Jen

One reason I really like this time of year is that it reminds me of the night i mEt my wife. My brother, a friend and I were hanging out at MacNivens pub on Mass. Ave. here in Indy. It was a very nice night and not one that I normally find myself out on. But I was, and so was she, both out when they normally would not be. We had our first date on new years day later that week. About a year later I proposed to her. And now I have a great wife, an awesome kid and another on the way. So that is one reason I like this time of year that does not involve Christmas or New Years. I love you guys.

Pictures and other fun things happening these days

There is a lot going on these days.  The holidays are crazy and even more so since my wonderful wife has been put on bed rest for the time being.  She is pregnant and due in March.  Anyone that knows my wife knows that bed rest is her definition of Hell.  She is a very active woman and exercises almost every day.  Well, she did.  Now she has to sit in bed and read, or watch TV.  Luckily she has a three year old who is very understanding and loves to sit still...?  But Jen is coping and the little girl or boy she is carrying in her belly is growing just perfectly.

On to Oscar.  Oz has been growing like a weed and he has been challenging us in ways we had not expected.  Recently he has been trying a new move at bed time.  He waits until he is in bed, he has stopped resisting us and actually let me leave the room without crying and screaming.  Then I head down stairs to relax a little with Jen on the couch.  That is when we hear it, "daddy, I'm here." Kind of creepy when you hear it whispered.  Then I would get up off the couch and look up at the stairs and sitting in the dark is my boy, staring down at me.  Kind of startling the first time. 

I had to take a picture, could not get the lighting right though

So after getting him back to bed and telling him stories, he finally goes down for the night and Jen and I can finally relax.
On to other things.  I stole this idea from a friend who has a kiddo just a week older than Oz.  They gave her a camera and let her take pictures.  Not the made for kids ones, those are crap.  I happened to have an old Canon point and shoot that was sitting around doing nothing so I thought it would be fun to let him play with it.  He always wants to take my camera when I am taking pics so why not let him play with this one.  I can't even get five bucks for it on ebay, might at well put it to some good use.
Oz took to it like a superstar and has proceeded to take a ton of pictures.  Most are of his fingers in front of the lense but there are a few nice ones in there.  The camera is old though and the battery does not hold a charge anymore, so I will have to see about getting a replacement battery if he wants to continue.

I have included a few pics that he took, well a slide show of both the good and bad.  I threw in a few of mine as well after that.  I just had to get pictures of him taking pictures.

Now just a few pics I have taken this month.

Hiding in a toy box

climbing on furniture when he shouldn't

we started a dueling cameras game

Uncle Ryan captured by the paparazzi

bed rest with the kiddo, couch, bed, whats the diff?

Buzz and his fellow Space Ranger squad

Butch Walker and the Black Widows

Jen and I got to go see one of our favorite artists, Butch Walker, and his new band, the Black Widows. Jane and Ryan got to go with us as well. The little guy, Oz, stayed with grandma and grandpa.

Not everyone knows Butch. He is a rock star and producer. He has been around since the 90s, with a glam rock band, I know..., the Marvelous Three later in the decade and then independent from then on out. Recently he has released an album with his band, the Black Widows. The album is amazing!
We have seen Butch live one other time, in Norfolk, Virginia, with Correy and Laura. At that time he was touring with the Let's Go Out Tonights. We got to meet him that time, we cornered him in a H&M and got our picture taken with him. We then met him again after the show and he was a very cool guy who was a blast to hang out with.

