The Swarrell Life

This is about 12 hours after Trinity was born. Beth brought her two boys, Spencer and Payton with her. They are usually rambunctious like any boys would be, but they were super well-behaved on this occasion. Although Payton was unusually interested in my lunch until I told him it was scalloped potatoes and not mashed. He wasn't sure about that, so he lost interest. BUT, as Spencer took his turn holding the baby, Payton started rocking the chair and singing. Need I say more? Check the video out. You might have to turn the volume up to hear it. Oh yeah, this is a video of Trinity in the heated bed right after she was born:

Talk about a holiday rush I sure do miss the city...uh...no.

Yesterday was momentous: not turkey, exercise! We went for our first walk, all the way to the end of the block. The problem is that it was cold and the wind was making Trinity upset. I don't blame her, it was cold! The funny thing about this picture is that you can't even see her in the stroller! She is still so small and so precious. I can see her growing so much, even after only six days. I hear that it only gets faster. I am continually amazed at how well Autumn is handling this new chapter in life. She has been a nursing machine! She is still recovering from labor, but has been so consistent. Thanksgiving was good, but to be honest I am a little distracted. Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful for many things, but the holiday slipped by me this year even though I spent it with family. Why so distracted? This picture says it all:

For all of you wanting pictures, here are some more of my favorites. It is interesting watching the changes in Trinity as she grows day by day. Her eating and sleeping is changing as Autumn's milk comes in. The kid can eat. People say she looks a little like Autumn. That may be true, but she eats and sleeps like me. Good for you, Trinity. Good for you. These are black and whites that I took while we were giving her a little time in the sun. The contrast is irresistable to the photographer in me. I think they are very dramatic and really capture how I feel about her. My feelings are very plain as I look at her. I love her, no more and no less.

So many people have told me how having a child will change everything and how you can never really express it in words. It's true, it's true! I think that the delirium of not sleeping much can cause a sudden loss of vocabulary, but even if that is the case, there simply is no way to describe how I feel right now. All the political stuff goes away. I only care about my family right now. I have a couple new shots that connect in my mind to the feelings that I have. They are of my wife and daughter during feeding times. That is the connection. That is what parenting is all about. I am so proud and happy that my wife has that connection with Trinity. I wish I had that connection. But I have others and those blow my mind too. I was changing her diaper and had her all clean and fresh. She yells when I change her. I was about to put a clean shirt on her, when I bent down and kissed her belly, told her I loved her and laid my cheek on her belly. She quieted down when I touched her. It ...

Born To Aaron and Autumn Harrell on November 22, 2008, at 1:24am. She weighed in at 6lbs, 3oz and is 19 inches long. She is absolutely beautiful! Autumn is doing great, tired but healthy. I have a few pics here, but more are posted on my facebook profile . I'll post more and talk more later, this is just a taste of what's to come. My wife is truly amazing to have carried this baby for so long and then given birth to bring her into our lives. Amazing.

Here she comes! It is 2:30 in the afternoon on Friday, November 21st. This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it! I have sang that song since I was a kid, and I now know how true it can be. We are getting ready to head to the hospital to induce labor. This is the last day that our family will be only two, okay maybe tomorrow too. But nevertheless, our house and home will never be the same. I will never be the same. Autumn will never be the same. We will never be the same, and while I rejoice in the pending arrival of our daughter, I can't help but mourn the loss of our life up til now. We have a great life, and while the addition of a child will make it even better, there are so many things that I know I am going to miss. I am going to miss the tranquility of our life as man and wife. I am going to miss the freedom to come and go as I choose. I am going to miss the flexibility that comes with being able to eat or go whenever I want to. But I look forwa...

