The Maryland Wisks

Finally....

2011-09-11T21:16:00.010-04:00

..a new blog post!!! After much hounding from my mother, I figured I better post a few pictures!! Our computer has had a virus all summer and we have not gotten around to getting it fixed, so we have had limited computer access; hence, the lack of blogs!

Other than being incredibly busy with Andy getting a promotion and me going back to work, things are pretty well. Jackson is growing like crazy and Julia is an incredible helper who is absolutely in love with her little brother.

I have been trying to keep up with monthly pictures of Jackson, so here are the 1st 4 months. Jackson enjoyed his first trip to the Outer Banks, NC at just over 1 month old. He slept most of the time, but he will have many more opportunities to enjoy in the sand castle making and all of the other fun things that happen at the beach!!

Jackson (& Julia) have also experienced their first earthquake and hurricane...all in the same week! We weren't real sure what to expect with Hurricane Irene predicted to hit Delmarva, so we prepared for the worst and hoped for the best. Turns out, we got the best! We only lost power for about 3 hours throughout the entire weekend. But we decided that we should sleep downstairs, just in case a tree decided to come through our roof (like I said, preparing for the worst!). So we told Julia that we were going to camp out and we even made her a little tent. She had such a great time sleeping downstairs and I fear that she is going to have a rude awakening if she ever actually goes camping!!! Here are her and Jackson hanging out in her "tent".

I realize this is a brief and scattered blog, but it's better than nothing!!! Hopefully my more thoughtful and creative writer of a husband will feel inspired by my post to update everyone on many of the fun times we have been having as a family of 4!!

~Courtney

Jackson Paul Wisk

2011-05-01T15:16:00.015-04:00

We started this blog three years ago now and I just can't believe all that has happened in that time. The goal was for this journal to serve a dual purpose. First, we are fortunate to have friends and family from New England to North Carolina and it's great to give them a glimpse of how our family is growing and even some day-to-day life in the Maryland Wisk House. Second, and what may prove to be most important will be the opportunity for our children and hopefully even grandchildren to read about how they grew up.I'm not a photo guy...I'm definitely not a video guy. We have this awesome video camera that we don't use near enough! One thing that I've always done well and even somewhat enjoyed was writing. I think I'm pretty decent at it and one day this journal can be my gift to my children and hopefully, their children.So here we sit, on Sunday, May first with our five-day-old little man, Jackson. Born at 9:09 a.m. on April 26, 2011, he was twenty inches long and eight pounds two ounces. Naming this child was perhaps the toughest task that Courtney and I have taken on together thus far in our almost six years of marriage! I would say that Jack was pushing an hour old before he "officially" had a name. In fact, I was asked twice what his name was and actually had to reply, "I'm not sure".
I believe that there should be significance in names. Julia Elizabeth has significance in both of her names and now so does Jackson. Courtney's grandfather was named Jack and her father is Paul. That means that our son is named after two guys that are both about 6'5"...now I just need to tie his right hand behind his back and work on that nasty change-up!!!
It was kind of ironic that the doctor that performed JP's c-section was a Duke fan...given his Kemba nickname! I couldn't help but talk a little smack to her during the surgery, telling her that the only thing that would have made Uconn's championship sweeter this year would have been if they went through Duke to win it!

This may end up being my longest post ever. So much happened over four days in the hospital, but one thing was different than the last time. This time I was completely relaxed. Last time I had no idea which end was up, why she was crying or what I was supposed to do. This time both Courtney and I had far less anxiety. We just did what we needed to do.

I was caught off guard by the whole boy thing. Just like with Julia, I had the "pleasure" of changing the first diaper. Only thing was this time, he got the better of me. I forgot about all the warnings about boys peeing all over everything! He got me, he got his mom, he even got himself. He actually got his mom first. The first thing that he did upon delivery was relieve himself on his mom!Julia has been AWESOME with her little brother! She still refuses to hold him...I think she's afraid to hurt him, but that will come. She gives him lots of kisses and holds his hand. She spent a couple days with Grandmom and Pop and seemed to behave so well! They brought her to visit mommy a couple time and she was so well behaved in our small hospital room for 3 and 4 hours at a time that it was incredible! She is a pretty special little girl!
Through this whole experience, we have been so blessed with such giving family and friends! Clearly Grandmom and Pop went above and beyond in caring for Julia, but so many others sent gifts, food and most importantly to me, came to visit. Four days in the hospital is a long time...I don't care why you're there. I think that Courtney would agree that having visitors meant a lot!

So I had a couple mornings at home with Julia to get her ready for school and they were hysterical! The first time, we went downstairs and I put on one of her favorite shows, Super Why, to hold her attention while I went to shower. I told her that when I got out of my shower we would have breakfast.
I walk down the stairs after showering and I Jules greets me with a big "Hi Daddy". Then she says, "Look, I already ate breakfast!" There she was sitting on her Dora couch, covered and surrounded by powdered sugar! She definitely thought she was doing me a favor by going to the kitchen and helping herself to the bag of powdered donuts that were on the counter!

A couple days later, after we had gotten home, I wake up to some distant crying. I come down stairs to see Julia sitting on the floor in the kitchen with a box of cupcakes and cookies beside her. She was crying her eyes out because Mia had vomited and Julia was upset because "Mia's belly was hurting!" Apparently, our little helper came down, fed the cat and then started to feed herself when Mia got sick.

She's such a good kid, such a BIG helper and so much fun. But something tells me that the fun is just beginning as I can't wait to see how she and her brother grow together. My only hope is that she and Jackson are fortunate to have a relationship like my sister and I have. Sure...we drive each other nuts, but we have always made a pretty good team and always look out for each other!

So now I sit here, completing a post that has taken three different sessions to write...interruptions are frequent these days...reflecting on my family. Some call it the perfect family (one boy, one girl). Perfect or not, a couple things are certain, I have the perfect bride and partner, who continues to amaze me. In return, I do my best to drive her nuts! We are both all in and committed to raise these kids the best way that we can. These may be the most stressful days of our lives...certainly thus far, but these will be the best days of our lives!
-Andy

Teammates!

2011-04-21T19:42:00.005-04:00

Spring has finally arrived on Delmarva. Soon we'll be complaining that it's too hot! Springtime home preparations are significantly accelerated this year given the nearing arrival of Kemba. There is lots to do and Julia has tried to help every step of the way! She even helped make her first snowman when 3" of snow interrupted our Spring a couple weeks ago.
On Monday I picked Jules up at daycare and told her that we needed to stop at Home Depot before going home. Part of me was expecting a tantrum of some sort. It was a nice day and I knew she wanted to go home and play outside. On the contrary, her response was to throw both arms in the air as she let out a loud "YEAH!"

I wanted to buy some manure and vegetables for the garden. As she sat in the nursery area, atop a pallet of mulch, I was loading the cart up with forty pound bags of sweet manure. She asks, "Daddy, what's that?" My answer of manure was not sufficient, so I elaborated that it was poop that we were going to mix into the garden because it makes the vegetables grow big. She accepted that answer, but later I realized that I may have to explain later on why we don't poop in the garden. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it!Next, we went to pick out veggies. There were two other Dads there, each with a child around Julia's age. One child was running around like a maniac as dad filled his cart. The other was whining the entire time. But not my princess! Julia was by my side, picking out veggies, asking all sorts of questions and giving plenty of input:

"What does that plant do?"
"Can we get more tomatoes? I like those!"
"That one looks sick. Let's get this one instead"
"Are those peppers spicy? You like spicy peppers, don't you?"

We head over to the checkout and my little girl is standing there, hands on her hips and proud as a peacock. You see, she felt like she picked out each plant herself and she placed each one in the cart. I was standing, waiting our turn and actually thinking that it doesn't get much better than this...she was such a good girl! Little did I know that she was about to BLOW MY MIND!

She turns to me, hands still on her hips and says, (and I quote exactly!) "You know Daddy, you and I make a good team!" Then she walks around to the front of me, puts her arms around me, gives me a big hug and say, "I love you so much Daddy!"

The cashier had to call for the stock boy in the back to bring the mop and bucket up, because she melted me right there. The other ladies in line with us were beside themselves. There are moments in your life that you never forget. Most are major milestones or changes, but for me, few things top this moment. I will be able to hear those 16 words clear as a bell, feel the warmth of the day and smell that sweet manure in my memories for the rest of my life!We came home and Jules helped me till in the manure. We're planting this weekend if Mother Nature allows and I know she'll be by my side, up to her elbows in dirt and loving every minute of it! I also know that Courtney and I are raising this little girl the right way...not bad for a couple amateurs!

Now Kemba on the other hand...we'll see. He's starting off by trying to enter this world ass backwards! Stay tuned!

-Andy

A Boy Named...Kemba?

2011-04-03T19:43:00.004-04:00

So...Ummm yeah...I have a big mouth and I may have really done it this time! First there was LBMF and now after months of debate, we may finally have a name for our son...although not by choice.

You see, after the UCONN Men's Basketball Team made it's improbable run in the Big East Tournament, winning 5 games in 5 days, I kinda might have said to several friends and associates that if they go on to win the National Championship that I would name my son "Kemba"! Now as we sit on the eve of the National Championship Game with Connecticut set to play Butler, those friends and associates are aggressively reminding me of my off the wall guarantee!

Now let's be honest, we're not naming him Kemba...not unless Courtney has an affinity for the name that I'm not sensing right now; however, these very good friends of mine have guaranteed that they will do all that they can to make sure that he at least earns Kemba as a nickname! With Courtney's due date exactly one month from today, all I can say is "LET'S GO HUSKIES!!!"

Julia has a different thought about naming her baby brother. She has been calling him Wyatt for a few weeks now. Wyatt is a character on one of her favorite shows Super Why. A couple weeks ago, I was flipping through a name book and I showed Julia where Wyatt was. A few days later, she was flipping through the same book by herself. She said that she was going to find her baby brother's name. Sure enough she brought it to us and showed us the exact page that Wyatt was on!

Kemba Wyatt Wisk might have a real battle on his hands with his big sister as they grow up together. Julia seems to be becoming REALLY competitive! All of a sudden, she wants to beat me at everything that we do...running up the driveway when we get home, getting dressed in the morning, putting on our shoes, etc.
Last week I picked her up from school and asked her (as I always do) what she did at school today. She said that she played tag with her friends and she went on to say that "none of my friends could catch me because I'm super fast!" Then she proceeds to name each of her friends and tell me one by one that she is faster then each of them.

Well, I don't know where she gets this blazing speed from, (I know how I run and I've seen Courtney...neither is pretty nor remarkably fast) but I hope she holds onto it! It will be a nice compliment to her jump shot!
One thing is for certain...she is growing up super fast. Courtney and I were talking the other day about how the next few years could be the most challenging of our lives. What is remarkable is that they are also the best days of our lives. It doesn't get any better than this!

-Andy

Julia's Big Girl Room

2011-03-14T19:22:00.006-04:00

It's complete...well, except for curtains, but that's not my department! Julia has been so awesome about giving up her room for her little brother and she is really excited about her new room. Seems my strategy was right on!
We dealt with some minor curve balls, but overall it came together well. I was pleased with the trim. Best part was that we used decorative florets at the joints so that we didn't have to cut any 45 degree angles.The new windows went in without any problems. It's one of those projects that sound really complicated and even scary, but it's really easy! I did them all by myself...no help. It took about 2 hours for me to put three windows in, but that was mostly because of the trim work once they're in.

Without a doubt, Julia's favorite part is bouncing on her new big girl bed. She's growing up so fast! I am truly enjoying this age!!! It's great that she gets offended if you don't let her help with chores...I need to figure out how to make that mentality last into the teens! Here she is helping Mommy sew some curtains.
The other day, I asked Julia "who fixed up your new room?" She responded, "Daddy". I asked if anyone else helped and she said, " Papa, Uncle Louie and Uncle Brent." I was highly impressed with her memory. Yeah...she's probably smarter than me!

Special thanks to Papa, Louie and Brent. A lot of work went into this room and we got it done in good time thanks to all the help we got!

Now...what's the next project?

-Andy

Progress and a Small Change in Direction

2011-01-30T13:26:00.003-05:00

When we uncovered the brick fireplace behind the plaster, there were about twelve people who told me that we should leave it exposed. I wanted to cover it up, mainly because it would require a lot of trim work and that is my home improvement nemesis! Courtney can tell you how many perfectly good pieces of molding I've wasted because of lack of patience and foresight.
Nevertheless, I decided to change course and expose it. I think it'll be a nice feature in the room and the wall that we had put over it was pretty soft, because there was no stud behind it.
The room is coming along great! It's insulated. All the drywall is hung. There is a marked difference in the feel and temperature of the room.
Many, many, MANY thanks to Louie and Brent for all the help that they have provided with this project!

-Andy

The Return of LBJ...It's All Downhill from Here!

2011-01-27T18:57:00.004-05:00

Driving home today, Julia and I had a conversation about snow. She was remembering a recent trip up to Connecticut when we went sledding with Ben and Luke. This was Julia's first time on a sled and I fear that after it, she'll never want to do it again!
As she recounted to me in the car tonight, "It was fast and the snow got all in my face and it was cold!" In hindsight, I probably should have shielded her better!Now Luke had a blast. He must have gone down that hill about seventy times! Meanwhile, after giving a try to the sledding thing, Ben and Julia were more content to just sit at the top of the hill and make snow angels!The entire weekend was such a blast! We literally played all weekend...sledding, setback, air hockey, bowling and even castles and dragons (and who knew Jules would be so fond of dragons!).

After a thorough air hockey a$$ whooping that I received from Courtney, Julia and Benjamin wanted to play. We let them and this may have been the funniest thing that I have ever seen in my life! They could barely see over the table. The game was actually moving in slow motion!
They say that having a child can age you...I disagree! I have never felt so young. I find that Julia and our nieces and nephews inspire me to just be a kid for even a moment! While we were sledding, I felt like I was twelve again! They don't age you! They add years to your life!
Now when I woke up the day after sledding, I felt sixty!

-Andy

OH BOY!!! Another Project!

2011-01-23T09:52:00.006-05:00

Momma says that we need to get cracking on remodeling our third (and final) bedroom. This new baby is going to be here before we know it and we need to be ready! We have decided that the nursery will remain the nursery and Julia will get a brand new room...she is the princess after all!

This room is easily the coldest room in the house. It's on the northwest corner and has trees blocking what little sun it might see during the day. It does have a fabulous view of the lake though.
Courtney and I kick the project off by spending Martin Luther King Day stripping wallpaper. We actually did a great job...and by the way, the mixture of white vinegar and hot water is great for removing wallpaper and a lot cheaper than chemical removers!We finish stripping all four walls and Courtney is just whooped...we are admiring our work and I start thinking...that's where it gets dangerous. Our house was built in 1927. So I start wondering if there is any insulation in the walls at all. After performing a highly scientific "hammer test" it is determined that my suspicions were correct.

Well my little princess needs a warm room! So yesterday, we started stage two of the project. We removed the plaster in two walls, installed insulation and began hanging new drywall. My goal was to get all the drywall hung and we're a little less than half way there. All in all, I couldn't be more pleased with the progress.
Now that baby is coming quickly and I couldn't be happier. I have so much to teach him...plumbing, electrical, insulation, flooring, drywall, painting. The things that I've taken on in this house (with the help of some fantastic friends and family) are really starting to impress me. Now Julia is a big help, but I'm sure he will take it to the next level.Oh yeah...It's a BOY!!! Here's the photographic evidence...a view from the bottom. Let's the hope the ultrasound tech wasn't wrong. It looks pretty clear to me! Julia will soon be terrorized by a little brother. Boy oh boy is her world about to change.
But she is still and always will be my princess. There is nothing that I wouldn't do for that beautiful child...wouldn't you agree?

-Andy

Preparing for Christmas...in Pictures

2011-01-23T09:08:00.006-05:00

Anyone who has been reading this blog knows that Jules is our BIG helper! Part of my motivation has become gathering as much evidence of her helpfulness as possible so that when she becomes old and defiant, I can use it to make my case.
When she is ready to help...she's ready to help. The tool belt is fully loaded for whatever obstacles those pesky decorations might throw our way!
Julia and her Partner in crime Mia are scoping out the tree! There are times when I think that Jules and Mia are definitely working together. For example, every morning Julia asks me to carry her downstairs and then Mia proceeds to try to take my legs out. This has been going on for 2 1/2 years now and I'm convinced that they won't stop until then succeed!
I have so many fond memories of helping my dad hang up the F#$%#&G lights. Pretty sure Julia learned a couple new words during this exercise. Mommy was pretty annoyed with me!
Julia is an equal opportunity helper...although truly a Daddy's Girl...here she is helping Mommy hang the Red Sox Candy Cane Ornaments.
Believe it or not, I'm struggling a bit in this photo. Homegirl is getting BIG! Only problem is that she's all about Daddy picking her up and climbing on me. One of these days I'm going to get hurt!
Here we are checking the NORAD update on Santa's progress on Christmas Eve. Everything is ready for his arrival and wouldn't you know it...Julia got everything that she wanted! This was easily my second best Christmas ever! Tough to top the year that Santa brought me the A-team action figure set!

-Andy

House Broken!

2010-12-18T10:36:00.005-05:00

What a process this has been! We heard so many suggestions...everything from "they'll figure it out on their own when they are ready" to "let them run around naked and they'll want to use the potty". Luckily, I have been blessed with a supreme amount of patience to persevere through the lengthy process!

Actually...truth is that I'm lucky that I have a beautiful wife with the patience to persevere through the process. Anyone who believed my previous statement probably shouldn't be reading this blog!We tried just about everything. We let her go naked. We forced her to sit on the potty. We bought pretty Dora undies so that she would (hopefully) want to keep them clean. There were times where none of that seemed to work. The amazing thing about kids is that everything just "clicks" all at once. Looking back on Julia's development, that's the way it has been. You try and try and try to get them to do something and just when your perseverance is shattered, out of the blue they do it!

Getting her to go pee-pee on the potty wasn't too tough. She got that consistently pretty fast...although we did have a stage where she was going for Mommy and school, but refused to go for Daddy. Given that I have her alone on weekday evenings, this was a frustrating time period.

Poops were the big challenge. I feel like she was scared to go. She would save them up and then just explode in a massive accident...rendering irreparable damages upon whatever cute cartoon character she had been wearing that day. Then one day it happened! It happened at school, but she did it!We had been promising Julia a "Special Treat" when she finally went poops for the first time. So I picked her up from school and they told me of her massive achievement and I took her to the toy store to pick out a toy. I was willing to deal with the "I want that...and that...and that..." because it was worth it! I was SO proud of her.

A couple weeks previous, she had been looking at a store flier that had Pillow Pets in it and she told her Mommy that she wanted the Blue Dolphin Pillow Pet. As we walk into the toy store, she spies a bin of these overpriced, under-supportive pillows and said to me, "Daddy, I want the Blue Dolphin Pillow Pet". After letting her hold it for a bit, I convinced her to not make such a rash decision and look at some of the other toys in the store.

We finally find the Dora aisle (yes...she has her own aisle) and Julia starts to vibrate. I was certain that we would be walking out with some sort of Dora play thing. I let her check everything out and play for a few minutes. Her excitement was amusing not only me, but several other store patrons who stopped to be entertained by her for a moment. Finally, I squatted down next to her and asked which toy she was going to choose.

I was really expecting her to ask for all of them and get upset when I made her choose. I'm pretty sure that's what two-year-olds do. But she knocked me on my heels when she said, in a rather matter of fact way, "Daddy, I want the Blue Dolphin Pillow Pet!"

