Selling baby stuff

Heather and I recognized early before having Anna that baby stuff has a demand during resale. When we had a neighborhood garage sale one year, we had several people just simply ask if we had baby stuff and those people quickly moved on once they found we did not. Raleigh even has a gigantic consignment sale twice a year just for kid's stuff called Kid's Exchange.

One of the amazing things is how much good hand me down stuff people pass down from one another considering this resale value. At the same time, if you don't have anyone to immediately something down to, I guess you either end up keeping it for a second kid or selling it. Some people keep it for no real good reason, but logically keeping it only for a second kid makes the most sense. Today, Heather put up one of our first resellable items on Craig's list. With kids only 18 months apart, we didn't have long til we started reusing things.

The first thing that was outgrown is the single jogging stroller. After Madelyn was born, we quickly became a five stroller family. 2 jogging strollers (one single, one dual), 2 umbrella strollers (one single, one dual), and a travel system stroller. The double jogger is all that gets used, so for the past 5 months the single stroller has been taking up space and gathering dust. So, Heather put it up on Craigslist today. I am impressed that we (specifically she) got it out and ready to sell so quick.

Next, Madelyn is close to outgrowing the bouncer and swing. After that, we have an exersaucer that is a hand-me-down that we will need to return and a jumperoo that will be able to be passed down and sold. Its nice that since we don't plan to have a third, we feel like we can part with all of these treasures. Its also nice that if there isn't a good place to hand them off to, we can easily sell them at a garage sale or at the Kid's Exchange.

Heat in September? No way

Here it is, September 20th, and we have the heat on in Raleigh NC. Now, normally we never would have turned it on so early but today we had some exceptional circumstances. It was in the low 50s outside and a high of 71, so the house was a nice mid to upper 60s. However, Heather and I are both sick with something nasty which causes us to be cold plus we can't stay huddled under blankets when we have a 23 and 5 month old. Thats why the heat was turned on this morning, so that Heather and I could be comfortable in our sweatshirts and jeans without a blanket.

So, this fever is a lot like one Anna had on our car ride back earlier this week from Pittsburgh. For Anna and I, it manifested itself as a slightly upset stomach and a fever. For Heather, she ate the wrong thing which made an upset stomach go sour. Anyway, our weekend plans now are to try to survive while the kids still have plenty of energy.

product recalls

So, I subscribe to the Consumer Product Safety Commission's email list for product recalls. I never cared much before Heather was pregnant with Anna and I thought I should monitor it. Typically, that means 1 email each week with anywhere from 1-5 products in each email. Today, we got the second recall for a Simplicity branded bed, which is the brand Anna used. The first was a bassinet last week and second was this Simplicity drop side crib. Here is an article on it from Reuters. The bassinet led to the death of two infants and the crib has led to 9 injuries, no deaths.

To me this is very scary since we own a Simplicity Ellis Crib for Anna. We like this crib and have recommended it to friends...but this is the type of thing that makes you want to never recommend a product. What if I has recommended the bassinet to a friend whose child was killed or the crib to a friend who got injured? Not only that, but I think its a reminder that our kids, especially at these very young ages, are so very fragile. We don't think normally we could die while sleeping because our bed kills us.

Anyway, I highly recommend subscribing to the consumer recall email list...I doubt it will cause any pain or discomfort.

Blog profiles

So, I updated my blog profile to not list this blog any more. It seems sort of silly since anyone could find this pretty easy using Google, but I am using my blogger ID to blog for work on another blog and would prefer that people are not directed this way when thinking it is another related blog.

