happy birthday henry ellis

Henry turned two this weekend and you missed it. Well maybe you didn't miss it but I did. He was spending the weekend with Grandma and Papa while Mommy and Daddy got there drink on and watched the Lakers kick the ______ out of the local, lovable Blazers. Not sure if this will stick with him but it is good that he learns early what basketball means to daddy. I mean the kid will be two for a whole year but seeing this game is once a year chance. That is all a load of crap cause we had to leave right from the game to go see Henry on his birthday. We left at about 9:30 to make the hour drive, get the little man out of his bead and snuggle with him. We brought him to bed with us and paid for missing the party by having him kick us in the back all night long. Payback feels like a ball pin hammer to the lower back but it was great to have him close. Happy birthday Henry, you are super cute and have a terrible scream that you rely on way to much and I love you madly.

happy birthday finn

I was startled awake this morning by the sound of the toilet seat banging against the tank. It was just before 7 and Finn was awake and using the bathroom while we slept. There was a flush followed by the faucet in the bathroom sink and then a shuffle into our room. "I'm awake daddy!" He knew what day it was and Kate was quick with a happy birthday while I tried to clear the sleep from my eyes. He got up onto our bed and said he needed to get under the covers. We snuggled and he told me happy birthday. We told him about when he was born and asked what he wanted for breakfast. Blueberry pancakes and bacon. We got his presents from Grammie, Tom Tom, Heather, and Mandy and gathered Henry up with a cup of Honey nut cherioes and got busy opening presents. He threw away the clothes to find more cars and showed each thing that he got. When we got up to make pancakes Finn started to tell Henry about the day Henry was born. It didn't make any sense but it was damn cute. That is Finn is a nutshell, he often doesn't make any sense but he is damn cute while he's doing. The night before Kate and I looked through 3 years of pictures in random order and marveled at our little man. It seems we have had him for 5 years already and yet he is still growing up too fast. He is three years old today and while I think he is smart, creative, and athletic the thing you notice most about Finn is that he has a good time every day. He has a lot of fun and he is a lot of fun. I hope that will always be true. Happy birthday little man, you have made mommy and daddy's life more fun then we ever though possible.

I'm 35 and I'm a Mac

Well happy birthday me! I turned 35 this past Monday and it was a great weekend and a great birthday. Mark and Kendra were here from AZ and my parents stayed with us at Casa De Ritroh for the weekend. We had a birthday party on Sunday that had apple streamers, big green apples in bowls and on ledges. Apples and caramel for snacks with Apple Martinis and Cider for beverages. I sensed a theme but had no idea why. Was the 35th year the year of apples? It wasn't until the cake came with the logo for Mac that I knew what was up. I have wanted a mac for some time and this Christmas we got a good portion of the way there with a thank you gift from Scott and Mandy. There was still a ways to go though and through the extreme generosity of my friends and family we got there. On Monday morning we all got on the train and went to the downtown mac store and waited for it to open. I picked out my new MacBook and nearly started to cry. Kate was teasing me that I wasn't as outwardly excited as she knew I was internally. I told her that I thought I might cry if I emoted at all and I didn't want anyone to know that something as silly as a computer would cause me to cry. It wasn't the computer but the wanting and waiting for 3 years for something. So thank you Mandy and Scott for starting the ball rolling. Thank you AZ folks and Mark and Kendra, thank you Tom and Kris for your continued generosity, thank you Jesse and Carly for helping make a great party, Thank you Mom and Bing for your extreme blessing this weekend and thank you Beautiful. Thank you for pulling string, facilitating, and knowing that something so silly and unjustified would mean so much. I love you beautiful.

Mr. Messy

There will be more to come but here is Henry in the midst of enjoying his birthday cake.

Happy Birthday Henry!

You are 1 today and we are so lucky to have you in our lives. Your a funny baby and have been really easy to raise so far. Your hair is crazy and you dance when ever the music comes on. You like to carry things around in your mouth tilt your head back and forth when you crawl. You tell me in depth stories with the few sounds that you have mastered. Your not walking yet but you say ball. I love you little man and I am so happy that your my boy. Happy birthday buddy.

