And he just keeps growing

It's official, Joshua is now half a year old. That's right, six whole months. People aren't kidding when they say the time flies. It's hard to believe when you are sleep deprived and the house is a wreck that babies grow quickly and it won't be this way forever, but Joshua turning six months old is greater confirmation of this adage. Some of his recent developments are that he has sprouted his two bottom teeth, is rolling both ways, and is doing the pre-crawling sky diver position. He also has tried baby cereal, apple sauce, green beans and sweet potatoes. Oddly enough he doesn't seem to care for applesauce. As you can see from the picture he can sit up unassisted for a short amount of time. Today I took him in for his check-up and he now weighs 19 pounds and is approximately 26" tall (squirmy babies don't make for easy measuring). He weighs less than Daniel but more than Maggie did at that age. He is a very sweet boy who is just taking it all in and starting to develop a sense of humor. While I was at book club last night, Daniel was able to crack his baby brother up by making raspberries with his mouth, which was repeated ad nauseum until Joshua was tired of laughing. At times like these it is easy to see why children are a gift from the Lord. I look forward to what the next 6 months hold for our baby boy as well as for our family.

Vacation Leaves Us Tired

Just a quick post-vacation update: As I mentioned, everyone except me was sick with coughing, sniffling, and nose-running on Sunday after we got back from the glorious beach vacation. Angie, Daniel, and Maggie now seem to be completely well, and Joshua is much, much better. Saturday and Sunday night he was so stopped up that we had to wake up several times in the night to aspirate him (for the uninitiated: babies can't blow their noses, so you have to stick a bulb syringe up their noses and suck out the grossness). Monday night was better, only requiring this procedure once or twice, and so far tonight he's slept peacefully as well. Unfortunately for him, Joshua has to go to the doctor tomorrow for his 6-month tune-up, which means shots, which means more trouble sleeping. *sigh*

Beach Vacation 2009, Day Seven and Epilogue

Day Seven began with our customary Saturday morning pancakes and bacon, then our very sad and not at all customary packing to leave the beach. Once the packing of the bags was accomplished, I began loading them into and onto the van while Angie and the older kids went down to the beach one last time to get their feet wet and play with the souvenirs they bought at the Naval Aviation Museum and the Octopus souvenir store. While there, they had a friendly chat with a local bird.

And, of course, after that, the inevitable moment had come. We loaded our few remaining possessions into the van (minus 1 teether and Maggie's sunglasses, as it turned out) and struck out on the open road again for home. Or at least lunch. It turns out that A LOT of people go out to eat in the Gulf Shores area of a Saturday, and so we had something of a wait in the Chick-Fil-A drive-thru line. After that, we struck out on the open road again for home... again. The trip home added further proof (if any was still needed) for my theory that travel with a baby takes one and a half times as long as travel without a baby, or TWaB = 1.5 x TWOaB. The supposedly 6-hour trip took us right at 9 hours with our various stops for feedings and whatnot. We stopped once at the Russell Stover Candy Store in Greenville, AL, and later we had dinner at Wendy's in Hogansville, GA.
When we finally got home, we unloaded the van as quickly as possible and everyone collapsed into bed. The kids woke up the next morning sniffling and coughing, even Joshua, so we stayed home from church for the sake of our friends and spent a relaxing, yes, lazy last day of vacation in our house. I ventured out for food once or twice, but otherwise, we stayed indoors. I wouldn't have wanted my vacation to end any other way than at home for a full day with my family. Overall, it was a fantastic week, and we can't wait to do it again next year! Assuming they'll have us back...

Beach Vacation 2009, Day Six

On Day Six, after breakfast, after blogging, after lunch, and after Joshua's nap, we finally made it out to Pirate's Island Adventure Golf in Gulf Shores, which we'd been talking about all week.

This time we went on the Blackbeard course, which was reported to be more "stroller-friendly."
It was a great time, though towards the end the kids started to get hot and tired.
After the vigorous exercise of the golf game, the grandparents went to pick up some shrimp and other goodies for the evening meal, and we took the kids to one of the many, many souvenir shops in town, which I believe was called the Purple Octopus, presumably because of the many-tentacled ways they have of extracting your money from you.
Daniel bought himself some pirate-y things, while Maggie got a professional hair braiding with beads.
After the kids had been relieved of most of their money, we went to a nearby ice cream place for a snack.

The evening was capped off with a truly fantastic meal of the aforementioned shrimp (boiled), salad, and the best hush puppies I've ever had, followed by a walk on the beach for Angie and me after the kids were in bed under grandparental supervision. It was beautiful out there alone on the beach under the stars, and very nice to have some brief time to ourselves for the second time in a week!

Beach Vacation 2009, Day Five

Angie mentioned in the comments for Day 3 that I forgot to thank Bennett for the wonderful cheesesteaks he made for us, and she's right, they were excellent. I also failed to mention that in between LuLu's and "You've Been Sentenced" there was a birthday celebration for your truly! My birthday isn't technically until next Friday, but as it was the last night with everyone together, we went ahead and celebrated then with caramel cake, vanilla ice cream, and presents - the customary dollar-for-every-year-of-life from my parents, and a really cool Xbox game from Bennett and Lynley!

