long day.

Nathan tried to watch a little HGTV, but he had a long day.

two weeks.

the new guy.

As soon as Hudsen came in to see Nathan for the first time, he promptly introduced himself. And then he showed him how to use the recliner (he wanted me to face Nathan toward the chair to see.) It's all business for Hudsen.

nathan caleb adams.

Life is good. Nathan Caleb was born yesterday at 2:58pm. He's healthy, and he weighed in at a hefty 5 lbs 13 oz. Sorry for the blurry BlackBerry photos.

realistic vs. abstract.

Slap a large pricetag on it, and someone in the Bay Area is sure to take notice. Our little artists left the other parents disappointed and the other kids in tears at a recent showdown at Royal Oaks.

That was over the top and borderline rude. But it's late, and I am entertaining myself now.

tennis champ.

Maddie did tennis earlier this spring. She did awesome. As a lefty, she'll be every chick's worst nightmare in high school...not that we're thinking that far ahead or that we've been told that lefty chick tennis players get sweet scholarships or anything like that...

right on time for easter.

Here are buds Hudsen and Luke @Easter.

photos of kids.

I'm thinking of posting some pictures of the kids soon. Novel idea.

oui wii.

Hudsen has a friend, Matthew.
Matthew has a Wii. Therefore, Matthew is Hudsen's favorite friend. Tonight, we were eating at Tour's Mesquite Grill. We ran into an old friend. Hudsen immediately starting chatting about his new brother. He somehow segwayed to video games - a likely transition. Well, here's how it played out:
Hudsen:

"I play video games. Matthew has a Wii Wii."

You bet, tiger. I'm sure he does.

three months of nothing.

So blogging has been non-existent for the past three months. Probably because nothing has been going on.

Well, except for:

- Maddie finishing kinder like no one's business. Sharpest crayon in the box. She's on about level 23. Brilliant.
- Hudster finished pre-pre-school. Went in preferring not to communicate; went out a chatter box.
- Remodeled house. Demo'd both bathrooms to their bones. New tile, new vanities, new personality...like a hotel, baby.
- Scraped popcorn texture off ceilings, retextured whole house.
- Repainted whole house.
- New carpet.

It's been a crazy few months, but our parents have been invaluable, helping us get everything done.

Oh yes, and Nicole is about to have the baby any day now. Probably within next week.

More to come.

hangin' tough.

I mentioned me being an idiot. This post isn't about that, but it doesn't help me at all.

In the past year, I've had to get tough with a few people. "Perps" as I like to call them. Shady people. People who may threaten the neighborhood.

#1 - My neighbors are yard decorators. You name the holiday, they got the lawn ornaments. Yard spirit like no one's business.

I was up late during Christmas time, and I heard the rumbling of a truck. I looked out to see a truck parked in front of the neighbor's yard w/ its lights turned off. I knew immediately that this was a case for Sheriff Caleb. I saw a shadowy figure running across the lawn. "He must be trying to steal my neighbor's reindeer!" I said to myself. Oh no he wouldn't. So I courageously ran outside and yelled at the perp. He drove off like a scared puppy; I went back in side victorious. I had just stopped a thief. I stared down unlawfulness in the face, and I didn't even blink.

The next day, I eagerly jumped at the chance to tell my neighbor that I had practically saved his family with my courage.

Here's the conversation:

Caleb: "Hey, Jim."

Jim: "Hi, Caleb."

Caleb: "Anything missing from your yard? I scared off a thief last night."

Jim: "No, but two of the reindeer were in a position that generally produces more reindeer."

Well, you can imagine my disappointment. You'll get to read about my next "courageous" moment in the next installment of "hangin' tough". For now, we need to play Scrabble.

scrabble and stuff.

It's been far too long since our last post.

It's partly because we discovered the game Scrabble. Perhaps you've heard of it - unless, of course, you haven't ever left your house and don't have any access to history.

Scrabble takes up a lot of time at night. In fact, I'm starting to feel guilty for bad mouthing all you Facebook time-wasters.

Hey, did you know that "Qa" and "Xi" are words? A lot of points, too.

Here's a quick rundown of the last month:
- Kids were sick
- Maddie started tennis and she is ready to taken on the Williams sisters already.
- I managed to make myself look like an idiot numerous times. (More on that in a later post.)

it's a boy!

Nathan Caleb

Hudsen is getting a brother (and so is Maddie)!

