Walls Watch

2026-03-25T20:12:00.001-04:00

Enjoyed this jaunt down memory lane today. Had no recollection of our blogspot until I spent some time exploring Richard's old PC. Anyone out there care to resurrect it?

Super Bowl XLVI

2012-02-10T00:52:00.004-05:00

In an attempt to resurrect the blog, going to try and at least write up the times when the whole Walls clan gets together... and we did all get together for Super Bowl XLVI this past Sunday at Richard and Shelly's house in Woodbridge.

The parents had a long drive, but I think the appeal of "watching" the game together via text message had lost its luster after doing it the last few years. Cara-Lea had to work the night before, but was a trooper and made it on just a few hours sleep. The Falks joined as well for a total of 12 Giants fans in the house. (And 0 Patriots fans.) In attendance: Mom, Dad, Richard, Shelly, Kaley, Connor, Ethan (his first Super Bowl), Scott, Kirsten, Charles Henry, Cara-Lea, and myself.
Unfortunately, I don't have video of the kids running around the living room shouting "Go Giants!" as they were pretty tamely eating their hoagies when Cara-Lea and I arrived.
The parents show off their hoagie making skills.
Us enjoying dad's homemade guacamole
And since I did such a poor job of getting everyone in still pictures, here's a video showing the excitement of the last few minutes. (Click the picture below to see the video play.)
Overall, a great time and a great game. Glad we could all be together thanks to the parents making the long drive.
See bigger pictures on smugmug by clicking this link.

Walls Christmas 2011 in Woodbridge

2011-12-24T14:16:00.000-05:00

Delayed, but in keeping with my idea to blog the gatherings that include all the family, going to go back and mention our Christmas 2011...

Christmas came a couple days early for us this year. Cara-Lea had to work Christmas Eve and Shelly had to work Christmas day, so here we are on December 23 about to enjoy an amazing supper followed by some Christmas present unwrapping. Even the dogs managed to sneak into the picture.
(Note: Click on any picture and it will take you to a larger version.)

Shelly made some sort of amazing soup where you put some cheese on the bottom of your bowl then pour the soup on top. I forget all the details but suffice to say there were no leftovers.

A few pictures from before the meal, relaxing around the living room:

The dogs weren't too sure what to think of Ethan.

Mom got Ethan a "Baby's First Christmas" hat... but Ethan's head was just a little too big.

All the grandkids.

After supper, we started the unwrapping with the help of mini Santa Claus.

Ethan tries to help Connor unwrap.

Santa Claus and his grandmother.

Kaley shows off her new outfit.

Santa Claus got a little too hot.

Cara-Lea and I open some presents

This year's Walls Family Calendar didn't make it in time, so Shelly and dad got to unwrap the Ipad that had pictures of it.

I managed to surprise Cara-Lea with this gift because I had it shipped directly to Richard's house.

Richard and "the kids Xbox."

Some views of the whole scene.

Ethan enjoys a tie hanger.

Chatting

Richard spends the evening assembling "the kids train set."

Overall, we had a great Christmas thanks to the parents being willing to drive up to Virginia before embarking on their journey to Florida and back to Tennessee with Richard and Shelly the following week. I'll have to do better at taking more video next year. Hard to get the whole atmosphere from just stills. Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our family and friends.

The Big Day

2011-06-16T09:10:00.021-04:00

9:59 p.m.
Well, time to wrap up the day. We guys had a great meal at Don Pablos. Shortly after we got back Cara-Lea was able to stop by and meet Ethan. Also, dad and I got to hold him for the first time. Just arrived back home. Now to download the 500 or so pictures I took today. Then, time to sleep after getting up at 4:30 a.m.

Long story summarized... It was a great day. Everyone's happy and healthy so how could we ask for more?

5:22 p.m.
Nursing staff finally brought Ethan back to Richard and Shelly's room. They hadn't been with him since back in the delivery room.

Dad, Richard, and I are going to Don Pablos after they return with Taco Bell for the kids. We're all pretty hungry...including Ethan.

2:46 p.m.
Ethan arrived at 1:08 p.m. weighing 8 lbs 11 oz.

2:41 p.m.
Welcome to the world Ethan Richard Walls!

I just finished taking about 100+ pictures of everyone meeting Ethan for the first time. Now we're lined up behind the glass watching Ethan in his warmer.

1:41 p.m.
It's official! Waiting to meet him/her!

1:16 p.m.
Quoting Richard..."waiting is over.". We're not 100% sure if that means a birth... Perhaps they are pushing. Cool either way.

12:53 p.m.
Kids got to see Shelly. All cartoons were forgotten. Connor kept proclaiming loudly, "we're going to have a baby!" Doctor came in to check on progress so we have retired to the waiting area.

12:30 p.m.
Richard's calling for a sandwich... And for the kids to come see Shelly.

12:25 p.m.
Grandparents patiently waiting. Seems to be less anxiety all around this go around...I guess it is easier the 3rd time.

12:11 p.m.
Epidural in... Richard thinks baby probably won't be long.

12:07 p.m.
Kids watching Dora the Explorer.

10:42 a.m.
Kids and grandparents arrived about 45 minutes ago. Grandparents have enough supplies to keep kids in feed and entertainment for next week or so. Richard has gone back to check on Shelly...epidural should be happening next... Kids are currently unconcerned thanks to a TV in the waiting room.

9:52 a.m.
Got some pictures of Richard and Shelly together in the room. Kids to arrive shortly. Richard and I hanging out in waiting room until then.

9:07 a.m.
Big day has arrived. I'm sitting in the waiting room. Figured good time to start documenting. Shelly has had her water broken, putosin (spelling?) is dripping, and grandparents are hurriedly gathering up Kaley and Connor back in Dale City. Shelly, Richard, and I arrived at 7:15 this morning. Took some quick snapshots and then they checked Shelly into her room. I went and got some McDonalds. Time to go back to the room...

Trying to Catch Up With 18 Year Old Me

2010-11-14T21:59:00.000-05:00

Goal by my next birthday... run as fast as when I was 18 years old for 3 miles. Call it a small victory (or defeat) for 30 year olds.

May 2010: 31% slower than young me.
June 2010: 23%
May to September: Long break from running.
October 2010: No 3 mile times, but started running regularly
November 4, 2010: 22%
November 14, 2010: 11%

Seems like I have a decent shot, but that last 11% will be the hardest to gain.

Only sharing to help keep myself motivated (notice no times) since I've spent the last 10 years dismissing exercise as a myth invented to sucker us into gym memberships. But then when my job recently relocated to the 11th floor...and I decided to try the stairs one day... and I was wheezing with heart beating out of my chest by the 8th floor... I figured it was time to re-examine the benefits of raising my heart rate occasionally.

Apple Picking

2010-10-11T22:30:00.006-04:00

October 7, 2010

I had been thinking of visiting a “pick your own” apple orchard for a long time. A little research online convinced me that Stribling Apple Orchard would be the best choice. They had apples, farm animals, a country store and pumpkins, all points of interest to Kaley and Connor. The farm itself is a historic site, the buildings being originally constructed in the 1700’s. The first lease of this property was granted to William Marshall, uncle of Chief Justice John Marshall, in 1765. I found the history fascinating. You can read more about it at History of Stribling Orchard

It took us one hour to drive from Woodbridge to Markham, VA just off of I-66 where the orchard is located. When we arrived the farm workers were dumping buckets of fallen apples into the animal yards to lure them from the barn. Kaley and Connor were very excited to see the huge momma pig, cows, sheep, horses and donkeys. One friendly donkey stood near the fence and let them pet his side.

