Before I forget ...

I keep meaning to start penning all of the things we've been doing lately before I forget all of them.  Everything is moving so fast and frankly it's hard to keep up with all of it. 

French Fry's room got finished two weeks ago, and we took the last vestiges of our crap out of the closet last weekend.  The basement guest suite (which will actually be pretty !@#$ cool once we straighten up) is now outfitted with a full bath, double bed, and an iMac which could easily double as an Entertainment Center (as long as you only want to watch Disney movies ... that's all it plays!).

All that's left is some trim, some shelves, and some straightening up. We might just get that finished before our little one arrives.

I've rented a megaphone to talk to French Fry.  I heard it's loud in there.  Wanted to make sure I got through to him.  You know how kids are. In all seriousness, he's been high-fiving me lately. 

Henry is absolutely awesome right now.  His imagination is through the roof, his curiosity is insatiable, and his laughter is infectious. The dude rocks.  We spent last Saturday morning cruising Hot Wheels cars around our bedroom ... worth every minute.  He is helping out with the baby preparations, and is very excited about his new brother.  However, he isn't French Fry's brother.  He is quick to tell you that he's French Fry's Big Brother.  Nothing else will suffice.

Spring is breaking, even though I know that it will run and hide from Winter at least one more time this month.  So be it ... the last weekend has been lovely.  We're seeing our neighbors again. Some are just finding out for the first time that we're having a second child. Oops!

Our big boy camper

Henry found his tent this weekend, so we put it up and he's been
sleeping in there for naps and overnight.

He must have found a really comfy spot last night, because he wasn't
budging when I tried to wake him.

Then, all of a sudden, he popped up, started reaching for the granola
bar that I brought for him, and stumbled
Into our room to watch TV. All without opening his eyes. Ah, the
Thornburg sleepwalking/sleepgrowling/sleep disorder has befallen him.

The house is no longer safe, I fear.

Some Fun We Had: 2008

Holy crap, 2008 went fast. Here's a taste of some of the stuff we got into. Obviously not everything, but I thought this was nice ... some beach time, some pool time, some snow time ... and all of it Henry time.

With a new finished basement, a new job (wait ... two new jobs), new classes that Sarah took on, and oh yeah, a new babe on the way (shout out to French Fry), I'm pretty excited that my head hasn't exploded.

Quick note on the video: our sled popped on the run after the last one shown in the video. We started veering towards a fallen tree, Daddy our Stalwart Hero got Henry out of harm's way, braced for impact, Saved the Day, and started hearing the telltale hissing sound of a failing tube sled. So we packed it up and went home. Arrgh.

Daddy 1, Sled 0

Henry has been dying to sled ever since the snow came three days ago.
Unfortunately, it's been subzero (seriously) ever since. Today it's
15, so we're going out. Henry's napping, and I'm inflating the tube.
Even bought a new pump. Easy, right?

This is the concoction that I devised so that I wouldn't have to
resort to huffing and puffing. And yes, those are vice grip pliers.

First "sleepover"

Henry has been asking for a sleepover, so two nights ago I made the mistake of telling him: "We can't do it tonight, but we'll do it tomorrow." What a boneheaded move: everyone that knows that child knows that he doesn't forget ANYTHING. So, lo and behold, after I tucked him in last night and got snuggled in on the couch, I heard him calling down to me:

"Daddy! Daddy!"

I went up to see what was the matter, and to remind him that he should only be calling to me when he's in trouble. He let me know that (1) I forgot to put his night light up on his loft and (2) that I forgot about sleepover. D'oh!

So I made him a deal: I'd lay down in his room until he fell asleep.

It was actually a very surreal experience. I got to see Henry's room after hours. I got to see what he sees right before he goes to sleep. It was very much Henry's world. I had visions of how this is going to work when he's 15 (and I shuddered). And I got definitive proof that our little dude has a really hard time settling down and going to bed. He tosses. He turns. He kicks. He readjusts. He whispers. He repeats the whole process. And finally, he falls asleep.

He made sure to tell me this morning that he was awake when I snuck out last night. A very Henryesque comment, to be sure.

Happy New Year from Batman

Happy New Year! We had a fantastic Christmas, and a great start to the New Year. Christmas was all about superheroes for Henry (as you can, I hope, see in the picture). He got costumes, action figures, pajamas, underwear, accessories ... the whole superhero schmear. And not to be outdone, the supervillains got a place at the table, too. Daddy got a Wii, and Mommy got a bracelet so that she always had a place for her "h" charm ("h" stands for ???).

Shannon and Jen were in town (for two weeks!) and we spent as much time as we possibly could with them. We attended their son's first birthday party (ok, it was kind of a Fiesta Bowl party, but we won't tell him). Shannon and I played the Wii quite a bit over the two weeks, and continuously schemed more ways to play Olympics, or Wii sports, or Excitebike (which you can download right on to the Wii! Who knew? Not me!)

