Baird... Cubed

Easter Weekend

2010-09-09T13:02:00.003-04:00

A.D. had quite an Easter weekend this year. Nana came down from Virginia on Thursday night then we kicked off the festivities on Saturday by spending the day with our church group hosting an Easter egg hunt at Table Rock State Park. A ton of kids showed up and after watching a few of the older ones, A.D. jumped right in. Saturday night, Lee and Amanda drove up to spend some time with us before A.D.'s baptism on Easter Sunday. We had a few people over Sunday after church for a quick brunch. Overall, don't think A.D. will top that for quite some time, even if he is still probably too young to remember it all.

Tourists in D.C., continued- April 2010

2010-09-06T12:01:00.000-04:00

More photos from the top of the Lincoln Memorial. I loved the view from there. Probably boring for most but one of my favorite places we visited.

From the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial

Near the Memorials

Waiting for the Natural History Museum to open our first day...it was sooo windy and chilly!

I think this was by the Natural History Museum also, but it has been awhile.

The Smithsonian Castle

Tourists in D.C.- April 2010

2010-09-05T15:45:00.005-04:00

A.D. and I have been to Washington, D.C., many times visiting Tim's family, but we haven't gotten to play tourist very often. To say my education of D.C. was lacking was probably being extremely nice. I had never visited the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, or many of the Smithsonian Museums. So when my parents planned a trip with my grandmother during April, A.D. and I tagged along to see some of the sights. I think we visited almost every major attraction and probably could have stayed another week visiting others. The weather stayed fairly cool but the wind made us keep our coats on for much of the vacation. I had a blast, loved the Metro (during non-peak hours), and decided I could definitely stay (if I didn't have to work). I think between my parents and me we took about 1000 pictures so here are just a few:

Korean Memorial

Grandma and Papa from the Lincoln Memorial

Grandma and Great-Grandma, also from the Lincoln Memorial

Relaxing for a few minutes on a bench near the Memorials

The White House, note, A.D. is asleep :)

Grandma and Papa in front of the White House

From the steps of the Capital Building

The Capital Building

I don't think he was supposed to be playing with the art...

Air and Space Museum

Gone Fishin'- March 2010

2010-08-29T20:36:00.004-04:00

As much as A.D. loves trains, Tim loves fishing. Tim is obsessed. Which is okay, most of the time :). Tim has been itching to take A.D fishing for the first time and an invite from family friends to fish a pond on their property was the perfect opportunity. Papa went along too but I opted to stay home since I was on-call and would have spent the entire time on the phone. I was actually hoping that if I stayed home then the on-call phone would be silent but, alas, no such luck. The boys seemed like they had a great time fishing and spending time with good friends.

Papa and his fish

Ohhh, slimy

Papa trying to get A.D. to kiss the fish

Giant Lightbright- March 2010

2010-08-27T20:53:00.005-04:00

On one of my days off, A.D. and I decided to visit our local Children's Museum. We had only been once before when A.D. was about 6 months younger so this trip was a definite eye-opener on how much bigger A.D. has gotten. One of his favorite activities was playing with the giant Lightbright.

And more lights....(This was part of the Blue Man Group exhibit)

They also have a large wind tunnel to play in. Last time A.D. enjoyed watching others but this time he joined right in.

Texas visit- March 2010

2010-08-26T21:49:00.001-04:00

Texas visit continued...
A.D. was very eager to ride the carousel at the mall, however, not so happy when his time came to ride...

But after a few tears, the smile returns, sort of...
Mugging with Grandpa Jeff and Daddy in front of the train in the mall. How cool is Texas? We got to see Thomas then we found a train in the mall!

Deja Vu- March 2010

2010-08-25T21:32:00.004-04:00

No these aren't lost photos from the train show but from our visit to Grapevine, TX. We made the trip in early March to see Grandpa Jeff and Uncle Austin. Grandpa Jeff was on the ball and happened to catch a flyer that advertised a Day Out with Thomas during the time we would be there. The day was a lot of fun and A.D. had a blast with all the Thomas paraphernalia.

For all the concerned parents out there, yes we thoroughly sanitized, then washed, then re-santized his hands after meeting the petting zoo animals.

"Mom, can I have one of these please?!"

Train Show-February 2010

2010-08-25T21:08:00.004-04:00

Trains, Trains, Trains....A.D. loves any and all things to do with trains. We happened upon a poster for a train show when we were visiting a local train store a few months back. I penciled the date on the calender and sort of forgot about it. Luckily I glanced at the calender earlier this month and noticed the train show was up-coming. I think our perceptions of what would be at the train show were different than reality, but I still think A.D. had a wonderful time. There was a lot of photo opportunities, however, I always seemed to catch other children in the frame so here is the only good one with just A.D.

And since I didn't catch a lot of good photos at the train show, this photo-op occurred a couple days later while sitting a train crossing.

Been awhile

2010-08-25T21:05:00.002-04:00

So it has been awhile...and since our last post in February we have had a lot of stuff to post about. I am going to try to post it all in chronological order so here goes...

Dear Nana,

2010-02-15T20:51:00.005-05:00

Thank you so much for sending me some of your snow. It was so much fun! I included for you some of my pictures from Saturday morning. Thanks again.
Love ya! A.D.

National Aquarium

2010-02-08T20:49:00.003-05:00

On Sunday after Lindsey's Wedding, Tim, A.D., and I headed up to Baltimore to visit the National Aquarium. A.D. has only been to one other aquarium in Charleston, SC, when he was 4 months old so we were looking forward to seeing his reactions. He did learn how to quickly make fishy faces and noises, but other than that...it seemed like any other day for him.

Riding on Daddy's back....you have to check your stroller at the aquarium and they give you the handy backpacks.

Probably A.D.'s favorite activity--drawing on the chalk board table!

Look at how big this bookstore is! Tim is lucky he didn't let me go in!

Lindsey's Wedding Weekend- Part 2

2010-01-27T21:14:00.003-05:00

Hanging out with Panda Bear and Blue's Clues prior to the ceremony

Hanging out with Daddy while Mom was off taking pictures...as you can tell, A.D. enjoyed all the wedding food!

Having fun with the camera!

Lindsey's Wedding Weekend- Part 1

2010-01-27T08:14:00.005-05:00

This weekend we headed back to D.C. for Tim's sister Lindsey's Wedding. We flew again this trip and were able to fit everything we needed for the 5 day trip (including bridesmaid dress and suit) into our 2 carry-on and 2 personal bags. I was amazed and happy not to be paying the additional baggage fee, but quickly realized that it just meant doing more laundry.

After arriving on Thursday, we went to spend the afternoon with Grandma Baird (Tim's Dad's Mom). A.D. was cranky since he is cutting a bunch of teeth and missed nap time that day, but we were able to get a few good pics!

Lindsey's rehearsal dinner was on Friday night and we were able to snag a photo-op with the Bride-to-be.

There were many more good family shots from this evening, but since I haven't asked to publish their pics on here we will have to save those for a later date. Even with all the teething, A.D. had a wonderful time with his family....tune in later for the rest of the weekend!

Where is A.D.?

2010-01-19T21:10:00.004-05:00

A.D. has lately been a lover of all things stuffed. So, every night at bedtime, his favorite animals from the day along with his blanket must be present in his crib. I took my nightly peek-in before bed a few days ago and was greeted with this delightful image. Where is Waldo...I mean A.D.?

We do promise to post more soon...and up-date you all on everything from the past two months!---Tiff

How to Travel, the Baird... Cubed Way.

2009-11-16T20:32:00.004-05:00

This past weekend we decided to take a trip up to DC for Aunt Lindsey's (my sister's) bridal shower. We knew that Tiff was going to go up for it, since she's in the wedding, but we weren't sure if all three of us were going to head north. At the last minute we found a good deal on some tickets, making it AD's first flight. Of course he was awesome as usual on the flight... mostly, I am sure, because Tiff and I are seasoned travelers.

Since so many of you read this blog for all of my expert advice, here are the official Baird...Cubed Travel Tips...

First of all, decide in advance whether you want to spend some extra dough to check your bags, or stuff as much as you can into smaller carry-on bags. We decided to carry all of our bags on.

Pack wisely.

Now think of a time in your head that you would consider to be an ungodly hour to try to catch a flight. Say 6:30 AM? Ok... book that one.

Next, plan on being at the airport with plenty of time to spare. If you have a kid, add 30 minutes on to that time. If you have a 15-month old, add another 30 to that.

When you get to the airport, trudge to the ticket counter like zombies who haven't had their brain fix yet. By brains, I mean coffee.

Do the kiosk song and dance and get your tickets.

Now, plan this next part very carefully. Grab all of your bags; in our case, each of our bags with the rolly wheels, backpack, diaper bag, nebulizer bag (for the asthma), cooler bag (for the antibiotics) stroller, and kid (optional).

Now, count how many hands you have. The kid's dont count. We had four, which is good because it sucks whenever you look down and realize you're missing a hand...

Find somewhere near the gate to feed the zombies and buy coffee. Make sure it is roughly the temperature of magma.

Now check on your gate because it is most likely boarding without your knowledge. Ours was, without our knowledge... until we checked.

Grab your two rolly bags, backpack, diaper bag, nebulizer bag, cooler bag, stroller, kid (still optional), and two cups of coffee that you haven't been able to drink due to the fact they are the same temperature as the sun.

Realize you only have four hands.

Curse.

Now this next part is also very important. Make sure you look as uncomfortable as possible. Making a face like you are both lost and in pain at the same time worked for me. One of the nice people at US Airways will hopefully see this, and offer to grab a bag or two.

All kidding aside, one of the nice people at US Airways DID see my lost-pain face, got us to the elevator, and helped us on the tarmac to the plane.

We did the planeside back check thing so we didn't have to jam the wheely bags into the overhead compartment. By his point they take the stroller away from you. So now you have a backpack, diaper bag, kid (no longer in stoller and by this point no longer optional), nebulizer bag, cooler bag, two cups of coffee that are 50 degrees cooler than before yet still hot enough to inflict 3rd degree burns on your tongue, and a ticket that you have to look up and down from at least fifty times to make sure that you don't pass your seat by.

Then finally... sit in your seat.

AD traveled great, and we really expect nothing less. He took everything in stride. Apparently the reading light was pretty cool, and the little doohicky that holds up the tray was really cool. We had a nice but very short visit, and headed back down to South Carolina the following night.

Bubbles

2009-10-26T20:07:00.002-04:00

The past week has been quite eventful around our house. Tim was scheduled to be out of town last week so I was going to be a single parent. I thought I was prepared as Tim has been out of town for a few nights in a row before. Sadly, I was mistaken. All went well for a few hours, then A.D.'s daycare called and he was running a low-grade fever. No problem. Pick up little man and monitor him overnight to see what was going on. I can handle this. Uhhhh, no. A.D.'s fever spiked to 102.7 overnight so I figured that earned him a MD visit on Tuesday. This is the point where I should probably say that my diagnosis for A.D. was a sinus infection (he had had a virus a week before). Due to the amounts of flu going around, the MD's office was swabbing all children with a temp over 102 to test for Influenza A or B. Lo and behold, he comes up positive for Influenza A. H1N1 is a strain of Influenza A but the test they currently have does not separate H1N1 from Influenza A. Long story short....A.D. most likely has H1N1 and I'm at home alone. I was happy Tim was out of town so he would miss the germs, but it is always nice to have backup when a child is crabby. And A.D. got very crabby. Luckily, the flu was relatively mild as advertised and A.D. recovered by Friday. I, on the other hand, earned myself a MD visit today due to a running a temp all day yesterday. A.D. is good at sharing already and I have now also tested positive for Influenza A. Tim was given a prescription for Tamiflu also, in hope of him not getting sick. And for all of those who know us, we need all the help we can get to stay well. Now, if I can just figure out where to buy some protective bubbles so that we can make it through the cough/cold/flu season in one piece!

Children's Museum

2009-10-19T20:42:00.005-04:00

This past Saturday we took A.D. to the Greenville Children's Museum which opened late this summer so the crowds were pretty thick on a Saturday afternoon. A.D. did great though and had plenty of exhibits that he could enjoy.

On the farm...the eggs went into the holes above A.D.'s head and dropped down to the collecting basket on the floor. He must have watched the older children do this because he walked over and did it the first time. He definitely shocked me!

Don't let his smile fool you. He was like all the other children...he definitely didn't like the horse!

He loves carrots!

The slides were the biggest hit. A.D. didn't want us to hold him going down. He is my little adventurer!

Playing the piano!

He loves playing the instruments!

The water exhibits were awesome, and he didn't even get wet!

The wind tunnel made him giggle so much!

They had these tubes set up that you could put balls into and they would shoot out into various bins below. A.D. figured it out pretty quickly.

