ah, the sentiment of love...

I married this man (the bearded one) 4 years ago today, and it has been the happiest, funniest, and most wonderful 4 years of my life. I love you, Caleb!!

children get older, i'm getting older too...

OK I guess its time for another Judah update... He's 4 months old now, and getting more fun and sociable by the day. He and I traveled to Texas last weekend (pictures soon) which entailed his first plane ride, and he was such a trooper! He was a little nervous meeting the family but warmed up enough to show a few of his sweet smiles :-)

As for his tricks, he's been rolling from tummy to back for a couple months now but is finally in the last couple of weeks rolling from back to tummy. He thinks this is SO cool, as he can pretty much get to whatever toy he sees while playing on the floor, and is already WAY more mobile than his mother wants him to be right now! On the plus side, it has made nighttime a little easier since he can now find whatever sleeping position that suits him all by himself, and thus has no more excuses to have me running in there 3 times a night. Poor kid. He also loves to suck on his fingers and is now working on getting his toes which are still proving to be elusive. And while he's still a big-time Momma's boy, he loves to be entertained by Erin (so long as she doesn't "pat" him too firmly on the head) and gives his biggest smiles to his Dad when they play together each evening.

All in all, he is growing up too fast and I only hope I'm getting all the pictures necessary to successfully document his childhood. I need to clone myself a few times (without so many of the hormones) so I can keep up!! :-)

i'll think of a mermaid lagoon, underneath a magic moon...

Here are a few snapshots of Erin's birthday party... the theme (if you can't tell from the pictures) was "Tinkerbell Princess Party". She invited her two cousins (and two helpers - thanks Molly & Mary!!), and the girls had a fun time of games, hair glitter, hot dogs, and cake.

Erin and Carrie

Caroline, Erin & Carrie

Little Jude wasn't about to miss out on the action, and the girls made sure to keep him entertained...

The Tinkerbell cake

Blowing out the candles!

Her Tinkerbell doll with matching dress :-)

i built my life around you...

Waiting for her 'friend Dad' to come home...

Showing off some birthday presents...

Today my sweet girl turned 3. I have wracked my brain trying to figure out where the last 3 years went, and didn't I JUST bring her home from the hospital?? Erin Grace made us parents. She showed us what 'love at first sight' felt like. Her presence in our lives has given us yet another reason to give God thanks... and cry out for His wisdom and grace. Watching her discover her world and listening to her articulate her thoughts on that world is like being given a second childhood. I can't imagine life without her, and I barely remember life before. We love you, Erin!

everybody had a kite, they were flying everywhere...

take a glance at the fancy ants...

I love these kiddos!!

The last two months have been a blur, but only blurry enough to obscure the bad days. Its hard to remember having any time to myself (reading a book with no pictures is a thing of the past) and yet in my solitary moments I immediately miss these two sweet children. Jude is still trying to learn the whole sleep-through-the-night thing, and Erin has just started potty-training. Yes, we figured we'd get all the difficult stuff out of the way now :-)

Tagged

So my mother has tagged me, which means I'm actually gonna have to complete a meme without being sarcastic about it ;-) I hope my compliance is duly noted...

And the rules are.... 1.) Show some cyber-love to the person who tagged you (check). 2.) Post the 5 Meme Commandments on your blog so no one cheats (check). 3.)Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself without grossing anyone out (working on that one). 4.) Punish, er.... tag 6 random people at the end by linking to their little piece of cyber-real estate (coming soon...). 5.) Let the lucky winners know by commenting on their blog (oh just hold your horses!).

And now for the 411 on Anne:

1.) I am the world's pickiest eater.
2.) I love true-crime tv shows and books.
3.) When I was 3 y/o, I drove my grandfather's van all by myself.
4.) I still think of myself as the baby of the family.
5.) I have always wanted a golden retriever.
6.) I love having my hair brushed.

Tagging... Vanessa, SEM, Missi, Shelley, Janelle, and Carrie.

its a human sign when things go wrong...

Well this was supposed to be a fun, photo-filled post about our visit so far with Mom this week... but instead we're all in the throws of (or recovering from) a nasty little virus that struck the day Mom arrived :-( All of the Slaughters succumbed, and Erin and I followed suit - only Caleb and Judah have dodged the bullet! So no pictures or good stories this time.

