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CHECKING IN?

Hello Everyone! If you are reading this, thanks for checking in! Daniel and I can’t believe that it’s been almost seven months since our last blog post! (Thanks to Daniel for keeping it up to that point.) As you can imagine a lot has happened since May. I now have a new job that gives me more time to spend with Allora AND post to our blog more frequently! Thanks to friends and family that are better than me at keeping up on blog posts - you are great examples. I’m really good at reading everyone elses blogs, now I need to get better at updating ours. Eventually, I’ll even learn how to upload some video! So, if you’d like to stay a while, feel free to read the past few posts. There is a lot of catching up we had to do.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Yes, Allora was our little billboard during Thanksgiving for the announcement of Baby Beck #2. ("Little Turkey" on the front, "BIG Sister to be" on the back.) We are way excited! I found out I was pregnant the week after I accepted the job offer from my brother. This was a surprise pregnancy because we wanted to have a little more space between Allora and the next one, but we’re not complaining at all. It’s just another blessing that fell into place. I am due on April 25th, so this will make Allora and Baby Beck #2, two years apart. Allora needs a little brother or sister anyway. Brother or sister is the question that will have to be answered when it’s born because I am going to be stubborn again and wait to find out what it’s going to be. I loved being surprised with Allora, so I want to do it again. Of course we would love a little boy, but after having Allora, I would love to have another little girl. And I think it would be so cute for Allora to have a little sister to play with.

NEW JOB

So, as you can imagine our little girl is growing so fast and is getting more cute & fun everyday. I couldn’t stand being away from her as much as I was while I was working full time. My schedule changed from five eights to four, ten hour days, which I liked because I had a full extra day to spend with Allora, but at the same time I wouldn’t see her for very long on those long days during the week - I would leave before she woke up and I would only get to spend a couple hours with her before she needed to go to bed. So, the first part of September Daniel and I sat down and started talking more seriously about me finding a part-time job (with benefits preferably, since Daniel doesn’t get them through his work). My goal was to be working part-time by November. No kidding, the very next day, I get an email from my brother Christopher who runs the family fencing business, asking if I wanted to come work for him, because my uncle who was keeping the books for them would be moving soon. Talk about coincidence! (I’m sure Heavenly Father had a hand in it. I like to think my Dad did too.) My answer to Chris was, of course, yes. So, I put in my two weeks notice at my job with State Parks in mid-September. I was excited to start a new job, but the whole transition was a little hard for me. I loved my cushy job with the State that I had been working at for almost six years. The people I worked with were great, especially my boss and the project managers in my section. Plus, we had excellent benefits. Since I quit, I have been going back a couple days a week to help keep up on paperwork and now training my replacement, which just happens to be one of my good friends, Tiffany from State Parks, so I am so excited for her. Between the hours I’ve been spending going back to State Parks and working at the fence company I am still working “full time.” So, my days are still long, but it will slow down eventually and the biggest thing is that I do get to spend more time with Allora.

Even though it was hard to leave my old job I love my new job too. Not only do I still get to do accounting, I don’t have to work as many hours, we get pretty good medical benefits, and I can bring Allora to work with me! This, of course, can be a challenge at times. Even though, Allora has two Grandma’s there to help take care of her, (my mom, who also works at the fence company, and my grandma Fowlks, because the fence company is run out of their home) Allora is a “high maintenance” little girl and she’s still getting used to this new schedule. So, even though my hours at the fence company tend to be long because I’m taking care of Allora in between working, I wouldn’t change it for the world. I love that she can come to me whenever she wants, I can take time out to play with her, be the one to feed her lunch, and put her down for her nap. I know there are “Super Mom’s” out there who can manage to still carry out their career and be a great mom. Then I know some moms don’t have the option to stay at home or work part time when they want to. That’s why I feel so blessed that I can enjoy having the best of both worlds – I can still keep my career in my pocket and most importantly, be a mom.

ALLORA UPDATE

Allora is now 20 months old! Her cute personality shines through more and more as she grows older. Since Allora’s first birthday in April she was able to enjoy a fun filled summer playing with cousins, going swimming every chance she got, and going on Jeep rides.

