I tend to go through phases of being excited to blog and then not really having much interest in it. Lately I've not had much interest. I'm sure there are a variety of factors involved, some good and some not as good. I hope that the few readers I have out there are able to hang on through the ups and downs, because frankly, that's real life.

The not as good: My son waking up 3 times a night wanting to eat, and therefore not allowing me much sleep. My daughter finding lots of new ways to be willful. Never ending loads of laundry from the girl's seemingly constant "not quite to the potty" accidents and the boy's "I haven't pooped in 3 days" poop blowouts. Taxes. Generally feeling kind of blah.

The good: A few really nice weather days that allowed us some much needed trips to places like the zoo and playground. Several birthday parties and playdates. A switch to a new school for Noelle. Enjoying laughing with my son. Naps. A new method of meal planning.

So I'm sorry if a lack of posts leaves you feeling disappointed or out of touch. I feel out of touch, too, and it's hard to say how much one influences the other. Just know that it will come around again eventually!

Have you heard of the new product Welch's has come out with called "Aqua Juice?" They are saying it's a naturally lighter juice drink for kids. Yeah, that's because it's 50% juice, 50% water. So they just fill the container half full with juice, then supplement with water (which is practically free) and sell it for the same price as a container filled to the top with juice.

Do people not realize they can do this themselves at home? We normally do it by the glass. I fill a glass halfway with water, sometimes even 3/4 if I'm going to add a strong juice like orange or grape. Top it off with your favorite 100% juice, and you've just stretched one juice bottle into the equivalent of two or more. For older kids who serve themselves, pre-mix the juice and water in pitchers or re-use old juice containers. Now that I mix my juice with water, full juice tends to taste WAY to sweet for me. You get used to it pretty quickly, in my experience. And of course for kids, they don't ever have to know the difference.

If this were sold in pouches or juice boxes, I might think it was a good product. Sometimes individual servings are called for, like at a party or sporting event, and those are the only times that Noelle gets 100% juice instead of watered down juice. It might be nice to have an "on the go" version of that to pass out to a bunch of kids. But for big bottles? Save your money and do it yourself!

We've been getting a lot of spam comments on our site this week. They don't get published, we have to go in and approve new commenters first. So today I went in to delete the one million spam comments we had, and ended up accidentally deleting some of our most recent legitimate comments. Oops. I was so irritated with myself! It was a mixture of early in the morning sleepiness, Noelle's incessant chatter, and a system that made it too easy to accidentally delete. We are working on changing one of those things, I'll let you guess which. If your comment is one that got deleted, I apologize! I didn't want you to think that we deleted it because we don't like you. That may be true, but it's not why we got rid of your comment.

Last week at Bible Study, we were talking about clothes. Before the study started, of course, because we never go off topic! Anyway, one of the ladies mentioned that it seems like since she had a baby, all of her shirts are too short. I couldn't believe it, I had noticed the same thing about my shirts! I had not connected it to having babies, but since she said that, I definitely agree with the timing. What could cause this phenomenon? There are a few different factors that could be at play.

1. Our bodies are not the same. Clothes definitely do not fit the same as they used to. Nursing can explain a tiny bit of the shirt shortening, but not all these women are nursing, so it isn't all because of THAT. And it can't all be because of gained weight, because we had all lost the baby weight, too.

2. We don't have time to take proper care of our laundry, so the shirts have literally shrunk. This would make sense if they were smaller all over, but for me at least, they are mostly just shorter.

3. Styles have changed since before we had babies, and we just haven't bought new clothes. If Target and Old Navy are any indication, long shirts are definitely 'in' right now. I can't buy anything from those stores because they are not only long, but tight as well, and tightness over my stomach and waist area has never looked good on me, especially not post-baby. Some of my clothes were bought during college, but I have some from after Noelle or even after Charlotte, because my shirts were too short back then, and they are also too short now.

4. The shirts were always too short, but we're just now realizing it. This was definitely the case with men's shorts back in the 70's and 80's. It took a few "accidental" losses at the laundromat for my mom to weed all of those out of my dad's closet!

5. It's a mental thing, because maternity shirts are soooo long, and so we get used to that length. Possible.

Whatever the cause, I have a lot of shirts that are headed to the donation pile, and that means it's time to hit the stores! I guess this isn't that bad of a phenomenon after all! Now if I could just find some time to go shopping...

Thanks to Hurricane Ike and panicked Tennessee drivers, we're having a major gas shortage around here. Most stations only have premium fuel available, if any at all. I would guess this is happening in a lot of cities, but I've read a few articles that suggest it is more prevalent in Tennessee because of where we primarily get our fuel from. This is the area where the schools close down for a few snowflakes. Where you'd better leave for work extra early if it's drizzling, because traffic will be terrible. Where everyone hides out at home if there's a thunderstorm warning.

So it shouldn't surprise me that when these people get wind of a gas shortage, they decide to spend an hour or more in line (thereby wasting gas, right??) to fill up their tanks. Because once the stations run out, we'll NEVER GET GAS AGAIN!!! I am glad I got some last night while at Kroger, because today, every station I saw that didn't have bags over all their pumps had cars lined up 30 strong in either direction. Good grief!

As we were trying to make our way down Gallatin Road this afternoon, I said to Noelle "we just can't seem to get around this traffic!" She said "I know how to get us through - with my SUPER. SPECIAL. FINGER. POWER!!" as she held up her index finger like it had magic inside. Right at that moment there was a break in traffic and I started to move forward. She said, "See? It worked!" If only it were that simple! Soon after, I came to a stop again and she said, "Oh. It stopped working." Soon the stations will start getting their shipments of gas again, and we'll all be a-okay, and traffic will get back to normal. At least until it rains again.

Lizards creep me out. I see them when we visit Florida, and there were tons when I was in Puerto Rico. Crawling all over the walls, and the locals acted like they didn't even notice. Some people try to liken them to squirrels, but squirrels will run away if you go anywhere near them. A squirrel would never come up on the porch while I was sitting there, like a lizard did yesterday. At my house! In Nashville!

I had no idea until this week that Nashville was home to any variety of lizard. Someone wrote on our local listserv that they had seen some and wondered what they were. The discussion went on about how they eat bugs and to leave them alone, and one guy said they have only gotten into his house a few times and the dogs usually take care of it. WHAT! Lizards are supposed to be behind glass, like at the zoo, or in the desert maybe. I can handle seeing them in Florida, mainly because I don't live there. But this has been the week of the lizard around here. We saw one at the zoo the other day sitting on one of the paths, but I reasoned he was there because it's a very wooded area, lots of bugs. But one on my porch? That completely broke me down.

They are technically called skinks, I guess. You can see a picture of what the one on my porch looked like here. For an even more disgusting picture, click here. Hopefully our pest control people are doing a good enough job that the nasty things won't find too many bugs and will move on. If I see many more, I won't be able to get to Illinois soon enough!

Happy May Day, everyone! I don't know why that ancient holiday has stuck with me since I learned about it in grade school, but every May 1 I remember it. If you aren't familiar, it used to be tradition that people would put together little baskets of flowers and goodies and hang them on the doors of their friends and neighbors. A very cute idea, I think, but I fully understand why it's not so popular anymore. Our friends are scattered across the country, and we rarely know our neighbors. I am always amused on Halloween that we all willingly go to our neighbors and ask them for candy when on October 30 we might not even wave to them as they get into their car.

The idea of May Day reminds me of something Andy and I did a few years ago for the first day of fall. Andy was in a bad mood because it was his birthday and we had gone to a movie, and while we were inside his car got broken into and all his CD's were stolen. Again. I was looking for a way to cheer him up, and remembered that the next day was the first day of fall. I hauled Andy with me to the grocery store to buy a bunch of little pumpkins and gourds, and we came home and made little cards that said "Happy First Day of Fall" or something like that. We then went out (around 11 PM) and put these little packages on the porches of all our friends for them to find in the morning. We had a great time making them, and it was fun for our friends, too.

I wish that traditions like May Day were still alive. There have been times when I wanted to do something for a neighbor but stopped myself because "people just don't do that kind of thing." I've seen those little storks in someone's yard announcing that they just had a baby and thought about sneaking a package of diapers or a basket of fruit onto their porch. Maybe next time I will force myself to follow through, in honor of May Day.

No no, don't worry...Andy&Jaime.com isn't going anywhere. But all of the coding and techy posts that I've been making over the last year or so are going to have a new home.

That's right...I purchased yet another domain name, but this one's really legit. It's my name Andy Matthews. At the moment, the only thing there is a splash page because I just bought the domain name last night, but give me a month or two and I'll have a blog there up and running.

We love our DVR (Digital Video Recorder for those of you still not in this century) with all our hearts, and we've come to rely on it almost exclusively for our TV watching needs. We always have one episode of each of Noelle's favorite shows at the ready, and we never have to worry about when something is on because it will just be taped for us to watch at our leisure. We never have to watch commercials, and we can pause and rewind live TV. Amazing.

This past season, we decided we had way too many shows recording and felt like we needed to cut some out. We used a system of giving each show a priority rating and then cutting out the ones at the bottom. There were some shows that we had a hard time letting go of even still, though, so we thought of a new idea. Tape the entire season, then save it to watch all at once later on when the current shows stop playing new episodes. Brilliant!

Except that our DVR messed up. We started watching Amazing Race last night, and realized that mysteriously the first 4 episodes were no longer there. Then several other episodes were mostly cut off by 60 Minutes running over into the time slot. So basically out of 11 episodes we had about 4 hours total taped. Awesome. DVR, you disappointed me. I'll still never leave you, though.

I don't know if I'll ever stop being surprised by terrible customer service. I've had two instances this week, both of which were more inefficiency and stupidity than the typical rudeness and unhelpfulness that happens on a pretty regular basis.

The first experience was for a magazine that we've received sporadically since we moved in, addressed to the former owner. He had a recording studio, so I guessed that it was a complimentary copy that he just failed to stop. My original e-mail to them included his name, address, and every last digit on the mailing label. They wrote back: We are unable to locate the account with the information provided. Please resend your inquiry including publication name and the address information as it appears on the mailing label. If possible, also include the account number listed directly above the name and address.

I sent it again, adding that I wasn't sure how much clearer I could write it out. Then they wrote: We appreciate your inquiry and welcome the opportunity to serve your needs. To comply with your request please contact our main switchboard number at 212-767-6000. I called, and was told that I needed to call the number for subscriptions. I called. Then I was told I needed to call the number for COMPLIMENTARY subscriptions. Finally after 2 e-mails and 3 phone calls, I'm off the list.

The other experience was with Proctor & Gamble. I wrote to them about a product that I've been buying for a long time and for the first time ever I'm having an issue with it. I figured that I might get a coupon, or a rebate, or something along those lines. Instead, today I got this e-mail: I'm sorry you're disappointed with our product. We have many checkpoints along our manufacturing lines to ensure the quality of our products, so we'd like to get yours back to better understand what happened. I'm following up with mailing materials so you can return the product to us, postage paid. Look for these within 2-3 weeks.

And I wrote back: Unless you're also going to follow up with a free product, I won't be sending this back to you. It doesn't work perfectly, but I paid for it and won't pay to replace it.

I mean, really? They want me to just ship it back to them with no offer to replace it? Thanks for offering to pay the shipping, guys! I'm glad to pay $6 for an inferior product, then ship it to you so you can figure out what went wrong! Ridiculous.

Excerpts from "Holding on to Hope" by Nancy Guthrie

So many people are afraid to bring up my loss. They don't want to upset me. But my tears are the only way I have to release the deep sorrow I feel. I tell people, "Don't worry about crying in front of me, and don't be afraid that you will make me cry! Your tears tell me you care, and my tears tell you that you've touched me in a place that is meaningful to me - and I will never forget your willingness to share my grief."

When others shed their tears with me, it is as if they are taking a bucketful of sadness and carrying it for me. It is, perhaps, the most meaningful thing anyone can do for me.

Even now I can't say I'm healed. Part of my heart is no longer mine. I gave it to Hope and she took it with her, and I will forever feel that amputation.

Before losing Hope, I never really understood why people found such comfort in knowing their loved one is in heaven, but I do now. When you lose someone you love, heaven becomes much more of a reality, much more than a theological concept or theatrical cliche. I have come to the place where I believe a yearning for heaven is one of the purposes and one of the privileges of suffering and of losing someone you love. You see, a piece of me is there. I now see in a much fuller way that this life is just a shadow of our real life - of eternal life in the presence of God.



I read through this book yesterday while I was organizing the office. It was given to me after Charlotte died, along with several other books about loss and infant death, but for a long time I was unable to read any of them. We are having a difficult time waiting to become pregnant with baby #3, and I feel like I'm grieving all over again. Or I never stopped. The author of this book lost a daughter and then a son, both only lived about 6 months due to a genetic disease. Put Charlotte's name in place of Hope's and you will know exactly how I feel.

