I was going through some pictures in Picasa – I am trying to tag all the faces Picasa recognizes.  I started going through Izzy’s folder and a few hours later I realized I had gone through almost a thousand photos.  Worth it!

It amazes and astounds me when I look back at Izzy and Jonas.  They looked so different when they were babies.  At the time I thought they couldn’t get any cuter. Boy, was I wrong.

I thought it would be fun to show them off.

With our tax refund, we went out and bought a couple of bikes and a kid trailer.  Its part of our attempt to get out of the house and do more outdoorsy type things.

Ciri wanted a mountain bike so she got a Mongoose something or other.  Good looking bike, but I think some of the parts are poor quality.  Her rear shifter slips. A lot.  Still, with some tlc, it should be a good little bike for her.

I’m not a bells and whistles type guy.  Give me what I need in a nice neat package.  I saw a really cool bike  awhile back at Target for almost $300.  It was black and it had the comfort seat with a different shape handle bars.  I learned that his is a hybrid bike.  I didn’t know there was anything other than speed and mountain bikes.  The style wasn’t to extravagant, it had a front suspension and those nifty looking U-brakes too.  But $300, really?

It’s been a while since I owned a bike.  I did some research and found that the bikes you find at Target and Walmart are crap.  Here I thought spending $100 to $200 on a bike was expensive.  Some websites said that you can own a “good” bike for as little as $400.  I said for $400 smacks, this bike better freaking fly.

After reading and researching some more, I began to understand why some bikes cost more than others.  The materials used, the quality of the parts, and the design of the frame were all factors on the cost.  Who knew?  Ultimately, I realized that buying a bike was like anything else.  You get what you pay for – sort of.  The bikes at big box stores aren’t horrible, their just not great.  I can deal with that.

I bought a hybrid bike from Walmart.  I’m not a big fan of the frame – too triangular for me.  But it’s pretty comfortable. The brakes feel good and the shifting is pretty nice too.  The tires aren’t very knobby, but we’re sticking mostly to paved roads or cleared paths.  No crazy off-roading -  for the most part.

The first time we went out with our new toys was a few weeks ago.  I don’t feel like getting too much into it. I’m out of shape. Ok?  We’ll just leave it at that. Yesterday, we went on another trip at Lake Johnson and I did much better.

I’m using a GPS app to track and record our trips.  The app is pretty cool.  It records and calculates a lot of fun metrics like speed, grade, altitude and more.  I’m not sure what exactly I’ll do with the metrics, if anything at all, but the important part is the track recorder. I can upload the track files to Google maps along with some meta information.  For future bike rides, I can reference my maps and notes to see if the path may be hard or busy or boring or whatever.  The added metrics just get my nerd juices flowing – they don’t serve much purpose yet.

The past few trips and the iPhone app I am using got me thinking: it would be really cool if the phone was mounted to my handle bars.  I decided that I want to make some sort of bike mount for the phone rather than buy one. Having these statistics on the fly would be cool.  In the future, I’ll probably use it as a HUD with a reality augmentation app.

As for the bikes, we’re still figuring out where the good trails are at.  Raleigh has a “Greenway” system that I’ve heard great things about..  I hope to have a good amount of trails to share in the coming months. For now, this is our first one. It’s broken up because I paused it when we stopped.

My first thought on the past month is: Holy Cow, what have I done?  Juan and I haven’t slept well since Jonas’ birth, and I’m beginning to think we never will. The house is continuously taken apart by a seventeen month old cyclone and the one month old loves to nurse. Loves it. He’ll finish one meal in time to start another. I eat and shower when I can-mostly when Juan is home-and pretty much spend the days keeping one or both kids from crying. That whole thing about “two in diapers; yuck” is the least of my challenges. The diapers are easy compared to the rest of the chaos.

Really, the biggest issue I wasn’t prepared for was how fussy Jonas was going to be. I know all kids are different, but my thought process was that since Izzy was a preemie, Jonas-being full term-was bound to be easier. WRONG. He is more clingy, more easily upset, and cries WAY more than Izzy ever did. Because of this I now have a theory that boy babies are wussier than girls. However, things are looking up. Everyone you talk to says, “It only lasts a few months.” Whatever IT is. I swear, if I hear that well meaning yet completely useless phrase one more time; I’m going to shoot the messenger! Provided I find a gun. Or any projectile-I can improvise.

Ok. Enough ranting. I love being at home and able to complain about this. I love my kids. I am grateful because life could be so much worse. That said,  I’ve also learned a few tricks which have helped out a ton.

