6 Months...and growing

My OH my...has it been 6 whole months? I can't believe where the time has gone. Keizer is growing so fast that I can see almost daily his progression and how much of cute little handful he is and will be. Here's where he's at:

• He's got 2 teeth. On the bottom and through the drool he's got two teeth, big as life, coming through. He hasn't been fussy or feverish, but he knows they are there. With stealth like moves, he'll maneuver your finger into his mouth so fast you won't know what hit you. I think he does it just to let you know he's got teeth now, but either way, he's loving his new chompers. I've found he really likes to bite on the spoon that feeds him. Bite, eye contact, grin. That's the order.
• He loves to suck his thumb, or teethe on his thumb. Is there really a difference? No pacifier for him, it's all about the dirty grimy thumb. But at least he's happy and building his immune system.
• He can roll over, however that has ceased to be amusing since he realized he can hold his balance and sit with out anyone helping him. So really...He can sit by himself.
• He can fall over. Yes, along with the sitting comes the falling. Sometimes it's graceful, other times it's like a car wreak. Sometimes he cries, other times he decides the ceiling isn't as all that bad (or the floor, pending direction and gravity).
• He loves his veggies. Fruit just doesn't do it for him. Keizer will choose sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, carrots, squash...all of that before peaches, pears, applesauce, prunes, or bananas. (Yes, I am grateful).

• He reaches for everything, whether he can get to it or not. He's a strong little guy and quite exhausting if I say so myself. He'll clear my desk in about 3.4 seconds if I'd let him.
• He has a passion for the knob on a little coaster drawer on the coffee table next to the rocking chair in his room. He'll sit and pull it out as many times as I will push it back in.
• He loves the guitar. Perhaps he'll be a musician, or at least have an appreciation for the musical arts (much like his daddy). Hernan will sit and strum near Keizer and he will just stare and reach and smile and fling his arms around in joy.

• He's a talker. He'll chat and gurgle away at himself if I don't rush to his crib when he wakes up from a nap. He'll just lay there and carry on an interesting conversation with his toys.
• He's found some fears. AKA the box tape dispenser and the hair dryer...and the jury is still out on the vacuum.
• He got invited to a birthday party. His friend Josie Robins (6) asked her mom to call me and invite Keizer to her birthday party...so sweet.

All and all, the last 6 months have flown and Keizer just isn't so little any more, but it's fun to see him grow and accomplish new things. We're looking forward to the next 6 months! We love him so much!

Fairies

Growing up I had a passion for Fairies. There was something mystical about them, something that drew me to their quirky and adventurous aura. When dad would go on his service calls to the various places he had his penny machines or if it was a special holiday, I would often be gifted a fairy figurine or crystal or something that I could treasure.

Today fairies are everywhere, thanks for the marketing efforts of Disney and Tinkerbell. However, I like to think of myself as one of the old school fairy lovers.

I recently heard a poem that drew me back to my youth and the love that I had for the winged creature. It went like this:

I still have the mark on the end of my nose.

Footprints from the fairy's toes.

I think their speckled but,

Some say their freckled.

I had a fairy on my nose.

Such a cute poem and it makes me giggle inside like a little girl. Perhaps it's the magic or the escape of knowing something could be so small and mystifying. I don't know, but it's fun.

The attached picture is the art of my Uncle Lanny who captured so well the beauty of one fairy...the Jumper Fairy.

My Valentine

I know that Valentine's Day was a couple of weeks ago, but I have to take a moment and write about Hernan, my Valentine, and the crazy things this boy does.

I have found that Hernan is a passionate person. In general he is one that falls hard and fast. Some things he falls maddly in love with and the blaze for it burns hot, but for a short period of time and then it dies downs (never smoldering) with the flame reappearing ever-so-often as time goes on (it's like shuffling face cards, one is on the top, but is quickly replaced by another, the origianl card is still in the deck, just not on top), while other things with Hernan burns strong and steady with dedication and loyalty. Let me explain.

The "Face Card Passions"

• WWII. Hernan is a huge fan of the European side of WWII. He loves to talk to Vets and get their stories. He can resite Band of Brothers by heart. He loves books on the subject. He loves the guns that were used. He has boxes of figureins from the era, a trunk full of gear, and loves all sorts of memorabilia that accompanies this season of world history. But this is a passion that comes and goes, not a daily obsession.


• The Phone. Then there is Hernan's new phone, he gets it and spends all his spare time playing with it for the first week or so and then this passion dies down...perhaps to resurface when some new feature becomes availble.