In other news, Judah had his one month check up last week and seems to be progressing nicely. He weighed in at 9 lbs 12 oz (25Th%) and is measuring 23 inches (90Th%). In between his fussy times he is constantly winning us over with his sweet smile and frequent attempts to 'talk' to us. Erin still loves to kiss him and insists that she's his primary caregiver ;-)

And speaking of Erin, she has been such a joy in this whole adjustment-to-new-baby phase. Despite initial reticence about having Judah come live with us, her little personality has blossomed in ways I never would've imagined. She is so much more personable and welcoming to guests than before, and is much more cooperative about completing daily tasks (getting dressed, brushing hair, etc). Yesterday after her bath she let me give her a manicure and pedicure (that NEVER would've happened a few months ago) complete with pink nail polish, and proudly showed them to her Dad and her Granny. I love having a little girl!

Our visit with Granny will continue until Tuesday (the days fly by too quickly!) and on Thursday Aubrey will come spend a long weekend... Sadly, this will end our post-baby visitors for awhile and I'll be left scrambling to figure out how to care for and entertain TWO children. Maybe one of these days I'll be brave enough to venture out with them!

the days are hastening on

I know its been WAY too long since the last post, especially considering I have a newborn that I'm supposed to photograph constantly, but the holidays definitely got in the way. So here are a few of the family... Judah is sleeping in all of his shots - maybe next time I'll catch him awake!

Christmas at church

Erin, wishing she had more of my attention...

Judah sporting his Christmas gift from Pawpop & Grandma...

a closeup.

and waving to the camera.

i've seen the paths that your eyes wander down, i wanna come too...

Here's a few recent pictures of Judah.... He is recovering from pink eye which is why he looks like a pirate in most of these ;-) Judah is such a sweet guy and we love discovering more of his little personality each day. Erin is being a wonderful big sister, and loves covering him with kisses :-) More pictures to come!

nothin' you'd confess could make me love you less...

Judah Knox Welty
December 6, 2007
6 lbs 13 oz
20.5 inches long

The exhausted but happy family!

The little man just chillin'...

His proud Aunt ChiChi...

And his sweet big sister!

After 22 long hours of labor, we were so blessed to meet our Baby Judah! He arrived in the middle of a peaceful, snowy night and captured our hearts just like his sister did almost three years ago... and that's about where the similarities of our children end :-) Judah is a sensitive little guy who prefers being wrapped tight and held pretty much all the time. Erin has taken to him well for the most part, and loves to kiss and hold him. She's still not convinced that he's here to stay, though, and keeps asking where Judah's mom and dad went (poor kid!!). We are happy to be home and we're ready to help Judah settle into life with our family!

Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros

You're the pride of Ol' VPI!

Erin was a Virginia Tech cheerleader for Halloween (can you believe it??) and loved showing off her costume :-) (There are several new posts today - you'll have to scroll down to see them all)

Eagerly anticipating the impending candy gorge!

Trick or Treat!!

Our Jack-o-lantern family :-)

The sacrifice of one's soul

Allegedly there was a time when Pat Robertson was considered a leader of the evangelical movement and according to the news networks he still is a leader. I for one would have thought his repeated heretical statements (not to mention the claim of being able to leg press 2000lbs) would have disqualified him but apparently Christian leadership is determined by how many TV shows you own and/or how many people attend your church. Interesting.

Regardless, I must concede that even though I disagree with many things Pat Robertson says and does, I respect that he has always defended the biblical truths. He has not been afraid to say that homosexuality is a sin or label abortion as murder. Bravo! So I was surprised to learn that on Nov. 7th Robertson announced that he was endorsing Giuliani.

What exactly is happening to Christian Republicans these days? What could possibly posses people to throw their support behind a candidate who has shamelessly supported abortion, homosexual rights and repeatedly broken his marriage vows? Don't think that shameless is an exaggeration...the man has voiced support for partial-birth abortion, is famous for marching in New York’s June Gay Pride parade and publicly brought mistresses into New York Mayor's mansion while married. That is the short list.

So why are Robertson and so many other "conservative" Christians supporting Giuliani? I believe that it is born out of an intense (and irrational) fear of Hillary Clinton as the next President. Not a fear for our nation's children or otherwise people wouldn't support Giuliani, instead it is a fear for our money...the fear that Hillary's socialist agenda will tax us into poverty.

We should be ashamed by Christianity's eagerness to discard the pro-life agenda in exchange for their pocketbooks. Is it worth trading the lives of infants for acceptable tax rates? Or should the question be phrased, is it Godly/Righteous/Christian to trade the lives of infants for acceptable tax rates? No. As Pat Buchanan said, a Republican nomination of Giuliani is a “retention of power at the price of one's soul.”

The Pumpkin Patch

These are from our trip to the Pumpkin Patch a few weeks ago...

You can't tell, but she's kissing her "Baby Pumpkin"

Erin and her Daddy after finding the perfect "Daddy Pumpkin"

Caleb, the only one strong enough to hold such a huge gourd!