Butch Walker and the Black Widows

So, new band, new album, great show. The location was in Columbus Ohio at the Basement. A pretty small venue, similar to the Patio in Indy when it was around. The ceilings are low, and you are close to the band, very close. I think we were about 10 feet away the entire time. Well, not the entire time. At one point Butch got down in to the crowd and we were about a foot away. Instead of a couple of opening bands, Butch decided to have the individual members of the group get up and play a few songs. It was pretty cool to hear how good all of the other members of the group were as you don't normally get to hear from them until a band breaks up and everyone tries to go solo. You never know what to expect from a Sunday night show. But f@&*ing awesome show! Loud! I forgot how much my ears rang after shows, but being that close and such a small venue, we were blasted. Oh yeah, did I mention, Jen is about 20 weeks along at this point. There was no way I could keep her away from the show though, baby or no baby. She loves Butch. Besides, Laura was pregnant with Eli the last time we all saw him in Norfolk. Plus, it was a little anniversary present as Jen and I celebrated 5 years on the 13th.
I took a ton of video at the show. Some with a little canon camera and a few with my Evo 3D. I think the sound was actually better on my Evo. It has been a long time since I went to a standing show. My legs and body were dead tired afterward and I can't recall what kept me standing for 5 hours in the old days. It could have been the alcohol but I don't think we drank that much at the shows. Younger legs last longer standing I guess. Anyway, I only had one beer at this show because it was practically impossible to get back to your spot went you went to the bar. I must have lost some of my edge in battling my way back up front. Plus, our spot was perfect. Dead center stage, on a couple steps so that Jen and I were basically eye level with Butch and the band.
Butch started his show with a few acoustic versions of some Marvelous 3 songs. Then the rest of the band joined him and they started with a great version of Summer of '89. The rest of the show was the same high energy, rock music that makes you forget that your knees are sore and that you are exhausted on a Sunday night standing in a crowded, humid room that smelled like death because someone was stink bombing the place in front of you. Butch and the band finished off a fifth of Jameson for the final song, a 17 minute long version of Suckerpunch. Granted most of the 17 minutes is not the song, there is an intro of the band, then some time when Butch is on the floor hanging with the crowd and in the end, a guitar battle between Butch and Fran that seemed be without end as they had a day off the next day and were ready to burn themselves out for the night. I recorded the entire end bit with my Evo and it was around 355Meg. A bit too big for this venue. So, instead, I put it up on YouTube and hope that you can enjoy the embed below.

Euro Trip 2011 Continued Day 2

End of Day 1 and Day 2-the 7 day Hangover begins
We arrived in Schruns on the 30th, later in the day, so really still part of Day 1.  The hotel is beautiful, the town is beautiful, everything is amazing.  We basically got there, checked in and then everyone went to their rooms to rest before dinner.  The hotel has a great restaurant and very well stocked bar.  I know because I think we tried to empty it every night we were there.  Our bartender was very kind and understanding of the tired Americans who just wanted to drink a few beers and head to bed.  Unfortunately, that was not the plan.  First came dinner, where Jen and I sat at a table with a couple of guys from Korea.  Very nice, but after a few discussions about Kimchi, North Korea, China and Japan, we pretty much hit the language barrier and ran out of things to talk about.  It was about at the fifth and final course of dinner that they had a few other Korean friends show up and I jumped at the opportunity to let them reunite with them so we could join our gang, who had come in later as they had all been napping.  A nap would have been a good idea.  We were joined at the table by Rob and Julie from Gantner USA.  A great couple who we would spend much time with at the bar.  I mentioned our great bartender.  Dave, originally had a different opinion of him.

Dave: Every time I ask Gustavo to bring me a drink he ignores me.
Rob: Gustavo, who is Gustavo, his name is Bjorn.
It went downhill from there as both Dave and Jen started to speak Spanish to the bartender and were more and more surprised that they were not getting their drinks.
Eventually Julie told Jen about her secret look to the bartender to let him know that her wine was empty and that she needed a refill.  Once again the unspoken gesture is more powerful than the spoken, incorrect language.

As far as pictures, I didn't really take any when I got there except for a few shots out the window of our room.

