Otis is Here!!

Yesterday was a good day, Cash is no longer the youngest Beard!  His cousin Otis Howard Beard entered the world in the Arizona heat.  I can't wait to see these two grow and play together.  My hunch is that they will be inseparable like their twin papas.

We were told something interesting about the offspring of twins.  Genetically, Ben and Dan are exact replicas of one another so that makes Cash and Otis genetic HALF siblings!!  Dan and I debated writing a twisted country song about your brother being your cousin but for the sake of eliminating confusion, we will just refer to him as cousin Otis.  It may come in handy someday if they have to swap organs or pass drug screens....yikes...we won't dwell on the mischief these two will get into just yet :)

Big huge congratulations and tons of love to Ben and Taylor.  Welcome to the spinning world, Otis.  You picked a good family.

Here's to many years of matching outfits and scraped knees.

XOXOXO

Beards

Little Conversations!

Someone is just about ready to start having full conversations!!  This is a regular occurrence these days and we are loving it so much!

xoxo

Beards

2 Month Well Visit and Dedication

Hey everyone!

Cash has had quite the busy few weeks.  This week he attended his 2 month well child checkup.  He is measuring at the top of the charts for height and weight :)  His pediatrician said that he's going to be a TALL boy!  She kept telling us how lucky we were to have such a calm, attentive baby.  Attentive is an understatement these days.  He can't seem to keep his eyes off of anything that 1) lights up in some way, 2) has bright colors, or 3) is a person or a dog.  He's also "conversing" with people which generally means he stares at you and tries to make a sound and then you copy the sound and he smiles. You can tell he's just dying to be able to interact in any way possible.

Here is 1 week, 1 month, and 2 months....cutie

Hi!  What are you doing right now? Oh, picking your teeth...I'm very interested

Love those chubby cheeks

Last weekend we had Cash's dedication ceremony which was wonderful.  A little on the chilly side but this kid's gotta develop his winter skin soon anyway.  As per usual with Rotach-Beard functions, there was delicious food, crying unabashedly, spilling things, guitars, and lots of love.

Grandma Judy givin' Cash the sauce

Saraphina and her mama Tricia, so good to finally meet her!

Maria and her papa

The shirt we WANTED Cash to wear but he was just a little too snuggly to bother!

Mama gave a little speech 

Mama and Papa

Grandpa Dan and his hat

Maria approves of this message!  And of Patisserie 46 pastries!

The Grandpas give a little welcome

Grandma Judy and "Grandma" Sue

Jim and Margie came too!

Sing-a-long!

Smiles!

Mama surprised Papa with Cash's first bike.  He won't use it for a couple years but it was just too cute to resist.  It's called a "Skuut" and it has no pedals or training wheels...he just wiggles down the road...I die.

Papa's turn to talk

Saraphina dances to the sing-a-long!

Violet too!

We had family members write letters for certain events in Cash's life and we will put them in a little time capsule for him to read later.  Grandma Judy wrote a letter for when Cash falls and skins his elbow/knee for the first time.

Grandpa Dan wrote a letter to Cash the first time he scores a run in t-ball...or any other sport equivalent, or mathletes...whatever)

Grandpa Mike wrote some life lessons for his first fishing trip

Uncle Caleb wrote a letter of inspiration to Cash for his first school dance

Aunt Megan wrote some words of advice for his first day of Kindergarten

Aunt Mindy helped Cash navigate what to do on his first sleepover away from home

And that's it!  Thanks so much to everyone who came and for those who couldn't, we missed you!

xoxo  Beards

The Birth Playlist

Ok, here is my official last post about my birth.  It is time for me to focus all my energy on being Mama now with my child on the outside.  It's clear that there seems to be a transition happening with my body and mind that seems to be letting go of being pregnant and focusing now on our little family of 5.  This continues to amaze me how women can shift roles so quickly but it also is a bit nostalgic.  I miss some things about pregnancy: getting sleep, feeling movement, being able to get to places on time, etc..  But every new thing that Cash does and every time he falls asleep in my arms makes him being on the outside so worth it.

Here is the birth playlist for anyone who is interested.

Something                                                      Across The Universe

Lovesong                                                        ADELE

Breathe                                                          Alexi Murdoch                      

Orange Sky                                                    Alexi Murdoch          

Love You More                                              Alexi Murdoch          

If I Was Your Woman/Walk On By             Alicia Keys

Feeling U, Feeling Me                                    Alicia Keys     

Fire We Make                                                            Alicia Keys & Maxwell          

Diary                                                               Alicia Keys & Tony! Toni! Toné

Jails & Bombs                                                 Amos Lee

Black River                                                     Amos Lee       

Arms Of A Woman                                        Amos Lee       

Blackbird                                                        The Beatles   

And I Love Her                                              The Beatles   

Across The Universe                                     The Beatles   

Let It Be                                                          The Beatles   

Don't Let Me Down                                       The Beatles   

Norwegian Wood                                          The Beatles   

Two of Us                                                       The Beatles                                       

In the Lords Arms                                         Ben Harper

With My Own Two Hands                            Ben Harper   

Strawberry Fields                                         Ben Harper   

By My Side                                                     Ben Harper                                       

Forever                                                           Ben Harper                                       

The Woman In You                                       Ben Harper                                       

Waiting on an Angel                                     Ben Harper                                       

In the Colors                                                  Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals

Stir It Up                                                        Bob Marley   

One Love / People Get Ready                      Bob Marley   

Waiting In Vain                                             Bob Marley   

Is This Love                                                    Bob Marley   

Sun Is Shining                                               Bob Marley   

Satisfy My Soul                                              Bob Marley   

Mellow Mood                                                 Bob Marley   

Skinny Love                                                   Bon Iver        

Just Call Out My Name                                 Carole King                                       

It's Too Late                                                   Carole King                                       

Sideways                                                        Citizen Cope  

No One Said It Would Be Easy                     Cloud Cult     

When Water Comes to Life                          Cloud Cult     

Sparks                                                                        Coldplay        

Fix You                                                           Coldplay

Swallowed In The Sea                                  Coldplay

Kingdom Come                                              Coldplay

Like a Star                                                      Corinne Bailey Rae   

Smooth                                                           D'Angelo        

How Does it Feel?                                          D'Angelo                                            

Nothing Even Matters                                  D'Angelo                                            

Brown Sugar                                                  D'Angelo        

The Blower's Daughter                                Damien Rice

Cannonball                                                    Damien Rice  

Sons & Daughters                                         The Decemberists    

Shake It Loose                                               Dolphin Boy  

On My Mind                                                   Donavon Frankenreiter       

Call Me Papa                                                  Donavon Frankenreiter       

I Can't Tell You Why (Live)                         The Eagles    

On & On                                                         Erykah Badu 

Didn't Cha Know                                           Erykah Badu 

Kiss Me On My Neck                                     Erykah Badu 

Bag Lady                                                        Erykah Badu 

20 Feet Tall                                                    Erykah Badu 

Gone Baby, Don't Be Long                            Erykah Badu 

Come Rain Or Come Shine                           Etta James     

Trust In Me (Etta James)                             Etta James     

Window Seat                                                 Eykah Badu                                      

Rather Go Blind                                             Etta James                                         

Strength, Courage, & Wisdom                      India.Arie      

He Heals Me                                                   India.Arie      

The Way I Am                                                            Ingrid Michaelson    

On Your Wings                                              Iron and Wine                                  

Naked As We Came                                       Iron and Wine                                  

Cinder and Smoke                                        Iron and Wine                      

Love and Some Verses                                  Iron and Wine                                  

Woman King                                                  Iron and Wine          

Hallelujah                                                       Jeff Buckley   

I'm Not Afraid                                                Jill Scott         

In My Life                                                       Johnny Cash 

I Walk The Line                                             Johnny Cash 

Honey And The Moon                                   Joseph Arthur           

When it Hurts So Bad                                   Lauryn Hill    

Can't Take My Eyes Off of You                    Lauryn Hill    

Tell Him (Live)                                              Lauryn Hill    

Dance Me to the End of Love                       Madeleine Peyroux  

Pretty Wings (Uncut)                                   Maxwell         

In the Indigo                                                  Nancy Harms In the Indigo

Bye Bye Blackbird                                         Nancy Harms In the Indigo 

I'm Pulling Through                                     Nancy Harms In the Indigo 

Pink Moon                                                      Nick Drake                

One Of These Things First                           Nick Drake    

Feeling Good                                                  Nina Simone 

Go to Sleep Little Baby                                  O’Brother Where Art Thou Soundtrack

Down to the River to Pray                            O’Brother Where Art Thou Soundtrack

Movement and Location                               Punch Brothers

The Moonlight Is Ours                                  Roma di Luna           

Honey                                                             Romantica     

Oscar Wilde                                                   Romantica     

You Got Me                                                    The Roots Feat. Erykah Badu

Soldier of Love                                               Sade   

Ny batteri                                                       Sigur ros lek  

The Sound Of Silence                                               Simon & Garfunkel   

The Only Living Boy In New York               Simon & Garfunkel   

Anywhere I Go                                               Slightly Stoopid        

Heirloom                                                        Sufjan Stevens          

Decatur                                                          Sufjan Stevens          

To Be Alone with You                                   Sufjan Stevens          

Alone                                                              Trampled By Turtles           

Midnight On the Interstate                          Trampled By Turtles           

Crystalised                                                     The xx           

In The Waiting Line                                      Zero 7

Amber                                                                        311     

Sharing my playlist feels a bit like sharing my diary with you all.  It was a source of comfort before, during, and after my birth.  Now, new songs have meaning to me.  The songs we sing Cash at bedtime.  The theme song of Breaking Bad, which is our "go to" show after Cash goes to bed at night.  And my two favorite kids albums - Ziggy Marley's Family Time and the Okee Dokee Brother's Can You Canoe?  Technically Cash isn't old enough to know whether we are playing kids music or not so, true confession, I actually really like these albums.  

We are looking forward to Cash's dedication next weekend at Minnehaha Falls Park.  Every time we are surrounded by our dearest friends and family, it feels good.  To be surrounded because we have a new little family member makes it that much better.  

Much love

XOXO

Beards