Coming from two introverts, we are often surprised how well Delilah handles social settings. Actually “handles” isn’t the correct term; she thrives. She loves being around people and putting on a show. Dancing is her favorite activity. I’d like to think she learned her moves from me but that’s not the case. Unlike her Dada, she has both rhythm and talent. See for yourself.
Delilah often walks around the house bopping her head to her own tune. She’s apt to breakout into dance at anytime.
She loves having people at the house. Guests are treated to walk by greetings and laughs. The bigger the applause, the bigger the laugh. When excitement gets the best of her is when the cheesy smile comes out. No picture can do it justice. You must witness the face in person. The eyes squint tight, lips pucker a bit, and her smile stretches from one cheek to the other. Overall, she’s just a happy little girl that gets more excited as you interact with her.
Posted in Family.
Tagged with dancing, Delilah, entertaining.
By J Reese
– December 19, 2011
I was able to quickly capture some video of Delilah finding the utmost joy out of confusing the dog. Proof of her humor.
Posted in Family.
Tagged with Delilah, dog, Ella.
By J Reese
– October 27, 2011
It would appear we’ve abandoned this place. I know our loyal followers are probably wondering what we’ve been up to these last several months and most importantly, what Delilah has been up to. Well in one word: vroom. She is constantly on the go, stopping just long enough to grab a sip of water. Between the picking up, putting down, walking here, running there…I’m not sure that we need a gym membership. That’s a brief clip of how our daily lives are right now. However, we thought a good series of posts would be to highlight the many reasons why we love this stage of her development and give you a peak of the little person she’s become.
So here’s the first:
Humor
Delilah is a goof ball. Pure and simple. She has multiple versions of a laugh. There’s the soft giggle that will melt your heart. The chuckle that’s real but sounds just fake enough that it will leave you wondering. Finally when something has really gotten to her, you’ll hear the full belly, hysterical laugh that will undoubtedly leave you laughing.
She seems to be the perfect blend of her parents in this department. Alicia is well known for her full laugh while I’m a more subtle, sarcastic humorist. Delilah exhibits both. At any given time she’ll display a cheesy smile that is difficult to photograph, but hilarious to see in person. She’s also well crafted at cracking herself up. We’ve witnessed her on multiple occasions carrying on fake conversations on her toy cell phone and at several points laughing at her own make believe conversation. If that isn’t exciting enough for her, she’ll place the phone to the dog’s ear and begin what must be a hilarious conversation from her end. She’s also started playing peek a boo with the dogs. They are usually non participating members of this game but she’ll hide behind a wall while they sleep, pop out, chuckle, and then twirl back around to hide. Her humor and entertainment often provide us a nightly show that we look forward to each evening. Her antics certainly leave us laughing daily.
I hope she keeps her sense of humor throughout life. I’ve found that it can be a terrific medicine for those stressful periods and helps lift up those around us. I hope to get some video of her hilarity but sometimes my video skills just aren’t quick enough to keep up with her.
Posted in Family, Happenings.
Tagged with Delilah, humor.
By J Reese
– October 23, 2011
Alicia started a new routine several weeks ago before laying Delilah down for bed. We have a canvas hanging in her room of the mural we had painted at the old house. The mural was very special to us and we wanted to preserve it in some fashion. Alicia started reading Delilah’s name to her in an effort to sound out the letters and tie an image to the words. This exchange has become a nightly ritual and you don’t dare attempt skipping it.
Posted in Family.
Tagged with Delilah, routine.
By J Reese
– August 16, 2011
How quickly a year goes by. We’ve seen our little baby girl turn into a rumbling, tumbling, babbling little person. She had quite the festivities over the past week as she celebrated her first birthday. Here are some pictures from the night of her actual birthday.
We had a larger party with several family members this past Saturday. Delilah was geared up and ready to go. She had a great time entertaining all her relatives and interacting with her little cousins. She’s such a happy little girl. Here she is posing in her new birthday outfit.
Delilah has decided that taking in a little sugar is good for the soul. Here she is enjoying everyone singing happy birthday to her.
Don’t let that somber face fool you, she had a great time. We are so thankful for the gift God has blessed us with over the past year. We are so excited to see Delilah continue to grow and flourish. Here’s to another year.
Posted in Family.
Tagged with birthday, Delilah, family.
By J Reese
– July 18, 2011
A couple of factors have limited our gardening this year. It seems our schedule has become very hectic and I was never able to block off enough time to appropriately tend to gardening. There have been numerous other projects around the house to take care of, and so it got pushed down the list. Plus, with the move, I had to start from scratch. I left all four of my old beds at the previous house and decided to go with a new setup here.
A few weeks ago I was finally able to get one bed built. I went with a recycled composite material instead of regular wood. The look is similar with wood grains but the material requires little maintenance and should last quite a while. Plus, it is eco friendly. My first choice was going with cedar boards because they are weatherproof and repel insects. However, the lumber yard had to special order them and I didn’t want to take that extra time. Here is the completed bed.
I’m only going with one for this year until I can come up with a design for what I want the future beds and surrounding area to look like. Our big lot on the side of the house already had a bunch of fruit trees planted. While nice, they are a lot to take care of and too many were planted on the lot. They are starting to bare some fruit, so for at least this year, we’ll see how we are at tending to fruit trees.