However, after a full night of drinking and closing down the bar, lets say we went to bed around 3am Schruns time on the 31st.  So that would be 9pm in the US on the 30th.  Since we didn't sleep on the plane, which left at 2:30 from Indianapolis and we dropped the kiddo off at school on the 29th, that would mean that Jen and I, and probably John, Janet and Dave, did not sleep from say 8am the 29th until 9pm the 30th.  37 hours without sleep is probably not good on the body.  Then subjecting it to the Austrian equivalent of moonshine, schnapps did not help.  Pour a little, say 3 liters of beer down after it and you understand why their meals consist of 5 courses.  You need that much food to survive drinking that much alcohol.
We actually got up at a decent hour the next day and had a little breakfast.  We didn't start the Gantner meeting until 1:30 and that was really just an introduction at the bar at the hotel.  Yes, more drinking.  I am loving the ways of business in Austria.  Anyway, we decided to take a short trip in to town.  It is only about a 5 minute walk to the center of town and it is such a beautiful little town.  We had lunch at a small cafe in town and I had to have a little fuel, aka beer.  Then back to the hotel for the beginning of the meeting.  Then another dinner at the hotel, 5 course again, this time we sat with John, Janet and Dave throughout the entire meal.  Rob and Julie joined us at the bar,  and Rob uttered those most insane of words, "We're going to make this an early night."  Cut to Jen, Julie, Rob and I closing the bar and finally letting poor Gustavo/Bjorn go home.    End of Day 2.

My Body is Now 60% Beer Instead of Water, OR, Our Trip Through Bavaria!

There are probably a few other titles I could have thought of, but as my body readjusts to non-beer beverages and jet lag, I have found that my wit has also diminished.  Probably a good idea to just keep drinking then. 

Janet, John, Dave, Jen and I in Schruns, Austria

For those who did not know, I was given the opportunity to join my boss, John, his wife, Janet, and a coworker, Dave, on a trip to Europe for a business trip.  Jen was invited to come as well so even though it meant leaving the little guy for 8 days we thought there was no way we could not pass up this opportunity. The trip was mainly to attend the sales meeting for Gantner Instruments, one of our principals and a very good one at that.  They are located in Schruns, Austria.  We were also going to visit a few other principals that were in the region.  Sensormate near Winterthur, Switzerland and Sensortechnics, just outside Munich, Germany. 
I like to take pictures, and I take a lot of pictures.  Even when the subject matter isn't that interesting, you put a few beers in me and if I have a camera, you can be pretty sure you will be seeing dots from the flash for a few days.  So you can imagine, that when I was surrounded by the beauty of Switzerland, Austria and Germany, 850+ pictures was not a surprising final tally.  That was after just a quick edit of the blurry pics, out of frame shots and just easily identifiable bad shots.  So to make life easy, I will break it up by days of the trip and maybe even throw in a few slideshows so that you aren't scanning through a few hundred pictures of the same mountain.  I am not kidding, I was so amazed at the beauty of the mountains that I just kept taking the same picture over and over and over and over. 

Day 1
Jen and I left Indianapolis on Tuesday the 29th around 2:30 to catch our connecting flight to Zurich in Washington DC.  Dave was going to meet us in DC and he would be on the same flight.  John and Janet would arrive shortly after us in Zurich.  Since our cell phones would not work in Europe, we would be without easy communication for the entire trip. 

