We caught it on film....

Yep....sure did.

This ain't like one of them Sasquatch sightings or one of them there UFO's in the sky....we have actual video of little Reese crawling.

Why isn't it up here you ask? Well, Adam and Kim didn't really think about the conversation that we were having and the little baby noises that were meant for encouragement and just listening to the video...Adam sounds like a dingbat and made some horrible sounding oooooo's and a girly man yelp when Reese made it to her prize....her bottle.

We'll film this again on Saturday and my script will be noticeably absent. Kim can let it rip if she wants. Act II sometime Saturday...get lots of candy while you trick or treat folks.

She's crawling!!!!!

I mean it wasn't a big, long across the room crawl but she chased her little puppy all over the rug tonight. Full blown, one knee in front of the other, one hand in front of the other....crawling!

I called for Kim to come into the living room and Reese turned around and crawled toward her puppy again. Then I noticed that Kim was tearing up a little...For a second I wondered why but then I realized that all of the firsts that are coming around the corner will never be firsts again. Soon enough it will be common place for her to crawl....then pull up....then cruise the furniture, then walk.....it is a little sad but INFINITELY more exciting than anything. It really does happen so fast doesn't it?!

If I could slow down time at home and speed up my time at work, I would do it in a heartbeat. We barely have four hours with her during the entire day M-F and that just isn't enough. I need to change the subject because its just not good to talk about everything that I *think* I'm missing.

I love being Reese's daddy....and I love being Kim's husband. This is the coolest, hard thing that I've ever done and I couldn't be happier. I love my girls.....

Happy Seven months!!

Already 7 months old...where is the time going? What will we do if every year flies by like this one? It's exciting on one hand and on the other side I worry that this time is moving so fast that we'll never capture enough to truly get our fill.

This blog and the pic-a-day blog are meant for our own purposes so that we can look back on this time in retrospect and remember what was happening and yet I try to draw humor and sarcasm into the posts to make our world seem less mundane to the outside observer. However, in thinking of something unique for the blog I'm probably going to start some random small posts titled Happiness Is.....Its a play on the Peanuts cartoon strip (Charles Schultz would run random weeks of these comics) and just a point of remembrance for us that isn't a gripe or a complaint but a true and possibly random thought that makes Kim and I happy.

For the very first thought, I offer up that Happiness is....a seven month old little girl and her obsession with her alphabet spider. Happiness is also a Mom and Dad making collages of their little girl from birth to 7 months old.

Love ya squirt.

Modesty is missing at the gym.....

The following story is rated PG-13 and meant to be funny....no elderly men were harmed in the making of this story.

So today was my first trip to the gym and day one of a much needed change in direction.....

The backstory here is that I joined a gym last week because 1. my arse is getting too big. 2. I just can't seem to muster the ability to ride my bike in even mildly cool weather. 3. it will begin getting dark around here incredibly quickly in the next week and I don't care to get run over in the dark and finally 4. My big boy pants are starting to get tight and I can't have that.

So, there are two guys at my office that work out at lunch and while I've fought that notion to join them, I decided the other day that lunch is a mandatory hour that I must give up at work and since I have no options here...I might as well use lunch for a workout. Yeah, I'll stink a little and who knows how effective it will be working out 40 to 45 minutes per day (but 5 days a week) but it'd have to be better than absolutely nothing.

I've been nervous as hell about this day because I don't know gym etiquette anymore and on top of that, its easily been since 1992 (when I was in High School) that I've even walked into a gym with the intent to lift. I've played racquetball a decent amount during college and shortly after but no lifting at the gym for me...no thanks. So the lunch hour came, I gathered my wares only to learn that my mates would be bailing today. One had to eat lunch with some bosses and the other shows the tell tale signs of pig flu. Not really but he didn't feel well. My virgin trip to the gym...no guidance. No advice. No instructions on which machines do what. All alone.......

Big boy that I am I figured it out and ended up having a great workout but at the risk of being, well, not so P.C.......I had forgotten some stuff. And apparently so did some older guys in the locker room.

See, something must happen to older men when they go to the gym. There must be something that harkens them back to their youth when they would hit the local swimming hole and one kid in the bunch would be a "bank walker". This is a term that I learned from my severely red-neck Uncle but the term works rather well....see a bank walker would be one that would stroll along the bank of the swimming hole showing off his prize. Having a yard sale of sorts....with all of his junk out...you know.

That same mentality exists at the local LA Fitness and is by all accounts from my absent gym buddies....this is more of a consistency than a rarity. Not cool.

I thought some one was selling Franks and beans in there when I was getting ready to leave this afternoon...I mean C'mon! Have a little couthe...or some MODESTY. I really was set back by this and I engaged in getting ready, completely focusing on the task at hand but these jokers are just on a leisurely stroll to the shower....no towel ,no undies....not one stitch of anything. I was a little set back to say the least. This makes the second encounter with clothes challenged older men within a month and I'm feeling a tad violated.