Allora is definitely a water baby. Every day when Daniel would get home from work he would take Allora out to the yard with him. After throwing rocks in the pond she would help Daddy water the plants. However, it never failed that Allora would also want to get a drink from the hose while holding it herself and the end result was Allora getting drenched from head to toe. (Daniel, of course, did nothing to prevent this from happening and would send her into Mommy for clean up. Oh well, she has fun.) Allora loved to play in her little blow up swimming pool that we set up for her in the backyard and to go to the kiddie pools by Grandma Beck’s house.

Allora started going to Nursery in October and she has done really well. She has a hard time when we first drop her off but it doesn’t take her long to get distracted by the toys and other kids. Allora loves to play with kids, especially older kids that will let her boss them around. One of her new things is to say, “Come on” and drag you by the hand or shirt to where she wants you to go. Then she will pat the floor, signaling for you to sit down and play with her.

Allora is getting so smart too. She is talking more along with doing her sign language. I am so glad that we taught Allora some basic sign language. Not only has it been good for communication, it’s just so cute to see her little hands do the signs. Like, “more cheese please,” while doing the sign for more, cheese, and please. Some of her favorite signs are mommy, daddy, bear, dog, kitty, fish, baby, cheese, milk, cracker, more, please, help, book, car, plane (with plane sounds), train, ball, flower, and bird. She also has her own made up sign, for “show”. It’s looks like the sign for time – like your pointing to a watch on your wrist. The sign for time comes from the song on her Signing Time videos. So, even though she’s actually doing the sign for time, that’s what she does whenever she wants to watch her Signing Time or Baby Einstein videos.

Still Here

I might seem like a pretty big flake for my infrequent number of posts to this blog but I just don't really feel like anyone is really that interested in my life. I know I have family that reads this from time to time but with everything going on it just gets a little difficult to make the time. I say 'make the time' because I do have time to write I just don't make it a big priority. Anyway.... I guess if anything I owe it to myself, Allora and Jenefer to write more often. I just finished reading through a few past posts and I regret that I don't do this more freequently. Its fun to see my perspective, desires, motivations, and interests change with time. So, I dedicate this post to Allora, Jenefer and myself

This summer was a busy summer and this fall, although a little slower, has been crazy as well. For the first time in two years the whole big family was all together for a couple weeks. Naturally my Mom wanted to do something every night with the family and although at the time it got a little exhausting it was all very worthwhile and I wish I could have spent more time with my sisters and their families afar. Nate came home from his mission to Canada and it has been fun getting to know him again (Nate 2.0). I met two new neices for the first time. Lilly and Naomi are both such sweet and darling little girls. I can't believe how chubby Naomi is and how bright her personality is. I'm equally amazed at the amount of patience and spirit that Lilly has. She was in a cast that went from both her feet all the way up to the middle of her belly and although this severly limited her mobility she was still very bright and happy.

Around the house and yard I kept busy but not nearly as much as in previous years (I needed a break). I rebuilt my pond and filled it in with gravel so it is only a foot deep (less of a drowning hazard). I also rid my yard of the last patch of unwanted dirt and had my side-driveway poured. This made it possible to get the dune-buggy (project of 5+ years) moved out of the garage so we can now park both the Jeep and the car in there. I'm planning on starting on the basement this winter and will hopefully have it complete mid spring of 2009.

I don't know if I ever mentioned I have a new Jeep. I'm sad but I sold the other one (1992 YJ Wrangler) and bought this 2001 TJ Wrangler. I put a lot of work into the old one and have a lot of great memories with that Jeep but I'm sure I'll have many more with this new one. I know this sounds trivial but I have a strong attachment to certain machines and particularly Jeeps and my truck (a guy thing I guess). I'm not the only one who is fond of the Jeep. Allora, when given a choice, will always choose to ride in the Jeep. When we go into the garage to get into the car to go somewhere and I start to load her into the car she will often cry out to ride in the Jeep. She says "No! Beep, Beep" (Beep is her way of saying Jeep). One day we refused to acomodate her plea and before we could fully exit the garage in the car she was in tears and throwing a tantrum. I would normaly never sucumb to her tantrums but this one made me a little pround and so naturally I convinced Jen that a less comfortable trip in the Jeep would be well worth the fun Allora and I would have. Allora is certainly a little Daddy's girl!

