New hit single

Oh, I just noticed I got the date wrong. Oh well.

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.