Picture Update

It was one year ago this month that Devin was born. This month, we have pictures from his first birthday (and other festivities), which took place in New Jersey. The "regular" July pictures can be seen here. The New Jersey pictures can be seen here.

Picture Update

The June pictures have one of the most famous Devin pictures of all time and a couple of pictures of Aidan showing off in his best clothes (and Devin showing how he feels about his Sunday-best).

Picture Update

Slowly, but surely, the Images category is getting updated...

Not much happening in May, just a lot of Aidan running around in his Spider-Man outfit and Devin eating some ice pops.

Picture Update

Wow. Okay. This entry is being post-dated to the end of April, but we all know when this was really posted, don't we....

These images will help you remember back to a time when Aidan just had his birthday and spring was in the air.... Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Aidan!

We all got to celebrate a long happy birthday with Aidan. His birthday party was on Saturday, April 1, at The Little Gym on Saturday with all of his little friends. Then, that night, Papa and Grandma Deb arrived from New Jersey — just in time for Aidan to open his presents.

On Sunday, we all headed up to Arlington, Texas for a special event that we would attend on Monday, April 3 (Aidan's real birthday). While at our hotel, Aidan used one of his new birthday presents (Spider-man swim fins that fit over his hands) and becomes obsessed with swimming all night long.

This morning, we headed back out to the pool for one last swim before we headed out to opening day at Ameriquest Stadium to see the Texas Rangers take on the Boston Red Sox!

One of Aidan's favorite Red Sox players, Johnny Damon, recently signed with their archrivals, the New York Yankees. When I told Aidan about this, Aidan said, "Well, how do we get him out of there?"

While we were at the game (which the Red Sox won, and looked good doing it), Aidan told me he saw Johnny — he was right there in the stands with us (someone was wearing a Damon jersey), "so he wasn't on the 'Ankees," Aidan added with a smile.

Later in the game, Aidan got to see his name in lights, which he was moderately excited about (he seemed mostly perplexed about it). After the game, Papa, Aidan and myself got to run the bases.

Aidan was, again, somewhat intersted in the idea (he was also getting through this day withough a nap) — but once he realized that he could run, and he was supposed to run fast — he was extremely excited. With his Red Sox cap on, he was good-naturedly called "out" as he touched home plate by a Texas Ranger's usher.

Picture Update

The March images are here!

Some of the pictures from March include:

• Pictures in the bluebonnets in our front yard


• Camping at Inks Lake (Devin's first camping trip)


• Devin and Aidan's first bath together


• Strawberry picking (in Aidan's case, it was Strawberry jumping)

Picture Update

Devin had a big month and achieved several major mobile milestones. On February 10, Devin started to do the "army" crawl. He was also able to go from a seated position to his tummy and back up to a seated position all by himself!

So, I thought to myself, I bet by the end of the month, he'll be crawling...

Then, on February 21, he pulled himself up to a standing position. A few days later, Devin was found crawling up some stairs (which are purposefully set up in the daycare for motor-skill development).

And what do you know, but the report from school today was: "Today Devin started crawling on his hands and knees." And he seems very proud of himself because he's been clapping all month long.

Check out the February pictures here.

Picture Update

Well, I won't pretend that I'll be writing anything substantial any time soon; however, I still have visions of writing about our trip to Lost Maples back in October 2005 (or was it November?) and any number of other things that have happened between my last "real" update and today.

Still, it seems that despite of my lack of written updates, the images make it to the Web. Major milestones may not be very well documented, but we may still be able to catch them in pictures (now I know why the second kid doesn't have as many pictures taken as the first one — it's not so much of the "been-there-done-that" syndrome as it is lack of time).

However, since I have a moment: Aidan has had some very big developmental weekends. He's taught himself to catch a ball after throwing it up over his head and he climbed his first tree (pictures of this in this month's images).

Devin is now eating solid foods (he pretty much went straight to waffles and quesadillas!) and can say "mama," and "dada" (let the record show that "dada" was first). Aidan swears that he is also saying "brother."

Anyway, that's the "textual" update. Now, enjoy January's images!

Picture Update

Lots of pictures this month, as it seems to be about the only way that I can update the Web site. You'll see pictures from an early Christmas gift-giving moment with Aidan and Silas (they are playing with a stomp rocket and trying to figure out horseshoes).

You'll also see the four of us at Radijazz, an indoor playscape, when Santa was there. There are also, of course, pictures from Christmas — and Devin's first real illness (he had a fever of 104.1 at the doctor's office).

Picture Update

Not so many pictures this month, but they cover a lot of topics. Well, they actually cover Devin. Mostly. There's also several of Aidan and his friend Silas from our hike at Lost Maples, in Utopia, Texas.

Enjoy!

Picture Update

The October Pictures Update is now available! This was a busy month; you will see pictures from the Sanders' triplets' fourth (my, how time flies!) birthday party, our trip to the Texas Renescaince Festival, and of course, Halloween!

Picture Update

September's pictures are posted, including pictures of Aidan and Devin hanging out together on the big comfy chair, Devin flashing his smile to everyone, and Aidan showing off his newly mutated fingers.

Enjoy!

Mid-Month Picture Update

For those who can't wait a whole month between picture updates (I know I can't), here's a little something for you until the end of the month.

Picture Update

The August pictures are up, which include some images from Devin's baptism and Grand-daddo's visit a week later.

Picture Update

Here's a mid-month update for all of you out there who are waiting for more pictures of the little dragon...

Picture Update

The July pictures are now complete and uploaded for your enjoyment! You can either start with the entire set of July pictures, or you can choose to start with the newest set. Either way, here's some of what you can expect to see:

• Aidan loving on his little brother
• Devin's first bath
• Pictures of me, taken by Aidan
• Devin and his newest little friend, Jacob (who is about 3 weeks older) together on the changing table

More Pictures!

Grandma Jackie and Mema have both been generous enough with their time to visit us from out of state to lend us a hand ... which gave us more time to take pictures! If you haven't seen any pictures yet, start here; if you are intersted in starting with the newest set of pictures, start here.

The new set of pictures of course include pictures of Devin in various stages of sleep. However, Aidan is also well represented in this set, as he just recently received some lightsabers and an inflatable dragon with which he can bring to the pool (but has somehow morphed into a tauntaun that he likes to ride around the living room).

