Another Year Passes

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:

1. 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"!
2. 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!
3. Kiddie Pool - No better way to cool off!
4. Vacation - If I may quote Uncle Ben, "the Outer Banks is the greatest place on earth".
5. Papa and Uncle Louie - Without them, the bathroom remodel would still be a dream! By the way...should have a completion post coming soon!
6. 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!
7. Tax Deductions - With a kid and paying loads of interest on your home, doing taxes is fun!
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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

Wisk Family Christmas 2009

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

I'm Walkin'!

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

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

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

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

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

Luke, Ben, Julia, Rock Band and Orthopaedics

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

Birth Control

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

Crib (some assembly required)

Thanks to Nana and Papa Wisk, LBMF is the proud owner of the "easiest to assemble crib on the market". Only thing is that it was up to me to prove that statement true.

The time comes to bring the 4' x 6', 80 lb. box that contains the crib up the stairwell that makes a 90 degree turn. I'm pretty tired, but I refuse to let Courtney know, because as hard as she was working, I couldn't possibly compete with how she might be feeling. Well, I don't want her to carry it, so I hitch up, slide it over to the stairs and get ready to haul it up. As I make my way up, I realize that this wasn't as bad as I expected. It's then that I turn around to see Court right behind me, quietly carrying this monster with me!

We open it up and unpack everything and believe it or not, the directions are pasted to the board that supports the mattress. The good news is that the directions are easy to read and your never going to lose them. The bad news is that the piece that they were attached to gets installed in instruction #4 and there are five more after that!!!

Anyhow, we got it put together and it looks great in the room. Here's a picture of me taking a rest. That crib should be strong enough for LBMF if it can support my portly posterior!!!

And last but not least...some finishing touches!!!

-Andy