It's a boy. We don't have any pics up, but trust us when we say it's a boy. We'll spare you the black and white image.

Hudsen calls him "Nay-fin".

I always wanted a brother and I am so happy that Hudsen will have one!

Time to get to work on the rooms. Both the kids' rooms are getting an overhaul. Our budget is $200K.

well, well, well.

Apparently a boy named "McKay" thinks he has a crush on Maddie. Messengers Sam and Reid told Maddie so. Well I'd like for Sam and Reid to send a message back to McKay: come back in 15 years, buddy. I don't know what's going on in Room 11 @ Royal Oaks, but perhaps Mrs. Rook and I need to have a talk.

No, we do not force the kids to keep a hand on Nicole's stomach - at least not more than a few hours a day. Nicole and the kids will be featured in our local hospital's next magazine/newsletter (my company does the design and most of the writing for it.) There's a feature on the hospital's maternity ward expansion and there's a blurb on how our baby will be one of the first to enjoy it.

PS: Monday (Feb 2) is the big day for the ultrasound! Will it be Chuck or Suzie? Oh, the suspense! Actually, I can guarantee it won't be a Chuck or a Suzie.

dogs.

Fresh from the groomers, Anabelle and Sebastian (Sea-bass) pose for the camera. We have joint custody with Ron and Renee. But it's okay - we're all really good friends. We get along a lot better this way.

Dog profiles:

Anabelle - she is the leader. The alpha male. After all, it's 2009. Plus, President Obama just signed into law that deal on guaranteed equal pay for women who do the same job as men. She is the explorer; she hears the mysterious noises; catches the mysterious scents; she is the hunter. She gets it.

Sea-bass - Ahh, Sea-bass. Sea-bass is a very special dog. We are really looking forward to Sea-bass's brain developing a lot more. He is really good at jumping, barking, and following Anabelle. Sea-bass would not make a good subject for Pavlov's dog experiment. He doesn't get that barking = water bottle spray to face.

Below:
Anabelle, feeling rather awkward and embarrassed by Hudsen's Irish jig dance in the middle of the kitchen, pretends like it's not happening.

anniversary.

Luck would be a reasonable explanation, but the truth is that I am simply blessed beyond measure. The past eight years have flown by and every year, my gorgeous, brilliant wife gets more gorgeous and brilliant. She's my best friend. She's funny. She accepts my faults, and makes me a better person. And what an amazing mother to Maddie and Hudsen (and soon #3)!

I love you, Nicole.

Proverbs 31:10 & 11
A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.

the ceiling is falling.

Tonight, the kids opted for a campout. This is actually the second night in a row we've tried this method. Last night didn't work, and both kids didn't go to sleep until almost midnight. Here's the background: On the night before New Year's eve, Hudsen came into our room in the middle of the night. He was acting very strange - it was quite clear that he had some kind of nightmare or was experiencing night terrors. (Actually, that wasn't clear because I didn't even know what night terrors were until this whole deal.) Back to the explanation: Hudsen was pointing at the ceiling, scared, acting as if he could see something. Then, he would start crying if we didn't hold him and keep his feet from touching the ground or bed. We thought for a few minutes that he was maybe hallucinating. I even checked his bed for bugs, spiders, mushrooms (ha), etc. to see if maybe something bit him. He lied awake the whole night, staring at the ceiling. Not crying, just staring.

The next day, Nicole had to carry him around so he didn't touch the carpet. She finally convinced him near day's end to wear flip flops.

So, this has been going on for five days, sporadically. During the day, he seems to forget about it. Come night, he begins to convince himself that the ceiling is "going to fall." Hence, we tried the campout-fakeout to maybe take his mind off the falling ceiling. Tonight, he seems to be doing okay.

Anyway - at 3AM that first night, we researched on the web and it sounds like other parents have experienced similar symptoms through "night terrors", but I'm leaning toward a nightmare.

Here's to a good night rest and keep your eyes out for any falling ceilings.

niece 'n' nephews.

Thought we'd show a little love for our niece and nephews. They're the best, thanks to our phenomenal influence.

Jens (Traci and Kurt)

Bella and Diego (Sara and German)

Maddie + ballerina stuff + Littlest Pet Shop + princess stuff = happiness.

Hudsen's toy preference.

Despite the boat load of new toys, Hudsen still prefers his trusty front-loader tractor. I'm thinking about returning his other gifts and getting something for myself. He probably won't even notice.