Joe was caught sleeping on the job as we continue to pack for our trip

Today marked another milestone for Joe ... the first round of shots came his way this afternoon. After a trip to Tampa to drop the Johnson's off for their vacation, it was to the doctors for a little "pin-prick". Medically speaking, Joseph is perfectly healthy; residing in the 40th percentile for head circumference, 50th for length ... and dropping to the 80th percentile for weight as he tipped the scales at just under 13 pounds (though he was sick since his last appointment so we think he lost a little during that time). However, that nice nurse then turned evil and pulled out the nasty needles. Joe gave her a piece of his mind, but to no avail ... all required vaccinations were administered. A little Tylenol and warm cloths helped ease the pain and allowed us to continue packing for our trip. Melissa thinks we are about 75% done ... most of the rest will wait until Friday night.

We are so excited ... just a couple more nights and one long plane ride. The Adventures of Joe continue!

Joseph is getting really excited about the trip home!

We are down to our last week before the beginning of our tour and we starting to get really excited. I still don't know how we are going to fit everyone it ... but man, we are going to have such a blast. We have started packing bags, checking what fits and what doesn't, collecting our paperwork (my passport runs out while I am home so have to have all the other documents), and double checking our lists -- almost feels like christmas :)

On top of that, our weekend was spent shared with friends. Friday night we were once again out until the moon was high in the sky with Tiffany, Jordan, and their parents. Ok, Ok, the parents were all out late partying it up with Coach Carter and Chinese food while the kids slept. Saturday night was spent at another of Jeff's BBQs - this time we really packed the house (and our stomachs). It was quite exciting as Ines, some may remember from last fall, was back in town and joined us for the evening.

First steps in the ocean (well guess technically "the gulf")

And today we enjoyed an afternoon trip to the beach for some Johnson and Bahan beach-shot family photos. Returning home to a wonderful meal and several games of UNO ... you know, that is quite a violent game. Sadly, this is likely going to be the last relaxing evening spent with them before they head out of town. We might catch them Monday or Tuesday to help pack ... but it looks like it could be a while before we catch up with them again. We are really going to miss you guys!

Group shot of the Johnsons, Krishen, and the Bahan clan

Well ... times ... they are a changing. Over the last month we have had two tires blow on our car, a fuel pump issue that continues to hang in the balance, a DVD player once again start reporting strange errors, and to top it off - our coffee pot leaks. And that does not even address the fact that close friends are leaving town.

I know I missed listing something, this just seems to be the month that brings our lives back into balance. Over the last year we have been living on the crest of a wave; finances have started to come into order, we enjoyed the birth of our first child, and we continue to live in a vacation destination. The key here, how do we navigate the future?

Well, the possibility of a rent hike next spring has got us back looking for a house or condo. We have heard horror stories of rent being raised $80 and rent for our apartment size going above a grand ... too rich for my blood. We have been living under the premise that the $1k mark is the hump between paying a mortgage and paying rent. A point at where I want to be putting my money to work rather than just paying for a service. So ... now ... how far am I willing to drive? And is a second car an option? All things that have to be taken into account.

It is just so funny how life works ... when things go ... they all go at once :)

(06/24/2005) more ...

Melissa reminds me that we have also seen the loss of our PS2 system (that we accepted broken and fixed to begin with). Then the camera LCD screen seems to be malfunctioning, and we are losing values to our breast pump almost every time we wash the thing ... small, washer like values, just scoot down the drain when we aren't looking (we now have to look into a replacement, replacements kit). And we remain in the hunt for either a replacement cordless phone ... or simply new batteries. Oh the perils!

Alright ... that was not so bad. Looks like things are up and running with the new version of Movable Type and MT-Blacklist. We will see over the next bit if the new system works (must say the UI is much better).

Thanks again to Canada Web Hosting for all their help. Hope this solves our problems.

I appears that my current website is causing havoc on the web hosting servers. I will thus be upgrading my software in an attempt to solve this problem. I am not sure how long this will take ... but I wanted to let everyone know incase there is a delay in updates.