The cristening off-road trip for the Jeep happened toward the end of summer on an excursion to Moab with Jen's old boss and some of his friends. The Jeep did very well and I was able to keep up with most the other rigs, including the ones with thousands of dollars in upgrades. What I lacked in equipment I made up for with experience and skill Allora loved being outside and riding in the Jeep with top down and particularly enjoyed all the attention she recieved from some of the other kids in the group.

As far as work is concerned, I'm still at it with Homes Today: Utah Edition. We just filmed episode 72 and I have worked on all but 16 of them. It can get a little monotonous some times but in my position I have been given a tremendous amount of liberty to do with the show what I want. I also produce all the special projects (non TV show related) and do much of the business development work. Being that we are so closely tied to builders (many of which are going under), it has been difficult to keep afloat with the state of the economy and all. We have been strugeling to find other revenue streams and I'm honestly somewhat worried. Still, I just keep taking it one crazy day at a time and I'm just glad to have something to keep me busy with a little money trickeling in.

I'm certain in Jen's post she'll go much more in depth and hit on everything I missed (I'm sure there is alot). Suffice it to say, we're still here and loving life. I love every minute of every day being a father and it sure makes me appreciate families that much more. Jenefer is a wonderfull mother and wife and Allora is my little side-kick adventurer that keeps me laughing every moment. Although the nation and financial markets may be in a nose dive, when I slow down and look at all I have, things have never been better. I'm so blessed with soo many wonderful things and surrounded by so many wonderfull people I've grown accustomed to such beauty, happiness and joy that I sometime forget how wonderfull things are. Life is great!

Now...for the good stuff:

Jabber Girl

One of Allora's games or playtime activities involves finding a cell phone and talking on it. Most of the time she just pushes random buttons, says 'hi' a lot, and jabbers cute baby talk but from time to time she manages to connect with someone. Usually we interrupt the call before someone picks up but there have been a couple occasions where she calls one of our friends and carries on a conversation with them before we realized. We now lock our phones although Allora has figured out how to unlock mine. It's amazing to see how fast she learns and picks up on what both Jen and I do and mimics us.

It really takes a great deal of energy to keep up with Allora. Jenefer usually leaves earlier in the morning than I do so I watch Allora for a while in the morning as I try to take care of some office work from home before heading into the office. Rarely do I ever accomplish much since she finds me in my office or manages to get into something that she shouldn't be into. I really don't mind and we have started some fun rituals.

When we first wake-up I will get Allora something to eat like some cereal, crackers or milk and then finish getting ready. When I am finished getting ready Allora is usually done with her breakfast appetizers - I get myself some cold cereal and even though Allora has already eaten she finds room in her belly to sit on my lap and share my cereal with me. Sometimes we'll watch Hannity and Colmes or Glenn Beck together while we have breakfast. It is one of my favorite parts of the day and I love spending time with her in the mornings when I can.

I'm so excited for summer! Allora loves to play outside and so when I get home I take her out in the yard while I water plants and take care of things in the yard. Oddly, she loves to eat dirt and chew on rocks. I haven't introduced her to mud yet and I'm thinking I'll hold off until she loses her taste for dirt.

Now for the best part...photos of Allora!

Curious Like Daddy

Allora is so much fun in the morning just after she wakes up. Sometimes she is in bed with us before she wakes up and when she is finally awake she starts off by jabbering and telling us all about whatever is on her mind. She will jabber while climbing all over us and poking our faces and cajoling us to get out of bed and play with her.

One Saturday morning Jen had to go somewhere pretty early in the morning and so she placed Allora in bed with me to get me up to watch her. I'm too clever for Jen and knew Allora could take care of herself so I just set her down on the floor while I laid there to snooze. Allora scurried off excitedly and about 10 minutes later I hear what sounded like dishes and metal??? Curious as to what Allora was up to (we had done a pretty good job at baby proofing the house already) and walked in and saw what is depicted in the above photo. She was happily unloading the dishwasher (on the the floor). My cell-phone was on the table so I grabbed it and snapped off this photo.