LR Homecoming Weekend

2009-10-13T20:51:00.005-04:00

This past weekend we headed back to Hickory, NC, for Lenoir-Rhyne University's Homecoming. Even though we had quite a wet start to the day, we had a great time catching up with all of our friends, many of whom are like our extended family. A.D. was able to experience his first "live" football game, but unfortunately, even A.D. couldn't help LR as they lost the game by 1 point. However, clapping is big around our house right now, so A.D. really enjoyed the band and cheering.

Mommy and A.D. watching the Bears

Daddy feeding A.D. to the Bear

Daddy and A.D.

Mommy and A.D.

We stayed overnight in Hickory on Saturday night and went on to Asheville on Sunday to see the Bonsai Exhibit at the NC Arboretum before heading home. Hopefully we'll add more pics to this post soon.

Lions and Tigers and Playgrounds, Oh My!

2009-10-07T20:41:00.005-04:00

Over the past few weeks AD has had the flu, pink-eye, and an ear infection. This combined with a few weeks of rainy days, we decided to visit the local zoo this past Saturday. Here are a few of our fun pics...

It didn't take AD but one slide with Mommy before he decided it was much more fun to go by himself. Yes, we have a daredevil on our hands.

The park connected to the zoo has done some major renovations since I was little. AD had a blast crawling thru it all.

AD thought these were the best. He kept coming back to them, although he did have to share with ton of other children. Evidently we weren't the only parents with this idea.

Daddy was awesome showing AD all the reptiles. Mommy stayed a little farther back.

The pigs aren't so bad though.

Yes, we majorly cleaned his hands after this picture. The goat didn't seem at all phased by AD poking him.

The giraffes seem so much smaller than they did when I was little. AD seemed to like them though. He probably spent the most time here staring.

All in all, we had a great day and with our new membership, can go back as much as we would like.

Folly Beach 2009

2009-09-23T20:34:00.004-04:00

So we've gotten really bad about posting but since most of you know how crazy our lives' have been lately, I hope we are forgiven. With that said, here are a few pictures from our family beach trip at the beginning of September.

First Birthday!

2009-08-16T08:43:00.003-04:00

So we are a little late on posting these pictures, but during the past three weeks life has been ever exceedingly crazy. Hopefully there will be more posts coming soon, but for now...

Be Awesome... Buy us a Lightsaber...

2009-07-31T21:55:00.003-04:00

Fatherhood Friday is a community of dads and moms sharing their stories, experiences, and humor on fatherhood. This community is part of dad-blogs. Stop by if you haven't checked it out...

Believe it or not, the little man has a birthday coming up on the 4th of August. So far, it's the biggest birthday of his life. I guess. Maybe the one almost a year ago was a little bigger. Don't tell him that though.

Anyways, Tiff went shopping today and picked up a few little birthday presents for him, including a couple toy trucks, some new PJs, and a couple new sippy cups. He may have one more big present coming from us too.

Since I know that all of you are itching to buy A.D. some stuff for his big day, I'm going to make it easy for and provide a short list of three gifts that I think he would like...

1. The piano from Big

The piano... not a cheap knockoff like the ones you see in while you are flipping through the SkyMall catalog as your captain assures you that you are scheduled to take off in the next 20 minutes... and you have to pee. I heard the piano that is in FAO Schwarz in New York is the piano. So we'll take that one.

2. A Lightsaber

Like the piano, he wants a real lightsaber. They are great for trimming hedges and taking care of pesky Sand People at the same time. Not good for punishing your pets, so I'm told... Stick with a rolled up newspaper for that. And please, only hand constructed lightsabers like Anakin and Luke made... preferably orange.

3. A Cardboard Box

A.D. loves cardboard boxes. Big ones, small ones, ones filled with 24 beers... any box will do. He likes putting stuff in them, standing in them, chewing on their sides, and hiding from the cat in them. He plans on keeping his light saber in his box. Boxes rule. Boxes full of beer rule even more.

So there you have it. Get to buying.

A.D. (and daddy) thank you.
___________________________________________________________________

On a side note, Tiff and I just celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. We headed up to Asheville last weekend (sans kid) and stopped by the Biltmore house and the North Carolina Arboretum.

Keeping with tradition, here are a few longarms of me and my beautiful bride.

Tiffany, thank you for four wonderful years. Hopefully many more longarms are to follow.

The Password is...Kah!

2009-07-23T19:32:00.008-04:00

The little man has started talking. Well, not talking talking. I mean, he's not exactly ready to order at the drive-through yet, but talking none the less. His first word is "kah." Yup, that's his word, and it's his favorite word in the word.

What does it mean? It's what he says when Smokey, our (much beloved, mostly pain in the ass) cat walks in the room. A.D. hasn't put the T on the end to round out the word "cat," but he's pretty close. And he's been getting closer and closer to petting Smokey the Kah on occasion too.

Maybe he'll ...

I lost my train of thought because as I was typing, Tiffany was giving A.D. a bath. I heard her yelp for help, and seconds later I was fishing poop out of the bathtub with a cup. Awesome... where was I?

Sigh... I don't remember where I was going with that.

Anyways, as many of you have noticed, we've got new header art for the blog courtesy of Samantha, Tiffany's sister. Samantha is a recent graduate from Winthrop University, and is now a starving artist. She's also the one who painted A.D.'s room right before he was born. She's doing freelance work right now, so if you have a blog that needs some bling, give Sam a ring (hehe). You can contact her and check out some of her work at her website http://www.samillustrates.com/.

Lastly, Tiff and I are celebrating our fourth (holy crap!) anniversary this weekend. Our anniversary is really next weekend, but next weekend we are celebrating the little dude's first birthday (holy crap again!). Stay tuned for the "smash cake" photos.

It's Been a Long Month...

2009-07-12T21:59:00.005-04:00

It doesn't seem like it's been a month since I updated the blog. In my defense, it's been crazy month around here. It started with my dad and brother stopping in for a few days on Father's Day weekend. I think this is the first time in at least twenty years that I spent Mother's Day and Father's Day with each of my parents on their respective days. It was a nice visit.

Also, I got the new Tiger Woods '10 for the Wii. It really is the most realistic golf game I have ever played. The other day I shot a 11 under Par at Oakmont... which is exactly what I would shoot if I played it in real life!

Lastly, the Tour de France started last weekend, which has us glued to the TV every night until about 11. I know most people could care less about a bunch of grown men riding bikes. But if you understand the race and the rules, it gets pretty exciting. If you are one of those people, you're not alone... Apparently ESPN doesn't understand it either.

I know the main star of Baird...Cubed is A.D., so here's the obligatory photo of him to keep y'all satisfied.

We've got some big things on the horizon for B3, including some new B3 art, a rousing discussion on the effect of bubbles on an 11-month old, and the big birthday coming up in August. Stay tuned, and sorry about the hiatus.

-- Tim

Using A Walker, Chuck Woolery, and Zombies...

2009-06-12T22:40:00.002-04:00

Fatherhood Friday is a community of dads and moms sharing their stories and experiences on fatherhood. This community is part of dad-blogs. Stop by if you haven't checked it out...

A.D.'s starting to kinda walk, but only if he uses a walker. But not your regular little kid walker that they put their feet into, bash around the house, and scare the bejesus out of the cat... but a walker like Grandma used to push around. This one just happens to have some bells and whistles...

He really enjoys having the freedom of mobility, but I can tell he's getting a little frustrated in the fact he can't really walk yet. In fact, just this afternoon, after we were watching the Game Show Network (he has a man-crush on Chuck Woolery... I can't really blame him) I caught him trying to dial the Scooter Store to get him a Hover-Round.

Here's the little man cruising in the hallway upstairs.

(I realize now that I asked "where are you going" twice. Poor editing on my part. Sorry.)

On a side note Tiff has to work tomorrow, so I think I'm going to take him shopping at Wal-Mart for a cultural experience. I'm starting to worry a little bit about his safety though. Not because anyone will take him, although he is pretty damn cute. I'm more worried that...

We will be strolling through electronics when I stop to point out to him how he is absolutely forbidden to one day listen to Miley Cyrus when I get distracted by the plasma TVs... I then think about plasma and remember that I need to donate blood soon... Speaking of blood we are low on Band-Aids... where the hell are the Band-Aids? Hmm... should I get the ones with Elmo or Larry the Cable Guy... Who am I kidding, thats a no-brainer! Speaking of brains, was that toothless hunched-back employee a zombie? Let's find the bike helmets, just in case they are a zombie. He won't be getting my brains, I might need them someday (or was that zombie a she?)...

Then all of a sudden I'm standing in the middle of the Wal-Mart, holding a pack of Elmo Band-Aids and a bike helmet, saying to myself "didn't I come in here with a kid?"

I think I'll put a GPS transmitter on his Hover-Round, that way I can track him down when I lose him.

-- Tim

Tales from a Sunday Morning...

2009-06-07T21:23:00.004-04:00

A.D. has been battling a viral upper respiratory illness since Friday and has definitely not been himself. He has morphed into a cranky, not eating, drooling baby. And I do mean drooling. We changed his shirt at least 3 times on Saturday and it probably should have been changed more. So the whole morning started off innocently enough when Tim wanted to go fishing just for the morning, I thought why not, I can catch up on some sleep while little man naps. That had to be one of the last sane thoughts that entered my mind until Tim came back at Noon.

A.D. did, bless his heart, take a great nap for a good hour which allowed me time to take a 30 minute nap that I was very glad to have taken especially as the morning unrolled. After his nap, A.D. finished his bottle (something he had not done since Friday morning) so I was extremely happy thinking that we had turned a corner. Oh, no. Promptly after finshing, a coughing fit began which ended with A.D. gagging himself and emptying his stomach of most of the bottle onto my somewhat clean floor. Hmmm, guess we'll try this again. I stripped him down to his diaper and debated momentarly what to do. The bathtub sounded like a good idea at the time. I mean, A.D. was dirty, it was clean and he loves a bath. If I knew then what I know now.

The bath started off great. Much splashing, giggling, and general happiness exuded into the room. Until I noticed, quite quickly, I had just witnessed another first of parenthood. The poop in the bathtub. Hmmm, quick thinking (not intellegent, just quick), had me pulling A.D. out of the tub before he decided to try to eat anything floating around. I drained the tub and allowed A.D. to stand beside the tub watching. After I had cleaned the majority of the tub, I realized that A.D. was now standing in a new puddle of more poop. He thought this was great though...using his feet to spread it around the floor and pulling the toys placed on the side for cleaning onto his new designs on the floor. OH, .... I am not a neat freak, but all of this grossed me out. So what do I do...

I decide to put back on his diaper and fill up the bathroom sink with water to wash him off. I should have known by now that my thinking today was always in error. No sooner did I have his feet and hands washed then he pulled himself, diaper and all into the sink to play.... Now, I have a utterly disguesting bathroom and a baby in the sink in a wet diaper, and for the record, no towel that I hadn't tried using yet. Ughhh. I decided to abandon the bathroom for his bedroom.

I think he must have picked up on my mood of utter helplessness because he decided that all he wanted to do from the time he was dried off and dressed was cry until Tim came home. I've never been so happy to see my husband come back from a fishing trip. The day should have quickly improved since this freed me up to Clorox the bathroom, but belatedly, I realized that Cloroxing a white floor only in one area is very noticable. Oh, well. That will have to wait for another day.

-- Tiffany

Fatherhood Friday and the Greatest Kids CD Ever...

2009-06-05T21:05:00.005-04:00

Fatherhood Friday is a community of dads and moms sharing their stories and experiences on fatherhood. This community is part of dad-blogs. Stop by if you havent checked it out...

This is my first post for Fatherhood Friday, hopefully there will be plenty more.

As I have mentioned before, I'm not a big fan of kids music. But a little while back I realized that me not playing kiddie music for A.D. isn't fair to him. So I decided to pick up a few CDs for him to see how he liked them.

First of all, not playing music while driving around, or cooking, or cleaning the house isn't an option. I have to have it on in the background... that's just how I am. And I figured that he's about at that age where I worry about him listening to some of the music I like.

The first CDs I got was a collection of Little Tikes CDs. There are four of them... and they are awful. One of the CDs is "Toddler Dance Favorites," which includes The Chicken Dance and Baa Baa Black Sheep... Another CD is "Nursery Rhyme Favorites," and includes Little Teapot, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Three Nice Mice. Oh yeah, you heard me... Three Nice Mice, a politically correct version. Apparently violence towards rodents in the form of chopping off their little tails isn't condoned by Little Tikes.

But honestly, the songs wouldn't be that bad if they didn't sound like they were recorded in a garage by a mom and a few of her kid's tone-deaf friends. So I started thinking about some music that I like that I think the little man would like too... So here's a short list of some kid-friendly music that is both worthy of him learning, and certainly recorded by some talented people (complete with YouTube links in case you want to hear the song).

