New Bear Pic - Posted by Chris

Ian's 3 Month Bear Pic

Sacked Out - Posted by Chris

Both boys asleep in the van, part 2
Originally uploaded by Chris1970.

Both boys fell a sleep on the way home today.

Click here to see the entire series.

Two Brothers - Posted by Chris

Christopher - 3 Months Old
(Taken 2004)














Ian - 3 Months Old

(Taken 2006)

Dinner Conversation - Posted by Chris

Christopher: (something unintelligable)
Lisa and I: "What?"
Christopher: (something more unintelligable)
Lisa and I: (Silent. Looks of confusion)
Christopher: "I AM LITTLE TEAPOT!"

(Laughter ensues)

The Great Purge of Aught-Six - Posted by Chris

Okay I stole that line from LOD but its so good that I had to use it.

Lisa and I have managed to collect an inordinately large amount of "stuff". No we are not those people that you see on TV that have so much stuff that they haven't seen their telephone in twelve years (though we did lose a hand set for quite a long time), but we do have more stuff than we need.

The majority of our excess stuff resides in our basement and as of yesterday we began the long and tedious journey to rid ourselves of this menace. So begins the Great Purge.

Our goal is simple, cut down the amount of stuff, so that what we are keeping will fit in the storage portion of our basement. So far the Purge is going well, we ended up working for three hours and have sorted almost a third of the boxes. Still a long way to go but I'm confident that if we "Stay on Task" we will eventually succeed.

*Note this post has been sanitized for your reading pleasure. The word "stuff" has been used in place of a more profane word originally chosen by the author.

2 Months Old Bear Pic - Posted by Chris

Ian's two month bear pic.

We did take a one month bear pic but I didn't post it until just now. You can check out all of Ian's bear pics with this link.

Happy Father's Day - Posted by Lisa

I'd like to dedicate this to my Dad Dave; my father-in-law Denny; and to Chris, the father of my two boys.

Dad, I couldn't have asked for a better Dad growing up. Even though you grew up in a different era, that didn't stop you from showing me in your own way that you loved me. Whether it was as a "doctor that just puts on bandaids" (as I believed you were until a mean teacher told me otherwise), when you played catch with me so I could practice for softball, your help with all things car-related, the time you said you were proud after my senior awards banquet in high school, or the way you held my hand on my wedding day...I always knew how you felt even if you couldn't say the words. And even though you spoil my boys completely (or maybe because of that reason), you are the best "Papa" in the world too!

Denny, I'm so glad to have you as a second "Dad" in my life. Your strong yet gentle ways are part of the reason that Chris is the wonderful husband and Dad he is today. Your generosity with your time and talents has meant so much to us, even if we sometimes forget to say so. You've made me feel like a daughter, instead of just a daughter-in-law. And I hope you know just how much our boys love their "Pa!" Just like my Dad, you are the best.

Chris, how do I put into words the gratitude I feel to have a man such as you in my life? The day I turned 30, I no longer believed I would meet you, and yet here you are. You're my rock, my love, my best friend, my soul mate...and the best Dad I could have imagined for our two boys. As a mother, it's my job to worry about them, and I do. But I don't worry about the men they will become. With you and their two grandfathers as role models, I already have a good idea of what they will be like.

I love you all! Happy Father's Day!

Long time, no blog... - Posted by Chris

Ok, I admit I've been bad. I've been try to placate you with pictures and video, while using my two children as an excuse for my lack of real posts. So here you go a real live post!

Some random happenings around our house.

• Ian slept (mostly) through the night, the last two nights; five and six hours straight to be precise. Needless to say this has been a welcome development and we are praying for at least a few more nights.
• Lisa, Christopher and I went to see the movie Cars last Saturday. It was a great movie, if you've enjoyed any of Pixar's past movies you'll probably like this one as well. Christopher did great, this being his first time at the movie theater.
• Ian recently had his two month checkup; he weighed 13lbs 9 oz and was 23 1/2 inches long. He is a very healthy little boy.

