Happy B-day GPP

Yesterday was Grandpa Paul's birthday, and Memorial Day (yes, he is a Vet). We spent the day at the track and had some bar-b-que (not bean soup) at our house for dinner.

Movie of the week

Karaoke with the Mojo

We went to a pizza joint with GMK, Kathy, Scott, and A&G tonight where they had family karaoke. A' sang Sweet Caroline with Kristin - a beautiful duet indeed! Maureen and A sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Not a dry eye in the joint!

The addictions of a 19 month-old

We received two Lovey security blankets as presents for Maureen's birth - one yellow duck lovey and one pink lamb lovey. We discussed using something like a security blanket as a comfort tool for Maureen so we immediately started putting Mo to bed with one of the two lovies and she took to it. Soon, she couldn't go anywhere without a lovey.
Once Maureen started to learn her colors, she began to differentiate between the two lovies. Each one developed its own personality and they were no longer interchangeable. She now cannot go anywhere without two lovies, which makes things more difficult for us. When, at one time we had a back-up lovey in the event that one went missing, we now have a situation where every lovey matters. I have become overly obsessive about keeping tabs on the lovies when we go out in public. So much so that I'm afraid my obsessive/compulsive behavior may have rubbed off on little Mo. And don't get me started on pacey.

Great people

I just received this wonderful shot of my mom's siblings and thought it was post-worthy. They are (from left to right) Cathy, Martha, Libby and John.

The Zoo

We went to the zoo this past weekend. I'll write more later.

Best of Mojo Show

Family photo

Update

We have less than a month and a half until baby boy arrives. Yes, he's still nameless.

Mother's Day 2008

Mother's Day this year was a good one (I hope!) It was a rainy cold day yesterday so we spent the day together in the house. The night before was a true test of motherhood (and parenthood in general) as little Mo could not sleep. The side-ways sleeping, rib-kicking monster wound up in our bed and managed to fall asleep around 7am. I think the sleep gods are using Mo as their instrument in preparing us for the arrival of Baby Boy (still no name) in less than seven weeks.

We spent the day playing, dancing to Down by the Bay (this song is part of our everyday life), eating, and napping - with a few chores thrown in for good measure. We picked up GGM Betty and went to GMK's house for further Mother's Day festivities. Kathy was there with her family, and we were able to Skype Carrie and Gabe in Seattle for a nice video conference.

I think I mentioned last year that I wish my Mother was still with us so she could enjoy her grandchildren. That thought was with me all day yesterday - she would have made a wonderful grandparent! I mostly feel lucky to have found my perfect mate, and a loving mother to my children. I love you Kristin!

SIDE NOTE: tonight we are going out on a date. Mo's Aunt Erin is babysitting while Kristin and I are going to see a concert by the Swell Season. Should be a fun night!

Cinco de Mayo

We forgot to celebrate Cinco de Mayo yesterday; no pinatas, no tacos, no sombreros. We did, however take a nice walk down our street yesterday as a family. It's the little things in life that matter.

Last night we lost one of my Aunts to cancer. Aunt Helen was my mother's sister in-law and a very funny, nice and caring person. She leaves behind a large and loving family. We are going to miss her very much!

Well, I need to go up and get Maureen - I hear her waking and singing the ABC song in her crib - she must be in a good mood! Have a great day.

Zoo Pics

Here are some pics from last Friday's trip to the zoo.

The Doll House

Derby afternoon at Grandpa Joe's house.

Wrapping up my birthday week

We had a very nice dinner at our house, again celebrating my 40th. This was my immediate family less one sister (we missed you Chrissy). It was nice and very laid back. Thanks to everyone who brought me something - you didn't have to, but it was much appreciated (consider this your thank you note!) It's nice to see that Maureen and her cousin Claire are starting to interact more. Here's a video showing them using our footstool in a new way.

Saturday we went to Mo's cousin A's first communion and party - A presented a welcoming message to the congregation that was really nicely done - she had her bit memorized, projected well, and made great eye contact. She has a future in Public Speaking for sure!

We also went to another party later Saturday in the evening with friends. I will probably have some photos to post from that party.

PDO Family Fun Night 2008

Last night was the Parents' Day Out family fun night, where the parents band played; Maureen had fun dancing and hanging out with all the kids. I was unable to join the band on stage last night due to scheduling conflicts, but I was able to play ukulele on the four tracks we contributed to their CD project, Treasured Voices. Here's a taste of the music as performed by the PDO Parents' band - if you listen real hard, you may be able to distinguish the Uke!

