Seastead Says

Woefully Inadequate

2010-09-21T14:32:00.003-06:00

Some day I'll get around to posting more. For now it's football season and the hope has not yet faded in the Land of Orange (go D'Orange as Emma would say).

Elk Whisperer

2010-08-11T12:57:00.000-06:00

My boy the animal tamer....

From Animals

Charlotte, Charlotte, and More Charlotte

2010-07-06T10:23:00.002-06:00

Most of our friends and family know that I have been working on a project in Charlotte for the past 8 months. This has given the Seastead Clan the opportunity to grow in ways we never would have imagined. The kids have gone through a phase where every airplane up in the sky they point and said 'Daddy, bye bye' and both Kathy and I truly believe that at some point the kids both believed Daddy actually lived inside the computer (that's where the web cam is you know) as evidenced by the many times the kids would actually hug Katie's laptop. Sad, but it's good to know we are loved and missed.

So, what's my point? Well, Kathy, Emma and Ethan spent the last two weeks with me in Charlotte. We got by in a one bedroom suite at the hotel and had a couple of great weeks. The kids were beyond enthralled by the observation park at the Charlotte airport. I don't know how the City gets away with keeping a parking lot open between two runways but they do and I am greatly appreciative. Ethan could literally barely contain himself. The kid shook with excitement and squealed with joy; everywhere the kid looked there was an airplane. Good times were had by all. Emma discovered Monkey Joe's. For our Denver readers its the equivalent of the House of Bounce, lots of inflated toys, slides, and equipment for the kids to burn of energy. A fantastic use of $12 ($6x2) on a hot and humid Tuesday evening if you ask me.

We caught up with the Murphy's of Roanoke during our weekend interlude. Jason, Kathy and I went to Fredonia State together. I posted about the famed Murphy chickens last year. We had a great weekend on Smith Mountain Lake. The kids got their first boat ride, we bought ice cream from ice cream boat, and generally had a relaxing weekend. I still don't understand why the Murphy chickens weren't allowed to come on the family vacation? Rumor has it they are great with the golf clubs :)

Another week in Charlotte and we packed up the minivan which managed to completely avoid all deer and all animals for that matter, thank you very much and drove back home. I was the lucky recipient of a bit of food poisoning on Saturday/Sunday and spent a fair amount of time with myself contemplating the realities of life on the throne (not my finest weekend).

Visited the boyhood town where I grew up on the 4th. Went to the field days and a less than well attended 20 yr HS reunion. Albeit, I suppose most of the gang found each other at the local bars (plural as in just 2 bars in the town) the previous two nights and had little use for going and sweating themselves in the heat and sun when they could be on the water. But it was good to see my old friend Pete. And the kids got to ride on their first amusement ride.

From E's Ride

Keep living the dream folks!

Good Bye Sara Jane

2010-06-16T12:10:00.005-06:00

Yesterday, we lost Sara the second of our two dogs, after 16 yrs. Old age, a bad knee and worse arthritis caught up with one of the toughest dog’s I ever knew. Sara wasn’t always one for showing a lot of emotion but she was tough as nails. I found her while in graduate school bounding across a soccer field one morning after taking Alix out for a morning pee. Katie and I had just finished a 12hr shift at the Lee Jeans factory in good old Springfield, MO. We had just recently decided that we would not get Alix a companion. We had contemplated this at length but had ultimately decided against it since we were two poor college students. Enter Sara. A little fleabag of a dog, she literally fit inside one of my shoes, and we all know how small my feet are (size 7.5 thank you very much), and she was literally covered in fleas. Some dirtbag knew they would find a sucker college kid (me, aka sucker) to take their litter of puppies by letting them loose on campus. Sara came running across this soccer field and started nipping at Alix’s beard (we let the Airdale beard grow long in those days, he was in college we needed to let him express his individuality you know) and wouldn’t let go. So, home she came. I still remember opening the door to the bedroom and the little mutt jumped up onto the waterbed (yes, I said waterbed) and started licking Kathy’s face. I then told Katie to watch out for the fleas…. A laundry day and flea dipping day followed.

$300 in vaccinations later and a bunch of unanswered fliers seeking out an owner we had our newest addition to the Seastead family. Man-o-man was she a project. Somewhere along the line she earned the nickname ‘phycho-sara’ because she could be somewhat aggressive and unpredictable at times. She killed quite a few animals (snakes, baby geese, muskrats, skunks, and attempted homicide on several other beasts) but a few of her more comedic moments included a turtle toss where she was literally tossing a turtle into the air in our backyard in Kansas; a snake toss later that same month in said backyard; skunk sprays, and a huge fight with the Eddie, the redneck neighbor’s dog. Mind you, Eddie’s dog was probably 3x to 4x times larger than Sara but that didn’t matter, she didn’t like him. The skunk incident allowed my friend and other neighbor Jim to use his newly acquired cannon of a pistol to end the poor skunks life before it too was tossed about like a turtle.
You know how some people will say a dog reflects their owner? Well, here’s a story along that line. We were living in this apartment in Overland Park, KS. It was a dog friendly complex, which wasn’t an easy task to find with two rather large dogs. One day I’m letting Sara out to do her business and down the street comes strolling this man who can be best described as Wimpy from Popeye The Sailor. This man was about 5’5” tall and about the same size round. He was dressed in all black with some goofy hat and a shirt with a white stripe (Yes, remember this event that clearly) and I could hear his wheezing from what seemed like 20 yards away. He had a pug like dog that was also short and fat with bug eyes and a heavy wheezing in its breathing. They were carbon copies of each other. Well, Sara was a fast dog and that little pug thing didn’t stand a change. It was one of those moments when the whole world went into slow motion and you just knew what was going to happen but there was no way you could stop it. Sara started off in a trot and before I could yell “STOP”, which would have done absolutely NO good, she was running down the pug like thing like a cheetah to a fat, injured and overweight gazelle. I still remember that poor little pug being tossed over Sara’s head. Yes, she took a chunk out of the pug’s hind quarter. But that’s not the best part. The absolute best part, which I surely thought was going to result in either me going to jail or Sara being put down by the police was the fact that once I caught Sara and separated her from the pug like thing, well, I heard it before I saw it… Wimpy, is trying to run down the road after his poor little dog. He’s squealing like a kid who just had his candy, his tv, and his mother taken away at the same time and he’s wheezing/squealing like a pig with a loudspeaker. I literally, couldn’t contain myself at the sight and sound and burst out laughing for a minute or two. Maybe you had to be there to appreciate the moment. After apologizing profusely to the man I gave him my home phone number and address and told him to send me the vet bill, which I would have gladly paid. I never heard from him again. But that was Sara.

She tore her ACL in her hind leg while trying to run a squirrel down before it could get to a pine tree in our backyard in Atlanta. The dog would literally sit at the base of the tree for hours thinking she was out witting the squirrels. Thankfully, she had enough sense to realize that the coyote’s in Denver were a bit superior to her. What was funny about that was that she knew she was no match for them so she would never even acknowledge their existence. I would be walking the dogs on the trail behind our house and a coyote would be less than 10 feet from us and Sara wouldn’t even look towards the animal.

Once, we were at Table Rock Lake near Branson, MO. We would go there to get out of the heat of summer. We had a couple of cheap blow up rafts to float on and took off out in the water. Alix knew enough to stay close to shore. Sara would swim out and do laps around our rafts until she was ready to collapse. Didn’t matter how far out we would go, the dog would follow. Try lifting an exhausted and panicking 45 lb dog onto a cheap and flimsy inflatable raft while in water well over your head. It was a sight and more than one raft was popped from punctures due to toe nails from the dog.

She was a good dog. Patrolled her yard diligently, was as loyal as you could ever ask and had an innate ability to find a sucker who would pet her for hours. She’d lower her head and scoot herself under that persons hand and eventually end up wedged between their legs and rolled over for an extended belly rub. Sara hated being alone. She would howl when left alone and would lick herself to the point of producing boredom sores when she had to be kenneled. I swear she used to eat remote controls to spite us for leaving her in her early years. The dog didn’t chew on shoes she chewed on remote controls!

Sara Jane, we will miss you terribly. We are glad you are with your buddy Alix and no longer in pain.

This and That

2010-06-14T10:40:00.002-06:00

Since we last posted the following events have occurred in Seasteadville (in no particular order) followed by additional randmonness of my choosing:
The wife got a new minivan
Mark wrecked the new minivan (with family inside of said minivan)by colliding with one deer on the interstate. Thank god my sister Tonya only lived a few miles from the scene of the accident. We were driving the family to Charlotte and well, you can figure out the rest. There are still deer hairs on said minivan but all is fixed and good as new.
Took the family to Hilton Head
4 trips to Charlotte
I was in my house for a grand total of 8 days in the month of May and so far 3 days in June (not a good batting average eh?).

the sports world is up in arms over cheap plastic horns at the World Cup, College football super conferences (I just hope SU doesn't end up out in the cold), that Strasburg kid, and the old man Celtics looking like they want to win another NBA title.