Day 5 began with Angie and the kids heading down to the beach again while I worked on the Day Two blog post, followed by lunch (I got up pretty late). After lunch, Angie needed a nap, so I sat on the balcony reading my book, which I was able to finish! In the evening we headed to the top-secret Perdido Kids Park, which has an extremely unassuming entrance with a small wooden sign and a dirt road into the park. The park itself, however, is awesome! Here are some pictures that we were able to smuggle past security:

We went from the park to dinner at the Shrimp Basket in Perdido Key, near our condo, where we tried the Fried Pickles and had a surprisingly good meal of fried seafood. We polished off the evening by letting the kids stay up to watch Kung Fu Panda while I worked on the Day Three blogpost.

Beach Vacation 2009, Day Four

On Day Four, Bennett and Lynley had to head home. We hung out with them in the morning and said our good-byes, then we headed down to the beach, this time with Joshua. He got to play on his crab float in the gulf with us while Maggie made sand castles. After that we went back to the condo and played in the pool.
In the evening, my dad picked up dinner from Lillian's, an incredible pizza place in Perdido Key. After dinner, Angie and I let my folks put the kids to bed, and we headed into Gulf Shores to see the latest Harry Potter movie, which we thoroughly enjoyed. If you have never been to a movie with Angie, you are missing a major treat. She is exactly who the film makers have in mind for their audience. She jumps and screams in startling or scary parts, she laughs louder than anyone in funny parts, and she just makes the whole movie-going experience more enjoyable for everyone. I mean, the movie was good, but really, it was just nice to enjoy it with Angie, and to have my wife to myself for at least a few hours.

Beach Vacation 2009, Day Three

One thing I forgot to mention on days 1 and 2 was that my brother, Bennett, has become an excellent cook! When we arrived on Sunday night, he made tacos with his own homemade salsa, and Monday morning he made Alton Brown's French Toast recipe. Both were awesome, and I wanted to make sure he got credit. Thanks, Bennett!
Okay, now on to Day Three: Breakfast on day 3 was just cereal, so we were able to get right out and go swimming in the morning. We took the Spring Float out to the sandbar as a family minus Joshua. The older kids, as I mentioned, are really becoming excellent swimmers, so heading out to the sandbar was no problem for them. It is amazing to see how far they've come. After our swim, we had talked about going to play Pirate Golf again, but since Angie's back had been hurting, and Bennett's dear wife, Lynley, has a hurt foot, we decided to do something more wheelchair-accessible that wouldn't require bending. So we headed to the National Naval Aviation Museum near Pensacola. Joshua seemed to have a good time, there were several interesting and fun things for Daniel and Maggie to do, and there was even information about the U.S.S. Hornet, where my grandfather (mom's dad) was stationed as a fighter pilot in World War II.
After the museum the party moved to LuLu's Restaurant for an hour-and-a-half wait, some off-key musicians, and some excellent food. If you don't recall from last year, LuLu is the self-proclaimed "crazy sista" of beach musician Jimmy Buffett, and her restaurant is extremely popular. We capped off the evening with a game of "You've Been Sentenced," and everyone collapsed into bed exhausted.

Beach Vacation 2009, Day Two

Okay, so I can see this daily blogging of the beach trip is not off to the stellar start for which I'd hoped. A major hindrance has been Mr. Baby, who tends to keep odd hours, making for a tired Daddy at the end of the day (prime blogging time). Still, I semi-half-sort-of promised the Twitterverse and Facebookia that I'd cover a few days tonight. In the spirit of that semi-half-whatever, I'm only going to cover one day. So, without further ado, I present:
Day 2:
Also known as Monday, Day Two began with, my brother, Bennett, introducing me to this wonderful Texas Turtle coffee that he got at the World Market in Pensacola. Here's a recent photo of said coffee:
Of course, we went to play at the beach and pool immediately after breakfast. Maggie and Daniel are now completely fearless in their swimming, which makes me even more fearful, of course. Angie is fearless with them, however, so it works out well for them. The pool, which was under construction last year, forcing us to use the pool at the adjacent condo, is now open for our enjoyment. It is a walk-in pool that has a gradual slope, which I believe I called a zero-entry pool. Very cool. Here is the before and after of the pool:
After that, we went to eat lunch at Lambert's Cafe in Foley, Alabama, whose website invites you to "Come on in and eat, or we'll both starve." This is the wonderful home-cooking restaurant where they throw rolls at you with amazing accuracy, and where they pass around fried okra, "fried taters 'n' onions," and molasses in large bowls and buckets. It really is a fun experience, so much so that we failed to take any pictures. Sorry. Last year's pictures of it start here.

