Alabama Food

That's right folks, while you were eating your corn in Nebraska, I was enjoying some southern comfort food in Alabama.  I'm just kidding.  I've had some pretty amazing food in the Cornhusker state, but there was an elderly woman down south who, after hearing me exclaim how much I was loving the food, stated, "Well, that's cause you don't get food like this up in Nebraska!".  I started to tell her about Runzas, but thought I better keep my mouth shut.  

Digital native right there.

Anyways, so I did spend a good portion of this week either on the road to/from or in Alabama.  As many of you read last week, my Poppy (excuse my spelling last week, I don't usually write it out) or my Grandfather on my mother's side, passed away on Easter and I went down with my family to honor his memory.  Everything from the memorial service to the honoring of his remains was quite beautiful.  I also got to see lots of relatives I had not seen for awhile and am ashamed that I did not take more...or any...pictures.  So, most of the pictures you will see below are from Katie.  Thank you all for the kind comments in regards to the loss of my Pop.  He truly was a great man and I'm proud to be his grandson.  

Daniel's Easter gift!

I don't have much to report in terms of Daniel except that he's standing up so quickly now and crawls like it is nobody's business.  Katie has a prediction as to when he'll be walking...what do YOU think?  My cousin has a 11-month old that is about the same size as Daniel and she's walking around like crazy.  It was so funny seeing her zoom around the room (nice rhyme).  Daniel, on the other hand, just...plops...around the room.  I'm beginning to think his rear-end has some natural type of cushion...I need to go easy on the ellipsis.

Playing with his buddy Duncan. 

Along with our time in Alabama, I spent a lot of time in the car.  We drove through Kansas, Mississippi (how many of you just spelt this either outloud or in your head?), Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Illinois, and Kentucky.  We took a different way there than we did back.  I should elaborate more on some food I had.  Because of our loss, many women brought over dishes for our family...oh...wow.   Chicken Casserole, Butter Beans, Macaroni and Cheese Casserole, Fried Chicken, Potato....Casserole, Rolls, TONS of Sweet Tea, Banana Pudding, Pie, Cake, Corn on the Cob, Ham...oh yum...It was so very tasty.  C'mon, Nebraska...ball's in your court.  On a side note (but not really) I also tried grits for the first time...the jury's still out, but I ate MOST of it!  I have a pretty wonderful Nana (grandmother) who made me breakfast every morning with bacon, egg, and sausage.  It was a joy spending so much time with her and the family (I think I was 32 more pounds though). 

Riding my head like a horsy. 

While I was gone, Katie unfortunately was single mom and had to take care of Daniel while preparing for a busy weekend with her sister's baby shower going on.  It sounds like it was a great success.  Boy, I bet Daniel's excited to have another cousin to hang with!  Welp, we launch into a busy week (for me at least) with District Music Contest and our annual Pancake Feed fundraiser on Sunday.  I might be a bit delayed with my update...but we'll see! 

Daniel's cousin right there..two actually =)

New House

We did it!  We're in our new house.  I apologize for the lack of updates last week, but we signed on Friday and started moving Saturday.  Thanks to all the help from my Dad, Kate's mom and siblings, my buddy Brad, and our friends Adam and Jess.  We had most everything moved over in a whopping 2 1/2 hours.  So nice to have the help we did.  Thanks again.  I wish I had more (or any) pictures of the moving extravaganza, but it was all business (and I forgot).  

Tough.

Also, we keep failing to get a picture of us in front of our house.  I meant to get one tonight, but my memory is failing with my old age...but alas, I update you from our new bedroom in our new house.  We are completely moved in save a box.  Big kudos to Kate for getting so much accomplished this past week.  It was busy and stressful, but it's so great.

Easter Grass.

We haven't had a chance to really meet-meet our neighbors.  I yelled at a guy two houses away (to say "hello") and Kate met one of our neighbors, but other than that, we've seen very little.  We do know that one neighbor has a pool so "Project Befriend Pool Neighbors" has begun..

Playing with Aunt Tina.

Daniel's made some pretty significant progress in the past couple weeks.  Aside from sitting up on his own, he now can crawl and pull himself up to moderately-high surfaces. He's a champ at it now.  Super strong legs. 

Beautiful Easter outfits.

Today we celebrated Easter and were able to attend 10:45am service at Calvary Christian, head to Kate's folks, and host my own family evening.  Unfortunately, we are without my mother because she is in Alabama with her family as my Pop (grandpa on my mother's side) just passed away.  It is hard to write something as seemingly trivial as a blog update when you know some of the struggles they've had down there.  I will miss my Popi so much and I can't wait to tell Daniel all the great things about this man.  I am convinced that some of my greatest attributes were passed down from him through my own mother to me.  I am proud of that.  I love you, Pop and I'll certainly miss you, but thank you for everything.  

Eye-gouging.