PEACH TREE APPLE TREE
CHERRY TREE
Finally, this past week we were able to get plants in the ground. Typically I go completely the seed route but we were up against the clock on growing season so I settled. It was great getting my hands dirty again, and I think I have a new helper.
She might have tried a bite or two of the dirt. She loved being outside with us and I look forward to passing on my gardening hobby.
Posted in Family, Gardening/Food.
Tagged with Delilah, Fruit, garden, Vegetables.
By J Reese
– June 5, 2011
“Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won’t make us happier.”
–The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
It is interesting to think back on how certain people or events early in life help shape you as an individual. My mom has played a huge role in the type of person I’ve become. She never had any dramatic life lesson stories or speeches, I simply learned from her by example. Accountability, hard work, support, manners…these are all traits I picked up from watching her daily interactions.
Probably the best example she set for me was in the form of complaining. I guess I should say, in the lack of complaining. She never was much for sitting around feeling sorry for herself if bad luck had come about. It was always about examining the situation, and finding the best route to move on. She is a model for not sitting back and becoming part of the circumstances. She always felt that the time it took to complain could better be spent finding a way to fix the wrong.
What I find impressive today is that for the better part of my youth, she drove an hour each way everyday for work. Yet, I can’t remember a single sporting event, school function, or other activity that she missed. She gave up so much of her time to be a presence in whatever performance I was endeavoring to take on. I wish I would have been more respective of the value of her time and the energy it took to be present no matter the situation my sister or I were involved with.
I love the fact that she often trusted us to make the right decisions. She knew what we were capable of and didn’t feel the need to hold our hand through every step of life. We felt responsible to behave properly due in large part to her courage to let us fail. There are so many life lessons that I’ve learned from my mom and she often did it silently. No grand gestures just simply actions. To my mom, thank you so much for what you have provided your family. We owe you so much more than words. Thank you.
Posted in Family.
Tagged with life, mom, Mother's Day.
By J Reese
– May 8, 2011
I have made a conscious effort to evaluate my daily behavior and try to hone in on what I believe to be my solid qualities, as well as the traits that need improvement. I think by constantly critiquing these areas, I can better refine how I interact with other individuals. Being someone that enjoys living in community with others, I also need to know my qualities that help and hinder this application.
My natural personality is one of motivation. I like to be a guide to push people to fulfill their goals or pursue a new avenue. I love to assist someone in accomplishing something of importance to them. I try to be in support of acquaintances that might be facing obstacles in their life and helping to find a resolution to the problem at hand. I’m sure this will be the same approach I take as a parent. I already catch myself encouraging Delilah through positive reinforcement that she can do whatever new action she is trying to learn. I first noticed it a while back when she was trying to grab a ball herself, and she just needed to grip it differently. No I’m not going to be one of those overbearing sports dads, but I knew what she wanted in her mind and I just wanted to see the joy in her face when she was finally able to grab it herself. She eventually did, and I’m pretty sure it had nothing to do with my advice.
On the surface being an encourager to others probably seems like a great skill. It is. A problem I’ve realized with this trait is that I often miss important aspects in a conversation. I get so busy trying to strategize how I can help the individual overcome the obstacle, that I can easily overlook the pain or discomfort associated with the problem area. I’m so ready to push forward, yet what may truly be needed is time to for the individual to process what they are experiencing. The best solution might be to first vent a bit. Often we need to step back from our own actions so that we can really understand how to help a person in need. Whether it is a small problem or a major life issue, these types of communication breakdowns can result in increased pain instead of fixing the situation.
Do you have areas of strength that can also be problematic? If so, how have you gone about changing your approach?
Posted in Personal Exploration.
Tagged with encouraging, motivating, personal critique, strength.
By J Reese
– May 4, 2011
This past week we laid my grandmother to rest. Although the passing of a loved one is always sad, I was so thankful for the celebration of her life that took place. My grandmother was never one to have a lot of money, possessions, or positions of power, but she leaves behind something much greater…a strong family. So many people close to her were able to make it back to relate old stories, comfort one another, and share their favorite memories.
Thinking back to my childhood, I always enjoyed playing in her yard. It wasn’t large by any means and it was a bit eccentric with all sorts of lawn ornaments, bird and squirrel feeders, and lots of flowers. Yet, that’s why I enjoyed it so much. Each corner was sort of a unique adventure land. As a young kid, my imagination was allowed to run wild in those surroundings. She was a pretty crafty lady with her works ranging from sock monkeys to squirrel feeders to wooden rocking horses. She loved to make things and share with others.
In the last year a new bond was built with the birth of our daughter. Our little Delilah was in part named after my grandma. My grandmother’s middle name was Delilah. One of the sad parts of the past week was coming to the realization that Delilah wouldn’t be able to retain any memories of her great grandmother. However, we will ensure that our little girl understands the type of person grandma was. I hope one day that Delilah can be as strong and tough as her great grandmother and stick by what she believes is right. That resiliency is something I always admired in her. These virtues helped my grandmother live a long and full life until the age of 87.
While we continue to seek comfort from her passing, we know that the strong family ties that she built and loved dearly will continue to live on for further generations.
Posted in Family.
Tagged with Delilah, Grandma.
By J Reese
– April 25, 2011
This is Delilah palming her first basketball. Hear that scream as she practices her rebounding? Girl has skills already!
Next up: wind sprints.
Posted in Family.
Tagged with basketball, Delilah.
By J Reese
– February 27, 2011
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