The Blog

Austin was dressed casually, but handsomely, as were his classmates. It was a warm spring evening, and we were proud as he sang his heart out at the concert, even if he looked odd as the only child in the group holding a pretend song book so he would not forget the words. Later, we smiled a bit more naturally than he did when he received his diploma; the pictures are proof of this, and when I see our son with his forced “four-year-old smile”, it makes me grin from ear to ear. At least once a week throughout the school year, I would walk through the door and he would have something to show me from his day at school. For instance, he was proud of himself for participating in barefoot day, something he had been too anxious to do the previous year. And in that instance, and so […]

While shopping at mega-sales, cooking hot dogs, drinking a beer, and not going to work on Monday, I encourage you to take pause and remember the quiver in this man’s voice.

We wondered aloud whether it was something that we should do or if it was something that we could even afford. In the end, our hearts won out and we spent the $200+ to take a very deserving 4-year old boy to his first rock concert. Even after the tickets were purchased, we second-guessed our decision: Would he want to go home when they weren’t playing is favorite songs? Would he be too fidgety to stay at his seat? Would he be able to stay awake lonnggg past his bedtime? .      .      .      . At 11:30 in the evening on Thursday night, Austin was exiting the car and said (spontaneously), “Thank you, Daddy. That was the best day ever.” In 4 hours, he had gone to his first theater, spent the evening with Mommy and Daddy, and watched all of his favorite songs performed […]

Austin will likely be the youngest concert-goer at a Joe Bonamassa concert tonight. At 4 years of age, Austin can sing about 7 of Joe’s most popular songs imperfectly (who amongst hasn’t butchered the lyrics of songs we love only to find out the artist was saying something else altogether?), but the tune is always right. He has emulated Joe’s style for half of his life, so when seats were available in the front row of the balcony, offering him an unobstructed (and affordable) glimpse of his favorite musician, we couldn’t resist. Why Joe? Austin chose him, not us. Never exposed to children’s music, he has been “rocking out” to Daddy’s music since he was only a month old. A VERY fussy child who always needed to be held, I would bounce with him in my arms for hours every day, in rhythm, while watching assorted concert DVDs. For 4 […]

To the all women in our lives who are always there for their children… …providing their love without condition or strings attached… …putting the individual pursuits and desires of their children above their own… …and understanding that “to love” has greater value than “being loved”… …may your day be filled with memories of the simple pleasures and experiences that only you may appreciate. We Love You.

Recently, Austin had to choose someone to follow for a day. He had to ask them to bring him everywhere with them, to let him share in their experiences. Without hesitation, he knew who to ask: JoJo. So, on Easter weekend, JoJo brought our boy everywhere with her, and we have the pictures to prove it. He went to Tae Kwon Do with David and was introduced to his sensei. He colored Easter Eggs with David and Danny (Austin liked the pink and red eggs the most). He got to go to David/Danny’s grandparent’s home, meeting Ryan and Danielle; he hung out with Aunt Tracey and Uncle Ralph. Additionally, he had an opportunity to have brunch with JoJo’s family, meeting Danielle, Alexandra and Haley. It was a very special weekend, shared with Austin by a very special person. The most special part was that Austin was never there, but he […]

We have had some internal debate in the family regarding the utilization of bows, barrettes, hairbands and other fashionable hair accessories. It should be apparent that Keith is against these tools of fashion, Christine is strongly in favor of them. There is no need to hash out why each of us thinks the other is wrong about such a pithy subject, considering that Victoria herself has made the point moot. It turns out that Victoria LOVES hats. Be they winter hats, sun hats, her hats, Austin’s hats, or Keith’s hats, Victoria wants to wear them. In typical young child fashion, more is better and she has been seen with as many as 3 hats on her head at one time. Strangely enough, she would not wear a hat all winter long, much to the dismay of her mother. But with spring comes new interests, and among those interests are hats. More importantly, […]

Our schedules were such that we only ate one dinner together as a family per week. In contrast, when I was a child, growing up, nearly every dinner was at the same time, with the entire family (almost) always there. I felt bad that I was not able to provide the same experience for Austin. Thus began breakfast Friday, the one morning that both Christine and I would be home for a meal. He would help me make the breakfast of his choice, be it waffles, pancakes or french toast. He would help make scrambled eggs. He would help me cook the roasted potatoes. Austin would wake up every Friday morning excited to cook breakfast with Daddy. Eventually, as my schedule changed, breakfast Friday became breakfast Thursday, and breakfast Thursday would later become breakfast Saturday. Now, with the new job, we eat breakfast together every morning and dinner together every […]

May has been a very busy and fun month; we are sorry for not keeping you more up to date along the way, but Keith doesn’t have the same amount of time after Victoria’s birth as he had after Austin’s for blogging. Nothing personal, it is just that other things are going on in life. Austin is doing great…as would be expected. He finished his first year of preschool earlier this week. We are so proud of how big a boy he has become. Sure he has some of Daddy’s anxiety issues, but he remains bright, inquisitive, polite, and happy. He will be attending the same school next year, the only difference being how often he will be there. This past year, Austin went to school twice weekly (Tuesdays and Thursdays) from 9:00 to 11:30. Next year he will move up to the next level in the preschool and will […]