Matt's first haircut

Matt had his first haircut today at Hudson's Family Barbershop in Arlington. (This is the same place Dad and Jordan get their haircuts).

We arrived about 11:30 and were out of there a little after 12:30, and that included Jordan, Matt and Dad getting their haircuts. (Dad's always takes the shortest for some reason)....

Matt did really well, although he was a little squirmy. Donna B., our favorite barber there, did a great job as always.

Check out the photos:

Matt is strapped in for his haircut by "Miss Donna".

Matt, not quite sure what to make of it all. :)

Donna cuts Matt's hair, as barbershop owner Dean Hudson takes Matt's picture.

The almost-finished product.

Sitting back and enjoying a lollipop for such a good first haircut.

Happy Birthday, Matthew!

Matthew is officially 1 year old today! We hosted his birthday party at our house Friday evening. Lots of fun, good times with families and friends and plenty of tacos and birthday cake.

Everyone arrived close to 6 p.m. and we started off with dinner (tacos). I have been fighting a sinus infection for two days, so I wasn't any help on the cooking and not much on the cleaning/setting up. Dondi was responsible for everything and the party was a huge success.

Matthew had a lot of fun for his first birthday. We'll let the photos tell the story:

The delicious cakes from Kathy's Icing on the Cake in Arlington.

Singing Happy Birthday to Matt.

Matt's initial hesitant grab at the cake.

Then he gets the hang of it.

Poor cake.

Time to clean up the birthday boy.

After cake and clean-up, it was to the living room for present time.

I won't even try to go through all the gifts he received. Surprisingly (to us), he didn't get anything that he already had or that was a hand-me-down from Jordan. We're not sure how that happened. I thought we already owned the equivalent of a small Toys R Us location.

I'm still working on the present pictures, but will get (and post) more soon.

SPI 2009

We took our beach trip early this year and hit South Padre Island, Texas. It was fantastic!

We left about 2 p.m. on Wednesday, May 6 and made the 12-hour drive from DFW to SPI. Why did we leave so late, you may wonder? Well, our friends at the rental car company managed to screw up our rental and it took a great deal of Wednesday morning to clear it up so we could get a van to go to SPI. Once they got it all resolved (and, they did resolve it to our satisfaction), we had a very nice 2009 Chrysler Town & Country that was quite comfy and drove really nice.

We arrived about 3 a.m. Thursday, May 7. After unloading the van - I'm sure the people in the other condos appreciated us pushing the luggage cart back and forth in front of their rooms :) - we all hit the sack. Here's our rundown of our vacation:

Wednesday, May 6
We made it to San Marcos (between Austin and San Antonio) by dinnertime, so we stopped at a Bennigan's there and ate dinner. (If you'll recall, the Bennigan's and Steak & Ale chain went out of business a couple years back; however, the franchised Bennigan's locations remain open - the one in San Marcos is a franchise). It was so good to have an authentic Monte Cristo again.

We drove a few miles to the Wal-Mart in Schertz, just north of San Antonio. Jordan had started to get sick - his asthma was acting up - and he ended up throwing up several times in the store. Fortunately, Debbie found a sand bucket to throw up in. We ended up buying that bucket...

We made the rest of the trip from San Antonio to South Padre fairly uneventfully.

Thursday, May 7
We awoke after only a couple of hours of sleep and Dondi and I headed to the Wal-Mart in nearby Port Isabel (the Queen Isabella causeway links Port Isabel (on the mainland) with South Padre Island). Debbie kept the boys at the condo while we shopped. We bought breakfast and lunch stuff, came back to the condo and had lunch.

I made a second trip to the same Wal-Mart to get a sun hat (left mine at home) and to buy some cheapy sunglasses for the beach. Thursday night we made it to Louie's Backyard for their seafood buffet and to watch the sunset.

Some pics:

The sun sets over the Laguna Madre - the waterway between the mainland and Padre Island.

Matt enjoys his first taste of shrimp. And he eats lots of it!

The five of us pose for a picture overlooking the Laguna Madre.

Debbie and Jordan work on their silly faces at Louie's Backyard.

Friday, May 8
We spent a lot of time on the beach, but also went to the Port Isabel Lighthouse. It was built between 1851 and 1853, and its light could be seen up to 16 miles away. Unfortunately, Jordan was too young to climb to the top, so we'll have to make that a stop for another day. We ate dinner at a pirate-themed restaurant that night. Not as good as Louie's, but not bad, either.