Kids travelled like champs! They loved being in an airplane and sadly they now equate Daddy up in the air with the airplanes. Beaches and kids are just plain fun. Watching Ethan and Emma learn about waves, tidal pools and smashing sand castles for a week was just plain fun. They enjoyed seeing their cousin, The Drake, but then again so did Katie and I.

Trucks and Dolls

2010-04-30T09:47:00.003-06:00

Our lives are now full of play times with dolls and trucks/school buses. Who would have thought parenthood would be this much fun. We love you Emma & Ethan!

Easter fun for the Es

2010-04-07T10:57:00.003-06:00

Emma and Ethan had a blast at the Easter Egg Hunt in Cazenovia. The weather and setting of this egg hunt was fabulous. Having kids makes all the holidays so much more fun!

Enjoying the weather

2010-03-18T17:47:00.006-06:00

The weather this week has been so nice. We've been able to have the kids outside playing. Emma and Ethan are loving their back yard!

A snap shot of a portion of our yard. It's a lot of yard to maintain but we love it.

That Was Short Lived

2010-03-08T11:41:00.005-07:00

#1 for a week. Back to #3. Go figure.

Anyway, the sun is finally out in NY and maybe the 10 ft snowbank at the end of my driveway will begin to melt away.

I am entering another travel slug, but hopefully some cool pics will be posted soon. Doing my best not to jinx myself anymore than I already am (something about a travel jinx at 36,000 feet while over the Pacific doesn't sound all that comforting). More to come later.

In Case You Hadn't Noticed

2010-03-02T10:48:00.002-07:00

There's a new number 1 in college basketball!

Things I wonder:
1. Will Syracuse make Bill Self cry like Roy Williams did, should we get the opportunity to beat Kansas (again) for a National Championship?
2. How soon after the NCAA tournament Will Kentucky go on probation?
3. How does Tom Izzo manage to make Michigan State peak in March, every year?
4. Will Duke underachieve yet again?
5. How many people outside of NYS think that 34,616 raging orange lunatics is a wonderful sight to behold.
6. Why does my travel schedule prevent me from attending both the Big East Tourney, and Rounds 1/2 of the NCAA's (in Buffalo)?

A Sunday Outing

2010-02-21T18:16:00.003-07:00

We continue to enjoy every moment with the E's. We were at a little local coffee shop on Saturday with kids and starting talking to a woman who has 18 year old B/G twins. She said that the bond between her son and daughter has been incredible since they were born. We've heard so many different stories about the closeness between b/g twins and that excites us. We hope they are best friends for life!

Travel Trevails

2010-02-12T22:24:00.002-07:00

I've been known by my fellow co-workers to be cursed when it comes to air travel. It got to a point where several folks in Denver would kid about how they wanted to be on different flights than I was on. Will someone, please, in the name of the travel gods, please sacrifice a goat, chicken, virgin, a village of idiots, something to please break this curse. Two Fridays ago, I was given the 'opportunity' to spend the night in Dulles airport after getting stranded there. This Friday (tonight, aka NOW) I am still sitting on a plane that is more than a few hours late and we've been on this plane for almost two hours waiting to be de-iced. And we're being told it will be at least another hour before we get to the front of the line.

East coast, west coast, apparently it does not matter. Travel gods, you win! Can I please go home now....

Cutie Pie and Mr Cool

2010-02-09T19:57:00.002-07:00

It's mid january already

2010-01-11T18:47:00.002-07:00

Holy cow time is flying by. The holiday season came and went incredibly fast, however, things were incredibly relaxing. Two weeks of doing a whole lot of nothing but being daddy. Being back on the road hurts a little bit more, but you gotta do what you gotta do. So, it's been a while since I've posted anything. You can thank the E's for that. After getting home, shoveling food into me, wiping faces, hands, high chairs, and then playing for 30-45 mins until bath, bottle and bed time the last thing one wants to do is write a blog post. Besides, I've gotten past the poopy diaper phase and don't really enjoy writing about it anymore.

So, what's new? Ethan and Emma are both walking! Both are teething in full. It's cold in NY and the snow finally fell (3 ft on the ground last week and good old Fulton was a posterchild for snow on the Today show).

SU basketball is ranked 5th in the nation and with great Seastead luck, Kathy and I got to watch the lone loss of the season live at the Dome :(

It was great to go through a holiday season and see so much family. After so many years away, it was a special season for us and we appreciated all the time we got to spend with everyone.

Off to the North Pole!

2009-12-07T07:52:00.003-07:00

We had a great trip on the Polar Express last night to see Santa. It was a cool adventure to do with the twins. Emma and Ethan were little rockstars on the two hour train ride. How did we get so lucky with these kids!

Faster Daddy Faster

2009-11-30T18:51:00.002-07:00

Our daredevil likes to swing fast and high!

Roy Cries Again!

2009-11-21T11:12:00.002-07:00

Ah, finally something to smile about. As a syracuse fan, those moments seem to be few and far between but alas, it is basketball season. And as usual, the media wants to rip us apart and tear us down. What was that you heard last night? Oh, that, that was the sound of Roy Williams crying like a baby, yet again, and the Orange ripping North Carolina a new one. Unrated in the AP poll and UNC ranked #4. The Orange literally handed Roy his ass on a silver platter. 25-3 run to start the 2nd half. Men vs. boys.

Lets go Orange!

Happy 1st Birthday Ethan and Emma

2009-10-08T06:30:00.004-06:00

One year ago today, the journey began at 5:00 am. Kathy lumbered down the stairs for the final time. Nine months had culminated to this day. The baby seats were already installed in the truck, THE procedure was scheduled for 7:30 am and we were to be at the hospital by 6:00. Ethan and Emma were coming whether we were ready or not. Of course the nursery had been completed nearly 4 months prior and was just waiting for the little buggers to come home. Little did we realize just how far ‘home’ would take us in this year but more on that later. So, off we went, down the hill all 4.2 miles from our house in Highlands Ranch to Littleton Hospital.

A quick pit stop to caffeinate and then we were off; I was in for a lot of waiting and pacing by myself that morning (thank god for friends, Mike, Steph, and Zach calmed my nerves more than most people realize). I bounded into Starbucks for big cup of coffee with a grin from ear to ear. Now, granted most Starbuck’s baristas are more than amped up on caffeine but I was even outdoing them that morning and they noticed. “We’re off to have our twins the morning” I pronounced in a tone of proud accomplishment. The barista’s just stared blankly at me, no doubt with the following thoughts running through their minds “why the hell are you stopping here when your wife is about to have a baby AND you left her in the car! UNNATTENDED!” Recognizing, their confusion I let them know the procedure was prescheduled and would occur later that morning so there was no real rush, you know, modern medicine and all. But hey, I got a free cup of coffee and a quick walk down memory lane from the barista whose wife just had a baby 7 weeks earlier. Of course the words went in one ear and out the other, we were having two babies, and well, nothing was really stayed in my mind at that time.

From that time until the kids were finally ‘out’ it was the longest couple of hours of my life. From the male perspective you are absolutely useless at that point in the pregnancy. Nurses were hovered over Kathy, EKG’s and heart monitors were hooked up to her and the babies (Yes, it was a sight to see 2 elastic straps wrapped around her belly), procedures were explained, more nurses would come in and leave. Every so often, someone would hand you some stuff and acknowledge your existence with a quip like ‘are you ready for this, well, I guess it’s too late if you aren’t’ or some other pathetic excuse for humor. However, by that time I was in as close to panic mode as I get. My heart would literally stop every time the heartbeat sensor slipped lower on Katie’s belly or a baby moved and the sensor couldn’t pick up a beat. Kathy, was attempting to put on a game face, minus a few tears. But overall, there was nothing I could do. And then they took her away!!!

‘We’ll be back for you in awhile’ some nurse proclaimed. Really, when? How soon until the c-section begins? Do I stay in this room or just hang out in the waiting room? No answers would be provided for those questions. I was left alone with me, myself, and my thoughts. Let me tell you something boys and girls at a time like that your thoughts can go to the most bizarre places and can involve you with a weapon and a teenage boy wanting to take your baby girl somewhere, or a quick flash of those CNN statistics that state how you are going to need nearly $700,000 to raise two kids to 18 and that does NOT include college or weddings, or bailing your son out of jail for getting caught doing something you did as a kid. My point is that at times like those when your whole world is about to change it is not a good practice to be alone with your thoughts.

Eventually, some nurse came back by and told me that Kathy was being prepped, the Doctors would be ready soon and it would be a good idea for me to get into the scrubs they handed me earlier, and ‘DON’T FORGET THE CAMERA’. Well, to wrap up a chapter of an ongoing story the kids made it here safely and a year later we are 2000 miles away from where they were born, a new home, a new job, no mustard stains on the truck and we got to see a picture of the kids on the morning news daily birthday announcements. Yes, I have that wife, god love her.

Emma and Ethan, thank you for coming into our lives we love you with all of our hearts now please keep your hands out of the toilet bowl!!!

Skunky Monday

2009-10-05T08:09:00.004-06:00

So, how would you like to start your Monday? Hot cup of coffee, 2 eggs over easy, a nice drive to work, or maybe a day on the golf course. Sounds nice doesn't it. Not me, I woke this morning to a 15 yr old dog that was sprayed by a skunk. That acrid oily wretched stench has wreaked havoc through the house. Sara, said dog, was yellow with a swollen face and foaming at the mouth.

The bath mix:
1 quart 3% peroxide
1/4 cup of baking soda
Splash of liquid soap
Wash the heck out of the dog!!!!

17 yrs of Alix had exposed to a few skunk episodes so we're not exactly new to this. The first time Alix was sprayed was in college. Either our Junior or senior year. That time the dog got into the house. NOT GOOD. Everyone smelled like skunk. I remember Eddie Lover and I had a Calculus class and everyone kept commenting on how skunky the house smelled. That was just one story. The best part was that evening Alix got sprayed again. There was a family of skunks living under our neighbor’s garage. So, for those keeping count that was two times. Next, up was the time that Alix and Sara were sprayed in Kansas City. We were hanging out one evening with our neighbors, Pam and Jim and heard all the barking in the back lawn. Mind you we literally lived on the edge of the Kansas prairie. The dogs had found a young skunk and were sprayed. By the time we got out there the dogs were tossing said skunk in the air. The poor guy was a bit on the wounded side but not dead yet. This excited my buddy Jim who had just recently purchased a gun the size of a howitzer cannon. A .44 Magnum or .357 or something like that. The skunk was quickly put out of his misery and we found out what a good shot Jim was. Unfortunately, it was more peroxide and baking soda baths.

This morning Kathy got up about 5:30 or 6:00, kids weren't up yet so she was making coffee and let the dog out. All I heard was "OH MY GOD, YOU ARE NOT COMING IN THIS HOUSE DOG and a few explicative’s we won't mention here.

Well, two bathes for the dog and ourselves, and a bleach and water spray down of the front of the house, back deck, and sidewalk and we still have that lovely skunk aroma.

Another bath is on tap for later today but I don't think I'm going to work. As I was checking out at the grocery store (4 bottles of peroxide, baking soda, and liquid soap to bath the dog) the clerk mentioned the skunk smell. Needless to say, as soon as I opened the car door in the parking lot, I was so instantly reminded of the environment I just left. Something tells me my coworkers will appreciate me staying home today.

You Thought the Blog Died

2009-09-28T18:20:00.002-06:00

It has been gathering lots of dust lately. Needless to say I am procrastinating writing a proposal approach right now, so, what better time to provide some folks with an update. What's the skinny.

Lots of traveling with work. The kids are going nuts. Emma is standing on her own and she took a half step yesterday. She also likes falliing into the ball pit face first. Ethan is a goof, toilet bowls are awesome to him, rolling on the couch cushions is better, and pulling all of Dad's CD's out of the office cabinets is the bestestist! And the E's will turn the BIG 1 in a couple of weeks.

SU football is exciting again and I've been to more games in the past 3 weeks than I have in the previous 5 years. Oh, we're just waiting for the other shoe to proverbially drop. Sitting at 2-2 to start the Big East.

Pumpkins, lots of pumpkins and apples everywhere. It's been 3 weeks and not one single house project. Oh, I lied, painted the garage.

And lastly, in a case of 'it's a small world after all', I finally got into the whole Facebook thing and one thing leads to another and within about 2 days I ended up finding out I live very close to two guys I grew up with in little old Fair Haven, NY. Now that's technology with a purpose.

Death Match for the Lovie!

2009-09-11T19:07:00.001-06:00

From 0118

Mudroom

2009-09-03T19:01:00.004-06:00

The latest project is starting to wrap up. Katie has been tackling the mudroom with a vengence lately and it's finally paying off. Her wallpaper removal skills are second to none and she can make a bottle of formula in no time flat to boot! Truly a renaissance woman.

BEFORE

AFTER

I am merely manual labor and a weekend baby sitter, and the wainscotting guy. My work commences this winter when the god awful floors get removed and replaced with something not from 1980.

Can you say FOOTBALL! It's that time. The Seastead's are proud new owners of 2 season tickets to the Syracuse Orange football team. Go stick your finger in a light socket if you don't like it. We know it's an uphill battle but geez, if Kansas can become a decent football team, I certainly think a school with some actual football tradition may be able to rebuild itself too. Regardless, I'm excited to finally be able to watch the process live and in person.

The backyard animal count continues. Add a family of foxes to the list. A momma and 4 babies were playing this evening. I hope they like turkey.

Chukar Time!

2009-08-20T10:21:00.003-06:00

The mystery bird has been identified.

From What is this

My friends this is a Chukar! An upland game bird transplanted to the Rocky Mountains of the US. So says Wiki.
How he got to Syracuse, NY is well beyond me and I swear on my kids graves he was not packed in the moving truck! The good folks at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology confirmed his ID for me and indicated he was probably someone's pet, or was being groomed for thanksgiving.

I can sleep now.

I got nuthin!

2009-08-17T11:01:00.000-06:00

So, the blog has been in a bit of hibernation mode lately. Not that we haven’t been busy, but my fascination with the turkeys in the backyard has been migrating from ‘wow, these are cool things we haven’t seen in a while’ to ‘my god turkeys can lay some big poo’ and other details that I am fairly certain no else cares to read about.

Congrats to Katie for running a 5k yesterday in 26 mins! That’s one supermom if you ask me. Now if only I could carve out some time and get back on the bike.

Other goings on in Seasteadville? Eh, pretty mundane stuff lately. My travel schedule has picked up recently so free time has been minimized to say the least. However, I will say this. I will take flying in/out of the Syracuse airport any day of the week over DIA or Hartsfield. Any airport where it takes 15 minutes from parking the car to sitting at the gate is a bonus no matter which way you slice your pie! No trains or check-in lines. However, with the good comes the bad which means no coffee (can’t have everything), wifi sucks, airport people watching is at an all time low, and well, we all know about my propensity for delays. You’ll be happy to know I haven’t lost my ability to get delayed or cancelled, or rerouted. Then again, I’m no longer special in that regard; everyone is screwed in that department.

The E’s are teething! Sore mouths are no fun on 10 month olds. Ice cubes, cantaloupe, and baby Tylenol can only go so far. I feel bad for the little kiddos it can’t be fun being in their little feet, err mouths, right now.

It's a Jungle Out There

2009-08-02T18:17:00.002-06:00

So, we're being overrun with critters in the back yard. First, there was the bird that is still yet to be identified.

Then there were the deer, and more deer. And add in a few more now.

From 0101

Now we've got turkeys,

From pool time, Deer and Turkeys

But I'm not talking about this turkey.

From pool time, Deer and Turkeys

Happy birthday to Megan and Leah (my sister's twins) who celebrated birthdays number 3 this weekend. It has been great to be able to attend family functions again and the E's had a pretty good time too. Lot's of bubbles, 2nd hand gift wrap, and cake frosting to eat for them. After attending a 2nd event today, the bell did toll for the kids. A weekend with two major activities was a bit too much for them. Needless to say, we are all pooped tonight. Unfortunately, for my sister Tonya, rumor has it one of her girls recieved an extra gift today in the form of an arm cast. Changing into all those princess gowns she received for her birthday may have just become an even greater challenge.

Godspeed Mr. Burk

2009-07-30T09:16:00.002-06:00

Just a quick note of support to Katie's cousin Jamie. We wish you safe travels on your impending redeployment to Iraq. Our thoughts, prayers and well wishes will be with you and your family until your safe return back home.

Godspeed buddy!

More Emma & Ethan

2009-07-30T06:22:00.005-06:00

Well we had to post some pictures of these two. They surprise us with something new every day. They really are such funny and loveable kids. People are constantly commenting on how happy they are. I guess we are doing something right after all. Ethan is finally in full crawl mode, no more "army" crawl. The two of them can cover a lot of area pretty quickly. Right now they are obsessed with the bird cage and it is a chore to keep them away from it. We figure it's a matter of time before the bird cage gets knocked over. Our poor bird Sonny!

We are headed to Binghamton on Saturday for the E's twin cousins, Megan and Leah, big birthday party. The girls will be celebrating their third birthday. YEAH! Emma and Ethan absolutely adore the girls and it is always so much fun to see them together. The weather is going to be beautiful so it should be a perfect day to celebrate!

I have started planning Emma and Ethan's first birthday party. It's unbelievable that they will be one in October! I honestly don't know where the time has gone..... We have a cake and invitations to design over the next few weeks.

On top of planning their first birthday party I have signed up to run a half marathon the Sunday after their party. It will be my first half marathon- excited and nervous at the same time. I surprised myself with how well I ran in the Boilermaker (9.3 miles). Hopefully another 3 miles will be a piece of cake. My sister who lives in Tennessee also signed up to do the 5K run/walk as well. Go Bridgit! It should be a great Sunday for us!

That's the news. I hope everyone enjoys the pictures.

Wallpaper, Deer, and Burgers

2009-07-26T19:15:00.002-06:00

My destiny was fulfilled and I did paint the entryway this weekend.

From here:

From 0101

to here:

From 0101

Deer in the Backyard:

From 0101

There are actually two separate families of deer.

and, MMMMMMMMM hamburgers and cool red stuff to rub on my face, oh, ketchup.

From 0101

and swimming in the kiddie pool

From 0101

All in all a good weekend. Toss in a lunch with my brother and his family at an art festival and we'll call it a good weekend.

I am glad I came to work today

2009-07-24T12:05:00.002-06:00

Katie is in wallpaper removal mode again.

But I take comfort in knowing we are not alone. 76,000+ google pages related to wallpaper removal hell. And we all know it is now fact that google searches are valid indicators of stresses.

I sense that my weekend destiny will involve a paintbrush!

Boilermaker 2009

2009-07-15T13:40:00.005-06:00

On Sunday I completed my first 15K with a group of girlfriends at the Boilermaker in Utica,NY. The course and the massive crowds of supporters were INCREDIBLE. About every half mile there were tons of people, bands, and radio stations set up to cheer us on. It was pretty neat to see and by far the coolest run I've been in yet. Overall I was very happy with my performance finishing in the 7,000 range out of 12,000 runners. Next on my list is a half marathon in October! This running thing is addictive. :)

The twins continue to make us laugh. We can hardly believe they are nine months old! More pictures of them are posted on our Seastead pics link.

Birds of a Feather

2009-07-04T06:52:00.002-06:00

Ok, so this guy landed on our deck yesterday and he was either injured or not smart enough to fly away. He literally hopped down the stairs (after opening the gate) and ran away. What is he?

From What is this

Well, one thing I do know is that he is not one of the famed Murphy chickens of Roanoke. Who would of ever thought a suburban kid from Buffalo would be living in the hinterlands of Virginia with a bunch of chickens? A long belated thanks to the Murphy clan for showing me some Southern hospitality last month. I was in Roanoke for work and had the opportunity to spend the time with some feathered friends there as well. Happy 4th to all.

From Chickens in Roanoke

The chickens are blurry because I took the picture with my phone which is well less than ideal...

Flowers in bloom

2009-07-02T06:37:00.005-06:00

The hillside of the backyard is in bloom. We continue to be amazed at all the plants we have in our yard. Mowing and weeding are overwhelming but we love having a big yard.

We are headed to the lake for the 4th of July to celebrate with family. We hope everyone has a safe and wonderful 4th.

Summer Fun

2009-06-29T06:49:00.003-06:00

Well the E's had quite a week! They had a ton of fun hanging out with cousin Kenzie and they took their first swim in the swimming pool. It's hard to believe they will be 9 months old next week......

Cousin Kenzie Visits The E's!

2009-06-26T06:03:00.002-06:00

Granny, Aunt Bridgit, and cousin McKenzie traveled from Tennessee this week to visit the E's. We are having a great time. The E's LOVE Kenzie! We took all the kids to Lake Ontario yesterday- see pictures.

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T07:45:00.002-06:00

Happy Father's day to everyone! Emma and Ethan are excited to celebrate their first father's day with the greatest dad in the world!

The Es and their new digs

2009-06-11T17:03:00.003-06:00

Life on Prestwick Drive is going pretty well. The kids are AWESOME! They are now crawling and taking a bath in the big tub (with some help). Ethan has decided it is his mission to find everything that is unsafe in this house. They really keep us on our toes and laughing all the time.

Hope all is well with everyone.

FYI- More pictures can be found on our Seastead pics link.

Hanging out on Saturday

2009-05-25T05:55:00.003-06:00

Rudys Fish Sandwich
Pretty Flowers
Rolling and Reading on a Blanket
And Syracuse Kicks the Crap out of Duke in NCAA Lacrosse Semi-Finals....
A Good Saturday.

Cooperstown

2009-05-19T06:17:00.003-06:00

From Cooperstown

The E's took their first NYS sight seeing tour this weekend. On Sunday we met some friends in Cooperstown, NY; home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. We didn't quite make it into the museum but there was more than enough nostalgia lining the streets and we were really there to catch up with our friends. So, what did we learn with our trip?

1. Emma loves her big girl car seat.

From Cooperstown

2. My car just got a whole lot smaller with two car seats in it. However the good news is that the upright seats will actually fit into my car whereas the baby carriers would not. That gives us some flexibility we really need with kid transport right now.

3. Ethan continues to profess his love for all things Red Sox! He's a good kid I tell ya.

From Cooperstown

4. We had forgotten about how nice the rolling hills of Central New York and the Mohawk Valley are. We also thought that Colorado was becoming the wind energy capital of the US but it appears as though New York farmers have figured out how to actually grow windmills. Who would have thunk that those little twigs in the foreground would grow up to be windmills :)

From Cooperstown

More pics here.

E Pics, Get Your E Pics

2009-05-13T19:59:00.002-06:00

OK, I've finally uploaded some more pics over the past couple of months. I also added the Picasa link back to the page (I kinda forgot about it when I updated the template). Click on the Seastead Pics link to the right for more E fun than you care to handle.

3:44 AM

2009-05-11T08:47:00.002-06:00

What are you doing at 3:44 in the morning? There used to be plenty of reasons to be up. When I was in High School I would use that time to put the ladder up against my bedroom window and crawl back in from a long night of childhood delinquency. When I was in college I would use that time to eat a grease soaked bun that held a ‘steak sub’ from Gino’s; this was a well known and quite successful hangover prevention device (a long with the Wal-Mart extra large chili dog, but that is another story). Occassionally, I would also use that time to study (Mom does read this you know). I’ve had enough airport delays that I’ve been stranded in more than one airport at that time of the morning; most recently with a 6 month pregnant wife carry our twins. I’m guessing that in some Syracuse University legend that may have been the time of day that Ernie Davis, Jim Brown, Larry Czonka or any of the other legendary “44” greats were born.

This morning, we used that time to change poor little Miss Emma’s diaper and sheets. Oh, how the times they have a changed. But dad sure is proud of just how much that bladder of hers can hold. He's also incredibly thankful that we bought a mattress that would withstand just that sort of an adventure.

Just think how mad the girl will be in 15 yrs when she finds this post floating around on the Internets!

Coaches vs. Cancer

2009-04-26T06:47:00.003-06:00

Rat & Moron hang with a hall of famer!

Yes, folks you can dress the Seastead's up and take them out. We had an absolutel fantastic night out last night. A HUGE Thanks to Heather and Joe Chemotti for providing us the opportunity to attend the 10th annual Coaches vs. Cancer BasketBall hosted by Jim and Julie Boeheim (yes, that is Mr. SU Basketball posing with Kathy and Heather in the pic above. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to do this again next year (hint hint, nudge nudge, free golf on Mark :) We had a great time, I got outbid on lots of SU related stuff (I really wanted a team ball signed by all the members of the 2009 basketball team but given that we just bought a new house I had to stop the bidding well short of the winning bid (last time I checked it was at $750).

the event was held at the Turning Stone Casino, home to the PGA tour stop for the Turning Stone Championship and is located about a half hour east of Syracuse. Of course we didn't take out our camera enough to get pics of the players. The departing trio of Johnny Flynn, Eric Devendorf, and Paul Harris were MIA (go figure) but the stars of tomorrow were there. OK, screaming babies (err, Ethan) in the background, may write more later....

Heather and Joe, thanks again for a fantastic evening!

We have a house!

2009-04-25T04:54:00.006-06:00

Finally! Bought a house on 1.5 acres in a fantastic neighborhood. We close on May 22nd.

Tonight we are headed to the Coaches vs Cancer Ball hosted by Jim Boeheim. This has turned out to be a great week!

Jogging Stroller

2009-04-20T13:45:00.004-06:00

Who would have thought we would get so excited over a baby jogging stroller! We finally broke out the Bob Revolution this weekend and all I can say is it is amazing! It's worth the money if you are in the market for a good jogging stroller. So far we have taken the E's to the mall, Wegmans, and their first nature hike (Beaver Lake Park)in it. They absolutely love sitting up and looking out.

All is well here. We are still searching for a house. We have seen a bunch of houses but none of them match our criteria 100%. Rather than settling on one we are going to keep looking for a few more weeks. After that we may meet with a builder and build the house that we want. Stay tuned for updates.

Are we cute or what?

2009-04-13T17:28:00.002-06:00

We had to post this- they are too cute. Hope everyone is doing well.

Spring is finally here!

2009-04-11T05:15:00.002-06:00

The weather is finally making a turn towards Spring. We are looking forward to seeing all the beautiful flowers!

6 Months Old!

2009-04-08T13:23:00.003-06:00

Hard to believe that the E's are 6 months old today. Time seems to be flying by.

Mini-Mark

2009-03-27T13:08:00.004-06:00

Mark 1972

Emma and Ethan continue to amaze us each day. They are becoming quite the characters, especially Ethan. Thought we would share some new pictures of them being goofy little kids. Also, attached a picture of Mark as a baby. Ethan is a mini-version of his dad!

Go SU!

Closing on House!

2009-03-16T09:55:00.003-06:00

Mark is in Colorado closing on the house today. Movers are packing up the house today and tomorrow. So as of 1 pm today we are mortgage free!! :) The house search in Manlius is picking up. We have a couple of houses we really like and may put an offer in on one very soon. We trying to make sure we see as many as we can and it helps that Joan (Mark's step mom is a realtor and well known in the area).

Babies are growing like weeds and are too much fun. I have posted some pictures so enjoy!

