Texas Trip

We went to Texas over July 4th weekend to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday and my brother Gary's promotion to Colonel in the Army. We've been back for over 2 weeks - here's a long overdue Texas-sized posting with lots of pictures.

We went to the airport with Aunty Helen & Uncle Martin

and flew to Austin where we stayed with Aunty Geegy & Pepere Gerry

and on Saturday Mom & Reg flew in from Florida.

On Sunday we drove to outside of San Antonio to see Uncle Gary & Aunt Jojo

and cousin Sarah, here with Pepere

Gary had the smoker up & running at 4AM & made LOTS of meat, including beef brisket and these awesome baby back ribs, per Irene's request, which we ate the next day too:

then we had cake--Red Sox themed, of course.

Aunty Geegy thought she had a new dog when this chihuahua
showed up but the owner came looking for her just before we left.On Monday we went swimming at Barton Springs in Austin. The water bubbles up from underground at 65 degrees year-round. Guess who thought that was too cold?

Then we visited my G'town buddy Morty & finally got to

meet his daughter Grace (of Gracie's Crib fame)

Then we posed for picturesand then relaxed with a cold, tasty beverage

OK, not really. She didn't have any beer--I swear.
We all know she only drinks Knob Creek.

Then, on Tuesday my brother Gary got pinned with his silver wings as he was promoted to full bird Colonel (he was a Lieutenant Colonel before). We weren't able to to attend the ceremony because we were flying back that morning, but we could not be more proud to have such a high ranking officer in the family

Congratulations, Big Gar!

Sick with colds

We all survived the heat of Texas. It was a great visit, seeing everyone to celebrate Gerry's 70th birthday and Gary's promotion. The whole family has been sick with a cold since getting home. We're all trying to recover so we'll try to post photos and videos once we're all feeling better.

Two Teeth!

As you may have noticed on some of the recent pics on here, Iris now has two teeth, and no longer looks like Gummy Joe on the Simpsons.

THIS:
NOT THIS:
I'll buy a beverage of your choice for whoever's the first person
to post in the comments what Gummy Joe calls his tooth.

Busy Week

Last weekend we were very busy and it has continued into this week, with Irene's sisters visiting, driving down to Portland, Fred's 2nd aqua rehab visit (of 8 for his bum knee) we were go-go-go all weeekend. Here are some of the highlights:

Here's a video of Freddy on the treadmill in the hydrotherapy tank. (yeah, I know, we're getting the cat hydrotherapy. It's Fred--what can I say?)


And here's one of our nephew Ryan breaking a board blindfolded during a Tae Kwon Do demonstration (he has a black belt!)


And here's your weekly dose of Iris photos, on a swing down in Portland and enjoying some sweet potatoes. I think the second one here is my new favorite pic of Iris - I just love her expression in it--she's like "Don't BS me, dad!"

JJ= Cate Walsh!

Cate Viola Walsh was born on Saturday. Here's the entry from the Walsh family blog:

She was born yesterday, 6/21, which was both her due date and our 11th wedding anniversary. We've named her Cate. Here's a picture:

She was 7 lbs 7 ozs, 20 inches long. We're home now -- the hospital visit turned out to be 2 days long, but that was only because we were there for a day beforehand for some light induction.

Ain't she sweet?
Congratulations to the Walsh family from the Martel family!!!

Happy 7 Months Iris! (tomorrow); JJ Walsh Update

Iris turns 7 months old on Saturday - she's really getting up there isn't she?

Here's your JJ Walsh update: JJ is due tomorrow but will be induced at 5PM today EDT because of her mom's raised BP (this all sounds very familiar to Irene and me). Visit Walsh Boulevard for more updates. We're sending happy thoughts to all the Walshes: JJ, mom Julie, brother Jackson and dad Keith.