Some pics:

The four of us hang out at the bottom of the Port Isabel Lighthouse.

That's Jordan (in the red) hanging out at the base of the Port Isabel Lighthouse.

Saturday-Sunday, May 9-10
We spent a lot of these days on the beach, or by the pool. Having fun. Dinner Saturday night was at the Big Donkey, a Tex-Mex restaurant with good fajitas. (I recommend the chicken/beef/shrimp combo).

Sunday, we took Dondi and Debbie to dinner at Blackbeard's, an excellent restaurant on the Island, and then made the drive down to Brownsville. We showed Jordan the border crossing between the Republic of Texas (oops, not yet!) the United States and Mexico. The crossing we showed him sits just across the street from the campus of the University of Texas at Brownsville-Texas Southmost College. He wanted to see Mexico, but we explained we couldn't because (a) we didn't have the proper paperwork to cross the border, (b) our rental car agreement specifically forebade taking it into Mexico and (c) there's a little drug war going on along the border. He decided that meant "Mexico is closed because it's nighttime."

Whatever works. :)

Some pictures from the weekend:

Jordan is itching to get to the beach.

Matt crawls on the beach to try to catch a waiting seagull.

Our condo building. Our unit is on the right-hand side, two up and two over.

Monday, May 11

Dondi, Jordan and I decided to head out on a dolphin-watching cruise. It was gorgeous. We saw scores of dolphins, including an almost-albino one and a mother with her 12-day-old calf. It was really nice out on the boat. We spent nearly 90 minutes in the Laguna Madre and the Gulf of Mexico. It was really a lot of fun.

We also spent some time on the beach that afternoon. Dinner was back to Louie's Backyard.

Some pics:

The shutter speed on my camera isn't perfect. Take my word for it, this is a dolphin, not a shark. :)

The view from the "border" of the Gulf of Mexico and the Laguna Madre, looking at South Padre Island.

Tuesday, May 12
Our last day on the beach was a lot of fun, too. Matthew dove head-first into the waves and Jordan had a blast running to and fro. We spent the most time on the beach on this day, and it was so much fun.

Matt crawling into the waves:

And, some final pictures:




Wednesday, May 13
I got up and took a walk before 7 a.m. on the beach. There's nothing quite as peaceful as the sound of roaring waves crashing against an empty beach. Then, it was back to the condo for breakfast. We loaded up the van - somehow, we had way more to take home than we did to bring down - early Wednesday morning. It still took three hours to do that.

We headed off the island and stopped just before noon for lunch at a Whataburger in Harlingen. We continued to head north and had to stop for a Border Patrol checkpoint. That was pretty easy: The Border Patrol agent asked if we were all American citizens. When I answered in the affirmative, he told me go ahead. We had to stop at another Whataburger in the middle of nowhere for Jordan to go to the restroom. Then, had to stop at a Wal-Mart in Kingsville for another restroom break (and to get some clip-on sunglasses for my prescription glasses. My prescription sunglasses broke a couple of weeks back and I was having a hard time driving with the sun in my eyes).

We had to stop again at a rest area along I-37 between Corpus Christi and San Antonio, and then had to stop in San Antonio proper to get gas (thought I could make it to the dinner break - but no luck).

Our plan was to stop for dinner somewhere between Austin and San Antonio. Well, just as we made our way from the 410 Loop onto I-35 in San Antonio, Jordan announced he needed another restroom break. It actually worked out for us, because I-35 was backing up due to rush hour traffic, so we pulled off and ate dinner at Cracker Barrel. We sailed through northern San Antonio and even Austin.

We made two other restroom stops on the way home, and pulled into our driveway at about 11 p.m.

It was a lot of fun on this trip. Dondi and Debbie had each been to SPI numerous times in the past, but this was my first trip. Much as I had heard - the beaches there are much nicer than Galveston's (of course, Galveston is a five-hour drive, and SPI a 12-hour drive, so you win some and you lose some!). SPI still wasn't as nice as Destin, but nicer than the other beaches I've been to on Florida's Atlantic coast, Atlantic City, N.J., North Carolina and Gulfport.