Road Trip

This past weekend our family had planned to head to Columbia, Maryland to visit my dad at his house. However, our family suffered a loss last week when my 37 year old cousin (Mom's brother's son) passed away so our plans were changed and we needed to go to Pittsburgh. Heather and I thought breaking up the trip by going to Columbia for one day would work well and it did. It was about a 5.5 hour drive included a 1 hour stop in Richmond for lunch at Chick-fil-a, playing, and hitting Ukrops. As soon as we got there, Anna saw the horses across my dad's driveway at his neighbors. So, we went over and saw them:


We also played indoors quite a bit:


And checked out my dad's backyard wilderness:


We then headed to Pittsburgh on Saturday around noon. This took about 4.5 hours with a 20 minute break in Somerset, PA. In Pittsburgh, we stayed at the Residence Inn in Cranberry which was very near to where I grew up and within a mile of where I lived my one year out of college living in Pittsburgh. We ate at a couple old favorites within walking distance of the hotel, Quaker Steak and Lube as well as Primanti Brothers. Here is my yummy Primanti Brother Sandwich, ham, bacon, egg and cheese. Of course, Primanti's puts fries and slaw on each sandwich as well:


We spent 2 nights in Pittsburgh with my mom, sister and her family. My niece Tori (6.5 years old) and Anna (2 years old) bonded and Anna would cry when Tori left every time...nearly inseparable. Here are some pictures of them together:





In the end, we got some family photos together as well. Here is one of Heather, Madelyn, myself, Anna, Kristal, Tori, and Chris,


And here is one of Oma with her three granddaughters:


Monday we did the 8 hour drive home with 3 stops (accumulating another hour) making the trip 9 hrs. We did it partially while the kids were awake and some asleep. On the trip home, Anna started having a fever and was whiney most of the time. We are not really ready to try an 8 hour trip anytime soon again, but the 4-5 worked well. Here is a map of the route we took:


View Larger Map

All said and done, we spend about 18 hours on the road in 92 hours (Friday - Monday) and hit 5 states.

In a new place but want to take a run? Map it out first

I was in Phoenix this week (again) and awake at 3:30 AM Phoenix time. Not wanting to just sit around for 3 hours, I decided I wanted to take a run. Not knowing the area...I wasn't sure where to go for a good loop near the hotel. So, I pulled up Gmaps Pedometer, looked up the hotels address, and double clicked a route until I had the distance I was looking for. Here is the relatively small 2 mile route I made all mainly through a residential neighborhood behind the hotel. It was a nice run, but I needed something to tell me what would be well lit. Unfortunately, the route selected has almost no street lamps and I was running in the dark. It would be nice to find a "safer" route...not sure there is an easy way to do that.

Photo Booth

Anna loves taking pictures these days. A little while ago she figured out we could take pictures with our laptops, being a Mac family (yes, even my work laptop is a Mac at IBM) now, using a program called Photo Booth. Here are some snapshots we took Sunday while playing with Photo Booth.

Brady goes down -- Fantasy Football

As expected, my fantasy football team lost its quarterback. After two straight years of McNabb getting injured I drafted a QB late and ended up sticking with a healthy Garard who I picked up through free agency. This year, against my better judgement I drafted Tom Brady because he was the best available pick...and look what happens. I figured at the time that if a QB had to get hurt as is the curse of Erik's fantasy team, it may as well be from a team I dislike. :-) I did however pick Favre as a backup in the draft...let's hope he doesn't get hurt also.

Picking Tom Brady almost caused me to lose a friend but I explained to her that Brady would get hurt. Check this out..on September 1st I told her Brady would go down and Favre would arise as my backup...I guess I may have lost a Fantasy Football season, but hopefully I kept a friend ;-)

High School Reunions

Heather and I went to her 10 year high school reunion on Saturday. It reminded me that I wasn't able to go to mine since it was over Thanksgiving. I appreciated that hers was on a non-holiday weekend, allowing those whose families were no longer in the area and those who were in the area to come.

Anyway, Heather enjoyed her reunion. I sat back and people watched most of the night which is something I had not done in a long time. It was interesting to see how the people still grouped so easily into those friend groups that they had one been in. On total, very few people talked to me but what I heard most often was how great Heather looked. She tried to say it was "great for having had a kid four months ago" but in reality the comments were how she looked as thin and attractive she looked not to mention the fact that she just had a kid. Here we are all dressed up for Heather's reunion before leaving our house:



Before the reunion we ate at the excellent restaurant Parizade. Coincidentally, it is owned by the class president's father which gave me fuel for one of the three short lived conversations I had. :-) The food was great at Parizade and I would recommend it.

