Celebrations

We enjoyed a weekend full of celebration and activity. Continuing our string of celebrating a birthday what feels like every other week...we sang "happy birthday" to Zach who turned 32 on Saturday. The day was a busy, but good one - brunch eating, egg hunting, bunny stalking, golfing, tutu-making, turtle-catching, dinner and cake eating...all this concluded with sleeping babies so we could watch the Red Sox win.

After brunch and egg hunting with Poppy, we headed up to my parents' house for the birthday and Easter activities. Bennett refused to remove his balloon belt and sword prior to egg hunting. Seconds after this picture, the sword popped...but the belt remained.

Memaw, Bennett and I caught a turtle on the saide of my parents' street. We kept him overnight so all the boys could take a peek before releasing him to a nearby stream. Bennett said goodnight to the turtle before bedtime.

Zach golfing on hole #7 - we peeked outside just in time wave hello and watch his tee shot. I think I need a better zoom lens so you can actually see him...sorry!

Singing Happy Birthday and blowing out candles. Bennett - now a pro - will know just what to do for his 3rd birthday. He didn't quite have the hang of it when we celebrating him turning 2.

Easter family photo. Well...at least half of us is looking at the camera. And after watching my sister's family attempt this, I now know it doesn't get any easier any time soon!

Elly Rose is so comfortable with my brother. It is quite fascinating. She always lets him hold her and when she spots him in a room - she doesn't lose sight of him. Here they are watching baseball and everytime he picked up his beer - she tried to grab it. Big girl she thinks she is these days.

These 3 photos, I played with a little editing. Bennett was squeezing and shhh'ing Elly Rose...so sweet, but you have to be ready because the second he announces "all done holding baby," he instantaneously pushes her off his lap and is getting down.

Big girl can almost sit on her own. She is getting so strong.

Handsome little boys. And so full of activity. My parents' do such a wonderful job of rolling with the chaos (organized that it is). As always, we are thankful to see family and celebrate Easter.

Half-Birthday

Happy 6 months to our sweet baby girl. Goodness...in 6 short months she has brought us so much happiness and love. We feel so lucky to have her in our lives. She had her 6-month well-baby visit today and she did great. Comforted by big brother and mommy after sobbing through another round of vaccines. She weighed 14 pounds, 5 ounces and is 26 3/4 inches. Petite little thing at the moment.

Bennett playing at Holliday Park this past weekend. He was running and jumping along the walking trails as we looked for creatures high and low. We didn't spot anything too interesting this time out, but a few hours later, we quietly watched as a deer walked down our street.

Elly Rose snuggled-in during our park outing. It is still a little early, but I think she just might have her daddy's blue eyes...we will see.

Camden and Bennett playing with Star Wars stickers. I think there are more than 1,000 stickers in this book and I feel fairly certain my parents will continue to find them in their couch for some time...at least the boys had a blast with them!

Happy Birthday

I Am Getting Old

(I apologize in advance for the length of this post)

The last few months I have come to the above titled realization. Being the sports enthusiast I am, I always equate my age to basketball jersey numbers. I first thought I was old when I hit Lawrence Moten and Robert Brickey level, some of my favorite college players of all-time.

But, in actuality I was just foolish. I would say that I started to come to that conclusion and turned toward “adulthood” at MJ level. When I turned 23 I realized that I could no longer stay up past midnight and wake up like I had just received 9 hours of sleep. Perhaps this could have been avoided if I could sleep in, but I had this other new found responsibility called a job and soon a marriage.

From the MJ level until my current Reggie Level, I aged and matured like a fine wine. I learned many things (good and bad), experienced many new things (good and bad) and came into my present state of being (good or bad- depending on who you ask). During this era the Red Sox won the series (twice), I got married and had two kids, worked for three different companies, got a dog, purchased a home, sold a home, purchased another home and remodeled it, the Colts won the Super Bowl, the Colts lost the Super Bowl, IU started a basketball season with two scholarship players, IU ended a football season with a Bowl game in Arizona (I know what your thinking, but not the Fiesta Bowl), I fell back in love with music, developed new and old friendships and there were countless other instances that I could name. I have not developed a suitable name for this era of my life (from MJ to Reggie), but am open to ideas. It really transformed and shaped me for what is to come.

Getting back to the title of this post…… Just the other day, as in the last few months, I have been deep in reflection. Many times I ask why my life is difficult and trying. I know what you are thinking and you are right. I am being a righteous, pompous asshole. Just look at the paragraph above Reggie. That is a small sample. I have been blessed with so many great things and people in my life. So many great experiences and relationships cultivated over the years. In reality I know that I have been fortunate. I have a caring and beautiful wife, great kids, stellar family and friends. I do not want to get all sappy and/or patriotic, but I am thankful to be an American and for the opportunities my family and friends have made available to me. Sorry for the digression, now back to the post. Two-thousand and eleven has really brought this age and maturity thing to the forefront of my mind. Sadly, I am finally coming to the realization that I am not invincible. For you grammarians reading this- notice that I used the word “coming” to signify present perfect tense. Hence, I am still kind of invincible. I can not give up on that completely just yet; at least not until I hit Calbert Cheaney level.

Just today I had to leave work a bit early to meet a repairman at my house and something happened that made me feel old. My son was overly friendly with the “workman” he had never met and asked him to sit next to him and watch Barney. I found myself thinking what if I was not here and this guy was some kind of pervert (editors note: the workman, known as Michael, was nice as could be and a perfect gentleman). Immediately after this thought I realized that I was becoming old and a worry wart. Fast forward a few hours….. My wife ventures out for the evening to watch the Women’s National Championship with her parents and sister. Luckily for me, she put our son to bed before I left and made sure I was equipped for the night to take care of our daughter and put her to bed. An easy task that I must say was preformed flawlessly. After putting our daughter to sleep I ventured outside in the dark to finish some unfinished yardwork. This became another indicator that I am old. Even with the power of my headlights I still could hardly see well enough to even spread mulch. I gave up and came inside to watch the game and get some much needed nourishment. The only problem was I was not hungry for a snack and I wanted a meal. It was at this point that I realized just how much my wife does for me. I can make a meal for myself and be perfectly happy, but I take for granted the fact that my wife does this all the time. Over the last eight years I have forgotten how to eat by myself. I know how to make drinks or grab a beer, but anything that requires more than a microwave and sometimes a grill has become a formidable task. Please do not think this stops at food. That is only the beginning. Do not get me wrong I can easily sustain life on my own, but that life is kind of bland and empty. Abby brings the subject matter to the relationship and allows it to grow. I guess the jist of this post is that I am old, I love my wife, I love my family; and even though I dislike the player, I look forward to the Magic level: what it brings and beyond.