Plenty of room

John had purchased a couple of world phones but we kept those for emergencies.  There were no problems with the flight, we arrived in Zurich about a half hour early, so about 7:30am.  Yep, an overnight flight.  I don't think any of us really got any sleep so when we landed in Zurich we felt like crap.  Plus, as we were walking to get our luggage, Dave and I both realized that we had no way of getting in touch with John.  Luckily, nature called and we stopped at the baggage carousel to clean up a little.  While Dave and Jen took their turns in the bathroom cleaning up, I waited by the bags and John and Janet came wandering around the corner.  So no issues there.  Our first meeting was about 10am near Winterthur, a small town outside of Zurich.  John had rented a car, it turned out to be a Toyota wagon of some sort.  He also got a GPS. I don't know how we ever survived without one of these.  We squeezed in the car and piled in the luggage and John began working the GPS. Our trip was pretty fast and scenic, but we were really all pretty tired so there wasn't much conversation.  Though John did tell us about these little shacks that everyone has in the country side.  They are basically gardens since there is no room in the city.  There is a picture of it later, it does look like a shanty town and the fact that they are not filled with meth addicts and homeless is a testament to the country and people.  Anyway, Janet and Jen were to be entertained by Bruno's, from Sensormate, wife when we arrived.  They decided not to follow us inside and instead tried to take a nap in the car.  When Theresa showed up, John took her out to the car and Jen and Janet were passed out.  John had to tap on the window and shock them awake. Theresa was very sweet and even bought Oz a little wooden cow.  He loves the little fella and puts him in weird places to surprise us.  I opened up the fridge today and found him on one of the shelves.  We had lunch at this very old building, which I believe was once manor built around the 1800s.  Beautifully restored, we had a great lunch and I enjoyed a beer and so did Dave.  Which might have contributed to the bathroom incident.  Now remember, no sleep, so we were not at our sharpest.  Apparently it started with Dave who went to the bathroom at the restaurant.  He came back sat down and said that there was someone in the bathroom and it was locked.  Janet and Jen then left to go to the bathroom and came back after a short while as well.  They both said the bathroom was locked and that someone was in it.  Theresa had been earlier and had not had a problem.  So finally, they could not wait any longer and all three decided to try again.  So all three left for the bathroom.  A short while later Dave came back around the corner with an embarrassed look on his face.  He sat down and of course I had to ask what was so funny.  He simply replied that apparently you had to push the door open and they had been trying to pull the entire time.  Then Jen and Janet came back, they were laughing hysterically and they sat down knowing that all three of them could not figure out these crazy Swiss bathroom doors that had you push instead of pull. 
From Winterthur we headed out and over to Schruns via Liechtenstein.   A tiny little landlocked country that speaks German and is probably about 5 miles wide.  We would have not even noticed it if we had not decided to stop and get a beer.  Little did we know that stopping for beer to refuel would be a common theme throughout our trip.  After leaving Liechtenstein, we jumped back in the car and headed to Schruns. 
And now a video break, please enjoy.  These pics are at a much lower resolution that what I took them at, it would be just too big of a resource hog to load them all at full resolution.  If you want a better look at one let me know and I can send it to you or post it at a higher resolution.

Story, Zoo and Oz in all of his awesomeness!

In our never ending battle to update as little as possible but still collect thousands of pics of the little guy, well, here is what is happening.
It was a warm, nay, HOT day near the end of August and a momentous occasion was about to be celebrated.  My brother was turning, don't say it, yes, 40!  Jen and I left the little guy with the grandparents and met them at the Story Inn outside Brown County.  Now if you have never been to it,  recommend a visit.  Nestled in a little town called Story, you drive a twisting road until your cell phone goes dead and round a corner to see what looks like a shack or shanty town.

Now this is a working Inn.  There are at least 4 rooms in the building pictured above and a few other buildings on the property that are also available.  My brother and his wife stayed here one time before, and like all good inns, they have a book that you can leave a little note.  Jen and I happened to stay in the same room that they had over a year ago.  Another story about the Story Inn is the blue lady.  She is a friendly ghost that likes to keep things organized.  Turning mirrors over, rearranging brushes, and also opening the notebook in our room to the exact page where Katy and Scott had written a little thank you on their last visit.  Katy said she did not tell them that they had stayed there before, so it was either a clever and thoughtful trick pulled on us by the staff or the blue lady welcoming us.  I prefer to think it was the latter. 

The room is very quaint, there is a crooked stair case leading up, a balcony in our room that overlooks a courtyard and no TV.  Yep, no TV.  Let me say that again, NO TV.  Some would worry about this, but Jen and I had alcohol and I had her wonderful company, so nothing to worry about. 

There is an amazing restaurant on the lower floor of the inn that people travel to just for the breakfast.  Dinner was awesome and the bar in the basement was small but fun.  You sit on chairs that are made from old farm equipment seats and the bar ceiling is metal siding.  They serve some local microbrews on tap and plenty of beer and wine.  The place is also a destination for biker clubs and apparently, a club of English car enthusiasts.  There were a few MG's, a mini and one other nice little convertible.  A great little time and I would recommend it for anyone wanting a quiet weekend away.  Brown County's horse camp is not too far away and a trail leads right up to the back door of the Inn.  There are almost always a few saddled horses hanging out in the picnic area and a few people in full gear relaxing with a burger and a drink.