• Futbol. Hernan loves to play soccer, the passion comes and goes, especially around World Cup every four years and Thanksgiving. He gets jazzed to know people will be playing and he'll be dedicated for a time, but the flame dies down when life gets busy.


• Fixing old cars. Hernan loves to work on cars. He fixed up and sold an old Truck before I knew him and attempted to do the same not too long ago. When the project seemed to never have an end, he traded it in. He sold his old '72 Chevy and bought a mid '90's Honda Civic. I remember telling him, "Wait until spring to buy it, it's just going to sit in the garage all winter and you won't work on it..." He assured me that the cold weather wouldn't detour him. Guess what? He hasn't touched it all winter. I just laugh because he was so passionate about the car mid-October when he bought it, now it's March and although he searches often for the "perfect rims" on KSL, he won't touch it until probably May. Just a dim flame at the moment.


• Guitar. February last year Hernan was determined to play the guitar. I bought him one for Valentine's Day and he proceded to buy himself an electric guitar shortly after as well. He practiced everyday and really started to sound good. He has an ear and a talent to pick musical things up quickly. It's like he has an internal rhythm. But after Keizer was born, I didn't hear the guitar any more. It was just recently that I started to hear him talking about practicing again, especially as when he plays Keizer can't do anything other than smile and giggle at him like he is his world.


• Guns. Hernan is one of those gun nuts. He loves to make them go boom. He is a collector and shows his passion for them off and on. When one catches his fancy he does nothing but eat, sleep and drink it. It wasn't too long ago he said, "Hey, I saw this gun I like, we ought to get it." I heard him, but don't recall responding with much more than, "oh, ok..." The next day he came through the door with a box and BIG GRIN. I just laugh, let the flame burn on...

The "Constant Passions"

• Cooking. Hernan loves to cook. He is so talented at putting whatever together and making it taste great. He wants to own a restaurant and is always throwing ideas out about what he could do. If I am cooking dinner, Hernan usually shows up to tell me how to make it better (usually appreciated, but not always). This is a passion that never dies.


• Movies. Hernan knows more about current and upcoming movies than I could ever want to absorb. If he has a spare moment, he's watching a trailer and telling me about a movie that is coming out that doesn't even have a release date yet. This is his escape from reality, his 2.5 hours of another life, his opportunity to live in a fantasy world, I have no idea, but I know that for as long as I have known him, he has loved and adored the cinema.


• Music. Facebook, My Space, You Tube, where ever you can search, Hernan will be there. He loves to find new artists, especially the singer-song writer type. He loves to track down their albums. He is like a little kid and gets so proud of himself when he finds a good one.


• Me. Ok, so I have to say that even though Hernan has a billion interests and passions, I think his best choice is me. He never fails to tell me how much he loves me (flame) and loves to be a romantic. Even though I list myself with his passions, I am proud to be one on the list. He makes me blush, he makes me laugh every day, and he makes me so happy. Even though Hernan falls fast and hard for some many little things, I always know I get to share them with him, because he wouldn't be able to not talk about them.

Hernan...he's my dreamer. He has so many talents and abilities that are not easy to come by. He can recognize a face and remember a name better than I can remember my own. He is a friendly-social person. He loves to throw parties and loves to entertain. He is a motivated person that doesn't let grass grow under his feet. He's a gentleman. He's handsome, cute, and has beautiful eyes. He's MY passion. He's my Valentine.

Kitties

I have found that I have 2 extra shadows. They appear around corners, they rub against my leg, and they even crawl on top of me if I sit on the floor for just a moment.

My poor kitties, they have been so starved for love since Keizer was born. They have now succumbed to taking love and getting attention any way they can get it. Bebee is especially bad. He demands to be heard by meowing at some of the most inappropriate times. He will sit in the hall and scream out his demands, just as Keizer is trying to fall asleep...so guess who wakes up? Some have said that his meow sounds like a child...and I would have to agree. I have to take a pause on occasion to make sure the screech that I hear isn't Keizer, but in fact is truly Bebee.

Tootsie on the other hand doesn't care what you are doing, when he wants a scratch or a pet, he will take it whether you like it or not. I will be writing something on a piece of paper and he will walk over and plop down on my hand, pen and paper and start to purr. Poor little guy.

Bebee will also rip our weather stripping off the door when he is outside and wants back in.

The cats are funny and so nice to have around at the same time. I am just glad they are friends again. They seemed to hate each other for the first few months of Keizer's life. They must have felt the competition and took it out on each other. But now they sleep near each other again, lick each other, wrestle, and demonstrate on many levels how much they love one another.

