Being a parent

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

On our first hayride ever!

At the pumpkin patch!

Hudson loves nature and his walks at the Washington-Duke trail!

Hudson as a glowworm and Avery as a puppy dog!

Hudson is a glowworm, Mom is a butterfly, and Dad is a butterfly catcher!

See some more pics on our latest album here.

I love having a family. Nicole is such a wonderful wife and friend, and I have to admit she takes care of more than I do. There’s something about being a mom that puts a lion’s share of responsibility on them when it comes to raising a child and a family Maybe it all starts with the unequal responsibility of pregnancy! Even with full time work, she does so much at home too, and I want her to know that I love and appreciate all she does for Hudson, for me, and for us as a family.

From the dad perspective, life has been great and we are definitely blessed, but man it is different! Of course we love Hudson to death and couldn’t imagine life without him. But frankly, we find ourselves tired a lot! Thank god that Hudson sleeps through the night now, else we may start to crack! I don’t know how everyone else feels about it, but I do wish we had more time for…variety.

After a hard day’s work, one of us picks up Hudson from Mark and Andi’s house where our nanny is. We come home around 6pm, play, feed, bathe, read a story, and put Hudson to bed by 8pm. From 8pm on, its time for “us”. But after dinner (either cooking, or leftovers, or takeout, or just cereal or snacks cuz we’re so tired), we discover that we’re both so tired that we’re ready for bed at 9. The night could have been our oyster – time for us to hang out, decompress, enjoy some wine and conversation, watch a movie. But usually the tv is on the background, and we both get real drowsy, eyelids heavy, and we both agree…we’re pooped. Now, I realize that we’re still pretty lucky – we are fortunate to have a reliable nanny, interesting careers, and a infant who sleeps well and other parents have it harder. However, I do wonder, how do other parents keep the energy level up? Are they hanging out at night, accomplishing projects on weeknights? Exercising? Doing fun things like ballroom dance lesions? Keeping in touch with friends near and far? Taking their baby out at night? Having friends over? Or are they tired like us, and end up not doing all that much besides the daily grind?

Anyways, here are some more pictures of our few recent adventures. We did go to a local farm that had a pumpkin patch, hayrides, and some farm animals which was fun! Also, I’m writing this on Halloween night (yes, its Saturday night and I’m home, Nicole and Hudson is asleep, and there is no crazy partying here). We hung out at Mark and Andi’s neighborhood Halloween party, which was fun.

Love,
Alan

Here's more!

Hudson with his friend (and nanny-mate) Avery.

Us with Sue and Chris Barger

Tyler - grip it and rip it!

Danielle and Mike with their daughter Addison, and Kristen and Colin with their daughter Paige!

The boys! Vadin, Bryan, Aarish, Andy (the man of the hour), Alan, and Danny at Andy's wedding in Clearwater Beach, FL.

Grandma and Grandpa with Hudson!

One of my favorite pictures!

Hey everyone,

Sorry its taken me so long to post to the blog. I have heard from several of you, wondering when the next set of pictures would be posted. Finally...here they are!

Hudson is doing great. He is 16 weeks old tomorrow, and finally has solved our fears of sleeping through the night. He's really learned to do this now! He only wakes up once or twice a night, but usually goes back to sleep in seconds (as long as he has his pacifier). We'll need to "Furberize" him later - get him used to sleeping without his pacifer. He is a big boy, smiles a ton, seems to talk gibberish a lot, and getting good at reaching for things. He rolls over all on his own, and now likes to sleep on his belly! (Its scary leaving him like that, but he seems to do fine).

We're doing well also. Staying busy. We just got back from Andy and Missy's beautiful wedding at Clearwater Beach. Andy was my best man in my wedding, and he married a hometown sweetheart from Galion, Ohio! The wedding was a reunion of our close friends from high school, and a great chance to see the family in Tampa! Amy taught Jenny, Jeff, Nicole and I how to boulder, which was fun.

Nicole and Hudson went to Dallas to visit Barbara, who is doing as well as can be expected. Back in May she had a renal cancer resected, and we were hoping for cure. Unfortunately, her cancer recurred, and because of her rare type, there isn't a lot of established evidence for treatment. Fortunately, she was referred to a doctor in Dallas, just down the street from her house, who happens to be a national expert in the field of renal cancer. He has the second largest practice of kidney cancer in the nation! She is undergoing chemotherapy now, having finished 3 of 6-8 rounds. She is full of courage and love, and we are hoping for the absolute best for her. Hudson is her biggest cheerleader, and has special healing powers that will help her!

We want you to see some of our latest pictures, so click this link to see some more pictures. We wish everyone all the best!

Love,
Alan and Nicole