The three of us left the store together that night, happy as can be..."Squeaky" the Blue Dolphin Pillow Pet, who had found a little girl who was going to love the heck out of him, Julia because she got Squeaky and me because my little princess could not have made me prouder that day!

-Andy

Fall Chores

2010-12-13T10:34:00.005-05:00

Our game of catch up is almost complete. Falling behind on the blog saddens me. Our intent is to keep this going as a chronology of our family. Occasionally, I go back and read some old posts and that's what makes this thing so rewarding. I can't imagine how cool its going to be in 20 or 30 years!
Last year when we attempted to involve Julia in our Fall leave cleanup, pretty much all she did was cry. What a difference a year makes! She's all about it now!!! When I took her outside to rake, I gave her a little sandbox rake while I went to the garage to get my rake. When I came back out, she already had about a four foot circle raked up!
She helped with every aspect of the job...raking, bagging, running sprints up and down the driveway, going down the slide, and most importantly jumping in the leaves!

I think she had a blast...hope she still feels that way when she's fourteen and I'm waking her lazy but up early to rake our leaves! When we finished, she and I were walking up the driveway to come inside and she says to me, "Boy Daddy! Raking leaves is hard work!"

For the second year in a row, we "hosted" Thanksgiving. I say that because this year, Courtney's Dad (aka the Big Man and Pop) had a procedure done and in order to make it a bit easier on him, we packed up and took the show on the road. It was like a Top Chef challenge where they change the venue on you mid stream...so it was pretty cool.

Everything went smoothly and I'll be honest...it was a pleasure to cook at Grandmom and Pop's house. Ma Jones has a pretty killer kitchen. Although it was weird preparing a meal in an oven that was accurate.

After dinner all the grandchildren helped with the tree decorating. Jules (of course) was all about it! Although I don't really remember this part. I think I had fallen victim to a tryptophan overdose!-Andy

Cooking with Minnie Mouse

2010-12-12T09:37:00.004-05:00

It is ironic that I am writing a post about cooking as I sit here eating one of the worst egg sandwiches that I have perhaps EVER made! Nothing aggravates me more than when I screw something up cooking. I am much more forgiving of others cooking mishaps then I am of my own. It is critical that my creations come out perfectly every time!
Hopefully in time, I can teach Julia a few tricks to help her to be a fantastic cook, but for now she'll just have to pretend with her toy utensils and plastic chicken legs, cookies, etc. We do make quite the pair in our aprons though!

Just after Julia was born, I went on a business trip to Orlando and for the first time (of many many more since) I bought her a toy. It was a little stuffed Minnie Mouse. I think it was like thirty bucks, but that's what I get for buying it in Orlando...besides, I would have spent anything on it. I remember my dad coming home from business trips and being so excited to see what he brought us. Even though Jules was only four months old, I knew it was something that I just had to do.
Now I would like to think that my little stuffed Minnie influenced her Halloween costume decision, but I'm sure the Disney Channel had more to do with that. Nonetheless, she dressed as Minnie for her first actual trick or treating experience. Major kudos to Mommy for making an AWESOME Minnie Mouse costume! I was awefully impressed! She even tried to make the ears and got close, but eventually had to just buy a pair.
Here are Julia and her cousins heading out for a major candy haul!

-Andy

Elmo, Princesses and Pumpkins

2010-12-11T18:59:00.006-05:00

October was a BIG month for Julia. I've noted before how she is my little helper, but she is just starting to understand some of what we're doing. It is becoming more than just doing what Daddy does. For instance, she knows what a pumpkin is and what a jack-o-lantern is.

So like every other house in America, we too need to spend money on pumpkins to make sure that their life doesn't end in vein, rotting in a field, but rather are wasted properly as jack-o-lanterns. This year we even saved the seeds to roast them...but I kinda messed that up. Courtney found a good recipe for them and I left them in a bit too long and the delicious recipe tasted only like burnt.

Now a couple weeks prior to this, Julia and I on a father/daughter excursion, drove all the way to Bivalve to get these pumpkins. They were grown by kids in our Westside Summer Camp and I wouldn't buy my pumpkins anywhere else. Jules picked out each and every one of them and got one for mommy, daddy, Julia and Mia. She never forgets Mia!

So now came the day to carve. As you can see, Courtney and I got all dolled up for the event. Good thing that we're not in too many of these photos. Julia jumped right in. She was pulling out seeds, telling me where to cut the eyes and nose and loving every minute of it! For me, this was really the first "holiday" related activity that she's gotten into to the point where I had immeasurable fun watching her.

Earlier in the month, we went to see Sesame Street Live...Elmo's Healthy Heroes! I thought the girl's head was going to spin. The show was later than her typical bedtime, but she was so good! She was totally captivated and was basically vibrating with excitement. I have discovered that "vibrating" is a true description of what a child does when they are really excited. I LOVE when she does it!

Julia is getting pretty independent. She likes to try to dress herself. The other day, I came into the living room where I left her with her pajamas. She was still wearing her clothes from that day. From the kitchen I heard her yell, "Daddy! I did it all by myself!" I ran into the living room to see Julia now wearing her pajamas over her clothes! Here's a shot of Julia playing dress up with some princess clothes!

She is after all...my Princess!!!

-Andy

Dawn of a New Day!

2010-12-05T09:16:00.005-05:00

I can't believe that we haven't had a post since July! Well we are back!

So many things have happened recently to get us motivated to get this blog back to where it should be. Yeah, there's Julia...she's growing like a weed, partying like a rock star and shaping up to be a MAJOR Daddy's Girl. But that's not all.

The Huskies are on a huge roll. Football is headed to a BCS Bowl and basketball recently beat the #2 and #9 teams in the country on back to back nights...let alone what the women's hoop team is doing (can you say John Wooden?).

Then I go and read Rhino's Blog (linked on the left) and realize that he is significantly out blogging us...and his rants are pretty entertaining too! To top that, there's a certain Beck family in NC with a new beautiful baby Carly that is just kicking our tails in blogs! And they're talking trash about it! Oh! It's On!

But the major motivator here has got to be the Boston Red Sox! In honor of them making their biggest off season move since signing Manny (LBMF's namesake for you long time blog followers) in 2001, WE'RE BACK!!! We are out of retirement and back in the game!

No, we're not back in the blog game...we never left. It was a sabbatical. Actually, Julia has been holding us hostage during every free minute we have. No...we're re-entering a much bigger game than that. Apparently, we enjoyed sleepless nights, spit-up and exploding diapers SO much that we're going to do it all over again, starting in May!

In honor of this series of significant developments, I feel that we should give our unborn child an appropriate moniker. Hereforth, our unborn child shall be known as LBAF, in honor of Adrian Gonzalez coming to Fenway Park this Spring! Just as Manny did, I'm sure Adrian will deliver another World Championship or two. And it will start Little Baby Adrian Fenway in the right direction as he (God...please! I need backup here!) becomes an avid Red Sox fan.

In another coming out of retirement story, I had the pleasure of donning the tools of ignorance for the first time in about twelve years this summer, as I was invited to play a game with my brother in law Nate's men's league team. And what an experience this was! Good news is that the soreness went away yesterday!

It was kinda like riding a bike! I never missed a beat!

Too bad they don't make chest protectors that cover the belly!

A massive swing and miss here, but I did go two for four with a couple RBI's and runs scored.

Hopefully one day there will be a picture of me and Julia with her wearing the 'gear'!

-Andy

Big Girl!!

2010-07-14T09:29:00.007-04:00

We recently decided that it was time for Julia to switch over to a "big girl bed". This was mainly a selfish reason...let me explain. Every morning, Julia wakes up and yells for Mommy and Daddy (usually Mommy first, then Daddy once Mommy doesn't appear, but that is irrelevant!). Well, it had appeared to be getting earlier and earlier that she was waking up and if you don't know already, Mommy and Daddy LOVE their sleep!! So Daddy thought that if Julia was able to get out of bed herself, that perhaps she would stay in her room and play and not yell for Mommy and Daddy to come get her. Mommy thought that that was all fine and dandy except that there was no way she would ever get to sleep because she would get out of her bed and play (or come find us!!). So Mommy went and bought a bed rail, and converted her crib into a big girl bed. When I picked Julia up from school, as soon as we got home, I took her to see her new big girl bed. I gave her the rules (in the morning you can get up and play and you don't need mommy and daddy to come get you, but at night, you have to stay in, etc.) and the first thing she did was climb in and started jumping on the bed!! She loved it! She must have been in and out of that bed 20 times in the first 3 minutes!! As it turns out, Andy and I were both wrong about what would happen with this new bed! Julia stayed in it at night and she still hollers for Mommy, then Daddy in the morning! Daddy hooked her up with an A/C in her bedroom and now she is loving life!!

Julia's Uncle Ben and Uncle Brent have been saying that they are going to take her surfing and paddleboarding. I just laugh it off assuming they are kidding. Apparently they weren't kidding...about the paddleboarding anyway!! Our house usually becomes the "go-to" house for cookouts due to our proximity to the lake (for our adventurous friends) and for the ease of Julia. So we had a 4th of July cookout, nothing fancy, just some burgers and dogs (I think! They were black and crispy, but I think they started out as dogs!) and some good friends. So after dinner, Uncle Ben and Uncle Brent get out their paddleboards and head to the lake. So I took Julia for a walk to go watch them. Well Uncle Ben asks Julia if she wants to go and I cautiously ask "are you sure?". So I get Julia's floatie and out they go. I was extremely nervous, but clearly trust Ben more than I ever knew!! Julia seemed nervous at first. She sat right where Ben put her and didn't move a muscle. They were out for a little while and Ben stopped and stood Julia up on the board. This is when she got really comfortable I think. He sat her back down and paddled around some more. Only this time, she would reach over the side and splash the water. I continued to be nervous!! It ended well, no one fell in and I think Julia had a great time! I think I am still nervous just thinking about it!! Mom--don't show this post to Dad...he doesn't need anything else to worry about!!! Just kidding...sorta!!

~Courtney

Vacation 2010...Part 2

2010-07-13T15:43:00.009-04:00

Andy said that I had to do Vacation Part 2, so I guess that is what I should do. I was waiting on some pictures before I did this post, but I haven't been able to get them, so perhaps that will be another post!! (just to keep you in suspense!!)

As Andy said, we love the Outer Banks. Andy already has our plan figured out of how long we both have to work, when we should buy a house down there and when we should permanently retire there! I say "How about now?!?!" It really is a wonderful place!

Besides our awesome house and our great friends, I guess the next big story is Julia sleeping in a big girl bed. There weren't enough rooms for her to have her own room, so we bought a twin air mattress and she slept on that....sorta!!! Each night before we would go to bed, we would all sneak in to see where Julia was sleeping! She hadn't quite figured out how to stay on the mattress! We would put her back on the mattress and she would roll right back off, so we figured she must be comfy on the floor and just started leaving her there!

She loved the beach! The first day we got there, everyone sorta split up to do different tasks. Some people went grocery shopping, some went to get the crabs, so Heather, Julia and I stayed and explored. We wandered down to the beach, just to remind ourselves of how much we love the place! Well Julia went straight for the ocean. She has no fear and was loving life! As I stepped back to take a picture of her, she went chasing after a wave and face planted into the water and sand. We hadn't even been there an hour! So we trek back to the house to clean her up, seeing as how she didn't even have a bathing suit on! Here is the picture I was taking just before she took off! As you can tell, she was pretty excited to be there too!
Julia loved her new little buddy Ashton. I think she liked having someone her own size there to play with this year and they got along great! Julia liked playing with all of these 'new' toys and Julia even wanted to play in the pack and play with her!

So another vacation down and I think we all pretty much agreed that we would do it again next year. The biggest debate we have is to find a different house or to stay in the same one. I think we are leaning towards finding a new house, for no other reason than the surprise and excitement of exploring a new house when we get there! We were all like little kids on Christmas when we went in and everyone was pointing out all of the cool things that the house had to offer! With that I will leave you with this photo and the fact that we can't wait until next year!!

~Courtney

Another Year Passes

2010-07-04T10:59:00.006-04:00

It's official...Jules is two! She's on her way to being a little heartbreaker and in preparation, Daddy has been shopping for firearms. I figure I won't buy any bullets. That way I can scare the crap out of boys without being tempted to use it!

She had a doctor's appointment last week and the doc says that she is likely to be tall and slender. So allow me to add this all up...my little girl already has beautiful BIG blue eyes. She's shifting to her mother's darker complexion and she's going to be tall and slender. Maybe I ought to look into bullets too!

I'm kidding (sort of)...but seriously, the last year has been amazing. Literally it feels like she grows everyday in some way. We are spending the weekend this weekend working on potty training. By we I mean Mommy. There are certain things that Daddy really has a tough time with and cleaning up accidents is one of them. Don't know what I'd do without Courtney!

We had another summer BBQ for Julia's birthday last weekend. No ponies, bounce houses or clowns, just lots of friends, family and food. Where I come from, that's how its done. It's just a few hours to come together to celebrate a special little girl's birthday. Plus, I fear setting a ridiculous birthday precedent...don't want to have to top it every year!

It was great to have everyone over and fun to spend a few days with LBJ (Luke, Ben, Julia) reunited. The three of them together emit so much energy that you really should wear sunscreen around them. The best was the early mornings. Benny tossing toys into Julia's crib and all three of them doing their best to get Uncle Andy out of bed.

It was also cool to have Nana and Papa spend some good time with Jules. They definitely don't get to see her enough, but I know that Julia knows them and is always excited to see them.

Last year for her first birthday, I did a post with a top ten list about the previous year. In the interest of starting a tradition, here's my top ten list of year two experiences and happenings:

Communication - Love that she can tell us what she wants! Raising children would be easy if they would just speak up and tell people what they want!...and then were reasonable enough to understand and deal with "no"!
Throwing Arm - Once after watching Julia, Pop said "if it's in her right hand, she's throwing it!" Well that's the truth. She's got quite an arm and to be honest, most of the time her form is perfect. She even usually steps with the correct foot!
Kiddie Pool - No better way to cool off!
Vacation - If I may quote Uncle Ben, "the Outer Banks is the greatest place on earth".
Papa and Uncle Louie - Without them, the bathroom remodel would still be a dream! By the way...should have a completion post coming soon!
SNOW! - A winter of epic proportions! When I was growing up there were so many stories about the blizzard of '78. Now I can share similar stories with Julia. But when we get our next once in 30 year winter, her husband better come dig me out!
Tax Deductions - With a kid and paying loads of interest on your home, doing taxes is fun!
Peace, Love & BBQ - A book that Courtney got me for Christmas that is expanded my enthusiasm for BBQ. I've also learned a few key tricks from is and feel like I'm improving in the craft.
Friends and Family - Even though we are separated from family, it has been much easier to raise Julia because of all the help that we get from our friends and family. We're just waiting for some friends to expand their families so that we can return the favor.
My Girls - Always at the top of the list! No matter how rough it gets, we're in it together and just a smile can turn your day around!

-Andy

A Visit from the Becks

2010-07-04T09:48:00.006-04:00

A recent visit from the (soon to be) Beck trio sure did spark some memories. There are a few things that used to be staples in our routine that just don't happen much anymore. Rarely do we go to Ocean City...at least not during the summer...damn tourists!

Buffalo bites and burger nights are long gone! Honestly, we really don't get out much, compared to what we used to do. It was great to have a weekend with some good friends to kick back, relax and do some things that we really don't get to do much of anymore.

We packed up and took Jules for a trip to Ocean City. This girl just loves the beach. She's such a good kid and I think she would sit and play in the sand and surf all day long! I've also noticed that she seems to be developing more of her mother's complexion. When you compare some pictures of her from last summer to this summer...home-girl is getting a little tan going!

Next, we got back from the beach and busted out the grill for some burgers and brats. Always helpful Julia was right there to shuck and eat the corn. By the way, she prefers to eat her corn raw!
It's clear to see here that I am further along in my pregnancy than Amanda. Actually, I'm pretty sure I'm having twins!

It was great to see Kenny and Amanda and we can't wait to hopefully visit them this fall and meet Baby-Beck! Julia was ready to ride her bike there right now, but someone put that darned fence in the way!

-Andy

Vacation 2010...Part 1

2010-06-14T19:47:00.007-04:00

For my money, the Outer Banks of North Carolina is hands down the best vacation that money can buy. I believe it to be the true definition of vacation...you do only what you want to do. No rushing to get to the theme park when it opens, no hustling to make certain that you visit as many family and friends as possible and no wasting gobs of money on eating out and entertainment...that is, unless you want to.

Don't get me wrong. We love that we can take time off to get out and visit family and friends. We wish we could do that more; but those trips are often time far from relaxing. This is a true vacation in that it does recharge you. I'm heading back to work tomorrow and I'm honestly excited about it. I feel refreshed.

We are so fortunate to have a great group of friends to share this now second annual trip with. It's essentially five "couples", although we're prepared to grow once Uncle Louie and Uncle Ben find women to bring along. This group of friends is great in that we're cool if we do stuff together and just as cool if everyone goes separate ways.

This year was especially fun for me. Julia is really just coming into her own and it is so fun to watch. Even though the terrible twos are clearly on their way (we'll have to do a future post on this one), she is generally a good kid that everyone seems to enjoy to be around. It makes me proud to see how much people just love being around her. It tells me that Courtney and I are doing something right in raising her.

Here's a look at our "cottage" for the week. Gotta love the rooftop hot tub. I know we did! Julia was especially fond of the pool. She was getting bolder in the water as the week went on, but Courtney and I clearly need to get her more time in the water.

Jules made a new friend in baby Ashton on vacation this year. Ashton is a year younger than Julia, but they got along great. Ashton was another good kid. Hopefully Dawn and Richie join us for future getaways because Julia and Ashton seemed to have fun together...especially when Aunt Christy was reading to them!

Jules also spent quality time with Aunt Heather and even had her share of time with the boys! I didn't mind her hanging with the boys this time because I was there to keep an eye on her (and the keg)!

If anyone (and I mean you Liz!) ever buys Julia a recorder there will be hell to pay!

All the fun in the sun can tire a girl out. But who better to nap with (or on) than Mommy!

Part two will have Courtney's take and lots more pictures...

-Andy

She is Polish!

2010-06-13T14:07:00.004-04:00

Jules is doing a really good job at trying new things. Just last night she had a Chinese stir fry with us and I was amazed that she ate what she did. The only problem is consistency. She will literally eat an entire plate of something one day and turn her nose up at it the next day.

She's even more challenging when it comes to veggies. If I'm cutting cucumbers and tomatoes at the counter she'll eat them until she explodes, but if we put them on her plate, she won't touch them.

Recently we had a dinner experience in which her polish roots shone through. We had smoked kielbasa with Kosciusko spicy mustard. She gobbled it up! She was licking the mustard off her fingers and asking for more! If she could have removed the lid, I think that she would have drank the stuff!

-Andy

The Great Bathroom Project...Part 1

2010-06-12T20:03:00.006-04:00

We are in the midst of our most aggressive remodeling project to date. I think that welding might be the only trade that is not represented in this project. We have done electric, plumbing, framing, drywall and hope to to soon complete trim work and painting.

The best part is that Courtney and I have been harmonious throughout this project...oh wait...that's because Courtney was in Vermont scrap booking while a bulk of the labor was taking place!

Special thanks to my Dad and Louie for hanging with me for the bulk of 4 days thus enabling us to get a bulk of this work done on one of the hottest weekends of the spring!