Our friends Kirstin and Charles Henry Falk were delayed exiting the DC area and so they arrive about an hour after we did. I took my time making sure the kids had a potty break and were thoroughly covered with sunscreen. We ate an early lunch and bought some apple butter. Kaley kept asking me “Can we pick apples now???” When Kirstin and Charles Henry, arrived Kaley could hardly hold herself back. She ran around dragging the plastic apple bag, begging to get started picking.

It seemed nuts to push the double stroller through the orchard grass, especially given that it was quite hilly. However, I finally decided it might be necessary to have the stroller along for transporting apples and children.

The farm gave us an apple picking tool on a long pole but as it turned out we didn’t need it because there were so many apples close to the ground.

Connor spent the whole event with an apple in each hand taking alternating bites from each. I tried desperately to clean the apples before he munched down on them, but after taking a few bites he would add his apples to the bag and pick two more. At the end of the day I had fun sorting out the apples that had bites taken from them.

I tried to give Kaley a little lesson in choosing the ripest and hopefully sweetest apples to pick but it really boiled down to the ones that she saw first and could reach. It didn’t take long to have 8 lbs of apples and I tried to slow her picking frenzy. I knew that there was no way we would be able to use any more. She would have kept on picking all day long.

The only nuisance to our day was the insects. Because of all the apples that had fallen to the ground there were many bees, yellow jackets and other insects buzzing around as the kids tripped over the apples. Thankfully no one was stung.

So with 8.5 lb of fresh picked red delicious apples - and what I hoped would be some good pictures - I headed home. Kaley fell asleep in the van immediately but Connor stayed awake the whole way. In fact, he never did take a nap that day. He must have been on an apple-sugar high.

Sabbath Afternoon Activities

2010-09-13T22:35:00.018-04:00

September 11, 2010

Last Sabbath we decided to take advantage of the autumn like weather and go biking after church at Rock Creek Park. Richard and Ryan biked there in August, and the weekend before this we went walking with friends Scott and Kirstin Falk there also. So you might say it is one of our new favorite places for Sabbath afternoon.
The park is 1,754 acres, twice the size of New York’s Central Park. The creek itself is beautiful, snaking through the forest. It is really peaceful and the air is fresh. You can almost forget that you’re in the middle of such a large city. http://www.nps.gov/rocr/index.htm

We met up with Ryan after church at the National zoo. Since he has a Zoo membership we parked for free. The Zoo is located inside Rock Creek Park so it is a nice one-stop shop for picnicking, fun for the kids, and biking. Shelly had packed a picnic lunch which the four quickly devoured and Ryan brought, as he put it, the best falafel that he had ever eaten, to chow down on. After lunch we went into the zoo for a while to let the kids have some fun. We visited the new elephant exhibit, the lions and tigers, the prairie dogs, the tortoises, and the primate house. The three adults were kept busy keeping track of the youngsters among the weekend zoo crowd. Connor later stated that his favorite animal at the zoo was the “baby goriwah”. Kaley really enjoyed seeing the prairie dogs.

We then tucked the kids into their bike trailer and headed down the path. Richard certainly got the best workout of the 3 bikers since he was pulling about 80 lbs of trailer and kids. Initially the path was quite bumpy and curvy. Shelly biked behind Richard and watched the kids bumping along. They really enjoyed the rollercoaster ride and kept calling back “Mommy, you’ll never catch us”. About 20 minutes into the ride they both fell asleep. This was a real blessing since they usually can’t stand being in such tight quarters together for very long. We biked approximately 9.5 miles at what felt like a leisurely pace, to those not pulling the trailer. There were a number of other people out enjoying the day but the park was not packed. It was such an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon.

When we got back the kids were ready to stretch their legs while we put the bikes and trailer in the van. They raced back and forth along a stretch of sidewalk. Uncle Ryan chased after Connor as he headed for the creek and the kids threw a few rocks into the water. Thankfully Ryan made a point of getting this shot of us with our bikes, otherwise this would be a blog about biking with only pictures from the zoo.

National Arboretum with Family and Friends

2010-05-02T16:36:00.001-04:00

Trying to revive the blog... I was considering going back in history and adding posts about past events as lots has happened (Christmas, two big snow storms, new job for Cara-Lea, new office location for me, Richard has a new office location, Richard and Shelly have a new van, we have a new puppy, etc.), but instead I figured the first step should be just trying to stay caught up with whatever events happen now. Otherwise everyone will always be reading about events that happened a year ago...

Connor reaches for some cake.

So yesterday, I met up with Richard, Shelly, Kaley, and Connor at the National Arboretum downtown for a quick picnic and walk around the park. Friends from their church came too including Scott, Kirsten, and Charles Henry Faulk. Also some friends I hadn't met before, AB, Michelle, and Spencer I believe?

Warm day in 80s, but with a nice breeze.

Shelly had just tried baking a pineapple upside down cake for the first time, which is what is tempting Connor in the picture. Connor has good taste, as the cake was incredibly good!

Kaley looks for a squirrel that had gotten away.

After lunch we went for a walk through the azalea gardens. Perfect time to come as they were really blooming. Kids enjoyed running around through the various paths, smelling flowers, and chasing squirrels.

Azalea

Connor, Richard, and Kaley

We then walked down to the visitor center where they have a koi pond. Amazingly no kids fell in despite Connor's repeated efforts to touch the fish and Kaley's repeated efforts to stop him. She wasn't being bossy, just concerned. I think she believed that those fish were going to get him.

"I don't want him to do that."

Shortly after, we walked back to the vehicles to leave, put the kids in air conditioning, and the adults said their goodbye's. Connor happened to find a pen within arms reach during this time and the rest is self-explanatory.

Pen + boy - paper = boy + ink

Fun day. Hopefully by writing this stuff down, I'll actually remember some of the details 5 or 15 years from now...

Full gallery of pictures
Convenient slideshow

TN Trip Pictures

2009-08-04T16:38:00.014-04:00

Continued...

July Trip to Tennessee

2009-08-04T09:07:00.009-04:00

On the 15th of July Richard boarded another flight to southern California. I decided to pack up the kids and head home...to Tennessee. This would be my first journey home on my own with the kids. I packed the car in advance, cleaned my house and sent texts to the family letting them know I was on the road.

The trip down went much better than I had feared. The kids were happy and slept quite a bit. On one roadside potty stop for Kaley, Connor slept in the car. We stopped near a fenced-in wooded area. Kaley was relieving herself when all of a sudden a loud pitiful "MAHHHH" sounded very near us. I surmised it must be a goat but we couldn't see it. Kaley was shaken a bit and ask me "MOMMY! IS THAT GOAT GOING TO BITE MY BOTTOM? WHERE IS IT? WHERE IS IT?"

(Continued...)

We stopped in Staunton VA to eat a late breakfast with Aunt Ruthe at Cracker Barrel. She gave us a huge tin of fresh baked ginger snaps for the long ride. These were to help Kaley with her nausea. She seems to get car sick very easily, even when there are few curves in the road and she is not watching a video. They did seem to help her, although I ate as many as she did.

