Seriously!?

I know I lack objectivity on this issue, but this is, I think, why the word "adorable" exists.

Christmas

We quietly celebrated Christmas this year in the company of some family and friends over the three day weekend.  Rye has given me a new perspective on the holidays that I'm not sure I've felt since waking up Christmas morning on a comfy floor pallet amidst my cousins in the garage apartment behind my grandma's house. It's been awhile since Christmas felt mysterious and filled with anticipation. It's nice.

Rye had me decorating a tree, building a rocking horse in the "wee hours (around 9pm)," stuffing stockings, you know, doing all the things my parents did to make Christmas Christmas. I'm not really sure I can fully commit to Christmas music at this point, or that I can look forward to mall santas and office Christmas parties...but I look forward to at least a decade of seeing it all through the Little Girl's eyes.

Blogging from the Road

It's hard enough to keep my focus when traveling to remote courtrooms to slap people on the wrist for stealing motorcycles without in-my-face reminders like this.

Tappity tap

Tap dancing is popular with the kids, right?

Texas vs. Rye

Rye got her first taste of Texas last weekend for the Thanksgiving holiday.  The trip was pretty much fantastic.  We stayed at a cottage-style bed and breakfast outside the city limits of Fredericksburg and spent plenty of time with family.

Rye got to catch up with Aunt Amy and GG and met more Texas relatives than I can name.  It was a great way to spend our second Thanksgiving as a family.

Thanks Pilmers/Klassens/Arnolds/Eschbergers and friends...

Here's a brief photo-diary of some of the high points:

One

On this day in 2010...

Rhoda and I went to the Mountain Midwifery birth center bright and early for a check-up after Rhoda had been feeling the pangs and pains of impending labor for most of the night.  We were told that it was getting close, but we probably had another day or two before we'd get to meet the newest Pilmer.  At that time, we didn't know who the newest Pilmer would be and had no frame of reference for what it would be like to meet our child.

By ten o' clock that morning I was pulling into the parking lot at work and Rhoda was calling me to say that we were having a baby that day.  Her water had broken.  I turned around and came home.  The rest, as they say, is history.  It is our history and now it is Rye's.

I saw her first and was speechless to the point that Rhoda had to ask me if she was a boy or a girl.  Describing that moment is like trying to describe a color or define warmth.  One knows it when he or she feels or sees it.

Our year with Rye feels like a lifetime, except when it feels like a tick of the clock.  Each of the last 365 days has been more demanding and rewarding than the last.  Each day that I wake up and get to see Rye is better than the one before it.  We are all growing up together and I cannot wait to see where we will be tomorrow.

Happy 1st Birthday Little Girl.