Chug, chug, chug!!

Christopher has been doing this somewhat since he was two weeks old, but these days he really does hold his bottle. He must have learned this aggressive feeding techniques from his two dog sisters. All three of them eat with incredible focus and speed.

Jeep Jeep Jeep

We've been toying with the idea of getting a golf cart to ride within our gated community. The trouble with golf carts is that the gas ones have no torque to climb the hills, the electric ones can't go far enough to keep me from getting range anxiety, you can't really do much with them, they cost a lot, and they aren't particularly useful but for very short trips.

So we explored other toy options. Kawasaki Mules of the four seat variety cost more than a new Hyundai and still can't get us legally past the gates.

That brings us to Jeeps. I have wanted one since I was 3-4. The dream is a WWII Willys MB or a Korean War M38. We looked and looked and looked and finally drove one. Turns out it was not what we need. Neat, but about as useful as a golf cart for what we need. It was heartbreaking and relieving at the same time.

That experience brought us(thankfully) to where we are now, a 15 year old Jeep. It's comfy, but still as manly and rugged as a Jeep should be. And it is a 5 speed manual, which means Cristina will be learning how. While such a feat is almost as challenging as walking on water or achieving cold fusion, I have a lot of faith in her!

Some evenings, we put Chris'child seat in the back and putt putt around the neighborhood. He usually
goes to sleep in the car, but in the Jeep, he gets wide-eyed and interested. He really is a nature boy.

Anyway, being 15 years old, I've had to do a lot of work on it the last two
weeks to get it up to snuff and reliable. I do most/all of the maintenance on our other cars and it's much more fun working on the toy than your daily driver. Hope to learn a lot!

"You are how old and can't drive a stick?"

"I'm going to start learning at 11 weeks."

"Pedal extensions might be helpful dad.  I'm only 25 inches tall."

Just a swingin'

Mom got a swing for Chris. We have it hanging under the shade of a nice oak tree behind the house. Such a setting beckons for a picnic table, which we will acquire soon. I think that an authentic American (especially Texan) experience requires a picnic table, a swing, a shade tree, and a grill of smoked meat products. Let's throw in a dog, a shotgun(also need), a random fiddle, and a swimming hole just to complete the country song.

Gone Fishin'

Well, just swimmin'. Cristina got Boo-bear a little baby pontoon boat that has a shade. He loves it, but like all boys, there are a few uncomfortable moments when getting into some cool water. I put him in there today and he was so relaxed, he fell asleep. Thought it might be dangerous, so I kept him awake. Then, we skimmed the top of the pool working on his form, as I think he can start learning to swim. Either way, it makes him tired, and exertion leads to naps, which means I can get something done around the house.

Gotta start somewhere...

Well, Christopher will be three months old this weekend so we decided to start a blog. It's amazing how much things can change in such a short time. As has been said to us 1,000 times ready, they grow up so fast. That skinny little sea monkey that we welcomed to this world on March 2 is close to double his birth weight!

Finally....

I took some maternity pics of Cristina in early Spring out in our neighborhood.   The ones of her turned out well, they ones of us together were iffy, as I had to use a remote control to trigger the shutter and didn't know how I was going to fit.  Anyway, they are good enough for us and were free!

 

I took this picture in the delivery room about 1 minute after baby boo was born.  Cristina is about 5 feet away getting her abdomen sewed up and I'm over in the corner getting the right lens on my camera to get the best effect.  :)  He's right behind me getting cleaned up.  This picture is the one that gets me a little teary each time, love it love it love it.

Here is a shot I took when he was about a week old.

After cooking for 42 weeks, he was so wrinkly he looked like Benjamin Buttons.

To try to induce birth, we went on a 7-8 mile hike.  It didn't work, but Ginger thought that she heard a contraction.  She was wrong.

 Christopher right after being weighed and measured.  Tall and skinny, who would have thunk it?

Ace and Skeeter, proud grandparents.

The dogpack wasn't sure about all of this.  They thought he was an evil leprechaun here to steal the dogfood and stuffed animals.

First bath made the fingers taste goooo-oooood!

After my bath, I had to take a rest....

.....and it was a good rest....

...so rested that I turned into a furry, woodland creature.  

Sweet, sweet cousins.  Caroline is about 18 months in this picture.  

"99% chance that my aunt is going to buy me a sailor suit, I'm terrified!!"

"I think I just saw Elvis!!!"

I'm not sure if Julio and Paula have grandparent names yet, but Julio seems to be very excited!

The Rat Pack.  These are the kiddos in our birthing center group.  All within 1 month apart, so cute!

Ohhhhhhh, I love the Hill Country!  Especially while in a wooden bucket!

"Seriously, this is dumb.  I am not 1)an owl, 2) a unit of jelly that would necessitate a jelly bucket."

"I'm a professional.....and I'm done with this."

"Seriously, done"

We went to see Willie Nelson with our new friends.  It was a great night, but the venue smelled kinda skunky.  So odd.

He survived his first Willie concert!

Freddy, Dad, Christopher, and Fritz are all Willie veterans.  

We went on a family beach trip to the sandbar down the road in Lago Vista.  Ohhhhh, what fun we had.

Proud daddy and his little boy.

Gotta learn 'em young.  He is going to be a little tadpole!