Annie Bananas

Father's Day mayhem

2011-06-21T06:26:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was father's day, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite holidays. We had a leisurely start to the morning-- the kids slept in until 6:30! Which is pretty sweet. Both kids get up and Annie gives me a "Happy Father's Day" in her little sing-songy voice and then a big hug. What could be better? Nick the brick gives me a grunt and a head but! That kid doesn't mess around. Both kids seem to have grown so much in just the past two months, it's crazy. I get a gift, which is pretty sweet.

If you don't know this about me, I hate shaving. Absolutely hate it and always have. I usually time it during the week so unless I have a lot of meetings, I can get a away with two, but at most three shaves/week. It's because no matter what I do shaving is an incredibly annoying and inevitably painful experience.

I've tried everything. Electric razors. Razors with 18 blades, razors with 4 blades, any type of razor- I've tried it. I've tried pre-shaving oils, creams, expensive shaving cream, cheap shaving cream... Old school shaving cream you apply with a badger hair brush... Nothing makes the experience of shaving the least bit enjoyable. But for this father's day I got some new products from Origins, and they just might turn the tide to make shaving a tolerable experience. It's only been a few tries, but they seem to be doing the trick. First you use an oil, then the cream is much lighter than usual, and then a nice aftershave - all of which have this great light, herbal smell. But manly herbal smell.

We also went out to lunch. I've mentioned before how I've been eating pretty much vegan since February. I try to do 90%, which has worked out well. The 10% non-vegan usually comes in the form of dairy or eggs, since those two food groups are pretty insidious and every once in a while isn't it great to have some cheese on your pizza? Sometimes. So we went to this vegetarian/vegan restaurant Red Lentil, which is awesome. We park, and as we're crossing the street to the restaurant I'm holding Annie and she has a sippy cup in her hand.

Now, Annie's latest trick has been that she loves to take a drink of something and hold it in her mouth for as long as possible. Sometimes this isn't a problem, other times she ends up spitting it out at whatever is closest. Super annoying... So I wasn't too surprised when all of a sudden I felt this warm liquid on my mid-section. At first I was a little annoyed that she had just spit water on me, until I looked down and saw that it wasn't water she was spitting, she was projectile vomiting all over me.

My first reaction was to throw her out of my arms, but I kept it together and instead managed to let out a yell and quickly point her away from me as she continued throwing up. Finally she stopped, we're both covered in puke and Karen and Nichol are staring at us in disbelief. Oh, and when we went to look in the diaper bag we had forgotten wipes, of course. So there are we standing on the sidewalk covered in puke, Annie crying, and we have no wipes.

Karen goes and finds us some paper towels and water to try and clean up. We get cleaned up, but Annie and I are not looking to great. Miraculously, Annie is back to normal like nothing ever happened. We debate about going into the restaurant, and then we just decide to do it. I try to sit as far away from everyone as possible... We end up having a great meal, and I didn't catch too many people giving us the stink eye or trying to move as far away from us as possible. All in all it was a memorable day, which in the grand scheme of things - isn't that what's important?

Catching up, part I - Nichol's baptism

2011-05-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

So I'm a few months behind, I'll try to catch up on some of the highlights. In March Nichol was baptized, and we were happy that we had a huge contingent of family and friends show up! Nichol's Godparents, Ben and Monica Kessel, were able to join us from Columbus, OH and Karen's parents from Michigan and my family from NY all made the trek to Charlestown.

We had a great lunch at Figs before the baptism, everyone got to relax and catch up. Luckily we were in a private room so the area the kids could demolish was limited... Although true to form, Annie managed to find some tomatoes and take a few bites out of them before anyone noticed. The church service itself was pretty drama free, except the moment it began Nichol took a huge dump in his pants and stunk up our whole row. If I remember correctly the same thing happened to Annie... The real fun was the Friday night before, when we all had to go to a pre-baptismal class at the church. We thought we'd be in and out of there in an hour tops, boy were we wrong...

The class started at 7 but we didn't get out until 9. And I think the only reason we got out then was because Annie and Nichol were about to tear the place apart. It's never a good sign when you think something is going to start at one time, and then when you arrive you find out that's the time of the 'appetizers/meet & greet.' By the time we got down to business it was close to 8, and then we had to watch the first 15 minutes of the Lion King. Circle of Life, baptism, etc I get it, I didn't need the visual. Appreciate it, but I was really just looking for some words of wisdom and to get in and out. On the bright side it has made for a good story!

Nichol's baptism was a great occasion to get family and friends together in one place and we had a great time!

Sleeptastic

2011-03-04T06:55:00.000-08:00

After our failed attempt over MLK weekend to get the kids to share a room, we didn't know when we'd try again. But a few weeks ago the answer started to become painstakingly clear. Nichol all of a sudden went from sleeping soundly through the night to waking up every night between 11pm-1am, and then crying non-stop for two hours, unless he was held. This went on for two weeks. Finally, we couldn't take it anymore. Every night we would dread going to bed because we knew we were going to get a screaming wake-up call in the middle of the night.

And because he was sleeping in the next room, when we would try and let him cry it out, it was too loud. Finally we came to the conclusion that if he was sharing a room with Annie (her room is on the opposite side of the apt), worst case scenario we could just bring Annie in our room, and he could cry it out and we could do some serious sleep training.

It was also during this time that Nichol was proving to be a real stinker during naptime as well. Instead of going down and taking a morning and afternoon nap with little to no fuss, he was beginning to put up quite a stink. Something had to be done.

It is definitely true that time has a way of helping you gloss over certain things. When we were talking about how to deal with Nichol, we both started saying how we never had these problems with Annie and she was such a great sleeper. Wrong. Annie used to be a terrible sleeper and terrible napper. In fact, the more we thought about it, the more we saw the same pattern repeating itself. With Annie we fell into the trap of having her sleep in our bed, which only made the problem worse. By worse she would wake up earlier and earlier wanting to come sleep with us. With Nichol, we weren't bringing him into our bed (although we tried) because the only way he'd stop crying was if you were holding and rocking him.

So we bit the bullet and put Nichol to sleep in Annie's room... and it went pretty darn well. The first night Nichol woke up for his usual cry-time, we made sure he was alright, fetched Annie, and let him wail. I don't remember how long it was, but a few hours later he stopped and we put Annie back in her bed. Everyone was remarkably adaptable, and we managed to eke out more sleep that evening than we had been getting in quite some time. The next night was similar, only Nichol was crying a bit less... and it continued like this for the week, until finally one night Karen and I woke up and it was 4:30am! And no one was up! I hate to jinx this, but it has been two weeks that they've been sharing a room, and over the past week Nichol has not woken up in the middle of the night once! And now Nichol is going down much easier for his morning and afternoon naps too!

We can only hope this continues! This weekend we have a lot of family and friends coming into town for Nichol's baptism Sunday.

Vegging out

2011-02-27T11:43:00.000-08:00

Last post I mentioned how we've been eating vegan lately. What does that mean, it means no meat, no fish, and no dairy. Basically no animal products. Why are we doing it? A couple of reasons.

First, we were eating way too much meat. Looking back on our diets now, I am astounded. Typically I would have meat for lunch and dinner. And if it was the weekend, chances are I was having some meat for breakfast too. Pretty much 70-80% of my diet was centered around consuming animal products (eggs, meat, yogurt). Basically on a lark, Karen and I had both been reading a lot about the negative effects of an animal-centric diet, not just on your health but also on the environment. I'm not trying to get all preachy here, but a cursory Google search of industrial farming will shed some light on all of the horrors contained within our animal food supply. I wholeheartedly recommend everyone see "Food Inc."

(This is where I get slightly preachy-- skip to next paragraph if you don't care. )
I don't think you shouldn't eat animals, but I don't think animals should live a life of pure pain and suffering so I can have chicken breast for $1/lb. There are just so many problems with the way animals are produced. Chickens are bred not only for meat, but also for their egg laying ability. Which means that most male chicks are discarded at birth. And by discarded I mean that the common method of disposing of unwanted male chicks is grinding them up alive. This can result in unspeakable horrors, as described by one research scientist who observed that "even after twenty seconds, there were only partly damaged animals with whole skulls". In other words, fully conscious chicks were partially ground up and left to slowly and agonizingly die. Think milk is great? Female cows produce the most milk after and when they are pregnant, so female cows are kept constantly impregnated. Male calfs again are of little use, so they are frequently chained to a crate where they cannot stand up for a few months and then killed for veal. Ultimately I just think we can find a better, more humane way to raise and treat the animals in our food supply.

And we're back. From a health standpoint, most of the research we've read is summarized by this: Plant foods improve human health, while animal 'foods' degrade it. The most comprehensive study to date regarding the relationship between diet and human health found that the consumption of animal-derived ‘food’ products was linked with "diseases of affluence" such as heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, and cancer. T. Colin Campbell's landmark research in The China Project found a pure vegetarian (i.e. vegan) diet to be healthiest. Dr. Campbell estimates that "80 to 90% of all cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and other degenerative illness can be prevented, at least until very old age - simply by adopting a plant-based diet."

Ok, so if you're still reading and not thinking that I'm a complete crackpot... Let me just say, this is a work in progress. I started doing this because I was just eating way too much meat, period. The health benefits and ethical considerations came later, and have just helped to reaffirm my decision. Am I some militant vegan who waits for people in fur to douse them with animal blood, no. Am I just trying to slowly move to a more plant-centric diet, yes. Have I eaten meat and dairy over the past three weeks, yes. Do I still put cream in my coffee, yes. But, I would estimate that in the past three weeks I've changed my diet to 90% plant-centric, which I'm really proud of. I have also been feeling so good. And last weekend, I came up with my own recipe for vegan pancakes (sharing this was the real reason for this whole post!).

Vegan pancakes (makes enough for 4 people):
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon honey (most vegans wouldn't use this, but I don't think the bees mind)
1 cup soy milk
1 cup almond milk (feel free to use only soy or almond if that's what you have)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Mix your dry ingredients first, add wet ingredients and mix just until the batter is smooth. You don't want to over-mix or the pancakes will be tough.

Turn your pan on medium heat, wait a few minutes for that to heat up and so your batter can also rest. You can use a butter substitute or non-stick cooking spray so your pancakes won't stick. Once your pan is heated up, spoon some batter on the pan, wait for some bubbles to appear in your pancake, flip, remove, repeat.

Riding solo

2011-02-13T14:23:00.000-08:00

I did it! That is one of Annie's most popular sayings. And it pretty much sums up my survival with the kids - by - my - self. I know, a bit dramatic. To recap, Karen left Friday afternoon to head to NYC for a girls weekend. After dropping Karen off at the airport, it was me and Annie and Nichol until we picked Karen up 48 hrs later... In the weeks leading up to this weekend I had no idea what to expect. What do the kids do all day? Do they entertain themselves? Who feeds these wild beasts? All questions that I was unsure of the answer.

Sure, Karen does this every day, but I work in an office! I don't know the logistics of carting two kids around - 1 walks, but not where you want her to; and the other is mostly fine until he poops all over!

Friday. We drop Karen off, get home and everyone takes naps. They wake up around 4ish, play, have dinner, Nichol goes to bed and Annie and I watch a movie. Annie was so good. On the ride home from the airport I told Annie I was going to need her to be a big girl and help Daddy out since Mommy was gone, and boy did she deliver. When we were watching the movie she was great, she went to bed with no problem, and the only disturbance was when I woke up hearing her scream on the monitor at 4:30AM. Those night terrors... She remained asleep, but I was awake. Nichol was just as good. He took a great nap and slept from 7pm until 7:30am the next day! Unbelievable.

Saturday. I now know why Karen has to leave the house every day. We get up, have breakfast, play, etc. and then I look at the clock and it's only 8:30. D'oh! Are you kidding me? This was a phenomena I first noticed when Karen was pregnant. When you get up really early, the day is really long, and what do you do? When Karen was pregnant it was great. On the weekends we would get up, clean our entire apartment, go out to breakfast, shop for groceries, come home and put everything away and it was only 9am. Awesome. Fast forward to two kids later... and when I look at the clock and it's only 8:30am... I am scared. Sometimes I want to cry. There is a lot of the day left. What am I going to do. These kids need action. And there isn't a yard I can force them to go out into and make their own fun. And did I mention I'm just doing this for a weekend?

After breakfast Nichol takes a nap, and we are just chomping at the bit for him to wake up. Annie is starting to get bored, just destroying everything in her wake. And then I remember.

Last week when we were at Whole Foods, this nice lady told me they were having a kids' event next weekend where they do a craft and have a snack. So, since we needed something to do I thought we would head over there and terrorize, I mean patronize, Whole Foods. Nichol finally wakes up and we are off! I have the diaper bag packed with diapers, pull ups, wipes, snacks, and extra clothes. The minute we pull into the parking lot, Nichol has pooped. D'oh! Actually, this was lucky, because Annie was still in her seat so I just got Nichol out, and changed him in the cargo bay.

I'm just beginning to appreciate everything Karen does on a daily basis. Logistics. The carts at Whole Foods are too small for two kids. I have Nichol in the umbrella stroller and I'm holding Annie's hand with one hand as I try and guide the stroller with the other hand. We get into the store, find the kids section and I unleash Annie. Just kidding.

This was good for me because I had to go out of my comfort zone and go up to a group of strangers and introduce everyone, and then I let Annie loose... Annie immediately meets this nice woman, Shay, who helps her with her Valentine. Annie has a great time making this Valentine, and I get to help too. It's a lot of fun. After she's done, and she's been so good, we go and get lunch and a treat for Annie. The treat is that she can have whatever she wants for lunch, and a special drink. By special I mean not water or milk.

Seeing Annie in front of the cold drinks display is awesome. The display is everything you could imagine, all sorts of colors, shapes, anything you could envision in liquid form is in this case. Annie immediately spies some raspberry lemonade and settles on this. Of course, she has no idea what drink she's choosing, but since I'm riding solo this weekend, I'm picking and choosing my battles. If Annie wants the pink drink, the pink drink is what she gets.

We pay. We sit down. Annie is on one side of me, Nichol is on the other side of me. We are all hungry. When you're a parent, all of a sudden someone else's needs are coming before your own. Most of the time I feel like it's second nature and you don't even notice. But when you're really hungry, that's when you notice. Annie gets set up. She starts eating (mostly drinking. what is it with kids loving beverages so much?). I get snacks for Nichol out so he can eat while I house my burrito. Oh, did I mention that Karen and I have been eating Vegan for the past week? Weird that I forgot. Anyways, so while I'm trying to inhale a burrito full of beans, vegetables, and salsa, Nichol is throwing Cheerios all over the place, demanding to be fed something more, something substantial.

I sense that this could be a moment. A moment where I could let my neurosis get in the way and freak out. Instead I take it back a notch and let the kids be kids. Who cares if they throw some food? Who cares if they get food all over their clothes, and mine? Get over it. We have the best time. Annie is eating and getting her grubby hands all over me, and Nichol is on the other side with his face covered in pureed spinach. Somehow it is even on the back of his neck.

Annie is at this stage where she is so curious about everything. She likes to help with everything we do. She loves to try the food on your plate. She loves to try and drink what's in your cup. And even better, what I've noticed when it's just me around- she just loves to be around you. The whole weekend Annie and Nichol were the most affectionate kids! I know they definitely missed their mom, but I think they also were glad to have some one-on-one time with their pops. At least that is the way the story goes in my head. I had so much fun with them this weekend. It was truly enjoyable to be their sole caregiver and just focused on them this weekend. Annie and Nichol rock. They are hilarious. They have the biggest hearts and the funniest personalities.

I love the time I have with them now. And I can't wait to watch them develop and get older-they are going to be so awesome!

Mr. Mom

2011-02-10T23:11:00.000-08:00

This weekend Karen is flying the coop and I will be home with the kids. I was going to say I'd be babysitting, but I don't think that is the right term when they're your own kids... Needless to say, I'm hoping I'll survive. Also, when I got the big idea to write this post and use this pic, numerous blog posts came up about dads writing about watching their kids while their wives are away. So I guess I'm not that original.

Last weekend Karen asked me if I wanted to take the kids somewhere. I said why, and she replied it might be a good test run for next weekend. Then I said, well I doubt we'll be going anywhere... The logistics of shuttling around a 2.5 year old and a 9 mos old seems a bit daunting to me. Unless we're going to Costco, because they have double carts. Other than that, the thought of Annie on the loose is too much for me to fathom... We'll see. I'll let you know next week how everything went. Wish me luck...