On to the kiddo.  We decided to take the kiddo to the zoo, again.  He was not a fan the first time.  This time we took backup.  Jen's brother, Tony, and sister, Melanie, were our responsibility for the weekend and why not take them to the zoo.  They are both amazing with Oz and who doesn't love the zoo.  Well, that would be Oz.  We immediately took him to the walrus area, hoping that he would like that.  And he did.  YEAH!

 That is him, in the striped shirt, trying to get a closer look at the walrus.  Get out of the way lady, let the kids look at the walrus.

 Some super fun time with mommy and aunt mel.  Wait, what is Tony pushing in the background?

 Stroller duty!  What a champ.

 

Feeding the giraffes.  Always fun.  At least this time some lady didn't get in our way and we were able to get the picture.  The last time, some lady was just standing there watching people feed the giraffes and blocking most people as they tried to take a picture.  People really annoy the crap out of me sometime. 

Ahhh, look, Oz looks so cute sitting on the log.  Wait, this picture looks cropped.  Was there more to the picture? 

Yes, that is mommy trying to get him rolling again.  After about his 20th blow up and as he sat there plotting his next move.  He quickly grabbed a rock after this picture and threw it, then ran away.  He knows he shouldn't throw rocks, but you can see that devilish look in his eyes.

Where did we find we spent most of our time at the zoo?  Yep, at Oz's favorite place in the world.  THE PARK!  Yep, we paid all of that money to have him spend most of the time at the playground.  We could have just hit a park in town and had a picnic.  But you have to love the kid, he likes it simple.

 Oz and mommy.

WEARING A BOILERS JERSEY!!!!!!

Oz loves his bike.  He doesn't quite get the pedals yet, but he will get there.  We just love to watch him self propel.  It was getting really hard to bend over and push that little bike around.

Saint Patrick's Day 2009

It has been over two years since Jen and I were able to enjoy Saint Patrick's Day. Jen was pregnant last year so we didn't go, I made her an Irish themed dinner instead. This year, we took the little guy to the parade with Correy, Laura and Eli. Later, we met the extended family for lunch at Rock Bottom. That included Uncle Scott, Aunt Debi, Uncle Darrin, Ethan, Alex, Grandpa Larry and eventually Grandma Janie. So a big crew. Correy, Laura and Eli were there as well. It was a great day and later we dropped the kid off at his Grandma Kates and we headed out to the Rathskellar. Now when we first started visiting the Rath for St. Pat's it was less crowded, the polka boys played and you could actually enjoy yourself. These days it is packed solid, the polka boys still play but it is harder to get anywhere because the Rath just isn't built for large crowds that are constantly moving. Single doors to go in and outside, poor ventilation, but the beer is good and so was the company. So enjoy some slides of the day I will hit you later.