I have had several friends and acquaintances completely stop talking to me since Charlotte died, and some that will talk to me, but not about Charlotte. It hurts. I don't blame them. Before I lost Charlotte, I don't think I could have very easily gone there with a friend either. I just wish that everyone knew that it's okay to cry, or to make me cry. I wish that people didn't look at me so strangely when I say I have one daughter here and one in heaven. Why is it so difficult for us to carry each other's burdens when it comes to death and loss? Are we just so scared of it happening to us that we don't want to think about it?

The last paragraph I quoted from the book is really true for me. I didn't think about heaven much at all until Charlotte died, and now even though I love my life here and want to have 3 more children to love and raise on this earth, I see that my life will never be just as I want it to be until I get to heaven. My family will never be complete as long as Charlotte is separate from us. Even if I live another 70 years, my life here is just a blip compared to eternity in heaven.

I will continue to tell people about my daughter in heaven, even if it makes them squirm, because maybe if all of us who have lost babies before they breathed on this earth would claim them as our children, people would start to value life at conception like they should. Maybe if I remind them of heaven and that our loved ones are there, they will start to develop a deeper view of what God has in store for his children. Romans 8:18 says, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us." Charlotte helped me understand how true that is.

Better late than never. We traveled to Brandon, Florida for Christmas this year. Google says it is a 10 hr, 50 min drive. That's of course without a toddler, two dogs, and a husband with a small bladder and a knee that acts up if he sits still for too long. So, knowing it would take us closer to 13 hours to make the trip, we decided to leave in the middle of the night. That way the roads would be a little clearer for a while, we'd get there much earlier in the day, and Noelle would sleep more of the time. Right? Well, two out of three of those thoughts were true.

On the way there, we left at 3:15 AM. Noelle didn't go back to sleep until 5:15 AM. Then at 6 AM, Andy had to get out and stretch (remember that knee I mentioned?), thus ending the "nap" Noelle and I were taking. Noelle did not fall back asleep for even one minute for the rest of our 13.75 hour trip. She did fairly well, though. She always does okay in the car, only complaining when she's super bored or hungry. We arrived in Brandon at 5 PM central time. I felt so disgusting the whole time. I had forgotten to leave my hairbrush out, so I didn't get to brush my hair before we left at 3. I also didn't brush my teeth or wash my face. But, we made it.

The way back, I remedied some of the mistakes I had made the first time. I brushed my teeth and hair, washed my face, and felt much better. We left at 4:15 AM this time, since we'd be gaining an hour. This time, Noelle fell back asleep within 15 minutes. I'm sure it helped that she was sick and hadn't slept well the whole time we were in Brandon. The down side to that - we hadn't slept well either, since we shared a room with a coughing baby, so driving in the middle of the night was not as easy. We had stopped 3 times already before 8 AM. At one point, we stopped at a rest area, put in a DVD for Noelle, and tried to nap for 30 minutes. It really didn't help enough. We made it home by 4:30, so we beat our trip down, but it was the worst 13.5 hours of our lives. Thankfully we were kind of slaphappy for part of it, which at least made it sort of fun.

So, if you're going to drive in the middle of the night, make sure you get some good nights of sleep leading up to the trip. Bring lots of snacks, a DVD player, some good music, ibuprofen for that knee, and leave the dogs at home. I think we'll fly next time.

Yes, yes, I know it's been a long time since we made a post. Yes, I also know that we skipped right over Christmas in Florida with the Matthew's family, Noelle's birthday, and the grueling 13+ hour drives to and from Tampa.

We'll get to those, never fear. I'm coming to you with a story of a scrappy rock band named "Assh@t" that was founded this evening deep in Old Hickory, Tennessee. What's that you say? "What" hat? Founded where? I'm talking about Rock Band, the video game for the XBOX 360 which allows up to 4 people to play "musical instruments" simultaneously. Assh@t? That was our band name.

Maybe I should start at the beginning. Today my boss mentioned that he was going over to the house of a mutual friend of ours to hang out and play Rock Band. Now I've been reading lots about this game, and it's parent, the monster hit Guitar Hero, but I've never had the chance to play either. When I mentioned this to Aaron, he invited me to come over. I double checked with "the home office", got the necessary requisition forms and I was off.

It's quite enjoyable actually, but pretty tough. There are 4 available instruments: guitar, drums, bass, and surprisingly the microphone. Each instrument has it's own settings, difficulty level, and buttons (except for the mike). When a song starts up, you're presented with a train track looking thing. This represents the notes you'll have to play. On each instrument (again excepting the mike), are 5 notes, or in the case of the drums 5 drum pads. As the song progresses, notes scroll towards you in the column representing the note you need to play on the instrument.

Never fear, this isn't a note for note representation, nor could it be with only 5 notes to play. BUT it is enough to give you a real feel for the song. And it's freaking awesome to play. I was able to cycle through all of the instruments tonight and liked each of them. The drums were the hardest due to the setup and the angle they were at, plus I've never played drums. I have played guitar, bass, and I sing so that's not too bad. Out of all of them I had the most fun with the guitar and the bass. They actually make Guitar Hero 3 for the Wii and I'd like to pick that up after I finish off 2 games I'm playing now.

So, until the Assh@t reunion tour, I'll see you guys later. I'll leave you with this screenshot of Rock Band in action.

We're traveling down to Tampa for Christmas this year. It's going to be great having all that time with my parents. Plus Noelle is changing and growing at an almost daily pace now. I can't wait for my mom and dad to see her and talk to her.

The good thing is that we'll get to spend almost a week with my parents in Brandon. The drawback? Not getting to see Jaime's family on one of the more special days of the year.

So, rather than not get to see us on the 25th, Dean and Diane are driving to Nashville to see us THIS weekend! They're already on the road, and should be arriving sometime this evening. It'll be nice because with this being Noelle's first Christmas (that she'll actually "get"), they'd miss a lot otherwise.

So bring it on! We can't want to see them and spend time with them.

Jaime, Noelle, and I travelled up to Northern Illinois for the Thanksgiving break. We left Wed afternoon at 4:20pm and didn't arrive in New Lenox (where her parents live) until 1:30am. That's right...we were on the road for over 9 hours...for something that should only be a 8 hour trip max!

Our time in New Lenox was great though. We had a great time with family, and friends, Jaime and I spent some time with fellow Whiskerino-ians Chad (monkey boy), and Tony (hey Zeus), and we ate lots of good food. And then it came time to drive home.

While the trip back to Nashville went FAR better than the trip UP, it was still excruciating. I love road trips, but lately my knees have been giving me grief, and on long trips where I can't stretch out my legs, it's tough. Not to mention having an almost 2 year old in the car.

We made it back though, and in good time (left at 12:30, got back around 9:00). So I'm back at work, and giving thanks for not having to drive again for another few weeks.

Oh, and we're DEFINITELY buying a portable DVD player for Noelle before we make the trip to Florida for Christmas.

To go along with Andy's weight loss goals, we just bought a new bathroom scale. Our old one was not digital, and it's really old and not all that reliable. The new one I bought comes with a free 6 month subscription to Weight Watchers Magazine. All you have to do is mail in this subscription form along with a copy of your receipt from purchasing the scale.

My receipt has these three items on it:
Bath scale
Milk Duds
Raisinets

I obviously wasn't thinking about being caught red handed buying CANDY while I'm asking for a weight loss magazine. Oh well! I guess that's why I need it.

Twice every year the United States, and many other countries around the world, perform a ritual dating all the way back to the ancient Romans (that's even older than my parents). This practice, known alternately as Daylight Savings Time (DST) in the US, "summer time" in the United Kingdom, requires us to adjust our clocks forwards or backwards one hour depending on the time of year.

"Spring forward, fall back" has become a common mantra for those of us who have difficulty remembering which way is which. In spring and the summer we get an extra hour of daylight in the evenings, while in the fall and winter months, it gets dark as early as 5pm (here in Nashville at least). While this can be a good thing during the summer months, it really can play havoc with us in the winter. There's a 4X higher incidents of traffic accidents in the fall/winter, farmers have less time in the fields, and my daughter Noelle wakes up one whole hour earlier than normal.

You heard me. We finally got her trained to sleep through the night (only took us 16 months). Then we finally got her to start waking up sometime around 7pm reliably and now the US government perpetrates this on us? She's woken up earlier than 6:30 every morning since DST went into effect. Now mind you, I enjoy spending time with Noelle, especially since she's getting a personality, and I can interact with her. But when you're used to sleeping in until around 7, waking up an hour early is a jarring thing.

Also, in addition to her early rising habits these days, she's learned how to take off her pajamas. That's added an entirely new suite of things that could greet me when I walk into her room in the morning. For example, twice so far this week I've heard her talking to herself saying "my zip, my...zip". This is a bad sign as it means she's managed to unzip her pajamas to some degree or another. Usually she's only gotten the zipper down to her foot, but it seems she's learned how to completely take her pajamas off. What do I see when I walk in but a mostly naked baby with a diaper that's half off. Luckily it was just a wet diaper or I would have started off the day with a bath.

Anyway, just wanted to share with you the joys of parenthood and children who are early risers.

Those of you who've followed our website for at least two years know that I participate in a bi-yearly male bonding ritual known as Whiskerino. On the surface, it claims to be a "beard contest", but at it's core, Whiskerino is a celebration of masculinity, a chance to be "a dude", a way to "stick it to the man" (for those participants who work in the corporate world), and finally it's a way to avoid shaving for an entire FOUR MONTH period of time.

This will be my 3rd Whiskerino and I've been looking forward to this since the close of the last. You can see what I ended up with on Feb 28, 2006, as well as see all of the pictures I took during those 4 months. You can follow my progress during this year's contest if you like.

On a more serious note, I'm planning on using Whiskerino2007 to begin working on a personal goal as well. I'm a big guy, anyone who's seen me can attest to that. But over the past 5 or 6 years, I've been letting myself get too lax in my physical well-being. Part of the problem is that I sit at a computer for 8+ hours a day, the other part is that I eat too much. I'm just thankful that I have a good metabolism or I'd weight a lot more than I do now. Anyway, I want to lose weight, but more importantly I want to get in shape...to be able to walk uphill with Noelle without stripping the bark off trees because of my huffing and puffing.

So, bring on the beard, bring on the exercise, bring on the low-fat, low-carb, high-protein, high-fiber diet, bring on the absence of sodas. But most of all, bring on the support from my friends and family.

Hello! I am one of the organizers of a Women's Expo at my church, coming up this Saturday, and I wanted to let you know about it. I'm not sure how many of my regular readers live in Nashville, but it's worth advertising anyway! We have some really neat vendors coming, and this would be a great place to jumpstart some Christmas shopping. I hope to see you there!

Jaime



The Women's Expo is back and right before the Christmas season!

Come support Nashville business women Saturday November 3rd from 11-4pm. Enjoy all the shopping you can get done for your family and friends while avoiding the traffic and crowded malls during the Holiday shopping rush!

Products such as hand-made gifts, jewelry, purses, candles, embroidery, sewing, quilting, make-up, skin and health care, soap, candles, baby apparel, children's books, Pampered Chef, Tastefully Simple, Homemade Gourmet, Southern Living Home, clothes, as well as services like catering, photography, teeth whitening, massage therapy, home repairs, scrapbooking, children's music lessons and more!

Visit www.westendexpo.com for a chance to win a basket full of goodies from the vendors. There will also be door prizes given away at the event. Admission is FREE and delicious snacks will be sold by the Youth Group!

The event takes place at West End Community Church, 235 White Bridge Road.

A friend of mine, Daniel Isenhower, is moving out of town this week. Some his friends were having a going away party for he and his wife Lindsay. So I decided I wanted to go and wish him well in his journeys. Problem is that I planned my attendance when I thought Jaime and Noelle were going to be out of town. After I picked the two of them up from the airport, I realized that I had Noelle for the rest of the day (this past Sunday), but still wanted to go.

So I packed up Noelle and took off for Two Rivers park over by the Opryland area. When we arrived, there were just a few people hanging around under the park pavilion so I let Noelle down to play. That worked for a little while, but after about a half hour she got bored so we decided to walk over to the playground. The closer we got to the play area, the more excited I got. It looked REALLY cool, big wooden structures, with lots of kids.

Noelle was so eager to get in there, it was really cute. She ran all over the place, to the swings, to talk with other kids, it was great. My favorite parts though were when she started climbing up into the castle. It was full of little passageways, perfect for tiny little bodies. I even got a picture of Noelle peeking through the slats.

Anyway, we had lots of fun and she didn't want to leave. View the rest of the Two Rivers pictures.

So why am I up and posting at 1:30 in the morning blasting Operation Ivy?

In part I suppose it's 'because I can', followed closely behind by 'because I'm painting the kitchen'. Jaime and Noelle are out of town right now so it doesn't matter how much noise I make, and I can technically go to sleep when I want, so why not do as much as possible to the kitchen while I can right?

