Edwin Loves...

Books & Flash Cards

Basketballs, Footballs, Baseballs, Soccer Balls, Etc.

Cars, Trucks, Trains, Etc.

Grandpa

Numbers

Like probably many other workplaces that are trying to boost employee morale in this lack-of-significant-pay-raise, layoff-centric economic environment, my division recently had an office putt-putt tournament. The course featured 12 holes spread across 2 floors with plenty of cardboard ramps, PVC piping and popcorn bunkers. My favorite--built by a department that's had high turnover over the last 18 months--was a haunted house-themed hole displaying pictures of ghosts of employees past.

(BTW- I was signed up against my will to sponsor a hole, and since we all know I won't be getting my union card for Carpenters Local 126 anytime soon, my design was last minute with a minimalist theme. It ending up being one of the most entertaining, starting in the hallway and involving striking the ball then running to open the door into the copy room where the pin was located.)

We were placed in teams of 4, and mine consisted of the division head, a tech guy, a marketing person and me. So who gets tasked with keeping score? Of course, me, the numbers guy.

Since there are prizes for best team score as well as individual score, I find myself getting bogged down with math that could've easily waited until the end. But hey, I'm the numbers guy, remember? I couldn't help myself. So after each hole not only am I marking down each team member's strokes for the current hole, but each individual's and the team's running totals.

Play moves pretty slowly, so before each hole we're bunched up with other teams, waiting for them to finish. So not only am I performing the aforementioned unnecessary arithmetic, but I'm swapping numbers with the other teams' scorekeepers to see how our total stacks up, plus to scope out the best individual scores.

Well, as we get a couple holes away from finishing the strenuous 12-hole gauntlet, it becomes evident that my score is not anywhere near the leader board. In fact, my score isn't anywhere near 3rd place on my team. That's right. I end up being dead last on my team of 4 (I don't even bother to see how I rank against the field).

But you may have noticed that I mentioned earlier about the slow pace of play. You see, while I'm doing math and comparing scores to other groups, the rest of my team was actually watching other players navigate the tricky holes. By the time they took their respective turns, they had seen 5 or 6 others finish the hole. Thus, they each knew the holes' quirks, while I'm sight reading my way through the chaos.

There's the obvious lesson that we all need to be reminded of from time to time (especially for someone in corporate finance): score keeping and stack ranking is useful up to a point, but don't allow yourself to become so focused on the numbers that your actual performance begins to suffer.

Cholesterol Journey

WARNING: LONG POST...Only read if you're interested...

On May 8th, I went to the doctor for a physical and general health checkup. I was feeling really good about myself because I had went from 272lbs at my highest pregnant weight to 203lbs on the dr. scale (which by the way, I hate the old time scales...they always seem so wrong compared to my home digital scale). They did a simple blood draw and told me my cholesterol results would be in a few days later.

The next day the nurse called with the bad news. "You have high cholesterol - seriously high! You need to schedule a doctor appointment right away."

Weight: 203
Total Cholesterol: 252 (shoud be lower than 200)
LDL: 169 (should be between 0-130)
Tri: 160 (should be between 0-150)
HDL: 51 (should be between 40-60)

So, all of my hard weight loss work wasn't working in terms of getting healthy...and I scheduled my doctor follow up for the next week. He basically said I was in a very high risk zone and that I needed to make immediate changes. I agreed and told him that I would try anything to stay off of meds. So my one-month-do-anything-I-can-to-lower-my-cholesterol began.

For the past month, I have been really working hard to change my lifestyle, yet again. I'm still doing Weight Watchers...but now I only eat things that will work to lower my cholesterol. No more snack packs, no more artificial sweetners, no caffeine, no more candy/sweets, no more fast food, no more fun cereal, etc. Most days I eat the following:

Breakfast:
1/2 cup oatmeal with fresh berries (no sugar/sweetner/brown sugar/etc.)
4 oz cranberry juice

Snack:
1/4 cup almonds
Water

Lunch:
PB&J (reduced fat PB and reduced sugar J) on 1 slice whole grain bread
Water

Snack:
Fruit/Granola/Celery/etc
Water

Dinner:
3 nights chicken (3oz) and veggies
1 night fish (3oz) and veggies
3 night veggies w. pasta
Beer

Snack:
Fruit

Surprised by the beer? I certainly was. My doctor recommended that I drink one alcoholic beverage per day. Studies have shown that this can help reduce cholesterol numbers.