We're Going to be Friends - The White Stripes (yeah, that's the song from Napoleon Dynamite)
Under African Skies - Paul Simon & Linda Ronstadt (because everyone needs to know a song from Graceland other than You Can Call Me Al)
The Christmas Song - Dave Matthews (because Dave tells a quick little story about Jesus)
Return to Pooh Corner - Kenny Loggins (because, what kid doesn't like Pooh?)
If I Had A Million Dollars - Barenaked Ladies (because I can't wait for him to yell "Ha-vent you always wanted a Mon-Key!?")
Birdhouse in Your Soul - They Might Be Giants (because TMBG crack me up... sorry, no good video for that one)
Upside Down - Jack Johnson (because the video has Curious George in it... and we like Curious George)
Heartbeats - Jose Gonzalez (because it's a perfect lullaby song)
New Shoes - Paolo Nutini (because it's a good dance song for a little one)

Honestly, it's been a long Friday and that's all the music my brain can muster up right now. Any other good ones that you can think of, please shoot them my way. One day I'll post my final list of the greatest kid's CD of all time...

-- Tim

An Afternoon in the Life...

2009-06-04T12:55:00.001-04:00

You ever had one of those times where you aren't really quite sure whether you are coming or going? You don't know which way is up? You don't know if what you are smelling is what you are stepping in?... That was my afternoon yesterday... And all of which was for 15 minutes of fun in the pool with the little man. Here's a recap of events...

Head home from work to pick up A.D. from daycare. I'm feeling pretty good because I am going to take him swimming over at his Papa and Grandma's house.
Go into daycare where I immediately have to sign an "Uh-Oh Report" because he whacked his face on a bookshelf while trying to get a toy. Nothing new there.
Head home and start getting stuff ready for the pool and dinner...
Marinate chicken breasts.
Search the house for A.D.'s swim suit.
Change into my own swim suit in the middle of the kitchen, then realize the blinds were open... crap.
Get food together for A.D. and put all into bag.
Throw everything in the car and head over to Papa and Grandma's house.
Realize that I am locked out of their house... double crap.
I break into the house, grab the kid and all his stuff and go inside.
Change kid into "L'il Swimmers," which by the way don't go on like diapers, so it was like wrangling a cat into... well I don't know where I was going with this analogy, but it would be somewhere a cat wouldn't want to go. Got that?
Realize I left his bottle at home... crap again.
Inflate his little float thingy and put sun shade canopy on it.
Fight with A.D. as I try to slather sunscreen on him.
Take him out to the pool just to realize the back yard is shaded after 4 PM... no sunscreen or sunshade needed on his float thingy... sonofacrap!
Play in pool for 15 minutes until he gets cold...

Reinforcements arrived when we were just about to get out of the water. I was then able to hand him off and let mommy get him dry and changed. In the mean time, I drank a beer.

He had a blast for the short time he was in the pool. And any time you put a kid in the pool and he doesn't leave a floater behind has to be considered a successful trip.

Tonight I get to install kid-proof latches on all of the kitchen cabinets... I can't wait.

New 'Doo & Tantrums...

2009-06-02T12:10:00.003-04:00

Well we finally broke down and trimmed the little dude's hair. It was about a 1/4 inch over his ears, which was way too long for Tiff. So she grabbed the scissors and took some off of his bangs and around his ears. I think it looks pretty good. She could have a future there, if she wants to deal with cutting the hair of squirmy, snotty nosed kids whose only goal in life is to NOT get their hair cut. A.D. cooperated though, and sat through it like a champ.

Yesterday, however, he decided he did not want to cooperate with anything. I think we had our first full blown tantrum, and I'm not really sure what triggered it. I think it was a combination of being a little hungry, tired, and getting the 10-month clinginess. I was pretty impressed with his extreme defiance towards authority, especially for a 10-month old. It was so funny that I had to grab the camera.

I'm pretty sure that he'll soon be ready to run away and join that loving wolf-family, since we are such horrible people.

Uh-Oh...cubed

2009-05-22T20:26:00.004-04:00

The little man is walking... if "walking" meets the definition below.

Walk: \'wok\ : To go into motion after standing upright while holding onto a low object (e.g. couch, table, chair, etc...), swaying like a drunk fraternity kid, and taking one step before crash landing onto the hard floor into a crumpled heap.

In reality, the little man just thinks he can walk. If we don't watch him, he really will let go of whatever he is holding on to, and try to take off across the room. But so far his upright traveling hasn't fared well for him.

Those papers are "Uh-Oh" reports from his daycare. Uh-Oh reports come home with him when he hurts himself at daycare. We've had one or two before from another kid bashing him with a toy, or him wiping out when he was learning to pull up. But we've never had 3 in one day!!! These are from 10:30, 11:30, and 2:30...

We may not be fast learners... but we sure are persistant!

Trip to D.C. in Review...

2009-05-18T22:22:00.006-04:00

Although the little man systematically gave everyone the plague (except for myself, I'm proud to say), we had a pretty good time up in Burke. Here are some of the highlights in photos...

For Mother's Day we had the whole family at the house, including all four of Poppy's Great-Grandchildren. Poppy's the big one in the middle, with Gregory on the left, Logan in the middle, and A.D. sitting on Randin's lap. It was about 4:30 and Poppy was hungry, so the photo session didn't last very long.

Tiffany, myself, Nana (my mom), and the little man got a tour of the Capitol. We were able to score a few PRESS passes, so we got to see much more of the building than normal. Of course this is in the rotunda, nothing special there other than a nice photo op...

We had the pleasure of meeting Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) down in the bowels of the Capitol right before he had to go do some "senator stuff." I didn't realize until later that my one chance at making an impression passed as I held a Coach purse in my left hand. I'm sure he thought it was lovely...

We had to leave the stroller behind while we were in the Capitol, but that didn't stop A.D. from crashing on Mommy...

On Thursday we met up with Matt & J, who were in town from Arizona, and took the kiddo to the zoo. Although A.D. isn't talking, I'm pretty sure some of the noises he makes are the native tongue of the Emu... So we met an emu, and they chatted for a while.

Mom took A.D. into the front yard for some photos. He's turning into a little ham, and is cheesing it up as soon as he sees the camera.

I got out my wooden blocks from when I was a little man. I'm pretty sure he jammed all 100 of them into his mouth at one time or another. Since they were blocks from when I was a kid, they probably are coated in lead, mercury, and PBA. I periodically check to make sure he hasn't grown a third eye.

Lastly, as Tiff mentioned in her last post, we finally have a couple teeth. Below is proof. Blow it up and look closely on the bottom row... I promise they are there.

A Week In Review...

2009-05-13T20:24:00.002-04:00

For all of those who have been wondering how A.D.'s ear surgery went, I thought I would do a quick week in review. A.D. had a few pre-surgery jitters (esp. after the little girl in the next bed started crying her little heart out), but he ended up going in with a smile on his face and flirting with the nurse. He made it through surgery well and only cried for a few minutes in recovery as he woke up from the anesthesia. That definitely broke my heart, but he seemed to bounce back quickly and was playing with us on the floor in his room at home within an hour of when the surgery started. Other than not wanting to nap, at all, on Monday, I have to say that the surgery went very well.

A.D. did wake up a few times the next few nights and my Grandmother, who kept him on Tuesday and Wednesday, will tell you he was quite fussy, had a runny nose, and seemed to be running a low-grade fever. Due to the fussiness and waking up at night, which is his usual M.O. for an ear infection, we were back at the pediatrician's office on Wednesday. She said his ears still looked “rough” made a few changes to how often and how many antibiotic drops we used and rescheduled us an appointment with the ENT on Thursday. By Thursday though, he was back to sleeping most of the night through and the ENT thought his ears looked appropriate for his stage of post-op. Verdict: the antibiotic drops are starting to do the job and he must a virus of some sort. Tim and I will tell you that after developing the runny nose, head congestion, and over-all malaise, we both had the dreaded virus also.

On to Friday. We were getting ready to embark on our summer vacation so A.D. and I spent the day packing and getting everything ready. As soon as Tim made it home at lunchtime, we packed up the car, fed A.D., and headed out. Oh, yeah. And, Tim discovered during the above-mentioned feeding that A.D. had cut not just one, but two of his bottom teeth during the previous day. Yehhh!!! Finally not toothless. That definitely probably contributed to the crankiness, huh? Back to the crazy story. We made it to Charlotte on Friday night, and had dinner with my parents, both of my grandmothers, and my uncle who were all in town (like us) for my sister's graduation on Saturday. A crazy, busy week. As we went to bed on Friday night we thought that only relaxation lay ahead....only to be woken up at mid-night by A.D. who had come down with a stomach bug. UCK! Definitely not in the plans. We ended up skipping Sam's graduation (sorry!!!!) and driving straight to D.C. to see Tim's family. Many clothing changes, bottles of pedialyte, and diaper changes later we arrived safely. Luckily for Tim and I, we were fortunate enough not to end up with the virus ourselves, but Tim's mom (Nana) and sister weren't so lucky.

Stay tuned for pictures from our vacation! They should be arriving shortly.--Tiff

A whole new baby...

2009-05-01T21:09:00.003-04:00

Now that I have your attention, no we aren't having a new baby, but I am told that after Monday that A.D. may be. Monday A.D. will undergo surgery to put tubes in his ears. Poor guy has endured over 6 weeks straight of ear infections, 5 different antibiotics including one set of 3 shots, and many many days with a fever. We are hoping this will be the answer, at least to the current infection. According to the ENT, his hearing is probably similiar to that of a 70 year old male due to the amount of fluid in his ears and after all of the antibiotics the ear infection looks worse. The good news is that we have been antibiotic free for the past two weeks with no fever spike. As a pharmacist that constantly worries about what we expose A.D. to, I am so happy that the antibiotics will hopefully soon end. Everyone keeps telling us that we will have a whole new baby on Monday, but I would not trade him for the world. He is already one of the most laid back, relaxed babies I have ever been around. He sleeps all night, smiles constantly, and laughs at almost anything. Who would trade that? However, I do hope that this will decrease his pain level and improve his hearing. Who knows, maybe we'll end up with an even happier, more laid back baby. In the meantime, keep A.D. in your thoughts and prayers, and we will keep you up-dated....maybe ;)--Tiffany

April photo update...

2009-04-26T21:01:00.007-04:00

Since we haven't updated the blog in a few weeks, here are some photos of A.D. to keep the masses happy. We do have a bunch of news including lingering ear infections and trips out of town. We'll get to that in a few days...

Eating sweet potatoes...

Bathtime with Tiffany

We now undress ourself in the middle of the kitchen

We lowered his crib because he is starting to pull up

Sitting up in the crib

Cheesing for the camera

In front of the Reedy River at Falls park

Sometimes the puffs don't make it into the mouth

How to Entertain a Kid... and a Cat

2009-04-03T22:15:00.000-04:00

7 Month Update...

2009-04-01T07:30:00.004-04:00

We're a little over 7 months old and new things are happening every day. There's no more "kinda" when it comes to mobility. Fortunately for us it's not upright mobility, but it's mobility none the less. He's getting fast on his stomach, and if we turn around even for a second, the next thing we know he's jamming a shoe, the Wii, or some part of furniture into his mouth. We're so proud.

We're still making the monthly trip to the doctor. Not by choice, of course. He's just now getting over his 5th ear infection in 5 months, and 6th in total. Is that a record? If not, it should be. The doctor told us that this is the last one he can have before they send him to the ENT. I'm pretty confident that tubes are in our near future. If it makes him feel better, then I'm all for it.

He's also just about graduated from his Infant 1 room in daycare, and they are slowly working him into the Infant 2 room. There really isn't much difference between the rooms, other than the drool trails go all over the room, rather than staying in little puddles in the middle of the floor. He also has to wear shoes and socks every day, and they encourage him to hold his own bottle.

The little man has been trying the sippy-cup occasionally too. If you're not familiar with the sippy-cup, then let me explain. A sippy-cup is, well, a cup that doesn't leak.

Huh. I thought there would be more explaining than that.

Anyways, he hasn't quite figured it out yet. He mostly just chews on the "sippy" end, and every once in a while when he does suck on it he acts really surprised that something comes out. Then he chews it again... then eventually sucks... then gets surprised. It's a vicious sippy-cup cycle.

Lastly, he is eating "puffs" at the dinner table. Well, "eating" might be the wrong word. Generally, he picks them up and, like everything else in the house, puts them one at a time in his mouth. But the texture freaks him out, and he immediately spits it out. Then he sees another puff, gets excited, and sticks it in his mouth. Well you know he drill... it's a vicious puff cycle.

I have a feeling it won't be long until we master drinking from the sippy-cup, get better at eating puffs, and get tubes in our ears. We'll keep you posted.

Mobility... Kinda

2009-03-15T17:04:00.009-04:00

This week has been pretty relaxed. I went out of town for one night on Thursday and left Tiff at home with the little man while he had Croup (or the Croup. I'm pretty sure the word the is optional. I'll have to look that up). After a few days of breathing treatments and steroids, he seems to be feeling a lot better.

We still aren't crawling yet, but we're starting to master the commando crawl. Here's a video of the 3-foot pilgrimage across the floor... Note the Smokey cameo at 0:05, the "Airplane Maneuver" at 0:17, the brief loss of interest at 0:26, and success at 0:46.

Our First Snow (Continued)...