Besides the clothing optional locker room, I really enjoyed the work out. I probably lifted way more than I should have for the first day (and that wasn't alot) but it was a good step in the right direction. I'm pleased with my decision to do this and now just have to keep it up and look for results. All I plan on relaying here is overall weight loss...not a start and finish pound chart because I don't need everyone knowing that I've fallen off the wagon completely. I would like to indulge in the occasional work out story but I felt like day one offered up the best humor I could muster from my day. If you want to call that kind of thing humorous.....

Anyway....day two commences at lunch on Tuesday and I hear that some Shriners are going to be down there riding their little go karts in nothing but birthday suits so stop by...it's bound to be a blast.

Meanwhile...Reese got some exercise of her own tonight and ALLLLLLLLMOST started crawling. She's close to taking off! Go baby go!

Meaty goodness.....

I think Kim and I have talked about going to Fogo de Chao (pronounced Fo-go de Shoun...not Chow so we found out) for the better part of 5 years. I had some food catered from there once and it was phenomenal so I knew that Kim and I were in for an awesome meal. We finally decided this fall that we were making it happen this year for our anniversary. I had actually kicked around some other places but we thought why put it off anymore...let's just do this.

Oh. My. GAWD......this is a meat eaters paradise. It strikes a nerve that is embedded from the cave man era that man should eat meat cooked over a fire. Taking a chance that some readers may be vegetarian, you would pass out seeing all of the critters cooked on a spear. It was amazing. Everything was seasoned to perfection and cooked to specs. If you want rare, you can get it. If you want well done....you can get that too...and it not chew like shoe leather! Pork, chicken, beef, lamb, sausages, different cuts of steak - top sirloin, bottom sirloin, ribs, roast, filet. It was so good. We ate and ate and ate...and then had some dessert.

After that, we went to the movies. It's easily been three years since we've been to a movie simply because we're cheap. Even years before Reese was thought about, we just didn't go to that many shows. An overriding fear would be that one of us would fall asleep (more than likely Kim), the movie might bite so let's just wait for the rental, and again...we're cheap. But despite it all, neither fell asleep, "Couples Retreat" was worth it....but we're still cheap because I grimmaced swiping the card for $20 just for the two of us.

We enjoyed the date and got in around 11:30p to find Nana chilling on the couch. Nan watched Reese while we were out and she stayed with us Friday night and Saturday night. I think Reese was plenty comfortable with Nana Saturday afternoon because we came down from showers to find this cute sight....

Its been a great weekend and Reese really enjoyed spending some time with her Nana. My parents took a weekend trip to the mountains so we didn't get a double Grandparent whammy this weekend. Instead, I put some final touches on the bathroom today and we'll probably be sharing pics of a NEARLY complete master bath renovation this week. Thank God.

More posts coming later plus a new little post trend I plan to start. Later guys....

Sleeeeeep....

Sleeeeeeeep....where have you been?

It all started after the Apple Festival and Reese getting the sniffles. It stands to reason that super cold air, warm car, back out into super cold air, wrapped up warm...back into super cold air. Well, that might cause a baby's nose to run and it did. The nose issues bleed into sleep issues that probably coincided with a growth spurt of sorts. Reese challenged us Saturday night with sleep, Sunday night, and then Monday as well. Tuesday and Wednesday nights have been back to normal but three days or nights of something sort of feel like a trend and now you get that little worried gut thing because you're afraid that this is going to be your new normal for a spell.

We broke out of this with more chow for Pooks - it worked like a charm. We also tried to create an ideal situation for a sleepy baby and make sleep the desired result for Reese...In layman's terms, wear her booty out.

Working as well.

The other issue was the nose and trying to clear a 6 month old nose is something akin to torture. Not so much for the parent but for the little baby getting saline drops in the nose followed by this sucky bulb thingy. That process has really sucked....hahaha get it....for Reese but she has done well despite her obvious disdain for the process.

So what we have tonight....with all of our efforts....is an incredibly cute baby girl sleeping on her Mommy's shoulder. I seriously don't know what we would have done if Reese had been a poor sleeper from the beginning but maybe by now we would be accustomed to the lack of shut eye.

I think we're ready for our good little sleeper to stick around for right now......YAAAAWWWWN! Time for bed now...

Where has the time gone...

It seems like yesterday when we met and went on our first date together. Our marriage have been fun, exciting, and challenging at times but I wouldn't change a thing. We are a great team and I'm very proud to have you as my husband and best friend. We have been blessed this year by adding a new little member to our team. I'm so lucky to have such an amazing husband and a precious daughter. I love you.

Happy Anniversary sweetie....

14 years ago Wednesday I married the love of my life. We've known each other for 18 years so that puts Kim in my life nearly HALF of my life.

She knows everything about me and can read me like a book. She knows my moods, what makes me smile, what makes me mad, when I'm in a foul mood and when I'm being silly. I've challenged Kim more than she deserves with my crazy ways and she still comes back. She loves me and quite simply, I love her.

Even more importantly, Kim gave me a beautiful daughter nearly seven months ago and I love her even more as Reese's mommy than I ever thought I could.