Chinese food

Last night we had Chinese food for the first time in a while. For the first time, we decided we would order something for Anna off the menu. They had a chicken fingers that were like the sauceless sweet and sour fried chicken pieces. Dinner went well, Anna even tried and liked the wonton soup. Madelyn didn't cry but needed held most of the time. It was nice to get out to a sit down sort of restaurant.

When I was done with my food, Anna wanted my chop sticks. After I minute of trying to figure them out, she stabbed a piece of food without our prompting and starting eating the stabbed food. We have a cute picture on Heather's phone of it but my cheapness (PictureMail costs $5/month and you can't do it ala carte) combined with Heather's phone having no microSD slot means we won't get the picture off her phone. :-(

The good news is we had plenty of leftovers for lunch today from the meal last night, so I handed Anna my chopsticks once I was done and Heather grabbed the camera. Anna did it again, first she tried to figure out how to use the chopsticks:


Then she just stabbed the pear slice she was trying to get:

Daddy's girls

I had some fun floor time with my girls this morning right after breakfast...here are some pictures Heather snapped.

Palin's speech

In case you missed VP candidate Sarah Palin's speech last night, you can listen or read it here without any bias, commentary, etc.

Here is an interesting part I saw about her opinion of Barack Obama:

I've noticed a pattern with our opponent.

Maybe you have, too.

We've all heard his dramatic speeches before devoted followers.

And there is much to like and admire about our opponent.

But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state Senate.

This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting and never use the word "victory" except when he's talking about his own campaign. But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed ... when the roar of the crowd fades away ... when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot — what exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger ... take more of your money ... give you more orders from Washington ... and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. America needs more energy ... our opponent is against producing it.

Victory in Iraq is finally in sight ... he wants to forfeit.

Terrorist states are seeking nuclear weapons without delay ... he wants to meet them without preconditions.

Al-Qaida terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America ... he's worried that someone won't read them their rights? Government is too big ... he wants to grow it.

Congress spends too much ... he promises more.

Taxes are too high ... he wants to raise them. His tax increases are the fine print in his economic plan, and let me be specific.

The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes ... raise payroll taxes ... raise investment income taxes ... raise the death tax ... raise business taxes ... and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars.

She is growing up...

As my wife blogged about today Madelyn is growing up and rolled over today for the first time. Here is my favorite picture cause it shows that self confidence she has :-)

Family Photos

Happy Labor Day! I hope you all have a relaxing day with your family or friends. We had a fun night yesterday having our friends Derick and Emily over for dinner, dessert, and to have some fun. Derick grabbed our camera and took some great family shots of us. Here is my favorite:


And some outtakes:

Fun day at the zoo

We had a blast at the North Carolina Zoo today. We packed up this morning and headed to the zoo and after about a 90 minute drive we got there. We took the BOB Revolution Duallie Jogging stroller with us and plopped the girls down in it. At many exhibits, Anna was able to see without leaving the stroller which was good since she was at first afraid. She warmed up to getting out and seeing the animals from a distance or through the glass.


Here she is pointing at the chimps from the stroller:


At other exhibits, we had to hold her up to see the animals. Here she is at the Patas Monkeys:


Here are Mommy and Anna looking for the gorillas:


And The Flamingos:


But, her favorites were the Baboons and Meerkats:



In honor of those two animals, I thought they deserved some solo shots without us in the way :-)

Moments with my little girls

I thought I would show a couple short clips of my little girls from the past week which were just some of the moments which I like to remember with my girls. After my post yesterday, I felt it was appropriate to share some of those Cinderella moments with my girls.

First, from last weekend we set out a sprinkler and Anna played in it for the first time. It was getting late and neither Heather or I felt like going to the pool...so the sprinkler seemed like a fun option to beat the heat. Here she is in a photo and video. I took the video from the deck while holding Maddie, you can hear Maddie talking the whole time:




Last night, I was on the ground playing with Anna and Maddie. When Maddie finished her tummy time, I put her in the Bumbo seat and she was thrilled by the Bunny to the point she was laughing. Here is a picture of Anna and Madelyn in their matching outfits and a video of Madelyn laughing at the bunny.