2009-03-02T11:16:00.007-05:00

Here are a few more photos of our first family snow. We ended up with about 4 inches at the deep places. That's pretty exciting for South Carolina.

Our First Snow...

2009-03-01T20:28:00.006-05:00

Here are some pics of A.D.'s first snow. Yeah, we got him bundled up like Randy in The Christmas Story. He really didn't know what was going on, other than it was about his bed time.

Story Time... Part I

2009-02-26T23:00:00.003-05:00

Eventually, when A.D. is old enough to start grilling us with a thousand questions an hour, I plan to start sharing stories of myself growing up. I want to do this partly because my dad told me stories of his childhood, and partly for no better reason other than stories are fun to tell.

I guess this is a good story to start with...

One of my first childhood memories is of what I consider one of the most magical places in the world. Although it wasn't a castle in a classical sense, one with a mote or a dragon guarding a cave full of treasures, my grandparents' house was my castle. I was the scrawny thirty-pound knight who explored every inch of that castle.

When my parents got divorced, my mom and I moved in with my grandparents (my Nanny and Poppy) whom I lived with until I was four. Their house was on a cul-de-sac, and their yard was immaculate. The paved walk to the house wound from the driveway to the front door through a double-file army of perfectly rounded boxwoods. A blanket of periwinkle covered the beds that surrounded the one large and majestic poplar that sat front and center to the house.

Through the front door were two polished brass urns, from one of Poppy's trips abroad, I'm sure. They were home to dozens of candy wrappers that I jammed into them. They're probably still in there if you look. The living room was on the left, the kitchen on the right. Poppy's orange swivel chair sat in the family room at the rear of the house.

Nothing really exciting was located upstairs except for Poppy's room. Of course Nanny and Poppy had their master bedroom, but Poppy had his own bedroom for his daily 2 PM nap. He had a dresser on the left that was topped by a flat wooden box with a few velvet-lined wooden drawers. Poppy would occasionally lift me up by my armpits so that I could peruse the treasure. There wasn't too much of value in the box. A few silver dollars, some two dollar bills, his high school ring, and a few other shiny metal objects were perfectly organized in the box. I think I asked to see the contents of the box even through high school.

The middle level and upstairs of their house was fine, but the real magic really started happening in the basement. A small den was at the front of the basement, where me and my cousins were often sent to play when the adults were overrunning the living room. We quickly got bored in the den, so we moved our adventures to the crawl space, located at the rear of the basement. The crawl space had about 3 feet of clearance, nails poking out of boards, and a fine carpet floor... It was a perfect playground for children. We would set up shop down there and play games, eat, peruse the old newspapers, and plan out stupid skits or songs to perform for the adults.

My favorite thing in the crawl space was Poppy's tackle box. The box was complete with a thousand of the same size hooks, a few bobbers, corks for the end of the hooks, some pliers, and a can of reel oil. The whole box smelled of the sweet gear oil as soon as you opened it, which most likely attributed to his low numbers of fish caught when we did go to the lake.

Lastly was the back yard. A deck sat on the back of the house that I'm sure Poppy re-stained twice a year. A storage shed was at the back right corner of the yard, the outside rear of which served as my personal urinal between the months of April and October. (I don't care who you are, it's fun to pee outside...) A sandbox sat next to the shed (the personal urinal for neighborhood cats when not covered) complete with buried G.I. Joes and army men. A wooden swing sat between a poplar and an oak at the left side of the yard.

The house as I'm describing it generally remained unchanged from when I was about four years old until they moved out when I was about 22. It will always be one of my favorite and most comforting places in the whole world, even if I can't visit it any more.

Month in Review...

2009-02-22T20:09:00.010-05:00

It looks like I'm not doing so hot with the New Year's Resolution to update the blog more often. So here's a recap of what's been happening...

Until a few days ago, The little man's diet has consisted of formula, rice cereal, apple sauce, sweet potatoes, bananas, sweet peas, pears, and green beans. Of course, all of his food so far is mashed into a textureless slime-sludge-goo. After trying a couple times, we've learned to stay away from bananas, since they turn his poo into little bricks. Really.

We gave him his first finger food a couple days ago. We started with an unsalted saltine cracker, an idea we got from Sara. He didn't really know what to do with it, which is funny because he generally jams anything he can get his hands on into his mouth. Once it did go into his mouth, he let us know he did NOT like it at all. (Do me a favor... picture your grandma naked. I'll wait... Now that face you just made is the face he made with the saltine.)

The next night we gave him a graham cracker. This went over a little better, as he only made the naked grandma face a couple times. Here are photos of the catch and the resulting carnage...

We're not crawling yet, but we can get up on our hands and knees and rock back and forth like a drunk man trying to get the room to stop spinning. Tiff and I are excited for him to start crawling, even though we know things will change drastically once the little man gets mobile. Nothing in the house is baby-proof yet. We have no plug covers on the outlets, sharp corners are everywhere, and no Mr. Yuck stickers are on my beers. At least the cat is declawed...

The most exciting thing is that he is figuring out how to hold his bottle. I didn't realize how cool it was to be able to feed him, eat a sandwich, AND flip channels at the same time.

And finally, last weekend we headed up to Winston-Salem to visit Nathan, Sara, Seth and Amelia. For Valentines Day, we went to the Wake Forest - Florida State, played Wii, and went to bed at 9:30... It was awesome. Check out Sara's blog here for the recap.

This time I promise to update B3 more often...

-- Tim

Like Father Like Son?...

2009-01-26T13:06:00.004-05:00

A lot of people have told us how much A.D. looks like me. Poor guy. I hate it when he hears people tell him that, knowing he will have to live the rest of his life knowing that he will look like me. (Author's Note: Feel free to comment how lucky he is, just to ease his mind.)

I actually think he's starting to look more and more like his mom now that he has blondish hair. Anyways, a lot of people have asked if he looks anything like I did when I was a baby...

I'll let you be the judge of that.

-- Tim

Poop References and Rene Russo... Awesome

2009-01-14T22:05:00.002-05:00

So it looks like I'm already slacking on the New Year's resolution to update the blog a little more often. I have an excuse... not a good excuse but an excuse none the less.

Once you have a kid, and once you send that kid to daycare, you get sick. You get sick a lot, and you get sicknesses that you never even heard of. In fact, I now mark on the calendar the days that I feel well.

I've been battling a cold since the start of the year when we were up in D.C. The battle has involved a full nasal assault with Zicam (which is kind of gross, but it seemed to be working), and a Neti Pot (which is REALLY gross, and a whole other blog altogether). I couldn't shake the cold; it hung around like a Rick Astley song hangs in one's head.

On Friday of last week I was just about to get the Little Man off to daycare when he decided to give daddy a dose of projectile baby vomit. I took him to the pediatritian who told us he had that same "bug" that all the other kids were getting. Then, of course, he didn't get sick again. He did get a little diarrhea... no big deal though.

Author's note: I only mention diarrhea because I really feel it is my duty to mention poop or pee, in any form thereof, in as many blogs as I can. It's a fun little hobby of mine. (See if you can find them all here here here here here here here here here here and here)

On Friday night Tiff ended up with the throw-ups. Both of us had the same thing a few months ago, and we know that South Carolina is having an outbreak of the Norovirus, so at the time I assumed that's what Tiff had. I was hanging tough, and was willing myself that I wasn't going to get sick, even though I could feel that lingering cold getting worse.

On Saturday night, once Tiff was starting to feel halfway human, A.D got Pinkeye and I then got the throw-ups. At the same time, my cold was kicking back into high gear. What I thought was Norovirus turned out to be Ebola, I think. Unfortunately it wasn't the fun Ebola that comes with Rene Russo or a monkey (both of which are always on my Christmas list. Well, "Thomas Crown Affair Rene Russo" is always on my list, not "Outbreak Rene Russo"... I'm not good with bleeding eyes.)

Anyways, Tiff developed a pretty nasty cough and went to the Doctor on Monday. I went on Tuesday. The Doctor said we both had a repiratory infection. I told the doctor it couldn't be a repiratory infection because I used Zicam, I used a Neti Pot, and because it was Ebola. She told me it wasn't Ebola because there wasn't a monkey or Dustin Hoffman in a helicopter.

So that's my excuse. We're finally feeling better. Now the kid can go back to daycare and bring us home another fun plague.

New Year's Resolution...

2009-01-05T21:40:00.000-05:00

So it looks like I've fallen off the blogging wagon... Sorry about that!

So to make it up to you, here are a few photos and a movie of what's been happening in the last little while...

Lessons from Dad: Gang Life...

2008-12-12T23:10:00.003-05:00

Until the end of my 5th grade year I grew up Vienna, Virginia. It was a tough place to grow up, mainly because we had to stop our hockey games in the streets to let the soccer-moms in their mini vans to pass. I lived in a townhouse on Lafora Court. If I remember, I think ours was the fourth on the right.

I think I was about seven years old when Melissa moved in across the street. She was probably about nine at the time, and boy was I crazy about older women. Melissa wasn't exactly the best of girls. Looking back at it, she was probably a little brat. At one time I think I was planning on marrying the bratty older woman across the street.

Matt Norton lived on Towney View Court, only one court down from ours. I don't remember a whole lot about Matt (or Melissa, for that matter) other than he wore glasses, and has probably been in a few other "courts" since... just a hunch. Matt was a year older than me, and also a friend of Melissa.

We both tagged behind Melissa and tried our hardest to impress her. She really was the puppetmaster, and she loved every minute of it.

One day, I'm sure it was a summer day because we had a lot of daylight to get in trouble, we decided to start a gang. Melissa, of course, was to be the "president" of the gang. We weren't sure if gangs had presidents, or the general pecking orders of gangs. But either way, Melissa was the boss. Matt was second-in-command, because he was next oldest. I was the youngest, and it was decided that I had to earn my way into the gang; an initiation if you will.

I could not believe I was asked to be in a gang! Me... Tim... in a gang! I could see myself in the leather jacket from the get-go.

I don't remember what our gang name was. If it was up to Melissa (which I'm sure it was), I bet we were the "Teddybears"... or the "Ponies"... or "Melissa's Gang." Whatever it was, the name was fierce, and struck fear in our rival gang's hearts.

On that supposed summer day, we hiked through the "big field," by the "huge old tree," under the "scary bridge," and up a big wooded hill that overlooked a two-laned road. It was then that President Melissa and Second-In-Command Matt declared my initiation challenge. In order to be initiated into the gang, I had to stand on the hill, and through the trees, hit a car with a rock...

A rock throwing challenge? Are you kidding me? I invented rock throwing!

They gave me three chances... like I needed three shots, but it was a nice gesture. I knew they picked this challenge because they thought I would either wimp out, or if I decided to try it, I would fail miserably by hitting a tree or just plain missing a car.

I grabbed a rock that was roughly the size and weight of a golf ball. I saw a white Jeep SUV come around the corner from my left to right. President Melissa smirked and said something bratty like "Don't miss!"

She obviously had forgotten that I invented rock throwing.

I led the SUV with my aim, I reared back, and threw a frozen rope (baseball term) through the trees that landed square in the middle of the passenger side rear door...

I couldn't believe it. My eyes were huge. I stood there as a newly initiated gang member as I admired my shot. It was so perfect! It was then that I realized that the driver was standing out of his car and staring right at us.

President Melissa and Second-In-Command Matt immediately ran off. I was a wirey and fast little kid, and if something was chasing me, I think I was the fastest runner on earth. We all three ran towards an office building. I watched the President and Second-In-Command immediately climb two trees. Why did they climb a tree? I still have no idea...

I was too small to reach the branches, but that wasn't my style anyways. When you're small for your age, you get good at hiding. I ran under a car and spread flat on the asphalt parking lot.

I saw the man's feet trot by my car and over toward the two trees. The President and Second-In-Command didn't see where I hid, so they couldn't rat me out. The man grabbed them and threatened to call the cops unless they told him their addresses. I stayed under the car for at least a half an hour (thinking about how awesome of a throw that was) before I trotted home.

I caught up with Melissa and Matt the next day. I was told that I was out of the gang because they got in trouble...

Melissa moved away to some big apartment building nearby. I have no idea what happened to Matt Norton. I still laugh about the gang to this day.

There are two morals to this story...

1) If you join a gang, make sure you're faster and smarter than the other two members, and

2) Never challenge your dad to anything that involves throwing rocks at something... because he invented rock throwing!

Baird Family Portrait...

2008-12-06T10:52:00.012-05:00

My Dad and little brother, Austin, were in from Texas for Thankgiving. We made sure we got in a couple good photos before they left...

A.D. contributed to Thanksgiving by cooking up a little "gravy" of his own...

And on a side note, these are some of the pictures you find on the card when you let a 13-year-old have the camera for a couple hours...

I'll send those last three to his first college girlfriend. I can't wait.

12 hours later...