I was also told to increase aerobic activity. So, we joined the gym and I've been taking classes as much as I can. I really like all of them that I've tried including: Zumba, Water Aerobics, Pilates/Yoga, and Spinning.

I was also told to take 4 Fish Oil supplements per day.

Now for the results...this week I had my one-month follow up with the doctor. He told me that he was hoping my cholesterol would be down to below 240...and...drumroll please!!!!!!

Weight: 187 DOWN 16lbs
Total Cholesterol: 204 (shoud be lower than 200) DOWN 48 points
LDL: 124 (should be between 0-130) DOWN 45 points
Tri: 132 (should be between 0-150) DOWN 28 points
HDL: 54 (should be between 40-60) UP 3 point

So...no medicine for me...I can't believe how great this news is. I need to keep up this new lifestyle and continue to bring my numbers down. It isn't easy - but I'm worth it! and my family is worth it! So, there it is...what I'm doing. I have to give credit to Weight Watchers for helping me with eating and holding me accountable. I also have to give credit to my doctor for scaring me into this newer lifestyle. I also have to give credit to my friends/family who have been so supportive of the new me! Most of all, I need to give credit to Dave - without his constant love and help, there's no way this would be possible. I am so blessed.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Finally the hot weather has set in and we were able to use the kiddie pool and swim club pool!! I left the pool for Karen (the babysitter :)) to setup not knowing that it takes 2 adults ... not one adult and 2 uncoordinated toddlers! Luckily, the neighbor came to her rescue and the kids got to enjoy the water. Meredith is definitely hesitant especially at the swim club. She gets the death grip on your bathing suit which causes near exposures! Madeline, however, has benefited from the swim lessons and we don't even need the swimmies on her. What an improvement!! We have been going after work which proves to be the perfect time with no crowds.

Father's Day was a food-filled day, I prepared all of it, but Matt, the master griller, cooked it. Papa, Deb, and Grandma came over to celebrate. The running joke is that I have been using the same gift bags for years now. I would guess it has been at least 5 years with the "Father's Day" decorated bags. They just have never been ruined, so what the heck! After all that food we had, Matt and I took the girls to the bike trail to burn off some calories. Matt is up to 30 pounds of weight loss!! The girls got their first bike trip in the carrier and loved every minute of it. We were both happy that they didn't try to hit each other the whole time. Grandma got a surprise visit from us as we veered off the trail. It is totally hilarious to see the girls in their new bike helmets ( Matt and I look totally ridiculous in ours as well). I thought their heads were big enough and then you slap on some helmets, WHOA! (their poor necks). I will post a photo when Grandma forwards the ones she took of us :)

We are officially on vacation from work starting today!! We hope to have fantastic swim club weather :) We will begin our vacation with a trip to the Pirate game on Saturday. Can't wait.

As many of you know, I am a big Michael Jackson fan. Megan and I would sing to our record of We are the World alternating singers back and forth. The lucky one got Michael Jackson parts!! Love that song. LOVE IT! Even through all that negative press and how weird he acts, I have always loved his music and appreciated his creativity. I am so sad to see that he is gone and he will never have a comeback. I am going to be wearing a single glove for the rest of the week in his honor.

NOT!

Michael Jackson

My favorite songs from each of Michael Jackson's big 4 albums...

• From 1979's Off the Wall: "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough"
• From 1982's Thriller: "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)"
• From 1987's Bad: "Smooth Criminal"
• From 1991's Dangerous: "Will You Be There"

2010

OK, so we're effectively half way through 2009, and what, no hype for the upcoming new decade?

I was too young in '79 to have captured any memories. But I definitely recall a lot of buzz in '89 about the '90s. And of course how could anyone forget what essentially felt like 5-years worth of preparation for the year 2000?

But no love for the '10s?

It must be a branding thing. Something felt so futuristic about the '90s. And the new millennium was so different. Compared to those 2, the '10s just sort of fall flat.

P.S.: What are we calling the next year, two-thousand and ten or twenty-ten?

Farewell to Great Grandpa and More...

Last Thursday we had a farewell dinner for Great Grandpa. He and my dad left on Friday morning for the long drive back to Tucson, AZ. We feel so lucky that he was able to be here for Edwin's 1st Birthday!!!

Over the weekend, Edwin stayed with Grandma Nikki so that Dave and I could have a night "off". We went to the Cincinnati Reds game for the Civil Rights game (Bill Cosby in the picture below). On Sunday we went to an afternoon movie before going to pick Edwin up.

Today we went to a pool party...Edwin loves playing with Bryson and Katie in the kiddie pool!

Quote of the Day

Yahoo! Sports' Dan Wetzel on the comparing Michael Vick's and Donte Stallworth's legal situations:

At the legal level, comparing the crimes and the punishments of Vick and Stallworth is not particularly useful. Vick was dealing with the federal prosecutors, Stallworth with county ones -- the comparative difference between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Detroit Lions.

WEEKS IN REVIEW

It is pretty obvious what we were doing last weekend! We had a very busy weekend starting with a trip to Kennywood on Friday with Papa and Deb. The girls rode almost all the rides in Kiddieland. I was shocked that Meredith wasn't afraid at all. I got on a couple rides b/c Meredith needed an adult, but I will never get on that spinning cup like thing again. Puke! The funniest part is when we were sitting eating our dinner, the kangaroo came around to say hello to the girls. Meredith freaked out screaming and shaking, "go BYE BYES!!!" Madeline gave him a high five. Hmmm, are they related?

We were waiting for Grandma Mueller to arrive at Deb's house and my dad noticed something in my tire. GREAT! I had a bolt and washer perfectly injected into my tread. I bent down and heard 'psssssss'. Well, I couldn't go anywhere like that, and this is the vehicle to get us down to Kentucky the next morning..... my mind raced with scenarios on how to make this work. Deb ran inside and got us setup with Sears while I called AAA for the spare tire placement. After a 1/2 hr and $20, we were back on the road from Sears. Whew. Matt got to miss all this excitement.

Edwin's birthday party was so fun. The girls really enjoyed the pool!! What kid doesn't like to splash (my girls kept dumping water on Edwin which was stopped promptly!). Edwin loves those shovels!! Refer back to Mindy's post for everything that we got to do that weekend. Madeline actually held a butterfly on her finger and Meredith winced when it came her way! Check out my picture link below. The highlight for me was seeing the girls run the bases after the baseball game. Madeline was a speed demon!

Wednesday was our 9th wedding anniversary. Anyone remember the wedding still? When we got home from work, we noticed a buzzing sound. After we settled the girls, we followed it to the basement. Remember that this was the night that the rain was literally dumping at a high rate. The newly installed back up sump pump alarm was going off. The rain had reached within 3 inches of the basement floor bubbling up causing Matt (and us )to panic. Our new basement was being threatened with water!!! Matt ran upstairs, grabbed the shop-vac, and suctioned out the water. Boom! He hit is head on the pipe above him. He then called for me b/c he can't lift the shopvac filled with water. "Find some buckets!!!" I ran downstairs and we filled up buckets and BOOM! He hit his head again on the pipe. We threw the water out the front door. As I was returning to the basement, Matt said, "I think I found the problem". I go downstairs to find no more water in the hole. We discover that when the plumbing co. installed the backup, they never plugged in the original sump pump. Really?!? Matt started to leave and BOOM hit his head again. "IF I HIT THAT ONE MORE TIME, I SWEAR!!". And that is how our anniversary went. We are planning our dinner (Springfield Grille courtesy of Betsy and Dave) for tonight at a restaurant while Grandma watches the girls.

Click here are all the photos from the weekend's events.

TOYS!

So many toys, so little time.

I give up. The toys win.

Back to Life without an Audience

So, life for Edwin this weekend was full of attention. Rightfully so...he did turn 1! But now, the party is over, the guests have left and Edwin must return to life without an audience...he's having some trouble adjusting...

The BANANANANZA was a success! We had great weather - perfect as long as you were under a shade tree. Edwin really enjoyed his new pool and playing with cousins and friends. Special thanks to Grandpa Randy for setting up the pool and hosting the party!

He got so many gifts - too many people to thank...but you all know who you are. A special thank you to everyone who bought toys that make noise - I LOVE THOSE!!! :>)

Edwin got his first slice of heaven this weekend - CAKE with chocolate icing...he was so careful eating it. I was hoping for an icing explosion, but Edwin was happy just munching on 1 monkey ear.

Sunday was another action-packed day. We had family pictures taken by Shannon at Eden Park - can't wait to see them!!! Afterward, we went to Mokka for lunch, where Edwin is a celebrity. All of the girls headed to the butterfly exhibit, while the boys went home. Thanks to Jessica for the tickets - it was a fun outing and we got to see some beautiful plants and butterflies.

After a quick rest...we went to Dewey's for dinner. The pizza was great an by the time dinner was over, the sun was back out...so Matt, Melinda, the girls and I went on to the Florence Freedom baseball game...everyone else headed back home. We had so much fun at the game...special thanks to Bev and Shirley who got us great tickets and who did a special HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY EDWIN ROSS on the scoreboard and over the loud speaker...what a great surprise for me!!! Perhaps next year, he'll be able to stay up late enough for a baseball game!!!

We all (with the exception of Dave who had to go back to work) went to First Watch for breakfast this morning and then said our goodbyes. What an exciting weekend for Edwin. He loves the attention and can't wait for the next chance to please an audience!

Thank you again to everyone who helped make this weekend so special for the Ross Family!

PS: I uploaded May and June pictures and if you took pictures this weekend, PLEASE share them with me!!! THANK YOU!!!

Edwin's Golden (Actually Silver) Key

Last night, Dave and I took Edwin to Johnny's Toy Store to visit the Birthday Castle. As a kid, this is something I always looked forward to. A few weeks before your birthday, a special invitation and key would arrive in the mail. You would take your key to the castle and it would magically open the door (which as an adult I realized you just have to push open). Once you enter the castle a special birthday song would start playing and you are surrounded by all types of toys. You got to pick one out and take it home as a special birthday treat...and...nothing has changed.

Edwin opened the door (well, actually I did...but you get the idea) and went inside to a wierd Happy Birthday To You tune. He was so excited and started grabbing all of the toys within his reach...finally stopping at some beach toys. He proudly carried it out and showed it off!

So much fun!!!

Reflections from a Mom

Okay...I've been waiting for this day for a while. Edwin is 1! I can't believe how fast this last year has gone by. Certain days felt like years, but all-in-all...it was a great year for the Ross family.

Over the past year, I feel like Edwin isn't the only one who has been growing up. I've grown up a little too. Being a mom is hard work - demanding, but AWESOME. Don't get me wrong...there are moments when I break down (like when I was putting the dishes away yesterday and started to cry?), but I wouldn't change my life for anything. Dave AND Edwin make me a better woman on a daily basis.

There are so many special memories from this past year...I could write for days, but I won't. I'm only to month 4 in Edwin's scrapbook...and it is already over 100 pages (am I sick?).

My little man sure has grown up...check out his quick video clip from 1 day to 1 year...AMAZING how much changes in the first year...looking forward to many more...

Happy Birthday to Edwin!!!

From this:



To this:



in just 1 year!!! WOW!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDWIN!!!

Edwin Birth Story: Part 5 - Conclusion

Being that the day was sort of a blur for her, Mindy asked me to write down my recollections of June 12, 2008, the day Edwin was born. It took me a while to get to it, but I finally finished it as a present for her 30th birthday. In honor of Edwin's 1st birthday today, we have decided to put a serialized version here on the blog. See part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here and part 4 here.

He’s Perfect

The next couple hours are pretty surreal. Just hanging out in the room with nothing to do. No tests, Mindy’s fine. Thank God we brought the laptop. We listen to Leona Lewis from our iTunes because we took countless naps to it over the last few months, it’s gotta be our baby’s in utero fave. The boredom causes us to get desperate. Since the hospital’s wifi is helplessly slow (yeah, we’re spoiled 2008ers), we have to find ways to pass the time.

We play heads up Texas Hold’em with the deck of cards we brought, but instead of chips, I nerdily track our chip counts via Excel. I take an early lead but it’s still close. I‘m having fun and start to forget we’re there to have a baby. It feels no different than Mindy and me hanging out in the dorms, eating chili-cheese burritos and laughing at her T-Bell pog collection.

Just as Mindy wins a hand to take a small lead, the doctor comes in to check on us. “OK, it’s time.” I guess the game’s over—Mindy wins. Wait…who cares? The doc said it’s time. Are we having this baby in, like ten minutes or something? Just then the nurse scoffs that Mindy’s had it so easy so far, that she’ll probably only have to do a couple hours of pushing before the baby comes.

OK, great. She said a couple hours as if that was an incredibly short amount of time. I give myself about five hours before my life changes forever. The doctor starts to get Mindy into position on the bed. A-ha, so that’s how the bed turns into a birthing table. He and the nurse start us off on the procedure that essentially boils down to Mindy breathing and me counting. Man, I don’t remember anything from birthing class.

The doctor leaves and only comes back every ten to fifteen minutes or so. It’s Mindy, me and the nurse. Counting and breathing. Jeff Buckley’s on iTunes at this point. Grace is almost over, and I ask Mindy if she thinks Jeff Buckley feels OK to give birth to. She couldn’t care less. I start it back from song 2, but think to myself I’ll have to figure something else out for later, because we’re not gonna want to hear it three times in a row.

About forty to fifty minutes in, the doctor says next push he’s going to try to turn the baby slightly. OK, whatever that means. Mindy seems indifferent. She looks like she’s preparing to do this for another few hours. Next push, doctor’s doing something down there, Mindy lets out a slight scream. “I’ll be right back,” says the doc, “do NOT do any pushing.” “Huh?” Mindy and I turn to the nurse. “That means it’s coming soon” she says. “Oh” we both say…I’m thinking “What?!?”

Doctor’s back. He positions the table just right. Next push, and despite what told myself I couldn’t do, I have to take a peak. My eyes start to water as I catch a glimpse of the top of my baby’s head. The nurse shouts words of encouragement at Mindy, “just a few more pushes.” A couple of second later the doctor tells Mindy to stop…the baby’s here.

“Get down here, Dad” the doctor says as he hold up the scissors. “No, he doesn’t wa—“ starts the nurse. “C’mon” the doctors says to me sternly as if calling out my manhood. I take the scissors and cut the cord. Why would I not want to do that? I was an idiot.

“Call it out, Dad” say doc as he holds up the baby. It feels like it takes me an hour to give my final confirmation. “IT’S A BOY!” I yell (well, my version of yelling, slightly raising my voice). “Edwin Randall Ross!” The doctor and nurse take the little guy to do whatever they need to do. I’m making sure Mindy’s OK. She’s crying and is calling for her baby. This probably feels like an eternity to her. Finally, the nurse asks, “do you want to hold him?”

Mindy extends her arms and takes Edwin from the nurse, then weeps, “He’s perfect”.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EDWIN (no week in review this week)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EDWIN!!!
LOVE, UNCLE MATT, AUNT MELINDA, MADELINE, AND MEREDITH

Edwin Birth Story: Part 4

Being that the day was sort of a blur for her, Mindy asked me to write down my recollections of June 12, 2008, the day Edwin was born. It took me a while to get to it, but I finally finished it as a present for her 30th birthday. In honor of Edwin's 1st birthday this Friday, we have decided to put a serialized version here on the blog. See part 1 here, part 2 here and part 3 here.

Stabilizing

Second floor. Birthing unit. Hope we get a room with a view, but really at this point, anything will suffice. Oh, first we head to an exam room. I guess this makes sense. The nurse is great—sarcastic but sweet (I can see Mindy mentally adding her to the birth announcement list). She’s about our age with a kid of her own. Plus, she seemed cool with me not wanting to watch too closely, cut the cord, and all that stuff. She’s gonna be great.

All sorts of tests ensue. This is becoming normal for Mindy, she’s been at the doctor every week for a while now. The nurse says “OK, so your water broke, you’re five-centimeters dilated, your contractions are four minutes apart and this is your first baby?” Mindy “uh-huh.” “And now is when you get here?” “Yeah, why?” “Well most others would’ve been here twelve hours ago, so you guys won’t be stuck here too long.” Mindy and I nod at each other as we mentally pat ourselves on the back.

After numerous check-ins from our nurse, we finally get moved to our labor/delivery/recovery room. Not the huge one with a view we served punch and cookies in during the tour a few weeks back, but nice nonetheless. Nurse tells us she tried to get us a better one, but they were all taken. But really, it’s fine—bed, table with chairs, bathroom, TV—what else could we ask for? Oh yeah, all those random medical devices plus the thing the stick babies in right after their born. Check. Got those too.

It still doesn’t seem real though—this is the place where it’ll all happen? It’s sort of crazy to think we’re walking into a room that we’ll be walking out of with a baby. And as I think those fleeting thoughts, it’s starts to become more real. No more time for introspection, because as soon as it seems the nurse leaves she comes in again. More tests.

I really should be paying attention to all this tests, no? But it’s too much to keep up with. I’m going to assume these professionals know what they’re doing. OK, time to pay attention. Mindy’s blood pressure is low…or is it high? Well, it’s one or the other. No big deal they say.

I step out to place calls to the fam to let ‘em know we’re in the hospital, but stay put, and we’ll call when it’s time. Except my mom—she’s fine to start her four and a half hour drive down from Youngstown, but she’s to head to our house. This message is difficult to convey to Mindy’s mom. Although I know Mindy informed her of the specific protocol, she tries to talk me into giving her permission to head to the hospital. I play dumb to her game and tell her we don’t want her to miss work and she’d be better off staying put. Pretty sure she gets the message.

Around this time we finally meet the doctor that’ll be delivering our bundle of joy. We’d never met him because Mindy’s doctors do everything but the delivery portion of the process. Don’t know if I knew that before today. Either Mindy didn’t know that either, or she told me and I forgot. The doc’s old and sort of abrupt, but for some reason, I’m comforted by this. He has this aura of competence, which of course, I like. Don’t know Mindy’s thoughts, but one thing is for sure, she’ll have to get comfortable with a male Ob/Gyn real quick.

OK, doc says we got to keep watching that blood pressure thing and gets Mindy hooked up to oxygen. Over the course of the next hour or two, the nurses turn Mindy from one side to the other and various other positions and are constantly taking her off and on oxygen. I’m pretty sure they’re saying this has something to do with that blood pressure thing, but I’m having trouble paying attention. I’m just getting nervous and thank God for what a trooper Mindy is.

All the while Mindy’s contractions seem to be taking more and more of her breath away. She shows slight grimaces, but she’d never let on if she was truly hurting that badly. Our nurse says not to worry, she’s going to lobby the doc to give permission for the epidural. It may be slightly early, but she thinks she can talk him into it. Doesn’t our nurse have other patients? It feels as if she’s been exclusively with us the entire time we’ve been here.

Nurses are ordering Thai for lunch. I put in six bucks for my Paad Thai, nothing but ice chips for Mindy. Would it be wrong to eat in front of her? Next visit from the doc and the nurse pushes hard for the shot and the doc finally caves. Twenty minutes later I gladly accept the anesthesiologist’s dismissal…I’d probably pass out if they let me stay in the room for that. Head to the empty waiting room. TV’s on Fox News, and I listen to not one word they say. Don’t think I’d even notice if the ticker read that Canada declared war on North Dakota.

Check on Mindy, she’s feeling fine. Just embarrassed because now that she’s back on oxygen and the nurses’ whole continuous re-positioning routine starts back up again, she can’t feel her legs. Thus, the process has become significantly more difficult. But pretty much suddenly this rigmarole ceases. Her blood pressure’s stabilized and she’s off oxygen. Head to the nurses station and pick up my lunch, which turns out to be something that’s quite certainly not Paad Thai, good though.

Now, we wait.

Edwin Birth Story: Part 3

Being that the day was sort of a blur for her, Mindy asked me to write down my recollections of June 12, 2008, the day Edwin was born. It took me a while to get to it, but I finally finished it as a present for her 30th birthday. In honor of Edwin's 1st birthday this Friday, we have decided to put a serialized version here on the blog. See part 1 here and part 2 here.

R-O-S-S

Wow, good thing we live close to the hospital. I can’t believe people drive thirty-plus minutes from the ‘burbs to Clifton. We’ve only got the five-minute drive from Newport to St. Luke’s. (Although five minutes in Mindy’s and my timekeeping system could mean anything from two to fourteen minutes.) I longingly look out the window as we pass Starbucks, not even realizing that this baby will signify the beginning of the end of the $4.20 lattes. Probably should’ve stopped.

We find a decently close parking spot, and Mindy decides she’ll be OK to make it from the car to the entrance. Never thought her refuse-to-be-dropped-off-would-rather-walk-in-with-me policy would apply to Walgreens, Target, and the hospital at which she’s about to deliver her first child. Granted, this isn’t University Hospital in Clifton (where I’ve gotten lost before). This is St. Luke’s Fort Thomas, small even for Northern Kentucky standards, so we only have a football field length walk.