Watching Daniel play and grow brings so much joy to my heart because it just reminds me how we all started.  I think my grandparents would be proud of who I am now and I know I'll work to do the same for my own son because I (we) owe it to them for all the adversity they overcame and work they put into raising who would eventually be our parents, the ones who most directly made me who I am.  Thank you all for the prayers and support in this situation, we will certainly miss him. 

My Pop.

Out moving

Hey all. For you hardcore peeps that check this frequently, we've been moving so this week's update might be delayed or nonexistent. Til then, here's a cute picture of our son in a bag.

What a Week

I'd put him in this box and just relax a bit.  Seemed to manage fine.

So, for those of you who are avid followers, you'll know that last week was a significant week for me as a parent.  I was on Spring Break from teaching which meant that, during the day, it was alllllll Daddy/Daniel time.  I was a bit nervous given that I had never been solo with Daniel during the day for an extended amount of time (IE:  A week).  It was certainly tiring, but wonderful.

Computering with Grandpa.

We had some pretty exciting adventures, fussy sessions, and good old-fashioned playing time.  On Monday, we stayed in all day because I wanted to get a feel for his schedule.  Went pretty well dog-gone-it.  Tuesday, we ventured out to see my father.  This started the "falling asleep on the way home from everything" episodes I experienced much of the week.  You see, Daniel takes two naps a day:  One in the morning, one in the afternoon.  Whenever I would venture out, Daniel would end up falling asleep on the way home, thus screwing up his nap schedule for the day.  Actually...we did get a nice two-hour nap one day....ONE day...eh well.  My first time I would try to keep Daniel awake while driving home because he would seriously be passed out to the point that I could pat the side of his face and he wouldn't budge.  On following days, I just took advantage of the sleep time to drive around, get lunch, and listen to music.  Might as well I figured.

Cutie patootie.

On Wednesday, I had lunch with my college professor.  It was quite great.  His own son is going to be a middle schooler next year...man time flies!  On Thursday, Grandpa Konrad came over to watch Daniel while I packed and he then proceeded to load all of our boxes into our garage for us.  Super, super helpful.  I should mention that this will likely be my last blog update from our apartment.  I've become used to moving every 1-3 years (with the exception of my home through high school), but bringing Daniel home to this place for that first time is a memory you don't leave easily.  Many more to come in our new place though.

We got a percussionist up in here.

On Friday, we visited our good friend, Michael and his baby, Jude.  I can't believe that Daniel was once as small as a 2-month old...he's such a giant now...well...a mini-giant.  I mean, giants are once children too...I guess.  Anyways...the rest of the weekend has been full of errands, family time, packing, and hanging out with our friends, the Wimmers (whom just left as I write this).  All-in-all it's been a wonderful week.  I know I won't get this many opportunities to spend as much time as I did with Daniel, so I really tried to milk it for all it's worth.  If there's one thing I hear more than ever, it's "they grow up so fast".  Also, we found out this week that my brother, Eric, and his wife, Noelle are having a baby girl...it's going to be an amazing year!  Congrats to them!

Wrestling with the playmat.

Seeing double.

Springtime!

Daniel's packing.

 Well, today starts my first day of Spring Break...I know, I know...some of you don't get a Spring Break.  To you, I wish you the best!  I recommend taking a week of vacation this month or so!  Anyways, today begins my adventure of "Single Dad" life...at least during the day.  I'll admit that I'm a bit nervous, but Katie left me a schedule and I had a bit of a practice run yesterday.  So, now he just needs to nap perfectly.  He went down at 8am, so...at least we got 20 minutes so far.

It looks like he's planning to put the giraffe in chains!

Aside from Daddy/Daniel time this week, I'll be doing quite a bit of packing/moving as we prepare for our March 30th/31st moving time.  You can see below that Katie's closet has made a dramatic transformation (mine has since done the same).  It's good for us to go through all of our stuff because it encourages us to donate/trash a lot of things that we...don't really need/want.  I DID find a box of old cards from since I was a child.  The oldest card was from my mother that she gave me when I was 6 or 7 years old.  It was a random gift where I could "use" the card to go to a movie (with a friend of course), get lunch, and hang out with mi madre.  I honestly don't think I ever used it because I was saving it.  Maybe I'll take advantage of that now...although my friend will probably be one of my roommates. 

It's a miracle!

Anyways, Katie and I had our busy week full of her 2nd grade folk dance nights (which went off quite well from what I heard) and my concerts/Parent-Teacher Conferences/honor band.  They were good times though.  However, I welcome the time off to get caught up around the house and for packing.  Now, I just need to stick to that plan...although video games are calling my name...

Grandpa Konrad, Daniel, and Rattle.

