New York State of Mind

Hello everybody,
We went to NY for Easter to spend some time with the family.   I've been working so many hours for so many months, it was about time that we got to spend some quality time together as a family.  Thankfully, the weather took a break from the consummate showers and let us play outside for a while. Hopefully, this trend will continue throughout the summer in both respects.  I've got a lot of work to do to reconnect with the family, especially Shea, and I intend to get my priorities back in the proper order so that they'll never forget what matters most in my life.

I was going to post some video of Shea playing piano with Grandpa, but stupid blogspot won't let me post any videos anymore.  So, you'll just have to enjoy some pics of our trip until we can post some video later.
Love,
Doug, Jess, and Shea

I was playing with my new zoom lens here, seeing how well the pictures came out from 100 yards away and playing peek-a-boo with Shea. 

Playin' piano with Grandpa.

Here, Grandma teaches Shea guitar, while Grandpa plays accompaniment.

After this lesson, Shea began using a guitar pick to play with his toy guitar.

We'll have to buy him a real guitar soon!

He looks so grown up in this picture!

Sittin' nudie on Nanni's couch after a bath.  I think he really liked it...maybe too much!

He Digs Music!

Hello everybody,
As most of you know, Shea absolutely LOVES music. He's always singing or dancing around the house. He can't wait for Fridays when we go to O'Neil's Pub and listen and dance to John and Larry music (that's Irish music to the rest of us). Unfortunately, O'Neil's has been closed for a few weeks for renovations, so Shea's really anxious to see them tonight now that it's open again. We're also going to try to go to another kids concert this Sunday. We had a good time at one last week.

Not only is it fun to watch him sing and dance, but it's friggin' hilarious to TEACH him songs. We tried to teach him all of the kids classics, but occasionally you gotta throw in a few adult classics. I decided to take advantage of just how damn cute toddlers can be and taught him a few songs that have always been dear to my heart. In the immortal words of Buckwheat, "Take a wisten!"

Love,
Doug, Jess, and Shea

Party in the House!

Hey everybody,
Seattle's weather finally moved on to Nova Scotia leaving us with sunny skies and warmer temperatures. For nearly 2 or 3 weeks straight, we had nothing but cold, windy, rainy weather. Last weekend, Salem recorded an 88 mph wind gust, with a 10-minute period averaging 72 mph. That's a friggin' hurricane! So, you can imagine that we're so happy to see the sun again. Shea and I went to the playground yesterday for the first time in a long time. So did everyone else. It was packed! That's ok, because he got to play with a bunch of other kids. It seems like everyone is tired of winter at this point. Hopefully, we'll be able to take a hike today and see if any of the birds have returned from winter holidays.

We've tried to make the best of being stuck indoors. Shea loves music and dancing. Usually, dancing erupts at dinnertime. Here's a clip from a few weeks ago. He loves Beyonce, so pump up the volume, pump up the volume, pump up the volume and dance, dance! Yeah, I'm down. Enjoy!

Love,
Doug, Jess, and Shea

Family Fun

Hello again!
Two weeks ago, we were able to get out of the house and head into the city to visit the Boston Children's Museum. They only opened at 10 am, so we figured we'd get about 2 hours of play before Shea got too tired and crashed for a nap. Not so. He was having so much fun, he made it nearly to 2:30, playing for over nearly 5 hours. We only took him home when we noticed him standing against a play structure banging his head against the wall behind him with a blank stare in his eyes. When asked if he was tired and wanted to go home, he just grunted. Within minutes, he was passed out. We all had such a great time though. What a great place. Despite being tired and surrounded by tons of kids and parents, he was a perfect gentleman, not acting up in any way the entire time. We'll definitely be back.

I hope you enjoy these pictures. As I noted in the previous post, our camera lens autofocus, a critical element when taking pictures of any child, doesn't work anymore, so I had to use the camcorder's 3 megapixel camera. So, please forgive the quality of the pictures.
Love,
Doug, Jess, and Shea

Shea must have foofed -- look at the expression on that chicken.

