One Comes To A Close...

One Comes To A Close As A New One Begins...

As 2007 comes to an end it is a time for reflections of the past and a look to the future. 2006 had closed with a resounding THUD with loses, broken bones and an operation. 2007 was sure to be better... We Hoped!

With the new year there was plenty of changes and excitement. The wife got a new job, we actually had success with getting pregnant again and things seemed to fall into place.

Some Highlights...

• Wife left her old stressful job and found workplace bliss just 7 miles from the house
• Number 3 is on the way... February 8th Due Date
• We Vacationed at a Cabin in the North Woods of Wisconsin.
• The First Annual "DADSTOCK" was a success!
• My Blog Got Mentioned in the Washington Post.
• I spoke with reporters from local papers as well as the Wall Street Journal and a few parenting magazines.
• My 7yo Son played Full Contact Football and I Helped Coach.
• I made some new online associations... Quirkee, Cre8Buzz
• I spent time chatting with Dads at Dad Stays Home
• One Grandmother turned 95 and the other 88, not to mention wife's grandmother turned 90.
• 3yo loves Preschool and can not wait to go to each class
• 7yo started reading Harry Potter
• 7yo started playing networked computer games with me
• We got a Wii so now even the Anti-Gamer Wife plays...
• I only spent 1 night in the Hospital (Food Poisoning)and did not break anything.
• We had an awesome summer party for the boys at a local beach... Had the whole thing to ourselves...
• 3yo is potty trained and began to talk almost too much
• I became a Beer snob... :-)
• Put more wood floors in the house.
• Spent Another Wonderful Year with my kids at home...

As I look forward into the new year I look forward to meeting my new son. Sleepless nights, diapers and of course the little man being himself. I have dreamed about another child for what seems like forever and now we are just about there. What the future will bring I have no idea, but there is one thing I do know for sure. My Life, My Love, My Heart is with my Family...

The 5

1. Number 3 - After so much disappointment we are just weeks away from having another child. We had an Ultra Sound today and everything is going PERFECT!!!
2. New Year, New Lease - On our life that is. With the new year there will be many changes and the chance for our family to be complete. With these chances I have a new focus on health and the future of our family.
3. The Sleep Never Comes - After 3 1/2 years of little sleep with a son that rarely sleeps the night we will be bringing a new little night owl into this world... Looks like at least another 3 years before I can sleep...
4. New Year, New Blog Goal... I post about 250 times in 2007, for 2008 I want to hit at least 365 posts... 1 a day plus bonuses...
5. New Year... New Look - I have some new looks and features that I have been working on. One of those will be a new banner once # 3 is here... So look for many more posts and some new looks.

Yearly Observation: No matter how grim one year may have been, there is always next year for improvement... 2006 was a rough ride, but 2007 things improved...

Be Well and Have a Happy New Year!!!

Wii Wish You a Merry Christmas

Wii Wish You a Merry Christmas and a Nintendo New Year.

The 3 days of Christmas came to an end...

The sounds of whispers could be heard coming from the boys room, well at least the best they could whisper. "Shhhh we have to wait until 6:00..." "What do you think we got?" 6:01 the boys are in our room letting us know it is now time to get up. We make our way down to the family room and the boys anticipation turned into extreme delight as they opened gifts...

"I Got a Wii!!!, I Got a Wii!!!" yelled my excited 7yo. I planned out the Wii months ago so I was sure to have it Christmas Day. I had originally planned on buying a new system a few months ago for myself with proceeds of many ebay sales, but the wife made a great suggestion. Buy it and use it as a gift for 7yo and me. This planned worked wonderfully and the excitement for both of us on Christmas was perfect. I actually set up the Wii Christmas Eve to make sure he could start playing with it right away. I had taken the Wii out of the box a few weeks ago and wrapped the box with the extra controllers and stuff in it.

"Mega Mack Play Town!!!" and the names of dozens of car movie cars echoed across the family room as 3yo opened his gifts. He is a "Cars" fanatic so I have been buying up all the ones he did not have for the past 3 months... "RPM!! Dad I got RPM!!!" His excitement was priceless. In the end however he was a bit overwhelmed...

