How many outfits.....

My 2nd born, Ian, has the most pronounced propensity for upchuck of any infant I have known..because I know sooo many!...One day my beloved decided to keep track of how many outfits he went rhough on account of this most curious gastric anomaly.

fears its not all about me

We always create what we fear/avoid the most, and no matter how long you wait, you will fight your parents and yourself along the way as you raise your kids. It may be minimal internal battles as you second guess your way through an issue with the little ones or full blown emotion brought on by an ill-timed(like there is an actual good time) tantrum.

I waited a long time to marry and have kids, alot of which was to avoid recreating the conflicts I had as a youth. There a number of reasons really, I wanted to travel and see Life unrestrained and know myself better, but this is the big one. I wanted to be able to focus on the issue/wife/kids and not have it be about me because me was already taken care of. I wanted to know the battles worth fighting and how to best fight them. A lot of this is better when you have the right partner. My wife is amazing and has shown me so many beautiful and useful things since we first met, but what initially attracted me to her was what I still to this day love her most for, the simplicity of her happiness.

It doesn't take much to be happy when one chooses so, just watch any two little kids when they meet on a play ground, they will follow each other around and find tons of ways to have fun, even if it is just the folowing each other around part. My wife, and now my boys, are a daily reminder that happiness is not conditional, it is a choice. By making this choice; forgetting about bills and foreclosure and our relatives woes with healthcare and earthquakes around the world, I can focus fully on enjoying the gifts of my kids, who constantly surprise me with their fledgling modes of expression and play.

Spring is here

It has been over a year and this still hasn't taken shape. The blog started out as a way to share the day to day of our new arrival, Thomas Liam. It was also going to be a place to vent, postuelate and otherwise ramble with banter to fill the white space between the cute pictures.

Having no real feedback stream this inital attempt has floundered. Having recovered somewhat from the throes of baby #2 and the job that was killing me, as an attempt to connect with the rest of the world on multiple levels I will attempt to post in a more timely manner.

I am a father of two amazing little boys who are, in addition to my wife, my reason for being. I waited nearly 40 years to get married and even longer to have children, for fear mainly of not making the mistakes my cohorts did and end up divorced and splitting the kids, having alimony and all the fun stuff that accompanies. I grew up that way and did not want that fight when/as my children matured.

There are still challenges, obviously, "fights even"(but those are in my head and heart), but the reward of being able to put my boys ahead of life/me/things and truly enjoy the moments they bring has been much sweeter. It is a shame that disappears/eveolves so fast as they grow. Only yesterday it seems Ian was a crying, wet, hungry 9lb 6oz newborn fresh out of the NICU and bellowing for me to feed him at 3 a.m. Now , 6 months later he is close to 19 lbs and scoots around on his own and can hold is own bottle thank you very much.

If anything, and this is one of the few times I will suggest anything unsolicited, just enjoy the buggers now, foregt about yourself/problems a bit, they'll be asking fore money and the car keys before you know it. You will need the cool memories like the ones I share here when they call from a wreck 10 minutes after you have give them the car keys....

Dewberry Part II

TC and Ian relax on the hayride

One thing Thomas loves is anything with wheels, there were dozens of tiny tractor type trikes for him to play on and he rode as many as possible!

Santa was awesome, Ian had no problem hanging with him, but Thomas again was shy and stayed in the stroller, though he had no problem at all accepting candy canes from Santa. (This Santa is a Korean War/Vietnam Era Marine by the way, 1961-1983)

There was an area with jumping mounds, for lack of a better word, and it turned out to be the best three dollars we ever spent; Thomas has so much fun and was so worn out, he really stayed close and minded after an hour bouncing around on these!

Thomas showed off his dexterity and agility in not falling through the net!

Later we went on a hayride to the tree farm where some visitors were chopping down their Christmas tree. Thomas liked the ride and was pretty pooped, so we stayed on the tractor since we have a tree already. All in all a great day and some great memories to now share with family.

EVERY DAY IS A GIFT

Dewberry Fun

So this weekend was all about getting out in the chilly Fall weather and let the boys wear themselves out on a farm visit. It wasn't just any old farm we visited, though. Dewberry Farms is a seasonal attraction with corn mazes, rides and food, animals, pumpkins everywhere and during Christmas there is a tree farm for getting your tree....it is also a toddler's dream in the "off season" with all the events and features but not all the crowds!

Here we start the day riding a cow train(see video at bottom)

(Side fact- Our "cow train" driver is a legacy Marine: he was Vietnam Era, his father is a veteran of Guadalcanal, Grandfather a veteran on Belleau Wood-Semper Fi, Mac.)

Where else can you push a corn ball!

Thomas did awesome on this one, I was surprised he went all the way across without slipping through!..we took the slide down though! TC shot video of him going in a bit, look in Part II.

What next Daddy?
Find out and see us again in Dewberry Part II

I didn't realize how windy it really was until washing my hair that evening and then I saw this video and heard how windy it was-good fun though!

Xmas prep

The boys plan their mischief for the day

These last 2 weeks have been about getting the house ready for the Xmas season, a challenging thing to do when you have an extremely curious 2 1/2 yr old and a 3 month old competing for attention! We try to keep them occupied and involved in some way, however anyone with kids will know this is more about damage control, keeping them from breaking the important memorabilia mixed in/hidden amidst with the "throwaway" ornaments.

The calm before the storm-TC prepares to attack the totes and boxes as I bring them down from the attic. This is an ongoing process so we will record these moments in shorter posts with relevant images and video.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

Where does the time go. Baby Ian is now three months old, Thomas is in the throes of being a toddler, living up to the "terrible two's" legend. But even throughout we still find times of peace and calm. Ian is sleeping more closely to what pass for "through the night" and Thomas is as ornery as ever with jealousy over the divided attention. We really work on keeping him occupied and "entertained", and he works on teaching is ultimate patience!