Anyhow, here's what we have done thus far:

Step 1: Demolish Bulkhead

Step 2: Remove Tiles

Step 3: Remove moldy and rotten drywall and insulation

Step 4: Install new fixtures

Step 5: Install new tub enclosure - By the way, as it turns out, standard size for a tub enclosure is 60 inches. I guess it's only fitting that the space that we had to fit it in was 59 inches. We had to notch 1 inch out of 90 year old studs. That was about as pleasant as an outdoor Catholic wedding in New Orleans in July, full mass with tuxedos as dress code!

Step 6: Install Hardware & Hang Drywall

Step 7: Install Vanity

Step 8: Play with Julia - By the way...this picture happened just today. I was using my drill to put in some screws while installing the air conditioner in back and Julia saw me, left the room, got her drill and asked Daddy if she could help! She's SO freakin' cool!

To Be Continued...

-Andy

Playing Catch Up

2010-03-29T21:20:00.013-04:00

So after a long hiatus, I feel like we have so much to talk about and I don't even know where to begin. We FINALLY got our computer fixed!! Hopefully this is the last time!! Julia has grown so much from even the last blog post at the end of January, although I guess that was about 2 months ago now!

So the big story was, of course, all of the snow that we got this winter. We got so many snow storms that I can't even begin to differentiate between them. All I know is that I was ready to go back to work after the MANY days we had off! The first snow storm was cool because we knew we were getting lots of snow and it was something we don't often see. So it was exciting to get all of that snow. Then the second one came and it was still exciting, but we really didn't know what to do with all of it! Then by the 3rd time it snowed, we were saying alright already! Andy had to work for many of the days that I had off of school, so Julia and I were having some serious cabin fever!! And there was so much snow that you really couldn't even play in it because we were afraid we would lose Julia in it!!

That didn't stop us from grilling out though!! We managed to get to Uncle Ben and Uncle Louie's house at some point and of course Andy had to fire up the grill!!

And here is a picture of the lake in front of our house. It really was a beautiful sight to see all of the snow. However, pushing out our neighbor kid whose car kept getting stuck did get annoying after several times of having to help him!!

Julia was taking lessons from her daddy on how to be "cool"! She is such a little sponge. She wants to do everything and say everything that you do. She really is quite smart and is becoming quite the negotiator. Her new favorite thing is The Jungle Book. She wants to watch it all of the time. If she can't watch it, she wants to hold and play with the case. Then she asks over and over again who all of the characters are on the case. She loves listening to music as well. Andy got an Ipod for his birthday and he bought the sounddock, so we have it in our kitchen and we listen to it quite frequently. She has been known to start dancing and say "good song". I think she learned that from her daddy. Andy was all excited one day because she could sing the theme song from Caddyshack (I'm alright).We just celebrated Easter with my family and will be celebrating with Andy's family this weekend. Here is Julia with her cousins and Grandmom and Poppy after their Easter Egg Hunt. She had a good time doing that. She would pick up an egg, shake it and then pull the candy out and leave the egg on the ground. She was no fool! She knew what to do!

I know that I have forgotten plenty of things, but hopefully this has brought many of you back up to speed! And here is one last picture from a while ago, but I just love this face!!

~Courtney

Wisk Family Christmas 2009

2010-01-31T14:40:00.010-05:00

Actually our family Christmas this year took place in 2010, but we were indeed celebrating the 2009 Holiday. It worked out pretty well this year as it was close enough to Christmas to enable the tree to still be standing (although it's health was debatable). It actually almost still felt like Christmas.

We hosted this year on Johnson Lake and went with what turned out to be a pretty Polish menu. Liz brought and prepared pierogis. Papa brought his "special mushrooms" and we made an awesome mushroom soup and I made some kielbasa and sauerkraut. It was really awesome! We grazed for what seemed to be a full day on that food and there was still leftovers for the next day.

One thing that my alter-ego Steffan wanted to mention. You would think that frying pierogis is a pretty elementary process, but I would beg to differ. Somehow, I feel like Liz's taste a bit different and better than I can do...and mind you that this is not easy for Steffan to admit. Perhaps its the exorbitant amount of butter that she uses, but my point is that they are DELICIOUS!

Being in Maryland, Liz, Nate and the boys had to make their second trip down here in just 8 days! A part of me thinks that they are nuts. The other part of me just really appreciates them doing that, especially since we haven't been up there in a while. The way our jobs go, November through March are really challenging for Courtney and I. We barely get a meal together, let alone a trip to CT.

The kids picked up right where they left off on the last visit. They are quite a trio. Most times they are nauseating balls of energy, but they get along so well and really seem to enjoy their time together. I think that even Nana had her fill of the super-trio LBJ! Here are some of the calmer pictures of them hanging out.

Liz and I...now that's another story. Here we are settling a dispute with a little Wii Boxing!

Clearly the highlight of the holiday was our present to the boys. Almost from the moment that I found out that Liz was pregnant with Luke (I think that was in a room at the Hampton Inn in Salisbury) I've wanted to do one thing...buy him a drum set! Well now it is twice as good because I know Benny will love it too! He's a little young, but he'll grow into them.

I can hear Luke's first single now...titled "Uncle Andy is the Best"! Everyone seemed surprised when they opened the box and actually saw them. I don't know why. They all knew it was coming. I think Papa's comment summed it all up..."Andrew, you should be tortured and killed!"

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

-Andy

Christmas Numero Uno

2010-01-26T20:08:00.006-05:00

Due to hectic schedules, traveling and oh yea...Santa, we decided that we would celebrate Christmas with the Wisks in January (I am going to let Andy do that blog). So we spent Christmas morning at our house and then proceeded to Grandmom and Pop's house for Christmas dinner with the Jones family.

Andy loves making Christmas Eve dinner and we enjoy feeding whomever will join us. So Nana and Papa bought us Omaha Steaks for Christmas (which was a pretty awesome present). Top Chef Andy decided he was going to make those steaks for Christmas Eve dinner. We had a great family dinner, including Louie and our good friend Christy, whose husband was working that night. The top chef never lets us down on Christmas Eve!!

Christmas morning, Julia didn't know it from any other morning, but I think she came to love it! I had to help her open the first gift, but after that, she knew just what to do with the others! I also realized how much I say "Oh Boy" because she says that a lot now!! So we had an awesome morning of playing with all of her new toys. We would like to thank everyone who was so generous to buy her Christmas presents as well. This girl really is loved by many!!
Then we piled into the car for our hour trip up to my mom and dad's house. Julia loves playing with her cousins and she really had a blast on Christmas. I think her favorite part of the day was handing out the presents to everyone rather than opening them! She got more awesome new toys and really loves her new baby dolls. She got twins and she loves pushing them in their stroller. She has to put on her coat and her hat and she walks them around the house! She takes at least one baby everywhere she goes.Although this Christmas was a blast, I think next Christmas will be even more fun. I think she will have more of an idea of what is going on and she will really be able to have some fun!
~Courtney (2 posts in one night....I can't even believe it!! Gotta love getting out of work early the same night Andy has a meeting!)

Snow Angels!!!

2010-01-26T19:05:00.007-05:00

OK, so way back when (before Christmas) we got some snow. We got a few inches (maybe 4...if I'm being generous) on Sunday (I think) which caused schools to be closed for the Monday and Tuesday before we were supposed to get out for Christmas break. (By 'we' I clearly mean me and all of my other Wicomico County Board of Ed friends...not Andy!) So we hunkered down (under the 4 inches of snow) and enjoyed my extra days off!!

Of course, we took Julia out to play in the snow! She seemed to be quite skeptical and wasn't real sure if she should laugh or cry! We tried to make snow balls to throw at Daddy, but the snow was too powdery and wasn't good for making snowballs. Although Julia didn't have a snowsuit (we figured if we bought a snow suit, it would never snow and then she would out grow it!) Aunt Carrie did come in handy with the snow boots she handed down to us. Aunt Mickee and Aunt Carrie have saved us many times with their hand-me-downs.

Although our play time in the snow was brief, we did get a few good pictures of Julia...and Daddy making a snow angel!! Once her mittens fell off, she kinda lost interest! So enjoy the pictures and hopefully we will have a post of both Christmases up soon!
~Courtney

Thanksgiving '09

2009-11-28T18:59:00.006-05:00

This was Julia's first "real" Thanksgiving, just as a month from now we will celebrate Julia's first "real" Christmas. I am SO excited! I feel like we have years of awesomely fun holidays ahead of us!

This has been a crazy week. First Aunt Amanda came to visit on Wednesday and we hosted a modest welcome home gathering for her. Julia likes Aunt Amanda. She doesn't see her often enough but always has a good time with her.

It was great to spend a day with our good friends Kenny and Amanda (sans Kenny...damn work!). Hopefully we'll be able to spend a little more time together when they visit this summer.

At some point Wednesday night I began preparations for the Thanksgiving meal that we were hosting. I wanted to host...especially when I heard that Ma' Jones was probably going to have to work on or around Thanksgiving. That's a lot to take on either coming off or going into a night of work. She does so much for us that it was good to be able to offer to give her a break.

But I never realized how much stress is generated when one offers to host a major meal for Ma' Jones. Add to that the fact that I had never cooked a turkey before and I was second guessing myself and my cooking strategy for about a week! Finally, I took my 23 pound turkey (which I wasn't sure would fit into my oven), use as much butter and seasoning as I could, cook it nice and slow and hope for the best.

Now I need to let you know that our oven is about 50 or so years old...seriously! I knew our oven temperatures were off, but I decided to buy an oven thermometer for this meal, in order to be able to cook more precisely. Precise was an impossibility. I could hit 350 and 300, but 325 was impossible! Furthermore, I don't have enough experience with turkey to say that if its 15 minutes per pound at 325, then it should be 22 minutes a pound at 300. Before too long, I was just taking a shot in the dark and a 23 pound ball of salmonella!

So the juices ran clear and I served it. In carving it, I definitely discovered portions undercooked, but we cut around them, nuked them, etc. and I think everyone remained in good health. That is what I was most thankful for this year!

I also tried making my Nana's pecan pie...a quality Rhino Recipe that come out GREAT! Julia loves pecan pie...never mind that momma says that she can't have nuts yet!

Now I miss my family. I do everyday, but really it is what it is and we need to make the most of when we are together. We had loads of fun with the Jones side and especially our nieces and Nate (poor guy has no idea what he will have to deal with at family gatherings later on). Julia loves her cousins and is having fun with everything right now...and that's the most fun that I've ever had!

Bring on the fat guy in the red suit!

-Andy

Time...the only thing that they're not making more of!

2009-11-23T19:29:00.010-05:00

Since Courtney re-awakened the blog last night, I figured that I should make a contribution too! There are so many things that I could post about that I don't even know where to begin.

Here are some Julia highlights of late:

Playing XBOX with Daddy!

Playing chess with Ben!

Playing Rock Band at Auntie Liz and Uncle Nate's!

Rock Climbing!

The truth is that it's all happening so fast! And I know that at least half of the people who read this blog have warned me about that. The other half are experiencing it with us. I feel like as I approach my 33rd birthday, I'm just starting to truly understand the concept of time.

When I was young, time was when the Muppets or the Dukes of Hazard came on TV. As a teenager, time was how late you could stay out without truly getting in trouble. In your twenties, time is when the bar closes...Oh how I miss those days!!!

Now, time is 8-12 hours of work per day...not enough to get everything done. Time is 90 minutes a day with Julia after work and before bed. And time is only about 2 waking hours a day with my soul mate and wife...nowhere near enough.

The good news is that I'm starting to really believe that life pays you back for the time it takes. If you invest time and work hard as a parent and professional, you get things like vacations and memories, retirement and grandchildren and you get to call you child when he or she is in their 30's and say "did you see what the Sox did today?"

I got that call from my father this summer, just as so much was heating up at work at Julia was as challenging as ever. I responded that I barely have time to breathe and that's when it hit me. Until that moment, I could never understand why my father seemed to never have time for things like that when I asked the questions.

This was just one more lesson to learn from him. Life makes time for a little of everything and it all comes full circle. We get the good with the bad, fun and stress, a career and then grandchildren. You just have to make sure that you make time to keep up with the Red Sox!

When I sat down to post this blog, I had no idea what I would write. I had no idea that I would go in this direction. I'm glad I did. For me this blog is not just about what Julia is up to. I know...that drives hits. People want to see cute pictures of her, not listen to me! I'm writing this blog to give Julia and any siblings that she might end up with insight into our lives and just who her mother and father really are.

By the way, speaking of siblings...Courtney keeps asking Julia if she wants a baby or a puppy...I don't know what that means but Julia answers baby almost every time!

-Andy

Your Baby Can't Read!!!

2009-11-22T19:41:00.008-05:00

So first I would like to start off by apologizing for the lack of posts!! We have been very busy with work and have been having some technical issues as well. We are still busy at work, but at least we got the viruses off our computer and the scanner working. Those are terrible excuses...I know, but oh well!!

So for Halloween, Julia was an Eagles' cheerleader. It was quite an easy costume, I must say. Grandmom bought Julia this little Eagles dress and onesie just because she knew Andy would like it. But when I saw it, I thought that it would be easy to turn into a Halloween costume. So after looking in many stores, I made some pom-poms from ribbon and put in some pigtails and ribbon and off we went!!!

So we were getting ready and taking pictures and it turns out that our camera decided it didn't want to work! Of course! So I was all upset that we wouldn't have any pictures of Julia on Halloween. So we had to revert back to the disposable cameras days. Picked up a disposable camera and actually got a few good shots! We went to dinner at Boonies (great restaurant by the way!!) and then went to the Westside Community Center for a little Halloween party. Julia seemed to have a good time, even though she was too young for most of the fun stuff. Although she was kissing on the boys while we were there! We saw a friend there whose son is about 8 months old. Julia was lovin' her some Frankie!! Andy grounded her when we got home!!

Now for the funny story of the week! Every night, Julia watches the Sprout channel before she goes to bed. Well they have commercials on there for "Your Baby Can Read" videos. And it is about a one minute commercial about how if you use this system and buy their videos, your baby will be able to read like the babies in the commercial. We see it all the time and have never paid much attention to it.

So I got home one night this week and Andy says, "Oh this thing actually works, Julia could read the word clap on there." I give him my 'oh, yeah right' look and he says, "no, really". So he goes on to explain that there was a cartoon picture of a baby's head and just the word clap written on the screen and when it came on, Julia began clapping. So I continue with my 'ok, whatever' look.

So as we are sitting there, it comes on and the same thing happens. The word is on there, and Julia starts clapping. So I point out the fact that she watches this every night and I'm sure she has it memorized (the commercial shows a baby clapping after they show the word on the screen). Andy says, "OK, we are going to test this out." So he goes into the kitchen and writes 'clap' on a piece of paper and brings it out to Julia. He asks her what it says and she makes a funny sound like she is trying to read it, but it sounds nothing like what it should. So Andy and I start cracking up laughing and then Julia starts laughing. Andy asks her again what the word says and she makes another sound and we all start laughing again. This must have happened at least 3 times!

It was the funniest thing and I totally wished we would have gotten it on video camera. So we have always known that Julia is too smart for her own good, but we definitely learned that she can't read!! Later, another commercial came on that was similar, only this product was for different languages. Andy walked by and said, yeah, Julia knows French too! We just cracked up laughing!!

~Courtney

A Great Labor Day...with the Girls!

2009-09-08T13:48:00.006-04:00

With the exception of a fantasy football draft and poker game, I'm really grateful to have spent every minute of this long weekend with my girls! The ladies even came up to Chestertown for the draft, but hung out with the other wives and children in the league.

As always, the reason for Fantasy sports is to connect with some old friends. I really wish I could've made it to the CT and Chestertown drafts this year, but CT just wasn't in the cards. Hopefully next year will be different.

Possibly the highlight of the trip to Chestertown was spending a couple hours on the corner of the bar at the Blue Bird Tavern with Thad and Louie. I haven't been there in forever and that place just never changes and that's the best part about it!

On Sunday we spent the day in Cordova at Pop's birthday. Ma Jones, Mickee and Carrie put together a light lunch for us all consisting of BBQ Beef, Hot Dogs, Mac & Cheese, Coleslaw, Zucchini Casserole, Baked Beans, Stuffed Croissants, Fruit Salad, Cake and Ice Cream (why do I feel like I'm missing something). Every bit of it was delicious.

Last night we had some friends over for BBQ Beef ourselves. I tried a new potato salad recipe that went over pretty well and all the food came out decently, in spite of Mother Nature raining on my smoker all day. It did delay the meal a bit because it was tough to keep the heat up, but it turned out OK. It was great to see some good friends!

If you're a regular blog reader, you know that we just recently replaced the floor in our kitchen and by doing so, raised the height of the fridge, forcing us to remove a cabinet. Well today I fixed that project, cutting some ornamental moulding and adding a shelf. Still needs to be painted, but I was fairly impressed with myself. I really didn't think that I had the skill or the patience to cut the moulding. Check it out!

-Andy

Julia's Future Career Options!

2009-08-30T19:18:00.005-04:00

After watching Julia for about 14 months now, I have come up with a few potential job options based on the things she loves to do right now.

1. Shoe Saleswoman- Julia loves her some shoes!! She loves her shoes, anyone else's shoes and even saying the word 'shoes'! If I am wearing flip flops, she will take them off and put them back on me over and over again! Sometimes she will even bring me my shoes when I don't want them! She even likes picking out which shoes she wants to wear each day. If she isn't going to be a shoe sales woman, she is definitely just a woman....I think she will have lots of shoes when she is older!!

2. Furniture Mover- Julia loves moving the furniture wherever she wants! She moves the coffee table, her little recliner...anything that she can, really! I was folding the laundry the other day, so we were both upstairs and she was playing in her room (which we have been letting her do more of recently). So she was playing by herself and I would check on her every now and then. I went into her room at one point and we have a trashcan that we used to use for diapers that we haven't used in a while. That was across the room from where it normally was!

3. Farmer- She loves animals. Real animals, plastic animals and stuffed animals. She even knows what many animals say. Someone (I think Uncle Louie) gave her a barn for her birthday and she loves playing with it! She plays with it almost every day! She loves putting the animals into the barn and then taking them out of the barn! She also loves our kitty, Mia. She would chase her around for hours I think! She has even come to like dogs. Over the summer, we made several trips to Councell Farms, the produce stand near my parents house where I worked for many years. They have pygmy goats there. The first time we stopped, the goats didn't want to play. The second time we went, Julia was all excited! She was feeding them and they were licking her fingers and she would squeal with delight! She loved those goats!!

4. Horseback Rider- Anytime we are laying on the floor, Julia enjoys climbing on top of us and bouncing up and down. Apparently we made the mistake of bouncing her up and down on either our belly or our back when she was lighter. Now she climbs on and does the bouncing herself. Although now that she is getting bigger, it can get painful! She is a rough-houser!!

5. Race Car Driver- My parents bought Julia a car that she sits in and it has a handle that comes up from the back for someone to push her. She loves riding in this car. Grandmom and Pop push her all over the house! Over the summer, my nieces Ellie and Anna were pushing her and she loved it! The rougher the better! The were pushing her real fast, popping wheelies and shaking the car from side to side...all at the same time. When they would stop, she would laugh and laugh. She is gonna be a tough girl!

6. Doctor- I think all parents hope that their child will grow up to be smart and rich (which we do), but Julia loves thoroughly examining (make that poking) our eyes, noses and mouths. And trust me, she knows where your eyes are!