Bedtime nightmares

2011-02-03T19:09:00.000-08:00

Over MLK weekend we decided the time had come for Annie and Nicholas to share a room. Annie has been in her new bed for a few weeks and doing great, and Nicholas had been sleeping through the night pretty solidly. We picked a long weekend because we figured that if it went horribly wrong, at least it would be a weekend and we'd both be home to cope with a sleep deficit.

On Friday night we made the plunge. The first night was a bit rocky, but we expected that. We put Nicholas to bed first at 6:30, thinking he'd be asleep around 7ish when Annie came in. That was true, however, Annie hasn't quite learned how to whisper. In fact, when you tell her to whisper or lower her voice quite often the opposite happens. So, sure enough, we put her to bed, she starts talking/singly loudly and Nicholas wakes up. Argh... But after a few minutes, they both settle down, Nichol falls back asleep and Annie eventually falls asleep. Saturday morning they wake up on the early side, I think around 5. Not the most ideal situation, but at least we made it through the night.

Saturday night. Same plan, Nicholas goes to bed first, then Annie. Things seem to be good until around 1am. Nicholas wakes up crying. Annie wakes up. One of us takes Nicholas out of the room and the other gets Annie back to bed. Nicholas falls asleep, heads back into his crib, wakes up again a few hours later. Annie wakes up... Repeat. At about 4am, Nicholas is awoken by screams coming from Annie. Did I mention that Annie seems to have very vivid dreams and often talks loudly in her sleep? Right, I must have forgotten that part... Eventually we cry uncle, Nicholas comes into bed with us, Annie falls back asleep and we all manage to scrape together another few hours of sleep.

Sunday... pretty much an exact repeat of Saturday night with both kids up multiple times throughout the night. We wake up Monday exhausted and slightly cranky.

Monday. Upon closer inspection it is revealed that Nicholas is teething some more. In addition to two bottom teeth working their way up, his two top front teeth are working their way out too! We give up.

I think at this point we're going to wait a few weeks before we try this again...

Graphic discussion to follow... not for the faint of heart

2011-01-26T06:58:00.000-08:00

... or those who do not want to read 400 words on poop. That's right, lately it feels like I've been up to my elbows in poop and I can't stay quiet about it any longer!

Where to begin... It's really hard to explain how much this bodily function has taken over. First, Annie has been potty training, and has been doing a pretty good job at it. With one small exception, she refuses to go #2 on the potty. Refuses. Sometimes she will go days without going #2 at all, just to avoid the potty confrontation. Why won't she go #2 on the potty, no idea. If I knew that, my life and Karen's life would be soo much easier. No amount of bribes, coercion, or threats work. She just refuses.

Usually what happens is Annie will wear underwear, except at night or naptime. At naptime she will wear a pull-up. She goes to the potty before naptime, puts on her pull-up, lays down, promptly poops, then gets cleaned up and takes her nap. We've been trying to play some chicken with her, and have tried leaving her in her underwear. Well that just means that she's going to poop in her underwear. And she does. And it's super gross to clean up. Usually it involves said underwear being cut off and thrown away. Which brings me to my next pooping problem, Nicholas.

This kid has got one heck of a digestive tract. I can't believe the amount of onesies we've burned through because of some huge blowout. Again, I'm talking some major amounts of #2. We've cut so many onesies off from him I should have bought stock in Carter's because we've been keeping the lights on at that place. Not only has he gone through a large quantity, but he's gone through a ton of Annie's old ones! There is even a special collection of plastic bags in their room for these occasions...

Again, I'm only privy to this mainly on the weekends... I can't begin to imagine what this is like for Karen on a daily basis... But I do know one thing, if I was Karen I might think about investing in a hazmat suit.

Snow telling when it's going to stop

2011-01-23T13:15:00.000-08:00

We have been getting tons of snow this winter! So far we've reached the amount of snow that we usually get all winter, and there's more on the way this week. Luckily, being from upstate NY, I come from some hardy stock. A little snow doesn't bother me. But when you have kids that are trapped inside your perspective sure changes! And living in the city, we have to adjust certain things. Instead of going outside in the backyard and building a snowman, we built one on our deck!

Last weekend we wanted to take the kids sledding. So first thing Saturday morning I headed out with Annie to buy some sleds, what I thought would be a very simple errand. After visiting 5 stores, turns out it was not such a simple errand. Apparently you have to buy your sled in November, and all of the stores only get like 10 in stock and then never sell them again... Ridiculous.

Uncle Mike to the rescue! We call Karen's uncle in Marblehead, and success! Well, he doesn't have any sleds, but knows people with sleds. So we headed up to Marblehead and went sledding. Annie loved it, sort of. At first she was just crying the whole time. Crying getting out of the car. Crying getting on the sled. Crying being pulled up the hill. Then we went downhill and she had a blast! There were lots of other kids around sledding and it was a lot of fun. Next year I will definitely be on top of things and make sure I buy a sled earlier rather than later!

Nichol had a great time watching from the sidelines! Since it was pretty cold there was some concern that it might be too cold for him on the way down...

So this is Christmas - 2010

2011-01-09T06:41:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas in GP and were fortunate enough to spend a week there. Everyone had a great time- and the kids got to decorate two Christmas trees! We had put up our Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving, and Annie had a lot of fun decorating the tree. Then when we arrived at the Drummys, we had another tree waiting to be trimmed! Again, Annie had a blast listening to Christmas music and decorating the tree. Christmas at the Drummys has some traditions. Christmas Eve is fondue with Bearnaise sauce... Awesome. It's not cheese fondue but hot oil that you cook beef in. So good... you also have a baked potato and Bearnaise sauce... Fantastic. During dinner we watch an action movie, usually one of the Die Hard movies fits the bill. Also fun. Helps to get the adrenaline going to rip open presents the next morning!

Christmas day was so much fun. Annie was very excited and had been looking forward to it for some time! Even Nichol got in on the action and had tons of fun unwrapping presents and taking things from Annie... All in all it was a great week, and it was nice to have extra hands around to help with the kids!

"Table for 1, by the window please"

2011-01-06T07:59:00.000-08:00

So far in 2011 we've made some pretty big changes, for us at least. We ushered in one of the most boring New Year's by spending our New Year's Eve at Ikea buying Annie a table & chairs, and new big girl bed. Then proceeded to spend our evening putting them together. Woo-ho! Crazy, I know!

The upside is that Annie sure does love her new stuff. We figured since Nichol has been a lot better about sleeping through the night, the time might finally be upon us that we can have the kids share a room. But before we can do that, we have to get Annie out of her crib. This is something that we have been hesitant to do since about the time she was born... I just felt the minute that she wasn't contained in her crib, she would be all over and never get any sleep. So we decided to just bite the bullet and make the change on a Friday night, so we had all weekend to deal with the aftermath and both of us would be home to focus on this effort. And I'm proud to report, it wasn't that bad.

We thought the biggest issue was going to be her getting out of her bed and playing in her room when she was supposed to be sleeping. This turned out to be less of an issue at night. Maybe because it was so dark that playing in the dark didn't hold much appeal, or maybe the stern talking to before bed actually worked. Either way, the toughest transition ended up being that she missed her crib and was trying to climb back into it to sleep. Aww... But the first night was the toughest, and even that was pretty easy. Naptime you have to give her a warning and check in on her pretty frequently, but even that hasn't been half as bad as we thought.

We've been wanting to get Annie a table and chairs for a while, so we figured we should just buy that too. She loves sitting at her table during meals, although most of the sitting is in short bursts. Her new eating regime consists of sitting to take a bite, then running around while she's chewing her food. Or if you have left the room, then she will be right behind you wondering where you are or what you are doing. Annie always likes to know where everyone is and what everyone is doing.

2010 in review

2010-12-21T17:23:00.000-08:00

Almost Christmas! How in the world did this sneak up on us? It seems like it was just Halloween. I feel like the time in between Labor Day and New Year's is a blur. Every year once Labor Day hits it's like the year is on fast forward. We've had a great year, and have lots to be thankful for.

Nicholas was born this year. Can't imagine things without him around. Annie has become more self sufficient, which has been good and bad. Good that she can do more things on her own and bad that she can do more things on her own. I don't mind admitting that she's driven us to purchase several new parenting books, all with similar titles like "How to make your child mind" or "How to make your child take you seriously", etc. We're still working on that.

Karen also started taking care of both kids full time, which has been tremendous. Aside from all the obvious advantages, one of the best parts for me is not to have to rush out the door every morning making sure that everyone is all packed up, etc. I used to dread Sunday nights, knowing that Monday morning we would have to be out the door by 7:30 in order to drop Annie off, and make it to work on time. And I certainly don't miss all the times last winter when Annie was getting kicked out of daycare for a runny nose or some other lame excuse. I can't imagine how much more stressful this would be with two kids.

We've went on a lot of great trips. Ohio, Florida, Pointe Aux Barques, and who can forget... Paris. We tried selling our condo, to no avail. That was a bummer, but the upside was that we hadn't found a new place, so we never had to go through the disappointment of falling in love with a new house only to not be able to buy it. Or buy it, but not be able to sell your old place.

For 2.5 years we never had to go to the ER, until we had to go twice in two weeks. Let's hope that fills our quota for a while. First Annie fell at the park and put a pretty nice gash in her forehead, then two weeks later Nichol got hives...

It's definitely been an adjustment with two kids, but it feels good. It feels good to go to a restaurant and be a party of four. It feels good to always have a kid in your arms or holding your hand. It feels good in the morning when everyone crowds in your bed and inevitably someone gets a foot to the head. It feels good when you get a big wet kiss. And most of all it feels good when you come home and so many people are happy to see you.

As this year comes to a close, thanks for reading and checking in with us. See you in 2011!

Leftover lunch

2010-12-12T14:05:00.000-08:00

Things sure have gotten busy around here. Or maybe it just seems that way when I haven't updated the blog in a while and it feels like I have a lot to catch up on. First things first... in the past few weeks we've made two visits to the ER. A few weeks ago we were all at the park, and Annie was playing, fell, and ended up putting a pretty serious dent in her forehead. So we went to MGH to get her checked out. One of the things I really like about living in the city is how close everything is. MGH is in Beacon Hill and a short drive from where we live. It's also the hospital both Annie and Nichol were born in. Of course, being in a big city can have some drawbacks. While we were waiting in the ER, a prisoner in full on shackles (hands and feet) was brought in with two guards. You see all sorts in an ER waiting room.

Annie ended up having two stitches, and hopefully the scar won't be too noticeable. She was a trooper throughout the whole thing too. After that saga, fast forward two weeks... It's a Friday night and as I'm getting Nichol ready for bed, I notice he has got these red bumps on his torso, I thought they could be hives? I gave him some benadryl, waited 45 minutes and checked him again. I thought the bumps looked better so I put him to bed. The next morning the hives/rash had spread all over his trunk, up his back, down his legs, and started to go up his head. So we headed to the ER, worried they might impair his airway if they continue to get worse. Back to MGH.

This time as we're getting checked in, the same lady who checked us in two weeks ago peeks over and says, "Weren't you just here?" Me: "Yes, but different kid." Her: "Well how many more do you have at home?" Haha... Everyone is a comedian! The doctors settled on a diagnosis that Nichol was allergic to mangoes, since he had just eaten them on Friday for the first time. However on Monday, our pediatrician didn't think it was a food allergy because the benadryl was not effective. He thought Nichol had a virus that he was allergic to and that was causing the reaction all over his body. Either way, Nichol will be avoiding mangoes for a while.

What else has been going on... We had a great Thanksgiving hosted by my sister and her husband. We got our Christmas tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving and have been enjoying it every day since! We were a little late on the Christmas card bus, so they might be pretty close to deadline! Annie's latest music class has ended so we're in between sessions until January. The weather has turned pretty crisp recently going from the 40-50s down to the 30s. Nichol has pretty much begun crawling, maybe you'd call it more of a slither. He's working up to the actual crawling on all fours, but I have a feeling that's going to be pretty soon. And that's about it, other then getting ready for Christmas!

The locals

2010-11-22T07:10:00.000-08:00

I mentioned earlier how I had initially heard French people maybe weren't the friendliest sort. This turned out to not be true. To prove just how friendly they were, one night we happen to meet a local who invited us over for drinks. We were at a bar down the street from where we were staying, and Kyle started talking to this guy, Francois. He was a local artist who was at the bar and Kyle had this great idea that he should draw a sketch of us. After thinking it over he decided to, and the top pic is what he came up with. Not too bad for 10 minutes of work.

After that he hung out with us for the rest of the night, which may or may not have entailed trying to throw oranges from one side of the Seine to the other. I think after that he decided we were decent so he invited us over the next evening. The next evening we went over and had a great time. He was a very friendly host. It felt like we were back in college, cramming into someone's studio apartment, listening to music, and talking loudly.

All in all it made for a great experience to add to all the incredible things we saw in Paris. It's always fun to get to do something that's not on any guidebook!

Santé!

2010-11-16T07:07:00.000-08:00

Santé means cheers in French. It took us all week to remember that... I'll let you draw your own conclusions as to why. I've written a lot so far about the city and things we saw. What I haven't written about so much is what a great time we had spending the week with our friends.

Everyday was so fun, because in the morning we'd get up, and usually most people had decided what they wanted to do for the day, and then we'd take off. Every morning Karen and I made an appearance at this cafe down the street for a café au lait and croissant (if we'd gotten there early enough). After we were finished we'd meet the rest of our party and we'd start touring. If the six of us had split up, we met somewhere around lunch time and found a place to eat. I'm 99% sure we ate every lunch and dinner together, which I think is pretty impressive.

You also really get to know someone traveling together in a foreign country. We got to know the Kessels very well a few years ago in Italy, especially after all of our bags were lost for a few days. Nothing brings you closer then when you are all stuck wearing the same clothes for three days. They are on our "will fly international with" list. And now so are the Nicholsons and Cranes.

Within every group you need certain roles filled. You need a planner, to help people who like to let someone else lead the way. You need someone to get people out of bed in the morning and keep people to a schedule (10 pts if you guess who this was... there were two). You need people who can speak the language and help the group out of any tricky situations. You need people who don't mind asking for directions. You need people who can go with the flow and easily adapt to changing environments. And most of all you need people you can tolerate for long hours at a time! We had all of these people, and the week went by so fast.

We had so much fun at every meal. Most of the time the six of us were crowded at some small table in the corner somewhere, eating elbow to elbow. Plates would be passed as everyone tried the other person's meal. Glasses clinked and the conversation never stopped. Things were never boring, even when we were doing something boring.

The afternoon that we decided to spend on the bus, things got a little boring. But only because we were stuck in traffic for so long. It was at this point that we were all sitting upstairs, and it was getting cold. So some of us moved down below, and then promptly fell asleep. One by one everyone woke up, and then went upstairs with everyone else. Eventually everyone was up there except for Bekah. John had just come up, and Kyle asked him where Bekah was, John's reply-- "She's downstairs. Probably getting picked clean apart as speak." Luckily she woke up shortly and then everyone was back upstairs.

Great friends make so much tolerable. And they make an incredible trip to Paris even better -- Santé!

Crushing it

2010-11-12T07:02:00.000-08:00

The daunting thing about going to Paris is that there is so much to see and a limited amount of time to see it. It's just as daunting a little over a week later trying to write about it. I'll try using broad strokes...

Sunday. Everyone arrives. We head out of the apartment and go to Notre Dame since it is a short 5 min walk. Awesome. Unbelievable. To see something up close that took 200 years to build and it is still standing - awe inspiring. For much more detail than I could provide, check here.
Afterward we head to a cafe and have our first Parisian meal. Some had salads, onion soup became a staple, and I had my first roast chicken - which did not disappoint.

The cafes were funny. Funny in the sense that some of them were packed with all the tables full, and other times they were empty. Whenever we sat at empty cafe, within ten minutes the place was full.

Monday. We decided to take it a bit easy since we were all jet lagged. Karen had been doing some reading on this famous open air market, that apparently was close to some flea market type deal that also sounded interesting. We figured we'd go to the market, find some food for dinner, then walk around the flea market. We took the Metro to Les Halles, where it was supposed to be, and looked and looked around but couldn't find it.

