Blogging Hibernation

It's been nearly three months since we last posted. For this we apologize. We know that for some of you, our blog is like oxygen, made even more crucial by the existence of our angelic baby Valencia, the Sunshine Angel. To make it up to you, we have dedicated 95% of this post to that little scamp. The other 5% will consist of this introductory paragraph and a few updates:

• My travels in preparation for opening a high school have taken me to: New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Boston, Charlotte, and Newark. Since the new year: Atlanta, San Diego, and Newark, soon to be Phoenix, then back to Newark. Henderson Collegiate High School will open its doors in August of 2015.
• Valencia turned 6 months old and has yet to double her birth weight. She is a tiny, beautiful human hanging out in the 2nd percentile for weight and 5th percentile for height. She's a dainty lass.
• We traveled to Utah for Ben's wedding! Ben is the 5th of 6 siblings in Celeste's family. He and Jori Larsen tied the knot in the Salt Lake Temple earlier this month, and it was wonderful.

And now, for the main event...

Baby V's Thanksgiving Road Trip

When you're as cute and as popular as Valencia, you garner a lot of attention. You have a lot of admirers. People know you. The byproduct of that level of stardom is that people want to see you. Your fans want to squish your cheeks, hear your cooing voice, and clean your blowout diapers. Fame comes with some serious perks.

As the parents of Valencia (and we've now learned to go by that moniker, hereafter abbreviated as PoV), we did our best this Thanksgiving to facilitate meetings between our celebrity daughter and the people so eager to meet her for the very first time. It took more than 1,500 miles of driving and staying in four different locations, but we did it. They are, in chronological order:

• Aunt Holly
• Uncle Adam
• Cousin Olivia
• Cousin Ruby
• Cousin Sonoma (aka Telesca)
• Aunt Josie
• Uncle Rick
• Cousin Forrest
• PoV's Cousin Daniel
• Aunt Mandy
• Cousin Sadie
• Cousin Jake
• Great Uncle Dan
• Great Aunt Jeanne
• PoV's Cousin Nick
• PoV's Cousin Danielle
• PoV's Cousin James
• 2nd Cousin Cameron
• NY Friends Lynn Hock
• Eddie Hock
• Joseph Hock
• UT Friends Gabe Bush
• Ellen Bush

Vali & Aunt Holly

Vali chilling with her cousins Ruby & Olivia

The one thing I can tell you about Valencia is that she she does not disappoint. If you think she's cute in these pictures, then your heart will skip a beat when you meet her in real life. The people listed above can corroborate. She's an angel straight from heaven, embodied in squishy skin, busy limbs, and a face with seemingly unlimited expressions.

For us, the lowly PoV, it was a great Thanksgiving. Living on the East Coast when most of our family is out West rarely offers us the opportunity to be with so many family at once. In fact, it's never happened in the five and a half years since we moved here. But the stars aligned this year, and we were able to surround ourselves with the people we love on a day that symbolizes the gratitude we feel for our wonderful families and friends.

We are richly blessed. Valencia is a treasure. Celeste is a saint. I am tolerable under most circumstances. Family is forever. How grateful I am for that eternal truth.

The ladies socialize while the gentlemen, well...

Not something we Southerners are accustomed to seeing.

"Another adoring stranger? Better put my game face on."

Vali & Uncle Dan, laughing at the fact that they have the same hair cut.

Mandy flew all the way from Ireland to meet Valencia and be with us for Thanksgiving.

Sadie, Jake, and Merlin. Sadie, the proper lady that she is, couldn't abide Merlin's presence the first time they met. By the time we left, she was racing out the door to give him a farewell hug. #thepowerofmerlin

Jake took no time warming up to Merlin. He got a kick out of hugging and "tickling" him.

The East Coast Olsen/Kidd Crew - Daniel, Mandy, Jake, Forrest, Rick, Josie, Sadie, Merlin, Jack, Les, and Vali

Aunt Josie holding Valencia, getting a whiff of her head, which smells like baby.

Jake & Jack

Close-up of that hat-bootie combo. Ridiculous.

1,500 miles and something like 40+ hours in this carseat, and this is how she looks.

There Ain't No Button This Cute

Vali turned is 2 months old yesterday. During that time, Celeste and I have had the privilege of watching her grow and develop into what can reasonably be classified as the cutest baby in recorded history. We've enjoyed early mornings, tummy-time sessions, and strolls through the neighborhood. We've also enjoyed being peed on, which is an underrated experience for those of you who are still on the sidelines of the game of parenthood.

This little girl has captured our hearts. We spend many an hour simply holding her and staring into her deep blue eyes or fingering her baby mullet. Between the two of us there is always a camera out ready to capture any new moment our Sunshine Angel provides us. A month ago it was cooing. Then it was smiling. Now this girl has started to laugh. She cocks her head back, opens her mouth wide like a Charlie Brown character, lifts her tongue to the roof of her mouth, and gives a jolly exhale. It's heavenly.

Our only complaint so far is that there are simply not enough hours in the day for us to get our Vali fix. She is an unquenchable thirst. She's an all-you-can-eat buffet.  As you can see, you simply can't get enough of Baby V.