He needed to check in with his wife, Scotia.

"No suh! I will NOT play for the Sooox!
They told me it was a Yankees photo!"

Drivin' around, looking for trouble, I'd say. Is that a snarl or a smile?

This one is from a few months ago while we were playing in the leaves.

"Go away, or I will taunt you a second time!"

"Go away, you English k-nig-hts, you wipers of other people's bottoms!"

Here's a picture from the Stone Zoo over the summer. It was a great picture, so I had to upload it from the camcorder,

Snowy Scenes

Hey everybody,
It's been a busy few weeks, but things are slowing down finally. I can finally be with the family without feeling like I've got deadlines and other work-related issues hanging over my head. It's gotten progressively more stressful throughout this year, climaxing during the past few months. Accordingly, I've also become progressively more stressed. However, the worst is over and I can once again be myself. I'm not sure who that is, but at least I feel more human than I have for a long time. We're kinda getting to know one another again - literally. It sounds weird, but I've been working on this project all of Shea's life. He doesn't know me to be anything other than the stressball I've been lately. I wonder if he'll like the "real" me, or at least the current me. I hope so. Hopefully, I've become a better person, but that's all for you to decide. I'm looking forward to reintroducing myself to you all again. I plan to spend a lot more time with those I care about. Family and friends come first now. I've paid my dues and learned my lessons.

Part of recapturing the real me is to take more pictures. To that effect, we're going to need another lens, as our camera lens auto-focus motor is shot. So, we'll be buying one soon. For now, you'll have to be a bit patient until we can get out and take more pictures. Unfortunately, it's 5 degrees out, so it's not really the weather to go outside. Thankfully, I got out a few weeks ago and took some pictures after a recent snowfall. I hope you enjoy them. I'll upload another set in a few minutes from our trip to the Boston Children's Museum.

Love,
Doug, Jess, and Shea

This one is not as poignant as earlier seagull pictures, but the texture was just amazing and I couldn't resist.

More texture.

It was good to see Friendship back in Salem and covered in snow.

A "big, strong" anchor according to Shea

Flashback Fotos

Hey everybody,
I finally downloaded the photos that were on our camcorder. So, you get to see some pictures going back to December 7, 2007, just 4 days after Shea was born. It's so hard to think that just 2 years ago, Shea entered our life. I can't really remember what life was like before him. Sure, every now and again I remember the freedom to leave the house without thinking about it, but that doesn't compare to the feeling of coming home after a long day of work and having Shea run into my arms yelling "Daddy" with a huge smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Every day he grows just a bit bigger and I think about how little he once was. I hope you enjoy the flashback. I'm downloading some new video for more updates. Stay tuned!
Love,
Doug, Jess, and Shea

First or second photo of our new little man. Can you believe how little he was?

Skittles wasn't so keen about our new arrival. She stalked him for at least 2 days.

"Damn, I'm cute!"

Mesmerized by the big nipple on the ceiling.

The handsome smile has changed, but is still adorable.

One of his first bottles and steps toward independence.

Holiday Happenings

Hello again.
Here's another update. The holidays were great. We had a lovely Thanksgiving with Ian, Sarah, and Scotia. Our little man dressed up for the event. He looked so handsome and GROWN UP! It's hard to believe that he's only 2 when you look at these pictures. Then, it was his 2nd birthday. With the playroom, there was more room to spread out and for the kids to play. However, the kids still ended up playing in the middle of the living room, with some of the adults seeking shelter downstairs. For some reason, we didn't take any pictures at Christmas. We did take video though and we'll post some soon.

Love,
Doug, Jess, and Shea

Give us your best big-boy smile!

Maybe we should have taken him to modeling shoots? He's got the poses down.

How does a 2 year old turns into a 4 or 5 year old? Dress him up!

Random pic thrown in for fun.

Zoe got into the theme of the party by donning a conductor's hat.
Either that, or it's a killer impression of Gomer Pyle. Shazam!

Scotia got into the mood of the party by donning a bow...or is she Shea's present?