Tel Aviv...3:37 AM

So I thought I would do the cool thing, that all the cool kids are doing or at least that I presume they are doing while they sit in their perspective airports waiting to go home from our study abroad, and writing a blog post. If you check out facebook today you will probably notice that most of the students from my study abroad have posted about sitting in the terminal at Tel Aviv, or how they are waiting to get on their flight, etc etc etc. Not that their is anything wrong with that, but I decided with the endless amount of time that I have, I would join suit and write a blog post while sitting here.

This blog post is mostly to say that yes I am coming and home, yes I am excited to see Angelica and Baby "V" (for the first time), and yes, I do know that I haven't posted in a while nor have I finished many of the postings that I have started from so long ago. Such as, what happened to the second have of my Petra trip? Where are the photos from Wadi Rum? What about all of those other adventures in Jordan? And wait a minute, didn't I just spend two weeks in Israel? So where are all of the photos and the posts about it all? Well the short answer is, they are coming. The slightly longer answer is, that the internet where we were staying was not conducive to blogging, or almost anything else for that matter. It worked really well for checking e-mails. With that said, you should all expect to start seeing photos, stories, and other excerpts from the last 2 months start rolling in, within the next couple of days to weeks. So no worries, I will work my best to get things posted and to get everyone up to date on what is happening on the ground. Thanks for your patience. Until then please enjoy some pictures of "V".

The Nativity

Courtesy of Blue River Baptist Church - No Affiliation with them

Since "V" was born on the 22nd of Nov. I have spent a lot of time skypeing with Angelica and trying to build a connection with my son. I can say that prior to my leaving, and from the time I found out that Angelica was pregnant and that I was gonna miss the first month of so of my child's life I was always worried about that connection. I worried for a good part of the pregnancy and I am pretty sure that it wasn't until about the month of August that I finally found some reassurance that my being gone, wouldn't have a negative effect on the way that I bonded with my son. For much of the time prior to receiving that reassurance I really worried about how I was going to bond with my son, and spent most free time, and free thoughts contemplating that, and occasionally found myself praying fervently that I would be able to form that bond with him and that my time here wouldn't negatively effect my relationship with him. 

This concern can come from never really all that connected to children my entire life. I have never cared for holding them, and have always found it awkward to interact with them, since I don't know what to do with them, and end up usually just making faces at them or treating them like a big person and talking normal to them. Due to that lack of being in love with little babies prior to his birth I was legitimately concerned that I would end up being uninterested in him, or worse that I would find him Ugly, and just not want anything to do with him, screwing up his life forever and giving him all sorts of psychological issues. Needless to say, none of that has happened, and I have fallen absolutely in love with "V" and am so excited to get back home to him and finally hold him in my arms and experience that first sensation of holding him and seeing him in person, and looking into his eyes, and hopefully having him recognize me somehow as his daddy.

With that, the other day while I was at church I had this crazy idea come to my mind, which directly relates to Christmas and the whole birth story. Normally in my family, and that is normally within the last 5-7 years, we tell the story of the Nativity while we act it out. This all started at some point during my mission, when my family decided that it would be fun to do with all of the grandkids and since then it has become tradition. Anyways...at church the other day I started thinking about how when I get home Baby "V" will probably be the sit in for baby Jesus, my niece Elizabeth will be Mary and she will ride around on my Dad, who will play the donkey. Anyways, I figured that would leave me as Joseph, being "V's" father and all, but I decided it would be more fitting if I were a wise man this year, and this is why: 1) I will have heard of the news of his birth by a miraculous sign, in this case I skyped the whole thing. 2) I will begin to travel to the west from the east following hearing and learning of this good news, just like the wise men did. 3) I will be bringing with me gifts for the child. Now I just need to figure out the best gifts for him since gold is a little out of my price range. 4) I will arrive after he has grown some and it will not be right when he is born, rather he will be a month old. With those reasons, I felt that it would be more appropriate to be a wise man during the re-enactment, since I will have been living in their shoes for the last 4 months, and for the whole journey home.

Having this situation has allowed new insights into the story of the nativity, which never had occurred to me mostly, since we always think of the short narration, and then that's about it. However, I can only imagine what things were going through the thoughts of the "Wise Men" from the east as they were preparing for the birth of Christ, as well as on their journey to find the Christ child.

I am really looking forward to getting home and seeing my new little baby, and celebrating Christmas. I pretty much have a running calendar that has been going for the last 2 weeks. The anticipation is killing me, just like I'm sure it was for the Wise Men as they were traveling, as well as waiting for the sign of the Messiah's birth.

The many faces of "V"

I have recently been enjoying the many faces of "V", which Angelica has been nice enough to send me, via e-mail. Since I am not in the country to be able to enjoy these precious moments of his first couple of weeks, it has been such a great blessing to have modern technology to aid in connecting me and my son together even though I am thousands of miles away from him.

As part of my connection with my son, I've been taking the liberty to share that connection with my fellow students, my roommates, my teachers, my friends, etc. basically anyone who is foolish enough to get caught by me and forced to look at my new baby. I'm pretty sure that no one doubts that I am a very happy and proud father, and with faces like these how could I not be? Also, part of why I am so eager to share all the pictures and info I know of with those on my Study Abroad, is due in part to the fact that with 9 months of everyone knowing about how baby "V" was going to be born while I am here in Jordan, he has essentially become the Study Abroad Baby. As a result, I feel it is my duty to make sure that everyone knows what is going on with him, and that they also have adequate opportunity to see him as well.

Therefore, to continue that sense of communal ownership, and to fulfill the saying that says "It takes a tribe to raise a child" I thought I would pass the enjoyment and the laughs of his amazing faces on to you. So please enjoy.

What you Looking at?

Pop-Eye

He's been hitting the Bottle Hard

Just like his mom, doesn't like pictures taken of him

He's tuckered himself out, so peaceful

Baby Vaughn, See Him Develop

So...it's been a week or since Vaughn was born, and he has incredibly changed a lot. Who would have thunk? I know I didn't expect him to continue to change in features after he was born. I just always assumed that he would have certain features that would stay the same and that would be it, granted he would get older, and more mature, so I was really blown away each time I saw him and how much he changed from day to day.  Here is the list of aliens that I feel he has looked like from the beginning up until now. Please enjoy.

For those who don't know who this Alien is, he was born in 1987 and battled against Arnold Schwarzeneggar, trying to collect his head, for his prize. This is The Predator.

This cuddly looking alien had his debut in the final movie of Star Wars, Return of the Jedi, in 1983. His name is Nien Nunb and he worked his way into history by co-piloting the Millenium Falcon with Lando Calrissian in the attack against the Death Star over the Ewok home planet.

 

This cute squid alien baby, found a place in the hearts of millions back in 1997, when he was born during the movie Men in Black, and sent Will Smith, Agent J, for a ride around a car and then finally spitting up all over his face. I feel my baby is much more cute and adorable, but I couldn't help but see the resemblance between the two.

Since I know that everyone loves seeing baby pictures, I decided that I would include a few other pictures of Vaughn, just for the viewing pleasure. These were taken shortly after his first bath, given by his Grandma Gudelia.