I certainly don't understand all the ins and outs of television programming, with ratings, advertising dollars, paying the actors and crew, etc., but I really can't stand it when a network pulls a show that's been on for a good run without giving it a real finale. Surely they could make the decision to end a show before they film a cliffhanger "season finale" that ends up really being the series finale with no closure. It's just irresponsible in my opinion. It's not like I'm going to quit watching that channel or write letters, though, so I guess they know they can do it with no real consequences.

This has happened to two of my favorite shows recently. The first was Veronica Mars, and now this fall it is Crossing Jordan. Of course, I can't find anywhere online where the network themselves admits they have cancelled the show. If you go on Crossing Jordan's page on NBC.com, there is no indication that the show is never coming back. It's all other media telling what they've heard. But seeing some of the main characters acting on other shows (Bionic Woman, Carpoolers) kind of gives it away for me. I know it's just tv, and I've already moved on, but it just would have been nice to have a true finale. I guess all I really want is for the network to tell me, the viewer, what is going on.

Another thing that bugged me recently about a tv show was something they did on the soap that I watch, (yes, I watch a soap) All My Children. So one of the actresses was ready to quit, but they weren't ready to let the character go. Their only choice at that point is to replace her with a new actress. They've done this before, of course, but the way the replaced this character just really threw me off. They had Babe hug her mom, and as she pulled away from the hug, BAM! She's the other actress. Huh? I was so confused, because again, THEY DIDN'T TELL ME! Do they think maybe I just won't notice? There have been a few times before when an actor was sick and replaced by someone else for a few days or so, and when that happens, at the beginning of the episode they say "so and so is being played by so and so." That's all I'm asking for, people. A little heads up to say hey, something about this episode is going to be a little different. A lot of things can be overlooked in this life if you just tell people what's going on. I just wish that tv execs would learn that!

So we've been neglecting the photo section for quite some time now. But not really though. You see, we've been using Google's Picasa service to store our photos online. It's only just today that I took the time to write some code that would display all our galleries from Picasa on this website.

So browse away everyone, and enjoy. If you're interested in signing up for Picasa, here's a link for you. Did I mention that it's free?

I really love my job. I love almost everything about Dealerskins; from the people, to the work. What I love most about it is that I'm able to go to work everyday and do something that I love. There's not to many people that can say that.

One of the best things about Dealerskins is the open environment there. Just today I got to participate in an impromptu 30 minute hallway meeting with the our Director of Operations, our Product Manager, and the Development Manager (my boss, Aaron West) regarding the future of our Enterprise level company. I really feel like I'm respected and appreciated there, and that's such a shot of adrenaline in the arm that it makes me want to work all the more harder.

It's really cool because I get to be involved in almost every aspect of the lifecycle of our tools (or web applications as they're called in the biz). I get to help plan the project, then I get to write the code for it, and lastly (in some cases), I also get to be involved in rolling it out and seeing people use it!

I realize that I am truly blessed by God to have a career in a field that I love, doing work that I eagerly look forward to, with people that are great. That's a rare occurrence and I hope that it's not something that I take for granted. Thank you Lord!

I just got back from the grocery store, where I purchased milk, bread, and cereal. Total bill: $16.67. Are you kidding? I even used a coupon! And the cereal is generic!

Now, I will say that when I buy milk for my family, I buy 2.5 gallons. Andy drinks 2%, I drink 1%, and Noelle drinks organic whole milk. But along with tax, the average price of each item I bought today is $3.33, and that is just really ridiculous in my opinion. I know that I could make my own bread for a lot less money, but I just can't see that happening. And other than that, there really isn't anything I can do about the cost of these staples. So I'm just frustrated this morning at how expensive it has become to meet the basic needs of my family. And my husband has a great job where he makes good money, and I bring in a little bit of spending money on my own. Not everyone is nearly that fortunate.

I couldn't find exact figures, but from my best guess, this exact same grocery list would have cost around $6.50 back in 1979 when I was born. I'm not asking for it to be that cheap, but $3.88 for a gallon of milk just makes me shudder.

Just wanted to let everyone know that you can now make comments on each post. If you have something you'd like to say to Jaime, or Noelle, or I. Just click the "Add comments" button below each post.

That is all

The bad thing about putting off writing a blog post is that inevitably more and more things happen that you want to write about, and then it just gets really overwhelming to even think about, so what usually happens is that I just put it off even longer. There are a ton of things that I could have written really nice posts about since my last one.

For instance, our trip to the lake with my parents, brother and sister-in-law, and nephews. It was a great weekend spent partly in a 3 bedroom condo we shared and partly on my dad's boat. We played games every night after the kids went to bed, went to a horrible beach one day, swam in the resort's pool, took my Grandma's sister to dinner, and just had a really good and fairly relaxing weekend. As relaxing as it can be with 3 kiddos!

I could write about how ridiculously hot it has been, 100 most days, and how at 10:30 at night it's still over 90. And we think our air isn't working in the office and garage, so we have to have someone come out on Friday to check it out. I'm thankful we have working air in the rest of the house, I honestly don't know how people survive in this kind of weather without it.

Also, Noelle has been pretty goofy lately, and we've had some good days together. I'm glad that I got a funny kid, although looking at her parents you could expect that. She's currently obsessed with "icy pop?", a name she created herself for the freezer pops my mom brought to the lake. The other day I asked her what she wanted for lunch and she said "something new." Where does she get this stuff? She's also becoming more interested in what is hers, and today wouldn't let me read her a book because it was "MINE!"

We also have a pretty much brand new kitchen, and although it isn't finished yet, it's looking pretty good. We had some issues with the workers along the way, but most everything got resolved. Now we just need to tile the backsplash, repaint, finish organizing the cabinets, and then a little later on we will pull up the floor, refinish the hardwoods, and replace the rest of the cabinets.

So there has been a lot going on already this month, and hopefully now that I'm caught up I can get back on track with the blog. Thanks for your understanding! :)

One of the joys of owning a home is being responsible for fixing things that need fixing.

Case in point...we have a stone retaining wall in our side yard that prevents our neighbor's yard, and pool, from merging with our crawlspace. When we had the home inspected, our guy told us to keep an eye on it. So for the last 2+ years, everytime I mowed the yard, I'd eyeball the wall to see if it was okay.

Over the last 6 months I've been noticing that it seems to have bulged slightly and I started getting concerned. I don't particularly care for our bedroom to have pool in the middle of it. So I've been asking people how I would go about finding out who "owned" the wall. I mean, if it's on the border of my property, then it's also on the border of someone else's property right?

So I took Noelle out to walk in the front yard yesterday. We were out there for a few minutes when I looked over and saw a complete disaster (see attached picture). Apparently all of the rain we've had recently piled up behind the wall and just caused it to totally collapse. It's only about a 10-12 foot section but it's demolished.

So, what I've got to find out is:
1) Who is responsible for fixing this
2) If we're responsible, does homeowners insurance cover this?
3) What sort of company do I even call to look at this and fix it?

And to top it all off, I'm going out of town for 5 days. Luckily, the insurance company has my cell number. Gotta love owning a home right?

I had Andy add an RSS Feed link to our website. For those of you who don't know what that means, basically it is a way to alert you when we've written a new post as opposed to having to stop by every day to check. I certainly don't know a lot about RSS Feeds, but I can tell you what I do know.

If you have installed Internet Explorer version 7 on your computer, you will see in your toolbar somewhere across the top a little red-orange square. If you put your mouse over it, it will tell you that you can view feeds on this page. Click it, then it will tell you that you can subscribe to our feed. When you subscribe, IE7 will add a "Feeds" list where your Favorites are kept up on the toolbar. To see if any of your feeds have new posts, you just go to your favorites, choose feeds, and see if any of them are bold. If so, you can click on the name and it will take you to the new post.

If you don't have IE7 or you want to view feeds another way, you'll have to Google it or ask Andy. There is a button at the bottom right of our site that you can also click to add us as a feed if it's not in your toolbar. I just wanted to add this feature because I know that all of you check our site daily and are overwhelmed with sadness when we haven't written a new post. Thanks to RSS, you don't have to go through that every day any longer.

Yesterday I encountered a series of mishaps that left me feeling frustrated, and laughing at the same time. First, we had received a meal from a friend during Bible Study in the morning, and as I tried to fit it into the refrigerator I knocked over a glass of fruit tea I had saved from the night before. Fruit tea all over everything in my fridge. It took me about 15 minutes to completely clean up the mess I had made, and I couldn't help but think how wrong it was that a meal given to me to free up my time caused this mess that was taking up my free time. Well, the meal and my clumsiness.

Later, after Noelle woke up from her nap, I went to change her diaper and as I pulled off her shorts, poop came flying out onto her changing table and my hand. There was definitely a lot of poop, but the main reason it overflowed is that her diaper apparently got put on a little crooked in the nursery or somehow wiggled around so that it was not completely covering her behind. So I stripped her down, trying not to get anything else dirty. Then as we stood in front of the bathtub while it filled up, Noelle of course being naked, she peed on the bathroom rug and floor.

Then we went to play with some friends at a local sprayground, and while pretty much everything went just fine, Noelle hit the back of her head pretty hard while going down the slide. And after daddy got home, he scraped Noelle's foot against the screen door coming in from the pool, causing many long seconds of a silent cry before an eruption of screaming.

At the end of the day, I went over to a friend's house to pick up some snacks she had made for us, and along with some very yummy treats, she gave me of all things - a pitcher of fruit tea. It's kind of nice how it all comes back around. It's almost providential.

Kind of like how last week, Noelle kept asking me for an apple and I had to tell her we were all out, and that I was sorry. Then maybe 10 minutes later, the doorbell rang and I was being given a basket of fruit and goodies, and all of a sudden I had an apple. I know those things are not that big of a deal, but I also know we have a God that meets the needs of his people. Even the silly ones.

I have certainly come across poor customer service in the past, but it never ceases to amaze me how some people can stay in business without seeming to have any consideration for their customers. The past few weeks I have had 3 different businesses either arrive very late for an appointment or just stand me up altogether, none of which got me a courtesy call.

First, we made an appointment with a roofer because we had a leak recently after some really hard rains. They were supposed to come at 1:00, and finally at 1:50 after sitting perched on the loveseat for 45 minutes hoping to catch the truck and get the dogs outside before they barked and woke Noelle from her nap, I decided to call and see what was up. "Oh, well we are on this other job that's taking longer than we thought, and we aren't going to be able to make it over there today." And you didn't think it might be a good idea to CALL ME? I honestly have no problem with someone having to cancel or reschedule, as long as they pick up the phone. They came the next day, and did a fine job, but then said they would drop off a paper estimate for the work and I haven't heard from them since. This was 2 weeks ago.

Then, I hired someone to mow our lawn. They said they'd be here at 8:30 in the morning, because they wanted to get started before it got too hot. At 9:30 I called them. "Oh, the thing of it is, we have to take some things to the dump first, and it will probably be another hour, hour and a half before we get there." Thanks for letting me know!

And finally, yesterday we had scheduled a company to come and refinish our tub. Our appointment was at 1:30, and because of my recent experiences, when they weren't here yet at 1:45 I decided to give them a call. No answer, but I left a message. I called again at 2:45 and left another message with my cell phone number. I was so mad, I just needed to leave the house. I never heard from them at all yesterday, and it's 9:30 AM now and still haven't heard from them today.

Update: I just called the tub company, and apparently she wrote down our street name incorrectly, so the guy couldn't find our house, and she wrote down our phone number wrong, so he couldn't get ahold of us, and she didn't get either of my messages yesterday. What?? They brought the price down, so we're giving them another chance. Seriously, how do these companies stay in business? I guess because like me, people think they've already gone through all this hassle, and the next company will probably treat me the same way, and they gave me a bit of a deal, so let's just get it done. Oh bother.

move along...nothing to see here.

CSS naked day that is. That's why our website looks the way it does right now. For those of you that don't know what CSS is, here's a description in 2 sentences.

CSS is a set of instructions which describe how a website looks. It offers nothing in the way of structure, it's only for appearance.

In the past, websites were thrown together with lots of hacks, bad code, and more importantly incorrectly USED code. Web standards, recommend separating your structural code (the HTML that so many of you kids know about these days), from the presentational code (the aforementioned CSS). When this is done correctly, the benefits are many.

So enjoy my nakedness for a day...it won't happen again until next year...or until I next take a shower.

This morning we woke up to this lovely sight out of our massive picture window in the living room. SNOW! Finally, for the first time this winter. Well, we've had "flurries" before, but nothing that even really landed on the ground. Andy was very excited, as he's been looking forward to snow all season. We didn't have any in Chicago for Christmas, and he was beginning to think that he wouldn't see any at all this year.

All the schools in the area are closed today, and some people are taking off of work so they don't have to drive in these hazardous conditions. For those of you in my home state of Illinois - no, it's not deeper than it looks. It's just about an inch of snow, maybe two. This kind of snow in Illinois wouldn't change anyone's day. I frequently had to walk several blocks to the bus stop in 4 or more inches of snow (uphill both ways).