First trick is a shout out to all Mothers that have been there! I have to admit that when things got pretty much unbearable, I called my Mom. She had two boys fourteen months apart and knew exactly what I was dealing with. She also has four kids total so one of them was bound to be as high maintenance as Jonas. I was right! (Zach, apparently you were the fuss bucket out of all of us-sorry bro) She went right into advising the Lost-Daughter-But-Trying-Not-To-Show-It.  Her advice was good, but it was just as helpful hearing about someone that has been  as frustrated, tired and confused. I advise all Lost-Mommies-But-Trying-Not-To-Show-Its to find a friend or family member that has been there and call them. It really helps.

Second thing I learned is how much I can do by myself. Not really a brag, but the first time I carried an eight pound bobble head and a twenty something pound monkey-determined to kiss and/or decapitate bobble head-down the stairs at the same time was pretty triumphant. To have to feed, clothe, teach, protect and nurture two small creatures at the same time is challenging. Its hard and exhausting, but we survive the days. The confidence that comes out of dealing with so many daily challenges is like a small breath of fresh air on a humid day. “Whew, I did it.” And when Juan is working it’s, “whew, I did it by myself.” I am Mommy, hear me roar!

But by far the best thing I have discovered that helps is actually an item. Yes, tip number three is GET A WRAP. A six yard long piece of cloth has totally revolutionized our lives! I love it! I had originally made a baby sling for Jonas, but like Izzy he did not like being in it. They both like to stretch out and have free arms and legs. That whole womblike experience was lost on them. However, Jonas still wanted to be held constantly. Constantly-as in I put him down to take a much needed bathroom break and he would cry. Not liking the sling, I put him in one of those store bought baby carriers. Even though it was rated for newborns, his head would always flop around too much and I had to keep one hand on him. And It wasn’t comfortable. I went online and started researching baby carriers and found a baby wearing website. It had wraps on it. I love how comfy they looked and how versatile they were. They also cost $40-$160 bucks each. Not so good for a one income family. I then found a site that showed how to make one, and the rest is history. He gets tied to my back when I need to cook or clean, and I front wrap him when we go shopping or just to carry him. Even Juan can wear it and also loves it. This is a MUST HAVE for Moms, but especially those with other kids.

I guess in retrospect, the first couple weeks were pretty bad, but with the aid of my Mom,a renewed self-confidence, and a wrap; the last couple of weeks haven’t been too bad. I still long for the days when Jonas will nap in a crib or at least space out his feedings a little better, but I take what I can get. Right now all I can get is two little munchkins that aren’t crying. And maybe a decent meal or a shower. . .

Kids continue to grow, website continues to evolve… yeup… it’s that kind of post!

Ready? Set? Go.

Six weeks have now elapsed since Jonas’ birthday and a lot is going on… now more than ever.  The most common question we’re getting from family is in regards to the relationship between Izzy and Jonas.  Izzy was learning her place in the family when Jonas came.  She was the only child – Mommy and Daddy’s love came constantly and without division.  Luckily, we’ve been able show her that Jonas is here to stay and we don’t love her any less.  Sure, there are bad days but for the most part, Izzy is amazing with Jonas.  She loves to bring him little offerings of her snacks.  She’ll walk up to him and pat him (sometimes a little too rough) to comfort him.  The best moments of her interaction with Jonas is when she walks up to give him kisses.  She’s an awesome little kid.

My other wife.

The internet can get pretty addicting – I consider it a staple.  Can you give up your internet connection today if it was asked of you? Didn’t think so.  Right now our cable connection seems to be solely for Ciri’s use rather than mine.  I’ve probably logged more hours on my phone’s 3G connection than on the actual house connection.  I’m trying to tell you that I’m not getting very much computer time.

Ciri and I are also back into watching Scrubs on DVD. We left off on the fifth season and are catching up.  It’s good “us” time, of which I cherish right now more than ever.  The consequence is staying up later than I probably should and thereby sacrificing my time on the internet.  Like I said, though, it is time well spent.

Tumblr is teh meh.

I gave it a try. I really did.  I was excited to try something new and I was really let down by it’s annoying limitations.  Design-wise, it’s great.  The look and feel of the backend is straigh forward – maybe to a fault.  The iPhone Tumblr app is pretty darn amazing, but it too is limited.

I started the moblog and it’s the one thing I can update fairly frequently because I’m usually fairly mobile.  Being able to update it without issues is very important to me right now.  Tumblr is doesn’t support multiple authors or blogs very well, if at all.  It’s VERY hard to distinguish between the different blogs. I constantly post to the wrong one.