Upon return to the condo, pretty much everyone took a nap for longer than we intended, after which we headed down to the beach for a family photo shoot. I think it turned out really well, but you won't be able to judge because in my tiredness I forgot to ask for copies from my brother, who owns the camera we used. Oh well.
P.S. Again in my tiredness, I had to go to bed last night and finish this up while the kids went down to the beach this morning.

Beach Vacation 2009, Day One

As was the case last year, most of day one was spent on the road. We packed up yesterday and hit the road directly from church today. This was beneficial to us and the church, as we got to loan our hair dryer to some of the baptizees today. Pretty crazy. The only really noteworthy parts of the drive were the truly horrible gas station restrooms around exit 107 or so on I-65, and the way Maggie and Daniel became more and more excited and talkative, starting about half an hour from the condo and not really ending until, well, not really ending yet. I'm pretty sure I still hear Maggie talking in their room now, at almost midnight our time (11PM here). At least they're not still dancing and slinging things around. We have yet to go down to the beach or pool, but the view is still every bit as gorgeous as last year, and I'm already feeling calmer now that the crazy kids are in bed. I can't wait to sink my teeth into the meat of this vacation tomorrow. Sorry, food channel's on. G'night!

Beach Trip 2009 (Preface)

Tomorrow we head to the beach! Last year I blogged every day of our trip, and I had a great time doing it. I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up that pace again this year, but I hope to chronicle at least some of it. While we're there, our new little guy will turn 6 months old. This, to me, is almost impossible to believe. I feel like we just got him, although there have been some subtle signs that he's getting older. He's already doing the pre-crawling skydiver thing where he lays on his stomach on the floor, raises his arms, and kicks his feet. Also, his first official tooth is breaking through the gum. We'll try and keep you posted on these and other developments as they, um, develop.

Why Angie's Not on Facebook (and Very Likely Won't Be in the Future)

I'm on Facebook. Angie is not. We've discussed the pros (exactly 2: seeing friends' photos, and the interaction with folks you might not get to interact with regularly otherwise) and cons (numerous, but the most important of these is that it is a COMPLETE TIME HOLE from which the day often does not recover), and she's decided that the the cons far outweigh the pros. I agree. I think it would be incredibly easy for me to get on in the morning and spend the entire day poring over photos, status updates, and notes from friends, acquaintances, and some people I haven't seen in decades. This wouldn't be a bad thing if I didn't have a job and a family and various things I want to accomplish in my day that don't involve being poked or sending pieces of flair. I enjoy those things, too, but it's too easy to let the time get away from me. This is not to say that I'm going to cancel my account or anything. I just need to find a way to pace myself. Angie, though, will not be signing up. If she wants to see pictures, she logs in under my account. If she wants to interact with folks, she calls or emails. That somehow seems more meaningful anyway.

Monday Mornings

If I were to be generous with myself, I would say that I devote Monday mornings to updating myself on the latest trends and news in technology. It's important, as one who works in technology for a living, to keep current on emerging gadgets and gizmos, as well as to get a feel for where things are headed within the industry. But really, that's not why I do it.

In truth, it's just hard for me to get going on Mondays, and it's much easier to read a bunch of articles than it is to jump into my work assignments for the day. I usually don't really get started until either 1) after lunch, or 2) a client calls needing my help. I always think that I'll get a good start; in the car on the way to work, I sometimes think through all the stuff I need to get done that day or week and try to map out a plan for the day. When I arrive at work, however, emails and news articles await, and my grand plan gets shifted until after lunch, unless a client calls, at which point the plan is usually thrown into the garbage altogether. (I would say "thrown out the window," but, you know, us techies tend to be confined to windowless basements, so garbage it is.) Oh well. I don't really know if I want to give up catching up on the latest news, but I probably do need to get more organized about my day.

Or rather, my days, since now that I've thought all this out and typed it up, my Tuesday is running behind. Later!

Ohio Trip (Brief Review)

We haven't really said much about our trip to visit Angie's family in Ohio, other than to say that we had a good time and that it was a long drive. Here, then, is a brief review: We drove up Sunday night and arrived Monday morning. This was good, in that the kids slept a lot of the way, but not good in that there are many crazy, creepy people at the last gas station in Tennessee before the Kentucky border at 3:15 AM, whereas at that same gas station on the way back at 7:30 PM or so, everyone was easy-going and friendly. Upon arrival, we slept a while.

That evening we played outside:
The next two days we went swimming and played with Angie's cousins' children:


On Thursday, we went to the Air Force museum, which wore Maggie out and made Joshua hot and thirsty. Angie's uncle was there to help:


Friday, we went to visit Angie's mom's grave with Angie's grandmother:

That evening we went to a carnival where we apparently took no pictures, although we had a great time. Saturday, it took us almost all day to pack, after which we drove from about 3:30 PM to roughly 3:30 AM and collapsed into bed. Final review: a great trip - no hustle and bustle of a cram-packed itinerary, just a good week with our extended family.