Update...

So, I was a little premature on my last post. Just a little; 24 hours to be exact. I will be posting soon with more of the story, but I will make it brief for now for obvious reasons. At 6:19 a.m. 12/12/09, Jayden Rylee Becerra was born. She weighed in at 8 pounds 5 ounces. Just to give you an idea of how crazy the whole process went, I'll give you a few of the facts. Jess went into labor at 2:45 a.m. on 12/12. We got to the hospital at 5:15 a.m. and Jayden was out at 6:19 a.m. Jayden was in such a hurry that she beat the doctor to the hospital and the nurses had to do the job. For those of you doing the math, that's only 3 hours and 34 minutes from start to finish! I'll post more details soon.

Mommy and baby are doing great. Everyone is happy, healthy and ready for Christmas! I wonder what it means if our little girl already made such an amazing appearance. Broadway? Well, I guess every little girl has to bring a little drama...

5 A.M. Friday Morning...

Jess woke me about an hour ago and told me she is having contractions. I feel the need to post right now as a sort of marker for myself and an almost play by play for anyone interested. I hope nobody expects me to be in the delivery room cutting the umbilical cord with one hand and blogging with the other, because I won't (because Jess would probably strangle me... one handed). But really, I could not possibly be expected to be on top of everything, I generally am found to be irresponsible when it comes to organization and information. In short, if I forget to call/inform some of you, I apologize in advance.

Right now Jess is in the shower, probably enjoying the warm water being that it is so cold outside this morning. She is calm and collected, but naturally uncomfortable. I suppose in a couple hours (hopefully) that will change. We have made some prearranged sitter plans. Karen (Jess' mom) will be taking care of Jaycee when we go to the hospital, and will stay with her until further notice.

The bag is packed and I about as ready as I can get, hopefully Jess feels the same way. I really hope this is it. Blogging soon...

Sweet Teeth...

I love sweet stuff. I love chocolate, peanut butter, ice cream, and chocolate peanut butter ice cream! It shouldn't have been too much of a surprise that Jaycee would inherit my love for all things sweet. The funny thing about it is that Jaycee doesn't enjoy my taste in food. In fact, she prefers what mama is eating for lunch, dinner, or breakfast. She doesn't trust that what I'm eating she is going to like. She'll eat everything on Jess' plate but avoid mine like poison. With that said, Jaycee seems to make an exception when it comes to dessert. She will eat any dessert I eat any time. Jess doesn't dislike sweets, she just isn't as fanatical about them as me (and Jaycee). I know a lot of kids would rather eat cookies than carrots, so it isn't a shock that our little one goes for the sweet stuff. On the other hand though, its funny how she bends her own rules on eating for them. Now, if we could just get her to understand what a cavity is...

We've got a bleeder...

We have been experiencing two developments at the same time. The first is Jaycee's new found strength. The second is the unbridled rage of a toddler. Tough combo. This is where the story begins...

Jaycee LOVES Mr. Potato head. By far her favorite toy (this month). She can be found creating her Frankenstein like creatures with ears for arms and any other arrangement you can imagine any time of the day. Most of the time she sits quietly and plays nicely.

One problem with her love for Mr. Potato Head is her lack of willful sharing of him or his parts. Exhibit A: (below my right eye above my cheek)

Silly me, I thought it would be so funny if I dressed up with Mr. Potato head's parts. So I put on his hat and rushed Jaycee over to see how funny I was... Whoops. Her response was slightly less than expected. Instead of laughing with a huge belly laugh (like I pictured), she screamed like a Banshee and slashed at my face like Freddy Kruger. I flew back, in the hopes of keeping my eye, and the plastic hat fell off my head and onto the floor. Jaycee stepped back, bent down and picked it up, then gingerly walked away to return the hat to its rightful owner.

It wasn't particularly painful and I hadn't thought much of it until I looked in the mirror. It was a perfect line and a tiny drip of blood was running down my cheek. The funny thing is that I have had this same thing happen with Jaycee (on accident) and I only had a red mark on my face for a couple minutes. This time was much different. Thanks to Jaycee's Herculean like strength, I will probably be carrying a scar around for awhile.

After nursing my wound, I returned to the scene to show Jaycee what had happened and get her to understand that she shouldn't do it again. I got down to her level to show her my cut and she touched it very gently. Then she looked at me as if to say I brought it on myself. You know, raised eyebrows on an otherwise expressionless face. Then she gave me a hug and went back to playing. I'll take this as a serious reminder that what I think is funny isn't funny to everyone, especially Jaycee.

