(Great) Poppa & Grammaw Allen

Your Great Grandpa Allen is one of the most influential men in my life. He is the perfect example of a role model and a man I have looked up to for my whole life. Much like your Grandpa Barad, Poppa Sims holds himself and the family to the highest of standards.

The biggest accomplishments in my life can be directly linked to the passion Poppa Allen has for education. Grammaw and Poppa Allen have been beyond generous when it comes to the education of us grandchildren. They have paid for each one of us to go to college.  Times such as this make me realize the value of this act. I would not be able to provide for you had they not pushed me to further my education.  

My two favorite things about your Great Grandpa Allen are his hugs and his smile. You can feel the love he has for you every time you walk in his door and he smiles, chuckles and gives you a big ole hug.  

Your mom and I are fortunate to have a few great men in our lives. Your Great Grandpa Allen is definitely one of them. My earliest memory of realizing this was on a trip to Ruidoso, where Grammaw and Grandpa Allen had a mountain house. There will be early memories in your life that you will never forget and this trip was one of them for me. 

He has instilled conservative Christian values in our family. He is one of the most brilliant men I have ever met in my life. I honestly cannot remember asking him a question he did not know the answer to.

Your Great Grammaw Allen is one of the most loving and giving person you will encounter. She is always trying to make our lives better in any way she thinks she possibly can. As an example, today, we had lunch with the family and she showed your mom and I pictures of the dining room table she bought for our new house. It will be the dining room table where you, your mom, and I will share many meals.

She has also helped me through some of the most trying times in my life.  Her love and care during these trying times has been greatly appreciated.  Without her, getting through the hard times would be much more difficult.

My favorite memories of Grammaw Allen are the times when I would spend the night with her in El Paso.  Grammaw would scratch my back until I fell asleep in her lap.  I also remember staying up late at night watching TV with her.  She is probably the reason I am such a night owl now.  It will help me though in your early days I can come take care of you while your mom sleeps.

 

I look forward to the day when you get to meet them. They will love you like no other. They will make your life better just as they have done for me and your mom.

Love, Dad

Dr. Robert Wai

Dr. Robert Wai is the doctor who is taking care of us right now while I am carrying you. He works at Baylor Grapevine Medical Center. He is so kind and soft spoken.

Daddy goes with me to every appointment so that he can hear all of the wonderful things Dr. Wai says about you. When we go to our appointments, a nurse takes my blood pressure and weighs me. I have gained 35 pounds so far because you really make me crave sweet things like German chocolate milkshakes, cinnamon rolls and chocolate twist donuts! 

Next, I either get a sonogram or we just talk with him in a room. He listens to your heartbeat and smiles every time he hears it. Sometimes he asks a nurse to take my blood so that he can run tests to make sure you are healthy, sometimes I get a shot, but I always love the appointments no matter what because I learn more about you. He thinks you will be a big baby because you weighed about 4 pounds 2 ounces four weeks ago when I was 30 weeks pregnant with you. He is predicting that you will weigh at least two times that much! We just can't wait to see you. I hope you're a chunky baby. I know you'll be the most beautiful thing we've ever seen.

I used to go to an appointment to check on you once a month, but since I was 30 weeks pregnant with you, I go every two weeks now. I will be going once a week before you know it.

You will be born at Grapevine Baylor Medical Center. It is a really nice hospital and I think all of us will be very comfortable there. The hospital is new and beautiful and state of the art - only the best for you. 

 

On an unrelated note, Daddy heard this song today and we listened to it several times.  He tells me everyday how much he can't wait to meet you. I think it's safe to say you'll be treated like a princess each and every day.

Daughter, Loudon Wainwright II

Love you more...

Grandpa Barad

John Gerard Barad. Your grandpa. Mom’s dad. A self-proclaimed “simple man”. Faithful. Dependable. An introvert. A thinker. A perfectionist. Predictable to a fault. A leader. The person I have looked up to the most in my life.  