Overall both boys got spoiled to death from everyone. My Grandmother had me shop for her with a budget and the boys amazingly got everything they wanted on Christmas Eve. I got a great deal on a New Nintendo DS Lite so my Grandmother the boys Great Grandmother looked so cool in my 7yo's eyes. She got him a DS and he was surprised, shocked and amazed. 3yo got a bunch of Hot Wheels Race tracks and the "Dinoco 400" set of Cars Movie Cars with the special 3 cars limited to the box set. Of course he started yelling out the names right away!

7yo's had three items he had wanted...

1. Nintendo Wii
2. Nintendo DS
3. Good Wrist Watch (My parents got him this... don't think he will ever take it off)

3yo had a few items he wanted...

1. Mega Mack Play Town
2. Cars Movie Cars
3. Hot Wheels

We have so many new toys it is unreal. Despite all the different things we really only had one double. MIL bought the Mega Mack Play Town that we bought. So today we will take that back and he will get something else.

We hosted Christmas for a few members of the wife's family so I made my stuffed shells. I think the only reason a few showed up was for the shells. The day went great and the boys played and played and played... My BIL in his late 20's was playing with all the toys as much as the boys.

I am as bad a Wii Bowling and Real Bowling... I played with the Wii sports games for about an hour after setting it up Christmas Eve. I thought I got the hang of everything very well. I am a gamer so picking it up should not be that bad. 7yo and I played for a while together in the morning and he promptly kicked my butt in Bowling and Tennis... Brother in Law came over and we played and they both beat me!!! How is this possible? Has the Dad Gene finally made it impossible for me to play video games? All day the high score from my son was 158, I was able to tie that in the late afternoon. So last night when the kids went to bed the wife and I played... Well that made it worse... The Non Gamer, I hate video games person scored a 167!!! This was too much. So after a break and watching a little TV with the wife I tried again last night... I played ONCE!!! Scored a 180!!! That is more like it... I am just happy it saves the high scores!!! I have proof!!!

More To Come...

Merry Christmas To All and To All a Good Night...

The "3" Days of Christmas are in full swing around here. Yesterday the wife and kids went to her sisters for a party with part of her family while I visited with some good friend one visiting from California. The guy in the Kayak Videos... We went out to a favorite pizza place and ate WAY too much food. The boys had a good time and of course got a few presents yesterday.

Tonight we visit my grandmother and have dinner with my family. The boys are going to be extremely spoiled and as of right no 7yo is going nuts.

Tomorrow we have our little family Christmas with Santa's presents and ours. My folks will stop by late morning to give them their presents and the other members of the wife's family are coming for Dinner. So the boys will have an entire day of gifts...

With all the family and holiday stuff this week my posts will be a little short. After the first there will be a slightly new look and by February another little boy to talk about...

So Merry Christmas To All and All a Good Night...

No Volume Control

The calm of the early morning hours was shattered with the sound of a 3yo without volume control. The quieter it is in the house the louder he has to speak. This morning he was talking at the top of his voice range. When we asked to talk a little quieter he just got more upset and talked more. This would not be so bad if it was not at 6:00 in the morning a full hour before his brother gets up. We are fortunate his older brother could sleep through a train wreck. 3yo started the day a bit off and a complete handful. After we got 7yo on the bus he slowly began to act a bit more relaxed. By late morning and early afternoon he was doing great. I was able to get work done, housework done and even ride my bike. The entire time he was walking around with me just talking up a storm.

When 7yo came home the boys went outside and played in the back while I finished up cooking a dish for the wife's pot luck tomorrow at work. This lasted all of 5 or 6 minutes before 7yo slipped and did a header into the play set slide scrapping and giving himself a swollen lip. He came in while 3yo played outside with the dogs while I went back and forth checking on the food. He kept handing me snowballs and I was not wearing gloves...

The night went well and both boys went to bed without much issue.