2008-12-02T21:59:00.002-05:00

That day was pretty busy and after work I was in charge of picking up take-out for us, Tim's Dad and Austin, and Lee and Amanda. To say we had a house full that evening would be accurate. However, it was great to spend time with friends and family sitting around the table catching up. After everyone cleared out, I headed upstairs to change and get A.D. settled down for the evening. Tim quickly came upstairs also, and nervously sat down beside me.
"So, are you ok?" He asked.
I glanced over as I quickly changed A.D's diaper. "Yep. Are you?"
He ignored my question, "Is there anything you want to talk about?"
At this point he was beginning to freak me out, "No, but evidently there is something you would like to. Spill."
He went on to give me a recounting of his day. I busted out laughing. I couldn't stop. As you can imagine, Tim was squirming by this point and wanted an answer.
"You are looking at your answer," I said holding up A.D.
I had thrown the positive tests in the back of my medicine cabinet after finding out I was pregnant with A.D. and forgotten about them. On that morning, I decided to clean out the cabinet and didn't think a thing about throwing the tests away. Next time, I'll say something to Tim so I don't scare him so badly. One way or the other, it made for a great laugh and a good story. Guess you all will have to keep tuning in to see how much longer "a couple of years" will be.

Baird... to the Fourth???

2008-12-01T22:05:00.002-05:00

Tiff and I have often talk about how many kids we would like to have. We never come up with a definite number, because it all depends on the sex of the kids... For example, if we have eleven boys, I think we might call it quits trying for a little girl after the twelfth boy.

We've also talked about how long we'd like to wait, preferably, before trying for another one. Usually the answer for that one is "around a couple years."
___________________________________________________________

Not too long ago, Tiff headed in to work and I had A.D. for the day. I was up in the bathroom getting ready to take a shower when I glanced toward the little trashcan next to the toilet. The three (yes... three) pink "First Response" pregnancy test boxes that were jammed into the said trashcan immediately caught my eye.

Like any other husband would do, I opened the boxes to see the outcomes of the tests...

They were positive...

All of them.

I looked down at the two pink lines on the tests and couldn't think of anything. Tiff was at work, and I certainly wasn't going to call her and discuss this while she was working. It was only nine in the morning, and she didn't get off until six that evening.

I was a wreck.

Like I said, I'm not against having more kids. In fact, I'm excited for the day that I can watch my family grow (and maybe grow more after that). But at four months, A.D. would only be about a year old when the next would be due. (I'm sure I'm off there, but as much as I've tried to understand pregnancy math, I still don't understand it... They are lying when they say "nine months"). But Tiff isn't ready for it either.

I think Tiff's just now starting to really feel good after having A.D., but I would still be worried that it is a little too soon.

Now I had to wait another nine hours to see if our family is about to be Plus 1...

To Be Continued...

Lesson from Dad: When Things are Funny...

2008-11-18T12:00:00.001-05:00

Hey kiddo, it's me again.

Today I'd like to talk to you about funny things.

Remember yesterday when you and Daddy were dancing around the living room while listening to Reel Big Fish? Daddy was singing along and making goofy faces, and you giggled. Dancing around the living room was fun, and Daddy was being funny...

Do you also remember the other day when Daddy was changing your diaper and you decided to pee? You peed on Daddy, on the wall, on your clothes, the changing pad... I think you may have hit the cat too. You giggled then too.

I think you're a little confused about when things are funny, and when things are definitely not funny. So let's run through a little checklist of what is funny and what is not funny...

Peeing on Daddy? Not funny
Peeing on the cat? Funny
Peeing on Mommy? Hilarious

That should about cover it really.

If you stick to these three little rules, we'll be best friends.

-- Daddy

Fun with Captions...

2008-11-07T22:46:00.003-05:00

Here are a few of my favorites from the last couple weeks...

We're starting to smile a lot now...

Engrossed in the Football Game...

Helping Daddy cook, kind of...

Whoh!

Boo...

2008-10-31T11:33:00.002-04:00

Happy Halloween, from Tim, Tiff, and A.D.

Multitasking...

2008-10-27T08:30:00.003-04:00

Last night was one of those nights that the little man did not want to go to sleep. He was in one of those moods that he was unhappy when I put him on his back, and he just wanted to be held. Oh, and he wanted to be bounced.

So for a while last night I was walking around the house and bouncing a baby. I was quietly singing good bouncing songs to him (like "Bad Touch" by the Bloodhound Gang) to keep the rhythm. It's probably not the best bedtime song, I know... but it worked at the time.

I could only take so much bouncing. I decided that a drive would be good to calm him down, and we needed to gas for the Volvo.

Now just like any road trip I take, my body immediately says "I have to pee" before I get in the car. I think it's a conditioned response from when I was little. Mom would always ask my sister and I, "If you have to go to the bathroom, go now."

Thanks Mom.

So there was my dilemma... if I put the kid down he started crying. If I stopped bouncing he started crying. I had to pee.

Next thing I knew, I was standing in front of the toilet, holding a baby, bouncing, singing "Bad Touch," and peeing.

It was another one of those moments when you think to yourself... "what the hell am I doing?"

The drive put him to sleep, and I finally found a gas station that was open at 11:00 on a Sunday night.

And Reality Sinks In...

2008-10-23T13:30:00.001-04:00

Last night, while Tiff and I were in the kitchen, I looked over at the baby, back at Tiff, and back to the baby...

"Holy Crap... we have a kid."

I'll admit that it wasn't one of my more brilliant moments.

I also admit that I know he's already almost 3 months old, give or take. I know that: we've had pictures made of him; have a blog about him; I saw him pop out of my wife (kinda); we've dropped him off and picked him up at daycare; PAYED for daycare; taken him to the E.R. at midnight; and have a lot of nicknames for him.

I know that.

But standing there in the kitchen watching Tiff wash bottles while he was on the floor blowing snot bubbles (which is hilarious, by the way) was really one of those weird times when the baby thing sunk in. I'm not sure why.

As a side note, you'll all see the photos once the family get their copies.

Things you learn...

2008-10-11T11:11:00.004-04:00

I'm a planner. Anyone that knows me well will agree. Over the past 10 weeks, however, I've learned that you can think through all possible scenarios but you will never get close to what life can throw your way.
I had done all my research about the stages of labor and when we needed to go to the hospital. Little did I know. There is only around a 12% chance that you will deliver due to your water breaking. My Ob/Gyn was very thorough in my last appointment, mentioned the possibility, and warned me to cover any seat that I didn't want ruined with a towel. Knowing the statistics, I have to admit, I scoffed. "Won't happen to me." I was especially adamant that I was going to deliver before my due date (which most people disagreed with seeing how small I was), but I really thought we had another week. A.D. had other plans. My water broke at 12 A.M. on 8/4/08. Guess 12% really isn't so small.
During my pregnancy, I had debated back and forth on using formula or whether we would give breastfeeding a try. I am generally a pretty open-minded person and being in the medical field, I knew the benefits of breastfeeding. I was also aware of how physically and mentally draining it could be when you are the sole person feeding an infant (especially at night) at least for the first few weeks until you could start pumping. I decided, after attending a breastfeeding class, that we would give it a go in the hospital if it came easily. People love telling you their horror stories, especially breastfeeding ones. I figured we had maybe a 25% possibility that we would be breastfeeding when we left the hospital. I was again thinking that with such a low number, I would only brush up on what I needed to know for the first few days. Life likes to show you who is really in control sometimes, and we officially have a breastfed baby.
When I graduated from MUSC, we debated staying in Charleston, moving closer to family, or just picking a place on the map. Logic won out (higher pay and much, much lower cost of living), and we moved to Upstate SC and now live just 1/2 a mile from my parents. Our biggest concern was only knowing family since many of my friends had moved to other states after high school/college. If you would have asked me a couple years ago, I never would have thought we would be within walking distance to my parents or that I would live back in the Upstate at all. I didn't know what a blessing this has become. My parents visit more often now that we have A.D. around, but generally we are probably a bigger nuisance to them than they have ever been to us. We like being able to borrow lawn equipment, obtain the random ingredient we forgot at the grocery store for dinner, and take dips in their pool. We never would have considered some of the phone calls we have thrown their way. "Hey, Dad. Is there anyway you can go close up the house and garage," I queried as I rushed Tim to the hospital to stitch up his hand that was profusely bleeding due to a garage accident. "Hey, Dad. Is there anyway you can take me to the eye doctor," I asked as I experienced during pregnancy my first aura prior to a migraine that left me seeing spots. A side note, Tim was recovering from surgery that day to repair the damage from the garage accident which is why I didn't call him first. "Hey, Dad. Is there anyway you can come pick up A.D. and keep him for the rest of the night?" This call came last night around 2:30 A.M. when Tim and I realized that we had food poisoning and would definitely not be fit parents anytime soon. My Dad has the bad habit of being the person to pick up the phone, but both of my parents have been there during times I never would have imagined I would find myself. Who could foretell food poisoning? A stomach bug where one person isn't functional, yes, but not food poisoning. I have a new appreciation of my parents even though I've been reassured many times that they are happy to help out. And none of this lessens the fact that we could call any number of our friends if we needed help, but it is a little easier to rouse your parents at 2:30 A.M. --Tiff

Quick Update

2008-10-09T10:55:00.005-04:00

Since Tim has been so busy the past few weeks, I thought I would write my first post and give everyone a quick update. So here goes... Last weekend we traveled to Hickory for Lenior-Rhyne's Homecoming and was able to introduce A.D. to all of our college friends. Tim even tried to introduce A.D. to the L-R Bear...

I also went back to work last week but only worked half days. I found it was much easier to ease back into things when Tim and Kristin were babysitting. This week I went back to work full days Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, and A.D. started daycare. I was very proud of myself that I didn't cry and only called once (just don't ask how many times I talked myself out of calling). Daycare has been a new experience though. A.D. woke up Wednesday morning with a cold and that broke my heart. You know they are going to get sick at some point but I wasn't ready for it quite this early. Especially since this morning we had to go for his two month check-up and vaccines. He has now reached the 66th percentile for length and gained two pounds weighing in at a whopping 9 lbs 8.8 oz. Sorry to all that this post wasn't as funny as Tim's normally are...we definitely know who is the more boring half ;) Tiff

The Month in Review -- Fun with Fauxhawks...

2008-09-25T21:15:00.001-04:00

As I'm sure you all have figured out, these last few weeks have been crazy. So here's an update...

The little man still hasn't been sleeping for more than 3 hours at a time, so Tiff has been pretty worn out. Luckily for me I'm working, and she's been great at letting me stay somewhat rested.

Last week I had a two-day conference in Savannah, and we decided it would be fun for the three of us to head down to see the city. I've never been, and didn't get a good chance to really take a look around. Tiff took A.D. out on the town. They took a tour of the city, and although tired from the previously mentioned lack of sleep, they seemed to have a pretty good time.

After two days in Savannah, we stopped in Bluffton for a couple hours while I looked at a church that has a honeybee infestation. It's on the historic register, but that's another story... After that, we drove due north up to the Isle of Palms for a couple days, where we rented a condo and met my parents, who were down from D.C.

After a little fishing, and a lot of shopping (more for Tiff and A.D. than for me), we all headed back up to Greenville to unwind.

Here are a few photos from the past few weeks...

A.D sporting the fauxhawk.

Asleep on Daddy's chest.

First dip in the Atlantic. It was cold.

We got a new beer-holder... It came with a free baby.

They grow up so fast...

2008-09-05T20:53:00.009-04:00

It's hard to believe that the little man is already one month old. But if you ask us any morning, we'll tell you that we definitely feel like we haven't slept in about a month.

All in all, everything is going well. A.D. has been wanting to stay up all night, which seems pretty normal as I talk with anyone that has a kid or two. He has a little reflux, but it's nothing that a little Zantac can't handle. And now he has some baby acne. He better get used to it, since he's my son.

Other than that little stuff, he's a really good baby. He's perfectly happy sitting on the couch and staring at the ceiling fan. We try to go for a walk every evening to get him used to the outside, and it seems to be helping Tiff's cabin fever.

Here are photos of the famous one-month-old...

Sunday Photo Goodness...

2008-08-24T09:43:00.008-04:00

Top 10 things to do at 3:30 AM...

2008-08-22T12:25:00.002-04:00

10. Watch Russia vs Hungary ladies Team Handball in HD. (Russia won)

9. Consider ordering the Clorox Greenworks surface cleaner because the dude with the English accent sounds so damn smart.

8. Burp the baby.

7. Think to yourself... "Is there something on my neck? I swear something is crawling on me, but I'm holding a baby and if I move he will wake up... Crap."

6. Clip your toenails.

5. Try to jam a pacifier in the baby's mouth, hoping it will put him to sleep until noon.

4. Polish off the rest of the Chinese food in the fridge.

3. Hum Beatles songs, but then argue with yourself about whether Paul or John sung "Ruby Tuesday." (At that time, Mick wasn't even an option)

2. Walk the baby in circles around the house, guided only by nightlights.

1. Play the game "Change the baby's diaper without him waking up." Double bonus points if he doesn't pee all over you. (I lost)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I guess it's fair to say we are having some minor sleeping issues. Tiffany took him to the pediatrician today and they confirmed our suspicions that he has acid reflux.