Special Picture Update

There's sooooo much that needs to be shared, but I don't have the energy or time to do it properly at the moment. Please, let this suffice for the moment and be assured that more information will be forthcoming! :)

So, enjoy the early July pictures; there's many of our new family member, Devin, who is Aidan's little brother. The pictures fairly well document his first 48 hours of life...

Week 40

Here we are at the predicted due date. Renee hasn't experienced much in the way of contractions or anything that would be considered serious labor indications up to this point. Dr. Love scheduled us to come in for a biophysical profile (BPP) next Friday (week 41) if the baby doesn't show by then. At that appointment, we'll do a sonogram and check on everyone's general health.

However, earlier this evening, Renee was getting lots of light contractions. So, I went to the rental car and installed the baby seat next to Aidan's. Then I discovered that Aidan's car seat is too wide for both of the car seats to sit nice next to each other (this wouldn't be an issue in the Element), so I had to swap car seats with Renee (the one in her car is slightly narrower)...

Long story short, it took a little while, but the baby's seat and Aidan's seat are both installed in the rental car. The bags are packed, lists have been made of all the extra things we need to take, phone/camera batteries are charge. I think we're ready to roll.... We're just waitin' on the baby.

Picture Update

The June picture update is here. I'm pretty sure, unless something happens in the next four hours or so, that the baby won't be in this month's pictures ... but we I think we all know who we can expect to see next month!

This month's pictures include some from our peach hunting expedition and some of Aidan's very first pictures that he took himself (they start here and end with the one of the teddy bear).

Peach Hunting

Last year, we drove about an hour or so outside of Austin to get some freshly picked, wonderful Fredricksberg peaches. We got a basket of them and we ate them quickly; the basket only lasted us a few days.

This year, we found out about a peach orchard that's about 7 miles from our house. Obviously a much shorter ride. And last years peaches were picked for us, which is fine, but what's the fun in that? The orchard around the corner from our house allows you to pick your own, which Aidan loved. He called it "peach hunting."

We gathered up about two baskets worth of peaches, although Aidan had to induldge himself with a peach after we picked the first couple off the trees. He followed us, munching on his very crisp (yet incredibly sweet) peach as Renee and I picked peaches.

The orchard manager eventually came by (his name is Rom) and offered to give Aidan a peach, unaware that Aidan had already helped himself. However, Aidan was too receptive, so Renee and I each got to eat one straight off the tree. Renee's peach was soft, juicy and sweet. Mine was harder, crisp (like Aidan's) and incredibly sweet. I found it odd that the crisp peach (and what I assume to be the less ripe peach) was so much more sweeter than the soft peach Renee was eating. No worries, though. Both peaches were delicious, and we had two baskets full!

The orchard is also right next to a beautiful Hindu temple. After picking our peaches, we strolled the grounds and saw a dozen or so peacocks with baby chicks. It was quite a wonderful day, and all accomplished before the heat of the day knocked us out of commission.

Week 36

Last night, we met with our doula, Monika, for our first prenatal visit. We covered a lot of basics, such as our expectations of what Monika would do for us. For example, when Renee was pregnant with Aidan, things were generally going very well in the beginning. We had a great nurse who was very supportive, gentle, and friendly. I don't think I heard a negative word out of her, even when Renee's blood pressure was rising.

However, we did eventually go through a shift change and we ended up with a nurse who was quite the opposite of our first nurse. She was full of negativity and was chastising all of us, our doula, myself, Renee, for Renee's high blood pressure. She acted (and reacted) as though Renee wasn't in the room and was generally making things more tense. Needless to say this wasn't helping.

One of our expectations for Monika was that she, at our bidding, would help us deal with the nurses better than our last doula did. In fact, Monika has extensive experience as a labor and delivery nurse, and I believe that she will have the proper demeanor to help us get the help and calm environment that will help make this a good experience, rather than a contentious one.

We also talked about writing our birth plan, something that Monika highly recommends.

Personally, and I think Renee concurs, I'm all for writing the birth plan. I know that births can't really be "planned" per se. To that end, a birth plan doesn't necessarily provide much. However, there's much more that one can get from a birth plan than a deviated script.

Just the act of thinking through the events as you write them out, specifying what you want, what you don't want, etc., can make you aware that you do have options, that sometimes the doctors and nurses aren't necessarily making the choices based on your best interest, but their own. [I'm not trying to imply anything overtly cynical here, other than the fact that doctors and nurses are people and are just as vulnerable to the whims and fancy of fatigue and outside pressures as anyone else.]

Just like anything else, practicing what you want to do, or thinking it through, when things are "good" helps to sort things out when things get a little more chaotic and panicked. This is why NFL teams practice in game-like conditions when they can, such as piping in loud crowd noise over the loudspeakers, so that when it's really happening they can react to it almost by rote memory.

Thus, in addition to working on our birth plan our homework assignment for the next week is to practice visualizations and relaxation techniques. Just 10 minutes a day of deep breathing and thinking thoughts of peace and calm. That way, when things start to get a little hectic, we'll (hopefully) remember some easy, almost rote methods of getting ourselves calm. A relaxed Renee can only help; labor and delivery generally happen a lot easier and quickly if there isn't a lot of tension and panic in the air.

Overall, Renee is feeling well. She looks great and I wouldn't have known that she looks any different than when she was pregnant with Aidan. But the tape measure never lies (unless you don't use it properly).

When she was carrying Aidan, Renee measured 40 inches around her belly in the last weeks of the pregnancy. Her bust and underwire measured 38 inches and 33 inches, respectively.

However, this time, at week 36, Renee is measuring 41 inches around the belly; 40 inches around her bust; 34 inches for her underwire. And she still has another month to go!

Oh, and as best we can tell, the baby is head-down. Or breech. Or possibly transverse. It's really hard to tell, but our spirits are buoyed by the fact that we were able to turn the baby easily last time, so there's hope that, if need be, we can do it again.

Picture Update

Our Memorial Day weekend was actually fairly relaxing and productive at the same time (I feel both rejuvinated and that I've accomplished things). Part of that may come from a wonderfully relaxing evening we spent last night with Jeffrey, his aunt and his grandmother. It was the perfect way to end a long weekend.

Jeffrey made us a wonderful spaghetti dinner that even his Italian grandmother approved of (well, besides the strawberries in the salad — but Jeffrey's aunt made the salad, so we can't hold that against Jeff).