7. Janitor/Maid- Julia has developed some type of cleaning OCD. We aren't real sure where she developed this from, but we really aren't complaining!! After we clean her up from her meals, I usually set the washcloth on the table. Well she can now reach stuff on the table. So I will turn around and she will grab the washcloth and start washing the side of the stove, the floor, the cabinets...whatever! She now will go over near Mia's bowl and pick up the little crumbs of Mia's food and put them back into her food bowl. She knows how to say trash and knows to throw things away in the trash. She will also pick up anything off the floor. We were always worried that she would eat whatever she picked up, but she just hands it to us. I am attaching a video of her sweeping our new kitchen floor.

(Apologies for the lines on the video...our camera has been acting up lately!! Also, not sure what we were listening to. I'll blame that on Andy!!)

8. Food Critic- She loves eating!! Perhaps she can be the next Padma Lakshmi--host of Top Chef! Now that would be awesome!

She also has a new love of bags. Purses, her lunch bag, shopping bags...doesn't matter! She wants to carry them! She loves going through my purse. She does it all the time. Then she puts it on her shoulder and says "Bye" while waving!

So maybe she will be one of these, or maybe not! We just want her to be happy and right now, I think she would be happy with any of these jobs!!

~Courtney

Back to School and Ready for Some Football

2009-08-24T21:23:00.004-04:00

Over the summer, Courtney definitely found a new buddy in her very own mini-me...Julia. The two became inseparable and for the first time, Julia was exhibiting some separation anxiety when mommy wasn't around. Well that all changed. Julia went cold turkey last week.

Courtney has a week of hell every year when her sports teams return for fall practices. Most do two or more practices a day and that means that I become full time daddy and honestly, I was nervous. With Courtney at home all summer, she took a lot of pressure off me. Here I needed to jump back in with both feet.

It took a day to get our routine down, but by Tuesday I had Julia at school in time to get to work early. And she might be the only one year old at daycare that actually walks herself in every day. We don't want Julia to be one of those kids that you have to carry everywhere, so we look for every opportunity to let her walk, even if it means that it takes a little longer to get there.

So last Wednesday (day three of Daddy week) we finished breakfast and I asked Julia if she was ready to go to school. She nodded and walked over to the door saying "out". I opened the door and she holds her hand up and says "hep", which is Julia for help. I take her hand and she walks down the stairs, out to the driveway and down the driveway to the van parked out front.

This was the routine everyday, but on this day it got better. We get to daycare and I take her out of the seat, put her down and extend my hand to walk with her into daycare. She pushes my hand away and heads off for the door. That's right...miss independent didn't need Daddy to hold her hand walking into school. I could just hear her saying...Daddy, stop! You're embarrassing me! Good thing was that it was only in my head and hopefully I have a few years before I actually hear that!

With the return to school comes the start of football season and Courtney surprised me with quite possibly the greatest purchase that we have made for Julia in her short life. Check it out:

We're getting ready! She already does Touchdown and even says it...sort of. And when you put a football in her hands, she wastes no time spiking it! Do they make pink Micheal Vick jerseys?

-Andy

A New Kitchen Floor

2009-08-16T10:58:00.008-04:00

The first room that we walked into the first time that we set foot in this house was the kitchen. It was in its full glory then, complete with pink cabinets, floral wallpaper, wood panelling and just to complete the look, carpet. No other room in the house had carpet and if you asked us then, that would have probably been the first thing we changed.

Fast forward 33 months. We are finally removing the carpet! A joyous moment that Courtney and Julia found so exciting that they decided to spend it with Grandmom and Pop! Meanwhile, Ben, Louie and I roll up our sleeves and go for it. It should be noted that the only flooring experience that the three of us have is my experiment with a 3 x 3 landing at the top of the basement stairs.

Friday was demo day. We got a later start than we thought we would, but just 45 minutes into the job we were looking at each other and trying to decide whether to go to the Shorebirds game or not. Off to the game we went. Saturday took a slightly more extended effort.

We started at 9 by laying the pad, which wasn't too bad. I think it took about 90 minutes. Ben even had time for a nap on the nice new pad. Onto the floor!

We hit the ground running and seemingly effortlessly, we're about 1/2 way done! We even lost Ben for a while when he got a fire call and had to go rescue a kitten from a tree. Louie and I kept cruising along. Then Ben returns and we get our system down.

Ben becomes the installation speciallist, I measure and cut and Louie fits right into his normal role of TOBY, helping both of us out. We're really moving now!

The complexity of the project didn't rear its ugly head until the last couple rows. To estimate I would say that those last two rows took about 3 hours! It was tough to lock in a tongue and groove system with no room to work, as we were right up against the wall. Additionally, the cuts were intricut. But we perserveered and succeeded!

Now the best part of the story. The finishing touches are done, the molding is back, we've swept up, the trash is out, the tools are put away and the stove is back in place. Now for the fridge. Wouldn't you know...it didn't fit! I didn't account for the fact that the floor was being raised.

Ben took quite a lot of joy in removing that cabinet and now, the project that I thought would be the last in the kitchen has created one more project that need to get done!

-Andy

Hurry Up and Wait!

2009-08-03T22:31:00.007-04:00

First I would like to apologize to our loyal readers for the lack of posts lately! We have been so busy lately and just haven't had time!

So we had another very exciting and busy weekend. A while back, Andy and his dad decided they wanted to get tickets to a Red Sox game in Baltimore (because lets face it, tickets are easier to get in Baltimore than in Boston!). So they got tickets for this weekend. Then, out of pure coincidence, Paul McCartney decided to stop in DC to play a show the same weekend! Anyone who knows Pete knows that he doesn't miss a Paul McCartney concert!! I think this was #16 for him (although my count could be slightly off). So we decided it would be the perfect weekend. Paul on Saturday, Red Sox on Sunday.

I had honestly been dreading the weekend for a while. The only reason was because this is the weekend every summer that I have to teach a coaches clinic to all of our new high school coaches. So I knew I was going to be busy from 7:30-4 on Saturday. So it was just going to be busy and rushed and I was stressing! But then I found out on Thursday that they were cancelling the class because only 2 coaches signed up and I no longer had to worry about timing and being tired from teaching all day! It totally made my weekend!

So, now that we had plenty of time on Saturday, we took our time. We dropped Julia off at my parents and she never even missed us!! We stopped in downtown Annapolis and had a late lunch (Raw oysters for the boys!), checked into our hotel and left for the concert.

Here is where the not-so-fun began!! The concert was slated to start around 7:30. We knew he had an opening act and that he usually didn't come on until 9ish. We left our hotel at 6. Our hotel was 24 miles from FedEx Field, so we figured we had plenty of time to get to a 7:30 show. Well, of course, we hit traffic! After we saw an ambulance go by (and disappear into the distance) we decided to take an exit that I knew would get us back on course. That detour got us out of that traffic...into more traffic several miles farther! We were going no where fast!! We just knew there had to be an accident that was causing all of this traffic. Turns out...it was all Paul's fault!! Once we got to the exit for FedEx Field, the road opened up. I did feel bad for the people who weren't going to the concert but had to sit in traffic anyway!

Now, I realize that no one likes traffic and it can easily ruin anyone's day, but it is pretty clear that patience isn't a prominent gene in the Wisk family!! (I only say this because I know that most of you Wisks out there will openly admit that!!) Andy was driving and when he gets frustrated, you are better off leaving him alone rather than trying to rationalize with him! Of all people, I should know this! However, in trying to lighten the mood, I ask, "Why didn't we just take the metro?" And at that point, a motorcycle comes flying up traffic in between lanes rather than sitting in the traffic. Andy's response to my question was "I don't know, why didn't we buy a motorcycle!" So we didn't know it at the time, but that would become our running joke! We finally get to the stadium, where the people directing traffic were pretty much useless! 3 hours later, we get to our seats and we barely have time to sit down when Paul comes out on stage. So although it was a LONG 3 hours (and we all surprisingly made it out alive) it ended up being perfect timing for the concert! The concert was awesome and as soon as he starting singing, I had forgotten all about our traffic woes! It only took us 45 minutes to get to our hotel (Including sitting in parking lot traffic and a late night stop at McDonalds!). We decided that if we didn't hate the Redskins before...we definitely do now!!!

Sunday, we wake up to rain. So we figure this is par for the weekend! We make it to the ball game before the gates even opened! It was a little drizzly as we were walking up to the park, but it ended up being a scorcher! The sun came out and we were baking in the sun! We had a great time, great seats and were right by the Warehouse Bar where we stood under the fans to cool off every couple of innings!

We left the game early and figured we were home free. One quick stop to pick up Julia and we would be home and showered in no time! Wrong again! Of course we hit Bay Bridge traffic! Due to a disabled vehicle on the bridge, we sit in traffic for about an hour. Again, we wished we had that motorcycle! Thank goodness for EZPass because without it, we would have probably sat for another hour trying to get over the bridge.

So we stop to get Julia from my parents and she didn't even care that we were home or seem like she even missed us one bit! In fact, she was pretty mad that we were taking her away from her play time with her cousins! She was very good for my parents and we thank them for watching her! And on the way home, we did run into some pretty bad storms, but we saw a complete double rainbow. That was pretty awesome!

Although I'm sure I missed several funny parts of this trip, it was incredibly fun and it was really nice to be able to sleep in!!! Here are some pictures from our seats at Camden Yards...

I will leave you with a hint as to what to look for in the near future on the Wisk blog. There will be a farm story and a DIY home improvement story. These probably won't be for another week or so, but we do have ideas! Here is a hint at the DIY project... notice Andy's sweet kneepads!!
~Courtney

Happy Birthday Julia!!!

2009-07-12T10:39:00.013-04:00

We recently celebrated Julia's first birthday (see pictures above). We had family and friends and plenty to eat and drink. The new "Big Unit" was broken in by a multitude of tots and for a change I even delivered the food on time (someday I'm sure Courtney will post about my poor culinary timing)!

We had all kinds of visitors from Connecticut and treated the out of towners to some awesome crabs. I love watching others try to eat them and even poke fun at them, but the secret is that I still have no clue what I'm doing with them. Eating with visitors makes me feel almost semi-pro. Eating with the Joneses makes me feel like an amateur!

This last year has been amazing...probably the best year of my life. Clearly Julia has a lot to do with that but she's not the only reason. Here's my top 10 list of why this year has been so great:

Family - Even though we are separated from all of our family, we've been fortunate to spend some real quality time together. Watching all the nieces and nephews grow up together is so much fun!
Job - Last year at this time I had just started my new position as Recreation Superintendent and things couldn't be going any better!
Yankees - Spend a gazillion dollars in the off season and still look up at the Sox! Go ahead! Trade more prospects for Holliday!
Friends - From Connecticut to Carolina and everywhere in between, we have some fantastic friends!
HDTV / DVR - No explanation needed.
Summer Vacation - A week on the Outer Banks having a blast with our friends...it doesn't get much better than that! Can't wait for next year!
Car Insurance - After discovering that cars can't swim, I'm really, really, really grateful for car insurance.
Taxes - Now here's one that you wouldn't find on a normal top ten, but who said I'm normal? Our first year with the Julia deduction was, in a word, GLORIOUS!!
Garden - This is one of my favorite hobbies and I'm psyched that we pretty much have a kick ass garden going right now!
My Girls - With Courtney, Julia and of course Mia, I'm so lucky to be surrounded by the best ladies! How or why Courtney puts up with my crap, I'm not sure. But I'll never ask her! I'll just keep loving her for it!!!

- Andy

Daddy's Temper

2009-07-03T12:52:00.004-04:00

This is the post that I've been waiting for! This is the one! The first one that she will truly despise me for writing! Especially when I call it up and show it to her first boyfriend. Now I wouldn't show it to embarrass her. I just want to help him out...let him see what happens when the little princess doesn't get her way!

She is definitely her daddy's girl! I've never seen mommy exhibit a temper like this. Now it should be noted that my temper only shows itself in the most trying of circumstances, such as when someone is driving too slow in the left lane or when I can't seem to figure out how to put a screen door together.

There's not too much to say about this post. The pictures say it all! Princess didn't like what we told her and she absolutely lost her mind! She was a HOT MESS! The best part is, as she laid flopping on the ground Courtney and I just laughed...and laughed...and laughed. I don't know if we have EVER laughed so hard together...at least not since I dressed up as Courtney for Halloween.

That's a story for another time...

-Andy

The Big Unit

2009-07-01T18:37:00.005-04:00

Time continues to fly and it remains nearly impossible to keep this blog up to date. I'm not going to say that we are going to do a better job of posting, because I can't make that promise. What I will say is that this is the first of three posts that we need to get up here and we have a pretty relaxing 4th of July weekend in which to do that, so check back!

Courtney's parents (Grandmom and Pop) have been so nice to each of their grandchildren that they have purchased each of the three families (Courtney and her sisters) a swing set for the backyards.

Now we are not just talking any old swing set. I think that Uncle Darin once said that if the Kennedy children walked by and saw this swing set, they'd be jealous! This is no aluminum pipe and bag of quickcrete! This is solid wood, handmade in Pennsylvania. Somewhere there's an Amish guy who hasn't seen his family for 3 weeks because he's been putting in overtime building this play unit!

So we're heading home from vacation and we recruit a few friends to help get the unit up the driveway. It did come mostly assembled, but because of that the tower portion weighed about 13,000 lbs. (no exaggeration). The challenge with our yard is that we need to lift it over the fence to get it in.

So we have four guys...Pop, Uncle Louie, Uncle Brent and me...to get this thing in the yard. We decide that the game plan is for everyone to take a side and press it to get it over the fence. The only thing that we didn't think about is that as we traveled through the fence opening, the guys on the sides would get clipped off, making it exponentially heavier for the two poor souls on the end. I was one of them.

So I'm holding this thing up over my head and the eight seconds that I had to do that seemed like about 20 minutes. I look down and there's Courtney, scurrying beneath the unit trying to find somewhere to push on to help us. It was moving in slow motion and all that I could think about was and I quote "if I drop this thing I'm going to kill my wife!"

Well we got it over, assembled easily and the kids are loving it! Julia likes to walk up the slide and Emma likes to throw sand down the slide. It was a big hit at Julia's Birthday Party (coming post) and we can't thank Grandmom and Pop enough for the gift.

-Andy

Beach Bums

2009-06-15T21:10:00.008-04:00

We just returned from our very first vacation to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We now know what we have been missing out on for so many years. We rented a house and 6 of our friends came with us. I wasn't sure how Julia would react to all of the new things...a new house, lots of people around, the beach, etc. She was wonderful!!! She loved the ocean and the beach.

Julia had lots of firsts on this trip. She had everyone wrapped around her fingers by the time we left!! She perfected her kiss blowing, she got her first black eye! (well, cheek really!), It was her first time on the beach and in the ocean and she had lots of first foods. She ate all kinds of things!! She had crabs, lobster, pulled pork, lasagna, raspberries. She would pretty much eat anything you gave her!! She even discovered pub mix (by accident, when Daddy wasn't making breakfast fast enough!!). Julia can even tell you what a duck says!! I usually will tell her what animals say whenever we see one and she has a bunch of ducks in her bath toys. So she kept making this sound and I finally realized she was trying to say Quack. So when you ask her what a duck says, she says quack (which really sounds more like 'cack', but she knows what she is saying!!). I thought that was awesome. And then we were reading a book and there happened to be a picture of a duck and when she saw it, she starting quacking, without being prompted!!! We were pretty impressed! She is even mastering 'yes' in sign language. She also discovered how to get onto furniture without any help. She has become quite the daredevil!!
So we had an amazing vacation and I think the best part was not wearing a watch all week!! The only reason I needed to know the time was to know when Julia needed to eat. It was the best! I even got to attempt surfing. That was pretty awesome!

~Courtney

Julia's walking video!

2009-05-27T22:14:00.003-04:00

Ok, so this was the only way I could get this to work. I know there is probably a better way, but I couldn't figure it out! So, unfortunately, you have to navigate to another site; however, it is worth it to see Julia walking! Hope you enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TmD99cs0fA

~Courtney

I'm Walkin'!

2009-05-26T19:32:00.004-04:00

It seems that every time Julia spends time with Luke and Ben that she comes away with some new skill. Well, lately she's been teetering on walking...taking a step here, a few steps there. Well we just got back from an awesome visit to Connecticut and Julia will never be the same.

It seems that she's earned a new nickname...Ms. Rita at daycare calls her Frankenstein...because of what she looks like when she's walking! It is too funny. I'd show you a video, but they're too large to post. I'm going to have to figure this thing out.

We had a great time up north. Although I'm still a little upset with myself that I fell short in the Whiffle Ball Home Run Derby at Liz & Nate's Memorial Day Party, it was a great time. We managed to visit a few folks, although there's not enough time to get to see everyone when you're only there for a couple days.

Julia got along great with her cousins. I think Luke really likes her. She definitely lights up when he's around...good thing we don't live in West Virginia.

The car ride was even pleasant. Traffic was light in both directions (relatively speaking), so I guess we'll think about heading up there again next Memorial Day. Besides...I need another shot at the title!

-Andy

Put Me In Coach...I'm the Say Hey Kid!

2009-05-03T14:44:00.007-04:00

Momma just couldn't resist getting Julia her first glove yesterday and even though I thought that was my job, I'm way psyched for it! It's a Cat Osterman model! Julia loved it! I think she's ready to go. Uncle Louie and I have been talking about starting an Under-2 travel team!

Julia gets more expressive every day and I think her favorite word is hey. I guess I say it a lot and she mimics me. She also seems to be putting little two-word phrases together. She's not even close to pronouncing anything right, but she seems to say "hey kitty kitty"...only is sounds more like "hey ditty itty".

Her top two teeth are coming in, so she is figuring out how to make "T" sounds. We're just trying to teach her to make those sounds without spitting!

-Andy

Baby Steps and Green Grass

2009-04-29T22:18:00.003-04:00

First we had the phantom crawler and now it appears that we have the phantom walker. I picked Julia up from daycare two days ago and as I was leaving was told, "by the way...Julia took some steps today". Furthermore, apparently she doesn't like to be seen taking these little steps.

Yesterday when we got home, I took Jules outside with me while I watered the garden. I placed her standing on the sidewalk about 10 feet from me and if I took my eye off her for a moment, when I looked back at her she was in a different position. Don't get me wrong, she's not going far, but she was definitely stepping.

Today we got home and put her down in front of me, facing Mia. Julia is just nuts about the cat and clearly she let her guard down, because as soon as I let her loose on the floor, she took about a step and a half toward the cat before losing her balance and crawling the rest of the way.

Another amusing development with Julia is that she can't quite figure out grass. After watering the garden in the back, we went out front to water the flowers. This time I placed sat her in the grass. The look on her face was priceless as she refused to move! The best part was that she was wearing little baby capri-like pants and would alternate lifting and wiping her legs where the grass had just been touching until I finally picked her up again.

She's really progressing so fast it's unbelievable. She definitely has her own personality, likes and dislikes. She has good days and bad ones...Courtney and I just need to figure out what causes each!

She's becoming a bit of a fearless, daredevil baby. She LOVES to climb stairs. And I must say that going up she's pretty good at it. It's coming down that's a whole other issue! Today I had gone to Sam's Club before picking her up at daycare. So when we got home, I unloaded the car and we had some boxes of items in the kitchen.

Well as I'm working to put things away, Julia is moving from box to box, moving them around, banging on them and just generally checking things out. Well I turn away for a moment and come back to see my baby girl standing on top of a case of Zip Lock Bags and clapping. It was like she was proud of herself for scaling that monster 6" box!