Keizer Update

These are the things that are going on with Keizer:

He is officially 5 months old. He is now laughing and giggling at anyone that can tickle that funny bone of his, especially if you coo at him, play with his belly, shake paper near him, or play peek-a-boo with him. He can almost sit up by himself and is almost rolling over. We got him a jumper and he likes to spend the first 20 mins of his day in that. His nemeses are in the rolling clear plastic thing on it (the polar bear and penguin) and he can only take "so much" of them in a day.

He has started to grab things. When we are in the office together he loves to reach for the sticky notes and calculator. I feel like I have a mad midget on my hands from time to time.

Keizer has always been strong and has always loved to stand ridged, but he is doing it better now and can hold his weight very well when he is on his feet and supported by mommy or daddy. He loves the attention we give him and flashes so many smiles when we clap.

He started soft food a while back and loves dinner time. His favorite food right now is applesauce and sweet potatoes, though he LOVES anything with flavor. He can really down the food (3 oz of rice cereal and about half of a flavored item).

One of his favorite things is Bath Time. He gets so happy when he hears the water running. He could soak for an hour if I'd let him (he takes after his mommy). The down side is that the Utah winter air is DRY DRY DRY and so he doesn't get a bath every day. His skin quickly becomes what I imagine alligator skin would feel like.

He is almost sleeping all the way through the night. He wakes up about once a night now, the time is rarely the same, which is odd to me since he goes to bed at 8 every night. I have thought about just letting him cry it out, but I am a soft 1st time mom and can't lay in bed listening the the waling and gnashing of gums...especially knowing I need to function the next day. I'm an enabler, but look at that face...can you blame me?

Keizer is just a sweet little guy and I love him so much. I can't imagine my life without him now. I've learned so much in the last 5 months and I know I've got a lot more experiences coming my way...

January 2009

January went quickly, but I am suspicious that the next several months will fly by as a result of the daily care of Keizer. He makes the time great and move along. Anyway, not a lot happened in Janary.

We got our car back after the transmission blew on Christmas day. That was a joy. Atleast the dealership covered 75% of the cost.

Jaren blessed Eli and that was a nice little get-together with them afterwards.

This picture was of us Fowler Girls at Jaren's house after the blessing:


The weather was cold and we had a really bad snow storm. It dumped over a foot of snow (and much of it still remains).

Rory had his birthday. So we took the opportunity to take pictures of Keizer and Eli together. Here is one of my favorites:

Work kept me busy. We are about to launch our new company for sleep technician training (American Sleep Academy) and much of the work was done in February. I am very pleased with the look our developers are helping us with and we believe we'll have some great success as the year unfolds. I am very excited about it all, as besides my family, my work is my life.

I got a WII FIT. I LOVE it. It really gets my heart going (that's more a joke on a joke by Jo Koy, our favorite comedian at the moment). I've worked as best I can considering how busy Keizer and work keep me, and I am closing in on sheading the last few pounds of baby weight. That will be a joyous day for me as I feared I would never loose the weight. So I am pleased. Although at the same time I refuse to give up my daily "moment" of Bryers Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. Am I weak, yes, but it's just so good.

We had a WII game night with our old friends Sue and Zach Andelin. Hernan and Zach have become really good friends and Zeek and Dez (Zach's brother and his wife) were in town, so it was a perfect excuse to get together. We drank Mate (as the boys love the stuff) and we all got creamed by Dez in bowling. We all had boxing matches and had a lot of fun and laughs.

Hernan realized he and Keizer had something in common...they love to watch TV. This is them together one Saturday Morning:

Keizer's Blessing

This was the beautiful blessing that Hernan gave to Keizer.

Keizer Ludovico Rocha
Baby Blessing, Dec 7th, 2008

In the name of Jesus Christ and by virtue of the Holy Priesthood that we Elders of Israel hold, we take this child into our hands in order to give him a name for which he will be recognized on the records of the church and by the children of men, and the name is Keizer Ludovico Rocha. Keizer, we bless you so that you may keep growing healthy and strong, we bless you so that your body can develop in a natural way. Keizer we bless you so that you may always be a person of good, and be wise in temporal matters. We bless you so that you may be able to apply the principles of the gospel throughout your life and be an example to those around you.

We bless you so that when the time is right, you will serve a full-time mission and serve the Lord with all your soul, mind, and strength. We bless you so that when the time is appropriate, you will meet a young woman and be able to take her to the temple so that there you together can form an eternal family.