Our pumpkin family

Picking the "Mommy Pumpkin"

On the hay ride back!

Get rid of Microsoft Windows

I wrote this a few weeks ago but I waited to post it since Ron Paul was more important ;)

*************************************

Having spent too many years in the tech industry I feel that I am qualified to say that it takes a fair amount of hubris to insist that for personal use a PC is better than a Mac. There was a time when Microsoft Windows was superior to anything Apple offered, but that time has passed and people should begin to realize that it isn't in their best interest to blindly embrace the past. Instead we should strive to buy the best product on the market and right now there isn't anything better than what Apple offers.

Last year Anne and I decided that our next computer would be a MacBook Pro. This decision was born out of a frustration with Windows and my corporate experience with Apple products. We choose the MacBook Pro because a) we only buy laptops now and b) I needed to be able to use the laptop for work purposes.

My experience has been that what I want in a work computer is completely different than what I want in my home computer. As a Network Administrator I wanted a computer that I had complete control over as a home user I want a computer that works without any effort on my part. There is no question that Apple has a clear advantage as a home computer, because of their attention to details that really make their product shine.

So without further ado, here are a handful of those superior “details” found in a Mac.

Hardware:
1. Magsafe Power Adapter.
On a typical laptop the power jack uses a physical "pinch" method to hold the power cord in place. There are two problems with this method, first over time that "pinch" wears out and the jack no longer establishes a firm connection with the cord. Second, if you or your children should trip over the cord than the entire laptop crashes to the floor. The Macbook uses a magnet, all you have to do is bring the end of the power cord close enough to the side of the laptop and "presto" it snaps into place. The beauty of a magnet is that the "strength" does not fade and the magnet is strong enough to easily hold the power cord in place but weak enough that it releases before your computer is pulled off your desk.

2. Illuminated Keyboard
Once you have used a keyboard that gradually illuminates as your environment darkens, you'll never go back. Simple as that.

3. Two-finger Trackpad support
Drag one finger to move your cursor, tap one finger for a left click, drag two fingers to scroll a window, tap two fingers for a right click…never use your trackpad buttons again.

Software:
1. Stable
Because Apple doesn't have to worry about thousands of possible hardware configurations, they can design their operating system to work perfectly with their hardware. The result is no more crashes, no more restarts and no more hassle. Seriously.

2. Authority
Have you ever installed a spyware off the Internet, without even knowing it? Well if you had a Mac it wouldn't be a problem, because software can't install without a username and password! Why Windows didn't have this option before Vista is beyond imagination (although even in Vista it isn't properly implemented).

3. Simplicity
Mac OS X is frankly far simpler than Windows. An example of this is plugging in a USB mouse. When I'm on my Windows laptop, I get three pop-up messages when I plug in my mouse "USB device detected", "USB Human Interface Device Detected" and "Your new hardware is installed and ready to use". When I plug the mouse into the Mac a grand total of 0 message are displayed…the only thing that happens is that the mouse works and that is all I care about! OS X does an excellent job of only alerting you if there is a PROBLEM. Not so for Windows, I can't even count how many messages you receive when you first use Windows that give you some pointless information plus the option to never display that message again. Apple has the mindset that if the information doesn't need to be displayed "ever again" than it didn't need to be displayed in the first place. Bravo!

4. Ease of Use
The location of everything on a Mac makes sense. Preferences are all stored under preferences. Applications are all stored under Applications. Documents are all stored under Documents. You are never left wondering where something could be. How about searching? Can't remember what you named that document with the chicken recipe? Begin typing recipe into the search field on the title bar and results begin to instantly appear, no more waiting for that timer to stop spinning…


Macs are far from perfect yet and some differences are particularly annoying if you are a Windows user (Hello, no delete key?!?), but the overall Mac experience is FAR superior to anything else available! In the past finding applications for the Mac was one of its biggest
detractions…that isn't an issue now, not only can you run Windows programs on a Mac there are also many MANY more native Mac applications available! (ie. there is a nifty recipe program that operates like iTunes, automatically scales any recipe for any size
group, creates custom shopping lists based off the recipes you choose, will export that shopping list to your ipod and will respond to voice commands by reading your recipes out loud to you while you are in the kitchen! Nice!)

Plus with the new version of OS X coming out October 26th, why waste your money on a Windows PC? Do yourself a favor and try something new!