1. I have a great husband. He always says such nice things. I think one reason this pregnancy has been such a positive experience is because of his supportive and caring attitude. When the pregnancy hormones were doing their thing he was always there to cheer me up. When I was feeling fat, he'd tell me how good I looked. When I was feeling too small, he'd tell me how big I looked--which (believe it or not!) was exactly what I needed to hear. 2. Retirement is going to be fun. Though Friday was my last 'official' day at work I did go in Monday and saw more patients than I expected; so many in fact that I didn't get some of the paperwork done in the office that I wanted to so I ended up working a half day yesterday to get that done. So, today was my first full day off work. Though I don't think I'd be ready to retire at 34, I can see how retirement is going to be enjoyable. At the gym this morning there were two retired women working out downstairs a...

Take a minute and vote on the birth weight of our daughter (on the right side of the blog...) A few observations: - My wife is pretty brave. Any woman who has given birth is brave. That has to be one of the more traumatic events a human can go through and still live. Good thing it produces such wonderful results. I suppose that's why people go through it more than once. Ouch. - A natural consequence of the above statement is to remind you of how the world would look if men had to carry the unborn fetus and give birth. It would be empty. God knew what he was doing when he gave that assignment to women. - Parents are great, especially when their children are becoming parents themselves. Okay, I am just speaking for myself. My parents are great, I am so lucky to have them involved in the process. - We just bought a video camera, but don't hold your breath for a live feed of the birth. Just because we can, doesn't mean we will. How's that for restraint? But after the birth,...

Well, today is the due date. Things started off on a good note this morning as I started having mild contractions at 1:30 a.m. however by 6 a.m. or so they had pretty much resolved. Darn it. Tomorrow I have another doctors appointment and we'll probably have my membranes stripped--I don't know exactly what that is but it doesn't sound like much fun. It may help induce labor though and I think I'm finally to the point where that is a good thing. I still feel okay physically but it just feels like our lives are on hold right now waiting for Happy Feet to make her appearance. I try not to wish any of my days away quicker than they already go since we only have so many days in our life but right now I'm finding that a little hard.

But funny! If you have not read it already, the Borowitz Report is pretty funny satire in a manner not unlike The Onion . Enjoy the full article here . Otherwise: "According to presidential historian Davis Logsdon of the University of Minnesota, some Americans might find it "alienating" to have a President who speaks English as if it were his first language. "Every time Obama opens his mouth, his subjects and verbs are in agreement," says Mr. Logsdon. "If he keeps it up, he is running the risk of sounding like an elitist."" Excuse the double quotation. Is that even legal?

For those of you wanting the update, here's the latest photos! Boy she's looking good! The baby appears to have dropped a little and the due date is coming fast! For those of you who haven't voted on when she's coming, vote in the previous post!

For those of you following my wife's pregnancy, we are still waiting for the little bugger to make her appearance. There are several pools going around town in regards to when she'll actually be here. I decided that maybe I'd do a poll of both my readers to see what they thought. Here is one for a due date, I'll post one for time of day, weight, and length later on. Enjoy! When will our daughter be born? ( surveys )

The Obama administration is going to have to earn my trust. I have placed my trust, and my future to some extent, in the hands of another politician and his advisers. I hope that he will act in the manner that he has promised. I am not worried about past associations, if they are in the past. I am not worried about my guns. If the government comes to collect them on January 1, then I was wrong. Very wrong. But I am hopeful that we can see a more whole nation, even though this election has divided us more than ever. I am hopeful that we can have dialog instead of shouting matches. I had one just the other day with my dad. It was the first time we've talked about politics. He's talked about them, but it never came across as a discussion so much as pontification. But we discussed and it was good. I hope for more of this. With that in mind, check this out:

So here we are just a week or so away from the birth of our daughter. The little gadget on the right says so. But less than 5% of babies are born on their due dates. I have a feeling that my daughter is going to be an over-achiever. My wife is and I occasionally aspire to it as well. Hopefully we'll not instill that into her. I just hope that she knows that she is loved. By the way, she already has more stuff than me. Is it wrong to be jealous of your child? I dunno, I'm new at this whole parenting thing. Wait, I haven't even got that far yet. But I have a beautiful pregnant wife who is doing so great through this whole ordeal. Speaking of which, I need to get home for dinner...bye!