Here are a couple pics of Iris from this morning--her 2nd day with Aunty Helen, who's now also known as Nanny Helen. (Helen took the first two about 10 minutes apart)

Sad time :(
Happy time! :)
(Too bad it's too late to cast for a baby Joker in the new Batman movie)
Sleepy time x)

Iris Feeling Better

We probably would have brought Iris in to day care today but her Aunty Helen volunteered to keep an eye on her. Looks like they're having a good day together - here are a couple pics Helen took with her iphoneYou can see her tooth in the second one. We called the day care to let them know she's staying home another day & found out that a LOT of the kids there are sick with the same stomach bug that got Iris, me and Helen so sick. So we may keep her home tomorrow as well, just to be safe. Hopefully the coast will be clear on Monday.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Celtics are Champs!

Iris finally got to see one her teams win a championship, and it took almost 7 months of her life. She doesn't own any Celtics gear yet but daddy will take care of that soon.

In other news, I am back at work, while Irene is home taking care of Iris and her Aunty Helen who are both still under the weather. Poor Iris -- she's been pukey and poopy for almost a week already. When I brought her to the doctor on Monday he said it's not uncommon for babies to take 7-10 days to get over a stomach bug, while adults might take only a couple days.

The most important thing is to keep her eating and well-hydrated, and as long as she has wet eyes and mouth, and a wet diaper at least every 8 hours, (which she has so far), she's doing okay. Still, it seems like she's been sick forever and she's not doing any better this morning than she was on Monday, which is a real bummer.

Another one down for the count

My sister, Helen, came out to Seattle for the chance to hang out with her niece. Little did she know that she would succumb to the stomach bug that got Jim and Iris sick. It did take her 3 days before she started puking. So now, Jim, Iris and Helen are home recovering while I'm at work.

Jim and Helen gets to enjoy a bland diet (if they're able to eat) while they wait for their tummies to feel better. I'm happy to that Iris hasn't lost her appetite at all; we're just concerned that she stays hydrated. She was sent home on Monday midday because she had diarrhea. I guess we were pushing our luck yesterday after she woke up on Sunday morning with a horrific blowout-of-all-blowout diaper. It took all three of us to get her cleaned up, changed, and bathed -- all before 7am. Luckily she hasn't had any episodes at home since being sent home sick.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't come down with the bug. My sister Sheila and Helen's husband, Martin, arrives for a visit this Friday. We're all supposed to go visit our other sister, Shirley, in Portland over the weekend. Let's hope this doesn't become an epidemic.

Feeling blue

We finally get nice weather in Seattle, and Jim and Iris are both home sick. Iris left daycare early Friday afternoon after throwing up twice. She hasn't been able to keep down any fluids yesterday. She's feeling better today, but I'm limiting the amount of time she can breastfeed. Somehow, she passed the bug to Jim or he got food poisoning, but he's the sickest I've ever see him. When Iris and Jim aren't cautiously eating, they're asleep. Luckily for me, Helen is in town to keep me company. Sorry for her that Jim and Iris are sick.

My first Fathers Day Card

Iris made me this card with some help from Fay at her daycare

Ain't she cute?

In other Iris news, she's had quite a busy June so far: first taste of real food (rice cereal), she's now sleeping in the crib that we finally put together, and last but not least, she got her first tooth! It's one of the bottom middle ones, and the one next to it is coming in also. I'll post pics of the feeding & crib sometime this weekend. We haven't been able to get one of the tooth yet but will keep trying

Chilly in Seattle today, HOT everywhere else. Where's JJ?

We've barely cracked the 50s today in Seattle, compared to the 90s and 100s lots of our east coast friends and family members are suffering through.

Our friends the Walshes in Norfolk, VA are expecting baby #2 to show up any minute now, and it's 100 there today. (Their new baby is also nicknamed JJ, like Iris was, but theirs is Julie Jr.) Lucky for them they have AC, and it'll only be 85 tomorrow. Maybe JJ will wait for it to cool off some before making her appearance.