The 5

1. Laundry Monster - I am working on a new laundry system which after a week has worked out rather well. I basically do a load or two of laundry every other day. I wash, dry and put it away on the same day. We will see how long this lasts.
2. Messed up project - I have been playing with my videos, music and DVDR to create videos and save them. Well one of my saved projects seemed to have skipped causing the video and sound to be out of sink. So much for that project. Now I need to do it again and triple check before I back it up on DVD...
3. Blocks and Cars - This afternoon I built a little city for 3yo's car movie cars out of my old blocks. I did it just like I used to and he had a blast. He liked it so much he wanted it to stay up for tomorrow.
4. Abductions - There have been multiple abduction attempts in the local area this past week. Watching the kids like a hawk!!!
5. Holiday Break - 7yo has two more days of school then is off until January 7th. The wife said she has no idea how I am going to survive two active boys in the coldest time of the year... RUN, RUN, RUN...

Getting Back in the Groove...

With the plague finally out of the house and the final week of school in motion I think I might have a bit of a groove back. It seems like once the house gets hit with any sickness I lose any and all schedules I have. I have gotten everything back just in time for the holidays to mess it all up again.

Saturday it snowed and snowed and then snowed some more. I was up really early with 3yo so I decided to start on a few projects that were in need of attention. I cleaned out everything from under the sinks and the linen closet. I then dumped old stuff, combined open items and organized everything from cleaning supplies to toothpaste. It took most of the day, but in the end the finished project made my day. In the early afternoon the wife and 3yo passed out on 3yo's bed and spent at least an hour napping. They both needed it badly.

Sunday I spent the morning snow blowing and then running errands looking for 2 cycle oil for the mix in the snow blower. After I finished up the sidewalks and driveway the boys and I played in the snow until my beard had icicles... Even the dogs got into it and my old fart dog acted like he was 3 again running around and wrestling in the snow.

The 5

1. Heroes - I was able to get my hands on season one of Heroes and the wife and I have been watching it. It has been fun and not having to wait a week to watch another episode is a bonus.
2. The Bourne Ultimatum - The best of the 3 and amazing action. Running and jumping across streets through windows was really cool. Some amazing stunt work.
3. Da Bears - No Offense, Injuries abound and a stinker of a season...
4. One Week - One week and the chaos of presents begins at my grandmother house Christmas Eve. Then a day of presents here for the boys from us as well as the wife family... The Wonderful Thing About Boys is ALL the Cool Toys!!!
5. No Preschool - 3yo was rather upset about not having preschool today. Luckily I have some play date stuff planned for Thursday as well as the holidays coming...

Daily Observation: Snow, Cold and Wind... Yeah... enough of that...

Flu Am I

The Flu has worked its way through our house one step at a time. First the 7yo had it last Wednesday and Thursday, then 3yo woke up Monday Night and was sick through Wednesday. Well wouldn't you know it yesterday afternoon it hit me like a train... By 3:00 I was feeling it and by 6:00 the fever had kicked into overdrive and I could hardly keep warm. Today I have felt pretty bad, but have fought off the urge to vomit so that makes me happy. I hate puke!!! Especially MINE!!!

So tonight is short...

Time to relax...

Final Day of Preschool

It is interesting what can change in a year. Even though this winter we have faced a few obstacles when looking back at last year this year seems trivial... I ranted to some online friends yesterday, but the wife helped me put things into perspective. Last year we were struggling after another loss, wife's work was awful to the point of monster stress and December 20th I was going in for surgery to repair a tendon in my elbow... Those few things alone made for terrible stressful time. This year the baby is doing fine and will be with us in less then 60 days, the wife has a wonderful new job that she enjoys and I have avoided any major injuries. The tough part has to do with my work at home job that has taken a major hit with the mortgage industry. I am working about 40% less then I was this summer which is nice for time, but sucks for money. We are fine and will get by, but it is amazing how we got used to the additional income the past year.