Our condo was gorgeous (if you're heading down, let us know and we'll get you the information). The complex was well-cared for, and the rental office was on-site, which meant it was easy to get fresh towels, and to get help for the occasional issue. The condo was right on the beach, so we walked out of our room, crossed a wooden bridge over the sand dunes and you were right there. It was perfect.

The kids had a blast and now we're ready to hit the ground running next week!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Cristina

This has been a characteristically busy weekend for us, capped with Aunt Cristina's 30th birthday today. We celebrated Emo's birthday (last week) and Dad's birthday (Monday) with dinner tonight, but first, the rest of the weekend:

Friday started off with a trip to my absolute favorite city in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metromess: Grapevine and its Vintage Railroad to visit and ride Thomas the Tank Engine.

Jordan had done this last year. Matt did, too, but from the womb, so he doesn't remember much. Jordan had a blast: We arrived on Friday morning and Jordan had much of the place to himself. He played on some train tables they had set up, bounced in the bounce house, and, oh yes, rode the train. Some pictures:





We made it home Friday afternoon and spent the rest of the day recovering from Thomas. Saturday morning started another full day: Jordan and Matt went to an Easter Egg hunt and pancake breakfast at our church in Mansfield. (The pancake breakfast was to raise money for the family of a 7-year-old in our church who has leukemia; the pancakes were delicious, and it looked like they raised a lot of money today).

As usual, the church staff and volunteers did a great job. Matthew hunted eggs in the 18 month and younger category (and by that, we mean, he sat on the ground while Jordan brought eggs to him). Later, Matt participated in a diaper derby, where he won first prize for being the fastest crawler. I think technically, everyone won first prize, but it was still a lot of fun.

Jordan hunted eggs in the 3-year-old to pre-K category and had a blast. Later, he made it to the petting zoo and toured a Mansfield fire truck and police car. He loved the police car, but fortunately, was more impressed with the part the police officer sits in than the other part. :)

Jordan, ever the shy one, was interviewed by our pastor while sitting outside with the other kids. He "talked into the microphone" about his name, his age, his favorite food and kitty's name.

Later, Jordan joined his friends Rex and Bo and they all polished off some apple juice while listening to Pastor Randy talk to the kids about Easter.





Saturday afternoon, we attempted to put the boys down for a nap (didn't happen), and then we met Emo, Papa and Aunt Cristina at the Cheesecake Factory in Southlake Town Square for dinner. It was delicious. We didn't take the camera to the restaurant, but we had a ton of fun. Afterward, we walked to a fountain in the Square and let Jordan run free for about 15 minutes. He had a blast.

We're home. Hope everyone in our family had a happy birthday. Tomorrow is church, and then Roy is taking a day of rest Monday as he turns the clock on 33.

Happy Easter!

Matthew got tubes in his ears

Details forthcoming, but he is doing well and doesn't seem to notice them at all.

Roy's on Twitter

Because my job, commuting, raising two kids, preparing for grad school and spending time with Dondi isn't taking enough of my time, I'm now on Twitter and Facebook as well. Feel free to check out my tweets and status updates.

Catching up

Well, it has been a busy 2009, which is why (absent our post about our dog's passing), we have been very quiet of late.

Here's an update on what we've been up to:

• Matthew got his DOC band helmet off in January. You can tell a big difference in his face now, but the flat spot is still there on the back of his head. Matt's 9-month check-up is tomorrow afternoon, and we'll visit with them to see if they think a second DOC band will help.
• Matt has been sick again for the better part of the year. Like Dad and big brother, Matt has allergies and asthma, so we have to do steroid breathing treatments every day. He has now had five ear infections in his short nine-month life, so on March 27, we're going to have tubes put in his ears. That should keep fluid from building up behind his ear drum, and becoming infected.
• Jordan is three. He'll tell you all about it. :) His current favorite character/TV show is Bob the Builder, which he'll also tell you all about.
• Dondi is trying to study for the CPA exam and I'm trying to finish grad school applications for the Spring of '10, but "trying" may be the operative word right now. :)
• We're doing our part to get the country out of the recession: At least for car mechanics and the medical community. The last American car we'll ever own has a coolant leak caused by poor workmanship and my Camry needs a minor (but not cheap) repair fix.
  
• We've been spending some of our free time at the Fort Worth Zoo (one of the five best in the nation). Jordan especially loves the miniature train that runs from the front of the park to the Texas Wild exhibit. Matthew especially loves hanging out with Jordan in the wagon.
  