Whenever Jen unloads the dishwasher Allora likes to pull things out and help Mommy. This morning she some how figured out how to pull the dishwasher open and climb up inside. Luckily the dishes were all clean and Jen made sure to place the knives in a secure spot with only the handles exposed.

One of Alloras favorite things to do is to open drawers, bags, boxes and empty the contents onto the floor in search of things to play with. I guess she is too bored with the toys that we give her. I can only imagine the fun she would have in the garage with all my tools and stuff.

Allora is just too much fun! I'm glad I'm not traveling as much as I used to. Being gone for 8 hours at work is too long. Jen and I have too much fun for our own good - we're just learning how to discipline and it is turning out to be a bit of a laugh as well. The other day I was trying to calm her down while she was crying and hungry and Jen was getting her food ready. I was stroking her head and trying to soothe her when she reached up and grab my hand and threw it away from her after preceding to raise her hands and in a little angry voice (one I can't recall ever hearing before this point) yelled at Jen and I in her cute little baby babble.

Being a Dad is fun and I don't want my little girl to grow up.

Quarterly Update

I always felt that the primary purpose of a blog was to inform others of what is happening in my life in an effort to 'stay in touch.' I have since discovered that I gain a great deal of satisfaction from just reading the blog myself - It is a diary of sorts that I wouldn't mind sharing with my posterity since I'm already sharing it with the world. I don't think I would ever want some of the posts in my more personal journals to ever see the light of day and therefore they probably serve a lesser overall purpose than this blog. Still, knowing how precious this might be years down the road, I'm not very good at keeping it up to date. I can thank my two sisters (Melanie and Shreann) for actually taking the time to read this blog and prodding me into posting an update. I dedicate this blog to my two sisters and two new nieces I've never met.

I have been producing Homes Today: Utah Edition for several months now and we are still making considerable changes to improve the overall quality of the show. I really enjoy the job since I have an almost limitless amount of liberty in how the show is produced and what the final product will be. I have been writing, editing, gripping, shooting, and doing a lot of business development. The best thing is that I can utilize so many of my various skills and abilities to facilitate the production of the show. Some days I'm a web geek and overseeing the development of a new web site for the show. Other days I'm in planning meetings discussing creative options for the show. While some days I'm focusing my efforts on offering new services and products that will serve as an extension to the show. Overall, I'm just as busy as always but enjoying what I'm doing. Plus, I'm not traveling as much as I used to and I'm glad to be home to raise my little family.

One of my favorite times of the day and something I look forward to throughout the day is when I come home and get to play with Allora and Jen. I will walk through the door and start growling for Allora. She hears me growling and will growl back and come find me and then scurry off with the hopes that I'll take chase. I'll chase her down and then we'll both chase Jenefer around the house. It is a fun game I look forward to all day. It is also fun seeing her get so outwardly excited when she sees me and knows the gabe that is about to ensue. I toss her in the air, spin her, flip her, and tickle her. To the outside viewer it may appear that I am merely playing with Allora and entertaining her but my real motivation comes from making her vertigo resilient so she can be my little co-pilot in various future adventures. With continued training she'll be able to have the physical resilience necessary to be an astronaut at the age of five

Oh, I almost forgot, today is my birthday. Birthdays are never a big deal to me. I'm an introvert by nature and just enjoy the opportunity to reflect on another year passed and enjoy hearing from family and friends when the call to wish me a happy birthday. Anyway, I think Allora was waiting for this day to show me that she can walk. Just yesterday she took her first few steps and really showed us that she'll probably be in total ambulation within a matter of weeks. It is so much fun to watch her discover, walk, tumble, crawl and jabber. She'll sometime just jabber at her toys for a half hour or more. I can tell she will be very smart and inquisitive. I absolutely love being her Daddy and seeing her grow. When days are rough I just think about how it will be when I'm home again with Jen and Allora. I am also developing a strong protective nature. Whenever I see anything bad or sad in the world I just want to pick Allora up and hold her close. I feel a calming nature about her and I want to do everything possible to shield her and protect her from the thorns of life. Loving her will never be chore but permitting her to experience some of the necessary hurt in life will be absolutely debilitating I'm certain.

Finally, the moment you've all been waiting for...the pictures of Allora: