Sunday February 7th 2010

We are still alive and have survived the snowpocalypse. We received about 20 inches of snow (give or take) and have dug our driveway and car out. We lost power on Saturday for about 6 hours (3:00pm to 9:00pm) but were coping quite well. We had the gas fireplace going for heat and lots or candles and flashlights. Lisa and I were even prepared to actually talk and converse for a whole evening. But luckily that was avoided when the power came back on and we were able to catch up on some TV shows backlogged in our DVR. We do not have any satellite signal and it seems that we will be without Directv for probably a few days. Our dish is on the roof and covered in snow and there is now way to get up there at this time to clear it off. With the weather not expecting to get above freezing at any point until Thursday or Friday, we are going to be TV less for a few more days. Luckily we do have lots of old shows we have not seen yet saved in the DVR, so we have that going for us.

Rachel went out and played some in the snow today and had a blast. Here are some pictures.

Oh yeah, they are calling for 5-10 more inches of snow on Tuesday, so lucky us.

Friday February 5th 2010

It is 11:30 pm on Friday night and we are upon the snowpocalypse. There is already 7-inches on the ground and the "experts" are calling for 18 to 30 inches by Saturday night. Washington DC is freaking out and people have been on edge all week. Grocery stores are all bare and look like they have been looted. It is actually quite amusing to watch people get so uptight about snow.

The only concern i have is that it is a wet and heavy snow falling and that could be real bad. I already have branches in my tree hanging real real low with all the snow on them and the snowstorm is just beginning. I will not be surprised if power will be lost at some point for alot of this region. The trees are not used to snow and ice hanging on them and there will be down power lines. I just hope we are fortunate here. I foresee having no power for the super bowl on Sunday. It is just my luck. And even if we do have power, my directv is not so good in heavy snow and rain. We have already lost all HD cable channels and i am not sure what my dish is going to do if there is a few feet of snow covering it on my roof. So even if we have power, i might not be able to watch the super bowl. /crosses_fingers

Rachel and I survived this past week with Lisa in Sweden. The two of us laughed alot and played. Rachel surprisingly had very little crying and fits. (crap, our power just flickered and everything went off for a second. i just had to reboot this computer...there is no way i will have power by morning i fear) Rachel is doing great and is healthy and growing. She will be two in a month and it amazes me at how quickly time flies by.

I have to go and start preparing for the power to go out...extra blankets and such. There is a snow emergency declared and people are supposed to be off the streets. I am gonna have to think of a back up plan.

Happy New Year (01-04-2010)

It has been almost two months since i last posted and there is little excuse. Time just seems to fly by with work and family. We are doing great and Rachel is growing both physically and emotionally every day. She is so smart and amazes me daily. Rachel is awesome! She runs the house and (tries) tells us what to do and how to do it. She has a personality and is so humorous. She will laugh with you and try to make you laugh. Rachel is silly.
Here are some pictures from our visit to Cincinnati at Thanksgiving with Rachel and her cousin Jenna. Lisa and Jackie thought it would be cute to dress both girls up in the football dresses of their daddy's favorites team. So Jenna is a Bengal cheerleader and Rachel is a Browns cheerleader. There are pictures from Christmas morning and Rachel opening presents. There is also a few pictures of Rachel in her Santa dress. We kind of forgot to take a picture with her in it until the end of the day. There is a picture of her and me playing peek-a-boo with the covers.

Sunday November 8th 2009

Lisa made it back from Sweden safe and sound. Rachel and i survived and had a great time. There were no horror stories or even any significant problems to mention. Rachel had her moments when she cried for her Mommy, but they were far less than i expected. Lisa came home to a really messy house, but other than that, i would give myself an ' A' for the week.

Nothing else of note is going on here. Rachel got her first application of the swine flu vaccine on Thursday and that went fine. Obviously, she did not like the needle in her leg, but other than that, it went well.

Rachel is still not talking clearly but she knows many words and slurs them when trying to speak. If you spend any time around her, you know will easily figure out what she is saying.

Just off the top of my head, she says - ball, teeth, keys, yes, no, crackers, cookies, banana, feet, book, and dora. She understands each of those words and knows their general meaning.

She can also identify numerous body parts and will point to them if you ask her where they are. Among those are eyes, nose, ears, mouth, hair, neck, shoulders, hands, feet, knees, elbows.

Just out of the blue this week, she started wagging her index finger saying NO NO NO. And she would giggle when she finished.

Rachel is awesome! Here are a few pics i took today after church.

Sunday November 1st 2009

Hello from Virginia. Lisa is currently in an airplane somewhere over the Atlantic ocean heading to Sweden and Rachel is sleeping in her crib. Today was the first night in what i expect to be, a very sad week. We dropped Lisa off at the airport around 3:00 this afternoon and it will be Daddy & Rachel until Thursday evening. Tonight went pretty well but she did keep repeating 'mommy' over and over. But there were really no tears about the lack of mommy (yet!). The rest of the week will be interesting for the two of us.

Rachel dressed up as a lady bug for Halloween and I have included some photos from the past few days. There are photos of her dancing (a jig) , some are her licking her bubble making wand (yuck), some photos after she had some chocolate and it is on her face. There are a wide variety of photos. These pictures are from Friday and Saturday. Enjoy.

Thursday October 8th 2009

When I got home from work tonight, Rachel and Lisa were at the playground at the end of the street, playing on the slide. Here is a video (taken from my iphone) of the 'big' girl. If you turn the volume up, you can hear her say 'Mommy and Daddy'.

Friday October 2nd 2009

We are still alive and doing well. It has been months since i have posted anything and i apologize for that. Our batteries died in our digital camera and I had to order replacement batteries off of ebay because no one seems to make the batteries any more. Best Buy and Circuit City no longer carried them.

Rachel is awesome and is getting taller and skinnier. She eats and eats and is not picky about any kind of food. She will eat anything you put on her plate.

Rachel is still not talking much. She points and grunts at things she wants. But she does say about 20 words, just not clearly. examples are bah=ball, cacka-crackers, buhb=bubbles (she likes to play with bubbles in the yard). But she does say Daddy crystal clear and that is nice. She also likes to say 'Uh Oh' whenever she see something that does not seem right to her. examples of her saying Uh Oh would be when the TV is paused or shut off or when something falls on the floor.

Rachel knows exactly what she wants and how she wants it. It is great watching her develop a personality and grow up. She is very bossy and will come and grab your hand and lead you around the house to do her bidding.

I will post some pictures soon but as of right now, we do not have any because the camera has been without batteries.

Lisa and I still have jobs and do not see that changing anytime soon, so we have that going for us also.

I will take pictures over the weekend and post early next week.