This is how we do it.  Happy New Year!

Prior to our dance, Maya was listening to a lullaby CD and fussing like crazy.  I noticed when I popped my iPod onto our stereo (which was on some dance track) that she kind of came to attention… so then we started dancing and by the end of the first song it was like her eyelids were made of lead.  We’ll experiment with other songs an see what music works best.

Amber – This is Your Night – YES
Danni Minogue – Put the Needle On It – YES
BodyRockers – I Like the Way – YES
Gnarls Barkley – Crazy – NO

Today we said goodbye to the physical presence of a great woman.  Sarita’s maternal grandmother, Alfreda M. Capobres, entered the afterlife today.  Living to 97 years old, we have little doubt she’s now looking down on her wonderful family from heaven.

I personally had the chance to visit with Grandma C on several occasions, all of them after a stroke that had affected her memory but certainly not her strength.  During one visit Sarita and I told her we would be getting married.  Grandma C squeezed my hand tightly and in the same sentence both invited me into her family with a trip to her home in the Philippines and warned me about what would happen should I ever hurt her grand-daughter.

Sarita and I took solace in the fact that such a strong woman is now looking over us from her new phase of life.  Grandma C will be witness to Maya’s childhood and we will honor Grandma by passing on the strength she instilled in her sons and daughters and they in turn have passed on to their children.

On our most recent trip to California in October, we visited Grandma to show her that Sarita was carrying her fifth great-grandchild.  She guessed that Baby Z was a boy and suggested we name him “Rudy” – also the name of her oldest son.  We laughed and promised to put the name on the list.  Regardless of the gender, she advised us to love that baby with all our hearts.  We certainly do love Maya with all our heart, and we know Grandma will smile upon her for the rest of her life.

Photo Sharing – Video Sharing – Photo Printing

Photo Sharing – Video Sharing – Photo Printing

What a whirlwind past couple days. I’ve written as much as I can remember down on a notepad so I can hopefully fill this post in after the fact.  It all started at 6:40A on 13-Dec, when Sarita called me into the bathroom because she thought her water had broke

Maya lays asleep on my chest in the dark as I type out this post on my phone. My arms barely can hold the phone, but I desperately want to record these memories as I already, 36 hours in the making, feel them fading.

In retrospect there is actually a funnier start to the whole thing. First, my mom’s new husband Roy, a pilot, religiously follows the weather reports and mentioned that the moon was full on Friday night. My parents had come to visit Cincinnati to help with some last minute chores and pick up some furniture. We’d heard that full moons tend to start more pregnancies (no idea if anything scientific to that). Second, in the middle of the night I woke up and tried to hand Sarita a full glass of water. I’d sworn she called out to me “water please!… Water please.” She later in the morning told me she was having a dream about her water breaking.

» Read more: Welcome to the world, our precious Maya Rose