Here's a screenshot from my google homepage

Jacoby Damon

Here's Jacoby Ellsbury doing his best Johnny Damon impression (just like Coco Crisp did once) and badly misplaying a ball in the Red Sox' 6-3 loss at Baltimore last night. It resulted in a 3 run double, which is a wicked bummah

Seattle from a seaplane

A few weeks ago Jim went up in a seaplane with our friends, Rob and Lorraine. Here are photos from the ride.

Iris's First Red Sox Game, 6-Month Check-up, Mom & Dad's 8th Anniversary

Well it's sure been a busy day. Iris saw the Red Sox in person for the first time last night & they beat the Mariners 5-3. Coincidentally, Iris's mom & dad (plus Pepere and Aunty Geegy) also saw the Red Sox last year on Memorial Day, when they beat the Indians 5-3 in Fenway. Papelbon pitched the 9th & got scored on in both games too, though he gave up 1 run last year and 2 this year. Let's hope this season ends just like last year did too. Here's a shot of the Sox' newest fan:

(Iris appears smaller than actual size here--

those are our friend Ben's hands, and he's 6'7")

Iris had her 6 month check up on Tuesday & toughed out 3 more shots. Her doctor says she's doing well and we can start introducing solids in the near future.

Here are her stats from birth, 2, 4, and 6 months:

Birth
Length 19.5"
Weight 6 lbs, 15.4 ozs.

2 months
Length 22.25"
Weight 10 lbs, 8 ozs.

4 months
Length 23.75" (between 25th-50th percentile)
Weight 12 lbs, 5.5 ozs. (25th)
Cranium 42.75cm (90-95th)

6 months
Length 24.75" (between 10th-25th percentile)
Weight 14 lbs, 12.5 ozs. (25th-50th)
Cranium 45.25 cm (95th+)

As you can see, our girl is tops when it comes to cranium size.

We also bought a new car yesterday - a 2008 Nissan Altima. Our first family sedan, in a lovely sedate shade of gray. We like it a lot though - lots bigger than our old car and gets better mileage too. Sooner or later we hope to be able to fit it into the garage on the first try too.

lastly - happy 8th Anniversary baby! Hard to believe it's gone by as fast as it has, huh?

Here's one more of our little sweetie,
taken with her Aunty Geegy's iphone

Giggly Iris

Irene got Iris to laugh a lot today by doing pretend sneezes and I video'd her with my cellphone (which is why the clip is so short and low-resolution)

Freddy update; Project ipod update

Freddy's bum knee has been quite an issue in our house. He's been on some pain killers which give him constipation, and when he does finally do his evil business, he hasn't always been able to find the box. It was really bad in the wee hours of Tuesday morning when I came down to check on him & he was asleep on top of some dirty nuggets right on his tuffet. I cleaned him and the tuffet up & put him back to bed.

Thankfully, his knee seems to have improved somewhat and he's getting around the house much better--even jumping up to sleep in our bed during the day, so he hasn't had to take any more of Dr. Spaceman's pain pills for a few days and he's been much more successful at finding/using the box for his scud missiles. We're taking him to the vet again Saturday morning & hope that he'll be doing even better by then. Thanks to everyone who's asked about him--we all appreciate your concern.

Ipod project update:
I filled up my 80Gig ipod a couple weeks ago and seem to be in the homestretch of my quest to listen to all the songs on it from A to Z.

Right now song #14763 (of 16383) is playing. It's "Velvet Snow" by Kings of Leon, from their Aha Shake Heartbreak cd. A good album, I say. If you were asking, I mean.

This means I have 1620 songs left - the end is in sight! Hopefully by the end of 2008 my quest will be complete. oops--it just switched to "Venice Queen" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. That means only 1619 to go!

Six Months Old!

Iris is six months old today.Happy Half-Birthday baby!

April visitors

Here are some way way overdue pics of our April visitors

Here's Iris with her Uncle Jack. His real name is John but I always call him ML.
Here they are playing Wii.
She & Uncle Jack bowled 6 straight strikes together--
I bet you didn't know she was such a good bowler!

