Sunday, February 10, 2008

Overflowing grace for a brand new daddy

How can anyone ever be prepared to be a father? As soon as the baby is born, an avalanche of new experiences rushes over you. No written description can do adequate justice to the happenings in the life a novice daddy - when you change the diaper of your little one for the first time, when you cover her tiny little body with doll-like clothes, when you try to comfort her while she helplessly cries and you observe puzzled without a single chance of discovering the cause of her distress, all of this crowned by a feeling of powerlessness as you try to encourage your wife who is crying without apparent reason while she recovers from the exhausting delivery.

The process has been skillfully designed by the Creator in such a way that you either die as you try or humbly surrender before Him, pleading for grace when weakness overwhelms you. It is in these moments when the endless, divine grace flows mightily from the fountain of living water, satiating the thirsty and strengthening the feeble. Under these circumstances, the power of God is made perfect in the frailty of man and allows him to mount up with wings like eagles.

It is this grace that allows me to marvel in wonder at my baby when she finally gives up exhausted and falls sleep in my arms; this grace that opens my eyes to contemplate how privileged and blessed I am to have two princesses in my own house, whom I do not deserve; this grace that granted me the honor to be a father so I can understand better the love of God The Father. My heart overflows with gratefulness to my Lord for another gift of his incomprehensible mercy!

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Annita is one month old

Yes, Annita is growing fast and we do not want you to miss these priceless moments, so we prepared a video and a slideshow of her first month. Enjoy!




Monday, December 31, 2007

Wrapping up the year 2007

The end of the year came with a fierce charge of wonderful events. On December 30, last year, we were getting married in Bolivia, so we celebrated our first anniversary having a romantic dinner just the two of us for the last time, for Annita decided to come on the last day of the year. What a beautiful gift she is!



Caryn did a great job and courageously went through the whole process. Some mild contractions had started on Saturday morning, but it was not until Monday morning that they became stronger and more frequent. We were admitted in the hospital around 10 AM, when she was 2 cm. dilated, and then she had some arduous hours before she transitioned to the pushing stage, which was relatively short. While she was working hard, the excited soon-to-be father was taking pictures all over the place. Anna Carolina was born at 4:51 PM. She weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. Mom and baby are doing great.

Christmas Day Celebration - Dec. 25

This is the first Christmas that I celebrate with my beloved Caryn. As a new family we are blending our families’ traditions while we add novel ones to the mixture. We started our Christmas morning by singing a worship song that reminded us of the Savior’s birth. Then we read Mathew 1:17-25, intertwining English and Spanish so Annita can hear both. We were reminded on how God had mercy on us and saved us from our sin (v. 21). Next, we recounted the many gifts that we received from God this past year: our marriage, our daughter, financial provision, a new Care Group and new relationships, just to mention some. Our hearts were filled with thankfulness and renewed hope. Then we opened gifts after having a delicious seasonal breakfast prepared by my multi-gifted wife. What a wonderful time we had!

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Christmas medley for our baby Anna Carolina

Our baby Anna Carolina is one week away from her expected due date! As we enjoy this season with our friends, we modified the words of a couple of traditional Christmas songs to relate the exciting changes that pregnancy brings along. The video has subtitles to help you understand the customized lyrics.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

My new job

My internship at NASA has ended. But the Lord in his faithfulness has provided a full-time job for me, which is able to support our family. As always, God’s timing was perfect, as I was able to start my new job about one week before Caryn left her position as administrative assistant at our church. In His grace, God has permitted my salary to be sufficient to allow Caryn to dedicate herself completely to our family and our home. On top of that, my office is only 10 minutes from our house and therefore I will be able to easily care for my little princesses!
I am working for Lockheed Martin whose principal business areas are Aeronautics and Electronic, Space and Information Systems. Below you can see two of its products. I am specifically working with the group that implements internal corporate information systems, supporting applications for sectors as the legal department and HR.

LandsatF-117 Nighthawk

I am very excited to have the opportunity to work for such a large and prestigious company, while our hearts are filled with gratitude for the immeasurable goodness of God, expressed this time in the provision of this job.

The birth is getting closer

Here is Caryn, just about to begin her 9th month of pregnancy, standing next to our crib. Little Anna continues to grow and tells us that she’s getting ready to join us on the outside soon. We are both excitedly waiting!

8 moths of pregnancy

Caryn’s friends threw her a baby shower. They blessed her with lots of clothes for the first months of life of our little daughter, as well as a big cake... made of diapers!

GiftsCake of diapers