Lead, Follow, or Get Out of My Head

I don't have time to...

2009-06-15T21:32:00.006-04:00

Today, I don't have time to...

...talk to my wife while I am at work.
...rock my baby when she's crying.
...do the dishes after my wife cooked dinner.
...read my son a book before bed.
...prepare a message for our church.

My actions would indicate that I do have time to...

...twitter.
...read blogs.
...check fantasy baseball.
...pay bills.
...enter Coke Rewards codes.
...check work email after work.
...email people about vacations I want to take.
...write this blog.

I have some messed up priorities.

How are yours?

Four for Five is Awesome in Most Sports

2009-06-15T08:20:00.003-04:00

Last Monday morning, I stepped on the scale and I weighed 218. That means that I had gained 8 pounds since Presley was born.

Last Summer, I dropped from 225 down to 210 and I had managed to stay at 210 until March. Then, after Presley was born, I stopped doing pretty much all exercising. On top of that, I found that I was drinking a lot of soda at work and I felt like I was eating all of the time.

So, last Monday, I decided that by this Monday, I was going to lose 5 pounds. I realize that it sounds like a lofty goal, but I thought back to when I watched 'The Biggest Loser'. The participants always lost a lot of weight in the first week. So, I figured I might, too.

My plan was... 1) drink only water and the occasional beer, 2) eat breakfast (something I usually do not do), 3) eat only at mealtime, i.e. no snacking.

I pretty good. I think I had three sugary drinks throughout the week. I ate breakfast probably 4 days and I did very little snacking. I will say that I found it significantly more difficult to maintain the plan over the weekend.

The results were that I lost 4 pounds.

I am not as committed to the plan this week, but I'm going to try to find some balance between my eating habits from the last three months and last week. Hopefully, going somewhere in between and exercising will result in me slowly getting back to 210.

Anyone else out there trying to slim down for the Summer?

Lists

2009-05-27T22:16:00.004-04:00

I'm not the kind of person that makes daily "to do" lists. Sometimes I try, but it never seems to stick.

A friend of mine has made a lifetime "to do" list. I'd like to do that, but I just haven't taken the time, yet. Maybe item #1 on my lifetime "to do" list should be: Make a lis of things to do before I expire.

Recently, I've read a couple lists on blogs I follow. Neither of them were "to do" lists. They each gave insight into the mind of the author. You should check them out here and here.

Do you make lists?

CVSing: Part 2

2009-05-24T22:13:00.002-04:00

I took another trip to CVS with a plan to take them.

Start:
$13 in ExtraCare Bucks
$25 Gift Card
$1 off Band-aids coupon
$1 off Colgate coupon
B1G1 Sobe coupon
$5 off $30 CVS coupon

Bought:
Revlon Nail Polish: $4.99 - $1.00 (Sale) = $3.99
Colgate Tooth Paste:$3.89 - $0.90 (Sale) - $1.00 (Coupon) = $1.99
Transformers Band-aids: $3.59 - $0.60 (Sale) - $1.00 (Coupon) = $1.99
SpongeBob Band-aids: $3.59 - $0.60 (Sale) = $2.99
Sobe LifeWater: $1.49 - $1.49 (B1G1 Sale) = FREE
Sobe LifeWater: $1.49 - $1.49 (B1G1 Coupon) = FREE
Speed Stick Pro Antiperspirant: $3.99
Speed Stick Pro Antiperspirant: $3.99
Neutrogena Sun Block: $9.49
Neutrogena Sun Block: $9.49

Total w/ tax before sales and coupons: $49.11

-$5 off $30 CVS coupon (received via e-mail)
-$13 CVS ECB (from a previous trip)
NOTE: Both of these coupons are applied before tax.

Total w/ tax after all sales and coupons: $21.50

I paid with my $25 CVS gift card.

But wait, here's the best part... I received $26.98 back in ExtraCare Bucks.