After walking around and trying to ask people where it was, a closer inspection of the guide book revealed that it used to be where we were, but has since relocated... Newman! We were about 30 years too late. Off to the flea market. Which was pretty cool. Lots of small shops with tons of antiques and other unique items.

We headed back on the Metro to get closer to home and find a spot for lunch. Once we got underground, we realized we were in a bit seedier area of Paris. We started to buy some more tickets, when a couple of youths came up to us trying to sell us tickets. At first we just ignored them while we were trying to operate the machine, but then we were having issues with the machine, a line was queuing behind us... more and more people kept coming in... and we were about to lose it. Then, all of a sudden this other group of youths came down and about 10 people in row just jumped the gates heading into the system. The whole thing was a bit surreal, and then we finally figured out the machine, got our tickets, and headed into the tunnel... A bit touch and go there for a few minutes but we made it!

Tuesday was pretty low key. We walked around the city and checked out some more sights that we wouldn't cover on the bus tour. We went to the Place de la Concorde, which is at the foot of the Champs-Élysées and also where the guillotine was located and Marie Antoinette was decapitated. The Luxor Obelisk is also here.

Wednesday. In the morning we headed to the Centre Pompidou. The goal of the museum was "to create an original cultural institution in the heart of Paris completely focused on modern and contemporary creation, where the visual arts would rub shoulders with theatre, music, cinema, literature and the spoken word. Housed in the centre of Paris in a building designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, whose architecture symbolises the spirit of the 20th century, the Centre Pompidou first opened its doors to the public in 1977. After renovation work from 1997 to December 1999, it opened to the public again on 1 January 2000, with expanded museum space and enhanced reception areas. Since then it has once again become one of the most visited attractions in France. Some 6 million people pass through the Centre Pompidou's doors each year, a total of over 190 million visitors in its 30 years of existence." (website) This was a cool museum, but also home to some disturbing pieces of art... I already mentioned the main ones in my first Paris post, so I'll spare you any more graphic images.

After lunch we all met back up and we began the hop on/off tour, which was pretty solid. The bus turned out to be a great way to see the city, the major attractions, and pretty good mode of transportation.

Wednesday evening was also the night that Karen was selected to cook dinner. As most of you know, Karen is a phenomenal cook... She is continually coming up with new dishes and never disappoints. This will be a separate post that I'm hoping she will write...

Thusday afternoon and we were all dragging a bit, so we decided to take the entire tour... Which would have been a fine idea, except this was at about 3 pm. Two hiccups. One, there was some police action going on at the Palais Garnier, so we got diverted and stuck in traffic. Then we headed up the Champs-Élysées, which was completely clogged with traffic. At the top we reached the Arc de Triomphe, where we then proceeded to drive around the rotary, a la National Lampoon's European Vacation style only to then go down the other direction of the congested Champs-Elysees... I think it took more than an hour to do that... Which was painful.

Thursday evening. Woa. This was the night in Paris. And I have one word for it: Taillevent. I was going to include this within the post, but on second thought I'm making it a separate posting...

Friday. Our last day... Everyone did their own thing. We did some shopping, walked around some more, and then spent the afternoon sitting outside drinking wine, savoring our last afternoon in Paris.

Saturday. Airport... Home. I've got a few more Paris-related posts on deck to close out our trip, in the meantime, here are our Paris photos.

Apple Picking!

2010-11-04T06:32:00.000-07:00

This post has become what some may call a "dump." It took me a while to get it going, and then we went on vacation, and now it just seems pretty out of date. Needless to say, we had a great time apple picking when we went. Annie loved picking apples, and ate about 20 of them. Although, I don't know if taking a few bites and then pitching the apple actually counts as eating them, but we did our best to restrain her... Nichol was along for the fun, and was very well behaved. He did not try and eat any apples, but his mom made some applesauce that is waiting for him when appropriate.

Oh yeah, they also had a bouncy house at the farm. The exact same bouncy house we got for Annie's second birthday. Only this time when Annie was in there, the fan/blower became unplugged and collapsed on all the kids inside... A bit hairy for a little while, but luckily Annie was by a window and so we were able to hold up the structure before she was fully engulfed. I guess that's what happens when these things are run by 12 year olds... She also rode a horse for the first time, and liked it!

More Paris posts to come...

Olives

2010-11-02T06:43:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we got back from one of the best vacations... Paris! Karen and I went for the week with four of our good friends, and we had the best time. Although the trip wasn't without some hiccups. Leading up to our departure it seemed like the city of Paris was a powder keg filled with rioters, protesters, terrorist threats and strikes, waiting to be ignited at any minute... The State Department issued a travel alert... And then about a week before we were all leaving the airlines had been asked to cut flights into Paris airports by 30-50%. I'll say it, I was a bit nervous before we left. But then we got there...

We dropped off the kids with my parents Friday and departed Boston Saturday evening. Early Sunday morning we arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport where we were meeting Bekah & Kyle. An hour later they arrived, our car arrived and we were off! While in Paris we were staying at this fantastic apartment on Ile Saint Louis. Ile Saint Louis is an island in the middle of the Seine, which is the river that runs through the middle of Paris. Here's how it's described:

This small island is like an oasis from the rush of the city. It's almost as if someone dropped a small French village into the center of Paris, as it features markets, bakeries, fromageries and cafés. While much of Paris has modernized over the years, the ile remains romantically frozen in the 17th century. It is remarkably the same as it was centuries ago. It is lined with adorable boutiques, is home to its own unique ice cream, features historic attractions, and boasts one of Paris' best hotels.

And that is exactly how we found it. There's so much to try and cover-- I'll do my best. This post is going to be more of an introduction and thoughts about the whole week, with more specific posts to follow.

You're probably wondering why if this post is about our overall trip-- why is it titled "Olives". Well that's simple: that was the family password. You see, since we were a little on edge, and we were in a busy foreign city-- we needed a word that one of us could say to indicate we needed help or felt scared -- immediately alerting others to our plight. Mostly it was used as a joke or to signal something very serious -- someone needed another drink.

Language. Before leaving I had read that in Paris English was not as widely spoken as in other European cities. Luckily for me, Karen had studied French and as soon as we arrived and she started dusting off her skills, it came back pretty easily. I also made sure to master some basics like: hello, please, thank you, where is the toilet, coffee, wine, etc. While I have yet to travel somewhere that I can use my awesome Spanish skills (I guess you could argue there are plenty of opportunities in Boston), my french was ok. And you would be amazed at how much you can communicate through hand gestures...

People. Also I had been led to believe that may be French people weren't the friendliest sort. I could not disagree more. Everyone we encountered was very friendly and courteous, and if anyone was rude they at least had the decency to do it behind our backs... which I appreciate. And many people spoke English or at least understood what we were saying. And again, Karen and Bekah were both pretty good at laying down some French talk when needed. Later on I've got a good story of some people we met, but that's for another post...

Overall impressions. The people are awesome. Paris is awesome. There's way too much to see. The Louvre is a cluster %#@*, so be prepared to have people all up in your grill the entire time. Buy a "Paris Pass" before you go so you can skip the lines at pretty much any museum (or better yet, get someone else's even if it has expired because no one checks). Taking a bus tour around the city is a blast, unless you're doing it close to rush hour, duh. If you go to the Modern Art museum be prepared to be appalled -- unless seeing naked people hula-hooping barbed wire on the beach is your thing (sorry for the image but I still can't shake it, and you're welcome). Or a naked woman holding a dead chicken that's bleeding all over (sorry, couldn't resist one more). It's pretty hard to find a bad meal. The Metro is one of the most efficient public transit systems around, take it everywhere. Unless you take it to a sketchy neighborhood... Try lots of new foods. Wine is cheaper than Coca-Cola. Drink as much Cafe Au Lait ("Cafe O-lay") as possible (it's basically espresso with steamed milk). There is nothing like a long meal, outside under a heater, with a group of friends, people watching in a foreign city.

What's been going on?

2010-10-14T06:23:00.000-07:00

What's been going on this fall... you might be wondering? Since Karen and the kids got back Labor Day weekend, we've all been settling back into our routine. I continue to go to work each morning and Karen wrangles the kids all day... I'm unsure which one of us has it worse... Although from the stories I hear I think people may be slightly better behaved at my office versus the playground. Although it was touch and go for a while as people were stealing yogurts out of the fridge and then other people left anonymous notes on the fridge... Long story short, eventually the stolen yogurt was replaced and the yogurt bandit has been dormant for some time.

As Annie enters her 28th month, she continues to assert herself. She is very independent. And by independent I mean she will do what she wants to do independent of how you feel. For instance, you might say, "Annie, please put down Nichol's pacifier." And then she would put it right in her mouth and run away. Or you might say, "Annie, you cannot grab snacks from other people's strollers." And then she would reach right in someone else's diaper bag and pull out some snacks.

For the most part she still takes an afternoon nap, but probably once a week she protests and refuses to sleep at all. Her new technique is to take all of her clothes off, including her diaper, and just hang out naked in her crib for two hours. You can imagine the scene you walk in on if she's doing this quietly and the full two hours have passed... Usually she starts screaming or singing at some point to alert you to the fact that you should definitely go in there to make sure she's not jumping around naked in her own feces.

Nichol continues to grow and grow and grow. He has the biggest head and sometimes I wonder how his neck can support that melon! But he has the biggest smile that goes perfect with a big dome. And I shouldn't really be talking, as I have one heck of a big head too. He's been doing much better sleeping through the night. I'd say he gets up maybe one-ish times, but he definitely will go through some 'loud sleeping' bursts where he's murmuring, or babbling, or breathing heavy. Nichol is still sleeping in our room. We're very close to putting the two kids together, but at this point we're waiting for Nichol to consistently sleep through the night before we double those kiddos up. What else? He's super wriggly and I think he'll be crawling sooner rather than later. He has a big appetite... And likes his rice cereal.

Annie and Nicholas are so cute together. Every morning when Annie wakes up the first thing out of her mouth is "Nicky wake? Where's Nicky?" She varies between calling him "Nichol, Nickodee or Nicky". She loves to give him hugs, although whenever she gets too close to him, Nichol instinctively reaches for her hair and gives it a good tug. At which point she starts crying, saying "No No Nicky! Nicky pull hair." It's pretty funny, especially since at that point she's usually been on top of him or giving him a bear hug by the time he finally grabs some hair.

Weekends have been lots of fun. Usually we try to hit up a farmers' market on Saturday mornings, then we head to the park or some other fun activity. Annie likes to be on the move and Nicholas just goes with the flow!

Next post... Apple picking!

A return to blogging...

2010-10-08T05:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend I promise to get serious and get back to business. The business of blogging I mean. Starting next week there will be lots of original content coming this way!

Oh, and if you happen to see my beautiful wife today make sure you wish her a happy birthday!

2010-09-11T14:57:00.001-07:00

Annie's 2nd new trick! This is what happens when Annie has already baked cookies & has been to the park...

Children's dance @ PAB

2010-08-27T07:48:00.000-07:00

These pictures are from the children's dance we attended a few weeks ago. It also happened to be the hottest day at the cottage. I could only use pictures from early in the evening, since after about 15 minutes at the dance everyone was covered in sweat. It must have been in the 90s and very humid. It was one of those days when you get out of the shower and just start sweating. I don't think I've ever been so uncomfortable in pants.

Annie & Bea had a ton of fun. There was a great band playing classics like the "Hokey Pokey" and the "Chicken Dance," which Annie became quite good at by the way. Annie seems to have an endless amount of energy, and despite the heat she literally never stopped moving the entire time. I do think that doing the hokey pokey managed to keep her in one place, for a somewhat extended period of time. So we may have to try incorporating that into our daily routine!

I think in total we all lasted about 45 minutes before we were all too tired/hot/ to stay any longer. After we left we went on a very long golf cart ride to cool off before dinner, and then managed to have a very pleasant, mostly sweat free evening!

Summer so far

2010-08-24T06:57:00.000-07:00

I can't believe our summer has been flying by so fast!

Here are a few pics of what's been going on. We've been doing some boating, Annie got a new tricycle, we've spent time at the cottage, and Karen and the kids have been having a great time in Grosse Pointe!

Annie's fly new whip

2010-08-12T07:38:00.000-07:00

Annie recently got a new ride! Karen and the kids have been spending August in Michigan, splitting their time between Grosse Pointe and Pointe Aux Barques. We figured this would be a great time for Annie to get her first tricycle, since there is so much more room for her to roam. And up at the cottage you don't have to worry as much about cars and all the other fun stuff that comes with living in the city.

The pedals are still a bit far for her to reach, which is probably good at this point... Since she's a bit of terror on her own, I can't imagine the havoc she will wreak when she's got full use of her wheels!

Getting more and more adventorous!

2010-08-06T08:57:00.000-07:00

Here is Annie at the park. We found this new (to us) park in Charlestown that has lots of great toys; like cars to ride around in, fun things to climb on, and a sprinkler! The fun thing about this park is that it's a good size, fenced in, there's usually a decent amount of kids Annie's age, and Annie loves it. The one drawback is the climbing structures are a bit advanced for Annie. And while she loves to climb, certain parts of it give me a mild heart attack watching her navigate around. I would say she's usually pretty good about knowing her limits and actually responds when you ask her to come back from the edge of something, usually...

The other interesting thing about the park, and all the other city playgrounds are the dynamics/politics among the parents. We try to be the laid back type, not hovering over Annie's every move in the park. Because we believe that Annie will best learn how to play with other kids and resolve differences on her own if we aren't constantly intervening. The problem arises with other parents who like to follow their child around, and happen to be right there when Annie decides to go up to their kid and take a toy he/she was playing with and take her turn with it. I think most times everyone gets that the kids are young and are still figuring things out. With those kids and those parents there usually aren't any issues. You feel bad because your kid just took a toy from another kid and apologize, and the other parent gets that it's no big deal and that's that. After a few park visits you become pretty good at spotting who will and who won't be a problem should Annie have a run in with their kid.

I think the other interesting aspect is the parks on the weekends. On Saturdays it's dad central, which is fun. It can also be complete bedlam. Let's run with the assumption that the moms are usually more organized and have everything (spare clothing, snacks, etc) needed, while most of the dads have a cup of coffee and that's about it. One of the last times we were there these two kids wanted to go through the sprinklers. Their dad didn't have swim suits, so the kids just stripped down and ran around naked. It was hilarious, and you could see some of the other moms who were there just look aghast at the situation. I was glad Annie kept her diaper on at least...

Cousins!

2010-07-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Over the 4th of July weekend Annie got see to all of her cousins!

And the exciting news was that Annie and Liv actually started playing together! Everyone was home for a combination of the holiday and Annie's 2nd birthday party.

I must say, growing up there was always plenty of room in our house, but now when everyone's home space is becoming quite the commodity! But it is a lot of fun to have the house packed with everyone and all the kids get to play together.

All about Nicholas

2010-07-14T06:58:00.000-07:00

Nicholas is 9 weeks old today! Time really does fly and it hardly seems like it's been 9 weeks. Actually it seems like he's been around for a lot longer. The trepidation you feel when you're adding to your family seems like a lot during the build-up, but after it happens, you quickly adjust and wonder how you ever got by without him.

In 9 wks Nichol has gone from a big baby weighing in at 8.5 lbs to clocking in at around 13 lbs. He is very good natured, and frequently gets a smile on his face when Annie is around. Of course, it may just be a precursor to wincing because usually Annie likes to get on top of him to give him hugs and kisses... He is a good sleeper, at night he usually makes it in at least 4 hr intervals, which is pretty handy. He has a crabby period in the evening around 7pm, but never gets inconsolable. He also has some pretty big eyes and frequently gives us a suspicious, big eyed look -- almost like he's about to say "whach you talkin' 'bout Willis."

He's already really strong, standing for bursts of time and has great head control. And probably the most surprising thing to people is that he's only 9 wks old... I think someone even remarked that we must be feeding him cream instead of milk.

Annie's 2nd Birthday Party Throw Down!

2010-07-12T07:07:00.000-07:00

Annie's 2nd birthday was a few weeks ago. We had her party in NY over 4th of July weekend when all of her cousins would be in town. For her party Annie did not have too many requests. She's pretty easy going, for the most part, but she did have one request. When we asked her what kind of food she wanted, she said 'peppo-wroni pizzah.' Recently pepperoni pizza is her favorite food. She requests it at every meal and in every restaurant.