We finally arrived at my Dad's place near Dayton TN. He and my step mom, Pamela, live on a quiet cove of the TN river. It is absolutely beautiful there. Kaley and Connor always enjoy their tropical aquarium fish, two cats and the garden. The highlight of this trip however was going out on the ski boat. On Sabbath my friend Corina and her baby Anabelle came over and we went for a long ride up the river. When we got back I decided to let Kaley and Connor take turns having their first tube rides behind the boat, riding with me. Dad drove the boat slowly and no other boats shared our cove. They had a blast.

Dad took us to the Dayton Airport to see his airplane, a Cessna 150, which he has been flying for the past 4 years. He really enjoys it and the kids found the radio and controls interesting. Kaley ran and hid in our car when someone down the tarmac yelled "clear the prop" and started his small plane. "It's too loud" she cried.

Next we drove to Knoxville to see my mom. She took us to the Little Ponderosa Zoo where Kaley fed goats, sheep, camels, and zonkeys (cross between donkey and zebra). She also enjoyed her very first pony ride. Unfortunately, one of the animal there peed on my diaper bag. I couldn't escape the stench. When one of the straps also broke I knew it was time for a new one. Thankfully, Mom bought me a beautiful new bag as an early Bday gift. While there we also explored Knoxville some. Kaley and Connor loved the splash fountains at World's Fair Park and Market Square. It was fun to go up in the Sun Sphere and look down and the city and park. We also visited with friends Mike, Katie and Jenna Hancock while in Knoxville. Such a good time seeing old friends.

Mom had just purchased a house but had not moved in yet. She planned a little birthday party for the kids at her new place. Kaley helped her make the cupcakes and while the kids napped Mom set up a balloon treasure hunt with a present for each kid at each station. Kaley had to locate a certain colored balloon then she could go find the gift hidden there. There were water balloons to burst and a couple large basins of water with water toys. Connor had a cupcake with one candle, Kaley had 3 cupcakes each with a candle and I had 10 cupcakes with three candles on each. I did manage to blow out all the candles with 2 attempts but I didn't eat all 10 cupcakes.

Finally we turned back toward Collegedale to stay with Connie and Gary. Kaley picked tomatoes and cucumbers from Grandpa's garden, and helped Gramma make pinwheels, a desert made of pie crust dough rolled up with sugar, butter and cinnamon. We had a fancy Sabbath dinner at the Gramma and Grandpa Regal's house, and Kaley enjoyed exploring Great Gramma Regals large home. She even got to see the secret fish room. Connor was especially taken with Gramma and Grandpa's new kitten Spice. He toddled over to the glass doors laughing, pointing, and pounding on the glass. Both kids had fun with Ginger, the dog, and Spice. We spent time with my sister Emily and Josh at their place. Kaley watched Veggie Tales and made art with Aunt Emily using sidewalk chalk.

We met up with a friend from SAU, Heather Moore Carvill and her two girls Mikayla and Emma. She was staying with her Cousin Alisa who set up a kiddie pool and slip and slide in her back yard for the little ones. Kaley had never been down a slip and slide. She really enjoyed it. Heather has been living in Australia where she met her husband and had her two girls. They just moved back to the USA last December and it was so good to catch up with her. She gave me some great pointers for my camera. Alisa made a delicious pot of curried veggies for lunch and was so sweet to share her recipe with me.

When we turned toward home I was so glad that I had made the trip. I don't usually get to spend that much time with my family. It rained the whole way home and the kids were cranky. All I can say is thank heaven for Chick- Fil-A. We didn't eat much there but the indoor playground was a life saver for getting wiggles out and they have baby changing tables in the bathrooms. As we drove into Dale City that evening, I sat at a stop light and noticed a full rainbow stretching across the sky. A perfect end to another fabulous trip.

Watching Them Grow

2009-07-13T21:26:00.010-04:00

From time to time I find myself wanting to hit the pause button on life. Some days the desire to freeze frame my world is so strong that it actually motivates me to pick up the camera or write a blog entry, things I don't seem to have time for much anymore.

Connor is 11 months old now, and took his first unassisted steps on July 11, 2009 at Ryan and Cara-Lea's house. I knew he was getting close to this but somehow it still surprised me and made me feel sad that he is heading out of babyhood. Watching him teeter and fall, getting up, falling, trying again, and finally making it across the room I saw once again the quality of persistence that has jumped out at me from day one. Connor does not give up. You can remove him from his goal, barricade or hide it but he does not forget about it. He is much more difficult to distract than his sister was at this age.

(Continued...)

Connor loves to cuddle. When I pick him up after a nap he wraps his chubby arms around my neck and pulls me close burying his face in my shoulder and neck. He won't drink his bottle at bedtime unless I rock him in the glider and sing. Connor also loves to cuddle with Daddy and get's very excited when he sees his Dad coming home from work. He immediately crawls to meet Richard, pulls up on his legs or raises his hands to be picked up. When Richard has Connor on his shoulders Connor will sometimes lean way over til he can see Richard's face and then pat his cheek as if to say "Ok, good. It's still Daddy who has me".

In addition to walking Connor has recently learned to clap, point, attempt to use a hair brush, fill a bucket with water in the bath and say "all done" or "more" in baby sign. When I point to pictures in a book, he points also with both chubby index fingers simultaneously. Connor sometimes spontaneously points at things while we're carrying him. He claps and laughs when other people are laughing and claps or bounces when music is playing. He jabbers a lot but non of it sounds like English other than dadda and momma.

Kaley talks and talks. She loves to reminisce about recent trips or family visits. Some of her mispronunciations include "rainbrella", mango is "flamingo" and veggies are "beggies". She still can't say the L sound so substitutes ya or wa. She is extremely self motivated and sometimes becomes enraged when I make a motion to try and help her. If I start a task she will undo the started portion so that she may complete the entire thing herself. Example...we were in a public restroom recently and she wanted to wash her own hands, however, the sink was not within reach. When I lifted her up she flew into a tantrum. After managing to get her hands clean I thought to appease the wrath by ejecting the paper towel for her to pull off herself. She then tore off the towel, threw it away and pulled the lever down herself to get more. She seems to learn best by watching and verbal instruction only.

Kaley is becoming very helpful around the house. She picks up her toys with moderate assistance to start the task only. She is capable of going #1 in the bathroom independently and does a good job, but prefers to have me help. She can stand on a chair at the kitchen sink and scrub dishes with a brush stacking them on the counter. And, she can wipe up spills thoroughly with a cloth or napkin.

Kaley plays increasingly well with her brother and loves to make him laugh. I often here her saying "you can do it Buddy!" She wants to help feed him and teach him to walk by dancing with him. His rambunctious and persistent nature continues to cause her grief though, and she never seems to rest easy when playing at his level.

I feel a bit better now, having written some of this down. And yet, it still seems so inadequate. I don't ever want to forget them...how they are right now. But, I will. It makes me want to cry. Dear Lord, help me to embrace each day for what it holds and the changes as well as the memories.

Trip to California

2009-06-22T13:34:00.017-04:00

I am sitting at the dining room table surrounded by the clutter of travel, remnants of our recent trip to California. The kids rediscovered each of their toys leaving them about, the clothes are in various stages of exiting the suitcases and the diaper bag still bears the effects of pressure change on a medicine bottle. But I feel content, nonetheless, to be home and know that everything will soon be back in it's place.