$3 ECB wyb Revlon Nail color at $3.99
$2 ECB wyb Colgate Total, 4 oz, at $2.99
2 x $2.00 ECB wyb Bandaid Bandages at $2.99
2 x $3.99 ECB wyb Speed Stick Pro Deodorant at $3.99
$10 ECB wyb (2) Neutrogena Suncare Products starting at $7.35

Here's my tally...
$38.00 GC+ECB - $13.00 ECB - $21.50 GC = $3.50 GC + $26.98 ECB = $30.48 GC+ECB

So, $49.11 worth of stuff for $7.52. That's about 85% off.

The bad thing is that is was supposed to be even better than that, but I had to buy larger and more expensive Neutrogena Sun Block than I had planed.

I got all of my info on how to save at CVS from SouthernSavers.com.

Poison Whatever

2009-05-18T12:01:00.002-04:00

Last Sunday, I was out in the woods behind our house raking some leaves away from our fence and clearing out some vines. It turns out that mixed in with those vines was some poison oak/ivy/sumac.

Sunday night, we were out on the patio and I thought I was being attacked by mosquitoes. The truth, however, was that I was developing a rash in reaction to the oil of the poison whatever that I had come in contact with earlier in the day. By Monday afternoon, I had big blistered areas all over my left arm.

I did some research online and figured out that it was poison whatever. To my dismay, I found that there is nothing that you can do for it other than wait. You can treat the symptoms with lotions and anti-histamines, but there's not much you can do for the rash.

So, last week I wore long sleeves all week to keep my rash covered, for my sake and the sake of my co-workers. I was trying to avoid scratching it and also trying to avoid having to deal with the myth that poison whatever it contagious.

I found out that the rash is not contagious; not even the "ooze" that comes from the rash can spread it. The rash is an allergic reaction to oil put out by the plant. So, the only way to spread poison whatever is to spread the oil.

Today, is the first day that I have worn short sleeves that reveal my rash. The rash is healing, but there are still red areas all over my arm. I saw one of my co-workers in the hallway and he reacted as if my arm was bleeding profusely. He asked in a very concerned voice, "What happened to your arm?" My first instinct was to tell him I have leprosy, but I decided against it. I told him I had poison oak, or ivy, or something, and he reacted like he was going to catch it from me. I was sort of surprised that he didn't start scratching himself right then.

I have to say that I've always underestimated the power of poison ivy and its cousins. As a kid, I played in the woods all the time and never had to deal with it, that I remember, but I knew other kids that did. I've always thought, "It can't be that bad."

However, after last week, I have a new respect for the poisonous plants. Before getting some medication to help reduce the itching sensation, it was difficult to concentrate on anything other than NOT scratching my arm.

If I were a writer for the show 24, I would try to work it into the script where Jack dips someone in a vat of Urushiol oil to get information out of them about the location of the bomb.

Speaking of Jack and 24, the season finale is tonight.

Did you get your (swine) flu shot?

2009-04-29T11:23:00.004-04:00

My favorite line:

"Swine flu?!? Man, I'm too fast for that to catch me!"

HT: Brad Ruggles

The Sex Talk

2009-04-15T22:49:00.000-04:00

Hello World: Please don't ever make me talk about sex again.

This cracked me up, but it is great. I hope that when the day comes that we have to talk to Palmer and Presely about sex that we handle it this well.

I normally would've twittered this...

2009-04-14T20:06:00.006-04:00

Before Twitter, I would have definitely blogged this. Since I started using Twitter, blog posts like this usually get compressed into 140 characters or less and maybe a Twitpic. However, tonight when I went to tweet this, I couldn't say what I wanted within the 140 character constraint and I was reminded of the days when blog posts like this were more frequent. I often say that "Twitter killed my blog", but tonight the blog won.

Tonight, Kim went to play Bunko with some girls. It's something she does monthly-ish. She gets out of the house and get some kid free grown-up time, which leaves me with the kiddos.

Just as Kim was leaving, the Pritchetts showed up with our dinner. They are one of the very gracious families that have volunteered to make dinner for us while we get used to have two kids in the house. Tonight, they brought us some pasta and salad.