• We were at the zoo Saturday and got to experience the Raptor Canyon for the first time. That was truly impressive. So were the 80-something-degree temperatures!
  

So, that's about it. We'll try to do better about posting in the upcoming few weeks.

Farewell, friend

Bicri Ann (August 1997-February 27, 2009)

Dondi's/Don's chow-mix puppy had to be put to sleep this morning. She was 11 1/2 years old.

Bicri was Dondi's dog when she moved home in 2000. When we got married in 2001, Bicri stayed with Don and Debbie.

We were over at the Jordans on Monday night for dinner and noticed Bicri was not her usual joyful self. She was listless, tired, and clearly hadn't eaten in several days. When we went back on Thursday, she was in far worse shape, couldn't get comfortable and her breathing was labored. We decided the best thing would be to put her down. Don took her to the vet, who concurred and put her to sleep this morning. She went peacefully and quietly. She will be missed.

Dogs' lives are too short. Their only fault, really. (American novelist and short story writer Agnes Sligh Turnbull)

Matthew's first Christmas (Jordan's fourth)

Jordan and Matthew in front of "their" Christmas tree.

Well, Santa was very good to both Matthew and Jordan.

We started the Christmas season last Friday (Dec. 19) with the Jordan-Kimsey family get-together. We decided to forego the traditional video gift exchange, and instead went to Incredible Pizza Company. We ate pizza, played games and had a great time visiting. Jordan and Matthew both received a ton of gifts. Jordan received more Diego paraphenalia than the law should allow! Matthew got some great toys, too; unfortunately, Jordan opened the presents at break-neck speed, so we have no idea who gave what. So, to all those who gave Jordan and Matthew stuff: Thank you.

Jordan unwraps Matthew's T-ball game with Mom's help.

Our next Christmas celebration came on Christmas Eve. We started with our church's Christmas Eve service at 5 p.m., and then headed to Papa and Emo's for dinner and presents. Jordan got a Diego game, a train to his train set, a Texas Rangers baseball and more. Matthew got a personalized baseball bat from the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory (as did Dondi; Jordan and I got ours last year) and a couple of great little toys that are designed to stimulate development. Or make noise. Or something like that. :) He also got a really cute outfit. (Matthew slept through the entire time at Emo and Papa's so he actually had to open his Christmas morning).

Christmas morning started at 7 a.m. with Aunt Cristina, Emo, Papa, Gee and Jo-jo stopping by. Jordan cleaned up from Santa Claus, getting a new piece to his train set, the Chutes and Ladders boardgame, cars and more toys than he knew what to do with. Matthew got a spinning zoo set, clothes and lots of stuff to chew on. We wrapped up the morning with a delicious breakfast: fruit, scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuits, gravy, and a sausage-and-cream-cheese roll (delicious, it tastes like biscuits and gravy all in a neat little crescent roll). Thanks to Emo and Jo-jo for helping in the kitchen.

Jordan plays with the new mountain and tunnel part of his train set.

Matthew checks out the frog Jordan got him for Christmas.

Christmas afternoon we relaxed and napped, and then we had dinner (tacos) with Jo-jo and Gee.

The day after Christmas was sale time, since it was my Friday off from work. Dondi was at J.C. Penney at The Parks just as it opened to get a pair of boots (all women's boots were $34.99 from 5:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., so she had to jump at it) and she got a few things for the boys. Kohl's was a similar shopping treat for her. I went around 10 a.m. to the J.C. Penney in Burleson and found nothing of what I wanted, but did pick up a couple of things for the boys. (Notice a pattern?) :)

Saturday, Dec. 27, was Christmas with Gee, Jo-jo, D&M, cousin Everett and Mimi. It was also Everett's first Christmas (Everett is like 10 days older than Matthew). D&M and Everett were just back from Walt Disney World, so we received lots of gifts from the Magic Kingdom (including an all-day lollipop from Mickey Mouse to Jordan - he loved it). Jordan picked up cowboy boots, more toys, a UT Longhorns T-shirt, some Diego pajamas, a bouncer ball, some Thomas the Tank Engine toy pieces to go to their train table and set they have and more toys. Matthew got a really cute mirror/music stand that he adores a UT Longhorns onsie, and more toys then he'll ever know what to do with! We had lunch with the Jordans, then watched Fried Green Tomatoes before heading home.