So ten minutes later we reach the entrance. Should I be more presentable on what may the biggest day of our young married lives? T-shirt/jeans/Birkenstocks carrying random backpacks and grocery bags (scrapbook page remains safely behind in the car)…I feel more like I’m moving into the dorms. Maybe I should be worrying about my wife and baby than how I’m dressed.

Walk right past the front desk toward registration. Receive no questions as its plain to see what we’re there for. OK, Mindy pre-registered, right? This’ll take no time, then we’ll be up meeting with the doctor. Why are we answering the same questions we already have ad nauseum for the last seven months? “R-O-S-S.” “L-I-N-D-E-N Avenue.” “Fifth Third.” “Insurance is through her work.” “F-R-E Resources.” “Physicians for Women.” “Fuh-zih-shuns for Wih-min.” “Yes, the one in this building.” I’m now fairly certain had Mindy not pre-registered, she would have delivered right there in registration.

Edwin Birth Story: Part 2

Being that the day was sort of a blur for her, Mindy asked me to write down my recollections of June 12, 2008, the day Edwin was born. It took me a while to get to it, but I finally finished it as a present for her 30th birthday. In honor of Edwin's 1st birthday this Friday, we have decided to put a serialized version here on the blog. See Part 1 here.

Please Hurry

This is the moment we’ve been waiting for. Time to spring into action. What’s it, like seven-thirty? Notification to our offices will be necessary. Mindy makes one call. How many bosses do I have? I decide on three and send text messages. OK, Mindy’s had our bags pretty much packed for weeks now. Just throw in whatever clothes I’ll need and a few other last minute items and we’ll be out the door in ten minutes, right?

Wrong. Mindy keeps adding things. And she keeps giving me things around the house to locate. She’s moving pretty slowly, and every so often she stops in her tracks, puts her hand against a wall, and fights to keep standing while catching her breath. Contractions. Jesus. Wait, Where’s my watch shouldn’t I be timing these?

OK, got the watch. Just tell me what to get, Mindy, you have to pause every four minutes, and at that rate we’ll never make it out of here. Four minutes!?! Contractions don’t happen in real life. They happen on The Cosby Show. Shouldn’t watching a lifetime’s worth of syndicated reruns while eating my dinner on the couch have prepared me to be a little calmer right about now? Instead I’m now frantically scurrying around the house in the exact manner predicted by every sitcom I’ve ever seen. But now it’s real—I’m in my House with my Wife timing her Contractions because she’s having our Baby.

Back to the task at hand. Mindy, I’m pretty sure four minutes means delivery is imminent, please hurry. That’s everything now, right? A scrap book page from the basement? Mindy should know better than to count on me to find something in her scrapbook area—wait, got it. OK, now that’s everything. What am I going to pack these pillows in?

The Escape’s packed liked we going away for the weekend. I guess we won’t be back for a few days though, so it makes sense. Good thing Mindy talked me into buying the family truckster a few months back…couldn’t imagine doing this in the Lumina. Across the street neighbor sees us and figures out what’s going on. “Is it time?” “Yeah.” “Good luck.” “Thanks.” OK, we’re off to St. Luke’s.

Edwin Birth Story: Part 1

Being that the day was sort of a blur for her, Mindy asked me to write down my recollections of June 12, 2008, the day Edwin was born. It took me a while to get to it, but I finally finished it as a present for her 30th birthday. In honor of Edwin's 1st birthday this Friday, we have decided to put a serialized version here on the blog.

Not Going to Work Today

Thursday starts like countless weekdays before it. Cell phone alarm goes off at six a.m. Turn off emergency clock radio alarm set for twenty minutes later. Try to get the dog to follow me out of the bedroom without waking Mindy, probably fail. Quick pit stop—staring at me won’t make this happen any faster, dog. Scale says I don’t weigh any less than I did yesterday, darn. Downstairs, then outside for the dog’s turn at a pit stop.

Trip to the kitchen and go through the motions that I’m pretty sure could be done before that annoying wake-up step: some water and precisely three-quarters of a cup of dry food for the dog (I know Mindy gives her too much), Centrum with my OJ, and what I tell myself is only one cup of Cheerios with one percent.

Move to the living room to eat my breakfast and watch the standard forty-five minutes of ESPN, cable news, MTV and infomercials. Stairs creaking. Mindy’s coming down—I’ve obviously woken her. But I always do, and she always goes right back to sleep until seven, at least.

“Did you hear me up all night?” she asks. She asks me that every three mornings or so, the answers always the same. “Nope.” “So you didn’t hear me on the phone with the doctor then?” She’s feeling strange. Mucus plug’s probably broken. Can’t feel the baby move the text book five times per half hour. Doctor’s orders were go back to sleep, eat breakfast when you wake up, then lie down for a kick count. If she’s not feeling the baby move at that point, come in.

Mindy being Mindy, she follows the directions exactly (except the go back to sleep part—doubtful that happened). I start my shower while she starts her kick count. Barely wet and words I can’t make out come at me from the bedroom. Frustrating. She always does this to me. It’s somehow my fault that I can’t hear her when I’m in the shower and she’s speaking at a normal volume in a another room.

“I think my water broke”, she finally musters up the voice to yell. Oh. “Uh…hold on…I’m coming out.” Dripping wet standing on the hardwood bedroom floor, I ask her what to do. She doesn’t want to get up, doesn’t want to get “stuff” everywhere. Inform her that I’ve already soaked the path from the shower to the bed, how much worse can she make it. Give her my towel, and she shuffles to the bathroom.

Finish the shower—can’t face this day without at least a three minute shower (I’ll skip the usual fifteen to twenty minute ritual this morning). Mindy and I meet back in the bedroom and decide we should probably call off work today.

Edwin Advances - Eating w. a Spoon 6.7.09

WEEK IN REVIEW

Two words describes this past week . . . yard work. I have to give credit to those who do this for a living. It is terribly harsh on your bodies to weed, mulch, trim, etc. Matt and I are thrilled to be done with it finally! The girls even 'helped". (helped defined as put on their own garden gloves, pulled a weed or two, through some mulch at each other, and then retired to the blanket in the grass). The only way that Matt and I would get this done is if the girls had entertainment. So I set up a blanket on the grass and a picnic table where they read their books. I also brought out their big wheels and chalk for driveway activities. This actually worked quite well. We even all took a graham cracker break. :) While I am writing this, I have yelled 2 times at Meredith, "Do NOT kick, hit, or be mean to Madeline! Don't even look at her!". She looks at me and says, "OTAY!" and just repeats the attacks. Kids! Madeline has been sick for 3 days now with the summer croup. I didn't realize there existed such a thing. The tell tale barking cough gave that one away. She hasn't been able to speak for 2 days now. You can imagine how much quieter it is around here. We finally get to hear Meredith talk. For example, Meredith was playing with Barbies today. The girls play this game where they lay on the couch and get up and run to the dining room. This is where the girls have put the Barbies "to bed" (aka on the chairs). They tell them , "no more crying , Barbies, go to sleep". Then then run back into living room and lay down again. They will get up and down like 10 times. I am amazed that they find this fun. Today, Meredith got to the Barbie and asked her, "are these your BULBS , Barbie?" as she pointed to her chest. I refuse to correct the girls on this one. It is too hilarious!
Also, today , our neighbors are having a garage sale. Madeline and Meredith find this wildly entertaining to stare out our window watching the shoppers coming and going. Meredith keeps hitting on the window to get their attention to wave to them. So embarrassing.

The two princess towel pictures are a gift from Aunt Dottie. The crown lights up!!

Edwin's 2nd Trip to Owensboro, KY

This past weekend, Edwin and I traveled to Owensboro, KY to visit my dear friend Tracy. We had such an amazing time. It was a beautiful weekend...grilling out, shopping, visiting, chatting, being spoiled, playing, etc. Edwin even got to visit his first campsite. We visited Mr. & Mrs. Naylor at the campsite on Saturday night for dinner. It was an awesome meal...Mrs. Naylor made a Boston Butt and it was delicious. Edwin and I both loved it! We also had fresh broccoli right out of the garden...YUMMMM!!!!

I started to think - this was actually Edwin's 2nd trip to Owensboro. His first trip was in October 2007 - he was only a few weeks old and still in my belly...of course, I had no idea. I was sick the entire weekend, but blamed the nausea on a weekend of girlfriend treats (extra large blizzards, southern fried chicken WITH gravy, chips, etc.) and it was actually Edwin making his presence known the whole time!

It is such a nice memory/story that Tracy and I will always be able to share!!!