I set Palmer in his chair with some pasta to eat. When I returned with my dinner he had eaten all that I had given him. He looked at me like, "You gonna eat your cornbread?" So, I gave him some oranges to eat. He scarfed those down, too, so I gave him some more pasta. While he was working on round two of pasta, I got him to try some lettuce, which he did not seem to like all that much, and some tomatoes. At first he resisted the tomatoes, but after he tried one, he asked for more.

Since he ate so well, I decided to reward him with some dessert. I gave him a cup of pudding, which he kept referring to as chocolate milk. Below are some pics from that. He was pretty funny to watch eating the pudding.

Overall, my single dad with two kids night went well. Our kids are pretty good when they want to be. Tonight, they took it easy on daddy.

* Every time I say "Twitter killed my blog", I think of this song. Every time I hear that song, I think of Empire Records, which by the way is an excellent movie.

What's up with today today?

Sticking it to the man a.k.a. CVSing

2009-04-13T22:16:00.004-04:00

I know this my sound strange, but I have started "couponing". Well, that is a stretch, but I did do it once.

Tonight, I got $19.87 worth of stuff from CVS a net out of pocket of $1.12. Here's what I got and spent...

NOTES: CVS ECB is essentially a CVS gift card that you get for buying certain items. I had an actual CVS gift card from a prescription coupon. Those are awesome. You get a $25 gift card for getting a prescription filled at CVS. The kicker is they take competitor's coupons.

Transaction #1:
1 x Softsoap Scrub Body Wash @ $4.99
- $.50 CVS ECB
- $3.99 CVS Gift Card
= $.54 Out of pocket

I got back $4.49 in CVS ECB.

Transaction #2:
1 x Kellogs Fruit Loops @ $2.00
1 x Collgate Toothpaste @ $3.99
1 x Butterfinger @ $0.67
- $1 off Kellogs Cereal
- $1 off Collgate Toothpaste
- $4.49 CVS ECB (from transaction #1)
= $.22 Out of pocket

I got back $3.99 in CVS ECB. The Butterfinger was just filler. You do not get change from CVS ECB. So, if you use $4.49 in CVS ECB to pay for $3.99 in merchandise, you lose out on $0.50. So, I bought a candy bar.

Transaction #3:
1 x Collgate Toothpaste @ $3.99
2 x Sobe Life Water @ $1.49 (On sale B1G1, i.e. buy one get one free.)
1 x Reece's PB Cups 8 Pack @ $1.25
-$1 off Collgate Toothpaste
- B1G1 Sobe Life Water Coupon (Made mine B0G2)
- $3.99 CVS ECB (from transaction #2)
= $.36 Out of pocket

I got back another $3.99 in CVS ECB, which is equal to the gift card I started with. The Reece's were filler again. Maybe next time I'll try to buy filler that is not candy.

So, I walked into CVS with a $3.99 gift card, the change out of my car, some coupons and a plan. I walked out with Some body wash (that I don't really use), two tubes of toothpaste (which I needed), two bottles of flavored water (that could possibly make lizards dance), a box of cereal, some candy, and $3.99 in CVS ECB.

I got the plan from here and most of the coupons I printed off the internet. You can find the links to those on the site linked in the previous sentence. It does take a little bit of time and effort, but if you're going to the store to get toothpaste, you might as well pick up two of them and a bunch of other crap for only a little over a buck.

Do you have any super awesome ways you stick it to the man?

NOTE: You can print the Sobe coupon from the site above and you can do the B0G2 up to 3 times. So, that's a B0G6, $9 worth of drinks for free.

"That's why God made mommies."

2009-04-06T08:43:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, Palmer was playing downstairs. Kim and I were both upstairs. We heard a crash and then heard Palmer start crying. It was not the I'm-scared cry, but it was more of them I-hurt-myself cry.

