Photos 11-18-08

Old home

Old houses are just plain hard to heat and cool thoroughly. We didn't use Rowan's room for the first two years of owning this house, so we had the vent blocked. I finally went down to adjust the air flow in the basement, and now our kitchen is freezing. There's just not enough force to keep everything regulated.

Big girl pant and vocalizing

This is week two of Maureen's journey from diapers to big girl pants and she is doing a great job. Number 2 is still challenging, but despite a few missteps, seems to be well on her way. Potty training is a bit hard on a slightly obsessive compulsive parent. It's like inviting a really drunk person to a dinner party. You know the chances are high that you will have to clean something up along the way, but you can't follow them around with a garbage can - you have to allow for a little bit of trust, and a whole lot of hope. We are very proud of Mojo both for keeping her pants clean and dry, and with putting up with a nut-job of a daddy.

As for Mr. Rowan, he is starting to test his vocal chords; jibber-jabbing away.

Exersaucer

We put Rowan in the exersaucer yesterday morning, first on the shortest level and then a notch up. He seemed ready - a bit wobbly, but ready. I can't get over how strong this little guy seems.

New ride

After years of discussion, research, budgeting and procrastination, we finally made the leap and added a new family member - the Honda CRV. Kristin's car was screeching and coughing up fluids left and right and I was concerned each time she hit the road with it, especially with two kids in the back. Plus the exterior was a bit battered - not bad, but a little worse for wear.

The car is white - not my first choice, but it is not my primary car. My sister told me we may get a discount on insurance because white is more visible on the road. I can live with that. We were concerned about gas mileage, but this is pretty darn efficient when compared to many SUVs and sedans. There's room in the back for both car seats, with enough space for an additional passenger - we are not used to such accommodations. Though it was a big expense (for us) we are happy to have made the purchase. Now Kristin does not have to be embarrassed when arriving to real estate appointments, the kids are save in the back, and we can actually go on vacations without renting a car, or bumming a ride.

OBSERVATION: the car comfortably seats five, but it has six cup holders when we use the middle back seat, and eight cup holders when we fold the middle seat down to make a backseat console. How many drinks do four to five people need?

Big Day for Rowan

OK, so we didn't quite get this momentous occasion on film (digital), but prior to shooting this video, Mr. Hot Shot Rowan successfully rolled over to his stomach, unassisted. I actually had my back turned, cooking dinner, while Aunt Erin and Uncle Jeff witnessed the event. Erin gets the credit on this one for coaching him. Good job Ro-boy. The video is a bit long - but it is safe for work.

Shoes

Here's a funny photo. I won't write much (dedicated to Aunt Chrissy : )

Caught on film

I never would have believed it myself - I had to shoot a video.

Betty's blog

This entry is from Rowan's Great Grandmother Betty, on Owl's Pine Tree. Nice.

A day in the forest

We spent a day in the forest yesterday with Abbey, G, Scott & Kathy. It was a gorgeous autumn day for sure. Here is one of my favorite shots of the year. Totally Christmas card worthy.

Happy All Saints Day

Irish jig

Roadblock tonight

At 8pm tonight, Barack Obama will take over the prime-time airwaves to deliver one more punch before polls open on Tuesday. You can see this half hour program on NBC, CBS and FOX, as well as a handful of cable networks (in the media biz we call this a Roadblock). If you have no interest, ABC will be airing Pushing up Daisies - they missed out on a huge media buy.

Rowan update - 4 months

Rowan is twisting on his side aggressively, and will soon be able to roll over. He strikes me as a particularly strong baby, and will try to pull himself to as sitting position when he's laying in my lap as I offer my fingers for support. He is gaining better head/neck control every day, though still has a bit of bobble going on. He just turned four months this week. Wow, where does the time go?

Bad parents

We just experienced two photo-riffic opportunities where are kids looked adorable and our camera was out of juice. Both events were Halloween related where Maureen was dressed in a giraffe costume we inherited from Kristin's cousin, Stephanie, and Rowan was dressed in a little devil outfit (could have also come from Stephanie?) They were really cute on both evenings. Sorry I can't post photos. I'm going to charge our camera now.