Anyway, this month's pictures have a bunch from Renee's surprise baby shower and include a few from our Memorial Day weekend, including some of Aidan's godfather, Jeffrey, with Jeffrey's grandmother.

Fun in the Sun

Our Memorial Day weekend has at least been psychologically washed out by weather reports. It was largely predicted that this weekend would see lots of rain, and that's been more or less true. However, most of the rain has come at night, leaving the days mostly clear and enjoyable (although hot and sticky).

In order to cool off, Aidan and Renee put on their bathing suits and ran through the sprinkler in the backyard. Aidan was very much in the running part of the equation, but he had some trouble with the through-the-sprinkler part. He prefered just to put his hands or feet in the water, which was fine until he stepped on the sprinkler and "readjusted" it so that it only sprayed into the ground.

Oh, and for anyone who may have been partly involved in our search for a grill, the search ended yesterday at Lowe's. We purchased a BBQ Grillware grill, which came with free assembly and a free filled tank of propane. It's a very large grill, but I was able to fit it in the back of the Element (after unassembling parts of the already-assembled grill). I also had to make two trips, one with Aidan and Renee, then one without, as I had to rearrange the seating to accomodate the very, very big grill.

Part of the excuse to get the grill was because of the new baby. We figured it would be nice to not have to heat the house by cooking indoors so often as well as keeping things sort of simple (no large pans and such to clean). Plus, I just wanted to get a grill. I guess it's time to search out some vegetarian grill recepies.

Week 32

Only two months left and time to get everything in order. I'll start painting the new nursery this weekend, hopefully finishing it up by next weekend.

Renee is doing very well, despite bouts of extreme tiredness. She's still working and is planning to work as late into the pregnancy as she possibly can. Her doctor's appointments, which were scheduled about once per month up to this point, will now be more frequent.

Last time, when we had Aidan, we hired a doula for Renee and myself. While the experience itself was mixed, the presense of a doula was incredibly helpful and worth every penny. We are currently interviewing doulas for this birth and should come to a decision sometime next week or the week after. The first of the two doulas we expect to interview was very nice and seems to be a good fit for us, but we will reserve making a decision until after we speak to the next candidate.

We have also started to come to some agreement on names, but we still have not narrowed them down to any particular set. We will not be announcing any names prior to the birth, although we may release the initials, once we know....

Picture Update

April's images are now available, most of which are from Aidan's birthday party at the beginning of the month, including pictures of Renee making his cake and some shots of his friends having fun!

Picture Update

We have a lot of pictures to share with you this month. The first few pictures are from around Renee's birthday, including more pictures from the Kite Festival. There are also some pictures from our camping trip, from the Easter egg hunt in our neighborhood, from Aidan's gym class, a fun little photo session with Aidan in our backyard, and finally, a picture of Aidan caught during an artistic moment with his mom....

Enjoy!

Camping: Inks Lake

Another birthday, another camping trip. This is the third consecutive year that we've headed out to Inks Lake State Park for my birthday. This time we headed out with quite the troop, as the Sanders family came with us (Robin, Allen, and their kids Reid, Morgan, and Avery) along with the Triplet's grandmother. Our mutual friend Johnny was able to join us as well, while on a short visit from Colorado.

There had been a threat of rain in the forecast leading up to the weekend, but upon our arrival (late Friday afternoon), all was sunny and clear. And it was getting a little hot (highs near 80). Friday night got a little cold (based on records I could find, it got into the upper-40s), but it never did rain. There was moisture in the air, to be sure (we were able to see a gigantic halo around the moon — Johnny said that it was only the second time that he's ever been able to see one).

After breakfast the next morning, we headed out to the lake, where we rented a few canoes. We were able to see a bunch of turtles sunning themselves on rocks, some fish, and we made it all the way over to Devil's Waterhole were we saw some kids jumping off the cliffs into the water!

We headed back to our site, ate some lunch, and I took Aidan out for a ride on the back of the mountain bike. We've been watching a lot of Bambi lately, and all Aidan wanted to do on our bike ride was "find Bambi and his friends."

After our return, and after all of our activity, I was looking for a nap. As I was drifting off, I heard what I thought was some thunder. I eventually got up, only to find that everyone was setting up a little birthday party for me, complete with cake. The kids, of course, were quite enthusiastic.

Instead of joining in on the fun, however, I headed off on my bike to the ranger's station to see if I could learn anything about the thunder (and the quickly forming ominous clouds that were not very far off).

After what seemed an eternity waiting my turn (despite the incoming storm, there was about a 15 minute wait in the lobby as several families checked in to their sites), I eventually learned the nature of the storm: It was large, covering several counties, but consisted of mostly mild rain (showing green on the doppler radar). It was also moving very quickly. There was a bit of intense rain (red on the radar) that possibly could have been interpreted as heading our way. But I didn't think that it would. Even if it did, I felt that it would pass over quickly enough so that it wouldn't be an issue.

So, I rode back to the camp site as fast as I could. The plan was to pack most things up (except the tents) and drive over to the camp store, where we were canoeing earlier. They have a nice porch on the back of the store that overlooks the lake. I figured we'd be pretty safe from the storm there and also have a nice view of the rain coming down.

Thus, we moved the birthday party to the back porch of the store. Everyone sang happy birthday and enjoyed some cake while the rain fell around us. This marks three-out-of-four trips to Inks Lake that have been marked with rain. Go figure....

The storm never really got too intense and did pass over in about two hours. Johnny and I were perched on the porch fence staring out at the lake; Reid and Aidan were trying to mimic us, and I think were also enjoying the rain. And Johnny and I were able to see one thing that neither of us had seen before: fish jumping out of the water. Well, I've seen fish jump out of water before, but not like this. I've always heard that there's good fishing when it's raining, but this was by far the best evidence that I've ever seen to support that theory. The seagulls must have known about this too, as they were out in full force, soaring up into the sky, then diving down at seemingly neckbreaking speeds as they plunged into the water. It was quite a site.

However, when we finally returned to our site, we learned that the Sanders' tent had leaked. But the fire was still going (after two hours of steady rain, the fire was not only still going, but the wood in the fire ring as well as the surrounding ground didn't even look wet!).