So the menu was pretty simply. Lots of pepperoni pizza... Instead of birthday cake Karen made these awesome banana cupcakes. Bananas are still pretty high on Annie's list, and she loved these cupcakes. Throw in some sides and sodas and you're all set!

For the big party my parents had the idea of renting a bouncy house. And man was that a great idea! Everyone loved it, it kept the kids in an enclosed area and they never got tired of it! We had the bouncy house for the whole weekend, it got a lot of use. We also had a double slip-n-slide, which was awesome. There's not too much better than a slip-n-slide on a hot day! Overall the party was a blast. We were so glad to have it at my parents where all of Annie's cousins could attend, and we could not have asked for better weather! Thanks again to everyone who came and made Annie's second birthday party a ton of fun!

Story time

2010-07-10T17:28:00.000-07:00

Now that Nichol has entered the fray we've adjusted our routine accordingly. Some things we've tweaked, and some things we've been able to keep the same. Story time has remained pretty much the same. In the evenings Annie gets a bath, and then after her bath we read a book. Annie loves being a big sister so she likes having Nicholas next to her during story time.

Annie's favorite book used to be "I want a Dog" which we must have read every night for about 3 months. In the past few weeks that has changed and now her favorite book is "The Three Little Pigs" which probably gets read to her at least twice a day. Many days I'll read that to her in the morning, Karen will read it during the day and then it will get read again that night before bed! We're starting to get pigged out!

Hamming it up

2010-06-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent pics of Annie and Nichol. Annie continues to show a very outgoing and playful personality, and Nichol is beginning to stay awake more and request attention.

Tuesday, the 29th is Annie's 2nd birthday! Hard to believe in two years time we went from no kids to two kids! My have things changed for the Fergusons, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Tomorrow we will be celebrating Annie's birthday at home, with her favorite dinner - Pepporini Pizza. Or as she says it, "peppowroooni pizzha." We can't figure out when this became her favorite meal, and we're fairly certain she was referring to something else at first, because she would call everything pepperoni pizza. But now it's official, when she says peppowroooni pizzha she means pepperoni pizza. This weekend we'll be in upstate NY for the holiday, so we're having her formal party at Magga & Pappa's and all of her cousins will be able to share in her big day!

New kitchen / early birthday present

2010-06-25T08:28:00.000-07:00

Some of you loyal readers may know that our condo has been on the market. And as I'm sure anyone who has sold a home knows, having your place on the markets stinks. The market in Boston has been a little soft so it's taken longer than we thought it would. But we figured that if we're going to be staying in our current place, we should get the most out of our space. For the entire time we've lived in our apt the 2nd bedroom has always had an extra full sized bed for guests. And then when Annie arrived the room was big enough for the bed and her crib. All of this was fine, until Nichol came along and Karen was able to stay home full time with both kids.

The unintended consequence was Annie needed more room to play in since she was home all day. So we unloaded the double bed from her room and made a new play space for her. We also bought her a play kitchen set and some new pots and pans! She loves this kitchen, and she loves her new play area in her room. It's one of those things where after we did it, we both asked ourselves what took us so long. And since that space where the bed was is still open, whenever guests come we'll have an air mattress they can use. Win win.

Pimp my ride

2010-06-24T07:32:00.000-07:00

With the arrival of another Ferguson, Karen and I were faced with the age old question, "to double stroller or not to double stroller." One of the reasons we purchased our stroller originally was because in addition to all the souped up accessories it came with -- you could also expand it into a double stroller when needed.

We purchased the UppaBaby Vista because it was so flexible. When you have a baby, there's an attachment to let you clip the car seat into the stroller (eliminating the need for a snap n go frame), or there is a bassinet that you can lay the baby in. When the baby can sit up, there's a child seat that snaps in. And you can you also change the direction the seat is facing so the child faces you, or faces forward. Which comes in pretty handy on sunny days.

And I think the coolest attachment is the Rumble Seat, which you can see Annie in. At first we were a bit hesitant because we didn't know if she'd like facing rear and not much of a view. So the first time we put her in there we gave her snacks, toys and books and it was like her own little space. She loves it and it's so cute to see her stick her head slightly out of the side to watch what's going on. And the other great thing about the Rumble Seat is that it didn't increase the width of the stroller at all. That's a good thing because a lot of the streets in town can be narrow, not to mention trying to navigate the subway and in and out of stores and restaurants... you get the point.

The other option was a stand that would attach to the front of the stroller where Annie could stand and hang onto the stroller while it was being pushed. We toyed with that option, but worried that Annie might get tired on longer walks and we also questioned how well she would hang on and for how long... We figured at least with the rumble seat we could strap her in, so even if she wasn't to keen on the idea she'd be forced to stay in one place! And you can probably tell from the photos above that Annie wasn't too keen on having her photo taken at that moment.

Nichol's first bath!

2010-06-22T06:11:00.000-07:00

Nichol's first bath! And even though I'm about a month late posting this, I promise that it did not take us a month to give him a bath! The first bath at home is always a bit tricky. I remember when we brought Annie home that was the one thing we were so nervous about, and we were definitely nervous giving Nichol his first bath.

Luckily Grandma Drummy was in town that week, so we had someone to take photos while Karen and I concentrated on not dropping Nichol down the drain! As you can see from most of the photos, it actually looks like he is having a not so bad time. I'm happy to report we all got through the first bath relatively unscathed and most importantly, no one got peed on.

Rainy days and Mondays always get me down...

2010-06-21T17:30:00.000-07:00

Here is Annie modeling some of the latest in inclement weather attire. The frog wellies she is wearing we actually bought last summer when we were in Seattle. At the time, we were not very good at estimating her size by looking at items... The boots are still pretty big and when you pick her up most times they go flying. But she loves wearing them around! She also likes going out in the rain, the minute she gets outside she says "rain" over and over and has the biggest smile on her face.

Memorial day mayhem

2010-06-20T17:42:00.000-07:00

Pretty late with the posting... but here are some pics from Memorial Day weekend. Nicholas was only a few weeks old and was a real trooper on the car ride from Boston to upstate NY. Annie on the other hand, is becoming a bit of a handful and doesn't have as much fun in the car as she used to. At least when you're in the car for 5 hrs.

We had a lot of fun seeing family and Annie had so much fun with all her cousins she got to play with!

Oldie but goodie

2010-06-04T14:38:00.001-07:00

This video was taken last winter when Jordan broke his ankle. We were
all hanging out in the hospital & Sam was showing everyone his spy
kids moves, pretty impressive!!

Visit to the NE Aquarium

2010-06-02T07:29:00.000-07:00

Still cleaning out some older posts... I can't quite remember when we took Annie to the NE Aquarium, but I know it was in the last two months. This was Annie's first time here, and she really loved it. The aquarium is great, it's located on the waterfront and basically is centered around this huge aquarium in the middle. Kind of long a really long cylinder filled with all sorts of animals that you'd find in the ocean. You walk along this ramp that goes up to the top of the aquarium, and along the way are detours on each floor, until you get to the top and can peer down into the aquarium.

It's a lot of fun, and since we went on a weekend, it was very busy. Luckily we got there early so by the time we were leaving to go have lunch, everyone else was just showing up. Boy was I glad we got there early... It's hard to say what Annie's favorite parts were. Overall the aquarium was a huge hit, she loves turtles, and she loved this interactive portion where you got to touch starfish and other harmless aquatic life.

Of parks, playgrounds and subways

2010-05-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

Annie loves being outside! This is a far cry from last summer when she had serious issues with grass. In the weeks leading up to Nichol's birth, pretty much every nice weekend we were getting out there and doing stuff with Annie. She's at the age now where she loves to be active and can't sit still for long!

We're also very fortunate to have so many great parks so close to us. Annie hasn't found a playground yet that she doesn't like! Annie also really likes riding the subway. She loves watching trains and trucks, and especially likes seeing firetrucks.

Beach blanket bingo!

2010-05-26T08:03:00.000-07:00

We've been having some great weather lately in Boston. Since I have gone back to work, Karen has started her new job, wrangling Annie & Nicholas full-time!

The hot weather has been somewhat of a challenge because we don't want the kids to overheat at the park, so why not take them to the beach!

Misc Annie

2010-05-25T06:24:00.000-07:00

Annie has been adjusting quite nicely to her new little brother. And luckily the bouncy seat we have can still support her weight! Although she is always giving Nick-o-dee kisses when he's around, and wondering where he is when she can't see him, she doesn't miss an opportunity to jump into an empty bouncy seat!

Annie has also been asserting herself more... As you can see from the bottom photo, that's Annie in her time out corner, where she has been finding herself more and more. Most of the time Annie is really good and does what she is told. And sometimes she just wants to do what she wants to do. So in those situations Annie gets a time out and has to look at the corner. Her timeouts usually go something like this:
Justin: Annie, timeout.
Annie: No.
Justin: Go to the corner
(Annie sits in the corner, facing out)
Justin: Annie, turn around.
(Annie turns around. Then turns back around)
Justin: Annie, turn around.

You get the drift... Picture that same scene replaying itself over and over again for the next 5 minutes. She's pretty funny and has a very playful personality so most times it is very hard to stay serious when punishing her.

First Family Outing

2010-05-24T07:30:00.000-07:00

Our first family outing was to the park! Here is everyone at the Bunker Hill Monument. We like coming here because there is a large grassy area that Annie can run around in, and there are always lots of dogs. Annie is in love with dogs. The minute she sees a dog she starts screaming "Doggie!" and runs full speed towards the dog.

Last Sunday we had an open house so we had to get out of the house, and luckily it was a beautiful day to go to the park. We brought a picnic and everyone had great time! Nichol liked being outside and enjoyed the fresh air, and I had a lot of fun chasing Annie down. She also loves jumping. Sometimes instead of walking or running places, she will jump. If she finds any ledge or curb she immediately gets on top and then jumps off! She also really like stairs. She will go up and down and up and down any stairs over and over again.

Nichol continues to be a pretty easy little guy to handle. He's still been sleeping about 80-90% of the time, and at night sleeps in 4 hr chunks, which is awesome.

The best big sister!

2010-05-19T07:06:00.000-07:00

In the blink of an eye Annie has become the best big sister! While this pregnancy seemed to fly by (at least for me!), one of the things we were worried about was how Annie was going to adjust to have a little brother. We read lots of articles about the best way to prepare your child for a new sibling, bought some books for Annie about getting a new brother, and heard some horror stories from other parents. We also bought a gift for Annie from the new baby... so we thought we did as much as we could. And as you can see from the pics above Annie has welcomed Nichol with open (sometimes too open) arms.

She loves to kiss the baby, and point out his mouth, nose, ears and eyes. She gives lots of hugs to Nichol and is beginning to incorporate him into our family. When we ask who's in our family, she says "Mommy, daddy..... Annnn-O!!!" and occasionally we get Nick-o-dee. And now that Nichol is here, she has pretty much given up on trying to reclaim her bouncy seat and bassinet. Although she still lounges in the bouncy seat for old times sake when he's not in there.

Announcing the arrival of Nicholas Harold Ferguson

2010-05-18T07:11:00.000-07:00

On May 12 @ 12:02 am Nicholas "Nichol" Harold Ferguson was born! It's only been a week, but we can't even imagine things around here without him! We think he looks a lot like Annie as a baby. They have very similar coloring and temperament. In the few days he's been home from the hospital, he has begun sleeping in 4 hr-ish blocks at night, which is awesome! Although he does have a touch of jaundice too, just like Annie. His bout looks to be clearing up sooner than Annie's, so that has been nice.

Annie is also adjusting well to her role as Big Sister. It's funny, until Nichol came we had no idea how big of a little girl Annie is! It seems like overnight she became this big girl who can do so much on her own. Including escaping from her crib... There's a bed next to her crib that she uses as a crash pad when she comes tumbling over the side of her crib. Last weekend we had an open house, and while we thought she was sleeping and we were picking up the house and cleaning, it turns out she wasn't asleep. She was tearing all the clothes out of her drawers and ripping everything out of the cabinet!

As we settle into our new routine, look for new content in the next few weeks as I have tons of overdue material to post!

Enough said

2010-04-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

From "The Big Picture"
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/

Easter weekend

2010-04-16T08:28:00.000-07:00

Easter weekend was really nice in Boston. The weather was sunny and warm, and we got the chance to take Annie all over Charlestown. First up we headed to the Bunker Hill Monument where we played on the grass and Annie chased after dogs.

She also got to meet some new kids and has a lot of fun going up to strangers... We're working on that one. Our condo is on the market, so during the Open House on Sunday we took Annie to a playground near the Navy Yard.

We were local this year so we headed up to Marblehead for Easter. Even though we've been trying to be better about taking more pics, we don't have any from Easter... Sorry. Also, I realize I've been in the weeds lately with this blog, hopefully in the next few weeks I be able to catch up...

Great expectations

2010-03-24T07:48:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while for fun before I clean out my spam folder I will look through the emails. Of course 99% of it is complete crap, but once in a while a spammer has come up with a creative tag line to sell erectile dysfunction medication or help increase your stamina, and I think it's funny. The other day I was going through my spam folder and started to wonder, what if it wasn't all crap? What if some of these come ons were actually true?

I mean, if just some of these were true, my job could be recession proof, I'd have access to the best oil play in '10 and I'd be getting discounts of 72-80%, pretty sweet huh? Something to think about...

New cousin!

2010-03-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we met our new cousin, Ryan James Almasy. We had a lot of fun meeting him, and Annie's favorite part was getting to see two dogs! Annie still has a pretty severe case of dog fever, I'm hoping she grows out of it because I don't think I can handle having a dog.

Vacation, all I ever wanted...

2010-03-13T08:43:00.000-08:00

Last week we went to Florida... and it was the best! The best timing, we all needed a break from the dreary northeast weather. It was sunny every day. The first few days the temp was in the 60s, but each day got a little warmer and it was in the 70s when we left. Of course, when we came back to Boston it was sunny and 60 too!

All of the Drummys were down there and we rented a condo on Hutchinson Island. Annie and Bea had a whole week to play together and they had a great time. They also started picking up eachother's habits. For example, Bea loves to carry around her blanket. Normally, Annie does not carry around a blanket or care which blanket she uses at home. After seeing Bea and her blankie Annie decided she would carry her's around. The first few days after we got home she carried it around, but she has begun to stop. And we've heard that Bea now goes to sleep right away just like her cousin.

Every day was very relaxing. We would go for a walk in the morning, the girls would play, go out for lunch, and then the girls would take a nap. After they woke up we then went to the beach or headed to the pool. It was a great week and it was a lot of fun to be able to spend a week together!

Annie the little helper

2010-02-26T06:35:00.000-08:00

Annie has become quite the little helper lately. It all started one day when we were in the kitchen, and Annie was being Annie... meaning she was probably doing a lot of things that she wasn't supposed to, so we pulled a chair over so she could stand at the counter and see what we were doing. Well, ever since that point any time either of us is doing anything in the kitchen Annie immediately goes for a chair and starts squealing until she's right in the middle of the action.

Here she is playing in the sink. I don't know why, but you just put some water in there and a few kitchen utensils and she will stand there and splash and play for hours.

Poor Jordan (warning, graphic photos...)

2010-02-24T07:56:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was the last wrestling tournament of Jordna's collegiate career. And since he basically threatened all of us by saying we'd be dead to him if we didn't show, we all met up in Springfield for the big event. And big event it was. We arrived about 15 minutes before his first match...

The match begins, Jordan is doing great. Not much happens in the first period, Jordan would later say he was working on tiring his opponent out. Second period, Jordan wins the coin toss and chooses bottom, which I'm assuming is so he can escape or get a reversal and post some points on the board. Within about 45 seconds of the second period Jordan is on his way to escaping, and his opponent has his leg... and next thing you know the guy went one way and Jordan tried to go the other way and all you can hear are three very loud screams.

Boom... the poor kid broke his ankle. We went down to the mat to see what was going on, and they had called an ambulance to take him to the hospital. What a bummer. We then all went to the ER at the hospital in Springfield, and what a sight... The ER, Jordan's ankle, the whole shebang.