Update 10/26/08

Hi guys. I really haven't written much on the ol bloggerino lately. Everyone is doing fine. Both Mo and Ro have a touch of the crud the last few days - Rowan has the sniffly-snorts and Maureen has the Brenda Vaccaro cough. Right now, both kids are napping and Kristin is having an open house. It's reeeallly peaceful. Football is softly playing in the background, I'm drinking a beer and snacking on some veggie crisps (healthy versions of Cheetos, with no orange powdery fingers). It's a beautiful autumn day outside and life is good.
We're looking forward to Halloween - Maureen is going to be a kitty cat. I wasn't sure why she wanted to be a "black kitty cat with whiskers" until I noticed the Dora the Explorer episode where she is, you guessed it. Rowan will be a little devil.
We'll be sure to post photos, etc.

Parenting can be hard

News flash, sometimes it's not so easy to be a parent. Especially when both babies are crying. Not sure if you knew that or not. Just ask. I'll fill you in. Seriously. Bye.

BFF Dance Party

"Nice to meet you too!"

Damn Dad, it's Cold!

Let's hear it for the boy

OK, I realize I don't quite give Rowan his fair share of press on this blog. I just want everyone to know how wonderful he actually is. I think he accepts his role as the second born and let's his sister take center stage. He seems to be a bit more laid back and sometimes we don't realize that he's awake and just staring at us. He sleeps through the night (thank God), which is very accommodating. He also has the cutest smile I've ever seen on a baby. He can get fussy, but it really doesn't last too long.

Maureen has really taken to him as well. Every once in a while, we'll catch her hugging Rowan while he's in his swing. She tries to help out by bringing him his pacifier or Lovie if she hears him cry. I hope they will always be close and loving siblings.

Managing two kids can get kind of tricky. Sometimes when the crying fits align you just want to walk away - but the benefits always out-weigh the bad by far. Check with me in thirteen years to see if I'm singing the same song!

Anyway, a shout out to the Boy - he's just a fantastic little guy.

End of a good weekend

Our final event of the weekend was pizza out with the kids, Papa Joe, Uncle Joe, Aunt Chrissy and her two friends, Wayne and Gregory. Wayne is a close friend of Chrissy's from her days in Richmond, VA. While dining we discussed how Erin's honeymoon was abruptly re-routed and postponed one day, from Cabo San Lucas to Cancun. They arrived safely yesterday afternoon and I hope they post some updates on Facebook.
The food was good, and the conversation was also good until the Jazz band struck up right next to our table. Maureen got to shake her tail feather with Aunt Chrissy, and even Rowan got Jiggy in his car seat.

A really nice weekend

Boy, where to start. We had a very full weekend and it's not quite over. Friday night was Erin and Jeff's wedding - it was a very nice affair. The ceremony was Catholic, so we had to be there for a while, but they did it well and our kids actually made it through without causing a disturbance. Erin looked very pretty - Jeff looked cool and collected. The reception was held in the old Fischer's Meat Processing plant, though all traces of pig guts were removed long ago. The food was yummy, the music got people dancing and the toasts were entertaining (good job Chrissy!) The coolest thing going was the bobble head replicas they special ordered for the cake topper. Awesome! We kept Rowan with us the whole night, but we called in reinforcements for Mojo. She did not take a nap that night and she was getting punchy. Her Aunt Kathy was very nice to us and drove to the reception and picked up Mo at 9pm. Maureen didn't mind leaving because she got to spend the night with Abbey and Gus. I heard she slept in the bed with Aunt Kathy and Cousin "G" and poor Uncle Scott got booted to the couch. Sorry Scott - we owe you one, again!

Last night was a mini-reunion with some of my fraternity brothers from Western. It was held at the palatial estate of brother Tom and his wife Christy. Also joining us was Weve (a regular reader of the Adventures) and Garry, both with families in tow. Tom has really, really done well for himself. The house was overwhelming to say the least. The best feature was a hidden movie room behind a bookshelf, like Batman. Maureen spent her time between the trampoline outside and the indoor "slide into the pit of balls" contraption. She adored the other kids and simply had a ball. I hope we can reunite sometime sooner than the every-three-year norm.

Finally, today we (the Sparky family) had a picnic in the park. The day is beautiful, and we blew off all our chores and honey-dos to spend some quality time together in the early afternoon. It was the perfect end to a wonderful weekend. I hope everyone reading this is enjoying their weekend just as much as we are.