ML came up with his son Reed (youngest of 3).
Iris hopes to meet her other 2 cousins Will & Luke soon!My mom (Iris's Memere) also visited in Apriland here's one of Iris and Irene at one of our early season Mariner games at Safeco Field

Our friends Lorraine and Rob from Ireland also visited us in April--
I'll post pics of their visit soon!

Irene Hates Raccoons

Lights out in Ballard

Shortly after going to bed Monday night, Jim and I were awakened by the baby monitor beeping. I was afraid there was something going on in Iris's room. We soon discovered the power was out -- in our house, on our block, and in our neighborhood. Iris, then, decides to wake up for a snack. We keep flashlights in our bedside tables for an occasion like this one. So there I was, nursing Iris by flashlight at midnight.

Here's the story of what caused the blackout:

Raccoon causes power outage in Ballard
By Seattle Times staff

A raccoon wandering through a power substation in Ballard around midnight today caused an electrical short that left 11,000 customers without lights for nearly an hour — and spelled the end to the critter.

When Seattle City Light workers arrived at the Canal Substation at 614 NW 45th St., "they could tell by the smell that an animal was involved," said Mike Eagan, spokesman. Apparently the raccoon "bridged the wrong gap" on the transmission lines, he said.

Crews got the power back on by 12:45 a.m.

Mothers Day Gift Ideas

Just like last year, the Red Sox and Major League Baseball have teamed up to provided some wonderful, thoughtful Mothers Day gift ideas

What mom wouldn't want a full size pink bat?
(Nobody tell Irene that's what she's getting, OK?)

To be young again

As an early Mother's Day present, Jim bought me tickets to see Duran Duran. It was a thoughtful gift since I didn't even know they were touring. He also bought me their new album off my wish list on Amazon. Finally the day arrived and I got to see the boys along with our friend Erica. We're both moms who left the kids (she has 2 kids, one is only 3 weeks older than Iris) with the dads for the night.

I was excited to see them since it had been years when I last saw them. I was a huge Duran Duran fan in high school. I've been known to skip school to stalk them whenever they were in town. I saw them last (with all the original members) back in the early 1980s when they were touring to support Seven and the Ragged Tiger. The band broke up shortly afterward. They reunited in 2004 to release Astronaut. I missed seeing them on that tour because it was on the night of the last class of Mandarin Chinese for travelers. (Jim and I ended up not going to China with our friends, Pat and Robin, so it was a shame I blew off the show). Since then, Andy Taylor left the band (again!).

They put on a great show. They played alot of their hits (Save A Prayer, The Reflex, A View To A Kill, Girls On Film...) and songs off the new album. They also did a cover of "Warm Leatherette" which I enjoyed. I tried singing it for Jim but he doesn't know the song. Guess it's a test if you were really into New Wave in the 80s.

I'm still on a high from seeing them. I've been subjecting Iris and Jim to their albums. Iris seems to like it when I sing along to the songs. I'll always have a soft spot for these guys because it'll always remind me of my youth. BTW, Simon still can't dance. Nick is looking alittle like Andy Warhol. Roger should have used more sunscreen in his youth. John has aged well, giving up the blonde hair and fedora.

Iris Win Streak Over, Freddy has bum knee, new Weezer!

Iris' win streak is over at 5 games, as the Mariners blew a 2-0 8th inning lead and lost to the A's 4-2 on Sunday. We think the good luck string was broken when we decided to leave just before the A's 4-run rally started. It was raining pretty good & the roof wasn't closed so we decided to head out early, since the Ms were up 2-0 in the 8th. By the time we got down to the lower level, the A's had loaded em up with no outs and then took the lead. Kris texted me that we better get Iris back up to the seats, but by the time we got back to the upper deck the A's had scored 4 times, and it was pretty much over. The Ms went down meekly in the 8th & 9th and Iris' unbeaten lifetime record was history.

Here's the Martel family at the gameLook - I found my thumb!