Thanks to those of you who have wished us well with this big move. John/Shannon and Mike/Steph you guys are the best- thanks for all the help!

At the end of the 7th OT

2009-03-14T15:13:00.001-06:00

He said, go ahead burn a couch, its only West Virgina

3 days, 3 games, 3 wins. 1 more to go....

In the 6th OT

2009-03-13T19:44:00.002-06:00

God created ORANGE!!!!!

Dome Sweet Dome

2009-03-03T22:02:00.003-07:00

Thanks Uncle Dave!!!

Final home game of the Season. SU puts up 51 pts in the 2nd half. It's good to be Dome.

1800 miles, 20 tanks of gas, 8 states, 2 cars, 1 bird and a dog

2009-02-22T18:35:00.002-07:00

That's the story of my life this past week. Well, it's official Katie and I have left Colorado, well almost. Last Wed morning I dropped off Kathy, her mom, Ethan and Emma at the airport, little did I know, they got the MUCH better end of the deal. My father, damn fool that he is, volunteered to drive one of the cars across country with me. So, with a U-Haul big enough to carry two cribs, a baby dresser, a plasma TV, and a few other personal effects, hitched to the Jeep and my dad in my car we began our journey.

A High Wind Advisory through Colorado and Kansas allowed me to get a whopping 200 miles per tank of gas, along with a few near death experiences. But I had a roadside breakfast in Russell, KS, the worlds best BBQ in KC with my good friend (and former boss) Cleve, a crappy nights sleep in Columbia, MO. (for those of you who have made the trek, did I mention I was getting just 200 miles to a tank of gas, it took A LOT LONGER than it should have), a futile search for Starbucks in St. Louis (I knew there was a reason I liked the Ill. side better, easy to find coffee), a 300 ft cross in Effingham, Ill., Steak and Shake in Terre Haute. A quick conversation with a former colleague in Indiana, boredom, lots of boredom. A near death experience near Cleveland, snow in Cleveland, Erie, a Honk and a wave at Fredonia, more snow in Buffalo, another near death experience near Rochester, snow in Syracuse, another near death experience near the fairgrounds (I officially HATE U-HAUL Trailers) followed by a safe landing in Manlius (that's a suburb of Syracuse for all you haters out there).

Had a quick visit from by brother Greg who was quickly put to work helping me re-assemble cribs and unpack the damn U-Haul.

Those are just some of the highlights of the journey. I'll write more later but I get to join the world of gainful employment tomorrow.

And just one last thing, HOUSE IS SOLD! There is always a market for quality :)

E Alert!

2009-02-06T17:00:00.003-07:00

Yeah, we got the message that we hadn't put up any E pics lately. So without further ado. A few more pics here...

Pho Shizzle Dad, chop them Onions, Word!

MOM! Get her off of me!!!!

Where are the pretzels, the game is on in 5?

Momma I’m Coming Home

2009-02-02T16:21:00.001-07:00

View Larger Map

As Ozzy once said. The Seasteads are headed to back to their roots, yes, we are volunteering to move back to Syracuse, NY! After having the E’s for a few months we’ve debated and debated and decided that we really want our kids to know their aunts/uncles, cousins, and grandparents on more than a once or twice a year trip. The decision was not an easy one as everyone who has followed the blog for past three years probably realizes that we really do love the Colorado lifestyle. Our jobs were great and our house was great (BTW we have a great house for sale if anyone is looking. Mountain views, backs to open space, cul-de-sac setting, plus lots of Mark’s special touches). We have made some fantastic friendships both in our neighborhood and in the region. We climbed a few mountains (on foot and bike) and skied down a few more.

So what does all this mean? It means, green grass and trees again; actually being there for birthdays, anniversaries and special events; lots of snow (ah the 100+ inch club here we come); Orange Basketball, Orange Football (well, I’m making a change and I’m hoping they are making a change and technically what they play is football, even if has been very very bad the past few years), and Orange Lacrosse; lakes that you don’t see the other side of, Rudys, Heid’s, Dr Frank and great Italian food; water, lots of water; and a whole lot more.

I’ve found a new place of employment (I’ve made it a point not to discuss work on here and so I won’t start now) and Katie will begin her search for schools in the spring when some local districts have a better idea of what their needs will be for the coming year. Currently, we are enjoying some downtime and living in a perpetually showroom ready house which is not any easy task with two three month olds. We’re also planning all sorts of logistics about moving two kids, a dog, and a bird across country in February. The good news is that we’ve done this before. This time Kathy is going to fly home with the kids and I’ll drive a vehicle. So, stayed tuned for more adventure’s as the Seastead’s head east.

the Flu Bug Bit

2009-01-26T12:15:00.002-07:00

So, we've had our first experience with infant flu and it was not enjoyable at all! Ethan was mess of sorts (along with everyone who held him, particularly Granny Ratliff, she has a knack for being in the right place when umm, things are unleashed). After a pretty long week of soy milk, pedialyte, and lots of snuggle time the kiddo is back in action. We're still holding our breath and crossing our fingers that he hasn't passed it along to Emma. She's holding her own right now after being a bit on lethargic side yesterday.

Being the first time one of our kids got sick it was a gut wrenching experience and made me realize just how jaded my parents got when I was sick as a kid. Gone were rushes to do anything and everything for you being replaced with an "I told you not to stuff your clothes in the mailbox, it's too cold for shorts, but do you listen to me......". Well, the story went something like that:)

Farewell to a Great Friend

2009-01-10T21:20:00.005-07:00

Today was one of the absolute lowest days in my life. My best friend of 17 years went to a better place and was relieved of a lot of pain and suffering. However, nobody tells you how hard it can be to let go of such a dear friend. Alix, my dog, grew up with me in my adult life. He helped me piss off my mom and step-dad the first summer I got him. I was left with the house whilst my parents went to Hawaii for six weeks. Kathy found Alix and we got him about a day after my parents went on vacation. Needless to say, they weren't happy when they got home. However, I was going back to college the next day. And thus, life with Alix began. What follows are some snippets and memories of my buddy. One day, I'll get our old pictures scanned and loaded for all to see him in his puppy years.

He went to college, he drank from the keg (well, he stole the ice from the kegs), hung with the Spin Doctors (I still should have punched that damn lead singers lights out), he chased mice around the kitchen with his buddy Duma, and he was a chic magnet (as Ed would tell us). I had an old man come at me with a shovel because he didn't like Alix digging in his garden. Alix would hang out in the basement of Houghton Hall in our makeshift geology office while we went to lab. Oh, the stories. Kathy's housemates hated Alix. He would bust through their house and stick his head in one of her housemates aquariums (yes, hoping to catch a fish). He clumsily bound his way through Canadaway Creek. And then, in our Jr. year he would get sprayed by a skunk, not once but twice in one day. During finals weeks! Ed and I stunk of skunk during our final and our entire class knew it (as did Katie's Biology class and Paul's English class). Let's just say, tomato juice doesn't do shit for getting rid of skunk stank!

He went to grad school. On the drive out to Missouri, he almost ate Katie's engagement ring but in the end he helped me propose to Katie, under the Arch in St. Louis. He found his sister Sara, all 10 weeks of her and her flea invested fur running through the soccer field across from our apartment one morning. When she jumped up and bit his beard I knew they'd be great pals :). He watched Sara bounce off the wheel of a passing car (true story and she lived to tell about it) as she was chasing a rabbit. He got beat up by a cat. And he got a bionic knee when we could least afford it.

He went to Kansas City, at a bucket of KFC, lots of ground hamburger, and a vet told us "He's food motivated". No shit, imagine that? He also got sprayed by another skunk we found out he was deftly afraid of coyotes and thunderstorms.

He moved to Atlanta. Chased geese and flying squirrels, ate candied orange slices (which he stole from my brother-in-law's bag), hung with Uncle Dave, and generally lived the good life.

Lastly, he moved to Colorado. He fought cancer (twice), met Ethan and Emma, and proved he was tougher than nails.

He was one of my closest friends and I will miss him dearly. He was part of our family, he was ALIX!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T10:02:00.003-07:00

Merry Christmas to all! It has been wonderful to spend the holiday with family. We are thankful that the twins were able to spend their first Christmas with Granny Ratliff.

We hope Santa brought everyone what they wanted. This has been a very special Christmas for us a we have two very special packages- Emma and Ethan.

Happy Holidays

2008-12-22T10:44:00.003-07:00

We hope all of our family and friends have a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

My Niece the Writer

2008-12-18T10:15:00.003-07:00

Here's a quick shout out to my niece Kate. She's a HS senior who has had her own regular article in the Oswego Valley News (thats my local hometown newspaper). Pretty impressive stuff if you ask me. Of course she can't offer the sarcastic unjournalistic integity that I can provide here but still it's way more than I did when I was a Sr. Lets just hope your big break with a link to Seastead Says doesn't put a huge smear and black mark on your college applications :)

Grandpa and Grandma Seastead Visit

2008-12-15T08:30:00.004-07:00

A big thank you to Grandpa and Grandma Seastead for all the help! We truly appreciated all that you did to help us out.

Growing Like Weeds

2008-12-09T14:15:00.002-07:00

No pics but here's a quick update on the kids.