There are a variety of factors that cause Nashville to go crazy when it snows. One, it doesn't happen very often so they don't have much of a budget for cleanup. Two, it's pretty hilly and that does make for some slippery roads. Three, these people don't even know how to drive well in heavy rain, so snow is too much to handle. And finally, the schools just want to take some snow days, darn it!

We're still recovering from Noelle being sick, so we probably won't be going out today. (She did sleep all night again last night though!!) Hopefully I can at least bring her out to touch the snow and see what it's like. It will most likely be gone by Monday!

I recently found this website called Technorati that helps track people with blogs. I figured that I'd sign up and see just what it does. If you happen upon this post and are interested, why not click that link up above and see where it takes you?

About a year or two ago, I was watching Food TV and one of the shows was about breakfast food. They featured a little bistro-style restaurant called Toast, located in downtown Chicago. They raved about the french toast (freedom toast?) and showed how they made it. Since Jaime's family only lives an hour from Chicago, I knew that I HAD to check this place out.

A few weeks before our next Chicago trip I told Jaime that I wanted to go this place. Admittedly it IS pretty far out of the way, but still...French toast the size of your HEAD (check the picture if you don't believe me)!!! She told me "not this time, maybe the next time." And she KEPT saying this through the next 4 trips to Chicago. Finally ovet this last Christmas break, since we were going to be in Illinois for nearly a week, I put my foot down and said "I'm going".

Luckily, my parents came up to Chicago to celebrate Christmas (and Noelle's birthday) and they were arriving via Midway which is just a hop away from downtown. Jaime wasn't feeling well so she stayed home and my parents and I made the trip to Toast.

Anyway, so we journeyed into downtown Chicago which was awesome in and of itself. But the pinnacle of the trip was of course Toast. We had hardly any wait at all (which was uncommon from what the wait staff said). We looked at what was on the plates of our fellow diners and decided that instead of each of us ordering something, we'd order 4 or 5 things and share them all.

And let me tell you that it's a good thing we did. The French Toast alone was a meal for two. We decided on an order of French Toast stuffed with marscapone cheese, an order of Applewood smoked, Gouda stuffed sausages, some scrambled eggs and a nice big bowl of fruit. We all ate until we were full and it was the perfect amount. The french toast was absolutely amazing and the sausage was the best I've ever had. I'm no food critic, but I know what I like and this was by FAR worth the trip. Click the link below to see some more pictures from Toast. Check the link

So...

Our child doesn't sleep. I know that sounds strange coming from the parents of an almost 13 month old but it's true. She exhibits all of the signs of BEING sleepy, but she just refuses to surrender to the soft embrace of her pillow and blankets. She must get her stubbornness from Jaime.

I would say that it's affecting our relationship with her, and that it's also affecting the relaionship between Jaime and I but that would be an understatement. I'll give her the first 6 months as being a "normal baby" but anything after that is just sheer spite on her part.

We need to do something but we both feel so beat down that it's difficult to bring ourselves to try something new when everything else has failed...and all the while Noelle keeps waking up crying/screaming/sobbing. Did I mention that she woke up 6 times last night from around 8pm to this morning at 6:30am (not counting her morning wakey-wakey)?

To top it all off, we've decided that we're going to have to get a new pediatrician. We've been trying to explain the severity of her sleeplessness to our guy, Doctor Haraf, for the past 5 or 6 months. Each time we do, he basically tells us to give her a pacifier of some sort (bottle, binky or lovey) but she doesn't take any of those. He then offers up a charming story of how his best friend's child was having trouble sleeping.

He explains that his friend's child was not sleeping and how the friend and the friend's wife tried everything. So finally Frank (our doc) and his friend decided to let the child "cry it out". Basically they kicked out the wife and ate pizza, played playstation and let the baby girl cry; several times so long and hard that she vomited. They would then clean her off and start their day. But hey...after only nine days she was "cured". I won't comment on the cry it out method, but I think that if you're letting your child cry so hard that they vomit, MULTIPLE TIMES, then there's a larger issue.

Anyway...that's quite a rant. We don't want to let Noelle cry it out. Partly because we don't agree with that method, partly because we think that she's too stubborn and that it wouldn't work. Hopefully we can find a method that works for us before you see one (or both) of us on the front page of the local paper.

So I feel I should make some sort of speech. I mean seriously...it's quite an honor to be listed alongside the likes of 1969's Middle Class, 1982's The Computer or even 1999's Jeff Bezos (Amazon.com's founder and CEO). I don't really have anything prepared but I suppose I should first thank the people who created the personal computer, the keyboard, the programmer who created my favorite text editor and of course, Jeremy Allaire, the man who invented Coldfusion. Without all of you, none of this would have been possible.

Okay...if you're confused at this point, maybe you should read the article before you go any further. Lest you think I'm having delusions of grandeur Time magazine has basically named ALL of us the "Person of the Year". That's right...you over there in Kansas, all of you up in Illinois and Indiana and of course those of you down in Florida. Even if I didn't mention you, you're STILL Person of the Year...Time says so. You didn't read the article did you? Go ahead...the rest of us will wait for you to accept your award because you've been so gracious while we fumbled in our pockets and rambled on and on even while the stage manager kept giving us the sign to wrap it up. We're so proud of ourselves... Check the link

It's 7:30pm and Noelle is currently in her room crying, and has been for the last 30 minutes or so. The reason? We're out of options and at our wit's end. Those of you that are close to us know that Noelle has never been a good sleeper (surprising when realize just how much Jaime loves to sleep). Since she's been a baby we've fought with her time and time and time again to get her to sleep.

For some other kids, this might not be that big of a deal as you could just throw a pacifier in their mouths, or give them their favorite blanket/toy or even give them a bottle to help them fall asleep. The problem is that Noelle has none of these.
1) She's never taken a bottle
2) She has no favorite toy or blanket despite our best efforts
3) She spits out a pacifier in seconds.

The only thing that really, truly comforts her is nursing, or rocking her to sleep. We take the blame since I'm sure we are at fault for some/all of this. But regardless, it's had a serious effect on our relationship with each other and with Noelle. It's never a good thing to want to bounce your baby off the wall when you've spent the last 20 minutes rocking her to sleep, putting her in her crib ever so gently, walking to the door to close it, only to have her break into an ear-piercing scream the minute your body crosses the threshold from her room.

So, that brings us back to Noelle crying. We've tried so many, many methods to get her to sleep that I can't even remember how many there were. We originally didn't want to let her cry it out. Maybe we're softies, maybe we didn't want her to think that she was alone, maybe we didn't think that was a responsible method, or maybe even we just didn't want to put up with her crying for that long.

We're in this now though. We've decided that we absolutely cannot allow it to continue as Noelle is almost a year old. Jaime says she hasn't gotten a full night's sleep since sometime during her pregnancy. I'm lucky enough that for the first 5 or 6 months of Noelle's life, I was able to sleep through most of her crying, unless Jaime specifically woke me up. No more...

We're trying a method that is supposed to work on 95% of babies within 2 weeks of it's inception. You put them to bed as normal (hopefully asleep) and you sit in a chair next to the crib until they DO go to sleep. That's it...you can sooth them verbally or even physically, but you don't take them out of the crib. Tonight's our first night, and the first three nights are supposed to be the worst. So that baby you thought you heard crying on the wind, might just be Noelle.

So, if you pray, then when you pray, pray for us that Noelle would start sleeping. We desperately need sleep.

PS...it's now 50 minutes after Jaime and Noelle went into her room and she's finally stopped crying. I don't know if she's asleep because if I stuck my head in there and she woke up, Jaime would have my HIDE. I think I'll just want to find out.

Over the past year or so, clever webizens have pulled recordings of their favorite movies and re-edited them into something they were never intended to be. For example, Mary Poppins as a horror movie:

Or Titanic as a suspenseful thriller:

Or even better, The Shining as a romantic comedy:

Well, it's been over a week since Thanksgiving but I'm just now getting around to telling you all about it. Jaime and I have traveled quite a bit over the last few months and so we didn't really feel like traveling for Thanksgiving. Since we were planning on staying in Nashville anyway, our friends Jason and Shannon Truss invited us over for dinner.

It was a simple thing, but we had a great time. Shannon suggested that we do a sort of progressive dinner; we ate lunch over at their house, then walked to our house for dessert (yum). We had a fairly traditional meal: turkey with the most amazing gravy, mashed potatos (Sauteed Garlic and Goat Cheese by me thank you very much), green beans, rolls, and more.

Kids were running all over the place, the meal was superb and we just enjoyed the company of good friends. After dinner we walked over to our house because the weather was simply smashing. We ate Pumpkin Cheesecake and Apple/Pear crumble and just relaxed.

The end.

I'm constantly amazed at the innate ability that certain children have to remain nonchalant in the face of uncomfortable circumstances. Take Noelle for example...she's got a stomach bug that's causing her to throw up a lot, have diarrhea and which also prevents her from eating more than a bite of two of food at a time.

Through this whole ordeal though she's been utterly cheerful, playful and more loving than you could expect. She's even been resting her head on our shoulders when we hold her (which she usually doesn't do). Of course that just makes us love her even more.

She always has a huge smile on her face which amazes everyone, strangers and family alike. It's in fact one of the best things about my day, walking into the living room where she plays and seeing her look at me and smile that "daddy!" smile which I know is just for me. It's times like this I just have to marvel at the resilience of chilren.

I wanted to leave you with this quote from The Choir's "When she sees me"

She never minds the weather
She likes the flashes of light
I say "Love, beware black skies"
She's not afraid of winter
Or thunderous nights
She follows rainbows in my eyes

Listen how fast my little girl's heart beats
When she sees me
Listen how fast my little girl's heart beats
When she sees me

So we spent this weekend in Chicago for my 5 year college reunion. We had a great time. We caught up with a lot of friends, spent time with family, and just generally enjoyed ourselves. It's always great to have an opportunity to show off our daughter, and she hams it up.

Today we flew home after lunch, and after we arrived at the airport we took part in a long comedy of errors that led to the picture you see to the right. We were borrowing my parents' car from the airport (they went out of town), and after we parked we wanted to take some pictures of Noelle in the car to make them feel bad for not being there. Haha. Anyway, so we took the pictures, got her set up in her stroller, and headed toward the terminal. That's when I looked down and realized we didn't have our suitcase. We had left it in the trunk of the car, and the keys were under the floor mat inside the car.

We thought of just buying all new stuff, or waiting until my parents' flight got in at 7 PM, but decided to try asking security to help. They were able to pick the lock after a little bit of work, and we got the suitcase out of the trunk. Phew.

By that point, we were late to check in our baggage and were told that it might not get onto our flight but would come on the next one. GREAT! (Fortunately, we found out after we arrived, it did make it on so all was good.) We rushed to our gate, knowing that even though we were running late, both of us had to go to the bathroom and Noelle really needed to be changed.

Andy went first, then took Noelle to the family bathroom to change her. This is when we discovered she had leaked through her clothes. It has been so long since she's done that, we've not been as strict about keeping a change of clothes in her bag. We used the extra clothes we had in there this weekend to change her after church this morning. I freaked out for a second, then went to the bathroom myself before I went in to help Andy.

Her clothes were wrecked, and apparently we also had no wipes in the diaper bag. WHAT! So we created our own with toilet paper and paper towels, and stuffed her nasty clothes in a plastic bag. Now, what to have her wear? We had a jacket in her bag, so we decided on that and a diaper. Hence the picture.

We made it home, and had a good laugh about our crazy afternoon. It was an amusing end to a really fun weekend.

Just a little reminder, that if you're reading this before the polls close, there's still time for you to get out and exercise your constitutional right to vote for the people who represent you.

I know that some of you might choose not to vote for various reasons, and I respect your right to make that choice. I feel, though, that choosing not to vote is a cop-out. Let me list the reasons you might not vote:
+ I don't like any of the candidates
+ I don't care enough about the issues
+ My vote won't count
In my opinion though, there is never a good reason not to vote.

So get out there and vote, or let other people decide your life for you.

My turn to try out the e-mail posting!

I'll take this opportunity to tell you about my experience yesterday of getting my very first cavity filled. I got the cavity while I was pregnant (thanks for ruining my 26 year record, Noelle), and they decided to wait until after I had the baby to take care of it. So here we are a year later, finally getting it done.

I was not excited, to say the least. Shots and drilling in my mouth are not something I enjoy thinking about. The worst part was the shot to numb the area, but if not for that, the drilling certainly would have been the worst part. I pretended the drill was just the electric tooth polisher they use, because it sounded similar. It's mostly mental for me anyway, so that helped a lot. As did squeezing the hand of the dental assistant. She said I could! All in all it wasn't that big of a deal. My hygienist hurt me just about as bad as the shot did when she was flossing my teeth.

As I was sitting there getting all numb preparing myself for this procedure, I thought how it's kind of sad that the only time I get to "myself" anymore is when I go to the doctor or to get my hair cut, or something that I can't take Noelle to. Oh well, such is life!