John was always the funny one

From my brother's blog: click here.

iPod Touch

I'm writing from my new iPod Kristin gave me for my birthday. I am pretty jazzed about the new toy, though its not too easy to blog on. The key pad takes some getting used to.

Birthday week

Birthday week started early this past Friday with the Earth moving; we experienced a 5.2 magnitude earthquake around 5:20 in the morning. Maureen woke up around 5am crying as if she had a bad dream. We finally got her back to sleep, but we were left awake. We began discussing our day and then the windows started to shake and the sound of a freight train reverberated through our back yard. It was a very cool way to start my birthday week (actual birthday is this Wednesday - today.)

I took a half day from work and came home to find out that Kristin planned a night away at French Lick Indiana. We were taken aback as we pulled up to the hotel because of the big KingFish looking casino that had been attached to its side. But once we got beyond the KingFish casino, everything was perfect. I got to play 18 holes of golf at the Donald Ross Course - a beautiful day on a beautiful course with my beautiful wife and hardly a soul in front or behind me. I experienced a we'llcallthat for each hole (we'llcallthat a five, etc.) I was able to fly around the course in 2.5 hours.

The rest of the evening involved dinner at the very fancy schmancy steak restaurant; a thirty minute jaunt in the KingFish casino, where we netted $22.50 playing blackjack; a quick beer in one of the bars; and we were in bed in normal fashion by 10:30 pm. Because I gamble so infrequently, I always forget the rules of the different casino games. Black Jack is the most approachable game table, but I always forget the hand signals and when to stay, when to take a hit, etc. But the folks at our table were super nice and I won some cash and ran fast to the exit.

The next day we pigged out at the grand buffet, and made our way over to French Lick's sister hotel/resort at West Baden. If you ever get a change, go and at least look at this hotel. The rates were too high for us to justify staying there, but it is a sight to be seen. My dad told me it was considered at one time the eighth wonder of the world. I've included some photos that won't do it justice. While wandering around, we came upon a group of women who asked Kristin to take their group's picture. We found out that they were celebrating one of the ladies' birthday, and found out it was her fortieth birthday, and found out her birthday was the same exact day as mine. After they were out of earshot, Kristin whispered that she looked a lot older than I do. Of course men do age better than women (except for meth addicts!)

The birthday continues with a concert downtown on the great lawn tonight featuring the Whigs, Wild Sweet Orange, and Griffin House - I don't really know much about the bands, but love the concert series they have each year. More festivities include a cookout with family on Friday, and another cookout with friends on Saturday. I really know how to celebrate me!!

Google Analytics

Though this blog has been in existence since September 27, 2006, I’ve only tracked visitor activity on Google Analytics for less than a year. Here are some facts and figures from April 25, 2007 to April 17, 2008:

VISITS: 2,574
ABSOLUTE UNIQUE VISITORS: 258
18.03% visited 51 to 100 times
16.24% visited 101 to 200 times
Highest month of activity: July, 2007 with 277 total visits
Lowest month of activity: April 2007 with 58 total visits
(March 08 experienced 231 total visits)
Visits have come from three continents, 3 countries
Japan, Italy and the United States
Within the United States, visits came from 25 states plus DC
These include: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, and Wisconsin.

Commentary: Sometimes I wonder whether I should publish a blog about my family and more specifically about my 18-month-old daughter. There are a lot of bad people out in the world, but no more than in years past – we only hear more about them these days (thanks to the web!!) I try to keep facts vague, and have some privacy settings in place, but all it takes is one emailed link and anyone can have access to my personal thoughts, images and ramblings. Questions arise: What steps do you have to take to keep your family safe on-line? How much is too much information? Who really gives a darn how many times Mo goes to the potty?

The main reason why I blog is to document what’s going on for my kids to read down the road. I also like to keep close friends and relatives up on our current events and to share photos. Ultimately, it is a way to express myself and part of my weekly routine.

I hope people are getting something out of it; if only a few chuckles. If you don’t know me personally, but enjoy the blog, please keep reading. I encourage you to introduce yourself and tell me how you got here, but I understand the confidentiality the web offers and do not want to impose on your enjoyment (or self-inflicted torture.) I am happy to see that people are coming to the site and hope to be able to continue for years to come.