Hey if anyone needs a writer/blogger/QC guy for a little work let me know... : )

Well today marked the final day of preschool for the year. We have 3 weeks off before the next class. Neither he or I are happy about it. He loves the class so much and I look forward for the few hours a week I am without the boys. Today was party day and they sang songs for the parents as well as each opened a gift. We did a special holiday book order that they wrapped and the kids got to open. All the kids had a blast and my 3yo was so wiped when he got home he went right to sleep.

Yesterday was the wife's birthday as I have posted. So I made some brownie cakes and set up a nice dinner. 7yo made a card and we sang a quick happy birthday. Then to top it off 3yo slept through the night giving mom one extra gift... A full nights sleep!

The 5

1. Sleep - I was able to get some!!!! YES!!! A few good nights sleep will do wonders for anyone.
2. ICE - I can deal with the snow, but all the ice lately is getting a bit old. Went Snow turning everything into Popsicles...
3. Heroes - Picked the first season up from the library. I never had a chance to watch it, but now I can from the beginning. Plus I have Tivo'd the season that aired so I have those to watch when I am done.
4. Journeyman - The NBC Time Travel Drama has officially become a dead show. there are two episodes left then no more. I find it amazing how many the shows the "Big 3" networks just dump. Granted the writers strike has not helped a lot of shows, but still they do these shows then stop them mid season because of so called ratings. Such is life in TV...
5. BattleStar Galactica RAZOR - I watched the EXTENDED DVD version and it was even better!!! Some cool flashback and fights not in the SciFi aired version. Really cool!!! I am just sad that the coming year marks the end of an amazing show... I just hope they do a few movies for SciFi...

Daily Observation: No matter how stressed you might feel, the right perspective can change everything.

Healthy Living: Even though I have had a few bad things here and there I am doing much better then I had thought I would this time around. Actually looking forward to the scale each Monday morning... By the time the baby is born I will have a partner in weight loss so by summer I should be back down to the thin me...

Happy Birthday To My Wonderful Wife!!!

Happy Birthday to my one true love... Today is my wonderful wife's birthday...

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Another Year

I’m wishing you another year
Of laughter, joy and fun,
Surprises, love and happiness,
And when your birthday’s done,

I hope you feel deep in your heart,
As your birthdays come and go,
How very much you mean to me,
More than you can know.

By Joanna Fuchs

Sunday Lego Fun

Well with the weather starting to get a little rough we look for other things to do. We have so many legos we hardly use them all. I have rubber maid bins that belonged to my brothers and I as well as a full large bin of just the stuff my 7yo has bought or been given. Most of the stuff 7yo has received has been Star Wars Legos... Well one of his favorite ones is the AT-ST that he got for his birthday. It is the one that has stayed together the longest. Know what we had and what I can do with Legos we decided to play and make another AT-ST, but make it look like many of the "Clone" items like the Republican Gunship. After a bunch of playing and building I created the prototype C-AT-ST

Here it is below along with the "Official Lego AT-ST"

End of one beginning of another...

Last week ended on two days of shopping and a an afternoon of parties.

Friday
Friday was one of those days that made it difficult to keep focused. I was called by my grandmother on Thursday to go shopping for the boys. So Friday morning I ordered a gift for 7yo from circuit city with in store pickup. I drove out there about an hour later to find they had not pulled my order as promised. Circuit City offers a 24 Minute or $24 guarantee. So I left with my order and a $24 gift card. Not a bad start to the day. 3yo then requested we stop by Target. He loves to go to Target for whatever reason. We went and looked at toys and got some more ideas for Christmas. I was worried he would try to whine his way into getting something right then, but he did not. He was very good and we left happy and talking about what he wants. Unfortunately the rest of the day was not so pleasant. 3yo took a turn and began to be extremely cranky, I had some work issues that will effect me through the first quarter of 2008 and my elbow hurt like crazy. So in order to distract myself from what was turning out to be a challenging afternoon I attacked the laundry monster and did some house stuff.