That's right... Usually Jaime and I add posts to our site via an elaborate admin section that I built. But this post was added via my new "email post" method. It's more of a proof-of-concept than something that will get used often, but heck. I'm a guy, I'm a programmer, and I like building new things. So I took the time to write this extra setup just because.

Noelle is officially baptized. For those of you who don't know what infant baptism is, here's what the Presbyterian church believes about the topic along with a brief synopsis.

Both believers and their children are included in God's covenant love. Children of believers are to be baptized without undue delay, but without undue haste. Baptism, whether administered to those who profess their faith or to those presented for Baptism as children, is one and the same Sacrament. The Baptism of children witnesses to the truth that God's love claims people before they are able to respond in faith. (Book of Order W-2.3008)

Baptism, therefore, usually occurs during infancy, though a person may be baptized at any age. Parents bring their baby to church, where they publicly declare their desire that he or she be baptized. When an infant or child is baptized the church commits itself to nurture the child in faith. When adults are baptized they make a public profession of faith.

Baptism distinguishes children of those who believe in God's redemptive power from children of nonbelievers. The water that is used symbolizes three accounts from the Bible's Old Testament: the waters of creation, the flood described in the story of Noah, and the Hebrews' escape from slavery in Egypt by crossing the Red Sea. All three stories link humanity to God's goodness through water.

So we baptized Noelle, not so that she's "saved", but so that we declare before God that we want her to be set apart.

Anyway, it went really well, one of the people involved in the ceremony said that she was one of the best babies they'd had on stage in months. Yay Noelle. She was absolutely adorable and even reach out for the Carter Crenshaw (our pastor) several times.

We had a great time with family and friends this past weekend, but we're glad to be back to our normal routine. Thanks to everyone who came to Nashville this weekend and made this such a special occasion for us, and for Noelle.

Greetings! We wanted to let you know about two things happening this coming weekend that you are invited to be a part of.

First, the annual Greek Festival is this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox church, 4905 Franklin Pike. We plan on going Saturday night (Sept. 9) around 5 PM. We hope to see you there! Let us know if you plan on going and we'll look for you in the crowd. http://www.holytrinitynashville.org/GreekFestival2006.dsp

Second, Noelle will be baptized this Sunday (Sept. 10) during the second service at West End Community Church. We'd love to have you come sit stage left in the sanctuary during the service.

Hope to see you this weekend!

Jaime, Andy and Noelle

So Jaime and I have gotten completely hooked on Fox's 24 with Kiefer Sutherland. We alternate between nail-biting suspense and total irritation at some of the character traits of the people on the show. Don't even get me started on Sherry Palmer, Chloe O'Brien or Kim Bauer.

Jaime found a list online a week or so ago that has some funny statements about Jack Bauer, the main character played by Kiefer Sutherland. Here's some of my favorites, in no particular order. Hope you find them as funny as Jaime and I did.

Jack Bauer is the only human in the world with the ability to make Chloe O'Brien drop the personality disorder and patch him through.

If everyone on "24" followed Jack Bauer's instructions, it would be called "12".

Jack Bauer does not get taken prisoner. He puts himself in a disadvantageous position so as to make his next several killings more dramatic.

If Jack Bauer's gun jams, it's because he wanted to beat you with it.

It's no use crying over spilt milk... unless that was Jack Bauer's milk. Oh you are so screwed.

Jack doesn't believe in Murphy's Law, only Bauer's Law: "Whatever CAN go wrong, WILL be resolved in a period of 24 hours."

Jack Bauer doesn't speak any foreign languages, but he can make any foreigner speak English in a matter of minutes.

Jack Bauer doesn't take fingerprints, he takes fingers.

Don't ever ask Jack Bauer what is going on. He'll explain in the car.

Explosions do not kill Jack Bauer, they just get stuff out of his way.

My husband doesn't wish he was Jack Bauer. He wishes I was Jack Bauer.

So yesterday I was driving to the bank and noticed that my car wasn't accellerating like it should, and it was also making a strange noise. One of my first thoughts was the tire because of the kind of noise it was, but I was on my way home and it was still driving fine, so I kept going. I got home and sure enough, I had a totally flat tire.

Today I went outside to take the tire off (and get a work out!), so that Andy and I could take it in after he gets home from work to be repaired. That's when I discovered the sight you are seeing on the right. The whole tire is like that! What in the world happened to my tire! I don't think a little patch job is going to cut it.

I've liked Good Eats ever since I saw the first episode. Yes, that's right...a cooking show, that I watch at least 3 or 4 times a week. I even SAVE episodes on our DVR so that I can rewatch them. Jaime likes the show too but she rolls her eyes when I rewatch episodes.

So...imagine my surprise when a friend, who works at Opryland Hotel, posted a banner that he designed for a cooking seminar at the hotel, featuring none other than the host of Good Eats, Alton Brown.

Now, I respect and admire Alton Brown for many reasons: he's funny, has a successful cooking show that not only demonstrates haute cuisine, but also explains, and focuses on, the nuts and bolts of what's happening when you pan fry something. Or the chemical reaction that takes place when you whip egg whites into meringue. Plus he gets to cook for a living.

I made the decision to purchase tickets as soon as I could. So I immediately sprang into action, leaped up from my chair, then sat down puffing heavily. No, I decided instead...this deserved a phone call. Matt, (Guest) my best friend in the world, works at Opryland. I thought to myself, "maybe he could help me out?" And help me out he did, by providing me with a most EXCELLENT 50% discount. Which is good because the tickets were normally $60 apiece.

Anyway. To make a long story even longer, Jaime and I spent 2 hours today watching Alton Brown deep fry a turkey (cooked in less than 40 minutes could you believe?). His trademark banter and witty repartee in place, Alton entertained a room of about 600+ people, all there to see him. Who knew that Good Eats was so popular?

We had a great time and of course had to document the fact that we got to meet and speak to him for a brief moment. We even have the picture to prove it.

at least we weren't the ones wearing the "Assman's Butt Rubb & Kiester Sauces" t-shirts.

I watched an episode of Good Eats wherein Alton Brown, the host, spoke of cooking artichokes. Having only ever had artichokes in that tasty concoction known as Artichoke dip, I decided to follow his lead and cook a whole artichoke for dinner.

A daunting process, I forged forward nonetheless. Stripping away the outer, somewhat brown leaves and cutting off the base, I boiled them in salted water until tender. While cooking, I prepared a dipping sauce of dijon mustard, mayo, cayenne, lemon juice and shredded parmesan cheese.

Once they were done, Jaime and I drained them and set about eating them, leaf by leaf until we had nothing left but a pile of empty husks.

All in all a satisfying meal, if a little scary looking. That hairy thing at the top is called the choke and is actually at the very center of the vegetable, right above the heart. Don't try to eat it, you'll poke yourself as it's sharp and pointy.

Jaime, Noelle and I were laying in bed this morning when I decided to drape Noelle's burp cloth over her face. I wasn't expecting much from it, other than for me to pull it off and see the expression on her face when I did so. But lo and behold, she pulled it off herself!

So I decided to try again to see what she'd do and each time I did, she pulled the burp cloth off of her face, looking straight at Jaime each time it was removed.

I know for those of you that aren't parents this might sound relatively trite but this is an important step in Noelle's development, the understanding of "space". She now knows that she's not alone in her space. She also knows that something was on her face that didn't belong there.

So yay!

As of this week, my car is completely paid off! We made the final payment last week, and today in the mail I received the title which states that I am now the complete owner. Granted, it says Jaime Bartling, and it has my old address from when I lived at Trevecca, but still. It also says that the original lien holder is in Oralnd Park, IL instead of Orland. I will never understand how people in those types of jobs make errors like that. Anyway, we are so happy to have that paid off, and to not be spending that money every month anymore.

And apparently I overpaid, so they also sent me a refund check. It is for $0.06. Seriously? Not even worth the paper it's printed on. But I'm going to deposit it anyway! Maybe I should deposit it by itself. I wonder what they'd do at the bank. Crazy people.

Andy told me that I can use the money we aren't spending to pay off the car in this first month to buy myself some new clothes! He knows that I barely ever buy myself anything, so he's not giving me a dangerous offer.

This picture of me and my dad was taken by the Saturn sales team after I purchased the car. They take your picture and do a little cheer for you as you drive away. Very funny. It's a scanned polaroid, so it's not very clear.

It certainly feels good to wipe out a debt.

We went down to Tampa this past weekend to visit my parents. My dad hasn't seen Noelle in person since she was born, and it's been at least 3 months since my mom has seen her. Needless to say they were overjoyed and ecstatic for us to be down in Tampa. Not only did they get to spend time with the favorite only granddaughter, they got to show her off to everyone they knew...including the mailman (okay, not really but I was in the moment).

Also, while we were in Tampa, I got a chance to show Jaime some of my old haunts, the site of the Jahva coffeehouse in Lakeland, University Mall, and more. We also had a chance to spend time with some of my old friends: Suze & Scott Meredith (haven't seen either of them in over 10 years) and Heath & Rebecca Kruse. What a great time it was.

We also got to meet up with Jaime's mom's best friend Becky who lives in Lake Wales. The picture above was taken after eating dinner with Becky and her husband Bruce. Isn't it amazing? One of the better pictures of my two favorite ladies and Noelle has an amazing smile: she could be a doll.

When we got back, we all almost collapsed we were so tired, but in a crowning moment I got to see Noelle roll over on her play mat. It's the first time for me and I think it bodes well for the future.

Kids are great...and they grow up so fast.

For probably almost 3 months now, we have had some uninvited guests in our house. They have been creating quite a ruckus the entire time they've been here, and they have even destroyed some property. Why haven't we kicked them out yet? Just when we think we've had all we can take, they quiet down and we almost forget they are here. But they haven't left, and today one of them drew the last straw. He came into our personal living space and almost scared me to death.

At 7:15 AM today, Andy was out making breakfast and I was in bed with Noelle trying to fall back asleep. I heard a noise that for a moment sounded like Andy pouring cereal, but soon realized it was much more than that. I called out to Andy asking for confirmation of my suspicion, and he didn't respond. I called again, "ANDY - WHAT WAS THAT!?!?!?"

I then heard the bathroom door close quickly, and Andy came into the bedroom. He sheepishly told me that what I have suspected for a long time finally happened. One of the uninvited guests made its way into our house.

It was a bird. They've been living in the chimney for some time, but with the flue closed, we thought we were safe. A few weeks ago, though, Andy tried to smoke them out by lighting a fire in the fireplace, and apparently forgot to close the flue. So this morning, Andy heard the fluttering noise just like I did, and looked out into the living room to see a bird flying around our house. It started to make its way down the hall, and lucky for Andy, it headed straight into the bathroom. Let me tell you, if that thing had come into my bedroom, I would be a widow today.

He trapped it in the bathroom, got a trash bag and scooped it up and took it outside. I made sure he checked for any droppings, and he cleaned some off the window sill.

So, I'm sorry to say, our guests have got to go. TODAY. Andy will be calling someone today to take care of not only the birds, but also their squirrel friends that have been living in our ceilings. I've had it. They are out, or I am.

Today we celebrated Noelle's first Easter. She's not quite old enough for egg hunts and Easter baskets or to understand what the day is about, but we think she enjoyed it anyway. Andy and I are excited about starting traditions with her that we will carry on for our family. For instance, today we had "Easter Fajitas" for lunch, and we just might do that every year! Granted, it was just because that's what we had in the house, but traditions have to start somehow.

We spent the day with just the three of us (or 5 if you count Nacho and Duncan). We went to church this morning where Noelle wore her very first dress, as pictured here. This afternoon we did a photo shoot outside and got some great pictures. She really likes to be outside - it almost always calms her down instantly. She is definitely more like Andy in that way. I got a caterpillar on me while we were out there and about had a heart attack trying to get it off! Take a look at the pictures!

We hope that all of you had a happy Easter and were able to spend time with family and friends.

We've got some pictures on the website now. You can take a look through all of the galleries by clicking the photos button there at the top of the website.

Hope you like them and look for more to be added in the coming days.

Hey everyone... We know it's been a while since we last posted but as you can see, we've been doing a wee little bit of housecleaning around here.

We've added a lot more functionality and everything should now be easier to read. Pictures will be larger and more frequently uploaded. Plus you can more easily find old posts and pictures.

Like what you see? Let us know!

My second nephew is here! Jeremiah was born yesterday around 6:30 PM, so his birthdate is 02-04-06. They were hoping he might weigh 8 pounds to continue the pattern, but he skipped right over 8 and weighed in at 10 pounds 3 ounces. What a chunk! We will be taking Noelle on her first airplane ride this weekend to meet Jeremiah, and have Noelle meet some family that hasn't seen her yet. We are so excited to have another cousin for Noelle, and another nephew. We are happy that he is here and healthy! Here's a picture of the "little guy."

This site has the official longest page on the internet. It appears to be a series of graphics, each designed by a different person, which fit seamlessly together to form one ong image. It's like community graffiti in which everyone knows what everyone else is doing and plans accordingly. Very beautiful. Check the link

Out friends Scott & Natalie were about a month behind us in pregnancy and we just heard that they went into the hospital at 5:30 this morning to deliver their baby, Ford.