Happy Birthday Jesse

I told Kate it was Jesse's birthday and Finn wanted to sing for him, well him and Grandma and Papa but really mostly for Jesse!

Happy Birthday Little Man Man

Today Was your second birthday and what a day you had. You road on the tandem bike to McDonald's with Grammy and Tom Tom, paddled in the canoe with mommy and Tom Tom. You took a ride in the bug with the top down to the train that you rode to the ice cream stand. You took the pontoon boat to dinner and decorated mommy with your birthday cake. For a little man that loves his vehicles you had the best day ever. I love you my boy, happy birthday

Fantastic Four Birthday 2.0

Two years down and the fantastic four are doing great. We got a chance to come to Indy for the second annual Fantastic Four BBQ at the Kaufman's house. The burgers were great as usual and the kids are all cute as can be.  They are all in shirts that Kate made for them with their initials on them.

A rough day

Yesterday was a rough day. I woke up feeling nauseous but still went into work at 6 AM to get some overtime in before our baby boy joins us. I struggled through a couple of hours feeling like if I could just throw up I would feel much better. usually these morning are preceded by a night of gin and tonics and some inappropriate jokes on the Beeler's porch. Without such late night revelry I could not explain this morning sickness. Around 9:30 in the morning in the middle or a phone shift I had to run to the bathroom as that nauseous feeling was fully realized. I called Kate to come get me on her way to taking Finn to my mom's. I felt great after throwing up but then I would start to feel sick again. This pattern went in 45 minute shifts making for a terrible day. Kate went to work but was soon back home seeing my 45 minute cycle and raising it 20 minutes. We were quite a pair laying in bed whimpering like babies. Around 2 in the afternoon I stopped getting sick but felt chills and body aches all over. Kate on the other hand continued throwing up for another 2 hours until we took her to the hospital. She was very dehydrated and couldn't keep anything down so they gave her an IV and some medicine to stop the puking. She was also hooked up to some baby monitoring and we saw she was having pretty regular contractions. every two minute there were significant readings leading the nurse to check how far along Kate was. She was 1 cm dilated and 80% effaced and could give birth anytime between now and her due date. That seems like a pretty inexact science, I mean we pretty much knew that before we came into the hospital right. Anyway after 3 IV bags and some much needed non-vomiting rest we were able to go back home. We both woke up this morning feelin much better, still with flu like symptoms but infinitely better then the day before.

Happy Birthday my boy

This past Thursday was Finn's first birthday. We didn't have a party for him because we don't think he knows his birthday from any other day of the year at this stage, but I did tell him the story of his birth like my mom still does for me each year. I told him about the Dr.'s appointment the day before when we found out that he was coming the next day whether he was ready or not. I told him about getting up early and the middle Eastern couple in the waiting room with the two girls. I told him about the room we had and how tough his mom was. He laughed when I told him how I had to leave when she got her shots and smiled big when ever I told him about TomTom and grandma Kris. I told him about the horrible Dr. we had and the great nurses. I told him about watching him being born how I held mommy's hand and changed the wash cloth on her forehead between each contraction. I told him how I cried when he was born and how nervous we were when he wasn't breathing right. Some Dr.'s wanted to take him but another told them not to, he told them to give the baby to his mommy and he would be OK, and I told him that he was OK once he was in mommy's arms. I wonder how the story will change over the years and what will be important in 10 years and what will be forgotten. I will tell him the story for as long as he wants to hear it, and probably for a couple years after that.

Birthday Flip out time!

Happy Fantastic Four Day

This past Sunday we had a BBQ for the Fantastic Four as they finish up their first year. Cosi is already one and Atlas is next in line to reach the milestone. Cosi is North, Ashur East, Atlas is South, and Finn is West.

Happy Birthday CosiBear!

The first of the Fantastic Four are turning one, and we went to the International BBQ festival in Owensboro, KY to celebrate. The meat of choice at this BBQ is Mutton and it was tasty but the best BBQ was at Cosi's grandmas house where we had some fantastic beef ribs. I got to camp under the stars, ate myself sick with BBQ, and hung out with some great friends. It may have been Cosi's birthday but I think I may have enjoyed it a bit more then she did but she had a good time as well.