Griswold Family Vacation

It really wasn't a family vacation, more a business trip. I was asked to visit our environmental chamber company in Allegan, Michigan. They put me up in a quaint bed and breakfast so I thought, 'Hey, Jen and Oz might want to come along and enjoy the scenery and sights of Allegan and beautiful Lake Michigan'. We have never traveled with the kid, this was a new experience for us as was evident with our overloaded Rav4. We probably brought too much but we wanted to make sure Oz was happy. Our biggest fear was an unhappy Oz on the mapquested four and a half hour drive. Mapquest was wrong, it was more like five and a half, with an unexpected stop in Southbend Indiana. I couldn't decide which map site to use, mapquest had us going up US31 while google had us traveling I-69 and cutting across Michigan. I chose 31 because I spend a lot of time on I-69 and I am not fond of the cocaine highway. US-31 isn't bad, as long as you don't hit it at rush hour and don't mind Kokomo. Really there wasn't much of an issue with traffic, on this leg of the trip. We left Indy around 11:30 and got to Allegan shortly after 5. A nice little town, the bed and breakfast situated right in the heart. We decided to wander around a little after spending an hour hauling everything from the back of the vista cruiser to our second floor room. As we walked in the general direction of downtown, easily found due to the many "Welcome to Downtown Allegan" signs hanging from lamps, we strolled by a church and then an oddly barbed wired building which we fondly referred to as "the Yard". Yes, just down the street from our quaint inn could be found the county lock-up. Oz was not witness to any shankings, pity. Allegan shuts down around 7, so there was no place to eat besides the local pizza hut, so we decided to try a restaurant we passed on our trip in, the Grill House. Yes, you too can pay to grill your own steak. We grilled a steak, ate some delicious potatoes and had a few glasses of wine. Oz was adored by everyone who walked by and we liked it so much, we went back the next night. Allegan did not have much to keep Jen occupied but we were supposedly within spitting distance of several larger Michigan cities and my wife doesn't do well with directions, especially with a crying kid in the car. I had a cunning plan, brilliant on so many levels. We all know that Walmart is the downfall of civilization, but damn if they don't have a good selection of electronics at bargain basement prices. I finally own a GPS, a TomTom. I do a lot of driving for my job and I have been dieing to get one for months. Of course I had to spend the next two days in meetings so I wasn't going to enojy my new toy. It turns out Jen wasn't going to either. Poor Oz was diagnosed with dual ear infections on Monday and the poor guy was just not happy. So Jen was stuck in the Inn most of the day and unable to play with TomTom. Never fear, for we decided to rely on TomTom for our trip plans home. It turns out that is not always a good idea. TomTom decided that traveling across 94 to 65 south would save us an hour over traveling down US31. I like to get home fast, Jen wanted to get home, Oz wanted to get home. So we took 94. As we neared 65 I started to notice the signs. Signs that ominously mentioned road closings and detours, floods and other terrors. I had no choice, TomTom told me to keep going. Then it happened, as it always does when I drive to the NW side of Indiana. I hate the NW side of Indiana. Traffic sucks, the interstates are always torn up and I just hate it. I should have known better, but there we were in downtown Gary, murder capital of Indiana, surrounded by semi trucks and a wailing baby in the back seat. Did I mention TomTom kept yelling at me to get back on 94 which was under water. I wrestled with TomTom until it finally spit a way out of hell and we eventually made it home. Please enjoy this music montage of our first family road trip. No pictures of the road, just Oz in Allegan

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Corrupted Child

I have corrupted my child with TV. The poor fella actually watches TV and looks to see if it is on. Maybe he is just looking for the movement, the colors, Heidi on Project Runway? I don't know. But the kid will turn his head to watch TV. Even while he is eating, he will turn his head with bottle in mouth and watches. I have turned it off and he looks at it for a few seconds, waiting for the commercial break to end, when it doesn't he turns back to me and continues to eat, but ever wary of the sound of the Cash Cab music. Does he like reading? Sure, but Jen finds he prefers the crazy antics of the Gilmore Girls during the day. I don't know if we are setting up our kid to be a TV nut, but his daddy already is. A shining example I am not! The only reading this kid will do is the program guide.
Recently, Oz has been doing a new thing, he has been looking for us and wanting us to be around him. He struggles to find us in the room and if we aren't there he gets angry. He has been doing this a lot with Jen, trying to find her, crying when she leaves the room. He finds it hard to fall asleep without her around. I understand his plight, I have the same problem.

OUT! OUT! OUT!

Sooooo freakin cute. It is so hard to leave this little guy. But Jen and I have managed, twice, to actually get out and do something, just the two of us. The first time was a quick dinner trip to the Chatham Tap. Nice little pub on Mass Ave. Very tasty vittles. We only lasted about 2 hours, but it was great to get out. We didn't realize that the second time, a whopping 4 hour vacation from the little tyke would be the most difficult. As some may know, I am bit of a comic book geek. Jen has embraced this side of me and I regularly make her sit through comic book movies. The Dark Knight had been out for an entire week and I had not seen it, she knew this was killing me and arranged for her mom to watch Oz while we caught an IMAX version of the film. Little did we know, that it would be sold out and we would have to wait another hour to see a regular version. We did, it was phenomenal and if you haven't seen it, go see it. Even if you are not a big fan of comics, Aaron Eckart and Heath Ledger are amazing. After the movie, I HAD to go the bathroom. I had been nervously shifting in my seat for the last hour of the movie and finally could not wait. But as soon as we left the theater Jen mentioned Oscar and I knew I would have to wait another 10 minutes. I actually didn't mind. I really wanted to get back to our little man. I just miss the little guy and all the little things he does. Plus, someday, I am going to make that little kid hit the comic book store with me on Wednesdays and go to all of the movies that I currently drag his mom too.
We are headed out again tonight and my parents are going to watch Oz. !!!!!St. Elmos!!!!! We have had a gift certificate since Christmas and it has been killing us not to use it. But we wanted to wait until Jen could enjoy some wine and maybe a pre-meal martini. Thank God for grandparents and breast pumps!! Without them we, as in Jen, would be tied to Oz and we might as well duct tape him to her chest. But we, once again, by we I mean Jen, have been building up a stock of food and we can leave, albeit reluctantly, Oz with one of his loving grandparents. We have been trying to teach the dogs to watch Oz, but aside from an occasional lick on the head, they are more interested in his toys and why do they make noise, and how can they make us play with these toys and them. They have been great though, Coco circles Oz like a big sister and makes sure Mongo doesn't get too close. When he does, she growls and lets him know that this is a no pug zone. Mongo really doesn't care, he just wants Oz to pet him.