I can see this as the very beginning of some really fun and amusing stuff!

-Andy

At the Corner of Cloverhurst & Cloverhurst

2009-04-26T21:40:00.010-04:00

I'm not really sure what happened to Spring, but it seems that we went straight from Winter to Summer. It's ridiculous to think that we took a seven hour (in each direction) road trip on one of the hottest weekends of the year...and it's still APRIL!!!

We did hit the road to see Kenny and Amanda (Aunt Amanda and Uncle Kenny, if Julia is reading) down in Winston-Salem, NC. I realized a couple things on the ride. First...it still kinda cracks me up that when you cross into Virginia on the Eastern Shore, there's a big Confederate Flag Billboard that reads, "The South Starts Here"...just to prove to all of you that we actually live in the Northeast.

The other thing that gets me is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. I've now been over it probably 6 or 8 times and I'm never any less in awe. I always have the urge to stop, fish off the pier, take lots of photos and watch the ships go by. That bridge is truly awesome. I'm waiting for two opportunities. I can't wait until Julia is old enough to share my awe of the bridge and I really want to take my dad over it.

So travel across that Bay Bridge-Tunnel and take a right at Virginia Beach. Travel west-southwest for a while and eventually you come to Winston-Salem, NC in the heart of ACC Country. As a Big East guy, I felt like I should be doing something to sabotage the ACC, like Luke Skywalker visiting the Death Star, but I refrained.

When you get into W-S, NC you will come to the Cloverhurst neighborhood. Seriously...every street is a Cloverhurst. You start our on Cloverhurst Way and take a left onto Cloverhurst Blvd. Follow that to Cloverhurst Avenue and then a quick left onto Cloverhurst Street and there you will find Kenny and Amanda!

Julia made a new friend this weekend. He's just her size and boy did he like her. His name is Ripken and he's a Shorkie. It was absolutely priceless when Julia went upstairs to get a bath and he sat at the bottom of the stairs and just barked. I guess he missed his new buddy.

Julia and Ripken hung out, played, chased each other and even shared toys. At times it seemed that anything Ripken put in his mouth, Julia would too. (And sweetheart, when you read this, I hope you are as grossed out as Daddy was this weekend). They shared a beanie turtle, squeeze toys, ice cubes and probably most hysterically...a pacifier!!!

We hoped that Julia would be taking her first steps in NC this weekend, but sadly she's still not quite ready. She was taking half steps at one point, but never did follow through with the other leg. We have tempted her with everything...food, toys, cans, bottles and TV remotes, but she's just not quite there.

All in all, the trip to visit the Becks was in a word...short. I think I can speak for Courtney in saying that we really miss having them around. I'm just happy that things are going so well for them. They have a beautiful home in a great area of the country. Amanda has just gotten a new job and they have a super cool puppy (and that means a lot, considering that I'm really not a dog guy).

Uncle Kenny and Julia seem to be pals now too. We knew that Aunt Amanda would do just fine, but I wondered what Kenny's interaction level would be like (having been recently petrified of infants/toddlers myself). Well he took to Julia like the Red Sox taking to Yankee relievers. He did great!

All in all, we had a wonderful trip. Many thanks to the Becks for their hospitality and friendship! We didn't get the chance to play Settlers, but there is always next time. In fact, I would say that the only downer from the whole trip was the fact that I'm actually sore today from our Bocce World Series yesterday!!!

-Andy

Spring Yardwork

2009-04-12T10:38:00.005-04:00

We spent a beautiful Good Friday taking care of some yardwork. We took out a row of bushes to expand our small yard a bit and give a small area that gets sun to plant a small garden.

Here are a few pictures of the finished project and Julia hamming it up in the sun!

- Andy

No Stopping Us Now!

2009-04-12T09:59:00.005-04:00

With the onset of Spring, you expect all sorts of new growth and I feel like Julia too has stepped things up to keep with the season. We are actually getting to the point where her incredibly competitive Daddy (I know...I hide it well. You probably didn't know that about me.) is really starting to compare her development with other kids and I must say...she's kicking ass!

It wasn't too long ago that we were hoping that she'd be crawling when we head down to North Carolina to visit Kenny and Amanda later this month. As it turns out, she may be walking by then! She is currently pulling herself along and letting go without much regard for safety. And she just so happens to be a world champion speed crawler. She'll be competing in the infant olympics later this summer...wait a minute; that could be a real money maker!

Anyhow, yesterday Mommy had the fantastic idea to take Julia to the YMCA to go swimming. About a week ago, Mommy had signed us up at the Y. Apparently we need a little help losing the baby weight...no, not Courtney...me. She's done great. I'm the one that still looks pregnant.

So back to the pool, where Julia and I are sitting and waiting for Mom to change and join us. Looking at a pool crammed with about 20 kids in the shallow end yelling, splashing and playing around, Julia starts balling her eyes out. I figure that this will be a quick trip. But then Mom comes and takes Jules into the pool and she's as content as can be. She slowly did more and more, discovering the water and her surroundings and they spent about an hour in the pool.

Julia has also pushed for her Independence on the eating front. She likes feeding herself and fights things a bit more when we try to feed her. Of course as far as I'm concerned, she can keep on feeding herself.

The interesting thing for me with all these developments is that the first five or six months seem so far in the past. I remember so many days thinking what the heck have I gotten myself into!?! That thought is long gone and replaced by what is she going to do next!?!

-Andy

Moving Right Along

2009-03-12T19:50:00.003-04:00

Julia continues to crawl right along like it is her job!! She is pulling herself up like it is nothing and she has even started letting go of things and standing on her own. We have seen her do it a few times, but it seemed more like an accident and she didn't even realize she was doing it. I got to spend an enjoyable evening with her tonight, and she did it several times. Only tonight, she seemed to know what she was doing. She was standing at the coffee table and she would just pick her hands up and put them in the air. If she could talk, she would say, "Look Ma, no hands!!" I wasn't able to get a picture of her doing it, but I will work on getting a picture that we can post.

Everyone is still doing well, we have just been extremely busy with work, especially Andy and his night meetings. He assures me that they will slow down after next week, so we will see! Although we did get to go out to a nice dinner last night, so that was a treat!!

The other news to report is that Julia and Andy won!! The other day Julia was playing in the living room and Andy was in the living room playing video games. I left the room to do something and I came back and Julia was by the entertainment center with one of my Willowtree statues in hand!! I yelled Julia and ranned towards her and Andy jumped up off of the couch and by the time either of us could get to her, she dropped it! Sure enough, the little kids head popped right off!! Andy said, "She decapitated herself!!" So, of course, I say, "this never would have happened if you would have been paying attention to her!" and Andy says, "this never would have happened if you would have just moved them to a higher shelf!" Unfortunately, Andy was right. That's right, you heard it here first!! Andy was right!! Luckily for Julia though, I was able to glue the head back on and no one will ever know! (Except for you guys!!) I also told Julia that since she broke one of mommy's toys, that I was going to break one of her toys!! Of course I didn't, but that would be a hard decision!! I would definitely break one that makes noise....probably the steering wheel one that her Auntie Liz got her to annoy mommy and daddy!!!

Here are Julia and Mommy playing in the kitchen floor!

~Courtney

Secret No More!

2009-02-24T20:17:00.003-05:00

Apparently Julia knew that Andy posted his story this weekend because she has already started proving him wrong!! Just this weekend we had a major break through and I think Julia just needed a little blog posting to get her moving! She is now crawling like it is her job and she gets so excited with herself when she gets somewhere and pulls herself up!

We thought we had to baby proof before!! Our entertainment center is just open shelves, so we have picture frames and knick-knacks on the bottom shelf. So Andy said, "Well, I guess we are going to have to move all of our stuff off of the bottom shelves." And I responded, "No, she is going to learn that she can't play with that stuff." So of course she spots that stuff and goes right for it, so everytime she would reach out for it, I would give her the "ah" so she would know not to touch it. So we did this maybe 3 times right in a row and sure enough, she burst into tears!! The tears weren't quite as bad as the time I told Anna (when she was little) she couldn't write on Grandmom and Pop's living room carpet, but there was definitely a tantrum in the making! Eventually I think I just distracted her with something else and all was right with the world again! We will see which philosophy will win out!!

I also had my first "uh oh" moment this morning. Every morning we come downstairs, we feed Mia, then we feed Julia, then Julia plays with her toys in the living room as I eat my breakfast. So I was eating and watching TV and I looked up to check on her and she wasn't there! Panic set in for about half of a second when I saw her on the other side of the recliner trying to pull herself up! She has also almost perfected the preparing herself to land on her butt. She is getting pretty good at that as well!

Here are her and Daddy dancing tonight!

And here is her rock star hair!! Proof that she really did get Mommy's hair...poor girl!

~Courtney

Super Secret Crawler

2009-02-22T12:24:00.004-05:00

I'm guessing that one of the joys of parenthood is seeing your child develop and accomplish new things...sit up, roll over, crawl, pull up, walk, etc. Another joy is sharing those moments with family, friends and blog readers!

Our little girl is becoming more mobile every day...only she's sneaky about it and doesn't want anyone to know. She's begun pulling herself up really well and will even take steps with help, but she's not big on crawling, at least when we're looking.

The other night I was playing with her and got up to use the bathroom. She was out of my sight for about 45 seconds. When I came back, she was about 12 feet from where I left her. I've seen her crawl a limited amount from time to time, but for her to move that far that fast, she has to have it down.

So I decide to experiment. I place her in her area to play and scatter toys all around her, but at different lengths out of her reach. Then I sit in my chair and watch. She pivoted and swiveled her way over to a couple toys, all the while keeping an eye on me. So I turn my head and start watching TV. Wouldn't you know it, as soon as she thought I wasn't paying attention she turned, dropped and motored right over to a toy about six feet from her!

She definitely has a mind of her own. She won't come to you, unless she wants to. There are times where she'll sit for hours and play and others when she wants your undivided attention. Apparently she's choosing not to let us know quite how well she can move.

On another note the 6'5" dream is still alive. She's gaining about a pound a month and is into 9-12 month clothes. I'm worried about when we switch to more complex clothes sizes. I don't think I can handle the whole "T" thing!

I am afraid that left handed might be out the window though. She's developing thumb and forefinger motor skills with her right hand, but the left isn't even close. The good news is that if she's right handed she can be a catcher and carry on the Wisk legacy!

-Andy

Trading Spaces is a total crock!

2009-02-16T17:56:00.006-05:00

We knew when we moved into our house (built in 1927) that we would have many "projects" that we would have to do in order to modernize it. We were up for the challenge....or so we thought! Our latest venture was the downstairs half bathroom. It had tile on the floor and up the wall that met the wallpaper a little more than half way up the wall. So our "bright" idea was to just take the wallpaper off, replace the lights with something more modern and paint the wall, no big deal, pretty inexpensive. So Andy took the wall paper off a few weekends ago and we were going to use this 3 day weekend to get most, if not all, of the project done.

On Saturday, Andy was sanding down the upper part of the wall, so that we could get ready to paint, when I hear something that sounded like glass fall to the floor. Then I hear Andy say uh-oh! Pretending not to be concerned, I didn't bother to go find out what he had broken! Turns out, as he was sanding, he bumped one of the tiles and it fell off the wall and cracked into many pieces. Figuring we weren't going to be able to find a match now a days, we decided we would just take all of the tiles off and put up wainscoting in its place. We had never done this before, but I figured how hard could it be! Meanwhile, we have a fan in the bathroom, which actually vents out into the kitchen and down into the basement...wierd, I know! So after Andy sanded, we had dust all over the kitchen. We cleaned that up and prepared for Sunday.

On Sunday, Andy put in new lights. Our old lights were so old that the only electrical outlet in the bathroom was on the side of each light. So if we took out the old lights, we would have to create a new electrical outlet. He had done this before (while re-doing Julia's room) so we didn't think it would be too hard. Then we found the junction box that was currently wiring the bathroom. It was a mess. Apparently the same circuit controls the office, the bathroom, one light in the basement and an outlet on the second floor. Very strange. But Andy persevered and somehow got electric running to his new outlet.

Monday, we got the wainscoting and decided that we would forge ahead and try to get it in. The good news was that we could still see the line drawn on the wall from when the tiles were put up, so we already had a straight point of reference. The bad news was that I thought it was going to be the death of Andy! The tiles on the floor are actually laid in concrete, so we were putting the wainscoting onto the cement, which of course is not even! But we figured it out and actually did a pretty darn good job of making it fit and actually looking good! Now in the meantime, we keep knocking other tiles loose, mostly on the counter, which we are trying not to lose so that we can glue them back down. We aren't done yet, but here are some pictures of the mess so far! Which brings me back to the title of my post. I love watching Trading Spaces and all of the other home shows, but how in the world do they get all of these things done in just 2 days? I'm calling shenanigans!!

All that being said, there has been far less cussing than I thought there would be, it has cost us much more than we originally planned, we have discovered that Andy and I can make a really good team (I like to consider myself the sous handywoman (sorta like a sous chef, only without the food!)) and Julia has slept through almost the entire thing!

Enjoy the pictures!

before:After:Before:After:
~Courtney

Walk Before You Crawl

2009-02-13T18:10:00.003-05:00

Julia got in this predicament all by herself! Once she got there she clearly didn't know what to do next! Times are exciting...sitting up, standing up, dada's and today Courtney thought she heard an "up"!

The interesting thing is she's not been a really aggressive crawler. Her cousin Ben crawls circles around her. Julia will take a crawling stride or two, and they've gotten effortless. She can definitely do it, but after a couple she gets up on all four and really presses to try to stand up. She even looks around as if she trying to find a way to straighten out and walk away.

Tonight she did the cutest thing. I was sitting on the floor next to her and she turned and took one crawl over to me and was trying to get up. So I put my arm out in front of her and she grabbed hold and pulled herself up. She then worked to maneuver herself closer to me and sort of dove into my chest and snuggled up. Daddy time has turned into my greatest joy!

Here's a picture of Julia chillin' with Uncle Louie, who recently moved to Salisbury. We're glad he's here. We're working so t6hat Julia is not afraid of every man that comes near her.

I know its been a while in between posts lately. We promise to try to do better. I'm sure that there will be lots more to talk about as the weather gets warmer!

-Andy

Christmas In January

2009-02-06T21:07:00.006-05:00

So it has been a little while since we have last posted. We are right in the heart of basketball season, but I keep looking to Feb. 28, which isn't that far away. Right now, I have at least 2, usually 3 late nights a week with basketball games and sometimes wrestling matches and Andy usually has at least 1 game a week of refereeing basketball. So this makes us quite busy, hence the lack of posts! So on Feb. 28, spring sports start and I will only have the occasional late night and hopefully more time home with Julia!

So Julia is still trying to figure out the whole crawling thing. Andy says it happened before, but I think it was a fluke!! She is also figuring out sitting on her knees. Miss Rita at daycare also said she looked the other day and Julia had pulled herself up in her crib. So she is quickly making progress.

As a family, we decided that we would celebrate Christmas with the Wisks on the last weekend of January. We did this because Andy always has the basketball tournament right after Christmas, there is always the struggle of not offending one side of the family by not being with them and when our kids get older, we figured they would want Santa to visit our own houses, not someone else's. (Santa has lots of houses to get to, we wouldn't want him to get any presents confused!) So this past weekend was Christmas!

With a slight delay in our travel plans (and Pop Pop Eaton peacefully watching over us from heaven) we make it safely to Connecticut. Julia was an absolute angel on the ride. We couldn't have asked for a better trip (well...maybe we could have done without the $60 ticket, but I'll let Andy tell you about that!). We had an awesome Polish Christmas dinner. Julia enjoyed her first tastes of Mushroom Soup and Potato Pierogi! We know how much Luke enjoys helping to cook, so we bought him a little cooking set. It had food and pots and pans and utensils. He seemed to really enjoy it, as did Ben and Julia!! Julia really seemed to enjoy playing with the boys and I think they enjoyed her too! Ben loved pulling himself up by using Julia to hold on to. She just sat there...and sometimes fell over!! Ben also loved stealing Julia's pacifier...right out of her mouth!! She didn't seem to care, she would just sit there like it was no big deal!! The funny part is Ben never uses a pacifier! She is such a laid back baby!

Here is Julia wielding her knife from Luke's cooking set! I can just imagine...in her pretty little head she is thinking "One wrong move with that camera and I'll cut you!!!"

Super Bowl Sunday we had our own 'Top Chef' competition! We each made our own appetizers and were going to try to crown a champion, but I don't think we ever came up with an actual Top Chef! It was a lot of fun though! Of course Andy had to use the grill (that was covered in about a foot of snow and ice) for his appetizer. He always has to make things difficult and he even earned a nickname...Stefan. (Stefan is a contestant on the real Top Chef who is very cocky and thinks he knows everything! After Andy was telling me how to cook my dish without me asking, I affectionately called him Stefan and got a good chuckle out of Liz and Nate!)

We had a great ride home and all together the trip was a great time. It was very relaxing, but went by too fast! Especially since we didn't have any time to see extended family or friends that we would have liked to have seen.

Nana with Ben and Julia!

(Unfortunately my pictures of all 3 kids didn't turn out any good ones. Hopefully we can rely on Liz for a good picture of all 3 kids!)

~Courtney

It's Snowing Da-Da's!

2009-01-27T18:14:00.005-05:00

Right now it seems that Julia learns, tries or notices something new every single day. I feel like if I miss a day, I miss a lot! Something magical happened this weekend.

I think it all started when we brought Julia home from the hospital. I would sit with her in my lap and say to her over and over again, "Da-Da". Seven months later, my hard work and perserverance has paid off, almost to the extreme. Now she won't stop saying it at times!

It just kind of happened on Saturday. It came out of nowhere and Courtney and I just looked at each other like was that what we think it was? Now that she has it down, she's not afraid to use it. It's Julia's catch all for everything. When she's ready to get out of bed, we hear "Da-Da"! If she can't reach a toy, it's "Da-Da"! When her diaper is dirty, it's "Da-Da" again! I just wish I thought this whole thing through before I starting influencing her months ago!

She's such a happy girl right now and usually pretty easy going...unless Pop is around! And we keep lecturing her about that! We're confident that she'll come around!

On another note, we are in the midst of the storm of the season on the Eastern Shore. At this moment, we have recieved 3/4" of accumulation on cars and grassy surfaces and thank God, all evening programs and events in this area are cancelled!

After all, there may be BLACK ICE! Two words that are innocent alone, but strike fear in the heart of the strongest man and double Walmart sales when spoken in sequence around here! There's no joking about it!

-Andy

Play 'Til You Puke!

2009-01-17T09:25:00.003-05:00

Go hard or don't go at all! Julia and I share the same intensity, as illustrated here. Julia's going to hate me later for this, especially when I bust it out for a boyfriend down the road, but this video is too funny!

All It Took Was a Shoe Lace

2009-01-08T19:14:00.003-05:00

Go figure! Julia has been looking like she wanted to crawl for a few weeks now and Courtney and I have been anxiously awaiting that moment. It finally happened tonight and I was the only one who saw it! Tonight was another "Daddy night" and I must admit, I'm getting pretty darn good at this thing.

Now don't get me wrong, this was not a full fledged haul tail across the floor crawl, but it was a big step beyond the belly drag that she's been doing for a couple weeks now.