Birthday Weekend

Last Friday was my 33 birthday and Kate made it maybe the best birthday I have ever had. Since I have one of the worst memories of a none Alzheimer's patient I can't be totally sure but I did have a fantastic time. It started Friday morning with a trip to the post office to pick up my gift from my family: a new iPod. I loaded that bad boy up as soon as we got back and we now had traveling tunes for the trip. Thank you so much Mom, Bing, Mark, and Kendra. We then headed to Best Buy to get a stereo put into the Civic since the last two were removed from the car by a neighborhood service. They come around at night and take anything you aren't using. We dropped Finn off with Kris and made our way to Cincinnati to watch a baseball game.

The whole weekend was meant to be a surprise but Jessica ruined the surprise on Thursday afternoon while Kate and I were having a State Fair dog at King David's. I had to make sure I put that in here to properly chastise Jessica.

Tom and Kris had booked a room across the river from the stadium and we walked across a cool old bridge to head to the game. Rockies vs. Reds in what turned out to be a pretty good game, though just being at the park, having a hot dog and watered down beer was fantastic no matter who played. After the game we walked around Covington, KY and once again found ourselves really enjoying the Cincinnati area.

The next morning we had the hotel breakfast and then headed to Louisville, KY to go to the Kentucky Derby! Fan-freaking-tastic! I was so excited when I got up knowing that later that day I was going to one of the premier events in America. I am not a Horse racing guy at all but I love the spectacle of the big events and the Derby did not disappoint. We had mint Juleps, bet some ponies, fought through crowds, and gawked at all the beautiful people. Kate picked the winner of one of the races but I didn't get to the window in time to make the bet. We lost out on $10 but Kate could care less. She picked the winner, the money was secondary. We spent a lot of the time on the rail of the paddock watching the horses and important people parade around for the adoring public. For the 10th race, the actual Derby, we were in a throng of people staring up at the screen. It was electric being part of that crowd all yelling for their pony and jumping around. Absolutely everyone had money on that race from the paramedics to the bus drivers. None of the three horses I had even finished in the top four so I got to tear up my tickets and throw them in the air in mock disgust. The day was so much fun and Kate and I definitely want to do it again. Next time though we want to do it right, Kate in her sun dress and hat and me in my Seersucker suit and bow tie.

When we got back home I had birthday wishes from friends and family in all manor of places. Aaron sent me a video, Dylan and Linsey left a message on Facebook, Crystal and PJ on Myspace, Tonya left a gmail status note, Jeff sent an eCard, Mark, Debbie, and Jaime called, Jesse and Carly sent a card, LaDonna sent an email, and Kate gave me a kiss.

Birthday

I know so many of you reading this have been wondering what to get me for my birthday next month. Normally I would say "Oh I don't want anything for my birthday, blah blah blah." and really mean it but his year is different. I'm gonna be honest with you because I feel like we are close like that. Kate and I are a young married couple with a baby, one income, and all of the cliche issues that those things entail. Money is tight and that means we focus on the essentials and not much else. It is a some times difficult time but also crazy romantic and fun. I really do love this time for all the worry it causes me. Anyway I was thinking about my birthday in light of all that and how asking for anything would be greedy. But that isn't true. Expecting something is greedy, letting people know what you would like, if they choose to get something for you, is just good manners. This seemed a lot better in my head but is suffering greatly in the typing. Anyway here are some things that I like if your asking:

T-Shirts from Threadless - Who doesn't like cool t-shirts, and this is a cool place for t-shirts.

Golf Lessons - I love playing Golf but I am not good, not good at all. The ball goes where it goes seemingly detached from my efforts.

Books - I love books and have been reading like crazy since coming home to raise Finny. If you love a book and want to pass it on then I would like to read it.

Gin and tonic - For Christmas Kate bought me a bottle of Hendrick's Gin and it was great. The bottle was funky and Gin had a Cucumber hint to it. Really any Distilled Spirit is nice here especially the different ones. There is a Vodka made from Grapes called Ciroq which is technically an Eau de vie and not a vodka but I would like to try it anyway.

Power tools - This summer we are going to start working on the house in earnest again and I am woefully lacking in the proper tools. I really am an embarrassment to my brother and dad. Right now I have a corded drill that I am not even sure is mine.