This will be kept simple because that’s the way your grandpa likes things. Simply stated, in my opinion, there is no man in existence who is more wonderful than your Grandpa Barad. He holds our family and himself to the highest standards and because of his guidance, support, and advice, I am the best version of myself. I have always been able to depend on him for the most sound advice. His opinion is more valuable to me than anyone else. His invaluable lessons have prepared me to be the best possible mom to you.

When you spend time with him, you will love the perfect balance of sensibility and fun he brings to every situation. He will teach you important life lessons and instill a desire in you to be the best you can be while telling the same jokes (Remember, he’s predictable to a fault) he’s told for years - and those jokes will make you laugh every time. 

Grandpa has always taken the best care of me. I have always been a priority and that’s why I was so selective when choosing a husband for me and a dad for you. He set the standard very high and only your dad was able to rise to the challenge of keeping me happy and fulfilled. I’m accustomed to the best of the best and your dad fills some big shoes.

I love watching the home videos of grandpa bathing me when I was your age. He took a painstakingly long time to bathe me, make me comfortable and get me ready for bed. Then he would rock me to sleep in his arms by walking around in the living room while we listened to Willie Nelson. This was our first routine and the most simple and profound expression of his love.

Our routines continued into my childhood. I remember grandpa driving me to school each morning and picking me up from daycare in the afternoon. Once we were in the truck, we would rewind the Sister Act cassette tape for 22 seconds until it was in the perfect position to play the song we would sing while driving to the Food Barn. We’d each pick up our afternoon snacks - a 6 pack of Coors Light for your grandpa and a package of Rollos candy for me. From this picture, you can tell I really did eat Rollos on a daily basis. Check out your grandpa’s sweet dance moves behind me.

Our amazing memories continued to accumulate while I was in high school and even into college. Most high school kids can’t wait to get away from their parents. It was always just the opposite for me. I enjoyed every second of growing up with dad as my dad and friend.

The most admirable characteristic of your grandpa is that he lives his life in a way that people naturally look up to him. He leads by example. He taught me about life and how to lead a good one through deliberate modeling - never expecting something from me that he didn’t expect from himself. While I was growing up and during the most pivotal years of my life, he never told me “no” when I asked about something or to do something and followed up with “because I said so” like many parents do, but he took time to explain things to me so that I understood deeply and because of that, I have never doubted that he has my best interest at heart. Even to this day, I crave his support and approval.

  

You will love your grandpa with such ease. He will protect you and love you in the most spectacular way - a way that will make you feel like the most special girl in the world. I can't wait for him to introduce you to awesome music like Gladys Knight & the Pips, James Taylor and jazz.  But more than anything, I can’t wait for him to hold you in his arms.

 We're waiting patiently for you. 

Love you more...

(Great) Grandma & Poppa Sims

I want to tell you a little bit about your Great Grandpa.  I knew him as Poppa.  Poppa Sims was your Poppy Steve’s dad.  He went to heaven on January 28, 2011.  I caught myself thinking a lot about him this weekend as I was cleaning out the tool shed behind our house and cutting new shelves for the work benches, so I thought it would be an appropriate time to tell you about him.

Your Great Poppa Sims was an awesome man.  He could light up the room with his big smile, with or without his teeth in.  You see your Poppa Sims had dentures and one of his favorite tricks was to take them out and mess with us kids.   I honestly cannot think of a time that he wasn’t trying to make someone smile or laugh.  It didn’t matter the time or place, Poppa Sims was always acting goofy and he honestly didn’t care who saw as long as one of us was laughing or smiling.

                                      

Poppa Sims also instilled in me the importance of family and taking care of the ones you love.  Everything he did in his life was for the good of his family whether it was working multiple jobs or always lending a helping hand when one of us needed it.  His love and devotion to the family and his undeniable love for your Great Grandma Sims showed me what it really meant to love and cherish family.

Some of my fondest memories of him are working on my truck and the times he would show me how to work on things.  I remember going to his house on a few occasions when I didn’t have the necessary tools to get a job done and walking out with the tools I needed and about 15 additional ones that he wanted me to have.  This is the reason I thought of Poppa Sims this weekend as I was working in the shed.