Please keep them in your prayers: that everything would go smoothly, that Ford would be born healthy and whole, that Natalie would be safe after the delivery and that Scott & Natalie would get to experience the "joys" of waking up at all hours of the morning to work for their little man, Ford.

Jaime and I are so excited for you Scott & Natalie. We can't wait to meet your son, our daughters future playmate and friend.

You'd never think that an 8 pound baby could so completely and utterly tire out 2 adults, but it's true. Our daughter Noelle Jordan can bring Jaime and I to our knees with exhaustion with just a squall and a whimper at 1:30am.

So I'm not a big nap person, but Jaime on the other hand loves to sleep. In fact, if there were a US Olympic "sleep team", I'm convinced that she'd be coach; she is after all to old to be on the team itself. So here's a picture of Jaime catching up on a little nap with Noelle sleeping on her chest, silently plotting her next middle-of-the-night crying session. Enjoy.

Andy Matthews here...letting you know that the newest addition to the Matthews family arrived today, Friday December 23, at 5:34 PM. Noelle Jordan Matthews weighed 8 pounds, 10 ounces and was 21 inches long. She's a beautiful pink color (quite fitting wouldn't you say?) and is in perfect health.

Jaime was absolutely amazing during the whole ordeal which started at 8:15am this morning when her contractions started,. Mother, father and child are at Vanderbilt hospital in room 4117 (under Matthews, Jaime if they move us). Please feel free to stop by and visit on Saturday, but we'll likely be going home on Sunday for Christmas.

Please join me in welcoming our beautiful daughter to the world.



Andy (jaime and Noelle in absentia) Matthews

Yes... I am almost a father and I am impatient to get started. Our official due date is just over a week away (december 29th if you'll recall) and Jaime and I have both been losing sleep already. "Both of us" you say? Well okay, mostly Jaime but I still get some of that due to her waking up and surfing the internet at 3am. Anyway, our time is almost here, the event that will forever change our lives...both our parents are coming into town for Christmas. That's right...we will soon have 4 very anxious, grandparents-in-waiting watching our every move, waiting with baited breath, hoping and praying that Jaime will go into labor while they're here. Jaime and I of course hope that we defeat their expectations and have the baby early. It will certainly make Christmas more fun and pleasant for everyone if we had the baby BEFORE they got here. That way everyone can enjoy the newest member of the family together. Anyway...keep checking this site because the next time you read it, you might see a picture of our new baby.

So it's day 10 of the beard contest. My growth is progressing nicely if I do say so myself. While I don't think that I'm a contender for the top prize, I do feel a sense of comradery with the other 115 odd participants. See my progress at www.whiskerino2005.com. Check the link

That means a maximum of 10 weeks until we meet this baby. I just had another appointment this morning, and everything is still going fine. I have recently been starving practically all the time, and I told Andy I'm probably going to start packing on the pounds. I gained 3 since my last visit 2 weeks ago, as compared to 1 in the previous 2 weeks. It's good, though. Even if I gained 2 pounds a week for the remaining 8-10, I would still be within the recommended range of pregnancy weight gain. I'm sure some of the weight gain has to do with my ridiculous amount of milk consumption. I bought us 2 gallons last Friday night, and had to go buy more on Wednesday. TWO GALLONS in FIVE DAYS! And Andy doesn't use much milk! This is a picture of me at 29 weeks pregnant, so 3 weeks ago. I tried to post it last time but it didn't work.

So I added some functionality to the website. Now it functions more like a traditional blog, with categories, image links and photo uploads. You can click any of the category names listed in the "under:" section to view all posts associated with that category. It'll make the site feel more alive.

We start our childbirth classes tonight. I'm pretty excited about it, if only because that means we are getting closer to meeting this baby! We are taking them through the Vanderbilt Nurse-Midwife Center where we go for our appointments. The class is on Tuesday nights for the next 6 weeks. I'm not exactly sure what to expect, since my only experience with these types of classes is what I see on tv. I am sure that getting some facts and tips about the labor process will help calm some fears. I am not feeling any anxiety about that yet, but I am sure that I will get to that point. Right now, I'm more concerned with my inability to sleep through the night, the fact that I can't breath very easily at times, and the relentless activity of this child inside me. All of those, combined with occasional nausea, stomach and/or back pain, are making my work experience a lot more difficult. It's bad enough that I spend my days sitting at a computer trying to entertain myself.

So we took our stray cat in to be spayed, and apparently she was pregnant. Not knowing anything about cats, we assumed that she was still pregnant even after the spay, although we weren't sure exactly what spaying involved. I soon found out that they remove the entire uterus, meaning that we unknowingly participated in a kitten abortion. Although we are relieved to not have to care for a pregnant "queen" for several more weeks and then try and figure out what to do with the kittens, I was a little upset. Mom cat seems to be doing fine, though, and Andy is on a quiet campaign to try and keep her. My allergies are forming a revolt against his campaign, as are the dogs. She really is a sweet cat.

Some of you know that we have had two large piles of dirt in our front yard for several months, brought in for a landscaping project that we no longer have the funds for. I finally found some people to take it! We have 5 or 6 people all coming to take some of it, and hopefully that will get rid of it all! If there is a little left, we can of course just spread it out and seed it. But at least we won't have two small hills in the front yard anymore. It's all part of getting ready for the baby.

29 days of work left! I am so ready for the time off. I am starting to feel the strain of these 9 hour work days and the walking all over campus. My abdomen and my back are so sore by the time I get home, I just want to lay down and stay there. But there is of course so much to do around the house. I know we still have 11 weeks until the due date, but a little preterm labor scare this week (that turned out to be nothing) made me realize that it just might come sooner than we think. There's just no time to be putting off projects anymore. We are lucky to have a great group of friends in this area that want to have a work day at our house to help get things ready for the baby. I think we will do that on November 5 so that it can be done for the shower we're having here the following weekend.

There isn't a lot going on around our house other than home projects. Andy is also getting a good amount of freelance work that he's spending some evening and weekend time on, which is great considering that not all of our projects are inexpensive. I put a new picture of me in the photos section. In case you are curious what's happening with our baby at this stage, they now weigh about 2 1/2 pounds and they are a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. Their muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and their head is growing bigger to accommodate the brain ? which is busy developing billions of neurons.

We had our 28 week visit this morning, and everything is still going just as it should. The baby still has a strong heartbeat, and it is moving around all the time. They also did a glucose tolerance test this morning for gestational diabetes, so if that comes out positive I'll hear about it in a few days. I don't anticipate it being a problem.

I have gained 3 pounds since my last visit, which was 3 weeks ago, so that is right on track. Now I'm up to 11 pounds gained. I am still not back up to the weight I was before I did the medical research study right before we got pregnant. I will definitely surpass that before all is said and done with this pregnancy, though.

My next appointment is on October 20, because now I go every 2 weeks instead of every 4. There are 84 days left until our due date, and 35 days left of work before I start staying home. How exciting! Andy asked me yesterday what I am looking forward to most about having this baby. I'm not really sure what specifically I am excited about. I've just always wanted to be a mom since I can remember, and I think it will be my ideal job. To invest my life into a little person in a mother-child relationship will be challenging and rewarding.

We started working on the nursery last night. This weekend we got the furniture, fabric, and paint for the room while my mom was here for a conference. The crib won't be coming until mom comes back for my shower in November, because our store didn't have it in stock and so my parents picked it up at the one in Chicago.

So last night, Andy and I pulled the carpet out of the room and thankfully the wood floor underneath is in great shape. Just a few paint splatters that I think we can get to come off. Also, the floor is the same as the wood floor in the rest of the house, but apparently the previous owner stained it darker after he put the carpet in, so this wood is lighter. It actually matches our furniture almost exactly, though. And now of course we'll have to get a cozy rug for the nursery.

Also this weekend, we got a free sofa sleeper from a couple in East Nashville. They posted it on our e-mail listserv for anyone who wanted to come get it, and we were the first! It's pretty nice for a free sofa, and it came with a green slipcover.

The fabric store had JUST ENOUGH of the fabric we wanted to make our crib bumper and dust ruffle and the curtains. I like it a lot, and the paint colors we picked out are perfect for it. We got 5 colors of paint for the nursery. The main colors are a light green on top and a darker green on bottom with a creme stripe in between. We got two accent colors of green, as well.

So, it's coming together! 86 more days until the due date, and only 37 more days of work! How wonderful.

Andy just wrote me an IM and said that he got us a canoe. A friend of his was giving it away, and apparently he has always wanted one. He says I knew this. As I am in "nesting mode" - my first thought was WHERE are we going to store it? He said that he will build a rack up in the carport for it. Then I pointed out that we'll need to buy life jackets, and oars, so it's not as free as he thinks. His excitement was not to be thwarted, though. He said, "now we can go canoeing ANYTIME we want to!" Because, you know, not HAVING a canoe is what was preventing us from going before. He is so funny. And we have a canoe.

Happy Birthday, Andy! He turns 34 today. What an old man! He commented this morning that he will be 50 when our oldest child gets their driver's license. That's what you get for settling down late in the game! I am glad he waited, though, so that I could find him. Andy claims that birthdays don't matter to him as much anymore now that he's so mature, but I still like to make a big deal of them if I can. He actually gets his birthday off work as a paid holiday, but where is he today? Work. Crazy boy. If anyone told me I could have a paid day off, EVER, I would take it. We are going to P.F. Chang's tonight for dinner to celebrate. Make sure you send him an e-mail with birthday wishes!

My appointment yesterday confirmed that everything is going along just as it should. Our baby has a strong heartbeat and continues to be very active, which is a huge entertainment to me. I have only gained 8 lbs so far, but I still have 3 months to go so I'm not rejoicing yet at my meager weight gain. I still have plenty of time to blow up. We went ahead and made two more appointments for me, because after the next one I start going every 2 weeks instead of 4. That means the time is approaching! We need to get things ready!

We are getting rid of our queen bed out of the guest bedroom next week, and then we will be able to start decorating the nursery. We picked out a really cool fabric that I am going to use to make curtains, a crib bumper, and dust ruffle. It has a lot of different colors of green in it. We are painting the nursery a light green on top and darker green on bottom, with a creme stripe in the middle. Andy might do something cool with a design in the stripe, too. We will probably take the carpet out of that room, too, since there are hardwood floors underneath and the carpet is blue. We'll see if we get around to it. Maybe next weekend we can go shopping for our nursery furniture.

We finally decided on names for the baby. If we have a girl, she will be called Noelle Jordan, and if we have a boy, we will call him Connor Everett. Noelle because the baby is due at Christmas, and Jordan we got from the show Crossing Jordan. It's only fitting that we choose a name from a tv show, as I was named after the Bionic Woman. Connor we just liked, and Everett was my Grandpa Wadsworth's middle name. I honestly thought for a while that we would never decide on names. But look at us - 3 months to go and we're all set!

I have just 48 days of work left until Thanksgiving, when I am going to start staying home to get things ready and rest. I am so excited for that day.

We're having a nephew! Jon and Mindy found out yesterday that they are having another boy. They had a great ultrasound that left no question about the gender of their baby. They also saw him sucking his thumb and playing with the cord. How exciting! His name will probably be Jeremiah. So, our baby has 2 boy cousins! And those cousins are my baby's only cousins. Knowing what Jon and Mindy are having definitely makes me a little more anxious to find out about our little one! I can handle it, though. Just 3 1/2 more months to go.

I have another appointment with my midwife tomorrow morning, so I'll try and write another update. These appointments aren't much, though. Listen to the heartbeat, measure me, ask me if I'm doing alright, and send me on my way. At my next appointment they will do another test for gestational diabetes, so I'll have to drink another "Glucola" before I go. Yum.

This weekend my parents came to Nashville to help us build a fence for the dogs. Well, and to see their pregnant daughter. While the "boys team" worked on the fence, the "girls team" made curtains, all the meals, and one of us worked on growing a baby! It's hard to tell who had the tougher job. I'll post some pictures of the fence, and my growing belly, as soon as possible. I guess I just forget that we should be taking pictures of me, because I see myself every day and don't notice the gradual changes. Some days I feel like I am showing so much, and then I realize how big I am going to get in the next 4 months.

The dogs don't understand the fence concept yet. We let them out the side door, and they run out to the yard for a second but then come back and wait on the patio. It's like they are thinking, "Aren't you going to come out with us? We can't be alone!" But yes, boys, you can be alone now. Hopefully they will start to get it soon. They are too funny.

We had our 20 week visit and ultrasound on Monday, and we were so amazed. Just being able to watch our tiny baby moving around, to see little fingers and toes, and a spine and brain and heart. To know that we get to meet this little person in just 20 weeks time. To see them kick on the screen and feel it at the same time. It definitely makes it more real to have had a glimpse of what this baby looks like as they are developing inside me. Now when I feel the kicks and squirms, I can imagine the little person who is doing that to me.