Thank you for loving me Kimmy. You mean more to me than you'll ever know.

Apple Festival and Burt's Pumpkin Farm...

Several years ago Kim and I were out driving with the intent (I believe) of simply driving and finding some fall color and possibly heading up to the Cherohala Skyway....a SUPER cool drive this time of year. Anyway, we crossed over from Cartersville to Canton and started the trek north and once we got into Ellijay we saw all of this mess (traffic) for the Apple Festival that was going on that Saturday. Having always heard about it and having never been --that we recalled, we decided what the hell...let's burn an hour checking this out. What happened after that was a day that Kim and I will always remember for some reason. We had the best time that Saturday. We ate, we laughed at the cheesy craft booths, we drove forever, and we saw some of the most amazing autumn color that day. It was perfect.

That image has burned into our minds now as a tradition of sorts. This little outing had such an impact that a couple years ago when Kim and I were struggling through some issues in life, the Apple Festival ---- of all things ---- was one of the things that we both talked about. That day, that little trip to North Ga.....Well, all things worked the way God wanted them to and we've been Apple Festivus-ing it up on an annual basis since then. Last year we went up there with Lance and Celeste and made the drive to the Cherohala as well. Kim was pregnant with Reese and we had a blast. This year, little Pooka made her first visit to the Apple Festival and we did it one better, we all went to Burt's Pumpkin Farm for the first time.

Let's also set the stage that the typical Autumn weather pattern is for cooler mornings and reasonable afternoons....mid-60's to low 70's. Ummmm yeah, the high today was barely 50....yeah Fifty...like Sally O'Mally....Fifty! 5 - 0. FIVE.....OOOOOOOOOOOw. Fifty.....

So, Pooks needed winter wear and she flat looked adorable.












Reese saw about 15 minutes of her first trip to a Fall festival and then decided that it was just too much for her to handle...
So...with Reese out for the count, we decided to do what we do best at this deal...EAT. Don't judge us. Especially me because I came to dance by dammit....

















































So some explanations by line include me woofing down an Italian brat with some phenomenal sauce. Lance and Celeste approving of something and then....maybe not so much. Me eating fresh corn and Celeste eating an fried apple thingy and Lance looking "pretty"....The little white, powdery puff looking thing is a fried Twinkie...Honey hush! That was the best thing I've ever set my lips to. Delicious. Kim is overseeing the making of her chicken and steak wrap and Celeste is in deep thought while salting her curly fries. Lance is a little too excited about the chow and finally Lance, Kim, and Celeste doing the touchy face pose that a friend of ours does all the time. It gets worse believe me....the touchy face thing lasted all day.

See....Oddly enough we didn't get any crazy looks because the word on the street is that Ellijay has more gays per capita than any city in Georgia....so we fit right in.

We felt like we had consumed enough festival food for a while decided that it was time to go further. Reese did wake up about two seconds after our first family portrait at the Apple Festival so we took a few more pics to commemorate.












A friend of mine that works at my offices told me to get on over to Burt's Pumpkin Farm early but we just knew that wasn't going to happen...She told me it would be busy...Wow - she was right.

We rolled up to the Pumpkin Farm and commenced to Pumpkin patching it. I have never seen the like of pumpkins in my entire life. I swear this place was packed with 1. pumpkins and 2. people. It was a freaking ZOO! But it was worth it all to net some great pics of Reese...and us.




















































So again...explanations by line. Me and Kimmy taking turns with Reese for pumpkin pics. Kim and Reese exploring the patch. Wedging Reese between pumpkins for a standup pumpkin sammich pic. My precious daughter just soaking it in for the next two lines. Lance looking all happy for his pic and Celeste looking like a Mommy wannabe? Kim trying to get the wheelbarrow shot without flipping our girl...it was happening left and right to poor kids. Reese calls it a touchdown and gets attacked by gords and squash. And finally a general pic of the crowd.

Mom and Dad also happened to be in the area and they stopped at Burt's to see Reese in all her pumpkin glory...
And in honor of our face touchy picture friend...we touched faces for pics again.



















Don't be jealous...just touch faces with your camera mates, that's all.

In all seriousness though, this was another great day. These days are the ones you'll remember all your life and the ones I'll yearn to recreate with Reese as she grows older. These days are about making memories and starting traditions with her that will last for years. One day she'll ask when the Pumpkin patch opens up and can we get the biggest pumpkin out there....one day she'll ask about going to the Apple festival and playing the silly games because its not all that silly to her. She's nearly seven months old and we pushed her pretty hard today and she was just fantastic. A little grumpy here and there but all in all, she was a little trooper. Thanks for a great, great day Lance, Celeste, Mom, Dad, Kimmy, and especially Reese. "Just wait" 'til next year. :)

This is too funny...

The USA Today recently posted this...I just thought I would point out publicly that I'm a dummy.

And what's even better...is that I had to do three of the five for this bathroom project...tile, toilet, and install/refinish a floor.

I'm REAAALLY an idiot.

My little cutie....