That night, the sky was crystal clear and felt a little colder than the previous night (although records show that it was still in the upper-40s).

On Sunday, after packing up our site, I took all four kids on a mini-tour of the camping facilities on the back of the bike. Reid went first and was talking to me the whole time. He was telling me about how we went canoeing the day before and saw some men fall off the cliff (Reid's words, not mine). Avery was next and was the antithesis of Reid. She didn't say a word, although I did her her giggle a few times as we rode down some of the hills. Morgan was just concerned about finding hills (not sure if she wanted me to go up them or down, she just kept saying, "Let's find some hills"). And Aidan, as he usually does, almost fell asleep.

Upon our return home on Sunday night, we learned that the storm on Saturday was pretty severe in some areas, specifically at our house. We didn't suffer any damage, but there was hail and damaging winds reported in the area. Ultimately, it was probably a good idea to stay at the campsite and not break camp and head home, as we would have likely been driving into the more severe conditions.

Week 25

We are now 25 weeks into the pregnancy. We are still continuing with the progesterone therapy, although it looks like we'll be able to discontinue this in the coming weeks. Renee has been doing pretty well and was feeling good enough to head out on a camping trip this weekend.

Aidan has also been taking this pretty well so far. He's been hugging and kissing Renee's tummy. He's also been watching a lot of Bambi lately, and in one scene, Bambi meets his "girlfriend," Faline. So I asked Aidan if he had a girlfriend. He replied that he did. I asked who it was. He replied that it was the baby in Mommy's tummy.

A Blustery Birthday

Today, partially for Renee's birthday (happy birthday, Renee!) and partially just for the fun of it, we headed out to the 77th Zilker Kite Festival. It was a beautiful day, with temperatures in the 80s and perfectly windy for a kite-flying day.

Aidan was wonderful and had a blast. Renee assembled his kite and we both helped him fly it. Renee took hold of the kite and Aidan had the string end. Renee threw the kite up into the air and shouted, "run, Aidan!"

Aidan wasn't sure but started to run, but not necessarily in the right direction.

"Towards me, Aidan," I called. Aidan changed direction and started to run toward me as though his life depended on it. As he got closer to me, he started to slow down.

"Keep running," I encouraged. Aidan's eyes got bigger and he he started to run faster. "You're doing it," Renee and I yelled!

"I'm doing it!" Aidan replied. "I'm running!"

I'm not sure if he didn't put two-and-two together and realized that running equaled flying a kite. Although I am quite sure that he equated having fun with the kite. "Playing with the kite," meant that he got to run. He definitely was well-focused on running but I'm pretty sure he never got a chance to look back at the kite he was flying.

Regardless, he had a great time. I'd guess that Aidan did mini-sprints for about an hour or so before he took a break and ate some lunch. It was quite impressive.

And then at the end of the day, we sang happy birthday to Renee and had some birthday cake. Not a bad weekend at all!

More pictures from the Kite Festival will be posted at the end of the month with the rest of the March pictures....

Picture Update

Finally, a picture update. I spent some time archiving last year's pictures during this update, and you can find a link to this archive (as well as the current year's image) on the Images page.

February's update include pictures from Grand-Daddo and Grandma Jackie's visit earlier this month, as well as some fun with shaving cream ... and Aidan dressed as a knight.

You can check out the February pictures here and you can check out the new yearly archive page (which only goes back to 2003 at this point) here.

Week 19

Today was our "big" doctor's appointment. We're officially 19 weeks into the pregnancy and we scheduled the "big" sonogram for this week. Typically, this would be done after week 20, but we had some visitors (Gran-Daddo and Grandma Jackie), so we re-worked the schedule so they could see the sonogram live and in person.

After everything that we've been through, this sonogram proved to be a wonderful milestone. All the appropriate things were checked and accounted for. We could easily see and count the toes on each of the two feet, as well as well-defined bone structure, a properly angled and divided heart and brain, a full stomach and bladder, 2 kidneys, liver, etc. They checked for and did not see any signs of Downs Syndrome, Spina Bifida, cleft palate, and Hydrocephalus. All of the measurements, femur and head circumference for example, came out to be in the 50th percentile and indicated a gestation of 19 weeks and 1 day; just about as perfect as one can get.

Picture Update

Not a lot of pictures this month, but we did get some good ones of Christmas and of Jody's and Steve's visit.

Check out the December Pictures....

Picture Update

November's Picture Update includes images of us carving a pumpkin (Aidan was quite disgusted with the process), posing for Christmas cards (taken at Zilker Park) and Aidan wearing his "knight" outfit.... Enjoy!

Famous Aidan

Some of you may remember that a photographer took some pictures of Aidan and Renee for La Leche League (LLL) back in 2002. Since then, LLL has published several of their photos in various publications (in fact, Aidan and I even made it into a book).

Well, it looks like another picture of Aidan and Renee has made it to the big time: You can now order personal checks and address labels in support of LLL with Aidan and Renee as the background image.

Dragon Party

Home again, home again.

We're finally home and I've uploaded all of our pictures from the trip to Connecticut. There are also some additional family photos taken by Grandma Jackie, which has some very good Aidan-as-dragon pictures, as well as some good wedding images.

Yesterday was our last day in Connecticut and we were able to spend most of the day with my mom. As it was also Halloween, we tried to do some Halloween-like activities in the evening, but I'll get to that in a moment.

Aidan was up very late at the wedding and ultimately didn't get too much sleep. We were hoping that he'd be able to nap on the drive up to my mom's house (about an hour away from Danbury), but he didn't fall asleep until we were about 15 minutes away. We decided to go to a cider mill to stall for time, but that ultimately woke him up after only a very short time. Thus, he didn't get much of a nap.

It turned out to be a beautiful day and Aidan needed to get some exercise after being forced to sit for long periods of time travelling and doing "adult" things. So, we spent most of our time out at a park near my mom's house and got to see Aidan roll down a hill and blow dandelion seeds.

At this point, we had taken so many pictures of the wedding and at the park that we were running out of space on our digital camera and had little (or no) space for the rest of our trip. However, Renee was able to delete a few bad pictures and made room for some Halloween pictures.

Speaking of Halloween, we had decided early on that we were going to attend a function at my mom's church. They were having a a Renaissance-themed Halloween party, and Aidan's dragon costume was perfect for the occassion. Once we told Aidan about the event, he kept wanting to go to the "Dragon Party."