I've been told the pics below are pretty graphic and not for the squemish. They don't really bother me, but if seeing bone potruding bothers you (there's no broken skin) I would stop here...

The good news for Jordan was at least once he got in the ambulance and to the hospital they managed to give him enough pain killers so he was comfortable, because as you can imagine, I don't think it's very pleasant to have one of your bones sticking out where it's not supposed to be...

All in all, things went as well as they could. Jordan ended up having surgery to repair his ankle, and was able to have the surgery and make it back to school without missing too many classes, right Jord? And luckily at the hospital we were all able to find a separate waiting area that we could all wait in and the kids could play without being in the middle of everything.

One thing I will say is Jordan sure knows how to make things interesting!

Long weekend...

2010-02-17T08:08:00.000-08:00

Is there anything better than a three day weekend? Not much... Couple that with Valentine's Day and... well we don't really care too much about Valentine's Day. That's because I treat everyday with Karen as Valentine's Day. Vomit. Just kidding. Partially, I digress.

For Valentine's day we decided to go out to brunch, and after making some calls and finding out we were too late to get reservations where we really wanted to go, we ended up at the Seaport Hotel on the waterfront in South Boston. The brunch was actually pretty good, and getting there was very easy and there's plenty of parking and since it was a Sunday parking on the street was free, bonus! As you can see from the photos on top, Annie got a brand new red dress for the occasion, and was in pretty good spirits.

At the hotel, the brunch was pretty standard. Pancakes, eggs, sausage, bacon, eggs bene, etc. Annie was very well-behaved at the table, bonus. However, there was this woman who felt the need to crane her head around every few minutes to stare at Annie and not smile. Weird. Oh well. After brunch the hotel had a nice lobby so we figured we'd let Annie loose for a bit to stretch her legs. She had a great time running around the lobby... until it was time to go home. Cue to the pics below.

Trying to get Annie to get out from under the table so we could leave did not go very well. First she tried getting further under the table, then she went to full on meltdown. Luckily we were parked right out front so we ditched the coat and just strapped her right into her car seat. That also didn't go so well... But by the time we got home she had tired herself sufficiently to take a nap with minimal fuss. And yes, I'm that guy who will take pics of his daughter while she's screaming so that I can later post it on my blog. Sorry, it's a lot of pressure coming up with new material all the time!

The rest of the weekend was pretty boring -- errands, walks, grocery shopping, gym, tan, laundry -- and that's about it. And that was a Jersey Shore reference, Annie is too young to tan.

Annie Bananas & Marvin?

2010-02-14T14:02:00.000-08:00

With the impending arrival of BBF (baby boy Ferguson), or Marvin (don't ask)... I've been thinking it might be time to change the name of the blog. I wouldn't want either child to get a complex or something because one has a blog named after her/him, etc. But the problem is it was hard enough to come up with a name for it in the first place, and updating one blog is enough work... so I'm taking suggestions.

I figure if all three of our readers suggest a new name, that's three more to choose from!

Food, Inc.

2010-02-13T06:24:00.000-08:00

We interrupt this blog for a non-Annie post.

Has everyone seen this movie yet? If not, I really think you should. Basically this movie shows what goes on behind the scenes in the industrial food complex. I first heard about this movie during a class I was taking last fall about corporate citizenship, and a few weeks ago we watched it.

If you haven't seen it, or don't plan on seeing it, here are some summary points. Animals are treated extremely inhumane. Cows are raised in very large pens, crammed with other cows and spend all of their lives confined and covered in excrement. The farms they are brought up on are so big that they produce so much waste that the manure is toxic and put in huge pools, which then seep into the underground water tables, contaminating it. The slaughtering of cows is even more appalling. There is image after image of sick cows coated in feces being carted into the slaughter house, working their way into our food supply. Chickens. Chickens used to take about 3 mos to fully develop and now they are pumped so full of drugs that they reach adulthood in 30 days, developing so fast that they cannot even support their own weight. And the chickens on these huge factory farms are kept in dark, window-less structures for their entire lives. Pigs? You should watch the movie.

Basically the movie demonstrates how the government (lest you think it hasn't done anything for you) keeps the price of our food artificially low by subsidizing the production of corn, which is then fed to livestock. There are only a few extremely large multi-national corporations that control almost 90% of our food supply. These corporations in turn keep their farmers in a form of indentured servitude by constantly requiring new capital investments and involve the farmers continually taking out more and more debt to meet the corporations' needs. And since the farmers are in so much debt, they have no choice but to do everything the corporations tell them out of fear their contracts will be terminated and then they will be left without the means to pay their bills and provide for their family.

What can you do? A few things. The first thing is to eat less meat. If you're not swayed by the treatment of these animals, study after study has shown that diets based around plant-based food rather than animals are healthier. When you buy meat, buy organic. Organic meat is important for many reasons. Mainly, organic animals aren't pumped full of pharmaceuticals, the animals spend 2/3 of their lives out of confinement, and the animals are not fed genetically modified food.

That's all... we will return to our regularly scheduled programming momentarily...

New diapers

2010-02-10T06:38:00.000-08:00

Here you can see Annie modelling her new G diapers. However, she doesn't fully understand how they work yet. You see, these diapers are 'hybrids' that have the qualities of reusable diapers, but the benefits of disposal diapers. How is that possible you ask? Well the short story is they have disposable inserts that can be flushed or thrown away because they are 100% biodegradable. They also have cloth reusable inserts, but we have neither the time nor the inclination for that option.

Last weekend was the first time that we tried these out, and so far so good. They've been through the full spectrum of 'uses' with minimal leaks. I'm trying not to be too descriptive because that kind of stuff does gross me out. Just like those annoyingly graphic but not Charmin commercials with the bears trying to get the pieces of toilet paper out of their bums. The website claims that if there's any leaks basically it's your fault and you haven't put the diaper on right, so we're still trying to get the ideal fit down, but there hasn't been anything traumatic that is keeping us from trying.

Annie has also been dealing with a raging case of diaper rash, so we thought the timing was pretty ideal to switch up her diapers and see if it would make a difference.

A visit to the Children's Museum

2010-02-07T10:31:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we headed to the Children's Museum located on the waterfront downtown. It's been pretty cold here, so we've been trying to find places where Annie can go and burn off some steam that does not involve her running around and destroying our apartment. Seriously. And since our apartment is pretty compact, especially when you close off the bedrooms it takes Bananas all of about 30 seconds to trash the place. First, she starts in the living room, where she gets all of her toys out of the corner. Then she empties out all of the toys that are under the coffee and end table. After that, she picks up a few puzzle pieces and balls from the floor - places them in her Halloween pumpkin candy bag - puts that in her baby stroller... and the terror really begins. Heading out of the living room she stops in the dining room, checking to see if anything on the table is within arm's length - if so it's on the floor - then onto the kitchen.

Most of the cabinets in the kitchen we have secured, however there are two she has access to. The tupperware cabinet, natch. And a misc. baking supply cabinet you might remember from the "Over-under-inside-on top of' pic, because she likes to climb in. Once in the kitchen it takes her about 45 sec to have both cabinets completely emptied and strewn throughout the kitchen. And if we're really lucky, then she takes the empty Poland Springs 5 gallon bottles and rolls it like a steam roller operator over everything. And if this is a Saturday or Sunday - picture this happening over and over again for the next five hours. So you can imagine our dismay when it's cold out. Because Annie needs to burn off steam, and we need it not to be at our house!

The good news is that there are tons of places around Boston where we can let Annie run amok, and the best part is that we don't have to deal with the mess!

So, back to the Children's Museum. It's a great place, with tons of activities for children. One of the coolest activities Annie was still too small for. It's the giant vertical maze-like structure that's probably two stories high and encased in netting. A few years ago when our nephews Jackson and Sam came to visit we took them there and they loved climbing through it. Although watching it from the sidelines is a bit wrenching thinking that at any moment a kid is going to come tumbling down and down and down, etc. But it looks pretty safe actually and in the times we've been there we've yet to see any kids taken out on stretchers so, that's good. But there were plenty of other exhibits for her to enjoy, and in one of the play areas one of the employees was blowing massive amounts of bubbles that Annie went crazy for, she loves bubbles! All of us had a great time, and I'm sure we'll be back soon!

Inside, outside, under, over-on-top-of

2010-01-18T11:23:00.000-08:00

Annie's favorite show is Sesame Street. And on SS they cover concepts like inside/outside and under/over. So I thought today I'd put together some photos of Annie in various states. She loves going inside cabinets. She will go all the way under any bed or crib if she thinks there could be a pacificer lurking somewhere under there. And even though she started out hating grass, she's come a long way and now loves being outdoors. We pretty much always try and take her outside on the weekends, unless the wind chill has made it pretty unbearable.

We've had a couple of great snow storms so far this winter. The nice part about snow in the city is that it usually doesn't stick around too long. The last storm was New Year's weekend, and we were in Ohio so we missed it. Annie is undecided about the snow, but is giving it a chance. I'll let you know when she returns a verdict.

Paranormal Activity...

2010-01-15T06:18:00.000-08:00

... Karen's no longer allowed to watch scary movies.

So last Saturday night we rented this movie. Karen has been dying to see this movie, and has tried numerous times in the past few weeks to watch it. First she tried to download it and watch it on the flight to Ohio, but it wasn't available for rent, only to buy, then she tried to watch it on demand, but it wasn't available... So finally she went old school and drove to Blockbuster. It's been so long that we physically rented a movie that the address for me that was on file was my Gordon College address, 8 years ago.

Without trying to ruin this movie... It's about this couple dealing with a haunting/ghost/paranormal activity. It's about 90 minutes. I made it through the first hour, then fell asleep. I awoke to Karen screaming and clutching my leg on the couch. She was very freaked out. We decided that we couldn't go straight to bed, so we thought an Intervention would make us feel better and help us forget about the movie. I was mildly freaked out, but not too bad. We made it halfway through the Intervention when the on demand crapped out and we had to stop watching it, so we went to bed. I fell asleep pretty easy, but I think it took Karen a while. But what I do remember... it was some point in the middle of the night and I heard something, and looked up to see something running from the bathroom towards the bed. I may have yelled. Then Karen yelled. We both scared the crap out of each other.

Me: why are you running!

Karen: I'm scared, stop yelling!

Karen was running out of the bathroom and back into bed. It's like 10-15 feet by the time you make it around the bed... Then it took some time for us to fall back to sleep, and Bananas woke us up right at 6... which we were both pretty stoked to see that it was daylight out. I'd like to say we learned something, like maybe to stop watching scary movies, or how about not running from the bathroom back to bed, but I doubt it.

Two birds, one stone

2010-01-13T06:08:00.000-08:00

While we were in Ohio, we got to see Larry, Alex and Bea. They drove up from Dayton for the day, and we all met at the COSI center (the science center, not the sandwich place). http://www.cosi.org/

Annie and Bea had so much fun playing together. There is this huge child activity center where there's all these great places for them to play, and a big water part play area. We put Annie and Bea in raincoats and let them loose! Annie kept putting every toy in her mouth, which got a little gross after a while considering all the kids running around in there, but what can you do? We had a great time and it was nice to see everyone!

Ohio!

2010-01-10T13:19:00.000-08:00

For New Year's we headed out to Ohio and to visit our friends, the Kessels. They moved to Columbus over the summer, and we haven't seen them since they left.

Annie continues to be a pretty resilent traveller. The original plan was we were to fly out of Logan New Year's eve on a 3 o'clock flight, arrive in Columbus at 5 and start cooking a big meal at 6. Only it started snowing pretty heavily in Boston starting around noon, which caused the plane we were supposed to take to Columbus to be unable to land, and it was diverted to Hartford, yada yada yada. Once it landed in Hartford they had to refuel, get cleared for takeoff, land in Boston, and repeat the process before we could takeoff... Finally our plane left at about 6:30pm. Somehow Annie was able to keep it together the whole time in the airport. She made lots of friends in the terminal, and luckily we were in terminal A and there's a great kids play area so she spent a lot of time in there as well.

We were very grateful to finally make it into Columbus and we had a great time! Annie and Mason picked up where they left off and had so much fun playing together! I think their favorite activity was to ride around together in the wagon. They would have stayed in there for hours if only someone would have kept pulling them around, and around, and around... Coincidentally enough, the whole time we were in Columbus it snowed there too! It was a nice light snow that made everything pretty pleasant. We took Annie for a long walk on the golf course and pulled her behind in a sled. She loved that. I have some video that I'll try to add later.

Of course we ate out a bunch... and we had some great meals! For dinner we had fondue, at the Melting Pot. First you have a cheese course, then a meat course in either broth or oil (we picked broth) and then you have the chocolate course... which was phenomenal. There's also some pretty good Italian restaurants in Columbus and this great bistro, Bon Vie. I think the bistro was my favorite, although the Italian place was pretty sweet too. We got to spend a total of about 5 days in Ohio, and it was such a great time and so much fun to be able to see the Kessels for so long. It felt just like they still lived down the street from us in Charlestown!

Happy Christmas!

2010-01-10T11:34:00.000-08:00

This year we spent Christmas in upstate NY. We left on the Wednesday before Christmas and had a very pleasant drive. It normally takes about five hours to get there, and the minute we hit the Berkshires it snowed the whole way home! Luckily it was a light snow, and not the normal snow that begins accumulating right away and you have to drive 35 mph and can only see five feet in front of you. Annie is still a pretty great rider. During the whole five hour trip she maybe got a bit ornery for a total of ten minutes?

We were in NY for five non-stop days of food, family and friends. Annie had a great time and Christmas is becoming a lot of fun for her! This year she got a ton of presents, mainly because we didn't get much for her last year. She really liked unwrapping presents and playing with her new toys. I think the biggest hit was the Rody. That's the red donkey/burro-ish toy she's riding.

Annie always plays on it at this store we go to, so we tracked one down for her and gave it to her for Christmas. I thought I was being good by also buying an air pump too to make sure we had a way to blow it up after she unwrapped it. After messing around with for about 20 minutes, I couldn't figure out why the pump seemed to be the wrong size and none of the different sized needles fit. So annoyed. Karen to the rescue. After about 30 seconds she figured out what the problem was and had the Rody blown up in now time. Everybody loved it, and the best part is that the weight limit is 400 lbs! I know, a bit unbelieveable. But there were some people who tried it out and it survived! Now that it's at home, in addition to riding it, Annie has found another purpose for it. Stepping stool. She picks up or drags the Rody where she wants to go, and then pushes it on its side and then uses it to help her reach hard to reach places! Great for her, not so great for us.

Annie also had her first haircut right before Christmas. Her hair is getting pretty curly, which is a big part of the reason she hasn't gotten a haircut sooner, because she had a mullet. But since the back of her was so curly you couldn't really tell that the back was so much longer than the rest, but it was starting to get noticeable so Karen took care of it.

Can you tell how to get to...

2009-12-21T06:46:00.000-08:00

I'm not one of those people who really mind winter. I like the snow, the cold isn't that bad, and in general I like the change in seasons. What I don't like about winter though, is the fact that it gets dark here at 4:30. Recently I've been noticing that it seems like everyone has a GPS unit in their car. The pic above was actually taken while we were at a stop light, and I just had to get a shot so everyone knew what I was talking about.

I'm dumbfounded by the amount of people who have GPS systems in their car. Driving around at night it seems like literally everyone has one. All the time. I mean, who are all these people that don't know where they are going? Have we all just entirely forgotten where things are and we'd be absolutely paralyzed without our GPS systems?

Thanksgiving part - III

2009-12-11T06:42:00.000-08:00

Shake, rattle and roll! Annie loves to dance. Black Friday. Karen and I both had to work, but were able to get out early and meet up for lunch. We all had a great late lunch at the Union Oyster House. The weather outside was pretty dismal - cold and rainy. So after a short walk we ended up at this other place for a drink before we headed back. Since we had Annie, we wanted a place that was somewhat dead so that she could tear around and not bother anyone. We found the perfect place with a sweet corner booth, and an area behind it that Annie could play in.

The waitstaff was super accomodating, and it helped that Annie made friends with all of them!

Thanksgiving part - II

2009-12-04T18:45:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving day! You couldn't ask for a better day. The sun was shining and the air was brisk. After a breakfast of toast, poached eggs, coffee and tea, we all headed out for a walk. We walked from our apt to the Charlestown Monument. Which felt like it was totally uphill from us... but great exercise in preparation of the massive amounts of food that would be consumed in a few short hours.

