Putting a baby to sleep might be one of the most difficult tasks I’ve ever faced, but even more difficult is getting away after said baby is down.
I just spent 40 minutes rocking And scratching Oliver’s back to get him to sleep and then pulled off some of the greatest ninja moves since Chris Farley in Beverly Hills Ninja.
Saying, “Goodbye” to a house isn’t something that you think of when you are contemplating a move. There are so many other “important” things that need to be done that saying parting words to an inanimate object are not that high on your to-do list. Yet leaving can be tough for various reasons, and one of them is the realization that the moments you had in it can never be re-lived… special moments, sad moments, happy moments and all the moments in between. We moved into our house 13 years ago… on the day one of the most special people in my life, my grandmother (nan), passed away and we leave 13 years later with two dogs, two children, some furniture, picture frames, lamps and a whole lot of other crap. We aren’t just leaving behind walls and a roof, we are leaving behind a legacy of great neighborhood get-togethers, quality time spent with family members who are no longer with us and a shelter that kept our little ones safe for so long.
Our memory often times fails us; as we continue to stock pile events in life our brains seem to pick and choose other memories to push out. Sadly, we become forgetful as we age and even replace great memories of the past with newer, more exciting times. I thought about walking around and taking some pictures of how the house looks right before I left for the last time, but realized that right now it’s not even our house anymore. The floors aren’t full of muddy footprints from Buster or Max (or pee for that matter) and the walls don’t have the same scratches from the times I idiotically tried to move things upstairs with any help. There are no toys spread all over the boys’ rooms, or Harry Potter books overflowing from shelves. There are no games of full contact whiffleball going on in the front yard and the pool is covered, so it’s hard to imagine it full of friends and family. The basement is empty, its void only haunts me as I think about all the holes, the wall anchors and screws that need to be removed, patched and painted that once supported some of baseball and football’s greatest players and moments. My lawn doesn’t even look the same. I spent hours mowing and raking, setting up rock walls and bricks like only a true Italian can do and without MuggleCast playing in my earbuds, the lawn is just a lawn, not an escape from the everyday hectic and breakneck pace of life.
Life provides us with natural changes, from the seasons and weather… to growing up and growing older. The past is captured in photographs, more now saved in the packed storage of your iPhone than in photo albums. But the time spent in one place and the stories that go along with them will live in memories… or at least in the pictures the realtor took… and those pictures no matter how beautiful will never really be an accurate representation of two adults, two children, two dogs… countless friends, family members, birthday parties, baptisms… going away parties, Halloween bonfires, setting the toaster on fire, crashing the riding mower into a ditch, crashing the neighbor’s riding mower into a ditch. Labor Day Parties and invented games of pool football, Sean’s old school boom-box and Eli showing up at 11:30 at night when everyone is already asleep are just part of the memories now. It was a fun ride, full of laughter, happiness, some sadness, good times and bad times… but as one chapter of our lives ends… a new one begins.
If only those walls on Brandon Run could talk…
Nine months old already? I am sure I just wrote the eight month old blog… now its Halloween and this kid is getting ready to trick-or-treat… next thing you know he’ll be driving!
No big deal just an nine month old trying to climb the stairs…
…and it’s time to baby proof everything again.
Whenever Staci Miller (from Staci Miller Photography) and the Fragola’s get together it there is a whirlwind of mayhem, a tornado of destruction and whole ton of amazing pictures!!! This photo shoot was no different. We had rotten apples being tossed around like a football, the Apple Orchard Police Department putting an APB on our lovely photographer and a horse who now looks like a pirate as a result of an inquisitive three and a half year old.
You know its going to be interesting when your day starts out with statements such as, “Please do not have your child ride in the apple cart, it is for apples not children,” and, “Watch your back and let me know if you see anyone looking out at us from the barn windows.” Apparently, photographs (the simple process and practice, which has been around for almost 200 years, the word “photograph” was coined in 1839 by Sir John Herschel, is not something to take lightly upon entering a family friendly apple orchard. But when you have an expert at snapping little children who smile for all of about 13 nanoseconds at a time, getting photos and getting out is not an issue.
There were some awkward moments and there were some priceless ones as well, with the low light coming when Jackson (by accident) poked the first horse he’s ever seen in person in the eye. I mean like really jabbed it in there! Surprisingly, Jackson didn’t get kicked into orbit, but there is a good chance that horse is now wearing an eye patch. All in all, another successful day with Staci Miller Photography!
DISCLAIMER: “No Animals Were Harmed in the Making of this Blog”
It finally happened. I finally have a child in the family that I can have fun with, rile up, teach to make farting noises and then send home… no further responsibilities, no worrying if he is going to tell his teachers where he learned to burp the alphabet from. I am now the cool uncle. That’s a huge responsibility.
I remember my “cool uncle”. He taught me to play Techmo Bowl and took me to the arcade is his silver Camero that would cause even most avid motor heads jealousy. Going for a ride in a four door Honda sedan might not be as cool as speeding through toll booths in an Iroc Z… and there may not be any arcades left around, but I know I can figure something out.
With that being said… here are some pieces of advice I got when I asked Twitter for help on being a cool uncle:
All great advice for a new uncle… a new COOL uncle. Although I’m not sure who’s more excited over the new family member… me or Jax, who apparently after hearing someone exclaim they wanted to “pinch baby Dominic’s cute little cheeks,” has given his new cousin his official nickname: Baby Cheeks. Well I guess if Baby Cheeks is now officially part of the family that makes me officiant Uncle Pete. Or as Jax would say, Uncle Peep… or as I would say… Cool Uncle Peep!
Introducing my first Nephew: (I really hope I can afford a cool enough flashlight for him)
102.8
104.3
103.2
102.3 
No those aren’t the speeds of a winning NASCAR race and no they aren’t Hermione Granger’s end of term exam scores. Those are Jackson’s temperatures over the course of today.
So many people today are trying to tell us that you don’t need to vaccinate your kids… that diseases of the olden days are things of the past. Well guess what… that’s not true at all. You know how I know… because my kid has leprosy. Oliver literally has to be quarantined ET style.
Apparently Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease is a real 21st century thing. It’s like actually something people get and apparently it’s not actually a disease, but a virus… and the name? Come on… there has got to be something better to call it than Hand, Foot and Mouth?!!? Right?!??
Listen, it’s not the dark ages… this isn’t Westeros… we have cures for things… we can send people to the moon, we can predict the weather years in advance, we have computers who are smarter than any human alive… yet my eight month old needs be locked up and quarantined like he’s a lepor… I’m just over here shaking my head.
Jordy and Aaron – Jax and Ollie … Tomato Tomoto #greenbaypackers #gopackgo #aaronrodgers is a baaaaaad man
Driving last night during the end of the game while listening to the Cowboys broadcast is not the ideal way to experience another Aaron Rodgers magical performance. However, having Jax yelling, “Go Pack Go… Go Pack Go!!!” Was awesome. The huge high five after Rodgers put a TD pass on a dime to Adams for the game winning TD, whileJackson screaming, “I did it” was well worth it!!! #GoPackGo
It’s nights like tonight that help me understand why nan used to check on us with a flashlight while we slept 14x a night. Being up at 1:30am reading about #LasVegas is not good for someone with #insomnia…
Sorry Sons: Chronicles of a New Dad 