevin, Hale and I would like to express our gratitude to Grandma Jordan, Nana, GrandBud, Uncle Randy, Aunt Jodie, Emma, the Myers, the Longenbaughs and the Rentschlers for sharing a few very special events with us last night at our church. In one fell swoop last evening, Kevin and I (along with several others) were accepted as new members into the church, Hale was dedicated, and Kevin and I publicly renewed our faith through baptism (again, along with several others). Thank you for being there for us. We love you all!