I would give anything for you and your Mom to have met Poppa Sims.  He was a truly great man and he married an equally great woman in your Great Grandma Sims.  She is the kindest most loving person you will ever meet in your life. 

Your Great Grandma Sims is the rock of your Poppy Steve’s side of the family.  Her strength has given us a since of calm during some very trying times in our lives. 

I love to go and visit Grandma Sims whenever we are in Burk.  We like to talk and catch up during our visits.  The smile on her face whenever I walk in the door always brings a light to my life no matter what is going on.  Besides talking we like to watch the Discovery ID channel.  Spending time with Grandma is one of my favorite things to do and bringing joy to her life, if only for a couple hours, makes me happy.

             

The qualities Grandma and Grandpa Sims helped instill in me are valuable lessons that I will be able to pass on to you one day.  They provided awesome examples of what it means to love unconditionally. 

Love, Dad

Grandma Barad

Bobbie Lanell Barad. Your grandma. Mom’s mom. Mom’s very best friend. Mom’s absolute biggest fan. Mom’s strength. Mom’s comfort. The one person who knows everything about mom from the inside out, and loves her anyway. The kind of mom I hope I am to you.

As I sit down today to tell you about your grandma, it seems like an impossible feat that I would ever be able to find the words that would begin to describe what my mom means to me. However, I am comforted in knowing that you will be able to experience her love firsthand. You’ll feel it and experience it for yourself, which is a blessing since her love and faithfulness is truly indescribable.

It’s difficult to describe a relationship that is founded on things so basic and simple but one that has, in the same breath, yielded a bond that is so complex. Our relationship isn’t one that’s overly exciting. We thrive on the day to day activities, like drinking coffee together, talking for hours about the big and small “stuff” and just being around one another doing anything or nothing because simply put, we just love being together. We have created a relationship that’s one of a kind. I truly believe our relationship sustains the both of us. We depend on it and one another to a degree that is difficult for others to understand.  

It doesn’t matter if I think about my earliest memories with mom or ones that are as recent as yesterday, there are constants. Love. Fun. Faithfulness.  

I count myself blessed because in many of these entries, I tell you about the unconditional love I have experienced with different members of our family. With mom, it’s even more unconditional (if that’s possible). There is literally nothing in the world I could tell her that would make her love me less or think less of me. We have never lied to one another, sugar coated something or kept something from each other because at the end of the day, nothing has the power to negatively affect our strong bond. I pray the same for us.

Our fun centers around the same activities. Mostly shopping (for you, these days), being out and about for no specific reason, drinking coffee, getting our nails done, eating out, and just being together. We have the same basic routine that never gets boring because we just enjoy being together. I pray the same for us.

Her faithfulness stretches beyond any measure you can imagine. We have each other’s backs to the greatest degree. We defend one another to the bitter end and are always on the other’s side, even if the other one is in the wrong. I pray the same for us.

When I was little, I remember mom singing to me during bathtime. I’d beg her to sing “America the Beautiful” over and over. I’m not sure why, because her voice isn’t the best, but it was beautiful to me. She’d sing it a hundred times if I asked. She made every holiday memorable. I remember sitting on the stool in the living room while she would do my hair each morning while I watched Sesame Street. She made me look like a French poodle daily.

But more than anything, I remember her incessant need to make me feel comfortable, loved, and special.

In junior high and high school, mom supported my efforts in everything I wanted to try. I loved being a part of Sandi’s Singers and dancing as a Boomtown Babe on high school drill team, she loved watching me and supporting me. She took me and my best friend, Beth, prom dress shopping every year, hung out with us, laughed with us. Junior high and high school can prove to be some awkward learning and growing times, but mom made me feel beautiful and comfortable through it all. I knew I could go to her with any situation I ever faced that seemed challenging or overwhelming.   