I placed Julia on the floor in front of Mia, thinking that Mia would motivate her to move. Instead, they both stood there on all fours in a stare down for about two minutes until Mia became bored and walked away to rub her face on the corner of a cabinet.

Julia then turned to me as I was standing over her and that is when she discovered my shoe lace. It didn't take long playing with it to figure out how to untie it. As that lace lie there on the floor with Julia fixated on it, I thought...well, Mia likes to chase shoe laces...

So I began to drag the lace just out of Julia's reach and it happened! She lifted up and took two crawl strides, caught the shoe lace and settled in to play with it for a while. So I moved it again...and again...and again. This continued on for about five minutes and Julia had traveled about ten feet across the kitchen floor.

I wonder if Baby's R Us carries shoe laces. They should...it's a great developmental tool!

-Andy

Return to Normalcy

2009-01-07T20:24:00.004-05:00

Sometimes when the holidays are over, the best way to describe them is to say that you survived them. On the surface, I wouldn't say that this year. I really enjoyed every moment of the holidays. Being Julia's first, they were probably more special to Courtney and I then they have ever been. But the reality is that in reflecting about everything that we've done over the last 3 weeks, surviving is the best description.

We had a quiet Christmas Eve dinner consisting of a beef loin roast, twice baked potatoes and asparagus, followed by Christmas lunch at the Jones'. And I must say that the lunch was a great idea. You see, Ma Jones is a heck of a cook (just look at pictures of me from when Courtney and I started dating) and when we are there for dinner, you always overeat and that ride home gets rough. With lunch, I still overate, but there was time to relax and let it settle before getting in the car.

All the cousins on Courtney's side of the family love them some Julia. Little Emma (excuse me, BIG...sorry Emma) is always talking to her and playing with her and every time you turn around it seems that either Ellie or Anna are holding her. Julia seems to love them all and never seems to fuss with any of them.

And there were lots of presents for all the kids...big and small...to be opened. I'm not sure whose idea it was, but it was decided to open gifts one by one this year. I thought it was great to see the looks on the kids faces as they opened all their gifts. In years past, everyone opened at once and while it was over quickly, I think the new way works better now that the kids are getting a bit older and are more responsive to the gifts they get. All except Julia...she's got a few years to go before anyone should have to watch her open gifts. Now give her a bow and you'll see a big ol' smile!

After Christmas, we reunited LBJ (click here if you don't know what LBJ is)...FOR A WEEK! Boy was that fun! The ear infection that seemed to plague Ben during his last visit a couple weeks prior (yes Julia, Auntie Liz is clinically insane) has been cured and his spirits were up. Luke was Luke...simply one of the coolest little kids I've ever met...in moderation. You see, you reach a point with Luke that he will drive you nuts if you can't hand him off for a bit (this might explain Auntie Liz's insanity). And Julia has taken to those two boys so well.

She'll sit on the floor and play with Ben and she thinks Luke is hysterical. We had Luke sleep in the spare room off of Julia's bedroom. One morning I wake up to the sound of little running footsteps and Julia's laughter. When I opened the door to the room I saw Luke who had just run across the room and done a belly flop onto the air mattress looking at me with Julia in her crib, propped up on all fours (as if to get a better look at Luke's stunts) laughing hysterically at everything Luke did.

Unfortunately I did have to work a little during the week. This time of year is important budget and planning time (and the office is quiet to get things done) and I was still involved a little bit with the holiday basketball tournament. I've handed off most duties, but the tournament is one of the largest in the country and I felt I should be there to show support...and referee a couple games!

But work didn't stop us from spending some real quality time with the CT family. Liz and Courtney brought the kids to some games of the tournament and tried to teach Luke the defense chant. This is a skill that he will have to master later in life.

Then we reached Liz's birthday. The girls decided that they would play a mean trick on the guys and dump the kids on us for a day and go shopping. Nate and I immediately called in reinforcements...codename Uncle Louie (Mr. Richardson to Nate's boys). Little did the girls know that the joke was on them. All three kids slept for about 95% of the time that the girls were gone! So the guys sat around playing rock band 2.

And that brings us to this week. Julia has returned to daycare and Courtney and I are back to work...life is normal again. As fun as the holidays were, it feels good to spend a rainy night blogging after putting my little princess to bed and having a nice quiet dinner with my sweetheart.

I'll never forget Julia's first Christmas and maybe with the help of this blog, she won't either!

Here Comes Santa Claus!!

2008-12-23T18:41:00.006-05:00

On Saturday, Julia had her first run-in with Santa. Andy comes home one night from work and tells me that on Saturday, the Elks Lodge is having a picture with Santa day and a guy he works with is Santa. He tells me that it isn't a huge thing and that if they have 30 kids, then it would be a huge success. This is wonderful news as I have been trying to figure out how I am going to get a picture of Julia with Santa without waiting in ridiculous lines and paying a ridiculous amount of money at the mall. So this is great, grand, wonderful! (I don't do well in crowds and especially not with a 6 month old....I know, 6 months...already!)

So we go to the Elks Lodge and sure enough there are maybe 10 kids there. So we didn't have to pay anything and we didn't have to wait in line either!! It was amazing! And, oh yea, Julia didn't cry one bit!! I was very impressed! And it was a very nice event by the Elks.

Julia has 2 teeth that are in on the bottom front and probably a few more that will be showing themselves very shortly. I say this because she has been quite cranky lately and that is not her usual behavior.

She is also becoming a little daredevil! When we used to put her in her Jump-a-roo, she would bounce a little here and there and generally play. Now, she bounces like crazy. So much so that she made herself throw up the other day. Andy actually caught that on video with the camera...I'll let him blog about that! She also loves the Christmas tree and if you are holding her close enough, she will lunge out to grab it, whether you are ready or not!

We decided to tell Santa not to bring Julia any presents this year. For a couple of reasons...1. We knew she wouldn't remember so we told Santa to give the toys to kids who appreciate them, 2. We figured she would get spoiled by her grandparents/aunts/uncles anyway, 3. If she needs anything at any point, we usually just buy it for her, 4. We figured she would rather play with the bows/paper/boxes than the toys. Sure enough, we put her next to the Christmas tree tonight to take some pictures and all she wanted to do was grab the bows!!! Next year we can just tell Santa to bring a bag of bows!!!

Happy Holidays!!!

~Courtney

Reunited (with the blog) and It Feels SO Good!

2008-12-18T09:36:00.013-05:00

I don't even know where to begin! So much time has passed and so much has happened since our computer died that I know I'm going to miss quite a bit! Here's a try at some headlines that would almost certainly have elicited a blog post when they happened.

Julia switches to (almost) real food!

No! I don't do leaves Daddy!

Go Shorebirds!

The Becks come to visit!

Go Cobras!

Mommy gets the date of the Christmas Program wrong!

True story! For weeks we have been preparing to survive our first day care Christmas Program. Apparently even the infants have a part. I was thinking that in their version of the story, Mary gives birth to sextuplets and names them all Jesus...kind of like the Foreman family. That has got to be the only way that an infant can have a viable contribution to a Christmas Program.

Anyhow, at Mom's instruction, I clear my calendar for tonight and pump myself up for what is sure to be an awesome theatrical spectacle, only to find out earlier in the week that Mom had the date wrong and the program was actually on Tuesday. Looks like Mary only had five.

A Surprise Visit!

Last Thursday, our phone rings at a little after 2 a.m. I get up to answer it thinking that either someone has died or one of Julia's little friends is playing around. At the other end of the line is my mother, claiming that she and my sister are in our driveway and asking me to come down and let them in.

I hang up the phone and Courtney asked what was that? I believe my exact response was "I fear that my mother and sister are in our driveway".

They drove all the way down from Connecticut to surprise me for my birthday and boy was it a surprise. The only problem was that I wasn't ready for it!

You see, for weeks I had been psyching myself up for a nice long, quiet birthday weekend. I've been so busy for the last few months that I was just looking forward to decompressing. As it turns out, Julia was teething, Ben had an ear infection and Luke was just being himself.

It put me in an irritable mood and I really regret that because their visit was the best birthday gift that I could have gotten. I just wish that I knew it was coming!

By the way, moving forward I will be referring to Luke in this Blog as "The Great Negotiator". The kid negotiates everything. Here's an example:

"Can I have a cookie?"

"Yes, after you finish your lunch."

"But if I finish half my lunch, can I have half a cookie?"

"No, you need to finish your lunch to get a cookie."

"But if I'm full and can't finish my lunch, can I have a cookie?"

And on it goes...the kid is a riot!!!

It's good to be back!

-Andy

The Blog is Back in Town!

2008-12-16T08:56:00.001-05:00

The computer is up and running and the plan is to make at least one post this evening. So much has happened since our Dell went on strike that we can't possibly bring you up to date on all of it, but damn it! We're gonna try!!!

-Andy

Fingers Crossed

2008-12-01T14:41:00.002-05:00

I dropped our computer off at the computer repair store today. It is definitely the power supply that is dead. We are just keeping our fingers crossed that that is the only thing wrong with it. So hopefully, we will have it back within a couple of weeks so that the updating can continue. We have lots to share about Julia's progress, so hopefully we will be able to update soon!!

~Courtney

Computer Issues

2008-11-03T08:26:00.002-05:00

All is well with the MD Wisks, however all is not so well with our computer, which is currently dead. Stay tuned for a new post (many of them actually), but it might take us a little while to get this thing fixed, depending on what is wrong with it.

-Andy

Glad to See Nana...Just Don't Talk to Me While I'm Eating!!!

2008-10-13T12:45:00.005-04:00

Julia is SO excited to see Nana, who is visiting this week. She's been laughing and talking like crazy, but there's a catch...you can't talk to Julia while she's eating!

That's right, everything could be going just fine...plenty of rest, dry diaper and a warm bottle in her mouth...but as soon as you talk to her while she's eating the girl absolutely loses it!!! We are talking a hysterical cry...you know the kind where they hold there breath so long that you wonder if they'll ever breathe again.

Courtney and I have gotten used to it. She calms herself down after a couple minutes and you just put the bottle back in and she's good to go like nothing happened. It's gotten to the point where it's pretty funny.

Here is a picture and video of Julia having fun with Nana!

-Andy

Sheer Genius!

2008-10-08T10:43:00.004-04:00

So a few nights ago, Andy and I were talking about how big Julia is getting and Andy mentions that we should move the straps up to the next slot of her car seat. Well my thought was, that is the last slot, so as she continues to get bigger, we won't be able to move them anymore. So I suggest moving the buckle that goes in between her legs out to the next slot instead. Andy made some remark about how we shouldn't do that, so I get the car seat and give it to him and say, "ok, you do it then".

Fast forward to this morning....I put Julia in her car seat to take her to day care and I notice that the car seat doesn't click into the base as easily as it usually does. I think nothing of it since it did eventually fasten in. I just figured that we switched the bases between our two cars and maybe this one is slightly different from the one I usually have in my car. So I get to daycare and try to take the entire car seat out of the car. On the back of the car seat, it has a spring loaded handle to release it from the base that stays in the car. I push the handle in and it doesn't unlatch from the base. I'm thinking to myself "what is wrong with this thing...I know the car seat can't be broken already!" So I push the handle again and it still won't unlatch. I look at the back of the car seat where the handle is and I see the shoulder straps that feed through the back of the car seat are fastened around the outside of the handle. So when we tighten Julia's shoulder straps to be tight on her shoulders, we are essentially pulling the release handle tight so that it is unable to move far enough to release it from the base that is in the car.

When Andy re-adjusted the straps that night, he put them on the outside of the handle rather than in between the handle and the back of the car seat. I realize that this is probably hard to picture, but it was quite amusing when I called Andy to tell him what a goober he is for doing this! His response was..."oh, I was wondering why I was having so much trouble with it recently!" Then he tried to blame it on me because I was the one who gave him the car seat to adjust in the first place!! Moral of the story....Don't send a Daddy to do a Mommy's job!!! We both got a good laugh about it!!

As far as Julia goes, she is doing well. She is growing like crazy. The other day I put her down on her play mat and went into the other room to write a check and when I came back, she was all hap-hazardly laying on the mat, not where I put her down. So I just stood there for a minute and watched her. Sure enough, she rolled right on over to her belly. I don't know if it was by accident, since she hasn't done it since or if this is the start of baby proofing the house!

We took her to get her pictures taken again on Saturday. She was good. A little uncooperative, but we got a couple cute shots! I will post those.

On Saturday she also got to spend time with her Aunt Mickee and cousins Ellie and Anna. Apparently she was the hit of the neighborhood. From what my mom tells me, all of the kids who live near by had come over to see her! All I know is she slept well that night, so thank you neighborhood kids for wearing her out!!

She is still doing well at day care. The ladies there love her and they think that she is now getting spoiled!! They used to be able to put her in the swing and she would be fine, now apparently they put her in there and she cries because she wants to be held! I guess I can't really complain about that!!

Here are two pictures from saturday's photo shoot!

It's Official....

2008-09-28T22:05:00.005-04:00

We have the newest Paul McCartney fan in the family!!! That's right, Julia already has music preferences!!! Comcast has a music concert channel, which Andy and I always check to see who will be on there. One night while I was at work, Andy called me and said that Julia was currently being mesmerized by a Kenny Chesney concert! I said, "of course she is, she is my daughter!" She is no dummy...she knows what is good for her!!! So then another night, Andy tried to get her to watch a Bruce Springsteen concert...she wanted no part of that!! Then last night, we stumbled upon a Paul McCartney concert. She was mesmerized! She loved it!! We immediately called Papa to tell him the good news!! Papa...now Julia wants to know when you are going to take her to her first Paul concert!!!

It has been 3 months now (Which is so hard to believe!!) and Julia is really starting to get her own personality! She is growing like crazy and has won over the affection of all of the day care ladies!! Everyday when Andy picks her up, they tell him how good she is and how she never cries!! I haven't gotten anymore frantic calls in the evenings saying that I have to come home because she won't stop crying. I have gotten phone calls telling me I have to come home right away because she is being so cute or because she is "9/10ths of the way rolling over!!" He was giving me the play-by-play over the phone and my reply was, "tell her to stop! I want to be there to see it!" She is a chatty cathy and loves standing up (with help!) She is growing so fast it is unbelievable!! We even think she might have a tooth coming in.

We tried the jump-a-roo today, but I think she is still a little too young for that still. We just thought it would be fun to give it a try. Here are some updated photos:

Here is a video I shot of Andy and Julia playing! It isn't that great because it is with a regular camera and not a video camera, but it is cute none the less.

~Courtney

A GREAT Day in "The Nation"

2008-09-24T18:30:00.006-04:00

The last time the Yankees missed the playoffs, I was dating Katie and working at Eastern Fastener. Courtney was a high school sophomore. And Julia was something that I hoped I wouldn't have to deal with anytime soon!

It seemed anti-climactic, but I'm as happy today about the Yankees missing the playoffs as I am about the Red Sox (officially) getting in. And I'm even more happy that Tampa Bay was the non-traditional playoff team to knock them out, doing it with hard work and young talent instead of money.

Coincidentally, blogger has a new feature that I just discovered today. It's called "followers" and it's a place on your blog where people that read it regularly can be noted. I'm proud to say that when I logged today, we had one follower...the Walters! So I added this feature to the blog, but I didn't want to call it "followers", so in honor of this great day in baseball history, we're calling our blog readers "The Nation"!

I hope you'll sign up to be noted. We're really curious about who might be reading the babble that we post. It's in the left margin...just click to be a part of the nation!

This weekend, I had the pleasure of dressing Julia. Instead of diving into the drawer for another onesy that we've seen before, I decided to sift through the closet for something new. There I saw it...her first Red Sox T-Shirt...on it went. What else to you wear with a t-shirt on a nice late summer day, but jeans...on they went.

I stepped back to admire my work, as it is usually a real challenge for me to dress Julia (and I can't wait for her to get older to help me!), but this time I was really proud. Just then it occurred to me...I dressed her up like a boy! Immediately I put pink socks on her to balance the outfit. Phew! It was all good now!

Here are a couple pictures of Julia chilling and watching the game in her Sox-Gear!

-Andy

The Wi-High Virus

2008-09-14T21:25:00.006-04:00

Guess what Momma brought home from work this weekend! That's right...a head cold. Momma had a rough couple of days, Julia had a rough couple of day and now Daddy has it just in time to go back to work!

I definitely felt for Julia. She was all congested and there wasn't much we could do for her. Someone needs to invent Baby Sudafed! The cold interrupted her 10 hour nights. She just couldn't breathe real well.

On Friday night, we woke her up in the middle of the night to try to aspirate her and give her some nose drops. The poor little thing was half asleep and in my arms when Momma put those nose drops in. The look on her face was just frightening. She woke up immediately with her eyes wide open and the look on her face was as if Satan himself had possessed her. She was pissed!

Thankfully, she got over it and was back to herself today and she even got to spend some time with Grandmom and Pop! Here are a couple pictures of Julia mesmerized by the NFL and getting ready for bed.

-Andy

The Speed of Progress

2008-09-12T20:56:00.003-04:00

It's amazing how fast things change. For example, this picture of Julia was taken last weekend and already I feel like she's grown so much since then.

I'm sitting tonight watching the Red Sox game in my living room and I got to thinking...what kind of advances is she going to see in her lifetime? Only someone's wildest imagination could tell.

Two generations ago, we went from the beginning of the automobile age to putting a man on the moon. Today it's inconceivable to make it though the day without the internet, a fax or a cell phone. All of that has been developed in just my short lifetime.

So I've made a list of ten things that Julia will never really know in her lifetime. Granted, it's influenced by the Red Sox game that I was watching while creating this list, but it is truthfull nonetheless.

Gas guzzling muscle cars
A century of Red Sox futility
Not being able to carry your entire music collection with you while you go for a run
Ocho Cinco's real name
The yankees making the playoffs every year
Tripping over the cords of video game controllers
The VCR
Going to develop your photos
Standard definition TV
George Steinbrenner

Who knows where technology (and the Red Sox) will take us, but it is certain that she will never really know any of these things.

-Andy

September 11th

2008-09-11T21:43:00.002-04:00

It's hard to believe that it was seven years ago already and that a moment that is so vividly etched into my mind will by my daughter, only be studied in a history book. Watching the history channel while holding my daughter tonight, I was more occupied by my thoughts than the program.

It's interesting that future generations will never relate the same way that we do. It might be like if I tried to relate to someone who lived through the depression. It's not that I'm comparing the two events, as each changed history in their own right, but I believe that living through each is the only way to understand how each truly exposed our vulnerability. Life as an American would change after these and many other events in history. It's simply not the same reading about it in a history book.

I remember driving up to Connecticut for my grandmothers funeral on September 11th. I left later than I planned because of what had happened, but drove up that night nonetheless. In fact, I still have the receipt for crossing the Tappan Zee Bridge at 11:57 p.m. and looking down the Hudson River while sitting just a bit longer at the toll booth, seeing the giant plume of smoke and orange glow that was now the World Trade Center.

So on this September 11th, my first as a father, I learned a little bit more about what parenthood really meant. I used to think, "how could anyone get so angry with a child that they cause them harm?" Today is a day where I believe that only my strong will (or as Courtney calls it, thick-headedness) and love for that little girl helped me.

Please don't misunderstand me. I never thought a moment about causing harm to that precious little girl. I never will. What I thought about was how under similar circumstances, a weaker person might be pushed over the edge.

I think that my stress headache started at about 7 a.m. this morning. This evening, Julia did nothing but scream for more than 40 minutes, regardless of what I did to attend to her or comfort her. Thankfully, eventually, Courtney came home and I was saved. But let me tell you what she did for me.