Peacock, the movie

It's not too late

The Shamrock Challenge call for entries to win a very special prize will end soon. How vague was that! Here's a video of Mo coloring.

The big show

I scored some Sesame Street Live tickets for today's matinee performance, with special passes to meet with some characters prior to the show. We brought Grandma Karen with us - Maureen was keyed up. The only downside for Mo (besides crying when the show was over) was that they sent characters who were not Elmo out for the pre-show party: Zoe and Cookie Monster. We really talked up Elmo prior to going - you may notice a mix of disappointment and befuddlement on Maureen's face while sitting on Cookie Monster's knee.

She watched the whole show. Even though it went well into nap time, she fought off the sandman and was mesmerized by the production.

Kristin had to leave midway through for an open house, and Karen and I wanted to join her soon after, but Mo loved every minute of it.

The added bonus is that Mo is too young to realize the Elmo balloons they brought down the aisle during intermission were for sale, and that her daddy had the eight bucks needed to purchase one.

This was a nice cap to a fun-filled weekend.

PS: 2 pee pees on the potty today!!

Addendum: add one more peepee and one dookie today.

No sh*t? Yes, Mojo went poo poo on the potty!

Sorry for TMI, but on a lark I put Mo on the toilet before putting her in the bath tub. And yes, she dropped a friend off at the lake. Very exciting!!!

Forming sentences

Yesterday Morning Mojo asked, "Hold my daddy?" She is moving on from one word statements to forming sentences. Very cool, and what a great sentence to start with!!!

I guess I don't have to say it.

Happy April 1. We are not moving.

Latest news

I just accepted a job offer in San Diego, CA. We will be moving at the end of the month.
More info to come...

Spring is springing

We had a pretty rough couple of days with Mo - she started feeling yucky on Friday evening, suffered a fever through the weekend and projectile vomited yesterday in Kristin's car on the way back from the doctor. She has another ear infection. Seems like she has an ear infection every other day and you can begin to recognize them just by her mood. We were fortunate that Kristin had some overtime with her job where she could skip work yesterday.

Needless to say, we did not do anything over the weekend. You start to feel isolated from the world when you spend all weekend in the house. This Friday, Kristin is going away for an overnight trip and won't be back until late Saturday - I hope Mo is feeling OK so we can get out and enjoy the warmer weather.

Finally, we are sending out the annual shamrock challenge, though our showing is less than noteworthy. Send me a photo of your shamrock in it's most current stage (no cheating, suspected shamrocks are subject to date verification!) The winner will receive a really cool prize.

Scenes from Easter 2008

Ducks lost

Easter at school

Mo got a chance to look for Easter eggs yesterday at school - all the parents had to fill ten plastic eggs with some treats. I think they were training for Sunday. I really haven't spoken to the Easter Bunny yet, so we are a tad behind schedule as far as basket preparation. That lazy bunny.

St. Patrick's Day

Saturday brought the annual St. Patrick's Day parade, and quite a few inches of rain as well. I guess you can say it was a downpour, but that didn't keep us from marching down the main drag with our Bonnycastle cohorts. It was one of the few days I get each year where my dear wife overlooks some of my over-indulgences. In other words, she lets me drink a lot and tries not to give me a hard time about it. God love her - she took care of Mojo all day while I prepared and participated.

We really don't have much of a parade presence as a group. We have an old 40's style milk truck pulling a wagon that has the club name taped to the side. What ever members we have on hand walk to the side of the wagon handing out candy and green beads to the on-lookers. It's more fun seeing what other participants come up with, and seeing how many Irish descendants participate in the event (i.e. the Ryans will march down the street, followed by the McCartys, followed by the Fitzgeralds, etc.) Kristin and Mojo watched the parade street-side, but the rain got too much for them. They packed up before I had a chance to see them.

Kristin (my Rock) met the babysitters, Grandpa and Uncle Joes, at our home at 5pm, then met me back at the club, where we had some corned beef sandwiches and listened to a live Irish band. We had a fairly big party of friends present, but there were not so many other members there. I think that made it better - it was like we had our own private party.

Betty's owlspinetree blog does a better job describing the party. We had a very nice time and hope that we can keep this tradition going for years to come.

Last night we had a small gathering at Mojo's Aunt Kathy and Uncle Scott's house for some excellent crockpot corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and carrots with onions. It rocked! Many thank yous go out to them for a tasty St. Patty's Day dinner!