We had a blast trekking around California, arriving June 1 and flying home on the 19th. Upon arrival I was quickly reminded how cold it is in the Oxnard/Ventura, CA area. In the morning the cloudy marine layer filled the sky but broke loose around noon and left us with pretty good weather, sunny and 70 degrees.

This was a work related trip for Richard so he was working 5 days a week and we took weekends to visit friends and site see. Our first weekend we drove to Loma Linda to spend the night with friends from Southern, Jonathan and Belen Geach. He has just finished his residency in anesthesiology and Belen is faculty at the school of Dentistry.

(Continued...)

We had a wonderful time at their lovely home. Kaley especially enjoyed the slide and swing in their back yard, their dogs and Jonathan's ukulele. They fixed us gourmet breakfasts and it was good to catch up on each others travels and pictures. I walked down to the hospital and visited with the kids in the PT and OT department, touring their facility. They offered me a job but I was like, sorry I'm pretty sure I won't be relocated right now.

Then we drove to Solvang, a quaint Danish type town in the mountains, where we enjoyed caramel apples from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. This was a taste of home for Richard and I, reminiscent of Gatlinburg TN.

Our second weekend trip was the highlight of our stay in CA. A marathon expedition that proved to be a bit ambitious but a wonderful experience. We loaded up the minivan and headed for the mountains, stopping first at Sequoia National Forest. It blew my mind to think that these enormous trees have been around since before the time of Christ. The General Sherman tree is the largest tree, by volume, in the world. The winding road that led us 7,000 feet high to see this giant left Kaley and I rather queasy. We spent just enough time to take a few pictures and then turned back down the mountain toward Yosemite.

Yosemite National Park was by far much more impressive then I had expected. I knew there were vistas, waterfalls and wildlife but I was totally unprepared for the scale on which they existed. Driving down the Wawona road that afternoon I was introduced to Half Dome and El Capitan at Tunnel View. I realized then, that I had grossly underestimated this National Park. What an amazing feeling to look up...and up...and up, beholding these uniquely massive rocks.

Richard's idea, to get up at 0400 and drive over an hour to Glacier Point the next morning, made me question his sanity. After prying ourselves and 2 children from warm beds at this early hour we just missed our goal of arriving by sunrise. The impact of visiting at this time of day was nonetheless incredible. I have truly never felt as on top of the world in all my life. It was simply dizzying to look straight down for thousands of feet as the abyss widening beneath me. With Half Dome at eye level the sun rose and the giant rock split it's rays with one enormous shadow. Ten or fifteen hang gliders set up their gear, colorful birds perched and waiting for flight. The previous day a number of climbers had been stranded on Half Dome when the weather turned bad and one man lost his life when he fell from the rocks. We had witnessed the rescue helicopter landing and taking off from the valley and today it was back at work, a disappointment to the hang gliders who were told by radio they could not fly.

By the time we crossed the Bay Bridge into San Francisco and checked into our hotel the day was almost spent. We watched the sun disappear at Fisherman's Warf snapping a few shots of the wooden fishing vessels. After briefly checking out Ghirardelli square we got the kids to bed and enjoyed an eggplant parmesan sub and salad delivered to the room by a local Italian restaurant. The next morning, not to early, we drove across the Golden Gate bridge, had our photo op and took off for Monterey Bay.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium was by far Kaley and Conner's favorite part of the trip, likely the whole trip to CA. Kaley has always LOVED under-water life and this aquarium is designed with young children in mind. Every area has a playground with cool activities like fish stamps to collect, fish outfits to try on and hands-on learning. There are at least 2 touch tank sites and Kaley had her hands all over the starfish, crabs and snails...poor creatures. In one big room, exclusively for viewing the largest tank, the glass came down to the floor and Connor had a blast just crawling around in the semi darkness. At one point he got too friendly with another child and I pulled him back. Two seconds later he high tailed it back to the glass and looked over his shoulder at me as if to say "Hah, I got away". We stayed until it closed and then reembarked on the last leg of our journey back to Oxnard. We chose to take the Seventeen Mile Drive through Pebble Beach, a beautiful coastal drive and saw the Lone Cyprus. At this point we decided that we'd had enough fun for one weekend + Monday. The minivan had 1,200 extra miles on the odometer at our return.

The last five days of our stay in California were spent going to the beach, playground, and visiting with my mom's cousin Jenny and her family. I watched my cousins Lindsey and Whitney surfing and wished I had a better telephoto lens. They made it look easy. Kaley began asking about getting on the airplane and going home. I could tell she was ready.

Looking back I am amazed at all we managed to cram in. I sure wish we had had more time at Yosemite, San Francisco and Monterey Bay. I hope to return someday. It is good to be home but I'm so glad we had this opportunity; lots of wonderful memories and an ever growing archive of photos. Now, if I can just get this house cleaned up.

Momma's Night Out

2009-04-16T15:47:00.002-04:00

Last night I had a wonderful reprieve from 24/7 mothering. I love my kiddos to death but a girl just has to get out from time to time. Richard agreed to arrive at work by 6:00 am and come home by 2:00 pm so that I could have a wild night on the town (hahahah). My step sister Ashlee, who lives about 90 minutes away, drove over to stay for a few days and we hit the road at 3:00 to go shopping at Tyson's Corner. It was raining and foggy but the weather didn't dampen my spirits. The last time I was in a mall without the kids was in January.

It was so great to just pop into a store here and there and try on some new things without wondering which clothing rack Kaley was hiding under or trying to predict the number of minutes left until Connor's tolerance for the stroller would hit zero. I could relax in the fitting room instead of racing to make a decision. What a breeze of fresh air.

We ate at California Pizza Kitchen, one of my favorite restaurants, and gabbed as only girls can. We took our time with the food and not once during the meal did I have to pick food out of someone's hair, search for lost crayons under the table or try to save flatware from certain destruction. After dinner we watched Sunshine Cleaning at the theater...a Shelly speed movie with zero scenes of frenetic violence.

I had a blast just hanging out with Ashlee. She kept me laughing the whole evening. A pair of stonewashed jeans with tapered leg and zippers at the bottom had us reminiscing about the 80's and questioning who on earth would want to bring that back.

As we walked back to her car I was surprised to realize that I was missing my babies. I knew that Richard would be giving them their bath. Kaley would be begging for once last sip of juice and Connor fighting his exit from the tub. I realized that though I needed time away I would always need to come back more.

Sibling Rivalry

2009-03-03T21:18:00.004-05:00

Lately I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be a big sister. I grew up with a younger sister, and I'm sure she would tell you that I was a bit bossy at times. However, watching Kaley and Connor has really opened my eyes to how this kind of behavior develops.

When Kaley first met her new baby brother all she could say was "tiny baby, tiny baby". After a couple weeks at home she would greet him in the morning with "Wake up tiny! It's morning!" Since then Connor has been included in many of Kaley's daily narratives. Only recently has she begun truly bossing her brother around. This most likely has something to do with Connor learning to crawl.

Once the passive onlooker, he finally has the ability to impact Kaley's orderly world. Apparently all of Kaley's toys, strewn across the living room floor, have a purpose and are part of a grand scheme. Each doll or stuffed animal is given a bed or a snack. Other miscellaneous toys are labeled as dirty laundry, trash or dirty dishes that she must "wash". Items are stashed in purses and bags to become a "sack lunch" for her "trip to the zoo" or presents to be "mailed".