But Aidan was still a little out of sorts from lack of sleep, and in all the excitment of heading out to the Dragon Party, we forgot to take the camera. Figures, right?

The event at the church was very cool. There were lots of knights, princes, kings and princesses, a little magic show, balloons and all sorts of other things.

All-in-all, the trip was incredibly fun, somewhat hectic, and absolutely wonderful. Now for a few nights of going to bed early!

Picture Update

Pictures from October are up and available for your viewing pleasure.

Plenty of pictures this month that go way back to a fun birthday party at a pumpkin patch, as well as a few other miscellaneous photos.

Katie, Brian & the Ring Bearer

Our lessons learned from the rehersal included steps to make sure that Aidan got some sleep before the wedding. Unfortunately, since we were up so late the night before at the rehersal, we slept in. That left us about three or four hours of awake-time before we had to put him back down for a nap. Ugh.

After breakfast we went for a little walk in the back of the hotel and eventually stumbled upon a sign that said "River Trail." We thought it would probably be a good idea to try and tire the little guy out, so we started out down the trail. It turns out that the "river trail" is just that: A trail on a river. There's no walking, only boating. A canoe would be good. Boots, less so.

So we tried our best to run Aidan around in the parking lot, then headed out to Stew Leonard's again for their little petting zoo. Then we drove around Danbury again, but Aidan never did fall asleep.

Time was running out and I had to meet with the other groomsmen for some pictures and pre-wedding preparations, so we headed back to the hotel.

Renee was able to get Aidan to sleep before the wedding (although she had to be very quite while getting herself ready) and, in the end, Aidan was in a good mood for the wedding. But that was pretty stressful, trying to get a two-year-old down to sleep and awake all before 1 p.m.

Both Aidan and I were in the wedding (he, if you don't remember, was the ring bearer). As I was ushering people to their seats in the church, Renee was playing with Aidan in the main entrance. When the wedding was about to begin, Aidan then graciously escorted his mom to her seat and then the two of us headed back to the church entrance.

And we waited. And waited. Still no bride. After about twenty minutes (limo trouble) the bride finally did show. Aidan did very well with the wait, but almost went down the aisle a couple times, thinking it was "time." And I was beginning to get a little apprehensive about walking down with Aidan: Would he be able to make it? Would he see his mother in her seat and bolt? Would he need me to carry him?

None of my fears came to pass. Aidan seems to be the type of person who, once assigned a task, feels the need to finish it. So he took his pillow and walked down the aisle like it was the most important thing in the world. I couldn't have been more proud. In fact, I was probably making all sorts of facial contortions as I choked back tears and smiles. It was also hard to walk beside him, because I wanted to jump out in front and watch. This probably was the proudest moment as my time as a father.

My Aunty Evvy, mother of the groom, said it was about the only time that she was moved to tears during the wedding.

After walking down the aisle Aidan stayed with me for a little bit in our assigned seat, but soon went a few rows back to watch the rest of the ceremony with his mother.

Of course, the main attractions at a wedding are the bride and groom (usually in that order), but Aidan did come in a close third, much to Katie and Brian's delight.

Aidan was his usual self at the reception: All he wanted to do was dance, dance, dance. I'm not sure if there was anyone who danced more than Aidan. Everyone loved seeing him on the dance floor. Renee and I would try and eat a little something, but Aidan would always be right at our side, giving us time for maybe two or three sips of water before dragging us back out to dance.

He was dancing by himself sometimes, but he mostly liked to dance with other people, which was a first for Aidan. He particularly enjoyed the band, as he would sometimes stop and just stare at them in amazement. Then he would just boogie on over to another side of the floor and go at it.

So, another late night for Aidan. He partied so hard, it was the first time that Renee or I had ever seen him just fall asleep from exhaustion. Hopefully, he'll still be able to keep it together for just a couple more days before we head back to Austin, Texas....

Lessons Learned With No Nap

Ooops. We had to drop the rental car off yesterday in order to replace the flat tire (I thought they would just replace the donut-tire with a good tire, but they replaced the entire car). That took a little longer than expected (that and I had to get some sinus medication as I seemed to have delevoped a sinus infection of almost debilitating status).

But we also had to try on our tuxes to ensure we didn't need any alterations. Luckily, Dad-Dadoo and Grandma Jackie were able to watch Aidan for us while we replaced the rental car. Then the five of us headed out to the tuxedo place, but just as we arrived Aidan fell asleep.

Instead of letting him sleep, we woke him up. This was our first mistake. Thinking that the process of trying on the tuxes would be quick and easy, thus allowing us to head out and do some sight-seeing of the wonderfully autumnal environment while letting him sleep as we drove through the country side, we woke Aidan and brought him inside.

Aidan was grumpy and the process was not quick and easy. He never ended up trying on his tux at the store. My tux needed alterations, but this was done in a matter of minutes. We thought many some food would help Aidan's mood, so we tried to eat some lunch. However, at this point Aidan was hungry and tired — not a good combo.

The early afternoon was a mess and it required an Aidan-nap to get better, but he was too tired and hungry to willingly sleep. And we had the Rehersal coming up in a few hours, which requires Aidan's participation.

To help encourage the nap, Renee and I ended up driving around Danbury; Aidan eventually fell asleep in the car. So we ended up driving around to keep him asleep.

While Aidan was sleeping, we went shopping for some Red Sox World Series stuff and in the process, I got an unintended fringe benefit. I would never have had this experience with purchasing some Red Sox stuff in Texas.

We went to Bob's Stores and they had all of their Red Sox merchendice right near the front door. But I was looking for something for Aidan and didn't see anything his size. So I went to one of the cashiers and asked: "Is this all of your Red Sox stuff?"

She looked at me and sarcastically said: "No. We're all out."

"Oh," I said. "I was looking for something for my little boy. Do you carry anything for toddlers?"

"Um ... not that he needs it or anything, but no, we don't carry anything for toddlers. All of our stuff is out front there."

"Okay. Thanks," I replied and walked back to their display. As I left, I overheard her say to a co-worker: "Why do they always have to ask me?" Ha! She was a Yankee fan. Small pleasures, eh?

We headed back to the hotel and woke him up after a relatively short nap and just a few minutes before we had to go to the church for the rehersal.