Once we made it to the Monument, we let Annie out of her stroller and she took off! She ran from one place to the next, chased after people with dogs, and wandered up next to every kid she saw. She is very social, I don't know where she gets it from. Karen and I often joke how unfriendly we are... and we're not doing it on purpose, but I think living in a city hardens you a bit. You don't talk to strangers, most times you don't even make eye contact with them. We don't know our neighbors, and we've lived in our condo for the past 5 yrs... I know, pathetic. But another fringe benefit of having kids is that they don't care who someone is.

One of Annie's favorite things to do is say hi to strangers, and if they are not paying attention to her, watch out, because she will not stop until they acknowledge her. Much to her parents chagrin. During Annie's exercise, there was an incident. As she was running down the sidewalk chasing a little boy, she took a tumble and scratched her face. When I picked her up there was blood running down the tip of her nose. A superficial scratch, but traumatic none the least. Was it bad that (after I saw she was alright of course), the first thing that ran through my mind was from the Brady Bunch. It was the episode when Greg hit Marcia in the nose with a football and she was all, "Now I'll never be a teen model." I know parents aren't supposed to laugh at times like this, but sometimes you can't help it!

Finally, it was time for the ma marsin event. We headed up to the Kattmans in Marblehead. We were so excited not to be travelling for once! We had a great time, and Addie - freshman at Alabama, made a surprise appearance! We had no idea the feast that was in store for us... Karen and Joan made two sides to take, roasted corn with mint and the classic, mashed potatoes. The Kattmans had the turkey, natch, sweet potatoes w/ marshmallows, cornbread stuffing w/ sausage, green bean casserole, two kinds of cranberry sauce... the list goes on and on! Everything was awesome... awesome. My mouth is watering again just writing about this.

And then, if all of that food wasn't enough, we had apple pie a la mode and key lime cheesecake. Wowser. So good. After that meal we came home, but Annie to bed, and then followed her shortly.

A Drummy Thanksgiving - part I

2009-12-03T06:37:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was great! Since I haven't updated in a while and I have a bunch of photos I'm breaking this into a few posts. Although there are no photos for this post...

Grandma and Grandpa Drummy came into town the day before Thanksgiving. That evening we went to our new favorite restaurant, the Highland Kitchen in Somerville.

http://www.highlandkitchen.com/
I love the atmosphere there. When you walk in, the bar is always crowded with people, the lights are low and intimate, and the music is slightly loud causing everyone to speak louder than normal. This place just has great energy, and awesome specials. The first time we went there, the special was venison stroganoff. It was awesome. And, on Monday nights they serve homemade fried chicken, with mashed potatoes, greens and a biscuit. Are you kidding? Luckily I have class Monday nights so we've only been once, but if I didn't I'm sure we'd be there almost every single Monday... and weigh alot.

We all had great dinners... Joan had quail, awesome. Larry had a steak, awesome. I had chicken, awesome. And I just forgot what Karen had, but I'm sure it too was awesome. Annie is another story... She's getting to that age where she's becoming less and less fun to take out. There, I said it! Now we love taking her out, and we'll continue to do so, but she's quite the little character. She also loves attention. I mentioned how a couple of weeks ago at breakfast she kept throwing things at this guy in the next table, well this night she kept shouting until these people at the next table would pay attention to her. Then she would laugh and smile, and throw stuff. Then they would try and get back to their dinner, and she would get their attention again. And then laugh and smile... Man, she is trouble...

After dinner we headed back to the apt and put Bananas to bed. The rest of us headed to bed shortly thereafter so we could rest up for the big day ahead...

Of diapers and wipes...

2009-11-19T06:25:00.000-08:00

At my house, diapers can be a hot topic. Sounds exciting doesn't it? The talk usually boils down to two sides, 1) preference for one brand and 2) preference for something decent, but mainly preference for the price. I'm sure you can figure out who comes down on what side of this debate... What has recently entered into the discussion is also trying to be more conscious of the products we're using, and their effects on everything else. Add to this Karen and Annie being gone for the weekend a few weeks ago, and with way too much time on my hands... I set about trying to find some good deals that would not only satisfy me from a price consideration, Karen from a brand perspective and everyone from a 'are we doing what we can' perspective. Enter Amazon.

Oh Amazon... how I've loved you for finding me books to read, and introducing me to so many things that I didn't know existed until you suggested it. But Amazon also sells diapers and wipes, and anything else you can imagine. A friend of mine before had told me about buying diapers there, and so I figured I should give it a try. Most of the 'grocery' items Amazon sells you have to buy in bulk, which is fine because if there's something you don't want to run out of, it's diapers and wipes.

Normally we buy a value box of diapers from Costco for about $44. At Amazon, you can get the same box for about the same price, and they throw in free two-day shipping. But where you really save some cash, is if you 'subscribe' to the item, and have it delivered on a regular basis. If you do that, they will shave 15% off the price. Not too bad. With these cost savings, we were able to spring for the 7th Generation diapers and wipes. What's great about the 7th Gen diapers, is that they do not use chlorine to dye the wood pulp white during the making of their diapers. This is good because using chlorine releases chlorinated toxins during the pulp production process.

Costco doesn't sell 7th Generation diapers, so if we were to buy them somewhere else, they would cost about $52 for the same amount. With the 15% discount, we only paid $37, not too bad. And onto the wipes, we were even happier, because it's pretty hard to find wipes that do not contain alcohol. And when Annie has diaper rash, the alcohol in the wipes is brutal. But guess what wipes don't contain alcohol? That's right, 7th Generation. Picked those up from Amazon too, and same deal. Subscribe to the item and in addition to the free shipping you get 15% off, not too bad.

Now the wipes were pretty expensive relative to what we had been buying. Costco sells wipes under their brand name, and I'd say you get between 8 - 10 packages of 80 wipes/package, for about $20. That's cheap. Even with the discounts the 7th Generation wipes were still about $34 for 12 packs of 70 wipes. So, we saved some money and spent some more somewhere else... Sometimes a wash is the best you can do...

Karen and Annie take D.C.

2009-11-09T18:15:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I was in class, so Karen and Annie set out to DC to visit her friend Stephanie. So since I wasn't there, and I'm writing this and not my "co-blogger," you'll just have to take my word for the way things went down.

Karen and Annie got there Friday night. Annie had somewhat of a meltdown in the terminal waiting for the flight, causing Karen to quickly pick her up off the floor and find the most remote part of the airport... Then after a banana Annie was all better and they had a nice flight to DC. Saturday they went out to breakfast, the first place they went was packed so they ended up at this French-organic place. Where everyone was super-snobby (and probably wearing berets, but I wasn't there). Then the three of them headed out to see the sights! Annie had a great walk along the reflecting pool. I've heard that Annie walked the whole way, but I don't know if I believe that. It is 2,029 feet long... Then they saw the Lincoln Memorial, and lots of other memorials.

Annie has two questions, 1) Can Sasha, Malia or Bo come out and play? And 2) Keep up the good work on health care! Ok, so really 1 question and 1 statement.

This is Annie out at (insert meal here). Actually looking very calm. I'm guessing either they just got there or the camera took about 50 pictures in a row and this was the one second where she wasn't doing anything. Annie has become quite the little handful when dining out. Two weekends ago we were out for breakfast, and there was this guy sitting at the table next to us, about two feet away. The entire meal Annie kept throwing things at this guy, who luckily had a great sense of humor and didn't mind the non-stop interruptions. Towards the end of the meal Karen and I are both getting embarrased, because everytime we look away she's tossing her toy, book, food, sippy cup... literally anything not bolted down was tossed at this guy and landed at his feet. And everytime he would nicely pick it up, say something funny to her, and then return to his meal.

Karen and Annie had a great trip, and I sure was glad when they came home!

Halloween photos

2009-11-03T17:45:00.000-08:00

As promised, here are our Halloween photos! We had so much fun at the Korns... and as I mentioed earlier, Annie loved seeing all the other kids and their costumes. Annie is supposed to be a monkey, but I'm thinking in these photos she actually looks more like a bear. I'm not feeling very creative and don't really have too much else to share... so sorry for the lame post.

Quick weekend recap

2009-11-01T14:40:00.000-08:00

We had a great weekend, and Annie had lots of fun on Halloween! We
were originally supposed to go to BF for Halloween, but our plans
changed, so instead we went to Hingham. Our friends Scott and Jen
live there and it was a lot of fun to see them and help hand out
candy. Especially since we don't get any trick or treaters at our
house. Surprisingly enough we also forgot our camera, but Scott took
some good shots I'll post when I get them.

This video should help tide you over in the mean time... And Annie
isn't wearing a shirt because right now it's very warm in our apt
because Karen is in the process of cooking a turkey with all the
fixings!

Annie likes hanging out on the floor... and the 'spite poop'

2009-10-25T04:04:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago we noticed Annie would all of a sudden just lay down on a rug, or the floor. We thought this was kind of weird. Then we learned that at daycare Annie had graduated from sleeping in a crib to sleeping on a mat (I'm not 100% on how going from a nice mattress to a mat on the floor is an upgrade, but I digress). Also, a few times at bed time when we go into Annie's room, she will walk right in, go to her crib, and then lay down on this shag rug that is in front of her crib with Elmo and get ready for bed! We then tell her that she doesn't have to sleep on the floor at home!

Now, you're probably wondering, what's the spite poop? The spite poop is a phrase that Karen and I have coined to describe what Annie frequently does when we put her down for a nap. We get everything ready, change her diaper, give her her pacifier, Elmo, the works - then put her down. Then about 10 - 15 minutes later we'll hear her either: a) playing in her crib, laughing and running around, or b) crying. And sure enough, 9 times out of 10, she has pooped. And when her diaper's dirty, she can't sleep, natch. So we call it the spite poop, because she has a real habit of doing this in the morning and afternoon before her naps. And this is regardless of whether she has already had a BM recently, I swear she can poop on demand. This morning she did the trifecta. She threw her pacifier and Elmo out of the crib, and she had a spite poop.

2009-10-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

This is Annie's new trick. She can now pull herself up on the coffee table, and then stands! Karen sent me these pics while I was in class. That Annie, she sure is always into something! And she is also very fast at getting herself on top of the table... we're going to have to make sure everything is tied down now that we've got a climber on our hands! D'oh!

Annie's first photo shoot

2009-10-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was Annie's fist photo shoot! I didn't want to look like I was trying to cannibalize on the photographer's action, so I only took one photo with my phone. Although, after I saw the pricing sheet I wished I would have taken many more... Anyways, Annie was great throughout the whole thing. She was very playful and didn't cry the entire time. Although most of the time she didn't smile either, but it's the small victories you have to take comfort in! The photographer was great with her, and I think out of all the photos she took we're going to have some really good ones. Annie had her picture taken on Sunday, and it was pouring the whole time, and we got snow! Unbelievable.

Saturday was beautiful. Karen was at a friend's baby shower, so Annie and I took our show on the road. We went downtown to meet our cousin for lunch, and had a great time! Annie was a champ the whole time. She got a little squirrely before we sat down, and right before we left, but other than that no major issues. And it was great to catch up with Holly!

Annie goes to the park and then terrorizes Whole Foods

2009-10-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, which will probably be remembered as the last nice weekend, we took a nice long walk along the Charles, then went to Whole Foods. Although after looking at the photos, I'm thinking they were from different days since Annie is in different clothes... This is what happens when you wait too long to post!

Anyways, the weather was cool, but sunny. And since Annie loves going to the park, the slides and swings, we thought we'd venture out farther and go to a new park along the river. She loved it! Especially the covered slide, where a certain someone may have almost knocked Annie onto the ground when she came down the slide... But I won't name names...

At the grocery store (whenever that was...), Annie took her spiked hair on the road and terrorized the place! It's amazing the things you know, but forget to apply under new circumstances. For instance, I know Annie loves to grab things off from tables, and pull anything down that she can get her hands on. But when we're at the store and she's in the cart, I completely forget about the fact that if she is too close to the aisles... Those little hands just start compulsively grabbing whatever is closest! So that always makes things very interesting...

I'm not condoning this, but it's hilarious...

2009-10-16T07:25:00.000-07:00

Magga and Poppa visit (weeks ago... and Jordan)

2009-10-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Magga and Poppa came to visit. The boys (me, Poppa, and Jordan) went to the BC / Wake Forest game, where the photo above is from. The ladies went downtown, out to lunch (I think?) and did some shopping. Annie has needed some new shoes for a while, so Karen and Magga found some and she got two new pairs! And if you hear this story from Karen, she'll tell you that I made her buy 'boy' shoes.

They are not 'boy' shoes. All I said, was if we were going to buy two pairs, let's make one neutral-ish, so in case our next child is a boy, we can re-use some of this stuff. And not everything, but more expensive items (shoes, jackets, etc.) once in-a-while could be neutral and not always pink. Besides, why should we continue to pass on society's gender stereotypes? And then Karen says, well in that case if our next kid is a boy then you shouldn't mind if he's wearing pink shoes! Snap.

Really?

2009-09-24T06:21:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad that all of Massachusetts' problems have been solved so that the legislature can now tackle really important issues.

From today's Boston Globe:
Lawmakers’ nod could sweeten the day for Fluffernutter fans

The Fluffernutter, once defamed by a state legislator, could soon become the official sandwich of Massachusetts.
“Well, it’s very flattering,’’ said Don Durkee, co-owner of the company in Lynn that makes Marshmallow Fluff. “I can’t think of any other sandwich that has the equivalent association with Massachusetts.’’
The sandwich is one of three foods that a legislative committee will consider for official state status tomorrow. The others are Necco Wafers, for official state candy, and Charleston Chew, for candy bar.
“A lot of these bills are filed by school groups,’’ said Lainey Titus, chief of staff for Representative Steven M. Walsh of Lynn, cochairman of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight, which is holding the hearing. “In general, a couple of these sometimes go through every year.’’
The committee will also hear requests to designate the elephant as the official state mammal, “Fever Pitch’’ as the official state movie, and 6 as the official state number.
Representative William Brownsberger of Cambridge, who sponsored the “Fever Pitch’’ bill at the request of some Cambridge eighth-graders, said most such efforts do not pass.
Each bill needs to pass in the House and Senate to become official. “Moby-Dick’’ almost became the state’s official novel last session, but the measure died in the Senate.
“The Legislature is sometimes respectful, but it doesn’t want to get too distracted,’’ said Brownsberger, who has not seen the Red Sox-themed movie he is backing.
Massachusetts already has five official state foods, among the most in the country: the baked navy bean, corn muffin, chocolate chip cookie, Boston cream pie, and Boston cream doughnut.
Children pushing the legislation often appear to testify, lawmakers said.
“Lots of students came and testified over the years,’’ said Representative Antonio Cabral of New Bedford, a former cochairman of the oversight committee. “It can be a great educational tool.’’
Representative Mark Falzone of Saugus, who sponsored the Charleston Chew bill, said a group of Wakefield Girl Scouts appeared at a mock hearing in April to support the nougat treat.
“They testified not only on the tastiness of the candy bar, but they also danced the Charleston,’’ he said.
One student will speak at tomorrow’s hearing in support of the elephant. The origin of the choice was unclear yesterday, and the species is not known to flourish in the wilds of the Commonwealth.
The students “felt there should be a state mammal, I guess,’’ said Representative James Miceli of Wilmington, who sponsored the bill. “I know very little. We signed on, and it’s their bill.’’
Another student sent a personal letter to state Senator Stephen Brewer of Barre, advocating for the number 6.
“The number six is involved in much of our state’s history, and is part of many interesting state facts,’’ wrote Tyler Gibbs, 14, of Rutland, whose love of history, not the allure of school credit, drove him to write. “After I started my research, I learned that we have a state polka song, so why not a state number?’’
Massachusetts was the sixth state in the union and is the sixth-smallest state in the region, Gibbs wrote.
The three foods up for official status have Bay State ties.
Marshmallow Fluff was invented in Somerville and has been produced in Lynn for 80 years. Necco Wafers were formerly made in Cambridge and now are created in Revere. And Nat Sloane, the man who made Charleston Chews famous, was born in Belmont. The candy bars were also produced in Everett.
In 2006, a state senator, Jarrett Barrios, attracted national attention when he sought to limit the serving of Fluffernutters in school lunch programs statewide.
This year, Representative Kathi-Anne Reinstein of Revere filed legislation to honor the Fluffernutter, the second attempt by a lawmaker.
“I associate the Fluffernutter with a really good childhood sandwich,’’ she said.
If the peanut-butter-and-fluff concoction gets a positive reaction from the committee today, it may mark one of the sandwich’s best weeks ever. The fourth annual Fluff Festival is scheduled for Saturday in Somerville.

