6 Weeks Today!

Hello again!  Today marks 6 weeks since Hannah's birth.  She is doing awesome in my opinion.  We have had multiple nights where she has slept from 11:00 pm until 5:00 am!  Hallelujah!  We are really starting to notice her patterns and mannerisms and loving getting to know more about our little angel.  Her morning feedings are followed by a little dad time before he goes to work and then butterfly time.  The butterflies are on the mobile her Mimi got her and she absolutely loves them!  She follows each one until she can't see it anymore and then, hello, another one appears.  She is surprised every time a new butterfly appears.  I just stand and watch her.  She smiles her big smile and it makes my day.  There is nothing better than seeing your child happy.  A moment God grants us parents as reassurance that LIFE IS GOOD.  Hannah is starting to make new noises.  They mostly resemeble a "coo" or a bird's "squeak".  She is definitly trying to talk to us.  Mama gave her her first feel of the grass.  I just let her little feetsies touch the cool ground.  We will be spending a lot of time outdoors as she gets older.  I'm just preparing her early!  

For Easter we packed up (a lot of bags) and headed east to Hideaway Lake.  Kent and Sheri have a beautiful lake house there.  No easter egg hunts this year, but she'll be ready to find an egg or two come next year.  We had a good time and Hannah reeeealy enjoyed the long car ride.  

If you don't care to read or talk about politics, stop here.  However if you'd like to hear about a pretty cool dude possibly running for President read on.  Craig and I are following the progress of the potential 2012 Presidential candidate, Ron Paul.  He is a republican from Texas with a unusually large "young" following.  He is the leading advocate for restoring real freedom and liberty for our country.  He stands for limited government and a return to sound monetary policies.  He advocates the individual's rights.  If it's your business, the government should stay out of it.  Personal or public business.  He believes that our country should be run by following the Constitution and principles laid out by our forefathers.  Real benefits can only come from following principles.  Craig is reading his book, The Revolution, and I just started reading his latest book, Liberty Defined.  I will post my ideas on the book and I'm sure Craig will post a few blogs on this subject as well.  

I also started piano lessons today.  I had splayed when I was younger, but never took it serious.  I did well for my first day back and am so excited to practice and get better.  I am starting with the same book I sued 15 years ago!  It's awesome!  With good practice and patience I can jam with Craig when he plays his guitar and someday soon Hannah can sing!    

Well, my time to write is up!  Hannah is ready to eat.  Thanks for reading.

Be Happy

Laura   

Just Scrap It!

We have all seen them in one fashion, or another; the cash for cans depot, the neighborhood junk man, or the towering piles rusted Iron piled high off-side the freeway. I am a "junk-man" by birth, and I have been around the metal recycling industry my entire life, but few outside our circle know much about our business and the unique problems it solves.

Laura and I, not known for idle time, have set out on an experiment inside the life of the true "junkman," the man who, truck and trailer, goes in search of the worlds unrecognized recyclables in hopes of hauling in a good enough "load" to bring home the bacon. This man, in his dirty overalls and mesh back hat, recycles more material himself than a common city street combined, and is very rarely admired for his work. Being around these type of men my whole life, but never really being in their situation, we set out to get a feel of how hard it really is to "Just Scrap By'"

The basis of the experiment is simple. Attach trailer to truck ----- drive and pick up metal bearing objects ------ sell these objects to local junk yard for money. Of course there are more details involved, but for the sake of explanation they are not relevant to YOU. Listed below are a few things we have learned.

Awareness
We, as a community, throw away a ton of things that could easily be re-used. For example this is what we were able to collect in one weekend
       1,000lb of Iron
          100lb of electric motors
           46lb  of insulated copper wire
           20lb  of copper
           10lb of brass
            46lb car battery
           25lb aluminum (this includes cans as well)

That is 1,257lb of items people were simply ready to throw away, material we would possibly lose forever because of unawareness. Despite what views you may hold of global warming it is hard to argue that something should be done to counteract our negligence when it comes to such waste. This may be a combination of education to make people aware and facilities that make it easily accessible.

Humility
Nobody wants to dig in the trash, especially me, but unfortunately this is where all of this stuff is for the "junkman." We often do not see his rummaging as a virtue, but this man takes your trash and turns it into food for his family, and maybe a beer or two. Once I realized what he had to bear in order to obtain his "load" I was instantly turned to respect his pursuit of sustenance and renewal.