Aidan was a little difficult immeadiately following his nap, but after we arrived at the church he was his usual sunny self. He was a darling at the church and was remakably well behaved during the dinner, too, even though we were up way past his usual bed time.

At least we learned a valuable lesson: Make sure Aidan gets a nap in before the wedding....

Lance & Los Lonely Boys

Last night, the company Renee works for sponsored an event celebrating their 25th year in Austin, Texas. Lance Armstrong, who was sponsored by the company during last year's cycling season, was the main speaker for the event.

Renee and I decided that it would be a fun way to kick off our vacation to Connecticut, despite the threat of thunderstorms in the forecast. So, we headed out and through some light sprinkles we got a chance to hear Lance talk — mostly about his last year of racing and the Tour de France. In addition, we got to hear Los Lonely Boys during some heavier rains.

After a short night of fun (and anxiety, as the Red Sox were also playing in the World Series at the same time), we headed out on Thursday morning for Katie and Brian's wedding in Connecticut. The first leg of our trip was from Austin to Dallas; then it was off to Hartford.

As we were landing in Dallas, we learned that Los Lonely Boys were on our plane, just a few rows behind us. Kinda fun.

Anyway, we continued on our way and made it up to Connecticut without incident. We rented a car and headed down to Danbury to get situated in our hotel and visit with Renee's Uncle Charlie and Aunt Carolyn.

To get ready for our visit, we dressed Aidan up in his dragon costume and had him ring the bell. Everyone thought it was a laugh-riot as Aidan was shy and yet excited about being in his costume.

We headed out to dinner at Stew Leonard's, which has some pretty good pizza (good by Texas standards at least), but as we headed out, Uncle Charlie noticed that our rental car had a flat. Nothing like having to change a flat tire while on vacation (I can't remember the last time that I've had to change a tire).

Anyway, Uncle Charlie was very helpful with fixing the flat and our visit with Renee's aunt and uncle was a lot of fun. Aidan seemed to really enjoy both of them as he was running around and tickling (and getting tickled). He even got a chance to ride a red tricycle around in the house (what little kid wouldn't love to do that?) and the adults got a chance to catch up with each other for the first time in nearly four years.

Next on our travel agenda: it's time to get ready for the first portion of the wedding's festivities: The rehersal.

Picture Update

The September Picture Update is available. Plenty of pictures this month, including a couple from early in the month when we were treated to a beautiful sunrise. There's also a few of Aidan in his new dragon costume, which should be seen again come late October.

You should also find plenty of pictures of Aidan and his dare-devil friend, Silas, at the swimming pool, enjoying a late summer romp in the water.

Picture Update

All of the pictures from August are available for your viewing pleasure. Most of the pictures are from Papa and Mama Deb's visit...

Spiders

We had one of these orb spiders in our back yard a few weeks ago. It was really big; probably one of the biggest spiders that I've seen in my life and definitely the biggest that I've seen in Texas. I tried to get a picture of it before it left, but I never did get around to it. Ok. Actually, I thought about trying to take a picture of it. This one from the AP will have to do.

From the caption:

These garden spiders, shown in an undated file photo, are argiopes which are common to Illinois and spin large, orb-like webs that can be found in bushes. The female spiders can grow as long as 2 inches as they prepare to lay eggs, but this year they're even fatter thanks to a cool, wet summer that sustained their favorite snack - insects.

Folding Paper

Wow. So that is what origami can do. I had no idea. I tried to find out more about this piece, for instance, is it one piece of paper, multiple pieces, what exactly are the rules for origami?

It's almost enough to make me want to learn how to fold paper.

According to the caption:

"A work of origami, or paper folding, is shown on display during the origami convention in Tokyo, Friday, Aug. 20, 2004. Showcasing a renaissance in the ancient Japanese art of origami, some of the best paper-folders in the world descended on Tokyo on Friday for a three-day competition and convention to celebrate the artistic possibilities of origami, which is believed to have been used to create sacred ornaments at the Grand Shrines of Ise, the center of Japan's native shinto religion."

Picture Update

The July pictures are up and ready to be consumed. Most of the pictures are from the 4th of July (that feels as though it were ages ago?); apparently we didn't take many pictures since then (although there are a couple)....

A Funny Fourth

We had a fun and crazy Fourth of July weekend; the complete set of pictures will be posted at the end of the month, as usual. Instead, here's a sample of Aidan waving the flag on our front porch.

We spent a lot of time at several pools, tried to feed the ducks (although they were pretty much already fed by the time we got there), spent some time at the park and Aidan got to spend some quality time with Silas and the Sanders' Triplets.

Of course, we also went out to see fireworks. This was really Aidan's first time to see them (Aidan's first Fourth was spent in the emergency room, and last year he slept through the entire event). At first, Aidan was a little scared; it was obvious that he was breathing a little quicker. He also quitely mummbled "Aidan go home." But Renee was wonderfully soothing. Soon, Aidan was saying "Aidan like that one, that one, that one."

The fireworks were very well done and lasted about 25 minutes. I was quite impressed. However, the whole fireworks event was a little odd.

The event was put on by the Hyde Park Baptist Church. I guess they had some money to spend. Not only was the firework display quite phenomenal, they also passed out free ice cream sandwiches. And had free events like the Sock-Hop and a Moon Walk. They were also giving out free bottles of water and other treats like cotton candy.

All of this was over-the-top fun. However, as the saying goes, show me something that is being given away for free and I'll show you a long line. And lines, as we all know, are less than over-the-top fun.

Just prior to the fireworks, there was an emotional sermon given by what I presume is the church's pastor. A lot of what he said didn't sit very well with me. But, to each his own. Considering this was an event sponsored and paid for by Hyde Park Baptist, I did my best to pay attention.

Ultimately, it was a very fun evening. Both Aidan and Silas were having crazy fun wrestling with each other and eating watermelon. Next year should be even more fun!!!

Still, I do have to quibble, because I gotta be me. Some of the things the pastor stated were far from absolute truths.

The sermon was based upon the foundation that the United States of America was built on Christian principles. I think he was also trying to establish a premise that would (more or less) demolish the idea of "separation of Church and State."

Really, this whole debate is set upon interpretation and perceptions. For example, Article XI of the Treaty of Tripoli pretty much should put this whole discussion to rest as it states fairly blatently (and was ratified by the United States Congress):

As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion.