I hustled downstairs to see what was wrong. He was trying to climbing back onto the chaise. Apparently, he had just fallen off it and scraped his back on the end-table.

I dusted him off and took him upstairs to show mommy his 'boo boo'. He had a scrape about two inches long on his back and it had a tiny bit of blood on it. When I showed it to Kim, she immediately broke out some hydrogen peroxide, Neosporin and a band-aid.

While she was applying treatment, I laughed. I asked her, "Do you know what I would have done for this if you weren't here?" He response was spot on. She knows me well. She said, "Probably nothing." Then, she said, "That's why God made mommies."

I love my wife. She's so good for me and our kids. Without her, there's no telling what kind of state we might be in.

We're buying a grill.

2009-04-05T16:30:00.003-04:00

The weather is nice and I want a big juicy burger. The problem is that other than taking a trip to Red Robin, I don't have a good way of producing that big juicy burger. To remedy that, we've decided to buy a grill.

We are going to buy a gas grill. With two kids and loads of other commitments, we don't have the time to mess with charcoal.

So, other than the gas versus charcoal debate, what other things should I consider when choosing a grill?

What kind of grill do you have? What do you like about it? What do you not like about it?

Let me know.

Vote Earth! Switch Off Your Lights For Earth Hour

2009-03-28T14:33:00.003-04:00

Vote Earth! Switch Off Your Lights For Earth Hour by Shepard Fairey
Originally uploaded by Earth Hour Global

Today, March 28, 2009 at 8:30PM you can join millions of others who are shutting down their homes, businesses, and in some cases, entire cities as a part of Earth Hour.

We did it last year and plan to do it again tonight. It's not hard to do. Just flip the breaker and hang out for an hour.

Anyone else planning to participate?

World Water Day Video from charity: water

2009-03-22T21:08:00.003-04:00

Today, March 22 is World Water Day. You can find out more info about World Water Day on the official site for the day, http://www.worldwaterday.org/, but honestly that site is a little dry. You may get a better feel for what World Water Day is about from the folks at charity:water.

They posted the video above recently. There is a person on twitter @bcoz who is committed to donating $.01 for every view this video gets. That means 1,000,000 views equates to $10,000, which is enough for charity:water to drill two wells. So, be sure to watch the video.

An additional point of interest is that the people in the video shown drilling the well in CAR are from the same organization that Hope is working with to drill wells.

And lastly, here's yet another shameless plug for my water project. Go there and subscribe to the feed. I am going to have the site up soon.

What did you think of the video?

This is the place.

2009-03-21T23:34:00.008-04:00

Here is where I am planning to have a well drilled.

I got this picture from Jason who was in Laisamis in July 2008. The lone building there is the Laisamis Missions Centre, which is used for a preschool, food distribution center, adult education, and medical center. Crazy huh?

And they do all that without clean water.

Go check out my site for my water project. Go ahead and subscribe to my feed. That way you won't miss anything when I finally get it up an running.

They look like they need some water, right?

The New Facebook Layout

2009-03-20T00:41:00.004-04:00

This week Facebook changed their layout and it has caused quite the stir. I thought I would weigh-in with some of my thoughts.

The first thing I thought when I saw the new layout was "This is eeriely similar to Twitter." To me, this wasn't a bad thing. For the most part, I go to Facebook to see people's status updates.

I have to say that I like the way they handle repies to updates better than the way Twitter handles them. Facebook lists all the responses, i.e. comments, directly below each update.

I like that they place new photos in the feed. However, I do not like that things like quiz results, super pokes, bracket challenge updates, etc. are added into the feed. They give you the option to turn off a friends updates. I wish they gave you a way to turn off updates from a specific application.

I like the right column that tells you what your friends are getting into. I just wish that once I respond to something listed there that it would go away, or that there were an X that I could click to make certain things go away.

I haven't messed much with the options on the left. I see that they have set it up so I can filter the feed to just show people in a certain group. That may be cool, but I've only set up one group, thus far. The new change may make me move towards creating more.