Hope you all had a fantastic break from the action, and are recharged for the next year. And, if you're in the Midwest, hopefully all of that Christmas cheer takes you through the rotten weather it appears that we're going to have over the next two months (just keep humming "Winter Wonderland" ... maybe that will work)

A Special Birthday Greeting

Henry wanted to make sure that he wished four very special people a very Happy Birthday today. Without further ado ...

Lots of Crazy Kids at our House!

We are blessed to have very dear friends. We are cursed that, with some very notable exceptions, they are all out of town, and most are out of state. It shouldn't be hard to imagine that we relish the times when they visit us, or we can visit them. Our last two weekends were dedicated to such visits.

First, Bryan, Sarah, and Annalia descended on Columbus to help us celebrate our many (OK, three) November birthdays. The three cousins got to play a lot, with Annalia starting to get into the groove with her older cousins. Henry and Asia flew around the house (as usual), trying not to maim the baby.



Just before the visit, Sarah had an epiphany ... Henry's cousins (as of December 11th) neatly arrange themselves by age. Every year is covered, and French Fry makes for a very dapper Zero. We found a great shirt maker (all done on the internet, even though the store is about a block away ... perfect for a geek like me) and made shirts up. Don't be surprised if you get one for Xmas! Revelry was had, and BSA (Bryan, Sarah, and Annalia) made it safely back home.

The very next weekend we got a visit from Chris, Kim, Matthew and Emily (the Williamses!). We watched the Bucks game (a surprisingly calm 42-7 drubbing of that team Up North (don't know if we'll see such a lopsided score again anytime soon). The kids were in their Buckeye finery (of course). We then went to dinner, and finished it up huddled in each of our cars at Sonic (not a very social plan), talking to each other through cell phones because it was too cold to get out of our cars. Que ridiculo!



Good times! Thanks for coming, everyone!

A friendly game of chess

Henry loves playing games now, and a recurring favorite is chess. And why not? His pawns can run really fast. His King has superpowers (and sometimes takes breaks on the sidelines). All of his pieces move in mysterious ways. Fun.

Baby Number Two! Code name: French Fry

Baby Number Two!
Originally uploaded by hepcatrayo.

OK, OK, OK ... I get it. You knew all along. You've seen Sarah in the halls, or heard about her getting nauseous, or wondered "Why no more feta?" -- or -- "Why isn't Sarah having her usual weekend benders?"

Let me just confirm it for you then. The secret is out. The cat is out of the bag. The monkeys are roosting. We ... are ... pregnant (wait, am I allowed to claim that, too? Is it endearing or haughty?)

Henry has informed us that the baby is in the French Fry phase right now, and will advance into the Cantaloupe and finally Watermelon phases (which, by the way, we are using as baby names until we find out the gender). Henry also gives the baby a kiss and a zerbert each night, and asks all kinds of great things about it ("Will the baby have a beard?")

It's a blast so far, now that we're past the puking. And the vertigo. That was not fun.

Sarah's only current affliction is Thirstinasia Moltocrazentia. She sometimes drinks so much with dinner (ethanol-free ... stay with me, folks) that she doesn't actually eat any dinner. Ask my parents ... her dinner from last weekend is still in their fridge. In its entirety. Maybe we can have it bronzed.

So call me up, call me a schmuck because you had to see it on the blog, Facebook, or Twitter. Some of you already have. And thanks in advance for all the well wishes ... we'll need 'em.

Calling Gramma ... Earth to Gramma

Hey Gramma ....



A very pushy young man asked me to post this movie. There's an APB on a certain Gramma Schmidt ... do you know where she is? We couldn't find her this morning on the phone or on the computer, so we're going for broke.

Oh yeah, there's a lot of other updates that I've been neglecting, too ... they're coming.

Tic Tac, Henry?

So, Henry's first encounter with breath mints was not what I would call an enjoyable one.  Where did he get a breath mint, you ask? We will not reveal that, for fear of mob-like retaliation.

Anyway, after a wonderful meal at Cap City, Henry asked for a Tic Tac.  A wintergreen Tic Tac.  The first fell into the booth, and so he was given a second one. I was a bit nervous about it burning his mouth, but after a split second thought ... what the heck?  What's the worst he can do ... spit it out?

No worries ... he swallowed it right away.  Not necessarily savoring the flavor, but not dangerous. After this transpired, though, he found the first one.  I made it very clear that he shouldn't eat this one. It was dirty.  So, as he sat on my lap, I starting talking with my "will be unnamed" company at the table.  As I'm talking, I see that the first Tic Tac is gone.

"Did you eat that Tic Tac?" I accused. Henry said no, but just as I saw a flash of pale green up his nose, the candy coating started wearing off, and his nose started burning.  And he started crying.  Loudly.

We busted him out of the restaurant, and went straight home.  I tried a straw, a bulb syringe, and gently massaging it out, but Henry must have been studying Kung Fu (in his free time ... maybe at school) and deftly defended his nose against all of these implements of alleviation.  He (shockingly) wouldn't listen to reason. And every time I said "blow", he "sniffed". !@#$!

"Is your nose still hurting?"

"Yeah"

"Well, let me in there to get that out"

"No"

After calling Grammie Bob, and by the grace of all that is holy, he sneezed and what appeared to be most of a Tic Tac came flying out.  We went to UA Clinic (a.k.a. Grammie and Grandpa Rayo's house) to make sure, and it appeared that all was OK.

And life was back to "normal"

Our first field trip

Didn't even ask him to do this ...
Originally uploaded by hepcatrayo.

Because of my recent career change, I have a whole lot more freedom over my schedule (especially if I don't mind getting paid a bit less on a given week). I took this new-found freedom and accompanied Henry and his class on their first field trip of the year (and Henry's first field trip ever!). We went to Lynd's fruit farm and picked apples.

We had a great time ... I was holding court with a gaggle of 3-5 year olds ... felt right at home! We went to the fruit farm, came back and had lunch in his classroom, and then I .... had to go .... back to .... work.

Work was not as much fun as hanging with the kids ... but the pay was better.

Happy Birthday, Matthew!

Exhausted kids
Originally uploaded by hepcatrayo.

We had an absolute blast last weekend (ok, the weekend before last) up in Cleveland at Matthew Williams's birthday party. I was a bit nervous because Henry is a lot younger than all the other kids, but I didn't need to be because (1) Henry loves playing with older kids, and tends to roll with the punches, and (2) they rented a gigundous (probably 15' x 15', and 15' high) castle-shaped bouncy thing. We had a great time, none of the adults broke anything (although we did sample the bouncy thing multiple times, and everyone had fun.

Matthew, by the way, is the one showing you his feet. Hopefully you can figure out which one Henry is.

Thanks for a great time, Chris, Kim, Matthew, and Emily!

Where were you 25 years ago today?

You know, most days, I wouldn't have any idea where I was 25 years ago to the day. Today, however, my Auntie Pammie (yes, I still call her that ... and Henry does too!) informed all of us in the Schmidt family where we were. We were at her wedding! And then she sent me a couple pictures to prove it.

It has been quite a while since my brother and I lived our dual existence, but here we are, co-ring bearers (I think ... my memory is quite fuzzy, actually) in our bow ties ... the MichaelAndBryan show. Hopefully we didn't upstage the bride or groom.

Thanks for sharing, Pammie ... this pictures are really fantastic, and even though it doesn't bring back a rush of memories (sorry ... I don't have many of being a 3rd grader), it's really great to know that I shared in the fun.

Thanks for the Trains, Gramma

Henry has always loved trains (which has caused many a tearful exit from toy stores), but he has really gotten into them recently, building tracks on his own and fixing track that he inadvertantly trashed (think clumsy but well-meaning Godzilla through a wooden Tokyo). Thought that Gramma, the source of most of this railed goodness, would like to see it in action.

Back in Business

We have power again (only six days without it!), and everything is back to normal. Henry the Fully Big Boy is doing great at his new school (N. Broadway Methodist) and is as active, curious, talkative and awesome as ever.

Power ... is ... out!

After a wonderful brunch with family at Northstar yesterday, I started having this terrible headache (still lingers a bit). As if taking a cue from my throbbing temples, the weather outside started getting quite turbulent. Winds from Ike and a cold front came together to produce gusts up to 75 mph. Fun, huh? At 4:00, the power went out.

It was kind of nice. Sure, I was down in the basement in the dark dealing with my headache, listening to Henry bounce through the house with Sarah. It turned out to be a nice quiet break, though.

Unfortunately, the power is still out 20 hours later, and AEP is saying that it could be days before power is restored. 300,000 people without power in Columbus, 1 million across the state. Schools are out, businesses are closed ... bizarre for September.

But there is a silver lining. Sarah is out today, and so is Henry. Hey! There's my phone ... they're coming to pick me up for lunch.

Myrtle Beach redux

Oh wait, maybe we didn't tell you ... we went to Myrtle Beach! It was really quite fantastic ... our Fully Big Boy is digging on more and more of what the beach has to offer. Sand castles, running, napping, eating ... what more could a growing boy want?



We went with Sarah's parents (Gaga and Papa to Henry), who trucked down there with their camper. We did not go with our camper (I'm having a hard time remembering where I put it) so we made due with what was already there, a single-wide trailer that they called a Villa. Henry called it the camper that didn't move. Same difference.

About three days into the trip, I decided to dust off my bike and go for a ride with Papa. We were trucking along, enjoying the sites, and having a grand time. As we passed by a golf course, I heard a pop and noticed that my handlebars were no longer attached to the bike. At this point, it felt a whole lot like I was riding a unicyle. I don't know how to ride a unicycle. I'm sure that I had a myriad of choices as to how to get myself out of the predicament I found myself in, but in my haste I chose the first thing that came to mind ... JUMP! So I did, and ended up tearing up the palms of my hands. A ton of fun, really, especially when the two major activities for the remainder of the week were to be (1) jumping in the ocean and (2) jumping in the pool. Neither activity proved to be life-threatening, so I did them both. Often.

Good times!

Opa!

Henry kicked off his Labor day weekend by going to the Greek festival. Here he is shaking his booty. We all dug the music, food, and torrential downpour that made us scurry back to our car.



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