Category: family

There’s so much I want to ask you, Internet Pals, but absolutely nothing I can write here. Why? It would definitely break the rules. But, I just have to say, I’ve never wanted to break the rules more than I do right now. Pretty much everything going on in my life at the moment would require me to break those rules (no embarrassing family stories, nothing that would get me fired, etc), and well, I don’t want to make anything worse than it already is.\
Things aren’t bad. In a lot of ways, things are very very good. Things are just complicated. The more complicated things get, the more I want to write about them, which would just further complicate them.\
I can tell you that I’m going to Dublin in the very near future, Boston after that (to hang out with my fellow standards nerds at the W3C), and then to Austin for Geek Summer Camp (you know, SXSW. Frequent flier miles are mine, all mine, baby.\
And maybe while I’m in dark, cold and super-friendly Dublin, I’ll tell you a little about all the fun stuff happening at Church, because I know you’re dying to know. You all are, I just know it.

When you have a five year-old, Christmas is more about damage control and survival than pondering on the birth of our Savior. Max had a complete meltdown Christmas Eve that involved a lot of crying, declarations of love and then some sleeping. He was fine on Christmas morning, but he’s been a bit of a loose cannon the past week or so. Christmas is too much, too built up, too all-encompassing and for too long. It’s also probably impossible to change it, what with the stores putting up Christmas decorations before our Thanksgiving turkey is even purchased, and Santa showing up all over the place before all the leaves are off the trees.\
Not that I don’t like Christmas. I really, really do. I love finding the right present for the people I love, and I get all excited to see their faces when they open presents. But, it’s one day. There shouldn’t be two months of build-up, three weeks of insane specials and commercials on TV that get our kids all wound up to the point that they break before the day even gets here.\
I’m not sure what to do. Maybe we’ll go on TV-sabbatical the week before Christmas, just to avoid all the hype. But, we still have to go to the grocery store, to church, etc…\
All in all, we had a really good Christmas. Max got to open two kids’ worth of presents (Brian hasn’t quite got it yet, and was more interested in eating the boxes than playing with new toys), we had ham, and got to hang out with the family. Max and I got new video games, which we’re having lots of fun with (Ratchet & Clank 3 and Paper Mario), and I have this week off.\
OK, maybe Christmas isn’t so bad after all. Still, I could do without the crying.

I can write about this now because it’s working. Have you seen Super Size Me Well, I rented it shortly after it came out on DVD, and it’s changed how I eat. After watching it, Jen and I both decided to completely cut out fast food. So, for the past three months or so, no McD’s, Chik-fil-a, Wendy’s, BK, KFC or Taco Bell. We initially thought it would be difficult because there are those nights where making dinner just seems impossible. But, it’s worked. I haven’t even really been tempted, and I used to eat McD’s, at least for breakfast, at least twice a week.\
It’s worked so well, that I’m back dieting again, and have lost twenty pounds in the last two months. I’m down to my lowest weight since I started trying to diet (I think it was two years ago, but it could have been just one). I now weigh less than most NFL linemen, and I’m inching closer to middle linebacker.\
If you haven’t seen it yet, go rent it. Or, better yet, buy it and loan it to all your friends. It’s amazing the things we’re convinced to put in our bodies, and how our food gets to us. If you get the DVD, you should really watch the Smoking Fry bit, and Morgan’s interview with Eric Schlosser (who wrote Fast Food Nation).\
We also signed up for CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) from Great Country Farms. Max and I went there in August and had a great time. Their produce is excellent, and I can’t wait to get it every week next year.\
Dieting is a lot easier when it’s for something. When it’s not self-deprivation, but for a reason, it’s a whole lot easier. I think I’ll be able to keep the weight off this time (because now, even when I’m not paying attention to what I eat, I’m not gaining anything back, and am still losing weight). It’s not a diet, it’s just how I eat now, which feels great. That isn’t to say we don’t go out anymore. We do, and I still splurge on the occasional country-fried steak. But, we do it at restaurants, not fast food places. On top of that, we try to eat at locally owned places when possible. We eat at Linda’s or Amphora instead of IHOP. We go to Emilio’s when we want good pizza (and boy, it’s good). I’ve got more to say about the local business thing… a whole new project I’m working on (very slowly… keep getting interrupted).\
So… go watch it. It’ll change you.

I’ve been slowly transferring our old MiniDV tapes into iMovie and then burning them on DVD. I’m currently importing the video from our trip to Virginia Beach when Max was about eighteen months old. It’s almost jarring how much Max and Brian look alike. I never figured that my kids would have a “look”. My siblings and I look nothing alike (lucky them, I know). If you hold up pictures of Max and Brian from the same age, they could be twins (or, in some cases, the same kid).\
There were these families when I was a kid where the kids all looked alike. When you saw one, you knew exactly what family they were from. It’s still really foreign to me to think that I’m going to have one of those families. There will be a “Lawver Look™”.\
At least it’s a good one… if we all looked like Quasimodo, I’d be worried. But, man, they’re cute. They’re really, really cute.

Nana and The Kids

I can’t help it… Since Heather’s not posting it, I’m gonna do it. Here’s my grandmother trying to keep a grip on her great-grandchildren. Have they no respect for their elders? (There are a couple more, but this is my favorite… it’s a kid-splosion!) I love how Brian looks like he’s about to take flight.

My Family

Here they are… my family. Aren’t they gorgeous? My sister took a bunch of portrait stuff over the weekend, and this is my favorite of all of them (there’s another of my grandmother trying to hold Max, Sam and Brian that’s also a keeper).

We finally got all the pieces of the video camera out and I’m now going through and importing all of our tapes of Max into iMovie so we can burn them on DVD. I’m sitting here watching the video of us “doing the reveal” of Max’s room on his second birthday, and I can’t stop smiling. Max is so much fun. Watching him explore his new room, with its racecar bed, the mural, and everyone there is so great. He was so excited, happy and adorable.

He’s still adorable, still funny, still excited, but it’s different. Not as many things are new, and he can talk in complete sentances, read, and knows everything (or thinks he does, which is as annoying as it is funny). He’s no longer a toddler, no longer walks with the diaper-induced waddle he once did, and won’t sleep on my lap in a little ball anymore.

Max can carry on conversations now. When he was two, there were no conversations. There was a lot of talking to, but the only responses were giggles or an occasional, “Oh Wow!”. Now, there are long conversations about everything. Max asks really good questions, and I occasionally have a good answer for him.

Max, I love watching you grow up. It’s all moving so quickly. You’re your own person now, not just this little ball of cute waiting to know stuff. You’re so smart and funny now, so much smarter and funnier than I ever hoped. Your a good boy, better than I ever thought I’d have. I can’t wait to see how you grow up tomorrow, and for the rest of my life.

I know you’ve all been waiting patiently for them. Your wait is now over!! I present to you, poppin’ fresh