I was talking to a new friend of mine about the new layout. He made a comment that I thought was worth sharing here. We were talking about all the compaining people are doing about the new Facebook layout, and Bill said something like this...

I wish someone would remind all these people that they are not sixty-five years old.

Though Facebook is spreading to older people, the primary user base for Facebook is under thrity. This is the generation that seeks out CHANGE. Just ask the President who preached change throughout his campaign while he tried to reach the younger demographic, which he did pretty successfully.

The layout changed. Accept it. Stop being like those guys on Grumpy Old Men, unless, of course, you are going to be like Gustufson.

What's your take?

Beware, Your Foolish Heart

2009-03-19T00:10:00.004-04:00

I have a book titled Fatherhood by Bill Cosby. It is a collection of anecdotes that come out of his experience as a father. Tonight, I read one called Beware, Your Foolish Heart. The last paragraph was this...

Yes, a baby is so powerfully appealing that people are even entertained watching it sleep. Just notice how grown people tiptoe to a crib and look down at a baby. Perhaps such a journey finally answers the great question about why people have babies who will soon start to saying, "I don't know" and "Mine! Mine! Mine!" and start walking around with their flies open. The decision to have such a thing is made by the heart, not the brain.

I had some people "suggest" that I upload some more Presley pictures. Suggest might be putting it lightly. Anyhow, we took some pictures tonight at our home group meeting and I have put them on flickr. You can see them here.

Enjoy.

My Wife Makes Cute Kids

2009-03-18T01:00:00.003-04:00

I don't want to claim any part of my kids' cuteness. I'll take credit for any ability they have to remember random, mostly useless trivia. I might even take some of the credit for any athletic ability they may develop, but the looks they get from their mama.

People always say that Palmer looks just like Kim. I think only once, or twice, has anyone ever claimed that he looks like me and I think they were just trying to be nice.

Now, people keep saying that Presley looks just like Palmer. So, by using the transitive property, that means that she looks just like Kim, too.

You can decide for yourself.

She was sleeping on the couch like an adult.

You can't tell from this photo, but Palmer and I dresses alike on St. Patrick's Day. Yeah. I know. Cheesy.

If you missed the video I posted of Palmer a few posts ago, you should check it out.

Are these kids cute, or what?

Are you mad?

2009-03-17T00:27:00.004-04:00

It's that time of year. The time when productivity wanes in lieu of the study of all things bracketological. In honor of this season, I've created a couple groups in the ESPN Bracket Challenge for you to enter your brackets.

The first group is for those people in the Visio Dei community. If you are, were or want to be a part of the Visio Dei community, feel free to throw your bracket in the Visio Dei group. You can do so by going here.

The second group I started is for anyone that knows me. It is named People who know Shannon. It is a private group because it is such a select group of people. To join that group you need to enter the super secret password, which is Shannon. If you know me, you are obligated to fill out a bracket and enter it into that group. Go here. Do it. Do it now.

I look forward to the madness. We didn't plan this at all, but it worked out well. Our little girl was born last week and I get to take off a few days to bond with her, i.e. paternity leave. This Thursday and Friday we will be bonding while watching basketball.

Whose your pick to win it all?

Palmer's Gift From Presley

2009-03-16T03:21:00.002-04:00

We had some friends, who have multiple kids, suggest that we give Palmer a gift "from" the new baby when we brought her home to serve as a sort of peace offering. We thought it sounded like it was worth a shot. This video shows how that went down.

We decided for "her" to get him a basketball hoop. We were planning to get him one for his birthday in a few months anyhow. So, he just got it a little early.

The kid LOVES basketball right now. His reaction when he discovers what's inside the wrapping paper is priceless. One of my other favorite parts is when he says, "Miss" after he misses a shot.

What's your favorite part?

H.E.L.P. Raleigh Launch Party

2009-03-14T21:21:00.007-04:00

Tomorrow evening, a friend of mine is hosting a launch party for his non-profit, Help End Local Poverty.