We bless you Keizer, so that you may always have respect for your elders and so that you can always follow the counsel of those that seek the best for you. We bless you Keizer so you may always have love for your parents, your siblings, and those around you, and also so that you may develop the ability to never judge others and love those that are in contact with you.

We bless you Keizer so you may be willing to always listen to your mother and follow the counsel that she gives you. We bless you with the strength to make the right decisions in your life that will take you back to your Heavenly Father. All of these blessings plus those that your Father in Heaven has in store for you, in His divine time, we sealed upon you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

2008 Pictures

Keizer says it all with this face! He's my little man...so cute...

He posed for this one...

Rocha Family Christmas 2008.

Dad and the boys (Keizer and Eli).

The purpose of the blog and the end of 2008

I started a blog really for one reason, I don't keep a journal and there are a lot of things that occur in our lives that truly are worth "documenting" for the sake of the future and posterity. Especially now that Keizer is in our lives, I feel like it's even more important to take some time and talk about what is occurring and going on in our lives. So I've made a new resolution to my old resolution (see how dedicated I am???)...which is to actually blog. So I figure I ought to catch up on the happenings of the last few months since I last blogged.

November 2008:
This was the month of Thanksgiving. That is about all I could actually remember about November. We spent it at the house of my mom and Prisca and her family joined us there. Jaren had to work, so their family was unable to attend. We missed them, but still had a good time. It was long day though, I do remember that. We went to Hernan's sister's house for dessert and just remember being very tired.

December 2008:
This was a BUSY month. We had lots of parties and events to attend as it was the time to celebrate Christmas.

We had my work party and that was rather enjoyable. Some of our best friends work at The Sleep Institute of Utah and so we had fun socializing there. I think our table had the most laughs, that's for sure, as Hernan has a tendency to make people laugh, he's a real comedian. Carline and Eddie Risser were at our table and so was Zach Andelin. We had dinner and then played BINGO. We used M&Ms to cover our numbers and our table cheated by having more than one card...didn't help us any though (go figure). We were some of the last to get BINGO.

Hernan's work Holiday Party consisted of a Movie. He knows one of the managers at a theater in Orem who let us in for free, so we go snacks and watched the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. I actually really liked the movie.

The most important event that happened in December was that Hernan blessed Keizer. It was done on the first Sunday and he did it in Spanish, so half my family didn't understand a word. Dad, Jaren, Scott, Nino, Ruben, Eddy, and Nick Hanna all participated. We had lunch at our house afterwards and mom and I talked afterwards about how much of a "success" it was. Everything went smoothly and our families meshed very well. I will post the blessing translation and some pictures later.

Christmas seemed to come in a hurry in 2008. It was Keizer's first and frankly I think I hyped it up more than I had ought. Keizer just kinda sat there in his chair and stared at the things we bought him. But it was still fun. He was spoiled like no other. We got him some church cartoons and cloths, toys, and other little things that only a nearly 4 month old would like or want. It was fun. The best part of Christmas was probably the gift that came from my Dad. He spent hours and hours transferring our old home videos to DVD for us. Anyone that knew the Fowler's growing up knew that good old Vance always had his camera rolling. So it's been fun getting a recap on the Fowler kid's childhoods....and we only got the 80's worth of videos...so next year I bet we'll get most of the 90's. My favorite gift this year was the blanket Hernan got me. I saw it at Costco and went "oooooohhhhhh" when I touched it. I have used it pretty much everyday since. They must have been popular too because after I opened it, Hernan decided he wanted one too and we couldn't get one because they had sold out of them.

I did purchase a couple of things fun for myself this last Fall...I bought a gun and a bike. I have always found revolvers fun, so I bought myself an S&W 38 cal airweight. LOVE IT! I don't plan on using it much (but if you break into my house...plan on it), but it was just so nice I couldn't resist. The bike I got is a FUGI roadie. I fully planned on training through the winter, but so far Keizer has not allowed that. I can't wait until it warms up so I can get out in the fresh mountain air and get some miles under my belt. The great things is that Hernan bought me all sorts of things to match my bike for Christmas, like gloves and helmet. I have shirt and shoes that match too. It's white, light green aqua, and black. Sleek and sweet...

Then the year 2008 ended...we found ourselves at home with some friends (Carline and Eddie Risser and July and Eugene Santellan) came over to watch a movie and we didn't even watch the ball drop! But we did have cider! Of course, Hernan and I brought in the New Year with a kiss.