Saturday
Saturday I got up and went shopping for 3yo on behalf of my grandmother. I found a Cars movie item he wanted as well as a ton of Hot Wheels stuff. It was actually more difficult then I had thought making the final decision on presents to be given by someone else. I also did a few other errands in order to take advantage of being without the kids. After the errands I stopped by my grandmothers house to show here the gifts for 3yo and let her wrap them if she pleased. The one for 7yo was small enough I could hide, wrap and bring over easily. Unfortunately my 88 year old grandmother is beginning to struggle a little and was starting to fall in and out of the conversation. While out my wife called and asked me to get take out from our favorite Chinese Take Out place. She had to twist my arm... After we ate it was time for the parties... 7yo had a bowling party with a friend and 3yo had a jump house party with his cousin. A day to end with parties...

The 5

1. Bumper Bowling - What an awesome thing for little kids...And maybe me. This is the second time 7y0 has bowled in the past couple months and he really enjoyed it. Especially since the bumpers made the game a little more enjoyable... Granted his friend that had the party in in a kids bowling league and scored higher WITHOUT bumpers...
2. Snow & Ice - The bad weather is here and on top of the snow we had the sleet and ice came down for a short while last night making the roads bad...
3. Saturday Break Day - I have been really good all week and plan to focus on on my weight during the week and allowing myself some what of a break on Saturdays to keep me focused. Yesterday Chinese Take Out!
4. Dungeon Siege 7yo - I put a game on my home and office computer so 7yo and I could play together through my network. The game is Dungeon siege and we are having a good time. While playing together he is able to learn more and have a much better time. If this works out we will try a few others down the road.
5. 90 Year Old Birthday - Today we are off to the wife's Grandmothers 90th birthday. Other the a few unresolved family issues it should be a good time. The boys have 3 Great Grandmothers. Wife 90 yo, my 88 and 94 year old...

Daily Observation: Holiday Shoppers wear Blinders...

Healthy Living: Today is day 7 and I have been right on all my daily goals for Diet and Exercise with on day to let loose a little. Monday is "Weigh Day."

Sick Kids, Cold and Snow...

Well this week has been a bit of a tough one. Wife had to work a little late, Dr appointments, Snow and to top it off sickness has hit. 7yo woke up in the middle of the night not feeling well after being home from school yesterday with a fever. Well at about 4:00 the puke hit and he spent some time tossing his cookies... From this point on I really was unable to get back to sleep. I gave up my spot again and hit the couch for a couple hours, but really never slept. At 6:30 he puked again so the day was set.

Both boys relaxed all morning and 3yo was getting excited for school. The weather was a balmy "0 degrees!" so I warmed up the van and we all hit the road to get 3yo to Preschool and Sprite and Ginger Ale for 7yo. On the way back we stopped at the library and picked up a few movies for 7yo. I did my normal my time thing which is to work out, shower and eat prior to going back and getting 3yo. The rest of the day 3yo would not eat and was really cranky. I have a feeling he is coming down with the same thing his brother has...

After getting a bunch of work done I spent time playing a networked game of Dungeon Siege with 7yo while mom played cars with 3yo and all were happy.

The 5

1. 0 degrees - Is darn cold... Does not look good for February when it is the coldest...
2. Da Bears - Playing with a ton of guys out hurt to a few more hits tonight in their loss that pretty much ended their season... Time to put Orton at QB and Wolfe at RB...
3. Elbow Pain - After a little bit of shoveling and a lot of snow blowing my repaired elbow has been stiff and rather painful... DOH!
4. Christmas Gifts - I get to do some more shopping for the boys, this time with my grandmothers money. She called today and asked if I would just go out and find stuff within a budget... No problems!!! She will have some of the best gifts...
5. T4 - Mr Batman himself Christian Bale has been tapped to play John Connor in the next terminator movie. Supposed to be a future war trilogy... Could be interesting... Will Arnold have at least a Cameo???

Daily Observation: Two vocal sick kids can really make for an unpleast day with each other...

Healthy Living - Another day down and the exercise and change of eating habits is settling in...

The Toddler Triathlon

What is a Toddler Triathlon? Did I make my 3yo Run, Swim and Bicycle all day? No, but the end result might have been about the same. Tuesdays are always exciting for him since he is back in preschool. He loves going and can not wait to be back playing with his friends. We today was an extra special day with 2 planned events and a third thrown in for good measure.

1. Preschool- the one thing each week he just loves to go to. He has such a good time he is always smiling and he uses a ton of energy making him ready to nap when we get home.
   
2. Play Land Party and the Golden Arches - One of his classmates had a birthday party at the local MCD's. Nothing like an hour and a have with 17 screaming 3 and 4 year olds. They all had a blast and the mom made the coolest hats for the kids as party favors... Even 7yo was impressed when he saw the hat.
3. Play Date - A neighbor friend also 3 years old typically gets together with my son at least once a week. Well after the party and when 7yo got home my 3yo desperately wanted to go play with his friend. So we stopped by and the boys played together for a little over an hour. Both Very Excited!!!

So by the time dinner was ready with a special treat 3yo was wiped out. He wanted Chocolate Chip Pancakes so I made a batch for both boys for dinner. No complaints and both boys cleared their plates. In order to keep him up a little longer the wife gave 3yo a bath and then got him ready for bed. He came downstairs and fell asleep on the couch by a little after 7:00... Putting him in bed he hardly knew he was moved.

7yo has been a little under the weather and tonight was a bit warm. We shall see how he is doing in the morning. If he is off still he will be spending the day home. good thing I am an At Home Dad... He has someplace to go to.

The 5

1. 2 x 5 - Not only do I do the 5 here I also do one HERE for www.Quirkee.com
2. Planned Play Date - My neighbor and here boys will be playing over here on Thursday. My 3yo is so excited about having another friend over.
3. Cre8Buzz- Come see my profile HERE at www.cre8buzz.com
4. Weight - Working on it... Plans in place time to get to business
5. Show Stoppers - Well it looks like there is a big possibility that the Writers Strike will shut down a few new shows forever. A few are on the bubble and without hope of new episodes these shows my be done for...

Daily Observation: People think snow is so wonderful, until you need to shovel!

Healthy Living: 2 Days Down...

Not Too Bad of a Monday...

As Mondays go this one was pretty mild. 3yo slept through the night and seemed to be starting the day out good. 7yo on the other hand fought going to bed last night too much especially after a sleep over party on Saturday Night. It was very cold this morning so I decided to drive the block down to the bis stop and then after 7yo got on the bus 3yo and I went grocery shopping. By the time we got home he was a little tired and wanted to watch some cartoons and relax a while. I agreed and was able to put the groceries away as well as get some work done. Most of the day was playing and snacking for him and we had a good time. 3:00 rolls around and all of a sudden 3yo is falling apart. 7yo came home 45 minutes later and he relaxed a little until 7yo went to a friends for a while. 3yo and I were really hungry by 5:00 so we decided to eat without the wife who was late and 7yo who was out playing. Wife and 7yo came home with in minutes of each other and they ate together.

Wife had a Doctors appointment at 8:00 so the boys and I were on our own for bed. Both of them were over tired so I had them settled by 8:15... Now WHAT!!! Wife out and kids sleeping...

The Weekend...

Saturday we did some house stuff and not much else. The wife went out early to get some final holiday shopping done before the snow and ice. By lunchtime the snow was coming down and within hours it began to rain then the ICE STORM hit. The bushes, house and everything else was coated in a layer of ice. 7yo had a sleep over party at a friends house a few blocks away so luckily it was close. The rest of the night we just relaxed and caught up on recorded TV.

Sunday the big thing other then relaxing and basic house stuff was a visit to Santa. Our town does a little Santa thing with cookies, crafts and pictures... FREE pictures. They give you a little instant picture and we could take all the pictures and film we wanted.