Daniel's over 21lbs now, so we actually have to move him to a convertible car seat because the weight limit is 22lbs on the current one.  Chunky dude.  His clothes are shrinking too, BUT we also get to bust out some of the clothes he hasn't fit into yet, including his "Captain of the S.S. Cutie" romper that I picked out.  He's a stud.  Welp!  Sorry, for being a day late.  I hope you enjoy my updates.  I got a wild week of hanging with Grandpa Konrad, lunch with my old professor, and a Guys' date with Michael Pollock and their firstborn, Jude.  Wild times.    

Is this considered Spelunking? 

March Madness!!

Hyuck!

How about that title for being original!  I'll take it though.  Sometimes originality slows down your creativity (I don't know if I actually agree with the previous sentence...the words just kept coming out as I typed and I really don't feel like changing it).  Now that that is out of the way, we can get started...so...how are you?  I'm doing fine.  Let's talk family...

We let him order.  They brought us "gyuahh" or whatever he was saying.

Daniel's been doing pretty well.  I feel like his overnight sleeps are improving.  It reminds me of the stock market.  You have little ups and downs here and there, but overall, it improves (or worsens)  Let's just hope we can avoid a sleep recession.  Katie had to go out and buy some pants for Daniel because he's just such a long little dude.  His other pants were looking like capris....looking like a fool with capris on the ground.   He's so very close to getting to a sitting position from laying on his belly.  He just gets stuck in this "in-between" position. He's also getting quite close to crawling.  I know, I know...he'll be doing it in no time, but man oh man, these life-steps are just so exciting. 

Hanging out with boxes.

I've had an eventful week of concerts, jazz contests, and grilling.  The weather outside has improved immensely over the past 4-5 months.  It took awhile to get there and it's been a mild winter, but heck, I'll take this 60-70 degree weather any day.  I mean, we can't all live like our friends, William and Lucy North in the rough California weather.  Anyways, yesterday we were able to grill out at Kate's parents' house.  It was a good time and I was able to work on my golf chipping as I humiliated myself in front of my in-laws.  It's all about the experience. 

Daniel being a sour puss with Aunt Jenny.

Kind of busy week ahead, but the following week I'm on Spring Break.  My first one as a father, so I better be getting some good day trips in order (Cancun, here we come!).  MY father has spring break that week as well, so we'll do some three-generation activities as well.  Maybe ice-fishing or something...anyways.  Katie has her 2nd grade programs this week (she's doing folk dance night instead of a traditional program, it sounds AMAZING) and it occurs over three nights.  I also have a concert, honor band, and parent-teacher conferences.  Oh well.  Busy is as busy does or whatever...

Snuggle Monster

Anyways... (I should have called this blog "anyways" due to my many tangents).  I want to ask for some prayers for my mother's family in Alabama.  They're dealing with a couple pretty significant health issues right now and we're really praying for speedy recoveries.  Thank you all so much and I wish you happy bracket-choosing!

Happy 6 Months!

We gotta get a beard going on you, boy!

 
Well folks, believe it or not, our son Daniel was born 6 months ago (take away 2 days).  It's remarkable how much he has grown.  We had his 6 month checkup this past Thursday and here's the info:

Height:  28" (95th Percentile)
Weight:  19lbs 15.5oz (90th Percentile)
Head Circumference:  Equivalent to Magellan's trip around the world.  (80th Percentile)
Coolness:  Very (101st Percentile)

What a big dude!  Our doctor says that his growth now is no indication of how large he might be when he grows up, but I think he's on his way to being as big Yao Ming...if not as tall as Yao Ming, he'll definitely be a better English horn player.  (The preceding sentence can be deemed as random and should not be taken seriously.  If anything, it could and should be ignored and we ask that you move on to the below picture of not one, but two cute babies, albeit it is the same baby.  Thank you.)

Mirror, mirror on the wall.  Who makes the stinkiest diapers of all?

Things have been going pretty well this past week.  We certainly have our ups and downs with his nights, but he's been napping better for us on the weekend and we feel like we're making progress in the evenings.  Katie had to play single mom on Friday and Saturday morning because I was attending a convention in Lincoln, NE to learn how to become a better band teacher.  It sounds like she did a great job, but being away from Daniel for my first night was a little rough.  At least I knew he was in good hands!

Sleeping on the go.

Probably the biggest news this week for us (other than Snooki being pregnant) was that my wife and I bought a house!  It's a beautiful place and so close to where we live now that you can see it from our apartment balcony.  We had only started looking last Saturday and we're already set to close at the end of the month...so this month'll be a bit of a whirlwind.  We really wanted a neighborhood where Daniel could grow up with lots of kids around and while driving to our house last week, our car was stopped about 1752 times to wait for kids to cross the street...I think we'll be okay.  Thanks to all of you who have already offered to help.  We appreciate you and will compensate you through food and beverages.

Hey baby.

Shout out Jen Martinez, Kate's sister.  It's her birthday!  She'll have a baby of her own in a couple months.  They are not finding out the gender yet, so I'm pulling for a boy...or girl...but probably nothing else.  Kudos!

Get used to it, son.