Enter Connor Stephen. He's been rocking back and forth for weeks, revving up his engine and getting his crawl in gear. Finally he's off to the races. No item is left unscathed. Drool drips from all the toys he touches, beds are overturned, "snacks" stolen, train track demolished, towers of blocks come crashing down. What she has he wants and what he has she wants. It seems they are never content with what they each have in hand. "Nooooooo Connor!" Is what I hear shrieked from the living room. Recently she has added "Get him! Get him! Pick him up" as a plea for little brother containment. I've seen her rake her most precious toys into a pile and sit on them, trying to shield them from the onslaught.

Well, this is my lot. I am being inducted into the league of referees. I need wisdom and patience from heaven. In the end I still conclude that these are the best years of my life and being at home with my kids is a grand adventure, one that I would not trade.

Dad in Town

2009-01-30T08:14:00.028-05:00

Just wanted to write a quick note about the fun day yesterday. Dad happened to be in town on a flight for Suntrust Bank. So I went down to his hotel by the Dulles airport and picked him up before meeting Richard at Sila Thai restaurant. Richard had a doctor appointment that morning, so he was able to take a leisurely lunch with us.

After lunch, dad and I embarked on a search for an office chair for me. (It was my Christmas gift.) Fortunately, dad suggested I look for deals online...found a $269 chair for $121 on clearance at Staples. Got to the store and the price was still marked $269, but when we had them scan it, it rang up $121. They even accepted my expired $20 Office Depot coupon. So we were happy. Dad joked that I "stole" the chair.

(Continued...)

On the way home we stopped by the Northrop Grumman office where I'll be working. Snapped a couple shots, then headed on home to show him the house and assemble my new chair.

Poor Cara-Lea had a 13 hour day in the OR, so she didn't get home until about 8:30pm. Dad and I had already given up hope and headed to eat Mexican. We were ordering our nachos when Cara-Lea called, with her request for Olive Garden. So we finished our unusual Olive Garden appetizer of nachos and drove the 2 miles home to pick up Cara-Lea before heading back out.

Had fun visiting and hearing about the craziness of Cara-Lea's day which included having a patient wake up on the table. After supper, dropped Dad off at his hotel and headed home quickly as Cara-Lea had to be at work again at 8 am.

**********

Today is a momentous day... finally get "fast" Internet installed at the house (Verizon FIOS). For the past 3 weeks, I've been using my cell phone as a modem. It's just in time as I start work on Monday...and for the first week I'll be doing an intro/orientation in Philadelphia of all places! So now Cara-Lea won't be left without Internet. You don't realize how much you rely on something until it is gone.

I'll be sure to try and write a blog post this next week to let everyone know how the first few days of work go. Overall, I'm feeling pretty "pampered" by the new job as they are buying me a new laptop for work and putting me up in the Hyatt for the week. Of course I was deflated I little bit when I talked to Richard who works for the federal government and heard he gets 26 days/year of leave plus 10 federal holidays and a bunch (13?) of sick days. Ah well, the grass is always greener, right?

Crazy December/January -- Big Life Changes

2009-01-22T14:07:00.000-05:00

(Cliff notes version: Cara-Lea started a new job at an orthopedic surgery practice in Winchester, VA. We moved to Leesburg, VA. I start a new job with Northrop Grumman in Herndon, VA on Feb 2.)

Well... I've finally decided I can't just wait to write the "perfect" blog post with requisite picture and interesting story line... If I do wait, it just never seems to happen. Hopefully, the more I write "imperfect" posts the more the rest of the family will be inspired to post more of their less-than-front-page-news from their day-to-day lives.

Of course, as the title suggests, I would guess that all the news we've had in the past month is probably worthy of a "front page" designation. Going back to December... (Continued)

Beginning of December sometime: Cara-Lea went to an interview at an orthopedic surgery practice in Winchester, VA. (May have been end of November.)

Sometime in between: We decide that Winchester will probably work well if we live in the middle somewhere between Winchester and the Dulles Technology corridor. So I don't remember the exact date, but at some point Cara-Lea said "yes" to a position with Winchester Bone and Joint Specialists.

12/11: I took my last exam to complete my Master's degree in Computer Science. I believe the date of the diploma says 12/13.

12/18: Cara-Lea took her national board certifying exam to become a PA. Standard waiting time for results is two weeks.

12/20: Packed for Christmas, got a hotel in Leesburg, and went to the practice's Christmas party at the Winchester Country club. VERY nice people. Enjoyed the night...highlight was Dr. Swope's poem that had a little anecdote about everyone who worked at the practice. Well I guess the real highlight was that Cara-Lea signed her official contract with the practice after the party was over.

12/21 - morning 12/23: Tried to relax a little bit in Leesburg, did some final Christmas shopping at the Dulles Town Center mall, and looked at a few places to rent.

12/23: Found out CL passed her boards!!! It was great to find out earlier than the normal 2 weeks. Made for a much happier Christmas trip. That afternoon drove down to TN--arriving about 4 am at the parent's house where we stayed this trip. (Richard, Shelly, Kaley, and Connor also stayed there.)

12/24 noon: Cara-Lea had planned a little graduation party for me at my parent's house. Enjoyed visiting with everyone. In attendance, Richard, Shelly, Kaley, Connor, the parents, Brian, his wife Monica, Mike, Cara-Lea, Jana, and Jerry Bruckner.

12/24 6 pm: Went to the Collegedale Church's Christmas eve ceremony with Uncle Wendell, Aunt Sharon, Emily, and Evan (sp?). Saw lots of people. Enjoyed chatting with the Mountz's, Meyers, and Rawsons. After the ceremony went to supper at Uncle Wendell and Aunt Sharon's along with Cara-Lea's dad and brother. Aunt Sharon made an awesome Mexican meal of tortilla soup and lots of other goodies. Great catching up with their family and the latest happenings of Emily and Evan who are both going to school at Collegedale Academy.

Christmas: Christmas was at Grandma and Grandpa Regal's new house... which is a *long* 1/10th of a mile from my parents. Lots of family made for lots of fun for me...Aunt Renee, her husband Bruce, Richie, Robby, Ryan, Aunt Ruthie, the grandparents, and all of our family. Highlight for me was the meal...all of us at one big table with nothing in the middle but mashed potatoes and all the fixings.

Christmas evening: Went over to Jennifer Walls' house for a pseudo Walls family reunion. Got to see my Grandpa Walls who I hadn't seen in far too long. Got to meet some *new* relatives also, such as Jeffrey Wickham's two kids and Vanessa's husband and new son. It was so great visiting with Aunt Karen and Uncle Steve whom we hadn't seen since they had come to visit us in TX I believe. Also great catching up with Jennifer, Uncle David, and Beth.

12/26 - 12/27: Christmas with CL's family on the 26th... played some baseball in the yard with Nathan for a while before opening presents. Then went to lunch and then a walk at Riverwalk on the 27th...followed by an evening at Provinos. Brian and Monica, and Mike and his "friend" Heather joined us.

12/28: Enjoyed a round of golf with Mike and Brian at a totally swamped with water Concord before heading over to Bruckners for Christmas. Jana, Eric, and Kate were there with of course Mary and Jerry. Got to watch a little football, enjoyed lots of food and great conversation... and some rook playing of course.