We had planned to go out to dinner tonight, but given Julia's state of mind, that wouldn't have been the best decision. Seeing how frayed my nerves were, Courtney told me to go to the Turtle (the Green Turtle...Google it, it's a great place), have a couple beers and bring some carryout home. That 45 minutes was exactly what I needed and she knew that and she saved me!

I really hate when my posts air on the sentimental side. I really prefer humor in most circumstances, but today has been a day that made me think. In reflecting on what the day has meant, it makes me grateful. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to help a future generation understand just how September 11th changed all our lives. And I'm grateful for two wonderful women, who bring me such joy at every turn, but are there to rescue me when I need it most!

Thanks Court!

-Andy

Julia's First Fever

2008-09-07T09:06:00.004-04:00

Last week, Julia was stricken with a major affliction. That's right folks...she was running a 99.4 degree temperature. I think that you can raise your body temperature that much by eating a big meal! Anyhow, it was enough for daycare to mention it to us.

So we kept an eye on her overnight and in the morning it was still there but hadn't gotten any worse. Courtney called the doctor who said that we shouldn't worry about it. We should keep an eye on it and call them if it got worse, but no need to give her anything as this wasn't unusual.

Now came the big decision...what to do about daycare. Courtney called daycare and they thought that we should keep her home for a day and keep an eye on it. My suggestion was to give her a little Tylenol, let it do its job and send her in (we'll refer back to this later).

Now as a good father and husband who has had plenty of time to watch many a good, smart man try to force his opinion on certain areas of child rearing and fail miserably, I decided not to force the issue and cover my half of the day, keeping Julia at home.

Courtney and I are really fortunate in this situation. Our work schedules allow us to make it so that Julia gets all the care she needs with each of us only missing two hours of the work day. As it turns out that day, Courtney needed to work late so I had to come home and put my cape on and turn into SuperDad!

That night I fed her and burped her, changed her and bathed her, read to her and rocked her and put her down for bed with little problem. The next morning she woke up and the fever was still there. I got the call on my way to work and started to voice my opinion again, but then disengaged and told Courtney to make the best decision she could and call me back to tell me what she needed me to do.

Not long after that conversation, I get a call from Courtney saying that she talked with her Mom and she told her to give Julia a little Tylenol, let it do its job and send her to daycare. So the next time I have a thought on how we should care for our child, I'm going to call Grandmom and see if she'll talk to Momma for me!

Julia is just fine now, feeling no ill effects of the blistering fever too dangerous for daycare! Here's a picture that Courtney took yesterday while she was goofing around with Daddy:

-Andy

Riding the Storm Out

2008-09-07T08:42:00.004-04:00

Yesterday we had a brush with the uber-powerful tropical storm Hanna. It came tearing up the coast and was certain to bring with it 60+ mph winds and inches upon inches of rain. Officially they say that we got 1.7 inches of rain. A far cry from the 7+ that they were talking about. Unfortunately I think our friends in New England were hit with the wet side of the storm.

We did get a little wind, but I'll tell you what...Hanna was no Ernesto!!!

Anyhow, this was Julia's first big storm. It's hard to even fathom how many more like this she'll see in her lifetime. But how would she handle it? Would she be anxious and frightened by the thunder and the sound of the wind battering our home? Or would she be relaxed, at total ease and maybe even a bit curious about what was happening?

This picture ought to help answer those questions:

She slept...and slept...and slept some more. She pretty well slept through the day. As it stands she's getting a solid 10 hours a night. There's only one other person I know who could sleep that well at night and still take a series of naps during the day...she's clearly learning a lot from her Momma!

I'm going to spend the rest of my morning cleaning up the four twigs that Hanna left in her wake in our back yard. I just hope that I have enough time to get the cleanup done before football starts.

- Andy

SWEET DREAMS!!!

2008-08-28T16:17:00.003-04:00

I woke this morning at 6:40 a.m. in a panicked state. Did I sleepwalk through the nighttime feeding? Did I sleep through it entirely? What kind of sleeping monster is lying next to me, poised to rip my head off once awakened for missing the feeding?

With great caution I reached out to wake my wife...you know kind of like when you're a little kid and dad falls asleep on the couch and your afraid to wake him up because you'll scare the crap out of him and in return get the crap scared out of you...and I gently nudged her and innocently asked, did I miss the feeding?

In an instant, my fear turned to joy as we both realized that Julia slept through the night!!! And not only that, but 10 uninterrupted hours during the night!!! We put her down at 9 p.m. and she didn't even stir until 7 a.m.

Courtney is doing a really good job of working her into a bedtime routine. We really have no problem getting her down at 8:30 - 9:00 p.m. and she rarely cries about it.

For amateurs, it kind of makes me feel like we're doing something right!

-Andy

2 Months...Already!!

2008-08-26T10:29:00.005-04:00

On Sunday, Julia was officially 2 months old! It is hard to believe, but time is flying by. She started daycare, had her 2 month doctors appointment and has driven Daddy crazy with her "irrational crying"!!

Daycare--We chose a daycare that was highly recommended by my Vice Principal. We get along great and have similar personalities so his recommendation meant a lot. We were able to take her for just a few hours on Thursday and Friday of the week that we got home from Connecticut. I wanted her to go just so she could start to get used to it and so that I would have some time to go to my office to get it straight for when sports started. She did fine. So last week she was there pretty much all day every day. I had two-a-day practices, so Daddy had to take her to daycare and pick her up! Daddy didn't realize how long it was going to take to get himself ready and to get Julia ready! By the time he got his routine figured out, I was back to just afternoon practices, so I was able to take her in the morning! Now, I take her in at about 9 and Andy picks her up a little after 5. I usually get off of work around 7, so Andy has a few hours with her before I get home. I have only gotten one frantic "I can't handle this anymore" phone call from him! One afternoon he called and said, "she won't stop crying. I hold her and she cries, I put her on her mat and she cries. We dance and she cries...I can't handle it anymore!" So I tried to talk him off of the ledge and by the time I was able to get out of work, he was feeding her and they were both ok! I tried to explain to him that the evening is her fussy time and sometimes she just cries for no reason, to which he replied...Well she has to understand that it is my fussy time too!!! But I think they are starting to get things together! I think I have spoiled her by holding her a lot and Andy tries to put her down and she doesn't like it! I think that is the big problem! Oh well...I will continue to hold her! I can't help it...she is a snuggle bug!!

Doctor Appointment--I took her yesterday for her 2 month check up. She was wonderful in the doctors office. She was smiling and talking and generally happy...until the shots!! Even the doctor was playing with her and saying how good she was. She is 23 1/4" long and 11lbs 6 oz. I guess she is in the 75th percentile for both. She still has a little bit of thrush on her tongue that re-appeared, so we got more medicine for that. This girl has been on more medication since she has been born! Anyway, she was happy until those shots. She got 5 shots in her legs and one thing by mouth. She cried for a little bit, but had collected herself by the time we left. At daycare I guess she was fussy and irritable and not really herself, but I can't really blame her. I would be fussy and irritable if I had gotten 5 shots too! By the evening, she was starting to come out of her funk and was smiling and playing a little more. She slept for about 8 1/2 hours last night, which was WONDERFUL!!! Hopefully she keeps that up!

This is one of her favorite spots!

~Courtney

Luke, Ben, Julia, Rock Band and Orthopaedics

2008-08-23T12:52:00.003-04:00

A couple weeks ago now, Julia made her first trek up north to visit family and friends. Thank goodness that she is not yet at the age where you get hysterical stories about car rides. See Liz's blog if that's what you're looking for.

No, pretty much she just slept and slept and then slept some more. The drive was pleasant. Well...except for the CT traffic. I could really complain about that, but I won't.

It was great to see a lot of family and friends, but the highlight had to be the surprise party for Nana. We got her good! She had no idea that the surprise was coming. The girls and Ben went shopping in the morning (Ben...when you get older, we won't let you get sucked into that) and came back to a visit at Dawn's house, where everyone was waiting.

I think she was really surprised and I hope everyone had a great time. Nana just needs to remember that when the time comes for retribution, the entire thing was Julia's idea!

Now one of the highlights of a visit up there is my man Lucas. He is just SO fun right now. I really can't wait for Julia to ge to that age...just ask Court. His day is comprised of three activities. 1) Playing Ball. 2) "Nackling" People 3) Chasing anyone around the house.

The little guy wore me out! And then, during one of Luke's monster nackles, I felt something weird in my knee, but really didn't think anything of it. We keep playing and later that afternoon, Nate asks Liz if he can go buy rock band. Much to his surprise, she agrees.

The four of us proceed to spend the next 4 days playing rock band in between feeding and changing diapers! You really need to stand up to play guitar well and I spent a lot of time on my feet. So my knee starts feeling worse and worse and worse. By the time we get home, it hurts so badly that it's keeping me up at night. It hurt so bad that I agreed to schedule a doctor's appointment!!!

Then mysteriously, under the care of my fantastic Athletic Trainer and wife, the pain went away. So I cancelled the appointment and everything has been normal since.

But I haven't thrown away the doctor's number. Upon returning home, we bought rock band. Inevitably, one of these nights after Julia goes to bed, we'll rock out hard enough to put me in the hospital!!!

-Andy

Daddy's Girl (Part 3)...I'm Getting Used to This!

2008-08-16T12:19:00.003-04:00

Today is the first day of high school practices for Courtney, so Julia and I get to spend the day together. Things are just starting to become really fun for me. To this point, I've been pretty afraid that I would hurt or break her. But now she's becoming bigger and tougher. She holds her head up really well and is even developing a personality.

I was feeding her this morning while watching Sports Center and the highlights for another Yankee loss came on. Good Ol' Mariano Rivera lost the game on a wild pitch. Well I bark out some kind of derogatory phrase at the TV and I look down at Julia and she is just smiling and laughing! The heck with the bottle, she thought it was downright funny listening to Daddy ripping the Yankees!

Mom should be home in a bit and I have lots to do before Julia gets up from her nap. I have a good post coming about our trip up north. I'll leave you with a preview of the title..."Luke, Ben, Julia, Rock Band and Orthopaedics!"

-Andy

Major Milestones

2008-08-13T20:39:00.005-04:00

Not long ago if you were to tell me that not crying through a bath or sleeping from 10:30 to 4:30 a.m. would be major achievements, I would probably have looked at you like you had seven heads. But today I view these as significant milestones.

When you are waking up to feed every 4-5 hours, you tend to condition yourself and actually sometimes you wake up just before baby wakes you up. Well last night I woke up at 2 a.m.. With Julia due to eat at 2:30 - 3ish, I decided to try to doze for a bit before she started stirring. I did just that, but the only thing was that she didn't wake up until 4:30!!!

That's right....daddy's girl slept for 6 hours at night!!! Court and I were high fiving in bed when we realized what had just happened! Hopefully we are on the verge of something really good here and not just a happy accident!

Tonight was bath night and along with getting squeaky clean, it seems that Julia had a demeanor shift. Instead of crying through her bath, probably because she just wasn't sure what was happening, she just sat there and really seemed to enjoy it. Now she did pee in the bathwater, but that's normal. But she was just chillin' through the whole thing.

We are thinking that we are on the verge of things getting really fun with her! Here are a couple of post-bath pics of Julia and Momma.

-Andy

The Daughter Effect

2008-08-02T15:38:00.004-04:00

We are in the midst of another Daddy-Day and everything is going well. Momma is off at work teaching a coaches' orientation class, so it's just Julia and I.

Daddy-Day started last night. Courtney and I have an agreement. The one of us that goes to work earlier than the other gets to sleep more that night. If you are working early, all you need to do is heat the bottle (provided you can be awakened) and then you can go back to sleep. Your partner takes care of changing and feeding.

This system has been working well for us and I say that as someone who 99% of the time works early! Although Courtney agrees with it and I think she is really loving motherhood!

So last night it was my turn to handle "night maintenance" and I didn't mind it one bit. Although, for the first feeding, I think Julia and I both dozed off during the burping process! Not only has Julia changed my mentality about nighttime interruptions, there have been other interesting revelations as well.

First of all, when Daddy and Daughter are out in public, we are the center of attention...at least with women and children. We went to the grocery store today and six different women came up to us out of the blue and asked all sorts of questions. Children act similarly. Men stay away, but I can't blame them. I can't figure out if I'm just cooler or less threatening with Julia by my side.

I also find myself making mental note of people that have children born in the last couple of years. I can't help but think about whether that child and Julia's paths will cross in the future. And when the other child is a boy, I usually just give him a dirty look, just to let him know that I have my eye on him!

Back at the supermarket today, Julia and I were checking out. I was buying several groceries and a case of beer. The beer was the last item on the conveyor and there was no one in line behind me. The checker ran through all my groceries and when she got to the beer she looked at me with a puzzled look and asked, "is this yours?" I think she thought less of me.

That's the daughter effect.

-Andy

Nah-Ahhh!

2008-07-26T15:22:00.004-04:00

All I want to say is that there are two sides to every story. Recently I recieved a promotion to Superintendent of Recreation for our county, but since my old position is still a part of our department, I've been essentially doing two jobs for the last 3 weeks. Couple that with the World Series being in town and I really had a lot of pressure on me over the last couple weeks.

The guys that run the World Series have become some very good friends of ours and I admit that at points during the week I spent some time enjoying myself with them. However, I far from abandoned my post in fatherhood.

The main issue was the one night when I woke up to my beautiful bride feeding my beautiful daughter. Instead of talking gently to her as she fed her, she was commenting on just how, and I quote, "F'ing Worthless your father is" and "he would rather booze it up with the boys than spend time with his daughter".

Now in the moment, I completely understand her frustration. I would be irritated too if I just couldn't wake her up to help me out, but I don't know if I would exhibit such extreme behavior. Nevertheless, we have moved past it and did so very quickly that night, I might add.

I have now resume full daddy responsibilities and even got home tonight at 5:00!!! I think this was the first time that has happened since I recieved my promotion and I was psyched about it!

Last weekend was AWESOME!!! With all the work I've been doing, I really have been missing my girls A LOT! Well on Saturday, Julia and I had our first official Daddy Day. Courtney became our sugar-momma for a day, working a lacrosse tournament and we spent the day together.

The funniest part was when I called Courtney early in the day to make sure I was following the schedules that she had been setting for Julia. After that, I think Courtney called to check in about every hour! I think that she missed her shopping buddy!

I can't blame her...I know how she felt!

-Andy

Trials and Tribulations!!

2008-07-24T16:54:00.003-04:00

So the past week or so has been very interesting. No, not with Julia...more with Mommy and Daddy. So Andy is quite busy at work, especially with the World Series going on this week. That is all fine and dandy, however Andy forgot the toll that parenting has taken.

I think it was Saturday night, he has a meeting with Bill and Brent about the World Series and then decides to go out for some drinks. He assures me he won't be late. "No big deal" I think to myself. Let him go out, he assured me this year wouldn't be like last year when he was out until 3 am EVERY night with Bill. I don't really know what time he got home, but everything was fine.

On Sunday, I agreed to help them out for a little while in the morning to get things ready. Still no big deal. Our friend Janese was planning on stopping by to see Julia at some point, but we still weren't sure when at the point when I agreed to help. Turns out she was coming to OC in the morning, so that didn't work out. We decided we would meet up at another time.

After we were done working in the morning, we went to lunch at the Greene Turtle. Julia and I left after we hung out for a while. Andy stays and plans on attending another meeting later that evening, but they had to wait for everyone to get to town..."they should be here by 6" he tells me. So I'm thinking ok, Andy should be home around 8 or so. He calls me at some point after 6 and says that the person they are waiting on isn't even here yet and that he doesn't know when they are going to get here...and, oh yea, he is hanging out at Brew River waiting. Well at this point I was getting pretty angry. I don't mind Andy going out and I don't mind hanging out with Julia all day, but it is nice to get a break from her sometimes! And Andy had been gone ALL day, and was just hanging out for most of it! So he comes home around 10:30 or so and promptly passes out, as usual! So of course Julia wakes up for her usual night time feeding and Andy can't be awoken. I wake him up about 3 times and tell him to go make a bottle, while I go get Julia. I come back and he is still asleep. After many expletives later and mentioning something about being totally worthless, I get the bottle myself. Somehow Andy manages to wake himself up by the time I got back, but by that point, I didn't need help anymore!

Monday night was the World Series opening ceremony. We attend that and afterwards Andy tells me he is meeting the guys out for drinks...but he will be home by the time Julia needs to eat! So he does come home before Julia needed to eat. I feed Julia in our bedroom just before she goes to bed and Andy, of course, passes out on the bed. I rouse him enough to kiss Julia goodnight and I take her to her room. As I'm in her room, I hear this loud crash in our bedroom. I come back in and there is Andy fooling with our ironing board, which we keep set up in our room. I ask him in my very annoyed voice what he was doing. He tells me he was trying to fold up the ironing board. I ask him why, considering it has been in that exact spot since we moved into this house. He has no answer! He tells me later he thinks he was sleep walking. Now we are short an ironing board because he broke a leg on it!

That brings us to last night. It is roughly 2 am and I hear Julia crying so I ask Andy to go warm up her bottle. He springs up out of bed and says "do you want a bottle too?" I repeat myself by saying "Julia is crying, will you go warm up her bottle" and he answers "do you want a bottle too?" Again I say "I asked you to warm up a bottle and you said do you want a bottle too." He heads toward the door and says something to the effect of "I don't understand what the f'ing problem is, it wasn't that hard of a question." I just shake my head and hope he actually comes back upstairs with the bottle! I told him what he said the next morning and he just laughs and says "if I did warm up a bottle, I did it while sleeping because I don't remember it" I just hope he doesn't burn the house down one of these nights!!

I tell you all of this because it has become quite evident that beer and late night feedings don't quite mix well with Andy. I was quite mad, but have since gotten over it. I will however be glad when the World Series is over and I have Andy back at normal times of night!

Julia is going for her first modeling gig tomorrow. We are going to get her pictures taken at the Picture People, so we will see how that goes! She is one month old today and it is hard to believe that it has already been a month!! She is definitely growing! She has become much more alert and stays awake for longer periods of time. She is definitely becoming a mommy's girl and she LOVES to snuggle!! She is still a good baby and she LOVES to go shopping!!!

Birth Control

2008-07-17T18:51:00.004-04:00

We have been truly blessed in adding Julia to our family and I think that Auntie Liz would say the same about Luke and Ben. But after this past weekend, I think that Auntie Liz would also agree that any fleeting thought about future family additions is securely on hold. That's right, last weekend was the our first chance to unite what I am now calling the "Trio of Terror" or L.B.J. (Luke, Ben & Julia...not just a President anymore!).

These little munchkins lived up to the billing. Two infants and a toddler under one roof is far too much for me to handle! At times, it was pure unadulterated insanity!!! We (and by we I mean mostly Liz and Courtney...I was pretty frightened most of the weekend) would feed one and another poops himself. Then while cleaning up the poop, another starts crying. While you're settling down the crying one, the one you just fed spits up all over herself and the swing that she was sitting in. It was crazy!!!

It wasn't all bad though and I really think that Liz, Nate, Courtney and I will have quite a few fun memories in the future, whenever we get L.B.J together. Liz has posted some really entertaining stories about her trip (Luke is priceless!) on her blog. Click here to read her saga!

One of the best points of the weekend was our picnic on Saturday. It's rare, but great when we have the opportunity to be with both of our families at the same time and that is what we had here. It was great to get a chance to see everyone and spend good time together.

