We've got boys in the family?

I have some time (and am surprisingly motivated to do this) so I wanted to add some updates about the family (particularly the children) since I have been M.I.A. for so long from Vox.

Mack and Brody

As most of you know, we have two new nephews.  Mack was born on the 13th of May (Sarah and Chris) and Brody on the 16th of May (Beth and Luke).  Both of them are wonderful and Gina and I are ecstatic.  Brody (6lbs 11oz) is a peanut and Mack (8lb 11oz) is a truck.

An item of note with Brody is that Beth and Luke have carried on the date significance tradition we have going with Gina's side of the family.  Some of you know this already but for those that don't try to comprehend the odds of all this happening.  I use to think Gina was the link but now I am thinking it may be Amy.  It's crazy.

~ I was born on the same day (July 18th) as Ed (Gina's uncle / Amy's father)

~ Gina was born on the same day that Ed passed away (February 1)

~ Gina and I share Ed and Mary Jo's wedding anniversary (July 26)

~ Sarah and Chris share Grandma and Grandpa S's wedding anniversary (June 28th)

~ Natalie was born on Gina and Amy's Grandpa S's birthday (May 31)

~ Macie was born on Gina and Amy's Grandma S's birthday (February 7)

~ Chloe (Beth and Luke's daughter) was born on Amy's birthday (January 19)

~ Brody was born on Joe's birthday (May 16)

Natalie

Here are some quick notes on Natalie from recent events:

~ On Wednesday, she completed her first year of pre-school.  She loves school, which we are very happy about.

~ She's a human highlight reel at this point in her life.  So much of what she says is hilarious.  

For example:

     ~ "My foot is sprinkling" (when referring to her foot falling asleep)

     ~ "We don't eat crabs because they do this" (as she pinches both thumbs and pointer fingers together)...however we didn't tell her that there are ways to deal with the claws.

     ~ "I already have a castle...it's in my playroom" (in reference to hearing Molly tell a random story about how cool it would be to own a castle as she was explaining what any good castle needs to have).

Macie

~ On March 23, we had a lump removed from the side of Macie head that had been there since just after she was born.  It was lima bean shaped, though not quite as big as one.  None of the doctor's were to worried about it but we had it taken out, in part, because they believed it would continue to grow as she did.  It was hard seeing her put under but everything went well.  We had the lump biopsied and it came back as a benign cyst which is obviously good news.

~ Her speech has taken off lately.  It's been fun to see (and hear I suppose).  However, she still has some work as you will see by the next story.  Last night, on the way home from picking them up from daycare I told the girls we were going to go make dinner for Beth, Luke, Chloe and Brody.  I then said to Mace, "can you say Bro-dee?"  Her response was "Rory."  That caught me off guard.  I composed myself and tried it again, "No, Broooo-deee."  To which she once again responded, "Rory."  At first it was a little weird but by the end of the night we were asking her to say it just because it was kinda cute.  She clearly needs some work on the "b" sound but we'll probably let her say Rory as long as she wants.

A video I am not proud of

I blame Gina and Molly for this.  At least they changed the lyrics for the girls to "oh hot ham, this is my jam."

Miscellaneous Items

~ Unfortunately, while waiting for Macie to return from surgery on the 23rd my mom informed me that my godmother Diane had had a heart attack the night before and passed away.  I was so sad.  She was an incredible person and had been one of my mom's best friends since early in high school.  She was also friends with my dad before my parents met and was one of the main reasons they were introduced.  So, I owe a lot to her on a couple of different fronts.  She will be greatly missed, especially by my mom's side of the family which had adopted her in as one of their own.  Another thing, which I just love, is that my mom received a letter from Diane on the 24th.  Sometime on the 22nd Diane had put a letter in the mailbox that basically told my mom what a great friend she has been to her over the years.  How cool is that for my mom to always have as a keepsake?

~ We tried to refinance, it didn't go well.  Our house appraised $80k less then we paid for it three years ago.  Grrrr.

~ Check out this book, it's fantastic.  If you're willing to read a non-threatening book about religion that will make you think a little bit but will also keep you laughing from cover to cover, you'll love it.

Walking for Causes

In the last two weeks we've done two walks: 

~ On the 10th, we did the Race for the Cure in honor of JoAnn, who has now been cancer free for over three years!  Attendees: Molly, Jackie, Gina, Natalie, Macie, JoAnn, Theresa, Meghan and myself.

~ On the 16th, we did the Celiac Walk for Natalie.  Well, we sort of did.  We raised a bunch of money, got there early and checked out all of the booths they had.  We very much enjoyed ourselves and learned a lot.  In the end we decided not to walk with two children who were not 100% healthy with outside temps in the upper 30s and winds that could blow over an ox.  We did go to the Mall of America, however, and enjoyed ourselves at Nickelodeon Universe.  Attendees: Morgan, Molly, Gina, Natalie, Macie, Rick, Al, Jeanine, Amy, Joe and myself.