I want to thank Canada Web Hosting for their continued patience while we work through this problem.

From the attached card:
The gift I got for you dad is more for my pleasure than yours. I want your hands free when we go on hikes through the parks and hills. I will need one of your hands to hold on to and the other will need to be free so you can point out all the stuff I have not seen before.

I am looking forward to all the years of adventure. I Love U Dad, Joe

Joe enjoyed helping dad open his gifts

This morning Joseph treated me to a wonderful breakfast at First Watch before I opened my first fathers day gifts (a pack and personalize picture frame). Melissa then cooked a wonderful perogy and sausage dinner for this evening while Joe and I took a nap. The day, in one word, was perfect.

No relaxing day is complete without a nap

Moms just love showing off the kids

With all lamaze babies now accounted for we thought we would gather again to compare notes and find out how everyone else was doing. I am happy to say that all babies are pretty darn cute, not to mention being healthy and happy! The oldest was born April 21st while the youngest is only 2 weeks old - that is only if you count those who made it through the classes (We had one couple split half way through! Those drop-outs!)

Basically we sat around all afternoon eating junk food and sharing memories and stories of the "early days". The kids were great all day, just sleeping, eating and being merry with all the extra attention that was coming their way. After it was all over we stopped by the outlet stores (right around the corner) and managed to find some great new outfits at 50-70% off ... now we are tired ... and must sleep.

Rack 'em and stack 'em boys ... we gotta go home!

The team ... Spring 2005 Manatee Ultimate Champions

After a long drawn out season, it was finally time for the finals. This season has definitely been one of U.P.S.'s best. Missing some of our standard talent due to new families, work, or moving our numbers have dwindled a little. But we managed to keep a core group and add Monica to our roster - enough to keep the team with a couple subs. We ran the entire season undefeated and entered the playoffs with the other teams really gearing for us. Our streak continued through the semis leading us to last night. The big game.

Airborne, our challenger, came out in force, but by half time it was 8-2 UPS. The second half saw a small come back but we held on to win 15-8. We played well, winning through basic brute force rather than pretty plays. Monica is now on her way north again, postponing her vacation for this game. We would like to thank her for this past season ... its been fun.

So, the future. There was has been a discussion started on running a 'hat league', where the teams are picked evenly (by skill level) each season. This would break-up the mundane, same four teams each season, approach we have had for 2 years now. It would also provide a more relaxed atmosphere for new players in the hopes of continued expansion of the sport. In addition, there is talk about forming a formal 'club' team out of the Sarasota area. So ... talk in both directions. I like the rivalries that have sprung up ... I like the team gel that has formed. But a friendly league that is geared to new players is also important. We will have to wait and see what happens ... I have to figure out if my knees are going to hold out (maybe it is time to start getting into the gym).

Hopefully I will be able to catch a team tournament in Savanna at the end of August ... we will have to see. Still miss the ice rink too ...

Monica brought out lots of friends to cheer us on

Joe and Melissa are my support group

Well, we knew it would happen. Joseph caught his first cold. The last few nights have been spent trying to clear his nose and throat. Of course, our sleep patterns have been completely messed-up since we wake up to almost every cough and nasal restricted breath. Yet, he has been quite the trooper. While he doesn't like things being shoved up his nose - but really who can blame him? - he mostly just fights through it with little complaining. We should be healthy again soon, which is a good thing since we have our Lamaze reunion this weekend.

We all had fun at G-Wiz

Saturday evening we enjoyed the company of Eric, Amy, and Krishen for dinner and a movie. The Chorus was a great French film and dinner was superb - dinner recipe thanks Krishen.

Sunday evening it was a good-bye dinner for Monica. One of our spring season Ultimate stars. She came ... she saw ... we hope she gets to play in the championship game. A rain-out last week has pushed off the game and she is suppose to leave on Wednesday (or early Thursday morning). Just in case, enjoy Portland (after your little back-country holiday).

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In other news, the last few days have also been filled with a goal of mine. I have been wanting to get back into doing some of my personal projects and last week I decided that one was going to get done. With Friday off I took to the computer and started work ... the result ... the first preview release of Screen Saver Menu is available.