The Launch Party will be an evening of live music, coffee, dessert, a time of story-telling and vision-casting. "Our passion is to create a movement of people who will deeply care about the issues of poverty, locally in Raleigh and globally throughout the world."

They have a couple bands lined up to play: Wahba and Silver. Silver, which you've read about on here before, will be playing an acoustic set, which should be great.

One really cool thing about this event is that I am going to get to talk about my water project, Dynamic Water. We will be partnering up with H.E.L.P. this summer to raise money to fund our first project, a well in Northern Kenya. I'm really excited about H.E.L.P. and what they are doing.

If you are in, or around, Raleigh tomorrow night, you should make it a point to come out to the launch party. The music will be great and you will get to hear about some awesome work being done to end poverty here in Raleigh and throughout the world.

The best part about this event is... It’s all free.

You can read more about the event here. You can RSVP on the Facebook event page.

The Details:

When: March 15th
Time: 5-7PM
Where: Visio Dei building, 524 E. Whitaker Mill Rd., Raleigh, NC

So, are you going to be there?

Home Sweet Home

2009-03-14T14:03:00.004-04:00

After spending our required two nights in the hospital, we were discharged on Friday morning. We packed up everything and we were given instructions by the nurse on what to do when we got home. Then, we were sent on our way.

It's crazy to me that this is all the "training" we were given, or even offered. At least at Tallahassee Memorial, where we gave birth to Palmer, they made you go through an hour long class on how to know if something is worth calling the doctor about, how to take care of the baby's umbilical cord, etc.. It was also a chance to ask some last minute questions and get answers from the "pros".

Since we are second time parents, the nurse giving us the rundown was probably good enough. We just needed the refresher, but if we had not already had Palmer, I think I would have needed a little more direction. I remember being like deer in headlights when we left the comfort of the hospital for the first time. That was the first time that it sunk in that we were solely responsible for another human.

Anyway, Rex showed us the door at about noon on Friday and we were on our way home.

We got home and things were quiet for the afternoon. Around 4:30PM, I went to pick-up Palmer from day care. When we got home, the Baumann's were at the house. They hung out for awhile and got to witness Palmer opening his gift from Presley.

Then, later my mom and Aunt Jo came by to bring dinner and visit. It was nice visiting with them. They spent a lot of time with Palmer, which I think is great. His transition has been going really well thus far. He seems to like his little sister.

Overall, things have gone smoothly since we have gotten home. There have been a few hiccups, but nothing major. I may blog about a few "dos" and "don'ts" for what to do when you have a baby and/or our friends have a baby.

Let us know if you want to stop by for a visit.

Below you can see some of the pictures from our last morning at Rex and our first day at home. To see all of the pics, you can do here.

Final Days in the Hospital

2009-03-13T23:18:00.003-04:00

Because Presley was born after midnight on Tuesday night (officially Wednesday morning), we had to spend Wednesday and Thursday nights in the hospital. This gave us two full days for people to come visit us.

In the previous post, I talked about everyone that came to visit on Wednesday. Thursday was a little more low key. The spacing of our guests was much better.

It was like a Visio Dei staff meeting on Thursday morning. Jeff came by first. Then, right after he left, Jason came by. While Jason and I were downstairs getting something to eat, Traci showed up.

In the afternoon, Bernie stopped by again to visit for awhile. Then, later in the evening, Mandy and Brayden stopped by with Palmer. It was another good visit with Palmer. I think he is okay with the idea of Presley being his little sister, at least at the hospital. We'll have to see how things work once we get her home.

Below are some photos from Wednesday. You can see the rest of the pics for that day here.

From Teammate to Daddy

2009-03-12T16:49:00.006-04:00

My friend Jeramie, and his family, could really use your prayers.

In the fall of 1991, I was eleven years old. One afternoon, I was hanging out at my best friend Brian's house. He had to leave to go to football practice. I most likely didn't feel like going home, so I tagged along. I had never played football before and knew very little about it. If you know me very well, you may be surprised to know that we didn't watch a lot of sports at my house when I was little.