Rodney King provided some of the most talked-about rhetoric of the 1990's when he said: People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? Can we get along? Can we stop making it, making it horrible for the older people and the kids?...It’s just not right. It’s not right. It’s not, it’s not going to change anything. We’ll, we’ll get our justice....Please, we can get along here. We all can get along. I mean, we’re all stuck here for a while. Let’s try to work it out. Let’s try to beat it. Let’s try to beat it. Let’s try to work it out. The pastor at my church talked about the election yesterday. He talked about our duty as Christians to submit to the governing authorities. I think he is absolutely correct, that our duty according to Romans 13 , is to submit to and respect and honor those appointed to govern over us. I am guilty of not doing that with many of our current leaders, on a local and national level. But I am commanded to do that. I only hope that I remember that ...

There has been much made of Sarah Palin's wardrobe lately. The GOP and McCain camps have started shelling her for the huge amount of money that was spent on their pick for Veep. They are capitalizing on the animosity towards Palin from the media at large and the left specifically. It's a reasonable strategy considering how badly the campaign was conducted and how disastrous the results were. Then there is the news that Palin may have been distancing herself from McCain in order to set up her own run in 2012 . Either way, they're hanging her out to dry. Pretty typical when something goes that wrong. I'll admit that I buy the hype. I usually do. But Sarah Palin was not at fault for the campaign going horribly wrong. The McCain camp picked her and was wrong to do so . I have a hard time believing that she didn't know that Africa is a continent . It remains to be seen if that is actually true. In the end, who cares? She's here now, so let's deal with it. To me ...

A few weeks ago we went over to a friends house to take some fall pictures with a few other families. It was a bit chilly but the colors were beautiful.

Well, after much resistance (primarily on my part) we are now online at home. I have been resistant because I didn't want to spend the extra money when we both have access to the internet elsewhere. In addition, I find that I can waste a whole lot of time on the net. Before making any major purchase I like to research the best options. That means I spend way too much time visiting web sites looking at prices, reviews, shipping times, shipping costs, etc. I also 'over-research' recipes for dinner. Instead of using the four or five excellent cookbooks we have in our pantry, I go online and look for that perfect recipe for dinner. I'll find one that sounds great but I can't stop there. I think, 'well, maybe there's something just a little more inspiring' so I keep looking. Before I know it, we're eating peanut butter and jelly because it's past our dinner time! On the bright side, I guess having the internet at home will now give me plen...

Politically speaking, I feel a little hung over. Maybe it is just the inevitable let down after having invested so much hope in this election cycle. It was bound to happen. But my candidate won, and I hope that I chose well. I can not imagine the alternative, so I have to believe that this is what is right. I see now that the election was the easy part. Now we have to do what we said needed to be done. Our hope can now turn into change. But now we must hold ourselves and our elected officials accountable for what they said. I am not so naive to think that everything President-Elect Obama said will come to pass. It doesn't work that way. But we can demand from him the kind of behavior and decision-making that we have come to expect from him. He is a fresh face and we need that every once in a while. Let's make sure that he is more than a face. Let's do our part too. Let's support him as our leader, in whatever way we can. If that means a protest, so be it. If that means ...

I'll be watching live at the local coffee shop, but in case you are reading this blog, here's a way to rack the results for this election, as they come in:

I'm not done with this election cycle. GET OUT AND VOTE!

I like to think of myself as an intelligent guy. I am college educated, intellectually curious, and somewhat open minded. I am also absent minded. I get caught up in the moment. I am one of the sheep that I often look down my nose at. I have bought into so much of the hype that this election cycle has elicited. Not just the issues, the hype. The media coverage of this outrage and that outrage. This is the first election I have really ever been emotionally invested in and I bought the whole enchilada. (I love enchiladas, especially when they have pork and that yummy green sauce!) I became outraged and angry at this and that. I replied to inaccurate e-mails. I was caught up in the whole thing and today I realized that it has exhausted me. I am tired of politics. Maybe I'll wait another 16 years to vote again. Probably not, but that's what I feel like. I guess it was over compensating for all the issues and candidates that I have ignored over the years. Maybe I tried too hard. But...