Ethan - 9lbs 5oz
Emma - 8lbs 13oz

Kids got first round of shots this morning. Talk about a painful experience, it truly sucked seeing them get so many shots and not have a clue about what was going on. Plus, those tears pull at your heart strings everytime.

And in other news, the last set of grandparents are visiting. My dad and step mom are out to try their hands at duel feeding, duel diaper changing, and sleepless nights. They are handling it well, well, minus the night they came in and like the Southwest commercial where the kids hand off the kids and then promptly leave, that's what Katie and I did friday night. We went to my office christmas party where, ummm, lets just say mayhem ensued and a VERY good time was had by all. Regardless, Mark had a very long Friday night when he was annointed the chosen one to watch the kids all night. But we survived.

Thanks to my buddy and neighbor Mike for the football tickets on Sunday when we got to go watch the Broncos/KC game. The Broncos truly play to the level of their competition. And lastly, anybody notice who is ranked #13 in AP basketball poll?

Super Heros Activate - Form of a Turkey Trotter

2008-11-28T09:06:00.004-07:00

IronWoman is back at it. Yesterday, 1 month and 19 days since Katie had major surgery to deliver Ethan and Emman into the world, she ran a 5k, the Highlands Ranch Turkey Trot. Needless to say she was amazing. I pulled dad duty and walked the stroller around the parking lot near the finish line. We were all very proud of Katie.

More Pics here with kid shots
Rest of the day was pretty relaxing as well. We had thanksgiving dinner with some friends, over ate, over drank, but had a very good time doing it.

Hope everyone had a fantastic thanksgiving. Katie and I are very thankful for the most fortunate year we have had. We've been truly blessed with Ethan and Emma and are thankful for every sleeplees moment, loud crying night, dirty diaper, and everything else that goes along with parenthood.

FYI, the christmas lights are up and we are on to the next holiday!

Kansas Is Still Our BEE-OTCH!!!!

2008-11-25T22:53:00.003-07:00

Down 9 pts at halftime. Syracuse out scores KU 42-31 in the second half. A last second three pointer to tie the game and SU rules the OT!!!! Hey KU fans, at least you don't have Roy crying after we beat you this time.

Regardless, both teams played well. KU will be good but SU is showing some serious heart early in the season with a brutal schedule. We beat two ranked teams (Florida and Kansas) in two days on the road, and KU was essentially at home in Kansas City. It's been a long tough road for SU fans with our football troubles and the lack of NCAA success with basketball the past few seasons. This has been a VERY good week to be a Syracuse fan.

Ethan is my good luck charm. Katie brought him downstairs in the 2nd half to have a father/son experience :)

BOOOO-YAHHHHH!

2008-11-22T16:23:00.004-07:00

24-23 SU over Notre Dame!!!!

Nice win for the team, they deserved a break to go their way for a change. WE ARE SU!

Back Running!

2008-11-21T12:05:00.003-07:00

It's been six weeks since the twins were born and we can hardly believe how fast time is passing. I'm back running! It's been a slow start- the last time I ran was in February. Hoping to run the Jingle Bell 5K next month.

Emma and Ethan are growing rapidly and we are beginning to see their little personalities develop. Emma is a drama queen with her dad's temper and Ethan is a snuggler who tends to be pretty laid back. We are loving every minute of parenthood!

We hope everyone has a safe and wonderful upcoming holiday week!

A Reason For Hope

2008-11-16T20:51:00.005-07:00

Master Ethan was treated to his first SU basketball game this evening. My new good luck charm and I had a blast. Emma decided it was time to be fussy but she couldn't spoil our fun. Even though it was a game against a low level opponent (LeMoyne) it was the first win of the season and the team looks good. In other SU news, the misery and heartache of the past 4 football seasons has come to an end with the firing of our coach. Is that a good thing? With an 9-36 record over 4 yrs, you be the judge. The only good thing at this point is hope. It will still take a few more years but there is hope.

The kids are doing well. The twin thing is fun, until you go to the mall, or the grocery store, or the drug store, or any store for that matter. Then you need to pull out the dagger eyes, pull the car seat visor over the kids, look forward and don't make eye contact with anyone. People love twins. Granted we are flattered and appreciate the attention but holy cow we were bombarded by moms, dads, kids, grandparents, lonely women longing for days when they will have children and gay men who peek out of the corner of their eyes, and everyone's dirty germs. All this while just trying to get a triple grand latte from the Starbucks kiosk in the mall.

I have these responses down pat:]
1. They are almost 6 weeks
2. Thank you, I think they are cute too.
3. We have a boy and a girl, that's how we know they aren't identical (most people still look at you in a downright confused way)
3. Hey look over there at the triplets! (walk away quickly as soon as they turn around).

Lastly, thank god for the ipod! I got so sick and tired of playing Mozart and baby Einstein CD's so we bought an docking system for the ipod and I've been loading 5 hr playlists for the kids to sleep to. Given the fact that we have to listen to the music as well (those baby monitors do pick up a lot of background noise) we can at least have some less repetitious tunes going. Besides, I think Ethan is digging the Bare Naked Ladies kids album (Snacktime)and Emma is a Seastead, as she is quickly becoming a Natalie Merchant fan.

More Grandma's

2008-11-08T17:19:00.002-07:00

So my mom is in giving the E's some attention and love. All is well right now. Mom had a great birthday holding babies, dirty diapers, 2:00 am feedings, a steak the size of the plate, and a bottle of Dr. Frank.

Took the kids out for lunch today and grandma got to spoil them up a bit at Baby Gap and get them some eskimo clothes.

THANK YOU GRANNY RATLIFF

2008-11-04T07:31:00.005-07:00

A big thank you goes out to my mom for her help the past month. We are so appreciative of all the advice, the late night help with feedings, the cleaning, and the grocery shopping that you did for us- You are the BEST!

Thanks for being an awesome mom and grandma! Looking forward to your return in December. We love you lots!

The E's go to Work

2008-10-29T20:43:00.004-06:00

Katie, Grandma and the E's visited me today at work. It was a great suprise and most appreciated.

You can clearly see they are small but also the newest Orange fans. The basketball is only about 4 inches in diameter.

Yes Dickerson, Ranked. The Orange are back this season.

Halloween in the Gwendelyn 'hood

2008-10-26T20:30:00.002-06:00

From Cul De Sac Halloween Fest

It was a great weekend in the neighborhood. We had fantastic weather for the 2nd annual Halloween Bash. Needless to say a year of changes led to a much different experience this year from last.

This year:

From Cul De Sac Halloween Fest

Last year:

From Halloween Party

Captain caveman was missed (He became a new daddy this month as well; Congratulations Shane) but was replaced with Batman, err Batmen, pinatas, candied and carmel apples, wicked punch (delicious Shannon), frozen bananas, pumpkin hunts, chili, beer, and an overall great day. All the neighborhood kids are getting old enough to be really fun (when you can pull them off of their battery powered trucks). The E's should have a good crowd to run with when they get older. Even the adults behaved themselves (for a change), I guess that means the sleep deprivation really is taking its toll :).

We took the kids on a couple of field trip this weekend as well. Yesterday, Katie and I got them out on the trial and we went around the park and today it was off to find some clothes for them. The super stroller maneuvered well at the outlet mall. And it poopy news, the kids have been home for 15 days and we've cleared a cool three cases of diapers (at 92 diapers per case, you do the math)! Ah the joys of dual poopers.

And to those new parents viewing the blog. A word to the wise. Don't get cocky about your kids sleeping lots of hours through the night. Yes, we had some big britches last week when the kids were sleeping at 3-4 shifts. That was replaced a few times during the week and this weekend with upset stomachs, blowouts, and general crankiness during the overnight hours. Karma slapped us upside the head. But all is well, the little buggers are growing like weeds. At their 2 week Dr. appt on Friday they officially weighed out at 6lbs 6 oz (Emma) and 5 lbs 12 oz (Ethan) and both were over 19 inches. That's like 3 inches of growth in 8 days. I credit the poopy diapers, all 279 of them (and counting).

Almost time for another feeding. May your ghouls be ghostly and your goblins gobble lots of candy.

We Have Daddy Wrapped Around Our Little Fingers!

2008-10-24T08:35:00.004-06:00

Emma and Ethan already have their dad wrapped around their little fingers. They just love to snuggle with him in the evenings and Miss Emma spent last weekend in bed with dad watching Syracuse football. These poor babies have no choice but to be SU fans! The babies are starting to grow like weeds- Emma is now wearing newborn clothes and Ethan is starting to get too big for his preemie clothes.

I had my two week post-op appointment and have been cleared to drive and walk, but no running yet. I have my mind set I'm going to run the Jingle Bell 5 K run in December, so I am anxious to get on the trail running!

Thanks again to everyone for the wonderful emails and cards. We feel blessed to have so many amazing people in our lives.

Sleeping Beauties

2008-10-19T16:06:00.002-06:00

Piss on Tampa Bay

2008-10-18T22:12:00.005-06:00

This is the stain that the Tampa Bay Devil Rays leave on MLB! Who are they to think they can beat Boston? Seriously, at least the Yankees can provide good entertainment.