Let's all do it again soon!

-Andy

The Big Day!!

2008-07-11T17:06:00.004-04:00

Today is the big day!!! Any minute now, Julia is going to meet her Nana, Papa, Auntie Liz, and Cousins Ben and Luke! We are all very excited. It will be an interesting visit, considering we will have a 2 1/2 year old, 3 month old and 2 1/2 week old. Nana and Papa were smart to stay at a hotel!!! But it will be fun nonetheless!!

I'm sure we will have lots to post about after this visit. This is just to tide you loyal readers/stalkers over until we have something good to post about!!

On another note, Julia is growing like crazy. She was 8 lbs, 2 oz when we went to the doctor today. That is up from 7 lbs, 11 oz on Monday! I know 2 doctor visits in one week...but she has this gross yellow gunk coming out of her eyes and Momma wanted to make sure nothing was wrong (especially considering we have visitors this weekend!). So now Julia is on more medication that any other 2 week old I know! Now we have to put gunk in her eyes and give her medicine for her tongus fungus (as daddy calls it!).

Here is a picture from Julia's first La Tolteca trip...making Daddy proud!!:

~Courtney

Bath Time!

2008-07-04T10:22:00.004-04:00

Now this was an adventure! We decided to give Julia her first "bath" last night. Momma had wiped her down previously, but this was the first real full-body, soap and water experience of Julia's life. But it wasn't so much a bath as it was Daddy holding her, while Momma washed her off.

I'm holding her over the sink such that Courtney can wash her lower body first and that's when it started. Courtney gets this look on her face that was somewhere between fear and laughter and announces and I quote, "Oh my God! She's pooping!"

Not knowing what to do, I slide my hand a little further up her back and hold her over the bath water. Courtney says, "No! Don't do that! Bring her over here!" And we set off racing across the house with a pooping naked baby in tow so that we can get her onto a changing pad to let her finish taking care of business. It's nights like this that make you wonder what your neighbors might be thinking if they happen to look out thier window...but wait, it gets better!!!

We return to the bath, catastrophy avoided and Courtney starts washing her. We're almost done with the bath, as Momma has started washing the head and face. Just then the thought occurs to me, why am I feeling warm water on my hand that is under her butt when Momma's washing the other end? That's right! Our little princess tried to poop and pee on us in a time span of less than 10 minutes!!!

I'm thinking that this might be a good story to share over dinner when she brings a boyfriend home for the first time...you know, when she's like 40!!!

-Andy

You know you are a parent when....

2008-07-02T11:58:00.002-04:00

Time has no meaning other than the last time the baby ate.
It is ok to be up at 3 am...and not just getting home from the bar!
You use your hands to get the booger out of your kids nose rather than getting a tissue.
You see more of your friends at the pediatricians office than anywhere else!

Thats all I've come up with so far, but they are all 100% true!!

Julia and I are spending our first half day without daddy today. We are doing good so far. We took a short trip to meet Julia's future high school principal (hopefully!!!), Mr. Briggs. I think the plan is to continue our usual Burger Night tonight (not the makeshift kind we had in the hospital!!). Other than that, we are just cruising along. Still sleeping well and eating well and being as cute as ever!!

~Courtney

Daddy's Girl (part 2)

2008-07-01T10:19:00.005-04:00

Here are some other interesting traits that Julia has that are remarkably similar to her Dad:

She prefers bottles over cans (get it?)

Her feet are HUGE! I'm still holding out for 6'5" and left handed, the only difference now is that she'll need to have a nasty rise-ball instead of a slider!

-Andy

Daddy's Girl (part 1)

2008-07-01T08:01:00.004-04:00

Something tells me that there will be many entries in the "Daddy's Girl" category, so I logically start with part one. This little sweetheart has absolutely won her Daddy over right from the start. Courtney was having problems breastfeeding as Julia really wasn't taking to it. Julia cried and cried every time that Courtney would try to feed her. Then I would come over to give Courtney some relief and take Julia from her and hold her to my chest and she would immediately stop. The very first time that she did that, I thought to myself "I am really not going to be able to say no to you!"

She has been so good to this point (and believe me when I say that I realize that we are only a week in). She hardly fusses. She's been on tour the last couple of days, meeting friends, dinner at Tolteca and lunch at the Turtle and nothing seems to phase her. Whether she's awake or asleep, she just sits there chillin'.

The epitome of it was her her demeanor at her first check up yesterday. For the most part, she just laid there, squirming a bit but certainly not upset. I can't even count how many different people have held her, but her demeanor never waivers.

At the risk of putting a jinx on us, I have to tell you about our nights. Night one at home was borderline miserable, but I attribute that to the aforementioned breast feeding issues. Other than that, she's been sleeping in three to four hour blocks!

Last night was GREAT! We fed her and put her down at about 11:30 p.m. I woke up at 3 a.m. to use the bathroom and took a peek in at her. She was wide awake, just looking around but not even close to crying. It had been about 4 hours since she ate, so she had to be hungry and on top of that she had a wet diaper. I almost got through a complete feeding and diaper change without waking up Momma! In fact, I think the only thing that woke Courtney up was motherly instincts, because Julia was just as calm and cool as can be. We put her back down at about 3:30 and she slept until 6:30.

I am fully aware that things can go down the tubes in a flash, but I am taking this in and loving every moment of this! She's a good girl, she's a Daddy's girl and that's alright by me!

-Andy

Momma's Take

2008-06-28T22:07:00.003-04:00

So Andy has done a pretty good job of keeping everyone up to date with what has been going on. But I figured I'd give my take on the whole experience anyway! Our first nurse was great! She was very friendly and comforting. So the contractions really weren't that bad...at first! So before they got bad, I asked at what point I could get an epidural. I didn't know if there was a specific time frame it had to be done in or what, but if there was, I didn't want to miss it! She asked if I was ready for it and I said that I wasn't sure, because the contractions were still bearable at that point! So she was looking out for me because she came in and told me the anesthesiologist was coming up to do someone else's and that I should just get it while he was up there. PERFECT!!! Except for that whole emergency thing Andy mentioned earlier! By the time he got to me, she said he had a long list of people waiting on him...but I was first! (Thank goodness!!)

The epidural was one of the most amazing things I've ever felt! We could see my contractions on the monitor, but I couldn't feel a thing! Although I think the nurses get a kick out of getting you the epidural and then making you turn on your side or lift your butt up when you can't feel anything and it is dead weight!! You feel yourself trying to lift up, but nothing is happening. Very bizarre, but amazing!

So the day was very long, as I think Andy also mentioned. They had me hooked up to the fetal monitor so we could see Julia's heartbeat and my contractions. Well there was also a computer in the room with all of the other rooms and their monitors that Andy was able to see. So he enjoyed comparing my contractions with all of the other rooms. You know Andy...Mr. Competitive!! So he would make comments like "Oh, I hope she's had an epidural already!" or "You've got a long way to go compared to Room 7."

After we got to the Mother/Baby section, we were put in a semi-private room. Luckily we didn't have a roommate because Andy would have had to leave if that were the case. Lucky for me, Andy took right to being "Daddy of the Year" as he calls himself! As I was pretty much stuck in bed, getting up only to go to the bathroom (which was a process in itself!) he took care of Julia all night. I realized that on Wednesday afternoon, I still hadn't changed a diaper! Andy had changed them all! I was so impressed with how he just took over and was so patient and loving!

We have also been attempting the whole breast feeding thing. I'm pretty sure I've decided that it is for the birds! Julia's first nurse didn't help me one bit. I even asked for her help and she wasn't that responsive. Her second nurse was very willing and eager to help and show me exactly what to do. This was helpful. The lactation consultant also was very helpful. I thought things were going well...until we came home! I have never seen a child scream bloody murder when her mom tried to feed her. She will suck on her hands, a pacifier, a bottle, even on Andy's shirt, but not on the boob! I try to feed her, she screams her head off, Andy takes her, she calms right down, he gives her back, she continues screaming!!! She is definitely a daddy's girl!! He has the magic touch that momma can't seem to find! So I'm pretty sure we are switching over to the bottle. She has had a couple already and seems to be more responsive to those. I just can't take anymore of the screaming everytime I feed her and wondering if she is getting enough to eat!

All in all, this has been one of the most amazing and unbelievable experiences I've ever had. Seeing this beautiful baby makes everything better....even if she is screaming! It's all worth it!!

So we are going on our first road trip tomorrow to Grandmom and Pop's, which is an hour away, so we will see how that works out for us!

~Courtney

Sorry About That Last One

2008-06-27T19:20:00.004-04:00

Didn't mean to get so sensitive. I assure everyone that it was just a short state of mind and it has passed. It's just that even though there were lots of funny moments that took place, they really didn't stick with me.

I would however like the record to show that:

I did manage to get Courtney to laugh DURING a contraction, BEFORE the drugs!

Julia was born with Emeril Live on TV (insert your own "BAM" joke here)

Courtney did actually say about one contractions, and I quote "these aren't so bad"...then they upped the dose of Petocin and she re-defined the term jinx.

After she asked for her epidural, there happened to be an emergency. She then spent the next hour making up new cuss words for that bleepin' anesthesiologist!

In my next life, I hope to become a "Lactation Consultant". No man (including the esteemed Mr. Hefner) could ever be lucky enough to see and touch that many breasts in one day.

Here are a couple more pictures:

Size Perspective

Feedin' Ain't Easy!

-Andy

Two Days as a New Dad in the Hospital

2008-06-27T15:19:00.004-04:00

Flashing back a bit, after Courtney's doctor's appointment on Monday, everything was looking good and she was scheduled for another appontment on Thursday. When she asked how long he would let her go, her doctor responded that if she wanted to be induced, he would schedule it, but there was no need for it right now.

She and I talk about it and decide that we'll let it ride a few more days, but if she lasts, we'd like to be induced on Thursday. So Courtney calls the doctor's office and makes that request and they tell her that they will call right back. They do and they had scheduled to have her induced the next day!

I got that news at about 2 p.m. on Monday afternoon and I think I got more work done in those last 3 hours of the day than I had in the last week! Now we knew what was going to happen. There was no need to worry about it anymore. I knew all that I needed to do!

Bright and early the next morning we head over for our appointment with parenthood. Our bags are packed and we have everything that we need...and we needed none of it! We were as prepared as we could be, but there was nothing that we could have done to prepare for what was going to happen over the next 13 hours, no classes, books, advice or anything.

They began inducing Courtney at about 8 a.m., Julia was born at 7:11 p.m., but by the time things settled down, it was about a 13 hour day. It was difficult, it was draining, it was an emotional rollercoaster...and that was my perspective. I can only imagine what Courtney was going through.

Now I'm not a real emotional guy, but on this day, I couldn't help myself. I was good while the room was buzzing with nurses and doctors, holding back as hard as I could. Suddenly there came an opportunity. The room was clean and everyone left for a moment. Courtney was lying there holding Julia and I took one look at them and totally lost it. I couldn't even speak. I was just overwhelmed with pride and joy. After seeing first hand what my girls had gone through, I was so incredibly proud of both of them!

So I gather myself up and go to get Grandmom and Pop Jones (pictured above) from the waiting room, red eyed and all. This was another really cool moment as a new dad. To be able to see their faces (especially Pop who has a soft spot for all his girls) light up as they learned that we had added another player to the Jones' girls softball team was really special.

I had another cool moment the next day. Courtney had some minor issues from the birth that needed a little surgery to correct, so I had about 2 hours alone with Julia. I'll be honest, I was nervous. I've always shyed away from the little ones. They look so fragile and I can be pretty clumsy, but I had no choice here.

Julia fussed a bit, but not much. We walked and talked and swayed and danced and talkedsome more. I laid out the groundrules for the next couple decades. You know, the important stuff like when Momma tells you no, come to me with a quivering lip or batting your beautiful eyes and I'll probably say yes. Or anytime that you need money for anything, my wallet will always be open. And we had a really long talk about boys...alright well I did most of the talking, but I think it sunk in with her that boys are nothing but trouble.

Momma came back after surgery and Julia had completed her orientation with flying colors I might add (she's much smarter than her Daddy!). Courtney is really recovering quickly. I know that today she's still a little sore, but her recovery in the last two days has been unbelievable. But I suppose that I should have expected nothing less from the most amazng woman I've ever met!

-Andy

LBMF is a GIRL!!!

2008-06-26T17:03:00.004-04:00

Julia Elizabeth Wisk

Born June 24th, 2008

7:11 p.m.

7 lbs. 3 oz.

20 inches

Here is a picture of my two beautiful girls, both doing very well. We are home now and trying to figure out which end is up. We thank everyone for your overwhelming support. We have received so many call, messages, texts, emails and more over the last couple days and it means so much. Julia is lucky to have such an extended family!

We have so much to talk about and share (with discretion of course). Courtney and I agreed that yesterday was the longest day of our lives...but it went so fast! Emotions went in every direction and there seemed to be so many priceless moments.

I think we both will have lots to share in the coming weeks as we adjust to life with Julia. There will be more to come soon! Right after a good nap!!!!!!!!

-Andy

HOLY S#^T!!!!!!!!!

2008-06-23T17:24:00.003-04:00

They are inducing at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow morning!

The Blog will NEVER be the same!!!

-Andy

The Waiting Game

2008-06-23T09:17:00.002-04:00

That's about all that we can do now. The house is clean, the lawn is cut, we have loads of food and supplies, the nursery is ready, the car seat is installed, the hospital bags are packed and we have tried every way you could think of to get things moving. Still no LBMF!

The closest that we got was last night. Momma thought she was having a contraction but as it turns out, it was just gas! She does have an appointment in about an hour, so maybe something will develop.

Until then, we'll just wait!

-Andy

A Noteworthy Acheivement

2008-06-21T09:11:00.003-04:00

Now I'm no expert, but I'm pretty impressed with this. My beautiful bride has just worked right up until her due date. Yesterday was her last day of work and she is due tomorrow!!! In fact she said that the patients were ever joking with her that she's going to have the baby on Sunday and be back to work on Monday.

Now let's think about this for a second. If I eat a little too much pizza the night before, I might have a rough day (especially in the morning) the next day. And I sit behind a desk all day. This woman is working in a gym with therapy patients, taking them through their exercises or out on a soccer field somewhere walking the sidelines, hauling some giant supply bag around. And she's not carrying a couple extra slices...we're talking 30-40 pounds here!

I suppose that one could speculate that her activity has helped her to stay in shape and manage the pregnancy better. I don't know (like I said, I'm no expert), but I'm impressed as hell!

She is ready for this to be over though. And we're trying various techniques and suggestions to get things moving, but I think that LBMF is afraid to come out and actually meet his loud mouth father that he's been listening to for a few months. We've walked (she walks more everyday than I do in a week!), we've tried Mexican food, we've talked to it, we've rubbed it. We even went out for steamed crabs the other night (and if you've had those you know that they can get everything moving).

Yet still we wait. LBMF is comfortable hanging in there a little longer. I'm thinking that we have a Momma's boy on our hands!

-Andy

So Much to Do...But Will There Be Time to Do It?

2008-06-18T21:25:00.005-04:00

I was driving to work on Tuesday, a day on which Courtney had another doctor's appointment (not unusual) when it hit me like a Gabrielli Mack Truck (EFC reference). We were FIVE DAYS from the due date! By this time next week, I could be any number of days into fatherhood!

Immediately I was overcome by thinking about everything that I needed to get done before...but there was the problem. Before when? I am a planner. That's what I do. I spend no less than eight hours a day planning. But not knowing exactly how long I have to get things done is killing me! I can handle totally switching parks 18 hours before the start of a 60 team national softball world series, but this...this is an entirely new challenge.

So I plug away, getting things crossed off my lists (thanks MAP for that little habit), not knowing just how far I'll get. What will be will be!!!

So Momma and I wrapped up a couple of details tonight. The nursery had been done for a while, but waiting on our replacement windows to be installed. On Monday they were installed, on Tuesday I painted the molding and tonight we completed the final touches, adding blinds and curtains. Here is what might be the final picture of Momma as LBMF's personal caddy.

I also wanted to share some of the other decor of the Nursery. Here are a couple of shots, one of them was Courtney's idea to enlarge some really bright photos that we had taken and hang them in the room. I'll let you guess which picture was my contribution!

This is the 49th pre-LBMF post on the blog. I really can't believe that there have been that many. But something tells me that the fun is just about to begin. Soon LBMF will have an actual name!!! I just hope that Momma's water doesn't break on the good furniture!!!

- Andy

Momma...Mia

2008-06-10T19:57:00.004-04:00

And down the stretch they come! It's LBMF in front by a nose over Swollen Toes. Heartburn is in third, holding off I Need a Backrub by a length. And the field rounds out with Any Day Now followed by I'm So Tired and I Can't Get Comfortable with Insatiable Appetite in last, but gaining quickly!

That's right, from here on out anything can happen at anytime. Momma is doing SO well, but really starting to tire of being pregnant (Not Liz tiring, but tiring nonetheless). She's still all baby and many women due after her are significantly bigger. We've been joking that this pregnancy has been going so well that we are probably destined not to have this baby sleep through the night until it's two!

The picture above is Momma and Mia chillin'! Mia too needs to get her nightly feel of LBMF and his movements. It's really cool now. You can be sitting with Momma and all of a sudden your attention is drawn to her belly as some monster gyration distracts you! It's like a scene from Alien! I get such a kick out of it!

I would say that the weather has been hotter than hell lately, but hell can't possibly be this bad. Even living along a lake, this week creatures are just trying to find shade wherever they can. The picture below is of one of our neighbors staying cool in our flower bed. This is as hot as it comes!

-Andy

The View From "Shower Dad's" Seat

2008-06-06T20:31:00.004-04:00

Alright...it's time to get this straight...guys don't do showers, they do man stuff. You know, things like bar hopping, watching sports, cussing and scratching ourselves. Whether I knew about it or not, the fact that I was the subject of a shower has caused a review of my Man Card! That's right...I might lose my Man Card over this! In my defense, it did take the collaboration of five women to pull the wool over my eyes!

Seriously though, it was a wonderful surprise! As a matter of fact, I still don't believe that they did that for me. Most of it was a lot of fun. At least everything but the little baby food game that they made me play. I challenge any of you to be able to stomach Mac & Cheese or Ham, Pineapple and Rice baby food after a few beers. It was DISGUSTING!!!!

Getting back to the surprise, I could not have been more flattered. Most of these people were those who I worked with or met through work and in this day and age, people have better things to do than to throw a party for a co-worker. The fact that all of you went out of your way to surprise me and be a part of our coming family addition humbles me. The unbelievable outpouring of support that we have seen in the past few months from all of our family and friends has been overwhelming and words cannot express just how appreciative we are.

We received more wonderful gifts and a few of them were some really funny gag gifts. We got baby's first bottle (Bud Light with a nipple and baby label), a hospital bag for a Dad-to-be, Daddy's toolbox, a diaper cake (pictured above), the wheel of responsibility (which I think is fixed because it never seems to stop on Mommy) and Daddy's tool belt. Linda, the reining queen of gag gifts, handmade a "tool belt" to help me with baby. It came complete with earplugs, tongs, goggles, rubber gloves, a teddy bear and even a clothespin for your nose!

It was a great fun day! I feel so lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life!

Special thanks to Sandy (the ringleader), Linda and Kelly for putting this together and doing a great job keeping it from me. And extra special thanks to Michelle for not only helping to put this together, but also hosting it at her home! Those Tourism Girls are the BEST!

- Andy