Matthew just laughs as he looks around the room at the Jordans' on Saturday.

Dondi kicks back for a moment of rest.

The ever-shy Jordan hams it up in the center of the living room.

Everett is interested to see what's in this box.

Sunday morning, we kind of returned to normal. We went to church (no Christmas carols) and then had "brunch" at a local McDonald's (when you have two preschoolers, you go where they want to). Sunday afternoon, the kids napped, Dondi went to the grocery store and we got ready to face the week ahead. And don't even get me started on the Eagles-Cowboys game.

Back to work tomorrow. :)

And, just as a reminder of what Christmas is really all about... Take it away Linus.

Jordan

Emo and Papa came over to take care of the leaves since Dad's allergies are keeping him confined to the inside of the house (BTW, the yard looks great). Jordan, on the other hand, hammed it up for the camera.

Matthew's 6-month doctor's checkup

Matthew is doing well after his six-month checkup (and immunizations). He is now 19 pounds and 28 inches long.

He received his third Hepatitis B vaccine, the Diphtheria, Teatnus, Acellular Pertussis vaccine, the Influenzae Type B, Pneumococcal conjugate, polio and rotavirus immunizations. Whew. That's a lot of typing.

He's growing well and is above the median point in terms of both height and weight among boys his age. Matthew also has five teeth coming in right now.

Breakfast with Santa

Last Saturday, we took Jordan and Matthew to breakfast with Santa. Jordan's "church school" (Mother's Day Out) sponsored the breakfast, and Santa came to hear the kids' requests.

Jordan was happy to be back at church school, but wasn't sure what to make of Santa.

First, he would only sit near Santa.



Then, when Santa was holding Matthew, Jordan decided he could stand near Santa. :)

Matthew's Baby Dedication

We dedicated Matthew at church today. It was a really nice service. In total today, we had 24 families dedicate their children. There were 14 in our service.

The lighting in our worship center didn't cooperate with our pictures, unfortunately (though our pastor said it looked like a press conference on CNN up there), so there is a giant shadow that looks like a huge stain on my shirt on all the pictures of me. However, here is a picture of Matthew, Dondi and me outside the worship center in our grand atrium by the Christmas tree.

Good-bye, Texas Stadium

Jordan made his first — and only — trip to Texas Stadium Saturday night to watch the Euless Trinity Trojans beat the living tar out of Dad’s alma mater, the Arlington High Colts. Oh well, at least it was cold, we had to pay to park on a crumbling lot and the nachos were $8 a pop. (Ordered after the $7 pizza turned out to be inedible).

Texas Stadium will be gone sometime in the next couple of years, replaced by the Boss Hogg Bowl in Arlington, whose taxpayers don’t understand why anyone would pass up the opportunity to build a multi-million dollar stadium for a billionaire sports team owner.

But Jordan got to see for himself the stadium where Tom Landry once coached and where a great football team once played.

Here he is with Papa.

Matthew's first Thanksgiving

Matthew's first Thanksgiving is under our belts. We started the day with a late lunch at D&M's house. Turkey from Colter's, ham from Costco, and more fixins than you could shake a stick at. Oh yeah, and our nearest and dearest 25 relatives.

Debbie, Michelle and I took Conner, Jordan and Aidan across the street to Duncan Robinson Park to kick around the soccer ball, swing and slide. A.J. came over for a couple of minutes to snap some pictures for his photography class at SFA. They all had a lot of fun.

Here are some of my pictures (it's been a while since I took photography at UTA). :)



After we finished up at D&M's, we left and went home to catch the first quarter of the Cowboys game, let Jordan and Matthew rest, and get ready for dinner with Emo, Papa and Aunt Cris.

We arrived for dinner there and ate turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, broccoli, carrots and rolls. It was great. Matthew really liked the sweet potatoes.




Oh yes, we did have Matthew's DOC band painted just in time for the Texas-Texas A&M "game" Thursday night. Seriously, 49-9? Does A&M even belong in the Big 12 any more? I think 5A high school football might prove to be a challenge for the Aggies this season. I mean, after all, they lost to Baylor...

We watched the first half of the Longhorn rout of the Aggies, but Jordan was getting sleepy, so we watched a few minutes of his current favorite movie (The Incredibles) on NBC (seriously, he watches it at least once a day right now - sometimes twice) and then headed home.