Yet this statement obviously hasn't pushed aside any pursuits in exploring ideas that perhaps the U.S. was still built upon Christian principles. So there must be room for interpretation there somewhere.

As part of the pastor's evidence of how intertwined Church and State really are, he began to go through a number of items, most of which are taken from an e-mail chain letter. You can take each and every one of those items and interpret them as you like, to support any idea that you wish.

But let's just takt a look at a couple of them. The pastor mentioned — and I'm fairly certain that I'm really close to quoting this verbatim:

As you enter the Supreme Court courtroom, the two huge oak doors have the Ten Commandments engraved on each lower portion of each door.

Ok. Perhaps. But here's another view from Snopes.com:

The doors of the Supreme Court courtroom don't literally have the "Ten Commandments engraved on each lower portion" — the lower portions of the two doors are engraved with a symbolic depiction, two tablets bearing only the Roman numerals I through V and VI through X. ... these symbols can represent something other than the Ten Commandments.

Such as the Bill of Rights (which are the first ten amendments to the Constitution).

The pastor also mentioned that all 50 states mention "God" in their state constitutions. This is true, yet it would seem to be a bit of a stretch to absolutely consider these mentions of the Christian God.

Colorado mentions "Supreme Ruler of Universe;" Delaware mentions a "Creator;" Hawaii mentions that they are "Grateful for Divine Guidance;" Iowa mentions "the Supreme Being;" Maine mentions a "Sovereign Ruler of the Universe;" Massachussetts mentions the "Great Legislator of the Universe;" etc.

None of these or even the ones that actually do mention "God" or "Almighty God" define the type of divinity. Only perception and interpretation does that.

Picture Update

I've uploaded new pictures to the Web site. Most of them are of Aidan dancing at the wedding; there are also some pictures from our visit to the San Antonio zoo ....

San Antonio Boogie

We made a little road trip down to San Antonio for the weekend to attend a wedding for one of Renee's co-workers (congratulations to Denise and Phillip!). It was a very fun time for us, but the high point of the entertainment (at least for us) was watching Aidan on the dance floor. The kid loves to boogie.

Aidan was all dressed up in his Sunday best, complete with tie and what he likes to call his "mowing shoes." (I was mowing the lawn one weekend and usually change my shoes before I start, which have been dubbed my "mowing shoes" by Aidan. A few weekends ago, after I had mowed the lawn, we went out to get some clothes for Aidan for the wedding. We bought him some new shoes, which Aidan was excited about, mostly because he thought that they were his special "mowing shoes.")

The reception started out with Aidan just running in circles on the dance floor, since the bride and groom hadn't yet danced their first dance and there wasn't too much "real" dancing going on just yet. Once the music starting going, Aidan was all wound up and ready to go. At one point, the photographer came up to me and asked if it was okay to steal some of Aidan's dance moves....

Florida Trip: Days 9, 10 & 11

We're back. We drove back in two days and Renee's starting to show signs of wear, although I think it has more to do with first signs of the pregnancy than too much time in the car. Most prevelant has been increased tiredness and a sore back; pretty much the same symptoms as last time.

On our last day in Florida, we got a chance to get out to the beach during sun set. It was very cool. The weather was beautiful and Aidan was having a blast running in and out of the water (it was low tide).

Aidan had a lot of fun during the drives. We listened to a lot of Wiggles songs; Aidan's favorite at the moment is "Hot Potato" and he'll start signing it spontaneously sometimes along with the "hot potato" movements (similar in style to when one plays the "one potato, two potato" game). Very funny.

The rest of our vacation pictures have been posted, so feel free to check them out.

Saturday's drive: Siesta Key to Ocean Springs, Mississippi (636 miles)
Sunday's drive: Ocean Springs to Austin (609 miles)

Grand Total: 2471 miles

Florida Trip: Days 5, 6 & 7

The last few days have been lots of fun, basically involving nothing other than sitting on the beach or at the pool. It doesn't get much better than that.

The only thing other than that worth of note is that Aidan has taken to singing songs a lot lately. Any old phrase, such as "I want to eat a mango, Mommy," is turned into a song by simply adding a rhythm to it and then either screaming the last word (which requires one to raise ones eyes and chin to the sky) or saying the last word with as low of a tone as possible (which then requires one to lower ones eyes and chin).

But today, today was a new adventure for us. We made the quick drive (57 miles) up to St. Petersburg to do some shopping and see some sites. Our first stop was to The Pier, which apparently is a pretty popular tourist attraction. We then headed out to Great Explorations, a place my sister and I went to about 8 years ago. It is a children's museum, but they call themselves a "hands-on" museum, which is probably more accurate anyway. We all went and had a great time (time went by so quickly we didn't realized that they were about to close the place).

To finish the day off right, we went to see a baseball game: Red Sox versus the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. We had great seats (section 141; left field, three rows from the fence) and got to see a bunch of players up close. While we were waiting for the game to start, one of the ushers came over to Aidan (who was sitting on my lap) and presented him with an official Major League baseball. It must have been used during batting practice, because is had a little blemish on one side. Aidan was somewhat interested, but I was thrilled for him. At the end of the game (which, by the way, the Red Sox won), I tried to get the ball autographed for Aidan, but to no avail.

During the game, Papa taught Aidan how to call players "out" and "safe."

Florida Trip: Day 4

Sandra, Eric and Krissy all arrived today. After getting them situated, we all spent most of the day at the beach. It was exhausting, but fun. We played paddle ball and chased each other in the water. When the tide went out, Aidan liked to have someone write names and the alphabet in the sand.

The game with the alphabet was very fun. First, you would scratch out the alphabet as Aidan did his best to sing it to you (he does very well, missing only a few letters). Then, you ask him to find a letter based off of a word he knows, such as "where's the letter for daddy?" The alphabet, scatched in the sand, is probably 20 feet long, so Aidan has to run back and forth looking for the letters. It was really fun.

Later, we all went out to Turtle's for dinner and then headed out to "downtown" Siesta Key, which is really too small to be referred to as a downtown. Anyway, we visited the public beach, which was pretty cool (the sand at these beaches are all pretty wonderful — feels liks you're walking on baking flour — but these public beaches seemed nicer than the one we were on (Renee thinks it's because they comb the public beach).

