Tag: Allen

What’s Going On?

So, here we are — its fall now, right? Yes, it’s been a long time since I’ve written on the old blog. I really do want to get more consistent with the whole blogging thing! But then again, I have no apologies! So, what’s been happening since I last gave a good family update? Let me list a few things:

  • We took a little family trip to Washington DC in August. Did we see any of the typical attractions? Nope. It was just fun to get away! But then again, we did get to attend an awesome Romney 2012 rally in Springfield, VA. Yes, I got to shake Paul Ryan’s hand!
  • Summer was very hot. I see it on my electric bill. I don’t have too many complaints, though. It’s still not a whole lot more than we used to pay in our apartment, which was half the square-footage of our house.
  • Our church’s big events in the summer all went extremely well. I was able to spend the week at our camp in Hanover.
  • We have now been homeowners for a year now! We love it. And our yard is starting to really look nice, after a year of it looking like a football field after 4 hours of cleats.
  • I learned through multiple sources that, when typing, the thing is now that you’re only supposed to put one space after a period, not two. I have started doing that. Also, I heard that the Oxford comma is way out of style. But I still use it. It makes way more sense to me.
  • I have continued to gain a lot of software development knowledge through my employer. Actually, in about 10 days, I get to go to a training course put on by Oracle at my company’s headquarters in New Hampshire. My family gets to come with me for the week also.
  • God has blessed in so many ways. I could easily name a hundred things he’s done in our lives and others’ in the last several months.

And I think that’s it. Oh…wait, you all probably wanted to hear about ALLEN, not us. Oh, pictures! You want to see those too? Okay, if you want.

Staying in the family business…
Looking mischievous…yes, he can crawl now.
Being a ham for the camera…
Crazy sideways cap…
Definitely just smiling a fake smile for the camera…
I just think this picture is awesome…

Lately, Allen has learned to sit up, pull himself up to stand, crawl, and pick things up with his thumb and index finger. He’s definitely growing up quickly.

And, as a whole, we are doing great as a family. Allen is starting to understand what “yes” and “no” means, and that it’s not fun to disobey. It’s funny: if only the rest of us could understand when God says “yes” and “no”, and that’s it’s not fun when we disobey Him too.

So, that’s what’s going on right now in Windsor Twp, PA with the Speckhals’. You can follow Andrea or myself on Twitter if you aren’t already. If you don’t have an account, you can still see the things we post.

Molding our Son

I was just thinking about how much the life of our soon-to-be born son is already being shaped; that is, what some of the things he will like and dislike are.  He won’t really know what most of these  mean for a few years, but he is already becoming a patchwork of the family he is being born into.

Andrea and I talked about what we want his bedroom to look like.  Both of us agree that it we want it to be somewhere he can “grow into”; which means that we don’t want it to look too “baby.”  We decided on an explorer/traveler theme with compasses, ships, planes, etc.–or shall I say that I chose it!  I think that parents naturally want their children to be images of them, in a way: at least the positive parts of them.  With that being the case, Allen (I’m pretty sure that’s how we’re going to spell his name!) will probably be molded into a boy who likes geography and history.

Of course, his grandparents will also get a lot of say.  His Grandpa Speckhals already bought him a whole lot of St. Louis Cardinals apparel: including pacifiers, onesies, a ball cap, bottles, and a few other things.  What does that tell you?  He’ll be a Cardinals fan.  Of course, his Aunt Sharon may have a thing or two to say about that, being a Cubs fan!

Then, Allen’s dad (me!), Uncle Adam, and Grandpa Murdock are surely going to make him a Michigan State Spartans fan.  I can’t remember, but the Murdock’s may have gotten him a few Spartans things already.  If there’s anything he will be a fan of, it will definitely be Michigan State!

What will the Leslie’s make him?  If his Grandpa Leslie has his way, Allen will be a long mountain climber!  Aunt Sharon will want him to be a Marathon runner, Uncle Jim: a wrestler , and Aunt Lindsey: a cowboy, for sure.

Lastly, but most influential, will be his mom and dad.  Dad is going to want him to like McDonald’s, and Mom is going to want an authentic Mexican food eating partner.  From mom will also come a love for good biographies, classics, and the Spanish language.  From dad will come a taste for war, guns, and basketball.

But after all of this, he will be completely his own person; which makes all of this so exciting!  It will be fun to watch him grow up: to see his likes and dislikes, his hobbies and his hates, his tastes and repulsions.  Nothing is more important, though, than for him to inherit the Christian heritage passed on by his parents and grandparents.  If that was all we could give him, Andrea and I would be overjoyed!