A Boy Named...Kemba?

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

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

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!

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!

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

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!

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

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

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