Aunt Esther Visits

My wonderful sister, Esther, was sweet enough to come stay with us for several days after Lincoln was born. She was such a huge help - we loved having her. Come back soon, Auntie Esther!

Words have power.

When I say "blue" - you may think vaguely of the color, or notice all the areas on your computer screen that are various shades of blue. Given time to contemplate, your thoughts may wander to the sky, or later to the melancholy feeling often associated with the hue. Maybe B.B. King would cross your mind.

Every word is like that. They all have associations affiliated with them. They vary from person to person, depending on what we have experienced (for example, if I say "vegetables", the connotation may be positive or negative, but we all probably think of broccoli, carrots, etc.)

I say this to point out that there are places in language that omission is of more accuracy than inclusion. I feel that I am a moderately capable of stringing together words to inflict a number of emotions, but given three days to rack the vocabulary for the words to describe seeing one's own child for the first time, and the ensuing days of realization after realization of short- and long-term subtleties of being a parent... I am coming to the conclusion that there are none.

they simply don't exist.

I think language only goes so far in describing human emotion. Not just this one, but any number of intensely emotional occurences; a family member dying, falling in love... I think this is why so many songs are written about these subjects; there is no way to accurately describe it, so there are a million ways to get close.

And I think it should be this way. If these magic words existed, those that could conjur up these emotions in others, then we would become desensitized to them before they happened to us.

If you had never seen the color blue, and there was not a word to describe it, then the first time you saw the sky, you would be breathless. You would stand outside all day, waving the clouds to the right like it was October 1975 at Fenway Park.

When the sun began to set, you might set up camp outside, waiting for the black to become gray, and eventually become this inexplicable color again.

But of course, we all know the sky. We've seen it since we were too young to know what it was. (unless you live in the UK or Seattle, in which case, maybe this analogy makes even more sense to you.) We see it most days, and while we appreciate it, we are no longer fascinated by it.

These moments must elide language, to protect their breathtaking nature.

And not only must they and do they elude language, but they avoid being accidentally uncovered by mere sight.

I have seen babies before. I've seen fathers with their children, and I've even seen the videos (ohhhhh, the videos. *whew*) but even seeing, I didn't see.

It's as if someone gave you the ability to see the wind, something you had looked through your whole life, but never seen.

You could try for all the world to explain it, but no matter what you said, you would not be able to tell me what the wind looked like.

So it goes with this. Every "it will change your life", "there's nothing like it", and "you will love him immediately" was only a vague precursor, something I may as well have ignored, because they may as well have been describing the facial features of the wind. This is in no way a criticism of their inability to communicate, but my inability to perceive the truth that was driving these completely ineffective words.

And now I find myself on the other side of the pendulum. Any time people ask how I feel, I find myself shuffling through old cliches, discarding each one before it escapes my mouth. I'm mostly in silence about it these days. Which I think is the best description of all.

Lincoln and Grandma

We were so blessed to have Grandma there with us for Lincoln's grand arrival...

picture correction

apparently someone felt left out. FINE I AM SORRY.

*trumpet intro*

... like the one in Robin Hood (the cartoon one, not the Kevin Costner one, and not "men in tights") where the crocodiles are introducing the King (except in this case the one being introduced is not "The Phony King of England", and is not a lion with big-time security issues and a snake as a friend -oh- speaking of snakes, and speaking of the British Isles, did you know that St. Patrick (whose "Day" it is today) is credited with ridding Ireland of snakes?

THAT IS THE RESULT OF SPORADIC SLEEP.

Monday / 3.16.09 / 10:57am / Lincoln Shea Weaver has arrived! 7lbs, 8oz. and 20 inches long.

I'll give you all the details in a minute, because I know you are all skipping the words, going straight for the pictures. Here you go:

this is about 1 minute before he was born. explanation after pictures on why this seems so relaxed.

Lincoln, looking incredibly mature for his age (approximately 3 minutes old)

Lincoln, practicing one of the submission holds that he practiced for 9 months.

aw. this is our family. sans belle.

i pulled the hat down - he pulled the pose all by himself.

Kiss me, I'm Irish!
...but only like 1/32. that doesn't even count. Between Heather and I, he's no more than 1/16th any other nationality, so he's basically just 2nd-generation "American". Which means he likes to talk about being Irish on today. Anyone with a list of ancestral relatives including Benjamin Franklin and Johnny Appleseed... is pretty much just American.

THE EXPLANATION OF THE BIRTH PROCESS (without unnecessary details)

He held off on Sunday, and let me go to the Ryan Adams show that I was hoping for. (his first act of love) When I got back, he wasn't moving around like he usually did around bedtime, so after about 10 minutes of prodding, we decided we should keep it on the safe side and head to the hospital.

When we got there, they said that it was time, so we stayed the night while they put Heather on an IV. The next morning, they said that labor wasn't progressing the way it usually does, and every time there was a contraction, Lincoln's heart rate would slow, to the point that it was causing some concern, so they decided that we'd avoid the risks and do a C-Section.

They whisked Heather away into the operating room, and about 5 minutes later, I was allowed to go in... about 3 minutes after that, Lincoln had arrived!! what a quick process, wow.