We had more bad news on Sunday as Fred the cat woke us up with a very bad limp - he could barely move & wasn't putting any weight on his right rear leg. I feared the worst, since we already know that he has arthritis in his lower spine, just above his hip. I gave him a good brushing Sunday night & noticed he didn't flinch too badly when I was near his hip, though his foot seemed very sensitive. Since our vet is only open Tuesday-Saturday, I thought that we'd take a wait and see approach and see how he was on Monday, since he seemed a little better Sunday night than he had been that morning.

We got home from work last night & he was still limping pretty badly so I decided to bring him to the emergency vet, which is open overnight when all the other vets are closed. I hate going to that place - seems like a lot of the animals that get brought in there have taken their last ride. But it went OK for Freddy--after a couple xrays and an exam, his diagnosis is just a $350 sore knee. They gave him some narcotics to help with the pain and prescribed lots of rest, which Freddy is only too happy to comply with. We still don't know what happened or how he hurt himself but the extra lbs he carries around most likely had a lot to do with it.

That's enough bad news. here's some good - Weezer has a new album coming out in June - you can stream their new single Pork & Beans on weezer.com - I like it!

Iris: 5 months old, April visitors, hospital visit

1. Iris turned 5 months old on Monday 4/21. Happy 5 months, baby!

2. We've had a couple rounds of visitors this month. Jim's brother ML (AKA Jack, John) and his youngest son Reed were up here from the SF bay area the weekend of April 5-6 , and our friends Lorraine and Rob from Ireland were here from Saturday evening until this morning. We had a great time with both sets of visitors. I'll post pics as soon as I can.

Here's one of Iris at last night's Mariners 4-2 win over Baltimore. Iris' career record at Seattle games remains perfect.
She's 3-0 at Mariners games and 2-0 at Sonics.

3. Iris has been eating more as she's grown, and Irene's been struggling to keep up with her, so we accepted the inevitable and I tried giving her some formula yesterday when I was home with Lorraine & Rob. Only I didn't give her a small amount to start--I gave her a full bottle of the same Similac (blue label) formula that she had a few bottles of in the hospital her first week.

It was a bad idea starting her off with so much formula when she hadn't had it in months--she vomited it all up & then it seemed that she had an allergic reaction to the cow's milk protein in it, according to her doctor's best guess. After vomiting her lips turned bluish-purple and the area around her mouth was kind of white and felt cool to the touch, so we took her to the hospital to be sure she was OK.

They tested her oxygen saturation level as soon as we got there and it looked fine, so even though it was pretty scary it turned out to be nothing serious. She also saw her regular doctor after the hospital & seemed back to her usual self after a nice long nap--see the photo above from last night's game for proof.

She's now going to try a hypo-allergenic version of the formula, which has much less cows milk proteins in that so we're hoping that'll do the trick. We'll start her off with just 1 ounce and see how that goes--more news later & more photos soon I promise.

"Thank you, your Holiness, awesome speech."

Bush said that to the Pope today. I just felt a quote that good deserved a blog posting.

here's proof that he really said it:

Newest Iris Photos

Here a bunch of photos of Iris that we took recently & have been lax about posting

Here's one of her wearing a hat that our friend Jana made for her

Here she is in the same hat ready to go for a walk with dadHere are a few more from her first baseball game on Monday.
This first one is from one of her few fussy moments
but she was really good & she spent most of the game like this
and this
and it snowed!
and here's Iris' impression of Cyndi Lou Who from the Grinch

Rookie Iris is 1-0

The Mariners won their opening day game yesterday, 5-2 over Texas. It was pretty cold (high 40s) but Iris was a good girl, not fussing much & sleeping plenty, so we were able to stay for the whole game. Lucky for us we were far enough under cover that we weren't snowed on. I'm not even joking - it snowed for 20-30 minutes during the game. Good thing we have a roof over the field here.

Here's a pic of the rookie with mom & dad after the game