Wedding week

My sister Erin (Aunt Erin from this blog) is getting married on Friday. The rehearsal dinner is tonight. Lately bits of personal information have been appearing on Facebook (a social networking website - perhaps you've heard of it?) from Erin and her fiance Jeff about how excited and nervous they are. It's fun to pick up on that excitement. It makes me remember the not so long ago past, right before Kristin and I got hitched. It's a euphoric feeling of total elation and fear all rolled into one. I don't think you feel that exact feeling ever again; having babies is a little different in that there's a higher percentage of the fear factor.

Anyway, we are looking forward to a couple of days of celebrating. I promise I won't get too drunk tonight - when I drink at rehearsal dinners I want to give toasts. There's nothing worse than a rambling, drunk toast. I plan to keep my trap shut and let Erin and Jeff enjoy their moment in the spotlight.

Here's to Erin and Jeff (oops!)

Haiku of the day

I am trying to write the Haiku of the day - see the link to the right. Kind of silly, I agree. But I'm gonna do it anyway. I think.

The Bday party

This whole weekend was all about fun. As mentioned, Saturday was Mo's birthday. We woke up to a Krispy Kreme-crueller breakfast, spent the rest of the morning at the zoo, and had the family over for a ham dinner in the evening. There were a few folks in the clan who couldn't make it, including Aunts Kristy, Chrissy, Carrie and Erin; Uncle Pat, almost Uncle Jeff, and as-good-as Uncle Gabe; and Cousin Alex. You guys were missed. Mo received many nice gifts (she is so lucky!) and was in heaven playing with her cousins. We played pin the tail on Boots the Monkey (Dora's friend) and enjoyed a delicious Dora Chocolate Cake. Today was spent playing. Thanks to everyone who came over last night or called. Maureen had a blast!

Mojo's Birthday

A proper posting to come, but first:

My Haiku for last night

shopping at the mall
is not so easy a task
with two under two

Give my hand five

Maureen asked me to "Give my hand five" after completing a difficult puzzle maneuver last night. I obliged.
We are looking forward to a super-silly fiesta with family this Saturday - it's Mojo's Dora the Explorer themed second birthday party. Fantastico!
Other upcoming events of note: Dartball this Wednesday night and Aunt Erin's and Uncle Jeff's wedding the following Friday night. Rehearsal Dinner Thursday. We can't wait!!

What were we thinking?

This is what happens when you give a two-year-old a tube of lip stick and turn your back for a few minutes.

Up, up and away

These are photos from the balloon race taking place outside my dad's back yard yesterday morning. Nothing beats seeing family, watching hot air balloons, and eating donuts (except adding in a cup of coffee, but I know you tried Uncle Joby.)

First day of school photo

Big day

Rowan's first day of school is today. They grow up so fast these days.

Twinkle, twinkle

Out of the blue this morning, Maureen yelled out "like a diamond in the sky" from her bed. She was not awake. I'm curious as to what she was dreaming.

Separate news: Rowan dances while I play the ukulele. We'll try to record this for my next entry.

More separate news: Kristin just switched real estate affiliation to Remax. They have an office very close to the house. She has a pretty picture on her new cards.

Back on the grid

150 hours. That's what we figure. More than six days without electricity due to 80 mph winds - remnants from Hurricane Ike (go to the dolberry blog - I'm sure he can explain it.) More than 300,000 households lost their power for some amount of time during the week. We lost a couple of large limbs off our big tree in the front yard, and a decorative tree in the side yard. The power came back on late yesterday afternoon and we are thankful.
This whole experience has made it crystal clear how dependant we are on technology. Work was basically shut down for a week because our phone systems are run electronically, and all of our important files and operating systems are stored and run on the computer. The gas stations that had power were backed up into the street with folks wanting to fill their tanks. The restaurants that were closed lost thousands of dollars of revenue, while the ones still open had problems keeping stocked up. Stores were sold out of C and D sized batteries and bags of ice. Charging cell phones, became a challenging necessity. Maureen couldn't understand why we couldn't turn on Dora at any time of day.
We were very fortunate that the nights were cool, and we had a gas run stove and water heater. We survived just fine, though we would rather not have to go through this experience any time soon.