12/29: Ate lunch at Sitar Indian Cuisine with CL's brother Leonard and his wife Cara, and Leonard, Donna, and Nathan. Then stopped by Bruckner's for a short visit before heading over to Ryan Rayburn's 13th birthday party at the grandparents house. Lots of people there I hadn't seen in a while including Aunt B, Cathy, and Karen. Also got to meet some of Bruce's extended family. Hard to believe my *little* cousin Ryan was turning 13. I remember distinctly holding him when he was born. Even harder to believe that Richie is in his 20s and Robby has graduated from high school! Highlight of the evening was playing pool with Grandpa...just like old times.

12/30: Had an hour long phone interview with Northrop Grumman. Then drove back to Leesburg to look for housing now that everything was "official" with the boards passed and the contract signed. Stayed in the same hotel we stayed before... Holiday Inn at Caradoc Hall.

12/31: Had another phone interview with a different department at Northrop Grumman for over an hour. Ate out at Don Pablos, then went back to the hotel to watch the ball drop.

1/1 - 1/4: Spent all day every day (and most the nights) searching online and looking at rental houses. Considered everything from Winchester to Leesburg and in between. Housing is still pretty expensive around here despite the housing crisis, so the pickings were slim for what we wanted and what we wanted to pay. Big pre-requisite was finding a place with at least two bathrooms so we could have company over without having everyone sharing. Finally after looking at over 20 different places...came back to basically the first one we looked at.

1/5: Signed the lease... 1800 sq feet, 3 br, 2.5 baths. 1 car carage, deck, and a fireplace. All recently renovated. We were/are happy.

1/5 pm: Decided we might as well go ahead and get all our stuff from TN that we had had stored for the past 3.5 years while we lived in our *tiny* place up in Philadelphia. So we drove back down to TN.

1/6: Picked up the Uhaul and drove over to CL's parents to pick up her piano and a few other items. Mike graciously took time out of his prepping to leave for Kettering to volunteer to help with the piano. Loading went fairly smoothly, then it was off to Bruckner's to load the rest. Dad, Shelly, and Jerry helped us organize and pack. (Jana helped direct me while backing the truck in and got her Xtera stuck because of all the rain.)

1/7 am: Loaded up the last few bits of stuff, got tons of boxes courtesy of Jerry's stockpile, then drove to Walmart to meet the parents and CL's dad and brother to say goodbye and to pick up mom who thankfully volunteered to help us drive and pack for the week... we would have never made it without her. Also got to check out the parents new chariot, a Honda Odyssey minivan, they had just purchased the night before. Pretty nice!

1/7 pm: The three of us tag-teamed as we drove the Uhaul with my car in tow up to Leesburg. Stayed the night in the same Holiday Inn... now for the 3rd stay (total of about 10 days.)

1/8: Dropped off my car at our new house so we wouldn't have to tow it to Philly and back. Dropped the tow dolly at the Uhaul place... ate a late lunch at Ihop, then it was on to Philly.

1/9: Sometime in all of this the 2nd batch of Northrop Grumman people invited me back for an in-person interview. The in-person interview location was in Philadelphia! :) So I had told them I would be in town today... so Cara-Lea drove me up to my interview in Conshohocken. Spent a an hour or so interviewing with 4 managers, then another hour talking with some developers. Then back for an hour or so with the lead manager...at which point they offered me the position. No details yet, but they said they would be happy to have me. I was happy because this job involved getting a security clearance which Richard had told me would be a real good thing for my career, along with focusing on web development, which is what I enjoy.

1/9 - 1/10: Relaxed a little Sat a.m. but spent Friday pm and Sat pm packing boxes left and right. Never would have made it without mom who I think packed at least 50% of the boxes herself.

1/11: Invited some good friends Geoff and Pita over for breakfast and to help with some loading. Also asked a friend from the high school I used to teach at, Jason, to help load the heavy stuff. The chaos of the day cannot be fully described, but lets just say that even with CL staying until about 8 pm (when she had her first day of work the next morning in Winchester) it took mom and I until about 3am to get everything settled and finished. At some point several days back there was a decision about whether I should rent a 17' or 26' truck... I *almost* went with 17' but in the end went with the 26' and if it had been an inch shorter, we wouldn't have been able to fit everything. We had to push on the load to get the door to close... but it finally closed. CL drove down to Winchester that night and stayed in a hotel to prepare for her first day.

1/12: CL's first day of work. Mom and I drove the Uhaul down to Leesburg. Met the landlord and realtor at 11 am for the final walk-through of the house. Had professional movers scheduled for noon for 3 hours. Unloaded from 12:10p to 3:10p with the movers and mom. Then quickly got the truck ready to return to Uhaul by 4p. Drove to Uhaul and dropped the truck. Got out of paying a lot of damage fees by some miracle (scraped sides from trees at CL's parents, messed up rim from cutting a corner, etc.) Then immediately drove mom to the Dulles Airport for her flight that left at 6:30p. Went home and collapsed with poor Oso who had been along for this entire journey.

1/13 to 1/22: CL has been working very hard. The practice is definitely a challenging place. I have been unpacking and organizing and trying to be supportive.

1/16: Officially accepted the position at Northrop Grumman. I start Feb 2.

1/20: Watched the inauguration on TV despite being just 40 miles away... it was cold!

Right now: Looking forward to the weekend for CL's sake... she needs a break, she basically hasn't stopped since well before she took her boards back on Dec 18. Last weekend we got the kitchen in order.

Speaking of which... I better get back to work to help things along. I hope this couple hours has been time well spent to try and get everyone caught up. I know in a month or so, I would never remember half of the dates/details. :)

So now, my challenge is to the rest of the family... dad, mom, Richard, Shelly. I would wager that no one is busier than I have been, so there's no excuse. Let's see some blog posts! ;)

... or at least some Twitter updates.

Kid Quotes and Baby News

2008-12-10T15:55:00.005-05:00

Kaley and I watched the Cozumel trip DVD today. During the underwater shots she kept demanding to see a puffer fish or sea horse. I had fun trying to explain why there wasn't one. After a while she changed her mind and said "where is the pout-pout fish!"

Kaley talks to Connor all the time as I drive them around in the truck. Since he faces backward and she forward they can look at each other directly. Yesterday on the way to Connor's 4 month check-up I heard Kaley saying "Hi Connor!! Are you smiling at Kaley? There's Mommy Connor, she's driving truck. Gramma's on phone Connor, say hi. No Connor don't do that, stop Connor, here's your passie. Look Connor there cars, there trucks. Going round corner, whaaoooo Connor hold on.

In the evening she ate a cookie and told me "Mommy, cookie stuck in teeth, brush teeth Mommy, get clean".

It is especially cute when she gets scared and tries to comfort herself by saying "it's ok, it's ok, don't be fraid, Jesus take care of Kaley. In her prayers at night she typically says "Jesus thanks Connor, food, Daddy, Mommy, all videos, angels and all childrens". I must admit that it freaks me out a bit how much she loves her videos. I trust that God understands.

Connor is progressing, although, I was jumping the gun a bit on my estimations of his weight. He is now 16lb's 2 oz and 25.25 inches long. He falls along the 75th % for weight and the 50th % for the other measures. He tolerated his shots well and hardly cried at all. His MD was impressed with Connor's head control and friendly nature.

