Lake Tahoe 2009

We went to Lake Tahoe. It was beautiful, to say the least.

Shea found the water a bit chilly, so she rode on my shoulders...

I Am Alive.

Sorry.  I haven't blogged for a long time.  I'll try to get back on track, etc.

I love my daughter (and my wife, duh)... they're a lot of fun.

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Too many days between blog posts here... a sign of the times.

Some of my favorite blog posts by Joshua Longbrake [seemingly put on ice at the moment...] are his creative additions (generally photography), which are always simply marked by a "+" as the title. So, I'm going to copy this minimalist concept of his (hey, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery right?) and begin offering up some of my meager creative content to the blogosphere from time to time.

And today isn't even MY creation. Ha! [hey it's my blog... I make the rules around here: there are no rules]

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My wife shows signs of being a fantastic photographer. My daughter shows signs of being increasingly stunning with each passing day. Pretty good combo, I would say...

What Could Be Better?

Well, my friends, what could be better than hanging out with my little lady in the backyard this last weekend?... [answer to follow pictures]


What could be better than that? Well, hanging out with BOTH OF MY KIDS in the backyard! Yeah, that's right, we've got "anothah one in tha cookah" (as the say in Boston... I'm guessing). I'm pretty sure most of you who read this blog probably know this already, but it's worthy of a post nonetheless!

(And, no, this is NOT some last-ditch effort at a weak April Fool's joke;-)

All smiles at the Bams...

Proud daddy...

Tara just made a short video for her mom on her birthday...

Happy Birthday, Grandma! from Arizona Bam on Vimeo.

Needless to say, I'm a proud papa. :-]

::fatherly sigh::

My daughter took her first steps today.

::weep::

I know I'm supposed to be "thrilled," but I can't help but feel like this is her first step towards not needing Daddy and Mommy as much anymore:-/

I know that I don't post about my experience as daddy a whole lot on this blog... but that's really just because I can't keep up with this little girl! Every parent says it, but my baby Shea REALLY IS growing up too quickly! There have been MANY challenging parenting moments for me during her 8.5 months thus far, but I can't even describe how overwhelmed with love I am for this little wonder-woman.

Note to Shea: Slow down... please.

[man, am I gonna be a sobbing-wreck when she goes to her first day of school!]

Whew! Transition to dénouement...

dé|noue|ment [noun] - the final part of a narrative in which the strands of a plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved.

Looking back over the recent months, there have definitely been a lot of strands thickening the plot lately. And yet, within in a matter of a few weeks, our own personal dénouement seems to have taken place (and not a moment too soon) after nearly two years of intense rising action. Seeing that my last post here was in December of last year (good grief), I'll do a quick rundown of the most noteworthy recent events:

I became a daddy.
My little girl, Shea Marin, was born on April 29th, and wow... what an incredible experience that was! The weight of the implications surrounding the birth of my daughter is oftentimes more than I can manage in my mind (much less describe in a blog post), so I'll not even try to convey all of those thoughts at the moment. Here are some internal snapshots from the journey thus far:
- I am SO in love with this little person...
- Having an infant reveals my selfishness and weakness...
- It is amazing, regardless of how much I internalized it beforehand, how one tiny baby can rock your entire reality and worldview...

I finished grad school for now (pretty much:).
On May 4th, I walked across the platform to receive my MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, and it has never felt so good to come home from the office and wind-down as opposed to ramp-up for conference calls, case-reading, and various other forms of self-inflicted torment. After 20 non-stop months of being in class, three continents visited, 20 ridiculous professors, and many classmates-turned-friends, I count the grueling experience well worth the sacrifice (although, one that I will not soon replicate:) I wrote "pretty much" in the header because Shea was born the morning that I was supposed to be in Glendale for the final week of lectures, so I'll be making that up in August and THEN I'll get my diploma... [kinda like the time I couldn't get my diploma from Wheaton until I paid $150 in past-due parking tickets... insufferable Public Safety officers!!!]

I went to China.
As part of my Thunderbird study of the Asian business environment, we spent a long week in Beijing in January earlier this year. Entirely fascinating land that I hope to revisit someday with my family. Journeying through the Forbidden City and hanging out in modern-day Tiananmen Square creates quite a background and framework for the present paradox that is China today. I got this very intangible vibe from the culture that I think stems from the rub of free-market forces marching out of step of the Communist Party.

And as I witnessed the Party guard lower the PRC flag in Tiananmen Square as the sun went down over the polluted urban sky, a sobering reality came over me that I was experiencing perhaps the early markings of a burdgeoning world military power to be reckoned with in the not-too-distant future... time will tell.

My bros came to visit.
In February, four of my closest friends from my Wheaton days popped down to the desert to see me one last time before I became a boring father;-) Man, did I make some poor choices when it came to college buddies!! (ha, I jest) No, honestly, it was such a great time to have the five of us in one place again... a tradition that we plan to execute for years to come. Whoever said that many of our closest friends are made in college knew what they were talking about.

Still working on finding rhythm...
Zach Lind titles his blog "Finding Rhythm," and I really resonate with those words. As Tara and I (& Shea) progress on our journey through life together, we find ourselves increasingly pushing to discover some of the sacred life "rhythms" that Jesus has in mind for his followers. Stay tuned as I continue to stumble along this path in community and share some thoughts along the way...

I'm going to be a daddy!

Well folks, it's official... the stork should be paying us a visit next spring. Tara is currently around 8.5 weeks along, which makes the baby due around May 1st (a seemingly popular time of year among our family). We had our first doctor's appointment last Monday where they performed an ultra-sound, and baby Bam decided to make a cameo appearance for us, playing the nebulous-yet-articulate role of "blob with a heartbeat":)

Needless to say, we're beyond excited! Although now, no matter what I cook for dinner, Tara holes-up in the bedroom with the door closed to keep away from the smell (which isn't that different than before the pregnancy, actually!).