Tumblr is a simple and easy platform to use for blogging, but when something is easy it’s usually not very dynamic or scalable.  So, without getting too technical – since I promised no hefty geek rants on the Guamaso anymore – I am ditching Tumblr and I’m switching it over to WordPress.  I’m using just a basic theme so I can get it up and running quickly.  If all things go as planned, the only difference you’ll see is a different theme.  That sucks… I really liked the current one. Oh well…

Flickr can’t have my hard earned monies.

My year subscription with Flickr ends this month. I’ve been pondering whether or not I should renew my membership.  The moblog as it is now exists because of the lack of design options on Flickr.  The photo gallery changed because of Ciri’s complaining, but also because of the same lack of design options.  Being able to “skin” Flickr would get me to shell out another 20 bucks without hesitation.

That brings me to the changes I’m working on. The “Galleries” link now takes you to an install of Gallery 2. I played with this application a while back and I really liked. I was quick to download the newest version when Ciri said she wanted some nicer looking web albums for family.  It’s running off a basic template now, but I’ll edit it to match whatever treatment The Guamaso ends up with.

Me? An Edumacator? Now your kids are in trouble…

This is not a for-sure thing at all. It’s just something I’m looking into.

I have a complex, according to Ciri, that we call the “Prince Valiant complex.”  I want to help people… like everyone… somehow.  Whatever I end up doing in life, as long as I am helping people, I’ll be happy.  I seriously thought about becoming an EMS, but I knew that one day there will be a child that will need saving.  That’s WAY too much for me. As much as I want to help people, I can’t stand seeing children suffer. Children are sacred.

My parents, friends, and family constantly mentioned that I would make a great teacher.  I shrugged and laughed at the comment.  It wasn’t that I didn’t agree, I just felt like it wasn’t for me.  In recent  years, I’ve changed my position on that idea and now feel that teaching would be a fun and rewarding career.

A coworker was explaining to me that North Carolina is in dire need of math and science teachers.  Middle school, from what he said, doesn’t need a teaching degree in order to teach at.  Just lots of coursework in the subject being taught.  I have PLENTY of science and math credits.

I’m still researching to whole deal.  We’ll see.  Like I said, it’s not a for sure thing right now. I’m just gathering information, but at the same time, I really would like to persue something like this now more than ever.  Maybe it has something to do with having kids, but inspiring and influencing children sounds like a pretty darn good idea.

In the Mean Time…

I think that about catches you up on everything.  Some other tiny bits of info… Ciri is working on making things from home and selling them on Etsy, but with two kids and a house to care for all day, she’s lucky she finds time to eat.  We’re also going to sell our pickup, it’s pretty much dead weight for us – we need a more family friendly vehicle.

I think that’s about it. Off to bed. I hope to hear your thoughts on this catch-me-up. I hate to say it again, but hopefully post counts will start to head back up again.  I miss writing.

Out.

Jonas was born on Saturday morning. At that point, our little family grew by 33 percent. Izzy is no longer an only child and the singular baby car seat now has a friend. It’s the beginning of a whole new series of adventures.

Technically the adventure started on Wednesday. Ciri started having strong contractions. Thursday I called in from work, we figured Jonas was on his way and it was time to start getting ready.

Izzy was our first priority. Thursday evening, Ciri’s dad came and picked Izzy up – she would stay with them until Saturday night. The moment he drove away, my heart hurt in a way that that I never felt before. But it had to be done.

We didn’t leave for the hospital until Friday afternoon, but we were sent back because Ciri wasn’t dialated enough yet.  So, we went home, watched some TV, talked about how much we missed Izzy and took a long nap.  Around two Saturday morning, we drove off again towards the hospital.  This time, no exam was needed, Ciri’s water broke half way to the hospital.

Jonas was born at 5:15 in the morning, weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces and was 20 inches tall.  In comparison, Izzy (born 7 weeks early) was just over 3 pounds and was 18 inches tall.  Their little bodies and minds are amazing.  You see them come to the world so tiny and frail and soon their pulling all the DVDs out in your living room while you’re not watching.  They really are something.

So, I guess you could call this their first adventure together. I know they weren’t together, but their separate adventures merged when Izzy offered Jonas a piece of her toast during lunch.  From now on, Izzy’s adventures will be peppered with stories and tales of her new sidekick, Jonas. Kinda like Mario and Luigi.