Trip to Virginia canceled by hospital stay

2008-11-24T22:58:00.012-05:00

Preparations were falling in place for our highly anticipated trip to Richard and Shelly's for Connor's church dedication. Getting to see Ryan and Cara-Lea was going to be the icing on the cake. Connie and I were scheduled to leave home Friday and return the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, with Connie scheduled to work Wednesday and the Regal's looking forward to having us join them for their first Thanksgiving in their Tennessee home.
(Continued)

The on again, off again pain that I had been having for a couple of weeks in my lower right abdomen decided to hurt more than usual Wednesday night, so Thursday morning Connie started trying to convince me to go see a doctor, just in case it was something serious. So I did a few errands and then about 1 PM walked into the Urgent Care department at the Erlanger East Campus on Gunbarrel Road. That started a very long and unusual adventure.

The first guy that poked around on me was a Nurse Practitioner. He adamantly announced that I had an abdominal hernia. For some reason he left the room and a Physician's Assistant came in. He poked around, found the spot that got the most response from me, and decided that he wasn't so sure it was a hernia. He mentioned that the way to get more information would be to get a ct-scan done. I had called and asked my sister Karen, an ER nurse, for some tips on hernias and abdominal pain as I was driving to the doctor's office. Since she had mentioned that they would probably do a ct-scan, when one was mentioned, I said that sounds like a good idea, let's do it.

I drank my contrast drink, a big bottle of chalk water with a little vanilla flavoring and then waited for almost two hours before they could get me into the big machine. After the scan, when the PA and the radiologist saw the picture, the PA got a little more excited.

After talking to Connie and her asking her nurse coworkers, it was decided that I should go to Erlanger Hospital, which I did, by ambulance ride. I told the two in the back of the ambulance with me that their truck needed some springs, my pain was increasing with each bump in the road.

Erlanger is a teaching hospital, so I spent from 7pm until 1045pm in Erlanger's ER being looked at, (and poked at) by a stream of resident doctors, PAs, and finally three surgeons. Of course, when they told me that the "people from surgery" were going to come down and look at me, that got my attention, since up until that time, I had somehow convinced myself that I wasn't going to need surgery. I had made it 54 years without a surgery, or having ever spent a night in a hospital bed, so why start now?

So the first resident surgeon came in and made me feel really old by saying that "if you were my dad, I would operate on you" and this is what I would do. Gee thanks.

Next surgeon up the food chain said about the same thing. In the meantime, I have to tell you that our friend, Dick Rawson had gotten off duty as a CRNA at Erlanger at 7pm, and had been in my ER room the whole time while the parade came through. Dick was pretty sure that I was going to have surgery, and had volunteered to stay and put me to sleep (yikes!).

During this time, my deathbed humor did not get any laughs from Connie, but I was having a hard time dealing with the idea of surgery, especially the BIG abdominal cut.

Finally, the chief surgeon came down from on high and proceeded to look and poke. Then he said that I had a ruptured appendices, which had encapsulated. There was some infection in the small intestine in the area of the appendices and that if he operated it would be a full abdominal opening with risk of spreading the infection. He said that instead of operating Thursday night, he wanted to have me in the hospital for two or three days of antibiotics by IV and then if my temp and white blood count was good, a follow up ct-scan in a week or two, followed by a colonoscopy in a month, and then maybe a laperscopic appendectomy.

I couldn't have agreed with him more. No surgery! I got a reprieve!

So I was in the hospital room about midnight, with Connie camped out on the couch under the window. Of course, a hospital is not where you go to get a good night's sleep, with someone coming in every hour or less, taking blood, changing IVs, taking temps and blood pressure, etc etc., turning on the light each time, and sometime forgetting to turn it off when they left the room. I did ask for pain medication a couple of times that first night, but didn't take anymore after 830 Friday morning. I was surprised Saturday morning when 5 doctors came crowding into my little room. Guess I was special. LOL

So by Saturday morning, after two doses of IV antibiotics, my white blood count was in the middle of the normal range and my low fever had broke. After a third round of IV antibiotics Saturday afternoon, I was home by Saturday night with a ct-scan and appointment with that smart chief surgeon scheduled for a week from now.

And so we missed our grandson's dedication, what a major disappointment for Connie and me. But with the help of this blog, we just got to see pictures and video of it, so that was special.

-Gary/Dad/Grampa

Connor's Dedication

2008-11-24T09:11:00.005-05:00

On November 22, Connor Stephen Walls was dedicated to God at the Community Praise Center, Seventh-Day Adventist church.

Unfortunately, Dad was in the hospital with appendicitis. So Mom and Dad (and any other relatives who wish they were there), this video is for you... courtesy of Shelly's quick thinking to ask the video guys if they could make a copy. We had a little debate about whether to give this to you at Christmas...but thought you'd enjoy it more now.
(Continued)

Now here are some still shots that I took from the balcony...
Here he is being held by the pastor, Josant Barrientos.

Unfortunately, the "wide angle" pictures are on Richard's camera, so you can't see the masses that filled the front of the church. There were easily 50 people.

Overall, I think everyone would agree Connor did great.

On a side note...
I had a great time visiting with family. I drove down Friday night so I'd be sure not to miss the morning's events. First words I heard after opening the front door were, "Hi, Unca Wyan." Talk about melting your heart... After the dedication enjoyed an amazing meal of homemade barbecue "meat"-balls, seasoned red potatoes, and corn...all topped off with blueberry pie. (Thanks Shelly!) Then spent the afternoon relaxing on the couch and watching the kids play. I hated to leave so soon, but I had to get home to work on school work. Less than 3 weeks and I'll be down with graduate school (12/12 is the last day.) Speaking of which, I better get back to a project that is due at midnight.

2008-10-26T10:58:00.005-04:00

Three music lists that I created at Playlist.com. See the full post link for the playlists...

The Pop Out Player works the best. The embedded players below don't seem to be completely compatible with Blogger.

99 Johnny Cash Songs:

Another 21 Johnny Cash songs:

Various songs that Richard likes:

Happy Birthday

2008-10-10T13:35:00.002-04:00

I'm a bit belated, but I thought I would share a few snapshots from my birthday last week. Cara-Lea planned a special surprise for me where she arranged for us to meet up with Richard, Shelly, Kaley, and Connor along with our friends Doug and Tonya Beardsley in Baltimore on Saturday, the 4th. Well, it was a surprise until I kept bringing up the topic of "Let's go to DC to see Connor" and she finally just had to spill the beans. Anyway, long story short, on my birthday, the 3rd, I knew we were going to Baltimore the next day, so for my birthday we just went out to eat at a place called the Thai Pepper.
(Continued)

It was really good. Prettiest plate of food I've eaten in a while. Unfortunately, my nice camera was in the car so here are couple snapshots of us with my cell. Cara-Lea had tofu with green beans, and I had red curry tofu. It was quite entertaining trying to get rice eaten using just chopsticks...but we improved dramatically as the meal progressed.

Long White Coat - The End of a Journey

2008-08-30T16:53:00.007-04:00

Friday, August 22, 2008. The day of Cara-Lea's Long White Coat ceremony. The day we had been working toward since we left Texas. I wish I had written this on the actual day, as it's hard to retrospectively capture all the happiness and joy we were feeling...but even a week later we are still pinching ourselves to make sure we are not in a dream.
(Continued)

The Long White Coat ceremony marks the end of Physician Assistant school for Cara-Lea. She's been incredibly persistent and resilient to get to this point... a lot of sleepless nights and stressful days for both of us. I'm very proud of her.

Even now I do not think we are feeling the full impact of what has happened--mainly because Cara-Lea will be at her rotation site until September 20, and we both had a very busy week. But I think when December rolls around and we are both out of school for the first time, our brains will finally let us realize that IT'S ALL OVER.