Ok, I hope that was a good enough post to make up for my recent absence, but just in case it was a bit lacking here's a smiling baby picture:

Detroit Basketball - Posted by Chris

Go Pistons


Detroit Basketball

And then there were two... - Posted by Chris

Christopher and Ian
Originally uploaded by Chris1970.

Sorry we haven't posted much lately. Here are two reasons...

Tivo Generation - Posted by Chris

A couple of things stand out about television when I was young. The first is that my family had two televisions; one was a large color console TV (the kind that sits on the floor) and the second was a small black and white. We could watch three channels with decent quality and a couple more that we’d still watch but whose quality would be unacceptable today. The second thing that I remember is that for a kid there wasn’t much on TV. Apart from Saturday morning cartoons, only a few scattered half hours of programming existed that appealed to children. The idea of recording television to watch later, wouldn’t come to our household for many years.

Fast forward thirty years, my family today has three TVs (all color), we record television shows on computer hard drives and we can pause and rewind live TV. We have Disney, Nick and Cartoon Network just to name a few. My sons will never know a time when it was not possible to replay a funny commercial, rewind a show to hear a missed line of dialog or play your favorite episode with the press of a button. I often wonder how this “convenience” will affect my children. Will it be harder to get them to watch less TV? Will it be easier to get them to do chores (i.e. pause the show and say ‘you can finish watching after you’ve taken out the garbage’)? But most of all, I wonder what my sons will write about thirty years from now? How will life have changed for them?

First Official Bear Pic - Ian - 8 Days Old - Posted by Chris

Ian's First Bear Pic - 8 Days Old

For those who don't know the story behind Bear Pics, hear's the scoop. When both Christopher and Ian were born, my sister bought a big stuff bear for each (something I had done for her children). Lisa and I decided to take a picture of Christopher with his bear each of his first twelve months and then at eighteen months and two years. The picture above is the first of Ian's Bear Pics.

You can see the complete set of Christopher's Bear Pics here.

Ian William - Posted by Chris

Lisa and I would like to announce the birth of our second son, Ian William.

Ian came into our world weighing 8 lbs 6 oz and was 19 inches long. Both Mom and Baby are healthy and now happily at home.

Christopher is already showing that he is a wonderful big brother.

Tired - Posted by Chris

Listen closely for the snoring!

The Negotiator - Posted by Chris

The following conversation happened today shortly after I arrived home from work.

Christopher: "Yang Yang?" (translates to "Little Einsteins")
Me: "You want to watch Little Einsteins? That's up to Mama." (She knew how much TV he had already watched).
Lisa: "Maybe just one."
Christopher: "Kite one?" ("Dragon Kite" - one of his favorite episodes)
Me: "Ok, but you can only watch one show."
Christopher (all business): "No, two."

This Old Box - Toddler Edition - Posted by Chris

Ever Wonder... - Posted by Chris

...what two rolls of toilet paper would look like in your toilet?











-Brought to you by Toddler Research, Inc.

Sticky Hands - Posted by Chris

Stickum™ is a trademark adhesive promoted for used in athletic applications. In 1981 the NFL banned it's use because it gave receivers an unfair advantage.

For my son, sticky hands is not an advantage. Any time he has the slightest bit of crumbs or stickiness on his hands he'll say, "Hands" or "Sticky Hands" which translates to "I need something to wipe my hands" or "Help my hands are sticky!"

My wife and I often comment on how we've never seen a kid his age who is so particular about the cleanliness of his hands. Its a rare meal that he makes it though with wiping his hands at sometime during the meal. I'm not complaining it just kind of funny to see a two year old fret about some spaghetti sauce on his hands.

124 days late... - Posted by Chris

See "The Unwilling Trick-or-Treater" for the other half of this story.
http://pricekids.blogspot.com/2005_10_01_pricekids_archive.html

Cat - Posted by Chris

Luckily Christopher does not (yet) suffer from the extreme allergy to cats that I do.

If I were to do what he's doing in the picture, I would probably win a quick trip to the emergency room! In fact the last time I barely touched a cat (let along hugged a cat) I broke out with hives, had a severe asthma attack and spent the rest of the night in a Benadryl induced coma.

If you haven't already guessed our household will probably never have pets (at least not ones with fur!)