Let's just say I hope Tampa Bay rots in an absymal ugly place. The morning started off with South Florida absolutely anilating Syracuse (thank you god for allowing basketball practice to start yesterday) to start at Raymond James Stadium (yes, that is in Tampa) but at least Boston has decided to save the theatrics for games 5, 6, and 7 and get themselves back to the World Series. Actually, the picture above is one of Ethan's mark on Dad but me thinks it is a good visual of the respect due to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The Sox have their swagger, here's to wrapping up the ALCS tomorrow. Syracuse football, hey, has anyone gone to see THE EXPRESS yet? Great sports movie I loved it, Katie was bawling (as desribed in a previous post) about the racism that Ernie Davis experienced as a kid but WhoAHHHH there is a reason that the legend of 44 lives! Other than that, we are just hoping that whoever the new coach is, he can actually coach.

Anywho, the kids are good, katie is getting stronger everyday. Our neighborhood is fantastic (they give me scotch and cigars, what's not to love?). Life continues to be good in Seasteadville. A HUGE thank you goes out to all the folks on Gwendelyn Lane for your kind thoughts, food, privacy, generosity, cigars, food, compassion, and did I mention food for the past week and a half. Additionally, THANK YOU for the support you have provided for the past 9 months. Carlton, Chris, Dave, John, Shannon, Steph, and Mike you have been huge factors in both my delinquency and my transition to fatherhood. Don't underestimate the support you have provided; it's been greatly appreciated, particularly the beer, scotch and cigars. Mike, you've been a great friend, thank you!

The kids are doing well, they are currently close to sleeping 5, count them, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 hours a pop between feedings. YES, that means mom and dad both get a few hours of sleep during the night. Unless, of course, one of us has had one too many scotch and cigars (dammit Kathy you are still recovering from major surgery, just kidding). Lets just hope it continues on this trend.

Bath Time

2008-10-14T20:33:00.003-06:00

We gave the kids baths and they didn't break or freeze or anything. Things are going well here. Tired but going well. Definitely living life in 3 hour cycles right now. Kids are eating more, Katie is beginning to feel human again and dad is adjusting to life at the bottom of the Seastead Totem Pole. As I told a friend, the base has to be the strongest; that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Kids had their first Dr. appt on Monday, since they are considered premie's and under six lbs we get to take them back in for another checkup on Thursday but they are beginning to eat like little monsters, and well, you are all aware of the poop scale. Speaking of which, we have escalated to full fledged mustard in both sets of diapers. And, Katie is coming over to let me change another set :) Duty calls!

The storks brought the E's home

2008-10-12T18:12:00.006-06:00

Sorry, for the delay in getting more pics posted, I misplaced the cables to the camera. We are home and everyone is doing well. Katie, Emma, and Ethan were discharged at 10:00 yesterday and we were home in a hop, skip and a jump.

Night #1 went well. The kids actually kept breathing the entire night. The poopy diaper's have changed from tar pasted to bird seed poop. So, Mark changed bird seed poop fill diapers from 9:00 - 2:30 and then Katie and her mom covered from 3:00 till morning. Joy oh joy.

My wife is a champ. My kids are cool. All is well in Seasteadville!

Peace, love, and bird seed poopfilled diapers. The non slideshow version of the Pics are here.

Tar Pasted Diapers

2008-10-10T00:34:00.003-06:00

I forgot to bring the camera home with me so more pics will need to wait another day. Needless to say, for now, I will save you the view of Tar Pasted Diapers. Who knew this parenthood thing would take all your time up :) Guess that's what all of you 'in the know' meant when you told me to get my sleep whilst I could. The routine is pretty much like this. Get up, feed the dogs, take a shower, go to Starbucks for coffee, go to hospital, get kids from nursery, take them to katie's room. Then the fun begins. Time to eat, little buggers are eating about 25 mls per feeding which occurs about every 3 hrs. Then we hold them until you feel the rumble. Kids start to fuss, time to change Tar Pasted Diapers. Wash, rinse, repeat cycle....

Not to toot my own horn, but right now I'm holding my own in the feeding and diaper changing dept. Katie is still moving VERY slow (although today was a great day for her) so I have been changing all diapers and prepping all bottles for feeding and then burping the kids and waiting for tar pasted diapers to change. I got props from not one but two shifts of nurses asking if I'd give Daddy Participation Lessons to those with a dangling participle. Apparently, not everyone enjoys changing tar pasted diapers. I took that as a good thing,

Those little moans and noises are too damn cute not to fall in love with! Needless to say Ethan and Emma do not spend much time in their hospital cribs (yes, they already know who they have wrapped around those oh so tiny fingers).

Tomorrow, Katie's mom arrives which should be a nice help. Katie is recovering very nicely and she is slated for a Saturday discharge from the hospital.

Brought kid smelling blankets home from the hospital (Which is only 4.2 miles from the house) for Sara and Alix to sniff. Interestingly enough, Alix sniffed up and down, Sara could care less. I put the blankets on their dog beds when we came up stairs, Sara went back downstairs after about 5 minutes. It will be interesting to see what she does on Saturday when the silence is broken and the tax deductions come home with their Tar Pasted Diapers.

Thanks to everyone for the kind wishes.

I love those little turds dearly!!!!

Welcome to the World Ethan and Emma

2008-10-08T15:20:00.003-06:00

All I can say is that today has been absolutely GREAT. Words can't describe it but we are both happy people right now. Ethan and Emma are here, they are healthy, and Katie is recovering just fine.

Ethan was born at 9:32 weighing in at 5.46 lbs and Emma followed (in butts up mode, I give her style points for that) at 9:33 and she weighed in at 6.36 lbs.

More pics are loaded here.

tick tock its seven o'clock

2008-10-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

And we are sitting in the waiting room of the maternity wing.

Excitement abounds as we wait for the E's (and a room)

You put your left foot in you put your left foot out

2008-09-29T20:06:00.003-06:00

And when you shake it all about you really piss momma off :)

No kids yet but we're getting closer. This is the last image from ultrasounds until the E's get here. Both are about 5 lbs (4.9 - Ethan and 5.3 - Emma) and doing just fine. The sibling rivalry is in full gear as well.

My Wife is Awesome

2008-09-16T20:22:00.002-06:00

For posterity's sake this just had to be done. Is she a champ or what for going along with my games.

You Can't Spell Suck without SU

2008-09-14T20:10:00.003-06:00

These are dark days in the land of Orange. The past four years have been a nightmare for Syracuse football. 7-31 under one Greg Robinson. Well, we hope the end is finally near. After a 55-13 beating by our longest rival (Penn State) we who bleed Orange hope our misery is finally put to rest and a new regime is on the horizon? Right? A guy's gotta have something to believe in. Well, at minimum it's 30 days till basketball season. The only positive is the release of The Express this weekend. This is a movie based on the life of Ernie Davis, the first black Heisman Trophy winner and helped lead Syracuse to its first and only football National Championship in 1959. Ernie died of Leukemia after being drafted by Browns but he never played a down of professional football.

And in baby news, nope they aren't here yet. Katie, just finished her first week on modified activity (that's a step below bed rest, but darn close). Needless to say, it was a good thing as her blood pressure was down and the major bodily discomforts have been slightly lessened. She was not pleased to have her Dr. tell her that she could potentially go to 38 weeks (we hope he was being sarcastic :). We are likely down to counting days rather than months.

There's not much left to do now but wait. I finally finished putting some shelves in the kids room and just need to put a coat or two of paint on them. Car seats are installed in Katie's jeep and dresser drawers are FULL of clothes. The kids are enjoying kicking Katie in the ribs and both are currently in a head down position. So, all things considered things are going pretty smooth right now. Let's just hope they stay this way.

32 weeks!

2008-09-02T15:59:00.006-06:00

Babies are doing great- both are almost 4 lbs each. Another 4 weeks to go. At Friday's doctor appointment we finally got to see Emma's face. Every time we have had an ultra sound she has been shy and covered her face. This time Ethan was the one being shy, so no new pictures of him.

A big thanks to everyone for the continued thoughts and prayers as we go through this last trimester! We hope we can make it another 4 weeks.

Neighborhood Baby Shower

2008-08-23T06:41:00.004-06:00

What great neighbors we have! Last weekend the neighborhood threw us a a couples baby shower. We were overwhelmed with everyone's generosity and their excitement to meet Emma and Ethan.

This week marked 30 weeks. Babies are doing great and we hope we can make it to 36 weeks. Our next doctor's appointment and ultrasound is on Friday- we hope to have some pictures to post of the babies. So far Ethan has been great about showing us his profile, but the last ultrasound (2 weeks ago) Emma would not turn so we could see her face. Today we are attending our baby care class and registering at the hospital. It's amazing how quickly time is passing. We are getting anxious to meet them!

Thank you to everyone for your continued thoughts and prayers.

Broken Camera = Sad Blog

2008-07-29T18:01:00.002-06:00

I did it. I broke our camera while we were back home in NY a few weeks ago. Actually, I dropped it in our bedroom a few weeks prior to that but I was willing to gamble as the camera was still periodically working. Damn, Nikons, they don't work worth a damn after you drop them a few times. Who'd of thunk that?