We're all doing well now - no health concerns for Heather *or* Lincoln - once he got out, he was fine!

We're hanging out at the hospital til Thursday. I'm sure we'll deluge you with pictures as the days go by.

-Levi

Hospital Visitors

My sweet coworker, Krysten


Krysten's beautiful daughter, Hallie


Our good friend, Ben


The wonderful, Dave and Gail (Lincoln was in the nursery for a check-up)


Lincoln is ready for a little buddy, Mike :)


The lovely, Carly


Aaron and Heather - Hooray!

Welcome to the world, sweet boy

Love at first sight.

For Immediate Release

REUTERS - Nashville, TN

Local authorities say that a standoff involving a local musician and his unborn son has now reached its third day.

Law enforcement officials are confused by the motive behind the child-to-be's refusal to leave the womb, saying only that he has refused all attempts at communication. It is thought that he may be protesting a sweeping increase in contractions in his neighborhood, and may be holding out for the government to provide bailout money to fund "expansions".

The unborn is not thought to have any hostages, though visibility is limited at the time, so the possibility cannot be ruled out. Police say that while he is not armed, there is a baby-arm joke to be made somewhere in this article.

This is a developing story, check back for updates as more information becomes available.

40 Weeks

...and counting.

My mom is here waiting with us. She drove in from Fort Worth yesterday with a van full of baby things - a beautiful crib, bassinet, super comfy rocking chair, cute little outfits from Noah - all kinds of wonderfulness. We (well, she, mostly) spent the day cleaning and getting things put together. Then, all of us (mom, Levi, Belle, and myself) took a walk this evening to try and convince Lincoln to get things started. On this walk we found a trail that Levi nor I had ever been on before and decided to take it. Of course, why wouldn't we take a NEW ROUTE TO WHO-KNOWS-WHERE ON THE DAY WE'RE DUE? About the time I was getting uncomfortable enough to want to head back we realized that we had no idea where we were. Just as I started to become concerned that we may be delivering a baby ourselves, in the woods, the miracle of sat nav phones (paired with backtracking) got us to our house, where I promptly stopped having the 'contractions' I thought I was having on our walk. Apparently we have a little prankster on our hands (well, in my belly, as it stands). Wonder where he gets that from? :)

Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers today. Hopefully we'll be posting again soon to introduce you to our son!

Dogtor

There are a few reasons not to write this blog entry.

a.) people who write about their dogs are mostly insufferable, with leanings towards crazy
b.) dog platitudes do not necessarily correlate with future baby-truths
c.) it is somewhat self-incriminating
c.) I have a lot of things that I need to do before Lincoln makes his grand arrival.

-BUT-

a.) i have a lot of things that I need to (procrastinate from) do(ing so I can last-minute panic and be grouchy about how I never have any time to get things accomplished) before Lincoln makes his grand arrival.

Today was take-Belle to the Dog-doctor day (OH YEAH THAT IS CALLED A VET. wow.) and I think I may have gotten some insight as to how this whole parenting thing could play out, for better or worse.

Heather made the appointment, printed out the medical records (dogs have those?!), left me with a check, the leash, a list of questions, and the appointment time.

I... just had to basically fill in the blanks.

I arrived on time (YEAH!) but realized as I was pulling in the driveway that I left the records, check, and questions on the coffee table.

So far, mixed results.

Belle was pretty well behaved throughout the process, even when the dog-doct.... *ahem* VET was opening her mouth wider than I knew was possible; to check out her teeth. I didn't give the ...Vet... any dirty looks when Belle whimpered, and I didn't even act all embarassed when she was whiny.

Here's the best news: The dog is like, unrealistically healthy. She's fine. Even her teeth are good to go. The doct DANG IT I KEEP DOING THAT the (VVVVVEEEEETTTT!!!!!) vet didn't need the records (yet. I can bring them in next time) and they don't even accept checks. AND I REMEMBERED ALL THE QUESTIONS BECAUSE I PAID ATTENTION.

So that got me thinking: I've never before been an adult responsible for a dog. The last time I had a dog in my house was ALSO the last time that I had a little kid in my house: when I was also a kid. not responsible for either (more than the average older brother stuff).

SO. if I can learn to be half of a team that keeps a dog healthier than normal, surely Lincoln is going to be in good hands, right?

Well, as much as you can correlate dogs and kids, I guess.

-Levi

(P.S. no one needs to point out that Heather did all the work and I screwed up the easy part. While I am somewhat forgetful, I am not an idiot and the obvious fact that I was the weaker link today did not escape me. But we are married, and thus get equal credit when Belle (and eventually Lincoln) turn out to be great.)

Showered with Love

On Saturday, I was blessed with an absolutely beautiful shower brunch. Krysten, Tami, and Joyce worked so hard to put everything together and every last detail was perfect. The food was amazing, the decorations were precious, and I was completely overwhelmed with the graciousness and generosity of these wonderful women that I am lucky enough to call friends.

I didn't get nearly as many pictures on my camera as I would have liked, but here are a couple - hopefully I'll get some more with the girls in them to post soon.

This vase cracked me up - each of the 4 sides had a baby do and don't.

Look at all of the cute little outfits!

Krysten and Tami MADE this! I love it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Love you girls!