Hopefully he'll sleep better tonight so I can dream about large handball-playing Russian women cleaning my house with environmentally friendly Clorox while humming "Ruby Tuesday."

I can't wait.

Lesson from Dad: How to be Photogenic...

2008-08-19T12:36:00.001-04:00

I'm starting a new blog segment called Lessons from Dad, an incredible learning tool for A.D. (and any other babies out there that might be surfing the web) that will help him get through life.

This lesson is titled How to be Photogenic...

As you will soon find out, people will randomly take pictures of you without your prior knowledge. To be able to handle such conditions, you need to make sure you are always prepared. In order to do so, you need to become familiar with the Smug-Goofy-Cheesy-Grin (SGCG) look.

In order to properly execute the SGCG, you must properly do the following:

1. Look smarmy. That's right, show some swagger.

2. Raise your eyebrows. Let the camera know you are a little excited, but not so much you look surprised. Imagine pointing at the camera and saying "heyyyyyyy"

3. Turn whatever you are holding (beer, hedge clippers, Rick Astley tape, baby, etc.) toward the camera.

4. Showing teeth is optional.

And since you're a baby and pictures help you learn, Figure 1 (below) shows just how photogenic your daddy is (note the perfectly executed SGCG).

Wide Awake Baby...

2008-08-17T12:18:00.003-04:00

A.D. isn't awake very often. And when he is, it's not for very long.

Here is evidence that he does wake up every once in a while.

How It All Went Down...

2008-08-15T13:40:00.000-04:00

Note: I wrote this blog last week, but for some reason didn't post it. Since today is Tiff's original due date, I decided to dig it up...

One of the first things I learned about expecting a kid is that everyone wants to share their pregnancy and labor horror stories with you. They tell you how horrible every facet of the pregnancy was for them, how long and grueling the labor was, or how incredibly long their pregnancy went... Well I'm not going to do that. Instead, since A.D. came about a week and a half early and I didn't really share how everything went, you'll get our (fairly easy to stomach) story.

On the evening of August 3rd, Tiff and I went to dinner with Ben & Becky at Chicora Alley in downtown Greenville. After plowing down some good food, and some ice cream for dessert, we headed home. Both of us were tired, so we crashed early.

At about midnight, Tiff woke up and waddled to my side of the bed to announce that her water broke. I think I said "Really?" I don't really remember.

So we gathered up the previously mentioned HCWHTHTTH bag, fed the cat, grabbed the iPod, watered a couple plants, vacuumed the house, churned some butter, reenacted the Battle of Gettysburg, and finally headed to the hospital.

There were two older (I used "older" loosely) triage nurses (I use "nurse" loosely) waiting for us in the labor and delivery area of the hospital. I'll call them Gladys and Mabel. Gladys was my favorite. (Note: Some glaciers move at an average speed of 3 feet per day... Gladys moved slower.)

Gladys: "What happened?"

Tiffany: "I think my water broke."

(cue akward pause and crickets chirping in the background)

Gladys: "Are you sure?"

Tiffany: "Pretty sure."

Gladys blinks and walks out of the room.

Gladys comes back in the room. "Was it clear?"

Tiffany: "Yes."

Gladys: "Did it have an odor"

Tim gags a little bit at the thought of bending over and smelling it...

Tiffany: "No."

Gladys lumbers back out of the room, and sends in Mabel for reinforcements...

Apparently Gladys and Mabel don't talk amongst each other, because Mabel asked us all the same questions. Then, Mabel got some magical litmus-like paper and confirmed that Tiff's water had in fact broke. They admitted us into the Labor & Delivery room at about 1:30 AM. It turns out she was having contractions for a while before that, but didn't feel them much.

We sat around in the room until about 6 AM or so until they finally decided to hook Tiff up to Pitocin to speed things along. Prior to going to the hospital, Tiff decided that she would try to go through the whole thing naturally. By naturally, she was hoping not to need an epidural or any other pain medicine. (Any of you ladies out there with kids can stop laughing now...)

We played a couple hands of Gin.

Once the Pitocin kicked in Tiff started to feel the contractions, her head spun around like Linda Blair's, and I think she squeezed (squoze?) my hand so hard that she might have broke a couple of my bones... At this point, we decided an epidural was probably a good idea.

The epidural guy (that's his official name, I think) rolled in and started working on Tiff's back. I was standing up in front of her, holding on to her hands, and translating Tiff's grunts into when she was having contractions for the doctor. It took him about an hour and 15 mins to get the epidural right. Tiff was exhausted with the whole thing, and I was about to pass out from standing up the whole time and from lack of food.

I went down to the Cafeteria and grabbed luke-warm chicken (cat?) fingers. By the time I got back upstairs, they were doing the leg-into-stirrups thing and telling Tiff she was about ready to push. I made sure to stay above the equator the whole time.

After about 30 tiring mins of pushing, and about 15 1/2 hours after arriving at the hospital, little A.D. was born at 2:01 PM. Just to piss off his mom, he came out with his arm up above his head (and his head was cone-shaped... I was told that was normal).

Tiffany did great. We were both tired, but secretly I was really concerned about having a little conehead kid running around out there.

Overall, it's not a horror story at all. The epidural could have taken about an hour shorter, but that's it. So any of you out there who are getting really freaked out about the whole process, just think of Baird...Cubed.

Things We Have Learned...

2008-08-11T22:20:00.003-04:00

Now that A.D. is a week old, and we're parenting experts, there are quite a few things we have learned that we'd like to share with you future first-time parents.

1) Newborn poop is weird... very weird. In the early days, it is a mix of black-green silly-putty slime-tar fudge-goo (I'm proud of that description) that pretty much doesn't wipe off. Ever. The good thing is that is doesn't stink, which (unfortunately for me) means I get to spare you more fun adjectives. But then you learn that in the next few days it is no longer black, and the stink is there to stay.

2) You think, going in to the whole having a baby thing, that you have a general idea of how to change a diaper. People tell you all about lifting up the legs so you can wipe the previously mentioned impossible-to-remove tar from said butt. Then they tell you all about putting the diaper back on so it fits. And they even tell you about little tricks so that the kid doesn't pee everywhere (that you learn later will happen anyways) while you are changing them. What they don't tell you is that as soon as you lay them on their back and the cold air hits their baby skin, they turn into a flailing, screaming, completely pissed-off spider-monkey.

3) Sleep is AWESOME.

4) Every once in a while, if you're paying attention, you'll see a newborn smile. And it really is the cutest thing ever. But then you learn that they don't smile randomly, but they smile when they are passing gas or filling their diaper... if you know what I mean. I haven't figured out if they smile because it feels good, or because they know how hilarious it is that you have to change them.

These are just a few things we have learned, but we have loved every minute of it. Here's the famous week-old baby.

A.D. at Home...

2008-08-08T10:52:00.007-04:00

The First Photos of Many...

2008-08-05T16:26:00.003-04:00

6 Hours Old...

2008-08-05T08:42:00.002-04:00

Arrival...

2008-08-04T21:19:00.004-04:00

Last night just after midnight, Tiff and I made a trip to the hospital after her water broke. After we convinced the on-call nurses she was in fact in labor, they admitted us into the hospital.

It was slow going for a while, but long story short, we had A.D. at 2:01PM. He weighed 5 pounds, 13 ounces, and was 19 1/2 inches long. Both Tiffany and the baby did great, and are healthy.

We have a bunch of photos of the new little man, but it's dark in the room right now (he and Tiff are sleeping) and I can't find the transfer cord for the camera. So we'll post them tomorrow.

Now I'm going to try to sleep.

-- Tim

EDIT: A.D. is his initials, and will be his official Blog name. We'll send out emails and other forms of announcements with his full name a little later.

Around the House...

2008-08-03T13:40:00.001-04:00

Here are a few shots around the house (while things are organized) before the demolition man arrives...

More on this last one later...

Much Needed Update...

2008-07-20T21:05:00.003-04:00

Yeah, sorry that I haven't given a good update... I'm still recovering from building the crib.

We have about 3 weeks to go if Tiff goes full term. So far she still feels pretty good. And she still likes Tim, so that's a good thing too.

In the last week we have finished the room, had an appointment with the pediatrician, completed the application for the day-care, and put the car-seat bases into both of our cars. Just a little planning ahead, people. We've also started building Tiff's emergency "holy crap we have to head to the hospital" bag. It is chock full of loose clothing for her, baby socks for the kid, and a little cooler big enough for a six-pack for me.

So since we're getting close enough to almost get into freak-out mode, I figure I'll take guesses (Mayse style) of the date, time, weight, length, and hair color of the baby. I was going to have you guess eye color, but I just learned that all newborns have blue eyes... who knew? (I still doubt the claim, but haven't stolen enought babies from the hospital to prove it otherwise)

So there's the update. Tiff has appointments once a week from now on, and I'll keep updating as we go along. If a little gooey kid pops out before then, we'll let you know immediately.

-- Tim

How to Build a Crib...

2008-07-01T22:15:00.003-04:00

Now that we all know how to buy a crib, the next step is putting the thing together. The first step is hauling the many pieces up to the baby room.

-- Actually, to back up, the first step is jamming all of the baby furniture into the back of an F-150 and rolling along I-85 at 45mph with it all stacked up in the back like Jed Clampett. We did that yesterday, so here we are now --

The first thing I did was look for the instructions... not because I needed them, but to see if I could do them in Chinese. It's a fun little game I play.

Thankfully, I quickly found the crumpled up mass of paper known as the instructions. BUT, they were fake instructions. So I kept searching.

Once I finally found the instructions, I noticed they were in English. Disappointing I guess. I decided to read the instructions anyways, just to make sure I would have built the bed right... which I would have.

For some reason I needed an allen wrench, some cotton string, and a putter.

Weird.

The string didn't prove as effective as the bolts and wing-nuts did. But it did its job.

Once the crib was about complete, I needed to check to see if the floor was level. So that's what the putter was for.

Here's the assembled bed on the Plane Wall. I'll post pics of the finished room once we get it completed.

Note to Kid II...

2008-06-23T19:25:00.000-04:00

Hey little man,

I just wanted to let you know I appreciate the Father's Day gift. You didn't quite do what I asked, but if you're anything like me, your ADD kicked in about two sentences into the note... so I forgive ya. But it does sound like you had a little chat with your mom, who let me go and "upgrade the grill." So no harm done.

I hope you don't mind, but I tapped into your college fund and went with the stainless steel. You'll appreciate it when you get teeth and can eat solid food (not that you need teeth with the way my steaks melt... ha).

So here's a picture of the pork shoulder you missed out on. Don't worry bud, I'm sure the breast milk will be way better.

-- Dad

The Stuff you Get...

2008-06-21T15:41:00.007-04:00

While growing up, there are a few milestones that people give you stuff for. Graduating from high school was pretty cool, because people mostly give you money. Same with graduating from college, especially since you are genuinely poor, but they usually give you more money. Weddings are fun because your friends and family give you money, and blenders.

Then people find out you are having a baby, and they give you more stuff. In our case, you get onesies... a gazillion onesies. But unlike blenders, everyone has told us that we'll need all of them. So we're thankful for all of the onesies we've received, and we're also thankful for some of a few other fun gifts some avid B3 readers have given us.

Yup, we got the Monkey Baby Leash. I'm excited about taking the leashed kid places with a monkey on his back. Should be pretty fun.

We also got the Wee Block, the previously-mentioned urine super soaker-upper. Apparently, no one could find "Lil' Ladies Man," so we received "Tinkle Tinkle Lil' Star." Awesome.

From one of my cousins, I got the daddy survival kit, complete with: industrial rubber gloves, ginormous goggles, and disposable ponchos for when poop goes airborne (I heard it happens often); long handled tongs and disposable diaper bags, for the nasty diapers; a bottle of aspirin, for the headaches; a bottle of Jet-Alert, to help stay up on those late nights; clothespins; and a "Baby Gourmet" cooking tape ("Rated: Fresh & Fabulous").

A set of "Babies First John Deere Keys" were awesome. Seriously, he's going to learn how to mow the lawn when he's 3.

A little Pi Kappa Phi shirt. As soon as he's old enough to fit into it, I'll take pictures of him holding a PBR and getting friendly with the closest sorority baby.

Pacifiers are pretty cool because they generally shut babies up. But the Redskins pacifier is cool because it shuts them up while supporting my favorite team.

Lastly, we got the "Safe Baby Handling Techniques" book, complete with the Wheel of Responsibility on the front. The book is cool because not only does it tell you that babies generally do NOT eat fried chicken, but that only mommy should attempt breastfeeding. Boy, would I have been in trouble without it.

Thank you to everyone for all of the awesome gifts we have received. We still have room for more onesies, in case you see one that we can't live without.

Here's to you, 1,117...

2008-06-13T12:35:00.001-04:00

1,117 hits on the blog???

What's wrong with you people? Don't you have anything better to do?