There was a drum circle going on this night and we all got to see a really big python (someone from an animal sanctuary brought it). But Aidan wasn't really all that interested. All he wanted to do was run.

It started like this: Aidan would take my hand and Aunt Sandra's hand, then he'd tell us to run. So we ran with Aidan doing his best to keep up with us. I never got a chance to see what it really looked like (he was always running with me), but I bet it looked a lot like he was running like a gazelle. His feet barely touched the ground, but he was churning his legs as fast as he could as though he was running. We had a blast doing it, and lots of people commented on how fast a runner Aidan was.

Then, we headed out to Olga's Ice Cream (I think it was Olga's). It was quite a fun day...

Florida Trip: Day 3

Today's drive was an easy trip to our destination: Siesta Key. We arrived around 2:15 p.m. We unpacked as quickly as we could and ran off to the beach, which is about 100 yards from our 2-bedroom beach house. We will be sharing accomodations with Renee's dad and step-mom, who should be arriving later tonight. Renee's friend Krissy will also be rooming with us, but she will be arriving tomorrow morning; Renee's sister and her boyfriend will also be arriving tomorrow (same flight as Krissy), but will be staying in their own room.

The place we're staying at (Sara Sea Inn) is really nice. It looks like a tropical oasis. Actually, I guess it is, as it's in Florida and all...

Today's drive: Tallahassee to Siesta Key (340 miles)
Total miles: 1226

They Might be Giants

Toshiba has announced that they have found a way to artificially enlarge humans. This image on the right shows the size of their "giant" next to a normal-sized hard drive. Side effects of this enlarging process include bloodshot eyes and huge pupils.

At least, that's what I think the story said....

The Eye in the Sky

Scientists photographed this image of a Helix Nebula with the Hubble telescope. Not long after this discovery, there were back-room discussions on canceling the Hubble project. But, at the last moment, the Captains of the West drew the gaze of the Eye and Hubble was saved....

Dragon Lore

Are dragons real? This might make you look twice. But your suspicions will be confirmed. It is fake.

According to the story that accompanied this image, there was a metal tin found near the dragon, which contained documents written in an old-fashioned German style of the 1890s. The documents suggest that Britain's Natural History Museum turned the dragon away and sent it to be destroyed.

Real or not, it is quite intriguing.

And Speaking of LotR

So I was just minding my own business, surfing the net, not hurting anyone, and suddenly, I come accross this image.

I know that there's got to be some marketing involved in a movie like this, but come on! How could the Tolkien estate approve a deal that would turn Barbie and Ken into Arwen and Aragorn? I think I want to cry....

Aidan's Second Camping Trip

Another camping trip! This time we went to Pedernales Falls State Park with our friends Chris and Raquel. The weather cooperated much more than our last outing (although it did get pretty darn cold at night) and Aidan got a chance to see some deer up close and personal. One big buck was literally only a few feet behind where Aidan and his mom were sitting. Aidan also got his first little hair cut on this trip (that's Chris giving Aidan a trim in the picture)...

Other firsts: Aidan ate some dirt.

Aidan's First Halloween

Aidan's first Halloween; he was a bat....

Moving Around Spain

We arrived in Mallorca today after an early start and long morning. We got up at 5am to get our flight and then our flight was delayed. We finally got to our new hotel, but it was too early, so we had to wait about an hour or so before we could check in. It's a good thing sleeping on the beach doesn't take too much energy.

It is pleasant here in Mallorca, but so far, from what I have seen, most of its charm has been sold to the English...

However, as I don't really know much about Mallorca yet, I'll reserve judgement. Instead, I'll recap our last few days.

Madrid was pretty cool. I wish we had more time to spend there, but as Renee said, it is probably better to leave too early then too late.

Our first day in Madrid was basically us being completely excited to be there, yet too exhausted to deal with everything. We walked around our hotel area, caught a bus downtown to see some things, but ultimately (and against our original design) had to go back to the hotel for a nap. Jet lag is a terrible thing.

After our nap, we took another walk. As part of our second neighborhood tour, we serendipitously walked into an open-air festival/market, which was really pretty fun. At one point, some guy came walking up to me and, in broken Spanish, tried to ask me if I could take a picture of him and his friend. I barely understood him, so I asked, in English, if he spoke English. He was slightly taken aback, said he did, and we continued to converse in English from that point on. It turns out that he and his buddy were from Austin, Texas, students at the University of Texas. It's a small world, or something like that...

We walked back to the hotel just as it was starting to get dark, which is when we caught the sun setting against the cathedral near the Royal Palace.

On our second day, we were going to go on a tour of Toledo, a smallish town not far out of Madrid. However, after we bought our tickets and such, we realized we missed the bus. We were able to trade them in for, of all things, a bull fight. Not exactly what we were hoping to see, but in the spirit of the anthropologist, and with little else to do, we headed out to the stadium.

If you have never seen a bull fight before, I don't think that I would be able to find the words to get the visceral experience accross. But the wierd thing was that, despite the grotesqueness and obvioius brutality, it was amazing how quickly that everyone in the stadium grew accustomed to the violence.

We had seats next to an Italian family; I barely know Spanish, and I don't think they knew any, although Spanish and Italian are fairly close. So, I conversed a little with the father of the family; they had two little children, probably no older than four of five.

When the bull fight first started, we were all on the edge of our seats, completely spellbound by the pagentry and costumes. Then, as the first bull died a quite extravagent and messy death, most of us were repulsed. But soon, it became old hat. The kids weren't watching any more, not out of repulsion, but out of boredom. Renee and I, who were trying to absorb as much as possible, were starting to wonder how much longer until we can get back to the hotel and nap....

During our last day in Madrid, we headed out to the Prado, the Hard Rock Cafe (mostly as an air-conditioned break than anything else) and generally tried to take in as much of the city as we could.

Renee and I have to get up early tomorrow for a little excursion, so I need to cut this short. It seems as though we have been getting up early (like 6am) and going to bed late (like 1am) since we have arrived. We’ve had to take some naps in there, but it is hard to say if we have not adjusted well to the time change or (more probably) we just have one crazy schedule. Let’s see if we can get through tomorrow without a nap. Although, I have a feeling we'll be forced to whether we want a nap or not.... So, here's our pictures of Madrid. Enjoy. I'll write again soon.