The baby is perfect, as far as they can tell. Everything is in the right place and functioning like it should. And, although mommy hasn't gained much weight, the baby is plenty big! 15 ounces, when the average 20 weeker is only 10 ounces. I was 9 lb 10 oz myself, so we might just have a big kid on our hands. My next appointment is on September 15, when I will be 25 weeks pregnant.

19 weeks today! We're almost half way there. This pregnancy thing really takes a long time. I want to meet this child! It is starting to get fun now, though, since I am looking more pregnant and can feel the baby fairly often. Not true kicks yet, but they are definitely being a wiggle worm in there. Andy was surprised the other day when I told him that I only really need an extra 300 calories a day to "feed the baby", so I pointed out that the kid is only 5 inches tall right now.

My emotions are running wild lately. I've cried over everything there is to cry about, and some things that aren't. I cried because we have kittens living under our house that we can't find homes for. I cried because someone told me "you don't look pregnant." I cried because we have to spend $3000 on a new engine for Andy's car. Okay, that one is a valid reason to cry.

Also, this week I had to stop being the pathetic sick one and let Andy take over. He had an allergic reaction to something - probably either octopus or deodorant - and got hives all over his entire body. He suffered all weekend, and finally got a steroid shot on Tuesday. He is feeling better for the most part, although the itchiness comes back sometimes. He was pretty pathetic for a while there, but I enjoyed taking care of him.

I went in for my 16 week prenatal visit yesterday, and everything is going fine. It was hard for us to hear the heartbeat for very long, because baby kept moving around. It's an active little one! I may have felt some movements in the past few days, but it's hard to tell since I'm not quite sure what to expect. Once I start feeling real big movements, of course, there will be no denying it. I am definitely looking forward to that!

Our next appointment is on August 15, and that is when we will get another ultrasound. They could tell us whether we're having a boy or girl that day, but we're not going to find out. It will be hard, but we can do it! The surprise at the end will be well worth it.

I have started to wear some maternity clothes, which I am really enjoying. I went ahead and put away all the clothes I can't wear anymore, because it was getting really frustrating to look through my closet and find nothing that fit. As I get a little bigger each week, I'm having to put away more and more.

I am working again, in a temporary position at Vanderbilt Student Life, where I used to work. I am here indefinitely as they are doing some restructuring that has left some vacancies for who knows how long. It's a good deal, because I know the people here and I probably have more to do than I would in most temp jobs.

I'll try to do more regular updates in the future!

All the pictures from our NY trip are finally up and ready for your viewing pleasure in the New York City section. I know, it's been torture for you to wait. I am really glad we were able to take this trip together to celebrate our 2 year anniversary. I know that trips will happen after Baby Matthews graces us with his/her presence, but not in the same caliber for a good while. Next pregnancy, though, maybe we'll consider somewhere that constant walking isn't required.

Now that we're back home, we are attacking some home projects. This week we're working on the bathroom, which has been in a state of disrepair for quite some time. Renovation projects really snowball on you. We wanted to remove the tile from the walls and fix the drywall, but to do that properly we needed to take out the vanity, mirror, and toilet. And we might as well replace the vanity while we're at it. AND since everything is up off the floor, we should take out the cracked and nasty tile and replace it, too. When we took the mirror off the wall, we found a gaping hole behind it with a handwritten note, "Renovated in 1968." So that's the year that someone thought it was cool to put fall leaves on your bathroom countertop and snowflake tiles in the shower. Hmm.

So enjoy the pictures, and let us know what you're up to! Oh, and for all of you who are dads, happy Father's Day this weekend!

Our time in New York is done, and now we've moved on to Massachussets. We had a great time in NYC. We were able to see everything we wanted to see, and some things we didn't want to. We tried to mix seeing the sights with having a restful vacation, and I think we did a pretty good job. I always hate it when you come home from a vacation so tired that you need another vacation.

Today we left the hotel in the morning and started a 9 hour journey to Uxbridge, MA to visit my cousin and her husband. We traveled by foot, subway, taxi, train, and rental car to get here. Long car rides and early pregnancy do not go well together, especially after a long week in New York.

Also, apparently Connecticut has a ridiculous highway system that likes to make you guess where you are and where you're going. They also have a 50 mph speed limit. Not that we got to go that fast anyway, with the crazy amounts of traffic that about made Andy kill someone. And to top it all off, East Haven, CT doesn't believe in public bathrooms, apparently. WHERE DO YOU EXPECT US TO GO??

We made it, though, and we're having a good time. Tomorrow we'll drive to Boston to spend a night with my friends Heather and Brad from college.

Then on Sunday we'll be on our way home, and back to the normal world. We should really take vacations more often.

Can you believe we had to walk all over the downtown Boston area to find a magnet for our refrigerator? They should sell those things on every corner!

We're SOO done with Boston and we've moved on to Quincy, Masschusetts; the home of Jack Klugman and Eastern Nazarene College. We're here to visit some friends of Jaime's from her college days. They're planning on escorting us to a nice restaurant overlooking Boston. I'm hoping to convince Jaime to try some seafood, we ARE in Boston after all, but I doubt that'll happen.

Right now we're doing our standard routine, stealing wireless from somebody else and giving it to the "poor" (meaning us). No matter how many times I pull up to a spot and connect to some unsecured wireless access point, I'll never get tired of the thrill!

We'll have some pictures of some cool headstones we found at a cemetary in downtown Boston and so on. But you might not get those until we get back to Nashville. We'll see.

See everyone later on!

Greetings from Central Park Zoo!! All is quiet in the sea lion enclosure, but the polar bears are restless here in the zoo. We've seen a seal who swam laps, a polar bear who played with toys and monkeys who fight with swans for trash. This zoo isn't all that comprehensive but it's got a great sampling of animals and the kids really seem to enjoy it.

Speaking of kids, the darn kid of ours is really giving Jaime the hurls. The day before she had to do the technicolor yawn into a trash can on the subway platform, luckily no one else was around.

Anyway, we're doing the Central Park thing and some walking around today. Our goal is to get some good food from a street vendor and just take it easy. Sure there's lots more to see and do here, but we can't do it all in 4 days now can we? The rest will just have to wait until after we've moved here, just kidding.

We're headed out now. Hope every one is doing well...we'll catch you later on.

So we're in New York City right now. Make sure to click that "New York City" button there on the right to read all about our adventures and exploits here in the city that never sleeps (even if we have to).

Also, make sure to check out our New York pictures, the link is on the New York page.

Today we're writing from a little diner where we just finished eating breakfast. You've got to love "stolen" wireless service.

Yesterday was a very full day, but we had a lot of fun. It was a great way to spend our Anniversary. We left the hotel at 10:30 AM and didn't get back until almost 11:30 PM. At that point, if I had taken one more step my feet would have rebelled and left my body for someone who would have been nicer to them. Today they don't feel much better, and I have some pretty angry blisters, but we press on.

Our plan today is to hit Times Square and do a little shopping in SoHo later on. We're going to take it easier today, and maybe try to eat dinner before 9:45 this time. Maybe we'll order in at the hotel and watch a movie.

I couldn't convince Andy to try going to a Broadway show, and I wasn't looking forward to the long line for discount tickets anyway, so we're going to skip that NY Attraction. Check in later on for pictures of our day in Times Square. If you're lucky, maybe we'll buy you something.

So I'm typing this from a Starbucks down the street from the Empire State Building. And let me tell you this...what a freaking racket those guys have going. I could have guessed that there would be a line to get to the top, but I never would have guessed that it would have taken us almost an hour from the time we walked in to the time we go to the top.

Their scam works like this...you pay them $14 per person and in turn you get to wait in a line for almost an hour with no places to sit down just to get into an elevator to go the 80th floor. Then you have to wait in ANOTHER line to get to the top!! The view WAS worth it (pictures to follow), but all in all it's something I wouldn't care to do again.

The rest of our trip so far has been great. We bought some snacks from an all night grocery last night, watched some TV, then went to bed and didn't wake up until 9:30...what it IS our anniversary after all! We're going to SOHO and Chinatown today, then hitting the Staten Island Ferry for some close up shots of Lady Liberty.

More later on!

It's the day before our big trip and we're both really excited. Jaime's still not feeling all that great because of the pregnancy but I'm hoping that once we get out and start moving around, the excitement will help pick her up and move her along.

Just keep us in your thoughts and make sure to check this site every day for photos and thoughts of what we did earlier. Thank goodness for wireless internet!

3 months with no news, and now the biggest news of all. We're going to have a baby! We are 5 weeks pregnant, due on December 27, 2005. It took a while for it to sink in, but I think that both Andy and I finally believe it. My upset stomach and aching back certainly believe it. We are of course thrilled, and looking forward to enjoying the next 8 months of pregnancy. Our last 8 months with just the two of us! It is such a blessing to be able to carry this child. We would greatly appreciate your prayers during this time, for all to be healthy.

Wow! We have a new website! I know that you are excited. It was about time, since the previous site was initially designed for our wedding information. Although the look of the site has changed, we are still working on changing information and pictures. Keep checking back with us for the latest! And update us with yours! We love to hear from you.

Christmas always seems like it takes forever to get here, and then it flies by. We just got back yesterday from a great weekend in Tampa with Andy's parents. We were able to get there earlier than we planned because of bad weather in Nashville and a paranoid boss wanting me to get ahead of it. You don't have to tell me twice to leave early! So, we surprised his parents by showing up the night before we were supposed to arrive. When we got there, we sent Nacho in their dog door to say SURPRISE!

We enjoyed time together going out, watching episodes of CSI, watching the dogs play, having friends and family over, and just relaxing. I don't know when the last time I took so many naps was. Also, Carol taught me how to sew with the sewing machine she got me for Christmas! We made curtains for the kitchen. I'll have Andy post pictures some day.

Since this was my first Christmas away from home, my parents and Jon, Mindy and Jackson came to visit us earlier in December for an early Christmas. It was great to have them all at our house. It will probably be a long time before they see it again, and we will definitely have more done.

Well, it's back to work. Luckily it's another short week as there is still some holiday time to be had. Enjoy yours!

Wow, it's the middle of November already! It is just starting to get a little bit chilly outside, but mostly it's gorgeous. I love to wear long sleeves and maybe a jacket and be totally comfortable, and that's where it is right now. Soon enough, as Andy reminds me, it will be snowing. Not much here in Nashville, of course, but we'll get our 1/4" that closes down the whole city.

We moved 3 months ago, and we are finally getting around to painting, picking out curtain fabrics, and demolishing the tile in our bathroom. There is still nothing hanging on our walls, but I'm okay with that for now. Once we get some rooms painted and find some bookshelves that Andy likes we can finish unpacking and hanging all of our various decorations. I will be very grateful to get there.

Andy still loves his job and sometimes even stays late or does work from home simply because he wants to, or because he feels committed to doing good work for his clients. He is learning a lot about programming and about business practices through his experiences at ICG Link. I still feel the same way about my job, too. I'm helping pay off our debt, and that's about all the fulfillment I'm going to get out of working here.

In case you're curious what we're doing for the holidays, we're going to spend Thanksgiving with my parents and Christmas with Andy's parents. This will be my first year away from home for Christmas, which is a little weird. I guess this is all part of marriage, though! And thankfully, Andy's parents are great. I've never had a warm Christmas before, either, so being in Tampa should be a neat experience. We'll have to bring them some snow in a thermos. (Remember when I did that for you, Andy, the Thanksgiving before we started dating?)

I hope you are all doing well, and seriously - keep in touch.

Well, we have been in our house for over a month now, and we haven't regretted our purchase for one second. Sure, there have been unexpected plumbing, paint chipping, projects taking longer than we thought types of issues, but those are the things that remind us we are homeowners. We still have boxes to unpack, decorations to hang, walls to paint and a fence to build, but that gives us something to look forward to! It's great to be in our own place. The dogs both love it there, too. They've expressed their joy by chewing up a lot of our clothes that they've pulled out of the hamper, many of our shoes, and also developing a great relationship with some local fleas. They also run around like crazy enjoying the extra space, especially out in the yard.

Along with a new house, Jaime just started a new job. She is working at the Vanderbilt Student Health Center as an Administrative Assistant to the Director. Not only does the job pay more and get out earlier than her last job, but it is also a great transition job for her since she will be starting Nursing school this spring. It's hard to start a new job, but she will get the hang of it before she knows it. Hopefully it will keep her busier than her last job - which would not take much.

We want all of you to come and visit us in Nashville. We've got a guest bedroom with your name on it! E-mail us and let us know the latest from your corner of the earth.

We closed on our house today! We met at 9 AM this morning with our realtor and closing agent, and after signing 8 million papers and having the obligatory handshake with every person involved, we were given the keys to 2018 Hackberry Lane. We are so excited about this opportunity. We'll celebrate after work by picking up some Chinese take-out and bringing the dogs over to the new house to enjoy the big, empty spaces.