Note: If you put 1,117 in Wikipedia, it tells you that the following happened in 1,117 A.D.: Iceland ended slavery; Saint Magnus, the Earl of Orkney (of course) was executed; and the Miideri and the sohei of Enryakuji attacked Nara, Japan.

Ummm...

Well, here's a toast to 1,117, and a little thanks for visiting B3.

Now go do your own little dance, and stop back by later for more updates.

-- Tim

Promised Pic...

2008-06-11T21:33:00.003-04:00

Here is the promised belly photo... kind of.

And yes, we have started on the baby's room. Aunt Sam is decorating the walls for us. I'll post the final nursery photos once it is done.

Note to kid...

2008-06-10T21:30:00.000-04:00

Hey kiddo,

I know we don't really know each other yet... I haven't named you, I don't have any furniture for you yet, and I haven't bought you any Superman pajamas (yes, complete with the cape). But I am working on it.

As you know, about a month ago I bought your mom (your current transport vehicle) a massage for Mother's Day. Hopefully it relaxed you as much as it did her. Well Father's Day is fast approaching, and now I need your help. I know technically I'm not a father yet, but I'm not about to tell a 7-month pregnant lady she's not a mother yet either... you think I have a death-wish?

Here's what I need from you...

1) First I need you to start playing xylophone on your mom's ribs, get the hiccups, trampoline on her bladder, or any other annoying (but not too painful) thing your little plum-sized brain can think of.

2) Get her to think the only thing that will relax you is a car ride. She's pretty smart, so she'll figure it out fast.

3) Next, guide her to any of the following stores: Home Depot; Lowe's; anywhere that sells raw beef in large quantities; Bass Pro Shops... you get the idea.

4) If she turns on the car to leave without buying anything, start jabbing again.

5) Guide her, using the "warmer-colder" jab method (you'll figure it out) until she leaves with a gift in her hand. And make sure it's a good gift too... nothing lame like a tie, a pen holder, or a John Mayer CD.

6) Go ahead and relax on the drive back. You'll be exhausted.

Thanks in advance. And if you pull this off, I'll make sure your mom takes you to The Wiggles concert for your 3rd birthday.

-- Dad

Prize Fight... B3 Style

2008-06-04T22:30:00.004-04:00

As you know, B3 will be expecting a new member in August. And with the new arrival will be a new power struggle for the attention of Tiff and I. I have a feeling the baby will win, but not without a good fight from Smokey, our resident pain-in-the-ass cat.

In about 2 months the fight should begin... Here's the fight billing.

Name: Smokey

Age: 3

Weight: 11 lbs

Bio: Smokey's incredibly efficient style of grabbing the attention of humans includes: incessantly bitching until they notice him, yell at him, feel bad, and then feed him; biting; attacking a passing foot and then retreating; throwing up on any plush, soft, and otherwise easily-stainable flat surface of the house; pooping; occasionally looking cute; throwing his body against any closed door at Mach speeds until the human behind the door opens it, yells at hims, feels bad, and then gives him treats; and knocking everything he can reach off of coffee tables, dining room tables, kitchen tables, dressers, and counter tops.

Name: Baby

Age: Newborn

Weight: About the same as a good-sized Bass

Bio: Although his attention-getting style is still unknown, the baby will most likely employ the same tactics that have been passed down to him from generations past. These tactics will most likely include: crying until the parents notice him and feed him; projectile vomiting; stuffing things in his mouth; mashing things into the carpet; pooping; occasionally being cute; stuffing things in his nose; flushing anything within reach down the toilet; and giggling.

It should be a pretty good fight... The betting window is now open.

(Baby photo by PBD/Dave)

Full Reflection

2008-06-03T14:07:00.003-04:00

Here's the scanned page out of Southern Living that has the (now) famous couple, with the full reflection.

It seems like a pretty good giveaway, too. If you win, I assure you that your Charleston wedding will include a fat, sweaty, and drunk DJ who will set off the smoke alarm... just like ours!

Good luck!

Updating the Blob...

2008-05-30T21:07:00.007-04:00

The other night my mother-in-law informed me that I "need to update the blob."

So here we are...

We also received a call from Tiffany's very observant older sister, Kristin. When Tiff picked up, Kristin asked, "Why didn't you tell me you and Tim are in Southern Living?"

Tiff chuckled, then realized she was serious. After she hung up we went out to the nearest store and picked up a copy (well, two copies) and sure enough there we are. One of our favorite wedding photos was used for an ad for a Charleston destination wedding giveaway.

Maybe I gave Kristin a little bit too much credit for being observant. Once you see the photo, it's hard to miss my long neck, hunched shoulders, and cowlick against the hazy sky.

And it's on the Charleston Area Convention & Visitor Bureau website too.

Did you have anything to do with this M&M?

Once I get a scan of the page, I'll put it here.

The Blob has been updated. Stay tuned for tummy pics.

"Wee-wee absorbing sponges"... awesome.

2008-04-17T21:22:00.006-04:00

Tiff and I finally registered at Babies R Us this week. I think we looked at just strollers for about 45 minutes. To clarify, we didn't "look" at strollers... we pushed, spun, took apart, folded up, picked up, determined poop-stain deterence, measured, and put back together the strollers.

While we were there, we sort of decided to try to keep things as natural or organic as possible. We registered for detergents and lotions that don't have much fragrance, natural cotton wash cloths, and a natural cotton foam diaper changing thingy (as is evident in previous posts, I'm not sure what a lot of this stuff is called). But that's really it, I think. We're still using the good old disposable diapers that will suck up about half of the Atlantic Ocean.

We saw this there too, which of course Tiff wouldn't let me register for... A Weeblock!

"A baby boy loves to take direct aim at you when being changed. But now you can protect yourself with Weeblock, a cup-like covering that you place between his legs at changing time. Underneath the super-soft 2-ply cotton jersey covering lies the secret weapon: a wee-wee absorbing sponge. Bright color combinations with embroidered icons give this utilitarian product a healthy dose of fun. And yes, the whole thing's machine washable. Imported."

Of course it's imported.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

And now for the Baby-Belly shot. This is Tiff at 23 weeks, almost 24.

-- Tim

Where are the updates?!?!?

2008-04-07T11:20:00.005-04:00

Sorry folks, no important blog-worthy things have happened since the last post. To show you how exciting last week was, the below photo (taken by Laura), was certainly the highlight of the week...

BUT...

Pretty soon we will be painting a baby room, registering for baby stuff, and attending classes on how to not kill the kid and how to breastfeed.

I'm excited about registering... not excited about breastfeeding class.

How to Save 6%...

2008-03-30T15:42:00.007-04:00

Yesterday, we decided to head out early and go on a marathon hunt for baby furniture... crib, baby dresser, and "chester drawers" (I'm not sure what they are called, and that's what Tiff calls them). We hit up Burlington Coat Factory (not affiliated with Burlington Industries... apparently), Babies-R-Us, and Baby USA.

Burlington Coat Factory wasn't very impressive. Tiff picked up a couple shirts and we moved on.

As I've mentioned before [Pre-Valentines Trip], Babies-R-Us is in fact impressive. Their cribs were nice, and the selection was plentiful. They had so many cribs, I got confused at which one I was looking at, whether I had already looked at it, and what the difference was between that one and the six others that looked just like it. We picked out a couple that we liked and headed to our last stop.

Unlike the previous two stores, Baby USA is a franchise, so it is individually owned. This is important later on...

We looked at all of their cribs too, as well as the dressers and "chester" things. They had different packages that included all of those, plus the mattress, as well as armoirs and hutches if you want them.

We decided we liked the furniture at Baby USA and left to grab lunch and mull it over. About an hour later we returned, not to buy furniture, but to get the umbrella we left there (that happened to be in the car the whole time).

Since we were back, we figure we might as well go ahead and buy the furniture. We met the owner, Taylor, who was a nice guy and a great salesman. He was good at what he did because he was personable, great at bull-shitting, and talked me out of buying things we didn't need. His downfall was that he was a Tar Heels fan.

Taylor wasn't your average "yeah I like 'em" Tar Heels fan... he was a "eat, sleep, breath, foam at the mouth" Tar Heels fan. I think he about had a heart attack when Tiff started talking basketball with him.

Since the Heels were in the Elite-Eight of the NCAA Tourney (at the time), he had a promotion going on that if you sing a verse of the North Carolina fight song, you can save 6%.

Let me first say... I am NOT a Heels fan (sorry M&M). But to save some money, I'd lie to anyone and say that I am. So as we were buying the furniture, at the front of the store I sang, along with Taylor, part of the Tar Heels fight song...

I'm a Tar Heel born.
I'm a Tar Heel bred.
And when I die I'll be a Tar Heel dead.
So it's rah rah Carolina-lina.
Rah rah Carolina-lina.
Rah rah Carolina-lina--rah rah rah!

At the cost of my dignity, we saved 6%.

Fun with names...

2008-03-27T21:21:00.001-04:00

Now that we know that a little boy is on the way, it seems the majority of our conversations are about picking names.

Here's how I've figured out the baby naming process goes...

First of all, I bought a Baby Names book for Tiff last week as a surprise. So we have a good base of about 10,000 boy names...

Then you knock out about 75% that are just plain weird... like Traquavious, Abdon, and Franklheigh... I swear I didn't make those up.

Then you knock out about another 75% of what's left for the ones that make your kid sound like a near-sighted chemist, like Poindexter, Reginald, and Newton.

Then the ones that will get your kid's ass kicked... like Darshit. (I know that should have been knocked out from the first 75%, but I really wanted to point out the name. But it admittedly does have a good ring to it. Say it out loud a few times...)

Once you knock out those names, you're left with a still very mighty list of names to choose from. Here's how the conversation goes from there...

Tiff: How about Ethan?

Mom-in-Law: Ooooh, I like Ethan!

Tim: Nope. I knew a kid in elementary school named Ethan who was PK deficient and had to drink milkshakes that looked like post-fruitloop breakfast vomit. So no. How about Beauregard?

Dad-in-Law chuckles and hands me a High-Life, and Tiff scolds me for not taking this seriously (which I wasn't).

Tiff: How about occupation names, like Harper?

Tim: Harper? What occupation is that, someone who plays the harp?

Tiff: Yes.

Tim: Oh... nope.

Tim: How about a presidential name... like Theodore?

Dad-in-Law snorts beer across the room and declares that he likes the name "Teddy Baird."

Tim: How about "Teddy Brown Baird."

We chuckle, and the girls scold us some more...

Then it continues with the girls coming up with more names, and me knocking them down because they remind me of some dumb movie, a stupid kid I grew up with, or a pet we once had... Then I try to come up with other names that match our very Ursine last name...

The moral of the story is YES, we have discussed baby names. And NO, we haven't picked one out yet.

And YES, Darshit is now in the running.

Dancing in my head

2008-03-26T10:52:00.003-04:00

We apologize for the lack of updates recently. The past couple weeks have been filled with disastrous fishing trips (which is an entire blog in itself), uneventful fishing trips, house projects, yard projects, physical therapy, ultrasound appointments, etc...

Oh, you want to know the results of the ultrasounds?

Well Tiff and I went yesterday for the appointment. They put the goo-stuff on her (tiny) belly, and we immediately saw the little heart beating away. The technician pointed out the four-heart chambers, which proved we were in fact pregnant with a mammal.

We then saw what the technician said was a perfect looking spine, and little baby feet. We got pictures of everything. When I get to it I'll scan a few of them in.

Then she pointed out the little baby penis... I was dead-set that it was going to be a girl, just based on gut feeling. Tiff knew it would be a boy, I guess I should have listened to the mom's intuition.

When she confirmed it was a boy, I did a little dance like this in my head...

Then I did a dance like this...

So there you go, it's a boy. Now Project Baby Room can begin...

Things We're Registering For...

2008-03-14T21:50:00.001-04:00

As I've discussed before, the baby aisles are fun to cruise through. I'm no baby expert, but I know what we'll need as soon as I see it in the store. So here are a few things we'll need in order to raise a smart, hard working, and well adjusted baby.

It's a well known fact that parents are crazy. Mine were... yours were too. And babies know this as soon as they get home from the hospital and their parents start making goofy faces at them. So the first thing they learn to do is walk, so they can eventually learn how to run away and be raised by wolves in the forest. So we'll need a Monkey Baby Leash. This serves two purposes... 1) It keeps the kid from seeking that loving wolf-family they are in search for, and 2) It teaches them how to deal with wearing all the ridiculous crap their parents will dress them in for the rest of their life.

This is a Baby Bjorn. There's an umlaut over the "o" of Bjorn, I just don't know how to add it. And because there's an umlaut in the name, it means it's foreign made. Wearing foreign-made stuff will instill a sense of worldliness in the baby, and will make it easier to learn how to speak foreign languages and cook exotic food. (My parents did not wear anything with umlauts in it, and I blame that for my poor performance in Spanish and German in high school.)
Ah yes, the toy lawnmower. Babies are much like bird dogs, and gun-shy bird dogs are worthless... much like lawnmower-shy babies. So you have to get them pushing around noisy lawnmowers at an early age. They will get used to the sound, and when they are about 3 they'll be ready to mow your lawn like a champ. Note: The toy lawnmower can be used along with the monkey baby leash, in case they try to make a break for it.