Vacation part II

2009-09-23T05:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pics from our time in Michigan a few weeks ago... While we were in GP we made it the park a few times where Annie loved the splash pad and kiddie pool, and also had a play date!

Day trip - Rockport, MA

2009-09-20T13:59:00.000-07:00

It was such a beautiful weekend here! Both Saturday and Sunday were sunny and cool. On Saturday we decided to take Annie on the road and headed up to Rockport, MA. It's about 45 min north of Boston, and I lived in Rockport for a year during my under grad days. Rockport is awesome. It's this great coastal small town, with lots of fun shops, art galleries and restaurants. You knew there had to be food involved if we were going!

Most of the pictures are taken on Bearskin Neck, which is like this little peninsula that juts out into the ocean. It's lined with tons and tons of fun shops and tons and tons of galleries. It was a bit cliche that 2 out 3 art galleries featured nothing but ocean-related works... but they were cool none the less. And I think you can tell from the pics of Annie and Karen that it was a bit windy on the end of the neck!

Annie had a lot of fun, although every time we would take her out of her stroller to walk around, she would take off. She's not very good at holding your hand and walking nicely beside you, so I guess we'll keep working on that! Anyone have any advice or guidance as to when I can expect her to follow on command?

What else did we do? Well, after we got back on Saturday and we put Annie down for a nap, I had to watch "An Inconvenient Truth" for my Monday class. What it should have been called was "An Inconvenient Long Lecture from Al Gore for 90 minutes and oh yeah, still bitter I lost the election." Seriously. I consider myself myself a bit progressive, and I definitely try and do my part to reduce, reuse, and recycle - so I thought I would actually like the movie.

Not so much. In the first 10 minutes he referenced losing the election at least twice, pretty much implied GWB was at fault for most of the environmental problems, and was a big gass-bag. I'm also not the biggest GWB fan, but come on, the guy was only in charge for 8 years, hardly enough time to be guilty of the stuff that Gore tries to link him to. And I can't say this enough, the whole movie was about Gore! He did this, he has been working since 19XX, no one would listen to him, he tried to this... And it went on and on and on and on... I can't remember the last vanity project like this I've seen, unbelievable.

Annie loves the park!

2009-09-19T05:48:00.000-07:00

There's this school playground about a 5 minute walk from us, and yesterday after work we took Annie by. She loves being in the swings, but now that she's gotten more mobile she loves slides! Everytime one of us would put her on top of the slide it'd be a race to get to the end of the slide as she immediately starts inching forward to go down the slide. It's pretty funny to watch, not to mention she gets a very serious look on her face!

Summer's over, d'uh! Vacation round-up, part 1

2009-09-14T05:50:00.000-07:00

After a very nice and relaxing August... it seems like I should get back to work! July and August were a bit of a blur. From the last week in June until the first week of August I was in class two nights a week, and all day during the last week of July. The good news is that this is over, and starting tonight, I only have two classes left until I complete my MBA! Boo-yah!

Our summer was pretty busy with friends visiting and travelling to weddings. Most of which I've already covered. The week before Labor Day we headed to Michigan for a week of some much needed r&r, and backup! We spent the first half of the week in GP, taking Annie to the park, and on long walks. The top picture is from the boat, Annie in her very own life preserver! Which went over so-so. To be fair, it was the most easy thing to maneuver in, and whenever she fell, it was sort of curved-outwards in the front so if she landed on her belly her face would roll forward and meet the ground. After a few falls she got much better navigating around in her PFD and was much happier.

The other photos above are taken from Karen's primary school, and Annie is running down the "Nun's Walk." Annie has become a really good walker, and loves to run. She also has the funniest laugh, it goes from a 4 to a 10 in one second. So funny.

Annie and Bea playing

2009-08-11T17:56:00.000-07:00

In this photo the girls are just getting warmed up for their photo shoot by Uncle Larry. Here they are both in good spirits and having a great time!

Annie is starting to get a little bored, and she's becoming a little dramatic. Side note, Annie's new favorite way to show her displeasure with mom and dad is to plop down on the floor, begin to wail, and then throw her face and hands to the floor. It's so dramatic and hilarious. I can't believe little tantrums are already showing up.

Ladies who lunch. Annie took Bea out to lunch at the Warren Tavern. They both loved sitting next to eachother, although they got a little sick of the paparazzi action so Bea told Annie to get that camera so they could eat in peace.

One photo too many... enough said.

Annie and Bea had a great time playing during the Drummys' visit. For the most part Annie was on her best behaviour, sharing and showing Bea how to do stuff.

Larry, Alex & Bea visit Smackdown!

2009-08-10T18:03:00.000-07:00

Since I was a bit delinquent on my blog postings, here are some pics from when Larry, Alex and Bea came to visit a few weeks ago. They came in Wednesday night, and the fun began! Thursday and Friday Annie got to stay home from daycare and play with everyone! They went on lots of field trips and lunches. Annie loves to lunch! I apologize that I'm a little scarce on the details, but I was at work/class most of the time so I missed all the fun! Also, rumour has it the in the upcoming weeks my reclusive co-blogger will be back on the scene with some more recipes and food-goodness! So if you happen to talk to her, put the pressure on!

Wedding weekend

2009-08-08T18:12:00.000-07:00

On Friday my cousin Chad got married in Syracuse, and it was also Annie and daddy's first solo road trip! I was a little nervous, due to work commitments Karen couldn't attend, so that meant Annie and I were headed to the wedding by ourselves. Boy was I nervous. Syracuse is a six hour drive from Boston, and worst case scenarios kept popping into my head. What if she had a meltdown in the car? What if I had to go to the bathroom? So many variables to plan for. But Thursday night Karen said something to me that made everything much more palatable, if you have to go to the bathroom, just put her in the stroller. Duh, just put her in the stroller! Suddenly the world seemed at our fingertips!

We headed out Friday morning at 6:30, and the enjoyment began. She soon fell asleep, and about a half hour before we arrived at my sister's house, she woke up. Not bad. Next to me in the passenger seat I had snacks, sippy cups with juice and water, and some of her favorite toys that I planned on judiciously parcelling out. It worked!

We stopped at Leslie's house so we could all ride together. Annie had a great time playing in the car with her cousins, and when we got to the wedding the rest of my family was there for backup, hooray! The wedding ceremony was great, expedient yet thoughtful. The reception was a lot of fun, and Annie was such a trooper through the whole thing. On the way home from the reception to Leslie's, she slept the whole time, and then when right down when we got back. However, the next morning around 5:30 I woke up, feeling someone looking at me and when I sat up, there Annie was, standing in her pack n play staring at me, waiting for me to get her. She played the rest of the morning until it was time for her nap, and then we hit the road. It's about 3.5 hrs from Leslie's to our house, and again, Annie slept the whole time. You could not have asked for better behaviour from our little Annie Bananas.

I also brought my camera and managed to take some photos! Oh, and because everyone loves a good conga line, here's some video from the reception! Unfortunately I missed capturing when Rebecca started a repeat performance of her table cloth cape dance from Jona's wedding, but I'll get it next time Rebecca!

2009-08-06T07:19:00.000-07:00

Man oh man has it been a while since I've posted. Sorry about that. July has been very hectic, I was taking two summer classes, a few trips here and there, and have been pretty busy at work. My classes are finally over and I can relax! Boo-yah! Also, for those of you keeping track of my progress, I have two classes left to take in the fall, and then in December, I'm done with my MBA! Cannot wait...

I don't even know if I've posted that AB is full-on walking! Ever since her birthday she has been steadily getting better and better and now she's a crazy lady! Most of the time her walk is more of a run with her arms outstretched leaning forward. I finally got some good video last night, good thing because no sooner had I stopped recording then Annie took a digger on landed face first on some not too soft tile. But after a little TLC from mommy and an ice pop, she felt much better.

Tomorrow Annie and I are headed to Syracuse for my cousin Chad's wedding. Can't wait to have my first road trip with Bananas! The centerpiece of my plan is not to consume any liquids after 9pm tonight, so I can avoid the awkward bathroom with a toddler scenario... We'll meet up with my sister in Broadalbin, so after we make it there I'll have some backup, of course, we'll also be outnumbered between two adults and four kids! Let the good times roll -

Annie loves Mac n Cheese

2009-07-24T07:30:00.000-07:00

We have been trying to make much more of an effort to let Annie feed herself lately. Which is not very easy, considering: a) she's very messy, b) she frequently spits out her food, c) she frequently throws her food, and d) I'm a bit anal retentive, so having food thrown all over kind of makes my skin crawl. But we're working on that.

The pics of Annie eating were taken on last Thursday, I had stayed home with her because she had an ear infection and some other stuff, so we'd thought we'd relax for the day. At lunch time I made her a box of Annie's Mac n Cheese - nice organic, whole wheat pasta. And boy is it good. So while we were eating, she was in her high chair and I was sitting next to her, I was starving, and these shells and cheese were pretty tiny, so as I got to the end of my bowl, I may have just stuck the whole bowl up to my mouth to shovel in the remaining shells like a pig. Well guess who was watching, because no sooner did I lower the bowl from my mouth when I see Bananas' bowl heading straight towards her face with shells streaming everywhere! I've just learned a very good lesson about little eyes watching and repeating what they see! And for the rest of the meal, that's how she ate her mac n cheese. I guess it could have been worse.

The top pic, you can kind of make out Annie and mommy getting close to some birds in Davis Square. The last time I mentioned Davis I talked about all the hipsters around. This time, the picture is so far away because immediately to Annie and Karen's right were these amazon hippie leftovers in full on parkas (it was 70 and sunny that day...), with an entire loaf of bread feeding the pigeons. It's always something...

Playdate in GP

2009-07-21T07:04:00.000-07:00

I've been patiently waiting for my co-blogger to update some of these posts... but it's been a week! So I'm going to make up what happened.

When we were in Michigan, Annie got to meet Mommy's friend's niece, Lydia. Annie and Lydia played, chatted, and had a great time. In the second pic from top you can see Lydia slapping Annie on the back, Annie just told a really funny joke. And in the bottom photo Annie is asking Lydia where she got her earrings.

Annie + water = loads of fun!

2009-07-13T07:53:00.000-07:00

We were in Detroit last weekend for the wedding of our good friends Carmie and Steve. The wedding was great, and the reception was at the Detroit Athletic Club, where you probably remember is where Karen and I had our reception. I have some video to post later, so I'll cover that in another post.

Annie had such a great time with Grandpa and Grandma Drummy! She is such a champ, she loves everyone, and Grandma Drummy even got her to nap for almost 5 hrs one day, soundly defeating my previous record! Karen and Annie flew out Thursday morning, and I joined them Friday evening. The weather was beautiful, and Annie got this new bathing suit!

On Saturday before the wedding we took her to the park, where they have this great children's splash area. There's a small wading pool, and then all these sprinklers and other fun things that spray water out! I'm happy to report that Annie loves the water. I can't tell you how many times she got sprayed in the face, and she just laughed it off! At one point Annie and I were under this sprinkler just getting drenched and she's laughing the whole time. I think showers might be in her future soon! And she even put her head under water... Which, wasn't exactly her doing... She was sitting on my lap in the wading pool and I looked away for a second and next thing I know her head is under water! I quickly pulled her back up, and there was a smile on her face! That's one easy going kid!

Leftover

2009-07-08T06:03:00.000-07:00

I don't know how I forgot to post this photo! It's our favorite from the weekend of Annie in her lifevest before heading out for a boat ride.

A day in the life of Annie Bananas

2009-07-06T16:47:00.000-07:00

So people ask me all the time, what's a typical day like for Annie Bananas? Well, there's two answers- there's a typical week day where AB goes to daycare and we go to work, and then there's the weekends. I'll cover both.

The photo above is from a week day, you can tell because: a) I don't wear suits on the weekends(I'm not Alex P. Keaton), and b) AB has her pants hiked up, her keys, and her purse -- she means business! During the weekdays, AB has been waking up in the 5-5:30am territory. Which is not ideal. So what we usually do is one of us makes a bottle and gives it to her in the crib, and then we hope that after she finishes the bottle she will fall back asleep until 7. This is 60% effective. If this doesn't work, Annie comes into bed with mom and dad and usually is playing in between us while hitting one of us on the head with her hands and kicking the other one. Or she's standing, pounding her hands against the headboard laughing the whole time. Sesame Street starts at 6, and that will semi-entertain her, but around 6:40ish Elmo comes on, and the minute she hears him start to sing she pays very close attention. I think her favorite part is when Dorothy asks Elmo a question and Elmo asks a baby (if you haven't seen it, it's actually pretty funny because no matter what baby Elmo asks, the answer is always the same -- nothing!).

We then shower, taking turns watching as Annie plays on the floor, crawling around either trying to get into the bathroom, exit the room, or climb up the plant stand. Fun times! Then one of us takes her to daycare, which is about a ten minute drive from our house, and after dropping her off parks at the T station. The other person picks her up and brings her home. At daycare Annie gets breakfast, lunch and a snack. They do a lot of art projects, sing songs, and lots of playing. There are lots of toys that Annie gets to play with there. Not to mention they have these padded areas where she can climb around and bounce all over.

We usually get home around 6 from daycare, then it's a mad rush to make dinner (I should say, Karen make dinner), feed Annie, bath (every other day), and then bed around 7pm. Annie usually is no problem going to bed, which is nice, because after she's down then we eat and hang out until our bed time.

On the weekends... She has been following the same wake up schedule, and we still try giving her a bottle and cross our fingers (and close our ears) that she will fall back asleep. We're pretty relaxed though, so if she wants to get up, one of us gets up with her and we play. On the weekends AB usually takes two, two-hour naps. One in the morning, about 2-3 hrs after she gets up, and then one in the mid afternoon. We go for lots of walks and go to the parks. She loves to go to the grocery store with Mom, and she's getting pretty fond of Costco (the samples don't hurt either!).

4th Festivities -- and BIG news

2009-07-06T06:45:00.000-07:00

We spent the 4th up in NH with the Kattmans. The weather held off, somewhat, and only rained for a few hours in the afternoon. Which gave us the perfect opportunity to take a nap, very needed since AB got up at 5:30 that morning... It was a lot of fun in NH on the lake and I took some video of the fireworks. Oh yeah, and I did this all on my super iPhone!

And now for the big news... On Sunday Annie took her first unassisted steps!!!! Wow! And the best part was she did it in front of both of us, and we didn't have to hear that she took them at daycare and we missed them! We worked on walking for the rest of the weekend. She usually will take a few steps on her own now, and then fall to ground and resume her very fast crawl.

No work = Fun day in the city!

2009-07-05T16:11:00.000-07:00

We had a great day off Friday, both Karen and I were off for the holiday. And, it wasn't raining! So we took Annie downtown to do some shopping and of course, grab some lunch. We were in Back Bay and Karen had some errands to run. She convinced me to go by agreeing that we could get greek food for lunch since I had been jonesing for a gyro. We went to Steve's, http://www.stevesgreek.com, on Newbury street. They have some of the best greek food in the city, and it's very reasonable - which is great. We thought we were in the clear since Annie had fallen asleep along the way. But of course, right when the food came guess who woke up! Annie Bananas. So we gave her some fries and some of our meals and she was a champ. Afterwards we got some ice cream and walked through a farmer's market. We had a lot of fun and were so happy to be outside without any rain!

I fought AT&T ... and I WON

2009-07-05T12:57:00.000-07:00

It's been a bit touch and go at the Ferguson house this week. As you may remember, I received an iPhone for Father's Day, however, there were some kinks to work out. Mainly that since Karen was not listed on our account she had to open a new one and also received new pricing on the iPhone. So now we were stuck with 3 lines, and 2 different plans. Last Monday (6/22) I thought we had everything worked out, and we had been told by AT&T that all we had to do was: 1) I needed to order an iPhone under my name, pay full price, and then they would credit me the difference, 2) Karen had to return the one she bought (which still has come in btw), and then finally we both had to go into the store and we could get Karen on the account and receive the discount that she receives through work. Sounds simple enough, right? Well since I'm blogging about this, I think you know I ran into some hiccups along the way...