For those family and friends who will not be with us this weekend, have a very Happy Easter. Here's a cute picture of Cousin A and Mojo, and another of Mojo and her constant mess of toys, both taken a week or so ago.

Happy St. Pat's

Down by the Beeeeeee

She actually does it a little better, but there's a lot of pressure when you're on camera.

Enjoy!

Down by the bay

Momo is a singer. She loves music. Last night while giving her a bath I realized she is paying attention to the lyrics. One of our household favorites is the song Down by the bay. I'm not sure of its origin, but I know Raffi made some money by recording it, and we have a Raffi book based on the song, so I'm going to assume he had something to do with it. We sing it all the time. We also play a version sung by children on my car stereo, over and over and over again. We noticed that Maureen kept singing "Bee" which we determined was Bay.
So, back to the bath; I started the song:

Dad: Down by the...
Mo: Beeeee (meaning Bay)
Dad: Where the watermelon...
Mo: Go (meaning Grow)
Dad: Back to my...
Mo: Home (no interpretation needed)
Dad: I dare not...
Mo: Go (meaning Go)
Dad: For if I...
Mo: Dooo (meaning Do)
Dad: My mother would...
Mo: Ayeeee (meaning Say)
Dad: Did you ever see a Goose kissing a Moose? Down by the...
Mo: Beeeee

She keeps surprising us each day.

What a difference a year makes!

Final games of the season

The Ducks suffered two losses last night in a disappointing dartball doubleheader. I had flashes back to grade school kickball as I missed the board several times and felt the hidden grins and heard the soft snickers of my peers. Only this time, my peers were not eighth grade boys, but a group that included a couple of women in their seventies (this does not include my mother in-law.) Based on my performance only, our team name should be Don's Wounded Ducks. Though, I believe my inability to play sports well has made me the humble man I am today-- can you imagine how much more of a jerk I would be if I were athletic? I hope my team spirit and willingness to man the board keeps me from being traded next season. I have time to train over the Spring and Summer months - perhaps we can buy a chicken and I can chase it around our back yard like Rocky did in the movie Rocky. (Or was that Rocky 2?) But, as I mentioned, we didn't need those games anyway as we sealed the deal on winning the prize for the second half of the season.

Saturday brings our fine city's St. Patrick's Day parade and our celebration later Saturday night at the club. Now this is something that I'm good at - drinking and enjoying myself! There's a 60% chance of rain, but we'll have a good time rain or shine. Stay tuned for coverage of the Dartball Tournament in two weeks. Maybe I can figure out how to broadcast it live over the blog. On second thought, maybe not!

Happy Birthday Aunt Chrissy

Today is my sister Chrissy's birthday - Happy B-Day Aunt Chrissy!! The tradition in our family is to call a sibling on his or her birthday and sing the (Happy Birthday) song in our best Grandpa voice. This is not an easy achievement because our Grandfather had a loud, gravel-y voice. I can only get a few "happy birthday to you"s out before launching into a coughing fit. Degree of difficulty is a 9.65. I guess I'm the designated Grandpa these days, or maybe I'm the only one who thinks it's important to keep mocking him in this manner. But its more of a adoring tribute of a mocking, if you know what I mean.
Maureen is feeling much better - she is taking antibiotics to get over an ear infection and a sinus infection, and she is taking drops for double pink eye. She loves the taste of the medicine and asks for more after every dose. We have to wrestle her down for the drops but it doesn't hurt her and she seems unfazed afterwards.

Snowbound

It snowed, by some accounts, up to ten inches last Friday. I came home from work and haven't left the house since. Kristin and Maureen haven't left the house since Thursday. No shoveling, no sledding, no nothing but family togetherness for the whole weekend. We were considering getting Mo out in the snow for some low-impact sled riding, but she had a touch of the crud and we decided not to chance it. She vomited a tad last night and tonight she is oozing from both eyes. It's Sunday night and most of the snow melted off my car, the sidewalks and most of the driveway. I should be able to hop right in the car and drive off to work without much effort (yay, rah!) I think we should have the nice weather to get everything totally melted this week in time for the St. Patty's Day Parade.

Recent photos

Temper temper

Mojo has been throwing a few temper tantrums lately, and has taken a few swings at me and Kristin. She is definitely starting to learn where the boundaries are with us - and we are trying to learn how to deal with a very stubborn one-year-old. They are very hard lessons learned on both counts. Feel free to reply and share some parental bits of wisdom.

Ahoy!

Arrgg!