Republicans

I've been intending to post this for a while...because Anne never would ;) But it is about time people started to consider what it means to actually be a conservative. Here is a simple point system...if you think of Ronald Reagan as a conservative, you get points but if you think George W Bush is a conservative, you lose points...lots and lots of points...every point you ever had ;)

Anyhow, the lack of conservative principles in the current "first-tier" Republican presidential candidates is amazing. Although the eagerness of evangelical conservatives to embrace an apparent nominee in the name of "beating Hillary" is also amazing. If we actually want to reform the Republican party, why not take a look at some of the second-tier candidates? For that matter why not take a look at Ron Paul? It would be nice to once again have a President who actually thinks the Constitution is more than just an ancient document. Don't let neo-conservatism bias your opinion of him..below are links to his speech at the Value Voters Summit...it should be educational.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGu-da6XvJQ
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Swkqhsp1syo
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTRWqJvBm9U

- Caleb

i woke up from a strange rain and it was dreaming outside.

~ I went in to Erin's room the other morning and she said (in a calm voice) "Mom, there are monsters in this bed - get me OUT of here." She has taken to theatrics and seems to know how to maximize the affect.

~ When Erin wants something that Caleb or I am eating, she sits really close and says "Mom/Dad, I love you so much!" This is occasionally accompanied by patting or holding our hand.

~ She won't often acknowledge that she's gonna have a brother (I guess impending doom is not something she likes to dwell on) and will only talk about him in her prayers. I've been trying to get her to call him by name (Judah) but she'll have none of it. She still thinks his name is "Sister", probably from the pre-ultrasound days when we'd say "Do you want a brother or a sister?"

~ I am still behind on getting ready for Judah, with stacks of hand-me-down clothes still unsorted and unwashed. The guest room (that is being transformed into the new nursery) looks like one big closet and every time the door is opened I am instantly exhausted just thinking about the organization that needs to happen. I need Dok, Mom or Aubrey here to boss me around!

~ Caleb is still my hero, helping with dishes, meals, laundry, and taking Erin off my hands in the evenings so I can put my feet up and rest. He is graciously accompanying me to birthing classes (something we both opted out of last pregnancy), and has even offered to do the grocery shopping this weekend while I go with a friend to get a pregnancy massage. He's the best!

~ College football has been welcome respite from the mindless blather that seems to plague television these days... Is no one turning out creative programming these days? Come February I'd be ready to give away my TV if it weren't for the Food Network and The Simpsons (don't gag, Mom).

~ I am already behind on Christmas shopping, since I had pledged to have it all wrapped up by November. How many days do I have? AHHH!! Shouldn't I be able to opt out of Christmas this year???

round here we're carving out our names...

I've got to get better about updates! Last month seemed to fly by and this month is shaping up to be the same - too bad the pregnancy doesn't seem to go as fast ;-) I'm now 31.5 weeks and counting down. I've gone from feeling like it will never end to wondering if I have enough time to get my pre-baby checklist done! I also don't feel prepared AT ALL to be a mom to 2 children and feel overwhelmed just at the thought... I got so lucky with Erin in so many ways (perfect nurser from day one, born with perfect circadian rhythm, etc) that I'm bracing myself for a real challenge this time. I figure pessimism will prepare me for the worst, and if I'm wrong I'll be pleasantly surprised :-)

Last month we made it to a VT game (well, to Blacksburg anyway - go Hokies!!) with Caleb's family, went to Bethany Beach for a fun/relaxing weekend with friends, and got another home improvement project completed. This month we've been to a Redskins game and already (probably prematurely) carved our Halloween pumpkins (pics to follow soon). This weekend we'll head to a local vineyard for a chili and wine tasting festival with some friends.

The weather has finally turned cool, although for how long I'm not sure. But we're enjoying it while it lasts and look forward to having open windows and a break from running the A/C.

Erin continues to push the boundaries AND still surprise us with her capacity for absorbing new information. These last few weeks she has mastered the sounds of all consonants and the short vowel sounds. I'm still trying to decide whether I should spring for teaching her to read, but then what fun would first grade be? :-) And there's also the other matter of worrying that we'll be sending her off to school still wearing diapers... Despite a great attitude and willingness to sit on the potty for hours on end, she still doesn't seem to be getting the concept of 'letting go' while up there. Ah well, we'll try again closer to 3. I don't see myself coping well with a newborn and a semi-potty-trained toddler!

That's it here, all else is quiet on the eastern front.

and they jumped at the snow with long rakes and red bats...

Erin's latest fascination is rhyming words... She begs me constantly to play the "rhyming game" and can usually find a rhyming word to match mine. Occasionally she comes up with a non-word word, but for the most part she's getting it. So now in the car instead of listening to Barney or some other incessantly annoying kids' CD, we rhyme. Can't wait to see what the next phase will be :-)