I called Monday to see if the credit had been posted since I picked up my phone last Friday. The first representative I spoke to informed me that there were no notes on the account, and there were no early upgrades or rebates for iPhones. I asked for a supervisor. Same thing. I asked for another one. Same thing. We went back and forth, and I was floored at their treatment of me. No one would bother to pull the call and listen to the fact that I did exactly what their person told me to do, and why should I be penalized? Now I had to go return the phone, and be without one, or go through that hassle? I don't think so. So I asked to speak to the next supervisor, who was the "Office Manager" but doesn't take inbound calls. Someone will call me back within 24-72 hrs. Wow, what great service. So for the past few days I've been readying my case, waiting for this person to call me. My main points are as follows:

1) I did what I was told, and it's the company's responsibility to make sure its employees know their policies and make up for their mistakes, etc.

2) I would need a new phone, so they offered to give me a discount - why since they wouldn't give me the credit on the iPhone? And why not just give me the credit so I can keep the iPhone.

3) If I returned the iPhone, they could no longer sell it as new and would take a loss on the resale, so again, why not just let me keep it.

4) What about the accessories I've purchased, opened, and used, why should I be out that money as well?

I have a whole sheet full of talking points for this person, and today I learned I won!!! How did I learn that, not because someone called. I happened to log into my account thinking I should probably make sure our bill is paid so they don't try and use that against me when imagine my surprise when June was paid for and there was a remaining credit, that equaled the price difference I had been looking for.

The main point of this post is that there is always a way to get what you deserve, and when you are dealing with someone in a call center, you have to know how to work the system. Here are some tips:

1) There's always something that can be done -- Never accept the first answer from the first person.

2) Be polite, but firm. Always write down the name, and time you spoke to someone, and make sure they know you are writing that information down. That alone will improve your chances of getting better service by at least 40%.

3) Keep going up the chain until you get the answer you want. Two reasons, the first, because you never accept the first answer, and secondly, because the more people you speak with, the higher the chance one of them is either going to make a mistake you can use to your advantage, or give you what you want.

4) You know you've gone high enough up the chain when the employee starts getting cagey about tranferring you to the next person or giving you their name. This is paydirt, make sure you follow through.

I'm over the rain

2009-07-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

This has been our life for at least the past month. It has been non-stop and unrelenting rain, rain, fog, rain, and more rain for as long as I can remember... It's impossible to get out of bed in the morning, and it really stinks! Last night at 4am we were awakened to the sound of not only a thunderstorm, but hail. And I'm talking about some big pieces of hail raining down...

The building in the middle is where I work, and you can't even see the top of it. Also, for some reason my building has its own weather system, as you get closer you become engulfed in fog and it's raining. Weird. I think that happened in Ghostbusters... Who you gonna call?

Oh yeah, and here's the weather for today:

You may need that ark: Heavy rains, flooding in forecast
July 2, 2009 05:04 AM
By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff
Eastern Massachusetts is getting a pounding from the rain today, with thunderstorms hurling lightning to the ground and dumping buckets of rain. Roads are turning into ponds and some small streams are expected to overtop their banks.

The National Weather Service is warning of heavy downpours and urban and small stream flooding in eastern Massachusetts as an area of thunderstorms rolls into southeastern Massachusetts and the Boston area.
Meteorologist Charlie Foley says the boomers could bring one to two inches of rain by mid-morning.

The weather service issued a flood advisory saying that the rain could produce ponding in low-lying areas – including the areas under highway overpasses -- and push some small streams to their brims and even cause minor flooding.

The weather service said that just before 8 a.m. thunderstorms were moving northeast into southeastern Massachusetts and the Boston area, while other thunderstorms were already sweeping through north central Massachusetts.

In Hopkinton, firefighters battled a two-alarm fire this morning as a big storm rolled through. The attic fire was at 18 Daniel Shays Road, a fire department dispatcher said. In Upton, a man was reported hit by lightning. In Medway, lightning started a fire at the Medway Community Church at 193 Main St., when it hit the steeple, a fire dispatcher said.
Trooper Thomas Murphy, a State Police spokesman, said Route 20 at the Route 122 overpass in the area was flooded, disabling cars. Otherwise, he said, there were no reports of fender benders caused by the deluges.

"There will be some slowdowns with the heavy rains, obviously, and the rush hour commute," said Murphy.

The forecasters warned that the storms were producing frequent cloud-to-ground lightning and urged people to get inside or in a car or, if caught outside, to stay away from isolated tall objects like trees and avoid open areas like ballfields or golf courses.

The forecasters say more rainfall can be expected through this evening, with some areas getting up to four inches or more in a brief period of time.

I'm a walkin' yessirree

2009-07-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

For her birthday Annie received this walker from Magga and Pappa. As you can see, she's taken to it quite well. What you can't see it that she only has one speed behind that thing, and it's a full on sprint! In the third pic from the top, you can kind of tell, basically, I took that pic as she was coming full-steam ahead at me! She loves running behind that, and so far the collateral damage to the apartment has been minimal. Although when Lillie was here, there was a moment when Annie had Lillie pinned against the wall as they duked it out over who got to use the stroller.

I'm sure we'll get lots of use out this, and if the weather ever clears up I bet it'd be great on the grass, where she couldn't sprint as fast!

Life's a beach -- part II

2009-06-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures from Annie's party last weekend. Again, cannot say how awesome it was during the rainiest (sp?) June on record to have had a beautiful, sunny day on the beach with so many friends and family!

Karen had been planning this party and stressing over the details for months. Months. I tried to help as much as I could, but since she is pretty much the best cook ever, food falls primarily into her domain. After going back and forth over the menu many times, we landed on Steak and Chicken kabobs, corn salad, potato salad with a vinaigrette dressing (since it'd be warm out), cake, and watermelon. As you can see from the pics above, the kabobs were awesome (and if you're wondering how the cake was, just watch the video below). They were also relatively easy to assemble and bring to a picnic to grill up. I would say that is was also relatively painless, but that would be a lie. Why? Because the skewers we bought were so stinking sharp that I have puncture marks all over my fingers (don't worry, they never drew blood and none of my tears landed on the food!). All you could hear the entire time Karen and I were putting them together were "Ouch!" "dang" and maybe a couple of other words not suitable for print...

We want to thank everyone who came and who has sent cards, gifts and birthday wishes for Annie! Also, we'll be out in the Detroit-rock city area in the next few weeks, so look us up!

Life's a beach -- part I

2009-06-30T07:36:00.000-07:00

I have to say, I think this photo collage is some of my best work ever! Last weekend was Annie's first birthday party! And man let me tell you, throwing a birthday party is hard work. I totally have new respect for our parents and everyone else that has done this sort of thing. Let's go over the details.

Karen and I have been talking for weeks about what Annie's first birthday party would be like. There were a lot of variables, like who would be coming, where would we have it, what would we eat, etc. etc. etc. We finally decided to have it at the beach, and since the Kattmans live in Marblehead they were able to reserve this great pavilion on Devereux Beach. Of course, having it outside when it's been non-stop rain for the ENTIRE month of June was a bit nerve wracking. But luckily when Saturday came the weather held off and we had a beautiful, if a bit windy day!

We were so pysched so many people could come. The Kattmans were there, Magga & Poppa drove down, the Sullivans came in from Chicago and Bill & Kelly Drummy also came! Karen had been thinking about the menu for weeks... And we had many many discussions, all complicated by the fact that we didn't really close in on a location until about 10 days before, and then when we decided to have it at the beach then we had to figure out how to transport everything and all that fun stuff.

Annie was such a champ the whole time, barely making a fuss! Although, there were a couple of times that she face-planted into the sand for a mouthful. That was fun, trying to get her to open her mouth so you could dig the sand out of it! Karen made her cake, and she loved it!

I'll be posting more photos and menu details later this week --

Annie's First Cake

2009-06-29T19:54:00.000-07:00

This is some pretty impressive video! Instead of getting her own cake, Annie got a piece of cake the size of her head. And she kills it. And nobody rocks a popped collar like daddy!

I have more pics and posts to follow soon...

Rub-a-dub-dub two kids in the tub!

2009-06-24T19:40:00.000-07:00

Last weekend (6/20) our friends Ben, Monica, and their son Mason left Boston for good and moved to Columbus! We are very sad to see them leave, but are very happy for the new opportunities that came their way. We had a great last weekend together and Annie and Mason had lots of fun playing together!

Since my co-blogger has been pretty silent...ahem, ahem... I'll let you in on our last supper. Ribs. Ribs. and more Ribs. Is there anything better, I don't think so. We went to Costco and got three huge racks of them, parboiled them, and then finished them off on the grill... and man was it awesome! Karen also made some potato salad and corn on the cob. Again, what an awesome meal.

This weekend we're super excited for the return of our friends Conor, Carey and Lillie! They left Boston for Chicago almost a year ago, so it'll be great to see them. And the biggest news is Annie's first birthday party is this weekend! We can't believe she's already 1, the time really does fly by. Since there's been so much original content this week... I'm taking the rest of the week off! My summer class starts tonight and with company in town and Annie's birthday this weekend we'll be pretty busy!

Seattle -- part II -- when birds attack

2009-06-23T19:45:00.000-07:00

First, how much of a one-trick pony am I? Either you see a few pics, or you see a collage, or this mosaic type thing. They should have some sort of program where you just select your pictures and then it automatically puts them in some sort of cool/creative format. Until then... get used to it...

Part II. Again, Seattle was awesome. A few experiences stick out. On the first morning we were there, we got up early and went out to find a good place for breakfast. Breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day (and by far Karen's least favorite, but she humors me) and I was determined to find a place with 'local flavor' and not eat in one of the 1000 Starbucks that populate every corner and block downtown. Don't get me wrong, I love Starbucks, but they have those everywhere. We walked and walked, probably for about 45 minutes looking for a place, but then we realized that we were downtown, and if it's anything like Boston, there are no good breakfast places downtown. Also, Seattle is very hilly, so after what seemed like an eternity walking up and down hills we finally spotted a sign that said "Breakfast Lunch Dinner" - done. The place we went to was called "Bernards."

It should have been called "Crapnards." You walk into this place and immediately walk downstairs, entering into a windowless dungeon painted dark green with wood paneling and mirrors all over the walls. That should have been our first cue to turn around and get the heck out of there. But, being tired and hungry, we stayed. The service was about what you could expect... Sassy. I think these two broads (and that really is the best description for these women...) had worked there for most of their lives. There seemed to be two other regulars inside, and another table of mortified tourists walked in midway, we should have warned them... And for some reason I got this farmer's omelet that was supposed to be filled with bacon, potatoes, peppers and tomotoes, but ended being filled with nothing but bacon grizzle. Yum... Needless to say, we ended up eating at Starbucks every morning for the rest of the trip. Which brings me to my next story...

Karen was attacked by birds. You read that right, Karen was attacked by birds walking to Starbucks in downtown Seattle. And not only did they fly at her repeatedly, causing her to run for cover, but they also flew at this other lady while Karen was seeking cover. The whole episode was unbelievable. She was walking down the street, heard the bird sounds, next thing she knows it feels like she was hit with a sandbag from behind, she turns around and just sees the swooping wings as the bird flies back up in preparation for another dive bomb! The whole rest of the weekend we were so paranoid about walking along that street, and the annoying thing was that it happened about a block from our hotel, so we couldn't really avoid it.

What else did we do? We took the ferry out to Bainbridge Island, shopped, walked around, bought some stuff for Annie, and had a nice lunch. We also went to one of the best seafood restaurants, Ray's Boathouse - where we also had the best table in the whole place. It was a great wedding, and a great weekend!

Seattle Roundup

2009-06-22T19:41:00.000-07:00

We recently got back from Seattle, where we attended the wedding of one of my good friends from college. We also left AB for the first time... Since we were heading all the way cross country and there wasn't going to be any other family around, we figured it was going to be way too much work to try and bring AB, figure out transportation, adjust sleeping/eating schedules, different time zones, etc. etc. Luckily for us, my parents jumped at the chance to watch Annie.

It was our first time leaving AB for an extended period of time, so it was somewhat traumatic. We definitely called a lot, but only once a day, so I don't think it was that excessive. Every time I spoke to my mom, I got nothing but glowing reports! "She slept until 7am." "She went down with no fuss!" I don't know what happened to Annie, but she was the model child for Magga and Papa. Which definitely made it that much easier for us being so far away. We missed her terribly, but I sure got used to sleeping in!

The wedding was a blast, Seattle was great and you could not ask for better weather! The pics above are from the wedding reception. And if you can believe it, we actually brought our camera! I got to see a lot of friends from college, and we all had a great time.

Funny story... At the rehearsal dinner, yours truly got into a bit of a heated debate with the groom's brother-in-law. I was having a great time pushing this guy's buttons, because when you make comments like "Someone making $300,000/year can't even afford to raise a family because their tax burden is so high to support all these entitlement programs helping people who don't deserve it." Now, I do consider myself a conservative when it comes to fiscal policy, but I also strongly believe people need support from the government. People who work very hard and meaningfully contribute to society. The guy who makes minimum wage cleaning office buildings, after said jerk making $300K leaves each night, is contributing. And chances are he doesn't have employer sponsored health care. So this guy is one ER trip away from being pushed over the edge. On and on this went, we actually cleared the table twice... I don't like bullies, and I don't like know-it-alls who think they are so smart and can throw around a couple of SAT words to try and intimidate people. In the end this guy gave up first, which I consider a complete victory. But the best part was, the next day I heard he called me a "flaming liberal." Hilarious... I guess that's what happens when you're stacked next to a fascist.

Part II tomorrow...

Goodbye Moto, Hello iPhone!

2009-06-21T16:48:00.001-07:00

Oh snap! After a very successful first Mother's Day, the pressure was on and Karen hit the ball out of the park! For my first Father's Day... in addition to a day of fantastic food -- I got the brand spanking new 3GS iPhone!

Well, technically I will have it later this week after we iron out some kinks with AT&T. Namely they need to slapped around after giving Karen the 'business' last week, let me explain. About a year-ish ago, I guess last November, we combined our cell phone plans from Verizon and AT&T into a family plan through AT&T, which was my provider. In the process we both got new phones and shaved off $50/month from our cell bill. Karen got the Blackberry she wanted, and I hardly use my phone and got what I thought would be a decent phone, see below:

But it stinks with a capital STINK. First, the operating system is annoying and the front keys inadvertently get pushed all the time even though the phone is supposed to be 'locked' and the key pad is sooo small that it takes hours to type out simple text messages. It's so annoying that I usually just revert to sending IMs through my work blackberry and bypassing my craptastic phone. So basically it royally stinks, I hate it, and not to mention, people make fun of it. So knowing this, and also everytime I see an iPhone commercial I'm just amazed and what it can do, Karen bought me this awesome phone!

However, before I can enjoy my iPhone, we need to have a little sitdown with AT&T. The first issue was that Karen was not listed on the account, so she couldn't upgrade my phone. But under the guise of receiving a discount since she works for BofA, she got me to call and add her to the account without arousing my suspicion. However, I apparently spoke to some dolt on the phone and her name was never listed. The next issue was that I was not eligible for an upgrade, so they tried to charge us the full price, which is twice the price for new customers. So after going back and forth with them, she just decided to open a new account to get the new pricing, and then we will have to figure out how to combine the phones under our plan, ditch the old phone and new plan she just opened... all without incurring any excessive fees. Sounds like a challenge. Those of you that know me know how much I like this sort of thing, so I'll keep you posted how this all turns out... To be continued (and in less than a month, I promise!)...

***UPDATE (6/22)

After a very lengthy phone call with customer service, I think everything is going to work out (knock on wood). Here is the result: 1) I have to go to the store and upgrade my phone to the iPhone, where I will pay the full price, 2) Customer service will then credit me the difference to my account, 3) Karen has to go to the store and cancel the iPhone she ordered along with the account she setup, and 4) We both go to the store and get the account under her name, and then we can finally get the discount for her working at BoA.

Now... if this works all according to plan it will be a minor miracle, so cross your fingers!