What, it has only been 3 months!

So we haven't posted anything in three months. What can I say, I'm lazy. Actually my hands were removed in a remarkable experimental surgery and placed on a goat, the goats front hooves were then placed where my hands used to be. This has made it very difficult to blog as the keyboards just aren't built for a goat handed man and the goat with the man hands just doesn't take dictation very well. Needless to say, the experiment has been a failure and my dreams of becoming a hybrid goat man are shattered. But enough about me, how about the rest of the family?Jen is wonderful. The most beautiful and caring women a man could hope for and we just celebrated three amazing, and active, years. We celebrated by taking the day off, dropping the kiddo off for his half day at school, daycare, whatever you want to call it. We went to Ichiban, our favorite sushi restaurant, and enjoyed some very good food. Our friends, Correy and Laura may have given us a bottle of champagne for our anniversary, and we may have polished that off already. It was a nice day, I turned my phone off and truly stepped away from work. Which I need to do more often, to not only give my wife a break from a very trying kid, but to give us a little time as a family. Weekends seem so packed and short and it seems that you rarely have time to just hang out.

Speaking of, Jen and I also took a little trip to Vegas. Not that we are big gamblers, but it was inexpensive and we know the place. The trip was nice, though I would not recommend the Luxor, the beds were akin to sleeping on a bed of nails, as most of the springs were pushing up through the mattress. They probably do this to keep people down in the casino. Our flight there was great. We sat in the back of the Southwest flight and a very nice guy gave us all of his vouchers for free drinks.

We gladly took advantage of this as Jen is not fond of flying and every little bit helps.

Vegas also has some nice restaurants. Jen and I like to eat, so we took the opportunity to try out a few places that we would not have access to in Indiana. The Burger Bar, by Hubert Keller was amazing and I would recommend it to anyone. Coming home was wonderful, Oz met us at the airport and we realized just how much we missed him. Jen had never really been away from the guy for any extended period of time and when you come home to this beautiful little kid, it, well, it was just wonderful.

Oz is doing great. He is walking, not talking as much as we would like, but he is getting there. He has no problem saying "Dada", but when you ask him who Jen is, he smiles and says, "Dada". Unless Jen isn't around, then you ask him where mommy is and he quickly responds with "mama?", so the kid is basically torturing Jen on a daily basis. I feel he is very proud of this and it does not bode well for our future sanity. He climbs on everything now and takes it as a personal challenge to make as big a mess as possible as often as possible. He refuses to eat things that he loved the night before and he loves things that he wouldn't touch yesterday. The kid is an enigma to us, but that is probably why he is so much fun.

One last thing, a quick congrats to my brother and his wife, they are going to have a baby girl and congrats to my sister and her husband, who had their third, Anna.

Arrrgggghhh!!!

I hate lazy, lieing, cheating, stealing pricks!!! About October of last year I bought a couple batteries from Batteries.com to replace the one in my phone and laptop. The phone battery worked great, the laptop, not so much. Either way, I have a new phone now so it doesn't matter and my old laptop battery lasts longer than the new one I purchased. That really isn't what makes me mad. It was the letter I received from Batteries.com a few months later that stated that they regretted to inform me but my credit card information was stolen along with many others. They notified the credit card company and also gave me two years of free fraud protection with one of the online companies, which, from the reviews I read, is more of a hassle than actually getting your card stolen. So I check my credit card activity frequently and really had not thought much about it. Today I received a text, phone call and email all warning me of fraudulent activity possibly on my card. Apparently some kind fella in England decided he wanted to go on vacation using my card! Luckily AMEX called immediately because I am obviously not in England and we haven't been on vacation in about 4 years. I just hope this lazy bastard doesn't mind the gap and his foot is ripped off as he is hauled down the tunnels of the underground. Where do people get off on using someone else's hard earned cash to do what they want. It just really pisses me off and I believe vigilante justice is warranted in this case. However, I must applaud AMEX, they were great, I am not getting charged for the flight and they cancelled the card immediately and are getting a new one sent to me right away.

Other news, Oz is turning 1 tomorrow. We are having a birthday party for the little guy on Saturday and so the added stress of a cancelled credit card does not help matters any. So I apologize if I seemed a bit violent or aggressive earlier. However, if I did ever meet this person in an alley, I would hope that I would be able to vent my anger in an effective and calm manner so that his pain would not be over too quickly. As I am sure this person has swindled many people out of their money and his just rewards should be given not only in hell but on earth as well.

That is the last I will say of it so please enjoy a nice picture of our adorable kid.

Nuff Said

 

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It has probably been about 2 months since we last put anything up on this blog. Reasons for this are many, we do have an almost one year old, Jen does not have access to a laptop while I am working and after the Oz goes to sleep, we like to have a little us time. I probably shouldn't post while I am working either, but, with the economy so bad, no one wanting to meet, I just need a few minutes of happy time. Writing about Oz and everything he is doing will be my recess for the day.

Now for some Oz. He is not walking, though he is so close. He just got new shoes, a pair of Saucony, they have very flexible soles and he immediately let me lead him around the store in them. So they could have been $500 and we still would have bought them. Of course, they weren't, we aren't that bad. Did I mention the economy. It is not easy being a full commission salesmen in an economy largely based on the automotive industry. But I digress.

Oz kind of talks now, he says dada and he crawls over everything. He has stopped harassing the dogs, so they actually come up to him and play a little. Except Coco, she is still pretty timid, but she also yelps if a stiff breeze wiggles her whiskers. Oz is going to be one year old soon. We have been looking forward to this, no more formula. We hate that formula, is stinks, it's expensive, it's messy. So glad to be rid of it. Oz has some new favorite things. He loves to bang on things that make noise, what kid doesn't. He is always trying to take things apart, including my phone, Jen's phone and the remote. He loves anything that makes music, coincidentally, he loves the Keller and Keller commercial, Stanley Steamer, Empire Flooring and the classic $5 foot long commercial. He is not a big fan of Subway's new work. And we don't just sit our kid in front of the TV all day, well, Jen doesn't, I might try to make the kid watch Batman or something, Jen reads to him and engages him in educational activities.