The only dilemma left is what to say to people that ask how I got the cut. I have noticed when I tell people my 20 month old did it, they laugh. I am considering telling everyone I was in a knife fight. Its kind of true. Only problem is; I lost...

Still Learning...

It is a little sad to me to sit here and write this thinking that 20 years from now, I won't remember every single moment that happened today with Jaycee or her growing sister. For example, after dinner I sat Jaycee down to have dessert (pumpkin pie in case you were wondering). She wanted to stand to have her dessert, which I generally don't allow, but decided to let her when I saw how excited she was. After a few minutes of standing on the chair and eating, Jaycee leaned over to me, gave me a gigantic hug and a wonderful kiss. It pains me to think that I won't remember that specific moment that was so important to me today. Sure, there will be the rare occasion that something crazy happens and I'll remember it forever, but inevitably the memory will get fuzzy around the edges and turn in to more of a folk story than an event. It happens to all of us I guess and it is a part of life. That doesn't mean I have to like it. Then another life lesson emerges from the teachings of the wisest 19 month old I have ever met. Jaycee won't remember any of this either. She won't remember the hug and kiss from today, or our terrifying emergency room visit last year that turned out to be the overreaction of two scared new parents. She won't remember how it felt to go to the zoo or Alaska as a family. You know what she will remember though? She'll remember that her daddy loved her from day one. She'll remember that daddy has always protected her and guided her, encouraged and smiled for her, and she'll remember that no matter what this crazy world throws at her, her daddy will always be right behind her to catch her. If for some crazy reason, Jaycee or her siblings are reading this twenty years from now: I can only hope you got half as much from me that I got from you. And I hope you know how much I love you. And I hope you aren't reading this as late at night as I am writing it...

Tick Tock Tick Tock...

I have never been a very patient person. Waiting just makes me anxious, so I try not to do it very often. Of course, when waiting for a baby, one doesn't have the luxury of not waiting. So basically, I'm anxious.

The funny thing about this round is that some of those concerns I had with Jaycee are there. Like, having a happy healthy baby, being a good dad, and all those other general concerns. At the same time, I noticed that a lot of those other fears from round one are gone. Like, changing diapers, how much my life would change, having a girl, and all those other fears of the unknown.

I am kind of entering this step with confident cautiousness. Sort of like when you watch a clip on T.V. where someone falls off a bike and breaks his leg. You know its coming and you are kind of curios, but you also turn your head slightly like it makes it easier to watch out of the corner of your eye.

This is just one of those times where I just want it to be here. The more time I'm left to myself the more anxious I get. Not to say ALL the anxiety is bad. I am really anxious to see Jaycee interact with her sister and am excited to see her in the role of big sister. I am SO looking forward to holding a tiny little creature that won't squirm out of my arms and I can't wait to rock a newborn until she falls asleep with her little hands and feet and toes and lips and nose. I guess kids are kind of like potato chips, you can't just have one... unless that's all you want...

What a difference a year makes...

The worst part of the summer break is here... the end of it. I am happy to say that we got a lot done though. Our Alaskan adventure, our trip to Solvang, visiting with relatives and cousins we don't get to see very often, our visits to Sea World, the Wild Animal Park, and Zoo, and of course our lazy days by the pool, and the list continues. As I think about all the stuff we crammed in, I couldn't help but think about last year's summer vacation. Twelve short months ago we had a very different Jaycee, as the pictures illustrate.

We have a mouth full of teeth, words, and a lean mean running machine (to name a few things). Since I have become a boring adult, it seems like each year that passes just means I have to remember how old I am and nothing really changes except that. But as I look back on this year, I see how much life really does fly by us. I hate all those silly clichés that every parent says: "Enjoy them while they are young", "They grow up so fast", "You'll never get these years back" and a whole bunch of other one liners. The thing is they are true, but the other thing is that even with all that knowledge, you can't stop time. I guess even if I could stop time, I probably wouldn't. Part of the fun has been watching these changes and enjoying new discoveries.

So, as this life clumsily tumbles down the road, I watch our little baby turn into a big girl and prepare to welcome a new baby to do it all over again. I picture my life something like a train ride along the coast. As we steadily climb hills, I stick my head out the window and feel the cool breeze in my hair. I look ahead and see plenty more hills along the windy tracks, but then I turn my head to look behind us and I see all the ground we have covered and those big hills look like little speed bumps and those windy tracks look more like subtle curves. Its time like these when a man just has to sit back, take a deep breath and say "Life is Good"...