Anywho, Katie is doing well. Ethan and Emma are kicking around in her belly and making her ribs very sore so we'll take that as signs of good. Other than that, it's been fairly routine lately. Hope all is well with everyone. I'll go buy a new camera one of these days and make the blog whole again.

Thank You to Family and Friends

2008-07-11T05:46:00.003-06:00

We just wanted to say thank you to all of our family and friends for taking time out of their schedules to help us celebrate the upcoming arrival of Emma and Ethan. It was great to see all of you and we really appreciated everyone giving up part of their holiday weekend. Thanks so much for all that you have done for us.

The Scoreboard of Life

2008-06-20T09:39:00.004-06:00

A true Boston fan always finds a way to show some pride.

This brings peeping tom to a whole new level.

Welcome to the scoreboard at Coors Field. Talk about feeling like a kid again. My buddy Dan ( huge Indians fans) got tickets to the baseball game last night - Rockies and Indians. Suprise, suprise the Indians lost again. Hey, they couldn't beat the Sox last fall and now they get swept by the Rockies, such a sad fall from grace (almost as bad as Syracuse football, but not quite since the Indians do still know how to win some games). Anyway, the dad of a guy that we work with runs the scoreboard invited us to take the tour and see the game from a much different perspective (thank you Jim). Very cool.

Toss in the fact we had 3rd row tickets down the left field line and got to screw with a drunk kid who tried to claim our seats and it was a fantastically fun evening.

More Pics Here.

E2 = Ethan and Emma

2008-06-11T20:24:00.006-06:00

Baby A is Ethan, Baby B is Emma.

More pics and some video can be found here. Baby E Montage #1

Who said the nuclear family was dead! We've doubled in size and have added a boy and a girl to boot. At just 20 weeks of age Ethan and Emma Seastead are making their first appearances on the internets. We literally just found out and excited is an understatement. Speachless is a good way to frame our state of mind right now unless of course you consider the fact that as Kathy was having sonogram goo squirted on her and we are looking at images of the kids I am having visions of the next 20 years of my life race through my mind. As soon as Boy was announced the statements of my parents "You will know know what we meant when you have kids" became very clear. What does that mean you ask? Broken arms, braces, dropped transmissions, lost boat motors off the back of a boat, dented cars, you know, the basics of all the things that I did as a kid. Toss on top of that the fact that now a girl is thrown into the mix but she'll be daddy's little angel right? Yeah, that's it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I won't think of those things my sisters did when they were kids.......... Of course, Kathy was class president and represented all the good things a girl should be so maybe there is hope. Lets just hope they move out when they go to college.

Progress in the Nursery

2008-06-06T06:14:00.017-06:00

The furniture is finally in the nursery. It's amazing how small the room looks with two cribs! Overall we are very happy with the furniture we picked out. Now we are working accessorizing the room- a safari theme.

We find out gender on Wednesday, June 11. We will post some new pictures and let everyone know how the appointment goes. Hopefully things continue to move along and we make it to October. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

13 years of great stuff

2008-05-27T08:48:00.002-06:00

Sorry for the mushy post today but I’ve got to send a big I love you to my wife Katie! It was 13 years ago today on a sunny Saturday afternoon in a small church in Mt. Pleasant when two 23 year old kids said "I Do" and the pastor told me "Son, you'd better give her a real kiss when I pronounce you husband and wife or I’ll kick your ass” as he put it.

Needless to say 13 yrs, five states, three apartments, three houses, two dogs, two birds, and soon to be two kids later we’re still at it. You are my best friend and all I can say is thank you for the rose on the Cougar.

The ironing room is no more!

2008-05-17T07:40:00.005-06:00

Well we finally started working on the nursery. We are converting one of our guest rooms into the nursery. It's a typical Seastead home improvement project- we can never do things the simple way. Check out the work in progress. Our nursery furniture is in so once the room is finished we will post more pictures.

Babies are doing great. We are hoping to find out gender in the next few weeks. Thanks to everyone for all the great messages you have sent us.

SEASTEADS SQUARED!!

2008-04-25T20:49:00.004-06:00

Some say a picture is worth a thousand words. I think this one is worth at least two thousand. Yes folks, the Seastead’s are growing. Katie is expecting not one but TWO bundles of joy into our life. All three are doing quite well right now. Katie has safely cleared the first trimester and is in the midst of enjoying the beauty of pregnancy. And by beauty I mean nauseousness, cramps, soreness, tiredness and all those other joyous changes that a woman’s body goes through.

Anyhow, we’re having fun right now planning our 180 degree change in life. For example, we both learned that neither of us have a clue about how to collapse a stroller built for twins, or what the heck a boppy is?? Regardless of our infant gear naivety we’re both fantastically excited to become parents this fall. Guess the blog may be worth following again or at least it will begin to be updated more frequently.

These kids will definitely know who's their Daddy!

Eek, Spiders, Poisonous Spiders

2008-04-15T07:37:00.002-06:00

That my friends is a black widow spider! I found not one but two of them last night while I was grilling some chicken breasts.

There is still Lacrosse and, um, the NIT

2008-03-16T19:55:00.002-06:00

Happy days to be Orange? Not quite. Let's have a quick recount of the past few years starting with our flagship basketball program:
Win 2003 NCAA Championship, follow up with an elite 8 in 2004, and then minus the Gerry McNamara Big East Tournament miracle of 2006 it has been almost 4 years since SU has won an NCAA game. We are NIT bound yet again. But hey, we're a 1 seed, look out Robert Morris...
Football: Not going to go there, it's almost spring, we'll prolong that misery until the fall
Lacrosse: Ah, we have a pulse. We'll move up to a #3 ranking after beating Hopkins this weekend.

It's almost spring so at least I can get out on the bike again soon, wait, predicting 4-8 inches of snow tonight through tomorrow.

Stair project

2008-02-24T10:41:00.005-07:00

Before

After

We finally decided to replace our old stair railing with rod iron. We really like the new look. Attached a before and after picture.

This and That

2008-02-18T19:19:00.002-07:00

Not much to report here lately. Had a nice long weekend but didn't do too much. I sprained my ankle earlier in the week so that put the brakes on skiing or anything like that. So, we kicked around the house, went to the home and garden show and then tested the ankle today with a short hike in the foothills at Golden Gate Canyon State Park.. Nice hike but bad idea with the ankle as there was just a tad bit of snow and ice on the trail.

Katie starts soccer on Tuesday.

Our new niece- McKenzie

2008-02-08T14:37:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the family Kenzie! A big congratulations goes out to Bridgit and Rickie on the birth of their daughter on February 7th. Mom and baby are doing great and should be home on Saturday. We are very excited to meet the new little bundle of joy.

Happy Birthday Katie

2008-02-05T07:34:00.000-07:00

Just a quick shout out to my blushing bride. Happy Birthday Katie.

The Penalty for Paradise

2008-01-13T18:36:00.001-07:00

So, I find out on Thursday that I need to go to Hawaii for work, yes work!!! Three days notice, no problem, ha, so says you...

The problem, I have been stuck in San Francisco airport for over 7 hours. Oh the joys of traveling.......It's almost 7:00 pm and we should have left at noon. Cursed I tell you, cursed.

I'm not taking any lava from Pele!!!!

A Time to Ski

2008-01-06T11:13:00.000-07:00

So, the holidays are over and the tourists have left which means the locals (I can say that now after being here for 2 yrs :) can have the slopes back for awhile. We took advantage of the snow and went to Winter Park on Saturday. Pics here Kathy is obsessed with this place, I think it's more of a comfort with the smaller crowds but who really cares as long as we're up in the big hills. That's her in the pic above. Both she and my buddy Mike have improved drastically. Kathy is moving from pizza (snowplow) to french fry (parallel) skiing every time she hits the slopes. Our friend Mike is a testament to what it means to have properly fitting equipment. He constantly stuggles to find boots that will fit him (the man have calves that are well, aptly named) but he got a great fit on boots during this trip and it showed with some much improved skiing.

Lastly, a quick shout to the Burk family, it's great to hear things are looking better but we're all still pulling for Ms. Audrey with positive thoughts and prayers.

A Saturday Hike

2007-12-29T19:53:00.001-07:00

Hi all,
It's been awhile since I've posted anything of substance and well, this post isn't going to break that streak.

It was a fantastic day today so Katie and I took a little hike in the foothills. We hiked part way up a local canyon to get some exercise and enjoy the sunshine. TEN miles later we were cursing ourselves and very glad to get back to the truck. But it was a fantastic hike. We spotted an American Dipper dipping and diving into a very cold and icy river. Apparently the dipper is an aquatic songbird. Weird but cool.

Other than that it was a relatively quiet week. Kathy's mom went back home on Thursday but it was fun to have some family visit for the Christmas holiday. We did some of the traditional stuff like driving around to see the Christmas lights, eating like pigs, laying around and generally being lazy, and shovelling the driveway. Speaking of shovelling snow. Contrary to the popular belief held by many of you on the east coast, this Christmas was just the 13th 'white' Christmas in Denver over the last 100 years. I'm just full of useless knowledge tonight, swimming songbirds and snowy christmas trivia.