Oscar hits the high note

Jen and I were taking one of the few moments of quiet to enjoy some Thai food as Oscar was sleeping. It was very close to dinner time for Oscar and he suddenly decided that he would let us know. He has cried before, and we were getting used to the tone and volume, but this time, he must have realized that we weren't immediately jumping to attention and presenting food, we had maybe another minute of diner to eat but it didn't matter. His voice kind of cracked, he coughed, and then WHAM!!! A whole new level of crying! The volume was impressive, he hit a much higher pitch and he held it for a much longer period of time. We both jumped and realized that he has taken it to a whole new level. He is so dramatic.

He is a loud kid though. Earlier, he was sleeping on my lap, Jen was sitting next to me, both Cosmo and Coco were asleep next to us. We were slowly dozing off and Oz let loose a chorus of trumpets as he filled his pants. Both dogs jumped up, shocked at the sound. I thought Oz had hurt himself, but he just slept through it. The dogs eventually went back to sleep, but they have a new found respect for the Oz man.

First few days in the wonderful world of Oz!

I used to just agree with people when they said, "you'll understand when you have a kid". I didn't really grasp what they meant. But now that I get to just sit there and watch him breathe, hear him cry, reach out and grab for mommy, I know exactly what they mean. It is impossible to describe that feeling. Jen is still doing great. She was amazing during delivery and I can't comprehend how she was able to do it. 40 weeks of holding this little tyke inside and keeping him safe. Giving him everything he needed to pop out with his eyes wide open and wonder "WHAT THE HELL? WHERE AM I? WHO ARE YOU? NO DON'T CUT THAT, I NEED THAT. OH CRAP, I HAVE TO PEE." Out popped this perfect little boy.
We haven't slept much, and we really don't mind. Every second we are awake we get to watch Oz and he is beautiful. We are watching our first soccer match together. The UEFA Euro 2008 final between Spain and Germany. Go Germany! I want Oz to be a soccer player and swimmer just like I was, but he has a few uncles on Jen's side that might want him to play baseball, basketball or football. Maybe he will be an artist or a scientist, we really don't care. We are just so happy he is here. Let's face it, Jen nor I were exactly the cool kids in school, this kid is doomed to dorkdom for a good portion of his young adulthood. Thankfully, Jen is gorgeous and I did grow up to be the handsome, brilliant and modest man I am today.

Baby Come Out!

We are desperately awaiting the arrival of baby Sahm. Jen could pop any day now and the waiting is killing us. Well, actually, Jen just wants the kid out so that the battle for favorite aunt can begin. Jen's sisters, Jane and Mel are in constant competition to prove who is the better aunt. The contest has been fierce with Mel going so far as to get ultrasounds and Jane, well, Jane can drive and she doesn't hesitate to bring that up when the issue of babysitting comes around. I don't have a preference right now, though I do have a sister of my own who might want to join the fight. Debi has two kids of her own and they keep her pretty busy. Really we can't wait to see what this little Tony and Jen combo will look like but I am also a little concerned that I haven't installed the car seat yet. Personally, the last minute is one of my favorite minutes and I look forward to installing the car seat during that time.