This Mac OS X application (requires Mac OS X 10.3 - not yet tested in 10.4) allows the user to launch and configure the screen saver from the menu bar. This allows you to avoid using the limited hot-corners yet provides easy access to the the screen saver controls of the system.

This was truly developed for a personal need. At work I have a lengthy timer on the screen saver since I hate always logging back in because I have been working on a different box. Yet, I would like to lock my screen before heading to lunch or meetings. This application provides that functionality with the added bonus of providing a switch for the screen password lock as well as the ability to select from your available screen savers.

Download it, try it, let me know what you think. Though, since this is a early preview release it is marked as 'use at your own risk'. I am interested if any one else finds this useful? Any features missing?

Last night was a late one ... we didn't leave Christopher and Shannon's until 3AM (or so). We arrived home .... Joe ate ... and we climbed into bed around 4:30. It was a great night, played a little Scene-It! on my new dream home-entertainment system after a delicious chinese food dinner. Thanks for having us over guys.

Today, we were planning a trip back to the Selby gardens and then off to G-Wiz (a local kids science center). But the late night (thus sleeping) and tire trouble is keeping us busy this morning.

Our last incident of tire-trouble required I put on a Cooper tire. I am thinking of replacing the other three tires ... does anyone have an opinion on this brand before I buy?

New mobile for Joe, love Grandma Bev

Joe had another doctors appointment today, we are down to one more before we go home - only those pesky "shots" remain!

According to those who "know", Joe is growing up big and strong. He is now 21.75" tall and 11.6 lbs. Apparently we were, once again, told to not wake him for eating -- HA HA HA HA! Did we ever? -- but we have a perfectly healthy baby boy. He is just preparing early for his job on the blue line :)

Lately he has been sleeping more again and eating more frequently - so we are expecting another growth spirt again. He has already started to grow out of cloths ... here we go :-)

"He can call me flower if he wants to"

Today we enjoyed another day with Joseph's new friends, this time at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. We headed out early hoping to beat the heat ... which to our delight never came. Turned out to be a perfect day for a garden walk with the three little ones.

Right to left: Jae, Cynthia, and Jordan - Christopher, Shannon, and Tiffany - Melissa, Joe and myself

Another group shot ... hangin' out has been so much fun

After leaving the gardens we stopped to grab a pizza for lunch. Then it was to Jae and Cynthia's for a quite afternoon.

While waiting for the pizza I took Joseph in for a diaper change ... which turned into a impromptu bath. Apparently the long walk in the park was a little too much for the diaper! The cold water of the restroom sink did not go over well and Joe was not very happy with daddy. Mom was much nicer and gave him another bath this evening ... warmer water seemed to go over much better.

After we got home we all enjoyed a long nap

Update:
Christopher posted a gallery of the days events

I also added more pictures in our photo gallery

It has now been 1 month since we enjoyed the experience of childbirth. And believe it or not ... life is only getting better. He is continuing to grow, too fast one might say, and gain better control of his muscles. He now is smiling in recognition and tracking movement around the room. He has started to find his voice, fussing when uncomfortable and requesting to be fed when hungry. He likes being cuddled ... but really enjoys belly time on the floor. In fact, he prefers his stomach to his back. He has began to get use to traveling in the car ... as long as it is not too warm out.

He is now going about 4-5 hours, on average, between feeding and stretches about 6 hours during the night. [Approx daily feeding schedule: 12am, 6am, 9am, 12pm, 6pm, 9pm] He is downing about 4-5 ounces of milk at a sitting, though it is less during the 3 hour feedings.

We have tried to stick to our normal routine, though somethings have shifted a little. I am still making Ultimate on Thursday nights, we enjoy date night each Wednesday ... we have visited Mote, watched a Movie at the theater, and shopped the mall a couple times. Not to mention a couple BBQs at friends places and several dinners out at restaurants. Joseph is very good and seems to enjoy getting out of the house as much as we do.

We look forward to all the months still to come.

Do you have to be so loud?

Stretching the muscles

Dad, can I take a ride?