Getting back to the actual day... it was made even more special since some of our family were able to join us. (Unfortunately we only had 6 tickets to the event or else we would have invited more of our family.) Cara-Lea's parents and brother drove up and arrived early Friday morning. My parents flew in to PHL around noon that same day. Cara-Lea had to work that day, so I prepared a lunch of lasagna (from the freezer, don't be impressed) for the group. Cara-Lea got home to enjoy part of it. Then we all went our separate ways to nap before the big event.

We got a bit of a late start leaving for the ceremony...it was quite a stressful ride as we got stuck behind a notorious Philly trolley, and Cara-Lea knew if she was too late they wouldn't let her on stage. Five minutes before the scheduled start time we dashed into the building. Fortunately, all Cara-Lea's classmates were still in the main hall lining up.

My parents had arrived early from their hotel and had saved us all seats right in front--perfect for pictures. Except that when Cara-Lea actually got her White Coat, I pulled the trigger a fraction of a second early and the flash didn't recycle quickly. So I didn't get the "best" shot of her, but I don't think I'll be forgetting the moment in my own mental picture anytime soon.

Afterward, after the graduates marched out, we took several pictures with some of her closest classmates. Then we went outside (it was a gorgeous day and weekend) to get some family shots. We were all pretty hungry and looking forward to dining out, so they didn't have to suffer through my normal long drawn out picture session. Then we were off to Su Xing, an all vegetarian Chinese restaurant on Sansom Street downtown. We dropped the hungry crowd off, then Dad and I had a bit of an adventure parking the two cars, but we finally found spots and joined the rest inside.

Cara-Lea's closest friend in the program, Aida Gallegher and her family joined us. I'm sure it was an adventure for them as they are not vegetarian. But at least for me, the meal was amazing. I think everyone felt the same.

It had been an eventful and long day for all of us, so we all went our separate ways to rest up for the big weekend ahead--which will have to come in a later installment. To see all the pictures from the day go to Photo Gallery of White Coat Ceremony.

Connor's First Smile for Mommy

2008-08-29T14:09:00.003-04:00

Connor looked up at me this morning and smiled. It was the first time he smiled at me while awake. It was a big grin. What a sweetie!! The poor guy has broken out with bad baby acne on his face. I remember Kaley was also plagued for a couple of weeks with acne at this age. He is also a bit more fussy the past few days. His newborn clothes are getting tight and my guess is that he is pushing 10 lbs now. He is spending more time awake during the day and seems to notice when his fists swat hanging toys unintentionally. Sometimes when he is laying on the Einstein play mat he gets fussy but if big sister Kaley lays down next to him and talks to him he will stop crying. Connor met his Nonnie (my step mother, Pamela) last night for the first time. It was really nice to have my step sister Ashlee and Pamela visit us for the evening. We watched Just Like Heaven and enjoyed some wheat/gluten free chocolate cake and strawberries that I made in celebration of Pamela's birthday. She is very allergic to wheat. This morning we cleaned our house in less than an hour after getting another call/request to show it. It is nice to have it cleaned for Sabbath so early in the day.

Our Weekend

2008-08-24T14:47:00.006-04:00

On Friday Connor had his 2 week doctor visit. He weighed in at 9 lb 9 oz. He has gained over a pound since his first pediatrician visit less than 2 weeks ago. The doc said everything looks great.

Connor loves to be held and will frequently wake up if you try to put him in the bed or swing. Richard is really good at putting him to sleep and Connor seems to stay asleep better when Richard puts him down. He has already spent many hours of his young life being held by his Daddy. I am so thankful that Richard could take 3 weeks off work to help care for Connor and Kaley.
(Continued)

Yesterday morning we watched some home videos. Kaley was mesmerized by the scuba diving video from Cozumel. She was amazed to see Mommy, Daddy, Gramma and Grandpa jumping off a boat and swimming with the fish. She especially liked the sea turtle swimming with us and the big splashes that we made jumping in the water. She had never seen this video before. I have a feeling that someday she will want to don her own BCD, mask, regulator and weight belt to see the underwater world for herself. "Do it self Mommy! Do it self!"

We also watched a home video from Richard's childhood...the one of Richard and Ryan swimming in the "pond" in March and the one of camping with the Chambers and Bennett's over the boys birthdays. Kaley exclaimed "boy eat happy birthday cake" when she saw Ryan blowing out his 7 candles. Then she said "Kaley eat happy birthday cake". This reminded me that I need to plan a little party for her birthday. It doesn't seem fair that her second birthday be totally eclipsed by Connor's arrival. I'm sure this will be a reoccuring issue; to have one party or two.

Sabbath evening we went to Leesylvania Park again. We took a hike through the woods on a new path and Kaley did a great job of keeping up. She ran down the trail yelling "hurry Daddy, hurry Daddy". It was probably about a mile total. Richard carried Connor in the snuggly front carrier. Kaley would occasionally stop to say "listen, whats that!" when a train or boat could be heard in the distance. We went to the visitor's center and saw the fish, turtles and snakes they had in aquariums. Kaley enjoyed the playground equipment and even agreed to go down the slide but only if Richard held her hand. It was such a pleasant evening with low humidity and we enjoyed walking by the Potomac and watching people swimming, boating and jet skiing. There are signs all over the area saying "no swimming allowed" but people don't take it seriously. I am always amazed at the number of individuals willing to gamble with the pollution. There are little kids swimming in the same waters where they have been finding increased numbers of bass fish genetically effected by pollutants in the Potomac. No child of mine will be swimming there but it is still pretty to look at.

Being near the water makes me miss the river's lakes and streams in Tennessee and all the fun times I had growing up. My family spent every Sunday in the summer on Ocoee lake skiing. We would usually buy a watermelon at a fruit stand on the way and and spend all day on the boat or docked at a rugged picnic site on the shore. This is usually where we celebrated my birthday and I always had a blast with my cousins and friends. I sure hope that someday we can live near a non toxic body of water and my kids can enjoy these activities too, especially with all the August birthdays.

Morning with Kaley

2008-08-21T08:19:00.003-04:00

"Bless you, Connor"...Kaley says this when Connor sneezes.

"Mumps"...Kaley's nickname for Shelly.

"Mumps, hug baby"...Kaley tells Shelly to pick Connor up and hold him by saying "hug baby".

Kaley is very verbal in the morning when she first gets up. She seems to have a lot on her mind that she can't wait to express when you come to get her up.
(Continued)

"Daddy back, Daddy back." Kaley's greeting when I came in this morning to get her out of bed and she wanted mommy instead. This was followed up by a "I'm mad" and some pouting with lower lip emphasis. Later in the day, she said, "Daddy go study, please" when I came into the Master Bedroom and she didn't want me there for some reason.

She gasped, "What's that noise?" and held her hand to her ear this morning when I was changing her just-out-of-bed, first diaper of the day. I asked her what she heard, and she responded "trash truck". Today isn't trash day, but I did hear what sounded like a large truck outside.

She asked for "juice" and said she was "hungry" and said "Kaley eat" while I was changing her.

Once downstairs, however, it was "push button, push button please." Asking me to turn the TV on this morning. Later she said, "Push mote, please" when she wanted me to change the channel after another cartoon started that she was not interested in watching. She wanted to "Watch Einstein" instead.