Then there were the days of praying for God to send us your daddy. I had my heart broken several times before your dad came along and I remember mom coming to lay down with me at night and pray over me as a twenty-something year old. She would pray with me to find my soulmate. She has never quit taking care of her baby.

I could go on and on with specifics, but really what’s most important is the big picture.

Never has there been a day in my life that I have doubted her love for me and all of the best times in my life include my mom’s presence.

My promise to you, Brier, is that I will always aspire to be the kind of mom to you that my mom has been to me.

She is the most special person in the world to me. I know we will be the best of friends. You’ll understand what I’m talking about when you get here and experience her love for yourself. She’ll spoil you with the strongest love (and a healthy supply of cute clothes, too)!  Hurry up, babygirl! Mom and I can’t wait for you to join our club.

Love you more...

(Great) Grandma & Grandpa Barad

Leonard and Marilyn Barad are my grandparents - your Grandpa Barad's mom and dad. 

They are a wonderful example of unconditional love.  They are the pillars of a strong, loving, large Catholic family that I am proud we are part of. Their influence taught me the importance of having strong morals and a great sense of pride in your last name. Every decision a 'Barad' makes is one that is based on utmost level of morality and the best interest of the family name. Some words to describe a 'Barad' are introverted, intelligent, moral and compassionate.

Great Grandpa and Grandma Barad met in the 1950s in Chicago and Grandpa loved Grandma instantly - a love that has yet to lose intensity. He tells me stories about how he used to leave candy and love notes for grandma in her locker while they were in high school. He was most definitely in love because great Grandpa Barad has the biggest sweet tooth of anyone I've ever met, so inspiring him to share his candy must have required a very special person. What's even more amazing is that Grandpa still writes Grandma love notes. The notes are proudly displayed on the refrigerator in their home. They were married in 1952. I think this is the most beautiful picture - from shortly after they were married.

Great Grandpa joined the Air Force in April 1958 as a practicing dentist. Grandma and Grandpa lived in many places during his the duration of his service but chose to retire at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls.  Grandpa retired as a Colonel. Great Grandma worked as an RN, a registered nurse. Together they made a family consisting of 8 children, your Grandpa Barad being the first boy and fourth born. 

Some of my favorite memories with my grandpa include the numerous times grandpa pulled my loose teeth while growing up. I trusted that my grandpa wouldn't hurt me and I loved getting to sit in a chair and wait for him to pull my tooth with a Kleenex. Grandpa is also a lover of good food. He shares his favorites with those he loves most. I can't remember many times leaving their house without trying a new treat, usually something sweet. I also remember his neat hobbies - like communicating with friends across the country using Morse code on a hand radio, handle K5LB, and building model airplanes. He is a runner, a biker, and a deep thinker.  

I will always remember him as the smartest man I know. He is opinionated and sharp, quick-witted and sarcastic. He tells it like he sees it and never holds back. I admire his passion and unwavering beliefs. He modeled for me what it looks like to be a superior leader. His demeanor could be one that is intimidating because of his strong opinions, but underneath his tough-looking shell is the most loving man. I am sure that his influence taught my dad how to love my mom and be the faithful leader of a family. His smile is infectious and his humor one of a kind.

When I think about Great Grandma Barad, one word comes to mind - selfless. She is truly an angel on Earth. She puts everyone else's needs before her own and her smile is the biggest when she is serving another. Family is number one priority to her and she will always be the first to lend a helping hand.

I remember Grandma teaching me how to cross-stitch. I wish I would have kept up with it.  She would take me to the store and buy kits that would teach me the basics of cross-stitch.  I loved the colorful thread and the time I was able to spend with grandma.  She is incredibly talented when it comes to cross-stitch, quilting, and even beading. She makes priceless pieces and gives them as gifts to the family. Her hands not only produce beautiful works of art, but delicious meals, and comfort.  She takes care like no one else can. Her touch brings instant relief and comfort and her hugs are the best.

I can't wait for you to join in the family gatherings soon.  You will be welcomed with open arms into a warm living room filled with jazz music, home made food, and thought-provoking conversation.  

Love you more...