X-Men?

First, this (slightly belated) note from our friends at WebMD...

You're 19 Weeks Pregnant. Your baby measures about 5.2 to 6 inches from crown to
rump and weighs about 7 ounces. The baby's skin is developing and is transparent, appearing red because of the visible blood vessels. A creamy white protective coating, called vernix, is also developing. As your baby continues to grow, you may be feeling some mid-pregnancy aches and pains -- lower abdominal achiness, dizziness, heartburn, leg cramps, mild swelling of ankles and feet, and a backache are all normal. Dilated blood vessels might cause tiny, temporary red marks (called spider nevi) on your face, shoulders and arms.

Admittedly, I'm a little creeped out by the "creamy white protective coating." It sounds like someone slathered Tyler in suntan lotion or something. Who knows? Maybe ultrasound waves can give you a nasty burn...

Regardless, the idea that Tyler's skin is still transparent and a little red reminded me of the scene in the first X-Men movie where Senator Kelly gets turned into a mutant by Magneto, only to have the mutation fail completely, ultimately resulting in his disintegration into a gelatinous mass on Dr. Grey's table. NASTY stuff, but a VERY cool effect!

Like A Rock...

Last weekend, we decided it would be cool to celebrate Mother's Day a week early by having lunch with my aunt, uncle, cousin, and granda out in Stone Mountain. Since we weren't planning to eat until 2:30, though, we decided it would be cool to take the boys out to Stone Mountain Park. What a great experience!

We hadn't really been out to the part since they underwent massive renovations and privatization, and I have to say it was exceptionally cool. There's a whole village now that's filled with shops and historic activities, and they're really done a great job revamping the place. By far, our favorite spot was the glass blowing exhibition. We must have stood there for 15 minutes while this guy turned a two-inch blob of liquid glass into an absolutely beautiful vase. Truly mind-blowing!

It was also cool to walk around the base of the mountain. On either side, there are memorials to the fallen soldiers of the Confederacy, and there are lots of really great quotes engraved in the walkways. I'm not Southern by birth, but I have to say that if you had ties to the Confederate South, this would be like Mecca for you, I think.

It was interesting to see Chris and Matthew's reaction to things, too. Since he's still pretty young, I think most of the symbolism of the Mountain went over his head. Chris, though (in typical fashion), was fascinated by the whole affair and had tons of questions. Most interesting was his confusion over the idea of war, and why people were killing each other. Holly did a really amazing job of explaining it to him, though. She said, "Sometimes people believe in something so strongly that they're willing to die for it, and sometimes people love something or someone so much that they're willing to die for that, too. These people loved their country so much, and believed so strongly in what they thought was right, that they were willing to die for it." Even cooler, though, was how Holly worked in Chris's apparent religious zealotry. She told him, "It's kind of like how Jesus loved us so much that he was willing to die for us." Very cool!

Enough bragging about my wife and kids, though. On to the video! Enjoy... :-)

The Moo Turns Three!

WOW is this post ever late! Matthew, or The Moo as he's become affectionately known (for reasons known only to Holly), turned three last month. It's a little ridiculous that I'm just getting around to posting this video in celebration, but I'm sure we'll all move on...right? RIGHT?!? OK...now that that's out of the way...

The Moo turning three was absolutely cause for celebration, and celebrate we did! It turns out that our neighbor's daughter's birthday falls just a few days before Matthew's, so we organized a dual birthday party for the two of them. It was AWESOME! We tag-teamed with our neighbor to rent a moonwalk for the day, and the kids absolutely wore themselves out. This had to be the single coolest moonwalk ever, by the way. Not only did it have a full-scale jump zone, it also had two basketball hoops (one inside, and one outside) and slide. Seriously...awesome!

We grilled out burgers and hot dogs, and stuffed our guests full of cake and goodies. There was also the requisite beverage for all three-year-old birthday parties...beer! :-) By the end of the day, parents and kids were completely exhausted, and a good time was had by all.

If you're reading this and were present for the festivities, thanks so much for making The Moo's third birthday a great one. We had an absolute blast, and we're thrilled to have such a great group of friends and family.

Enjoy the video!