The 5

1. ICE - I like ICE in my drinks, but covering everything not something I enjoy. I was happy however that it warmed up enough overnight to milt the ice before the real cold hit.
2. Video - I have been playing with videos and editing them. It has been fun making some random video an actual little movie.
3. Baby Stuff - We have been going through baby stuff and getting a few of the things we still needed. Since the two other boys were Summer Babies we really needed to get some warmer WINTER stuff in TINY sizes.
4. Football - Looks like my Bears are officially done for the season... There is always next year hopefully a little bit more healthy...
5. Weight - Well now that I have kicked the Soda and Caffeine Habits it is time to get focused and get in better shape.

Daily Observation: ICE BITES!!!

Healthy Living: Day 1 Down... One Step at a Time...

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow...

December 1st in Northern Illinois. Two years in a row snow on the 1st... This was at lunchtime just prior to the ICE STORMS!!!

The Ice Approaches...

There are serve weather warning set for this afternoon. Rain, ICE and snow... I can take the rain or snow, but everything is pointing to some major ice storms this afternoon. Anything and everything we need done will have to taken care of this morning. I just hope it is not too bad...

7yo has a sleep over party to go to a few blocks away tonight. He has had a sleepover at the boy across the streets house, but this will be his first actual sleepover party. I do not really know the boys family so this is a little more stressful for me then normal. He is 7 and there are a bunch of kids there I know, but still... Away for the night... I hope he has fun and I would rather not get the call in the middle of the night that he wants to come home.

3yo and a messed up sleep cycle. We had a 4 hour play date at the house yesterday with a friend from preschool. They had a blast and got pretty worn out. The night before he did not sleep well and woke up way too early. I did not let him nap after the play date and it was a fight to keep him up. If he had napped he would have never gone to bed. I hoped he would sleep well, but he was up 3 times last night and up for good looking for breakfast at 6:00... He will probably get really tired by about 4:00 this afternoon, but we can not let him sleep.

The Little Alien... Well the baby is moving a ton and you can actually see him moving now. The boys get amazed at seeing the little guy move around in mommies tummy. As with the first two boys the movement reminds me of a Alien ready to pop out... I just can not wait for one of the dogs to be leaning against her and get the kick surprise... After all we have been through it is nice to see all the movement...

The 5

1. Writers Strike - While I understand the reasons for the strike I feel that a strike in the end may cause a bit more harm then good. Yes the deserve to be compensated for all the new media, but having the strike may cost many more people their jobs and livelihood. I have read articles that say a bunch of TV shows that are struggling and may have had a shot at full seasons will be canceled. The strike basically makes any struggling show a causality.
   
2. Journeyman - On show on the bubble that I have been watching. The Time Travel show that actually has been entertaining is now a long shot to get picked up for a full season.
3. Torchwood Returning- The BBC show "Torchwood" just finished the first season on BBC America and the second season is planned to start right away. It took a long time to get the show to the states, but since it has done so well apparently they will be starting the second season here in the states very close to the actual start on the BBC. My guess is they want the higher ratings and stop worrying about all the Internet downloads.
4. NFL Network - I have DirecTv and the NFL network is carried there, however MANY of people I know have Comcast and can not get the network. I have read article after article on the reasons why and I think Comcast is just greedy. One comment that was made is that the NFL network is a Niche Market... HUH!!! a Niche Market... The number one sport in the US and the marketing and money Juggernaut is a Niche Sport... Funny Comcast has the GOLF channel and somehow that is not a niche market... (they apparently own an interest in the Golf Channel) I think there might be some major Masters Parties this year... One more reason I dislike Cable... I watched the Packer/Cowboy game and will get to see my Bears play this Thursday possibly with company.
5. Bionic Woman - This show is one I have somewhat enjoyed, but at the same time I am puzzled. There are flashes of brilliance, but at the same time there are overused plot devices and questionable story lines. I guess only a full season will let me know how it works out. Katie Sackoff AKA StarBuck is again amazing. She plays the strong kick your butt character perfect. She has quickly become one of my favorite actresses...

Daily Observation: I think 3yo just wants me to stay in the swing of things with sleep so I am not shocked with the baby and lack of sleep...