Note, Maddie still has her little Wubbanub that Lori sent us...its with her pretty much all the time.

I danced with Cinderella

I have been hearing a song often on the radio that just has been breaking me down. I think its lyrics are powerful for any father who has a little girl who may be struggling with the realization that their little girl is growing up so fast they will be dancing away from us so quick. I don't have a boy to know if its similar, but now that Anna is growing up I just realize how much more they need their daddy especially if you have a girl with a very sensitive spirit like Anna.

Back to the song..it makes me desire to cherish the moments I have with my girl more than I do now. It also reminds me to take a step away from what I am doing and hug her when I am busy with something else whether it be work or a chore around the house. The song is even more bittersweet knowing that the artist lost one of his daughters in May at 5 years old.

So, the song is called Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman. Here is a youtube video of his song with the story of the song at the end of the video...and of course what I stated above were the intentions behind the song:


Here are some of the lyrics:

So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oooooh, I will dance with Cinderella
I don't wanna miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone...

While you were out

Dear Mommy,

While you were out tonight we had a great time. Sissy had a great tummy time.

While I danced.

Then I read books to Sissy like Snuggle Puppy, Can You Cuddle Like a Koala, and Goldbug.

But we missed our Mommy!

Love, Anna

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Anna plays with Madelyn more and more since Madelyn reacts.




Here is a fun picture of them playing and it looks like Madelyn copied Anna's facial expression:

Didn't lose a beat...

I had a wonderful time last night. My good friend, Drew, drove up from Fort Bragg to visit with us. John came over and we ate a good meal, played some Mariokart for the first time in 10 years, and just had a good time. There was a bit of reminiscing...but it was more catching up than anything. We were able to, for the first time in a while, find out what the other person has really been up to. It was not awkward or uncomfortable, it was as if we didn't lose a beat. It was powerful and had me thinking a lot this morning. But before I share my thoughts, here is a picture of Drew and John from last night:


So, for some history...This was the first time I had seen Drew in a couple of years. Drew and I go back to the middle school days, although we became closer friends later in high school. We lived together with John all four years of college and have experienced much of life with one another. When I moved from Pittsburgh, the most difficult thing was not having him around consistently. I think I have realized that friendships like Drew's are the most difficult to replace. I have some good new friends in Raleigh and obviously my best friend being my wife...but losing that history with Drew was tough. He reminded me of the time we drove through Delaware in 90 degree weather with the heat blasting to keep my car from overheating. It was just he and I on that trip, so there is no one else that knows the details of that story. Although John lived in the same suite as Drew and I all throughout college, Drew and I shared rooms freshman and sophomore year. So silly stories about fights over the temperatures and whatnot are also unique to him and I. Drew, his date, my date, another couple, and I went to our senior prom together. I worked for Drew's parents for about 3 years in high school and college at Loafer's Bread Company. Through it all..Drew and I spent a lot of time together...here is an old picture I stole off Drew's website with us cooking breakfast for ~50 kids when we were probably 17 or 18 years old.


In the end, I reflected this morning on this being one disappointment in my life. I see other guys, like my friend Andy, take a yearly camping trip with his guy friends still. My brother in law plays Fantasy Football with his friends and they get together yearly for a draft. Others take beach trips or trips to Vegas. We unfortunately did not start any traditions like that and now I yearn for that time when we can get together and not just reminisce but catch up. With Drew in the Army, I imagine it will be difficult to start a tradition like that now. But I hope in about 4 years once he is done with his active duty that we can try to plan some yearly event.

In the meantime, I hope to keep up with Drew when he is stationed at Bragg. Hopefully I can see some more of his family when they head down this way. Last October we saw Drew's little sister Leah (pictures below with Anna who was about 1 yr old) when she and her friend stayed here. Hopefully, I can catch up with the rest of Drew's family when they are this way.