I don't remember exactly what happened that afternoon, but I came home with a permission slip and a desire to be on the 1991 Mebane Bulldogs Mite League football team. I had played baseball since I was around six and I had tried basketball out a few years, but this was a knew one for my mom and I'm sure she thought I was going to get my skinny, white behind broken in half, but nonetheless she agreed to let me play.

On that team, I started some friendships that I still maintain today. Most of the friendships have faded quite a bit since the high school days ended, but one has stuck around. Jeramie Mullis played on that team and, again, I don't remember the details, but we became good friends that fall and have been ever since.

Jeramie and I continued to play sports together through middle and high school. After high school we went our separate ways, but still kept in touch. After he spent some time in Texas and I spent some time in Florida, we both ended up back in North Carolina. Eventually, we both ended up in Raleigh. Now, we live in the same neighborhood.

We've been through a lot together. Most recently, our wives became pregnant around the same time. It was something in the water. Their due dates were only five days apart. If you've read the previous two posts, you know that our little girl Presley was born early Wednesday. Well, their son, Ethan, was born a few days before here on last Sunday, March 8.

Ethan was born with a few birth defects, the most serious of those being a life-threatening heart disease. He's been through a lot in the few days he's been here on Earth. Yesterday, he went through a seven hour open-heart surgery. He's now recovering "like a champ" says his proud daddy, but he could really use your prayers.

You can check out Jeramie's blog and Joye's blog for updates on his condition. As you can imagine, Jeramie and Joye, as well as their parents, could use some prayer, too. Please go check out their blogs and leave them some love even if you don't know them. Every bit of support helps get them through this tough time.

Thanks for showing them some love.

Presley's First Day on the "Outside"

2009-03-12T01:31:00.004-04:00

Before Presley was born, we knew that Palmer knew what a baby was and we also knew that Palmer knew that there was a baby "inside" mommy's belly. We tried to prepare him for the change that was coming by telling him that soon the baby was going to be on the "outside".

Sometimes, we would ask him if he wanted the baby to come on the outside and he would respond by saying "outside", which is his way of giving an affirmative answer. He rarely says "yes". He just repeats what you say in instances when a normal person would say yes (and yes, I did just insinuate that our child is not normal). Other times, when we would ask him if he wanted the baby to come on the outside, he would very firmly say "no".

This left us wondering how things would go once the baby really came on the "outside". Well, today was that day.

Palmer met Presley this evening and I think it went as well as it could've. He knew that she was a baby. He knew that her name was Presley. He sort-of butchers her name when he tries to say it, but it's cute to us. He says something like Pes-E. I'm sure he'll get it some day. If we would have named her basketball, he wouldn't have any trouble at all pronouncing her name.

Aside from meeting her big brother today, Presley met several other people. She met some friends (Bernie, the Smiths, Meg, Barry and the Enzors) and some family (the entire Alston Crew, Aunt Capri and Grandpa Smith).

Like yesterday, I'm going to post a few of my favorites below, but you can see all of the photos from today here.

Let us know when you want to come by for your photo op.

Presley Kate Smith

2009-03-11T04:25:00.004-04:00

Last night when I got home from work, we took Palmer to the park to play. While we were there, Kim started monitoring her contractions. She had been having several yesterday afternoon, but had not been keeping track of the timing. Turns out that the contractions were averaging between five and six minutes.

We went home and cooked some dinner. Kim laid down and continued to monitor her contractions. They didn't slow down, or go away. So, after two hours of contractions, I finally got her to call the doctor. He suggested we come in.

We got to the hospital about 9PM and about four hours later, Presley Kate Smith was born. There are a lot more, but those will have to wait. It is currently 4:30 AM and it is time to get some sleep. I imagine tomorrow could be a long day.

Feel free to tell my wife that she makes beautiful babies. I know I had little to do with the good looks.

I just wanted to get something up here with a few pictures, You can see all the pictures we took between 9PM and 2AM here.