We will be moving a few things over this week, but our main move in day is Saturday, August 14. Obviously some of you getting this message live nowhere near Nashville, but for those of you who do, we would love to have you join us that day. We'll start out at 10 AM loading up the van, then head over to the new house. Afterward, we'll all enjoy lunch together. If you can make it for any part of the day, we'd love to see you. We will have lots of Gatorade ready for the move crew.

We would love to have all of you over at some point in the near future to see our house. Enjoy your weekend!

Andy and I have a brand new baby nephew! Jackson Loyer Bartling was born at 3:15 PM today, July 16, 2004. He weighs 6 lbs 12 oz, and has light hair which will most likely be red. He is very healthy, and everything looks great. Now comes the waiting. Vanessa, the birth mom, has until Monday afternoon before she can sign the papers to allow Jon and Mindy to adopt Jackson. My sister-in-law was able to be in the delivery room, and they even put the baby's footprints on her hospital gown for her to bring home. She has held him, and my brother will have a chance to hold him soon. Then, they go home and wait until Vanessa calls to say she is ready for them to come and get the baby. We would appreciate your prayers for their mental well-being and sanity during what will most definitely be the longest weekend of their lives so far. Mindy said that whoever thinks that adoption is easy because you don't have to go through labor has obviously never adopted. Nonetheless, we are trusting in the Lord to do what is right for all involved, and we feel blessed either way because of the new life he has formed.

We got a house! We went out with our realtor on Saturday, and this was the first house on our agenda. It hasn't been on the market very long. It is at 2018 Hackberry Lane and you can see pictures of it by visiting www.realtracs.com and entering MLS number 608272. The house is 1878 sq feet, and used to have a separate apartment upstairs. That's why there are two front doors, and two kitchens. We have a lot of great ideas for the house, and are so excited about it. Our closing date is August 6. Of course we still have to go through the inspection and finish all of the financing paperwork, but I don't foresee any problems. So, sometime in September we'll have everyone over! This is a new time in our lives, and we are glad to have you as a part of it!

Hey everyone...sorry that the website has been down for so long. Part laziness, part business and part wanting to spend time with Jaime rather than work on a website.

All is well now though so come on back and read up.

One anniversary down, 60+ to go. We celebrated our one year anniversary this past weekend with a trip to Atlanta, GA. What a great city! It seemed a lot like some of our favorite parts of Nashville, with little growing communities full of artsy stores and unique restaurants. There was plenty for us to do there. We visited the World of Coca-Cola Museum, where we tasted coke products from around the world including one of the most foul tasting carbonated drinks I've ever had. We went to a local Jazz Festival in Piedmont Park, ate dinner at Emeril's, visited Underground Atlanta, and had lunch with a friend from the beard contest, where I had the best quesadilla EVER. We also saw two movies, did some shopping, went swimming at the hotel, and just RELAXED. We were on vacation! How nice that Memorial Day fits right in there with our anniversary.

It has been a great year of marriage, and we are definitely looking forward to many, many more!

We are in Florida this weekend visiting Andy's parents, and we are having a great time. This is a trip for my birthday/Mother's Day/our Anniversary and to bring his parents their wedding album. We also got really cheap tickets, which is a great bonus! We got in on Friday morning and just hung out all day, catching up and relaxing. We were all on vacation, so you have to live it up! We stayed up late playing a game called Frontier 6, where I got to rustle me up some cows and my mother-in-law became a chronic bank robber.

Today, we slept in late and again didn't do much of anything. That's one of my favorite things to do! Then around 4:00 people started coming over for a dinner we had together, then later a dessert party. We had so much fun with family and some friends that Andy hadn't seen in forever and I had never met. There were also tons of kids here, which provided much entertainment. Plus, I got some birthday presents!

We're headed home tomorrow morning, so this has been a short trip, but a great one.

Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone! Or as we like to call it, Cinco de NACHO because today is Nacho's birthday! His 5th birthday, to be exact, which also makes it his GOLDEN birthday. For this exciting event, we decided to make Nacho a dog food omelet. That's right, eggs and dog food. Cooked in a pan. He sure ate it up quickly, so it must have been good. Duncan was pretty jealous as well, but he eats his own poop, so that doesn't mean much.

And in just a few days is my 25th birthday! I will be glad to move out of the '18-24' category, especially since my husband is in the '31-40' category. Andy and I are taking half the day off on Friday to go see a movie, go out to dinner, and get ready for this huge 6 family garage sale we're doing with our community group on Saturday. We've got a lot of stuff to sell.

In other news, many of you know that we had a stray puppy staying with us a few weeks ago. Well, we found a guy that wanted to adopt her, and he did, but then he brought her back the next day. So now she still needs a home. Let us know if you find anyone who wants a beautiful dog.

You know, lately I have missed the times that I was able to "live life" with my friends and family, to see them every day, sharing day-to-day information. My friends used to know when I was having a good day or a bad day. They used to know my schedule, when I stubbed my toe, when I got my hair cut, what I had for dinner. They would know that Andy had a softball game last night and his team won, and that we went to the mall on the way there to return some things I bought (my mom calls that 'bulemic shopping'). When we call each other to catch up, we usually only get to touch on the main points. We're house shopping, the dogs are doing fine, we still like our church. It's different when you can live life with people, when they know all of your business. I liked that. I guess this little website is a way to share some of that day-to-dayness I am missing.

Enjoy your day.

Why does that house have to be so COOL! DARN IT!

Oh well. Life is good anyway. My parents are coming to visit this weekend, I ate fresh strawberries that were grown in our porch-garden this morning, and it's a beautiful day.

Jaime and I went house-hunting with our realtor this morning. We found an absolutely PERFECT house on our first try. 1800 square feet, a giant backyard and the perfect floor plan. The catch? One hundred and eighty-thousand dollars AND it's another 15 minutes in the opposite direction from both of our workplaces. While 15 minutes isn't a huge deal for something you only do occasionally, adding an extra hour to our combined driving times isnt' something that appeals to us.

So we're giving it the night to think it over and pray about it then we'll tell Anna (our realtor) tomorrow morning what we've decided. We're pretty sure what that decision will be but you never know how God might work in us. Please pray for us to find the right house and one in the area we'd like to be in.

Thanks------>

I took some pictures of us and the dogs using a digital camera this week, and I'm going to have Andy put them up on the website soon. Then I'm going to have him set it up so that I can put them on myself! I just have a lot more time than him to do those sort of things. He is very busy with freelance jobs, church softball games, and tending to our herb and vegetable garden, which the squirrels and birds find very appetizing unfortunately.

I, on the other hand, need to find a hobby or two. I've tried a lot of different things, but none of them have stuck. I'd appreciate any ideas you have! My main hobbies now are playing with the dogs, cleaning the house, and playing games on the computer. While all three of these are fun, there has to be something else out there.

We have a sister website now for our community group, and you can check that out at www.oureastnashville.com. Andy is creating that site for us to be able to exchange prayer requests, recipes, news, and our group schedule.Very helpful.

For those of you who know my brother and sister-in-law, they are hoping to adopt! They've been in contact with a girl who would like them to adopt her baby, which is due in July, so we are praying that everything works out for the best of all involved. We'd love it if you joined us in our prayers.

That's about all for now! Stay tuned for new pictures - I MEAN it this time.

So I'm loving my new job. It's so wonderful to be trusted and respected for the work you do. It's also nice to wear jeans or shorts to work but that's another story. I'm keeping busy and learning new things every day.

Jaime and I will be going to a marriage seminar this weekend called "A Weekend to Remember". We got the schedule for the weekend and it really looks interesting.

So I didn't get any new pictures added to the website last month. Maybe by the end of February I can get something done! It has been a busy month, it seems, although I don't know what we did. At the beginning of the month, I took a trip to Virginia to visit my cousin, Kelly. We had a great time watching movies, going to the freezing cold beach, eating chocolate, and cooking together with her fiance, Chad.

We helped organize a benefit concert for our friend Matt's family, whose daughter Jael was born with transposition of the arteries in her heart and a missing bone in her arm. Chris Rice and some other local performers all donated their musical services for the concert, and almost 500 people showed up. It was an amazing display of God's provision.

We also started the process of house hunting, which is very exciting! We're going to stay here in East Nashville. We would like to find a bigger house to have more room for guests to come over and stay, and for our dogs to run around. It will also be nice to stop paying rent.

And now it is February. We watched "Groundhog Day" with some friends on Monday (I think we'll make this a tradition), and we are going to Detroit this weekend for a friend's wedding. Andy has never been to Michigan, can you believe it?

Andy started a new job yesterday! He is now working at a place called ICG Link with his friend Shawn, where he is their in-house programmer. His favorite part of the job is that he gets to wear jeans to work, and I am jealous.

Well, that's about it for us! Let us know what's happening in your neck of the woods.

Andy set me up to be able to add news on my own to our website! This is my first attempt, so hopefully I do it right. I mean, of course I will, I am highly skilled.

Our Christmas was so wonderful. We had a great week with Andy's parents early in December, going to see the Rockettes, taking a trip to Indiana to visit relatives, opening our gifts, and just enjoying being with family. Then the week of Christmas we spent in Chicago with my family. We went downtown to shop and see the lights, played games, saw tons of family, and tried to keep the 3 dogs under control.

New Years was also a great time for us. Apart from having time off of work, which is always a wonderful thing, we celebrated our 1 year DATING anniversary! Yes, that's right, we started dating last New Year's Eve. What a year!

In other news, we are both looking at the possibility of going back to school. Andy is checking out programs in both graphic design and culinary arts, and I am looking toward nursing. We'll see what actually happens.

I hope to get some pictures updated by the end of the month. We'll have some new dog pictures, and maybe some new ones of Andy and I as well.

Thanks for checking in!

We are getting ready to celebrate our first Christmas together! We have a little 4 foot tree (a real one, of course) that is all decked out with lights, ornaments and a star that we bought together. We can't put the presents under it, though, because we have some curious puppies. We have our nativity sets out, the advent calendar hung, and the Christmas music ready to play. We put up icicle lights out on the deck and a winter welcome sign next to the stairs. Andy's parents are here this week celebrating the holidays with us, and we'll be heading to Chicago to be with Jaime's parents on the 24th. It's an exciting time, and we are glad that you are in our lives right now to share it with us.

Side note: The beard contest is wrapping up on December 20th, so we can all look forward to the shaving of Andy's big old beard soon after that. He will, of course, keep some of his facial hair. You saw the picture of his clean shaven face.

Jaime's job is allowing her a great quantity of time to excel in things like check requests, collecting book, food, and clothing drive items, handing out cookies and donuts, and the bee game. She got 22,460 points today!
Happy Holidays!

Wow, can you believe it's been 4 months already? Things are still going well here. We got a new puppy, who some of you may have already seen. His name is Duncan! Check out pictures of him on "the dogs" link below. He's the cutest, except for all the accidents he has on our carpet and the time he ran down the street and Andy had to throw his shoe at him to make him stop. We do love him, though, and he keeps Nacho lively.

Speaking of Andy, he has a lot more hair now than you might remember. He is in a beard contest with around 30 other guys, competing for the "best beard"...go check out his progress. Jaime has a new job at Vanderbilt University in the Student Life office, and she is happy to be working again. Those mornings are way too early, though!

We have been married for 2 months today! I'm sure that soon we won't be thinking about our "month" anniversary anymore, but for now it is still very exciting. We are both enjoying our newlywed status. We still marvel at the idea of buying groceries together, mail that is directed to both Andy AND Jaime Matthews, and coming home to the other every evening. We have finally settled into our house, figured out the basics of living together, and begun the long process to developing the marriage God has for us. How exciting to think about what He has in store for our future! We would love to hear from all of you, and have you over to the house! Send us an e-mail!

We've got the first of our wedding pictures back. These aren't the formal ones, but rather pictures taken through the days leading up to the wedding...also some from the wedding itself. Head over to the wedding section and take a look.

So we're back in Nashville after a fun-filled honeymoon. At times, both exciting, and relaxing we spent a week in the Poconos mountains in Eastern Pennsylvania. We've now been married for 11 days and it's wonderful. We've opened every one of the MOUNTAIN of gifts that were waiting for us in the house in Nashville. Rest assured that if you were so gracious as to send us a gift, you'll be getting a thank you card. Our friends, family and church brothers and sisters have provided for us in amazing ways and a thank you is the least we can do.

Wow...we're in the final weeks of our single lives. Thanks to all of you have that sent cards and well wishes so far. It's a blessing to know that so many of our friends and family love and support us. We hope to see many of you on May 31...but for those of you that cannot make the trip know that our thoughts are with you. For those of you in Nashville, we'll be having a reception / party sometime in July. Look for more information about it sometime in the next month or so.

Hey everyone and thanks for coming to check out our website. If you're here then it's probably because you've received one of our wedding invitations. We're truly looking forward to seeing you at our wedding. We hope that everyone that we've invited can come!

Feel free to take a look around. There's lots of good stuff to be found here. Pictures of Jaime and I, each of our individual stories as well as the story of how we met and began dating.