It's Fairly Practical
It really is pretty easy to pick up your neighbors trash and turn it into a little cash. We use it for extra money to buy top shelf margaritas and new hand bags, but it may be the perfect idea if you are strapped to make the bills. If you think it's below you to recycle trash and keep the world constantly renewing simply drop your pride, you are doing a good thing.

So this is just a small view into the beginning of our experiment, and I hope you share similar experiments that you have done with us. As always, we greatly encourage your feedback and look forward to your comments.

Craig

What's Love Got To Do With It?

This weekend was a great one.   One of those weekends that rejuvenates the soul, giving you a spark to start your week and get busy with plans for the future.  Yesterday we decided to embark on a 20-mile route names “Antique Alley”.  The “alley” spans from Maypearl to Grandview and is overflowing with “treasures” along the county roads.  Craig is searching for a stand-up desk, the very studious desks that can be custom made to suit your physical needs and intellectual desires.  He spends quality time at our current desk, setting goals, writing thoughts, downloading our favorite songs on iTunes, and thinking.   The productive work done at this desk warrants consensus that a new oak finished drawing table is within our purchasing guidelines.  So, out we set, after about 2 hours of getting ready, on our antique adventure.  The backseat of the Jeep works wonders for Hannah’s sleep routine.  With Jewel playing an acoustic version of “You Were Meant For Me” the Hargrove’s were off to find treasures. 

A little on the topic of music… Music has always intrigued me.  The way a melody can seep into the soul and transform a moment is inspiring to me.  I fell in love with Craig for his virtuous ambitions and his good soul, but his striking good looks and his ability to serenade me on the guitar was just icing on my red-velvet cake.  He and I both have an appreciation of music and musicians.  Music is a medium he and I both draw upon to either stimulate our senses or calm our mind.  He can tell you what music means to him as I do not want to put words in his mouth, but I know we both enjoy a really good guitar rift or a multifaceted verse to accompany our moments in time. 

From our window seat, the “Antique Alley” began to look like the world’s largest garage sale and no stand-up desks were in sight.  We kept driving, enjoying the view of the billboard-free back roads and the pleasant conversation.  Hannah slept the entire trip, but I’m sure she could hear mama and daddy making plans and discussing ideas.  We never stopped and got out along our route, but rather drove for miles just talking and singing songs.  I realized that this is what makes Craig and I who we are as a couple.  We enjoy our time with each other no matter where we are or where the road takes us.  We have our own flow and go with it.  Hannah seems to fancy our flow too.  So we didn't find any treasures, but we definitely made our own.   

Craig is my partner, my Life Companion and I am so thankful for him everyday.  He is my best friend and the person I choose for my co-pilot on any adventure that awaits me.  He knows me more than anyone and (still) loves me for all I am and desire to be.  I know him, his strengths, weaknesses, hopes and fears and his ability to envision a better way and love him for all he is.  I hope our sincere soul-ship and respect for another will become a light for Hannah.  If we offer nothing else, I have no doubt she will know she is loved and her parents love each other deeply.  And with love like that she can move mountains.  

Our day adventure ended with Hannah waking up ready to eat just as we pulled onto our street and Bob Dylan singing “Shelter From the Storm”…

“And suddenly I turned around and she was standing there,

with silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair.

She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns,

“Come here,” she said “I’ll give you shelter from the storm.”

Daddy Here

Hello everyone! This is my first post and you may find me dropping in from time-to-time giving my reflections on the fam. We are having a blast and learning each day, and I have yet to find what people are referring to when they speak on the burden of child raising. Most of the trouble seems to come externally, and not internally.

I was asked last night by a friend what the biggest change I had encountered and how it made me feel; they wanted to know about me and not necessarily familial changes. The most obvious thing that has changed has been the succession of the many little hobbies I have (reading, writing, fighting, browsing, taking things apart and not putting them back together, half finished woodworking projects), all of which I have find considerably less time for. But, what I found hard to answer was the part on how it makes me feel, because truly I had not considered the effects of their disposal.

Hobbies are an incredibly important part of mans life, resting right along side exercise, diet, sex, spirituality, and success, and the man without them often finds himself a wretch. We are made to produce, when we don't we contradict our nature. But, they are interchangeable and hobbies of equal satisfaction can easily replace the hobby that given up. This is how I look at Hannah. She is my new and most gratifying hobby. She is what I currently do when I am not working.