The kiddo likes to throw his pacifiers when he is mad. We put him to bed and he has 7 or 8 pacifiers that he shares time. If he doesn't want to take a nap he starts to throw them around his room, we can hear them hit the walls and know that at about the 7th or 8th hit we will need to head up, gather the fallen and give them back to Oz. He usually goes right to sleep after that. I think he just wants to show us who's the boss. I almost forgot one of the funniest things. Our kid hates the grass. At least the way it feels on his feet. He does not want to sit in the grass, walk through the grass or accidentally put his hand in the grass. I put him down once and he just sat, still as a statue, with one hand out of the grass. He sat like that for five minutes as I could not stop laughing. He didn't cry, he just sat there, our little tripod. Eventually I picked him up and sat him on my lap. He was fine with grabbing blades of the grass and trying to eat them but, if you take off a shoe and put his foot down, there is hell to pay. Though, it is quite funny. We can put him down on a blanket in the grass and he won't step foot off the blanket. I am pretty sure we could leave for a few hours, come back and there he would be, sitting on the blanket, pissed off. It would be kind of like a baby invisible fence. Child Protective Services, we are just kidding. I would never use a shock collar on my kid.

Enjoy some recent pics of the boy.

Soccer and Easter Eggs!

This was a busy weekend.  Which is great and at the same time, very exhausting.  Oscar spent a great deal of time being passed from relative to relative and he took it like a champ.  He actually took a couple naps at both of his grandparents houses.  He was very good at church, spending most of his time in Jen's or my arms, but he was quiet and really enjoyed the singing, as he always does.  On Saturday, we packed up and went to see his cousin Ethan play in his first soccer game.  Ethan is four and the team was made up of 3 and 4 year olds.  If you have ever watched soccer, or basically any sport at this age, it is herd ball.  There are always a few kids standing on the side, jumping in puddles, kicking the grass or crying for their parents.  Most of the kids really enjoyed themselves though and Ethan scored 4 goals on his way to becoming a soccer legend.  At least I can say I have the first pictures of his burgeoning soccer greatness.  It was great to watch the little guy, he was always on the ball, he wasn't selfish, he got back on defense, he did a great job.  Plus, he was one of the only kids out there not dressed in sweatpants and sweatshirts.  He was dressed in a proper soccer kit, boots, shin guards, shorts and shirt.  You are allowed to wear a long sleeve shirt underneath, but a sweatshirt and sweatpants is just wrong.    I would have gotten better pictures of him scoring, but one of the opposing teams parents kept jumping in to the shot when he was about to score.  You will notice him in a few shots on Ethan's breakaway.  He is the one with the angry look in his eyes and it appears that he is scolding his 3 or 4 year old girl because she isn't defending Ethan.  I hope I am NEVER that parent!  They are way too young to be that competitive.  There weren't even any goalies.  I wanted to smack the man.  

Easter was nice.  we went to St. Jude for 8:30 mass with Jen's family.  Then back to Kath's house for quick Easter baskets.  Oscar got a couple books, a soft rabbit and a big bubble wand.  Then brunch at Jen's Aunt and Uncle's house.  Lots of good food, including the heart attack dish that Kath made.  I think it had eggs, BACON, ham and cheese.  I have decided that if I could create a time machine, I would probably travel back in time and find the guy who invented bacon.  I would then let this man know he is second only to Jesus in men who have done great things.  After brunch we had about an hour to rest at home, let the dogs out, try and get some caffeine in my system.  Then off to my parents house and the Easter egg hunt.  My parents put out about 300 plastic eggs, filled with money, plastic frogs and lizards, candy and hot wheels.  My brother, sister(who is having a girl, cheers Debi) and I hid the eggs.  My parents have a pretty big yard, but even we were running out of places to put eggs by the end.  I think there were a few that we just dropped in the middle of the yard.  My parents also had an Easter basket for Oscar.  He now has some very nice summer clothes for when it finally decides to warm up.  A few pairs of shorts, some shirts and some very cool sandals.  Of course, he also got some candy that he won't be eating anytime soon.  And I think he liked what was in his Easter basket most of all.  A 2$ bill and a silver dollar.  He really liked the 2$ bill and that went right in his piggy bank.  After all of that jazz, the Easter egg hunt began.  Ethan and Alex were old pros, they immediately grabbed their Easter baskets and shot around the yard grabbing each and every egg they could find.  Eli was just getting the hang of it and was escorted around by his dad, Correy.  Oscar was taking a nap, he enlisted me to find his eggs.  I then delegated that responsibility to his cousin, Ethan.  Ethan did a great job of finding about a half dozen or so eggs for Oz and Alex even threw in a few.  Eli dropped one in as a little shout out for his homey as well.  All in all, a great weekend, although I could use another weekend to rest.  Enjoy the dueling slide shows of Ethan's soccer game and Easter.  

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.

Another slideshow, I know, I am an addict.

I can't help it, the slide show is just an easy way for me to not have to pick one or two pictures of the little guy. He is crawling now, at an ever increasing speed. He has found that this opens up an entirely new world for him and he is so excited to explore every nook and cranny. It did not take him long to figure out how to open the drawer underneath the stove. So we will have to figure out a way to keep that puppy closed. But enjoy some more images of our wonderful Oscar and please don't hate me for posting slide shows. I hope it does not slow you down too much.

Cheers.