Babies are wily little creatures, and will run away at the most opportune times... like when their daddy is dropping a deuce. So that's why we'll need the Baby Keeper, an ingenious devise to keep the baby in place while we're getting some important reading done in the "library. " They probably won't be making a face like that, but you get the general idea...

These are just a few things, and I'm sure I'm missing a bunch. Any other suggestions?

Fun with Shampoo

2008-03-11T20:45:00.000-04:00

Recently, I've got myself into the habit of taking a stroll through the baby section of any stores I might be visiting. I do this partly because I'm always amazed at the prices of formula, diapers, and tiny baby Air-Jordans... and partly because I'm easily distracted by all the bright colors...

On a recent trip to one of these stores with a pretty decent sized baby section, I was approached by a gum-chewing fairly adolescent looking employee, while I was staring down a whole row of baby shampoo. (The colors were impressive)

"Is there anything I can help you with?" she smacked through her Juicy-Fruit.

First of all, she was a nice girl, but I'm not really sure I want advice on baby products from a 16 year-old. This is South Carolina, so I shouldn't be surprised, I guess. Secondly, I wasn't in a rush, so I decided to have some fun...

I looked around up in the air like I was lost. "I'm looking for the dog shampoo."

"This is the baby section," she stated.

"Oh, I've got one of those too. What's the best brand of baby shampoo?"

She looked confused, then really excited to answer the question... "Oh, any of the Johnson & Johnson stuff is good." She pointed them out like Vanna White. "And a lot of people like the Gerber shampoo. But between you and me, there really isn't any difference between adult shampoo, like we use, and baby shampoo."

I chuckled not only because she felt she had to define adult in layman's terms, but because she included herself as one. I also disagreed with her, but I kept playing along...

"I use Old Spice Hair & Body Wash, so I can just use that?"

"I don't think that's approved by the American (insert some pediatrician society's name here... I kinda zoned out), so I would get real baby shampoo."

"Oh."

She pulled a purple one off the shelf and opened it, smelled it, and handed it to me. "This one is lavender. It helps your baby go to sleep."

I liked the smell... it smelled like a baby should. But I still make a coughing sound just to add to the fun.

"I'm not sure if this will get the fur really clean."

At this point she got real fidgety and I could tell she was looking around for an out. "Fur?"

"Oh, we don't have a baby, we have a puppy. Will this help a puppy sleep?"

"You know, I think my manager might know."

She turned right around and disappeared around the corner. I left the baby section with a big smile on my face. I'm sure there's some blog somewhere on MySpace written by a gum-chomping teenager that starts out, "like oh my god, today at work we had the dumbest customer."

The Year of the Legacy...

2008-03-06T20:58:00.007-05:00

Subtitled: People I Don't Trust with Babies...

Secondary Subtitle: They are Gonna Kill Me...

As it turns out, 2008 is going to be a busy year for Pi Kapp births. As you know, Nathan and Sara just had their second. Soon Terry, Leebo, and myself will be adding to the pool in 2008.

We all went to college together, and are all fraternity brothers. Even though we were all very responsible students and exceptional citizens (chuckle), babies are a different story.

Because of this, I may get them to hop on and share some thoughts. But before they do, I'll make some introductions.

Meet: Terry

Terry had a Beta fish named Lulu, and a pet snake named Mitch. He never killed them, but did give Mitch away.

You can't give a baby away, man... I'm just saying.

He now lives in Boston with his expecting wife Sarah.

Meet: Leebo

Leebo had a water bed in college... enough said I think. Oh, and he and his wife live in Charleston and are expecting their first.

If I had a more incriminating photo of Leebo, I would have posted it. Now accepting donations.

Meet: Nathan

This guy is now in charge of two kids...

Hopefully taste in headwear doesn't translate to parenting skills.

(Photo Edited) -- Thanks Sara!

Meet: Tim

The baby better not try to steal my chicken wings.

Also, I've given up on buying diapers. I'm going to put newspaper and cedar chips down on all the floors. It should be a lot cheaper.

Congrats guys... Yo-Ho, Yo-Ho.

Cheap Hotels and Chin-Hair

2008-03-04T08:55:00.004-05:00

Not much has happened on the baby front in the last few days. But I did come across this awesome photo of Tiff and I at a Pi Kapp social in Charleston, SC in 2001 (I think). She's 4-months along and can probably still fit into that dress.

On a side note, we have decided to find out the sex of the baby, which will be coming to a Blog near you in April, 2008.

Vote for Tim!

2008-02-29T07:30:00.000-05:00

Us here at B3 welcome Amelia Lourain Mayse to the world. Amelia is the brand new daughter of Nathan and Sara, and sister of Seth.

I think Amelia Lourain is a beautiful name, but I am very disappointed I wasn't included in the naming discussion. So... I have now officially entered my name into the election for exclusive naming rights to Mayse Baby #3 (which I've already decided will be born, so that's not in the discussion).

Now if Nathan and Sara would like to skip the political arena and grant me exclusive naming rights based on my landslide victory in the Baby Predictions post, then I accept (I believe I at least got gooey right).

I ask for all of your support in this matter, and await the list of my opponents.

Congrats Nathan and Sara!

-- B3

Sisterly love

2008-02-28T08:50:00.007-05:00

My sister, we'll call her "Yesdnil," replied to the the Minivan Music Lessons post with this nugget of goodness. It was too good not to share on the main blog.

Courtesy Tim Hawkins

Little do they know...

2008-02-25T22:30:00.000-05:00

That this is what their dad looks like...

Minivan Music Lessons

2008-02-24T19:29:00.003-05:00

I was involved in a lot of extracurricular crap as a kid. For example: baseball, boy (and cub) scouts, soccer, summer camp, band, etc. And I mean as a little kid, not a high school kid. I didn't do anything in high school... but I digress... The bad thing about it was that Mom was constantly driving me around northern Virginia. The good side was those were the times I picked up my taste in music.

Music was always on in the car. (Who am I kidding? Music was always on in the minivan.) In fact, I don't know if I've been in a music-less car at all in 27 years.

When I was little, it was usually "classic" rock... sometimes oldies.

The Beatles, Clapton, Tom Petty, The Stones, The Allman Brothers, Aerosmith, The Doors, to name a few.

I knew all the words. But as I listened, I had a lot of questions about the music... Why isn't Queen around any more? Are their last names really "Doobie?" Did Joe Walsh's Maserati really drive 185?

Mom answered, but left out details about Freddy Mercury dying of AIDS, and why they were called the Doobie Brothers.

But that was in the eighties, and all of that was mostly about 15 years old by then.

What will our kid(s) listen to when we're driving them around? (It sure as hell won't be the Wiggles, I'll tell you that.) When they are 10, will classic be called oldies, and will 90's rock be called classic?

Will I be forcing them to listen to music by bands like Pearl Jam, The Foo Fighters, Weezer, Spacehog, Soundgarden, Live, Green Day, and Better Than Ezra?

Most likely I will.

Will they ask me... Why isn't Nirvana around any more? Why are they called Porno for Pyros? What does Crash Into Me mean?

Do I answer, but leave out details that Kurt Cobain wacked out on coke and shot himself in the head and that babies come from songs like Crash Into Me? I think I do.

Or do I just ignore them and pass back a couple more crayons for them to jam into the upholstery?

In the end, I really hope they appreciate the music I make them listen to. And secretly, I hope they hate that their mom will make them listen to country.

"Hell if I know"

2008-02-21T13:29:00.005-05:00

Yesterday our whole office went to Indigo Joes for lunch. As the conversations evolved around me, some of the ladies began talking about baby stuff. So naturally I tuned in, hoping to pick up some nugget of information for future use. Apparently I looked more interested than I really was when one of them looked right at me and said, "You know what you need? A Diaper Genie."

--First of all, I can't imagine why I would need anything called Diaper Genie right now, as I am perfectly capable of using toilets, urinals, and the occasional big tree in the woods.

Jake (my buddy, and only other guy in the office without a kid) and I looked at each other and both shrugged...

"What's a Diaper Genie?". . . (Hell if I know.)

They shook their collective heads and laughed at us...

When I got home I decided to do a little research... here's what I learned.

The Diaper Genie is a trash can...

Oh, but there are two to choose from. Diaper Genie II and the Diaper Genie Twistaway. There was a list of "features" with each model.

Here are the Diaper Genie II's coveted features...

Helps keep your nursery odor free with Diaper Genie® II’s patented AIR-TITE™ System...

(So it has a lid...)

Uses the revolutionary AIR-TITE™ System, a seven-layer odor barrier film technology and the Push-N-Lock clamp, that seals odor away better than the competition

(I'll admit the "revolutionary seven-layer odor barrier film" is kinda cool...)

Has an incredibly easy-to-use, one-hand design system (unlike the original Diaper Genie® System, no twisting is required)

(One-hand design? How many diapers require two hands to hold?)

Holds more than 30 small diapers

(But how many of the monstrous "two-handed" diapers will it hold?)

Comes fully assembled and ready to use

(it's a trashcan, right?)

No Batteries Required

(see the previous comment)

Plus, Diaper Genie® II System is incredibly easy to use with its one-hand operation – important when parents are holding a child and trying to throw away a diaper at the same time.

(I can't fathom what is so damn hard about throwing away a diaper in a trash can, and why a two-handed person is that much better off than a one-handed person, unless they are the massive two-handed diapers previously mentioned)
.
.
.

I'm still on the fence with this one, but may be worth it just for the fact I don't have to put it together and it doesn't require batteries.

2008-02-20T19:08:00.002-05:00

With a future baby on its way, it kinda gets you thinking about other things you want to get done in life. Much like The Bucket List, which I haven't seen but get the general idea, here's a short list of things Tim wants to accomplish...

Hitchhike somewhere
Protest something (if I protest protesting, can I check it off my list?)
Read the whole encyclopedia
Live off the land
Poop in all 50 States... (and get some encyclopedia reading done)
Work at a dude ranch
Fix our sink
Go on Cash Cab (and go double or nothing on the video bonus)
Throw out a first pitch
Read Letterman's Top 10
Get my pinkie working

Other than that, anything else that happens is just bonus.

Oh, and due to colds, bronchitis, and respiratory infections between Tiff and I, no baby stuff has happened in a while. But Tiff's getting a little belly now... woohoo!

Bored...and sick on a Sunday

2008-02-17T16:23:00.007-05:00

As many of you know, I really enjoy nature and wildlife photography. Today I was fortunate enough to observe one of the most dangerous creatures in the world... the pregnant wife (Knockedupicus femalicus). I say fortunate because on a Sunday afternoon, this would be her normal weekend hibernation time. Please note the habits of the pregant wife and her surroundings: comfy chair; blanket; pillow; book. But please don't let the domestication of these wild creatures fool you, as they are in fact, still wild animals.

I have been sick all weekend with either strep or something else pretty nasty. Tiff has been great at taking care of me. She's going to be an awesome mom.

Pre-Valentines Trip

2008-02-14T08:37:00.007-05:00

To beat the crowds, Tiff and I decided to go out for Valentine's Day on Wednesday. After an awesome dinner at City Range, we decided to hop on over to Babies R Us and take a quick look around. If you haven't been there, it's kinda overwhelming. I saw 12,000 nipples, a $375 breast pump, and a whole aisle just for butt-cream... which is impressive in itself.

One thing struck me as kinda funny. They had socks with little grippy bottoms, and the grippy things have the age of the kid on them, so you know what size they should wear. Not only is this great for the mom, since she knows the kid won't be slipping around, but it's great for the dad too. Any time someone asks how old they are, he can just look at their feet...

"How old is he?"

"Ummm... he's 0-6 months"

Perfect.

First Post... sure to change

2008-02-12T15:48:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the first blog for Baird... Cubed.

Why Baird...Cubed you ask? Many of you know Tiff and I have a little bundle of joy (and when I say "bundle of joy," I mean a baby, not a gift-basket full of Heineken) coming our way in August. It will be the third Baird in the household, so hence Baird... Cubed.

Why not Baird By 3? or Baird Baby Blog? Or any other of the million alliterative names you can come up with? I don't know really, so we're sticking with this name.

This isn't the very beginning of the pregnancy, so there will be some things we'll catch you all up on. But it is pretty close to the beginning, so you really haven't missed much...

Here's what you have missed...

Tiff hasn't really been sick, which completely amazes me,
I bought a box of diapers,
We don't know the sex, and we haven't decided if we are going to find out,
Tiff's not really showing yet,
We haven't started on the baby room yet,
I went to Baby's R Us... and left scared,
We haven't picked out names, but have ruled out Rufus and Gertrude... I'm campaigning for Grizzly,
Seriously, I bought a box of diapers. See below.

-- Tim