I still read, but my reading has taken on a new perspective as reading always does. Unlike the boob-tube books have a way of transforming to meet your current situation. I love to read biographies and used to pick them up for the purpose of finding those unique qualities in men that gave them the ability to render great services to society. Now I read about men like Alexander the Great, Theodore Roosevelt, Aristotle, and Frankenstein to find the unique virtues that allowed them to be great partners. Partners to my wife, to my daughter, to my colleagues, and to all others that I meet. There is no doubt that the tremendous power books had on my desire to "change the world," will be any less with my desire to raise a daughter. Do you know what history teaches you? It's all going to be alright, focus on the solution and not the problem, look ahead and not down, fight for whats right, and LIVE your life for SOMETHING. You only get one shot.

So, to sum all of that up; I am unchanged. I do not regret dropped hobbies, because my new one holds much richer rewards for all of man kind. The greatest thing I can do for the world is raise a solid child. The rest is icing on my cake.

Thanks to EVERYONE for all that you do, and keep reading. Give us feedback and ideas. We welcome all opinions, because it only makes us stronger. WE LOVE ALL OF YOU!

8 lb Chicken Nugget

Today I took Hannah to get a weight check. I just wanted to make sure that our love child has been getting enough of her mama’s milk.  Well, she has gone from 7 lbs 7 oz at birth to a whopping 8 lbs 9 oz!  Whoo hoo!  I like to give everything pet names, which usually change day by day.  Today Hannah is my (8 pound) chicken nugget!  It makes me smile and she can’t oppose my pet names just yet, so I’ll go with it! 

As my worry subsided as the little scale surpassed the 8 lb mark, I realized that all I well in Hannah’s new world.  This mom gig is new to me and I can’t help but want to know she is getting all she needs, but I also realize I cannot allow worry to hinder the joy each day brings us.  Worry too often becomes a heavy fog, like that over a cool body of water on a warm spring morning.  Above the fog is a beautiful day waiting to be lived, but if one remains too long lost in the hollow the sunrise is missed.  Each day with Hannah is a beautiful new sunrise and I’m going to try to not let worry get in our way!  She has a beautiful head of hair like her daddy’s, her skin is glowing, her eyes wide with wonder, and we are going through plenty of diapers.  She is thriving and full of life! 

Last night Craig was reading to Hannah from our book of poems.  He read Whitman, Frost and Edgar Allan Poe’s “Annabel Lee”.  Hannah listens intently when her dad reads to her.  She stares at him and takes it all in.  They are quite the pair to watch together.  She has a wonderful daddy. 

Hannah’s first “party” is tonight.  Our Sunday School group is throwing her a shower.   We have really enjoyed this new group.  We are able to discuss current events and issues as they relate to the bible and Christianity.  We often get off on tangents and that makes it even more fun.  The group is great and very supportive of Craig and I as new parents.  Hannah has been to out last two classes.  She hangs out in her carrier and listens to all the voices.  I will let you know how the party goes.  She’s already wearing her party pants. 

The Purpose

Hello to all!  Thank you for visiting our new blog.  Craig and I wanted to give family and friends something to check out and keep up with our family.  If you are reading this, you probably are aware of the arrival of Hannah Leigh Hargrove, our precious "made in Mexico" honeymoon souvenir.  She was born on March 18, 2011 at 6:28 am and has been the main attraction of our lives for the past three weeks and 5 days.  Wow!  Time has gone by so fast!  That being said, the purpose of this blog is to let you all know how Miss Hannah is doing, the adventures our family undertake, and any new ideas we have to share.

As you see the title of our blog is, "With Our Own Two Hands".  This title is from Ben Harper's song which encourages one to use their own two hands to make positive change in this world.  We can all do something!  As I hold Hannah at those current 3:00 a.m. feedings, I see that I can change the world with my own two hands by giving her the tools she needs to make her world better.  Then, when she is ready, her own two hands will make a difference.

Craig, Hannah, and myself are learning new things everyday.  Hannah - about her new world, Craig and I - about the bliss of being parents while balancing the life that we had created before she arrived.  I have learned that I do not need the whole seven hours of sleep I once thought I needed.  Somehow God implants a sleep system in new parents that allows them to function on far less sleep.  We have learned that the "swaddle" looked so much easier at the hospital, but thanks to SwaddleMe we can successfully make Hannah look like a comfortable baby mummy (and like she's going to a toga party when she get an arm out).

We will keep this blog updated with pictures and posts as often as we can.  Craig and I will both write, sometimes about Hannah and our family and other times about our ideas and what we're doing!  We hope you enjoy reading this and may you too use your own two hands!!!!!