family

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Dear Jack: Our 1st Non-Blizzard Weekend Ever to Stay in Town

5 years, 4 months.

Dear Jack: Our 1st Non-Blizzard Weekend Ever to Stay in Town

Dear Jack,

I know this might seem strange, but since moving to Spring Hill in January 2015 over a year ago, our family hasn’t stayed in town for the whole weekend- with two exceptions when we were snowed in and physically could not get out of our cul-de-sac.

With Mommy being 8 months pregnant, we decided it would be a good idea to purposely not leave the Spring Hill city limits. The less unnecessary running around, the better. (Usually we drive to Alabama for Easter, but again because of how pregnant Mommy is, we didn’t- for the first time ever.)

Dear Jack: Our 1st Non-Blizzard Weekend Ever to Stay in Town

It’s pretty common for us to make the 20 minute drive to Cool Springs/Franklin on Saturdays. But this time around, I bought our groceries and dinner on Friday on the way home from work. That eliminated the temptation for us to leave town the next day.

Dear Jack: Our 1st Non-Blizzard Weekend Ever to Stay in Town

So therefore, everything we had to get done on the weekend was able to occur in Spring Hill. Mommy got her “before I have the baby haircut” just down the street, while you and I explored the creek flowing around our neighborhood.

And on Easter Sunday, you and I got to see Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, on its opening weekend. Meanwhile, Mommy had several hours to chill out at the house.

Parental Review of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justic

But in the midst of all that, we made a point as a family to spend time together hanging out in the city we live in; where springs and hills are plentiful.

On Saturday afternoon, once you woke up from your nap, we headed over to Sweet CeCe’s because A) Mommy was craving ice cream, B) therefore so were you, and C) they have vegan sorbet there that I can have. We were very pleased!

Dear Jack: Our 1st Non-Blizzard Weekend Ever to Stay in Town

Afterwards, we visited a walking park that we’ve been seeing in the distance every Sunday on the way to church. But finally, we checked it out.

It was one of my favorite weekends for us as a family. Staying in town all weekend is great!

With your sister Holly on the way in a few weeks, I’m pretty sure we’ll get to stay in town all weekend for most weekends for the next couple of months.

Love,

Daddy

Dear Jack: Our 1st Non-Blizzard Weekend Ever to Stay in Town

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Dear Jack: Easter 2016 at The Shell House

5 years, 4 months.

Dear Jack: Easter 2016 at The Shell House

Dear Jack,

This makes our first Easter as a family where we didn’t travel to Nonna and Papa’s house in Alabama to celebrate. With Mommy being 8 months pregnant, she isn’t currently able to be in the car for that long of a trip.

Dear Jack: Easter 2016 at The Shell House

I never thought of it until this weekend, but this also made the first Easter for our family where I was responsible for hiding the eggs. So I obviously had fun hiding them in our backyard.

When you discovered your Easter basket, you immediately thanked and hugged Mommy and me.

I responded, “But what about the Easter Bunny?”

You instantly replied, “No, it was you and Mommy.”

I didn’t argue with you. Smart kid you are.

Mommy is such a good gift-giver. She found a very appropriate book for you: I’m a Big Brother.

Plus she got you another owl to match the one you got for Christmas. And she found some dinosaur eggs that dissolve in water and leave behind a dinosaur toy.

I know it sounds random, but she even got you a “bath bomb” for bath time. You love that kind of stuff these days!

Not to mention, there were one dollar bills in some of the eggs, plus a five dollar bill in the golden egg. So thanks to Grandma’s $2 bill she sent in the mail, you are now $14 richer.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HLIZ0AE/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1

As far as candy, we did get you some of the traditional stuff, but you were just as excited about the Annie’s Homegrown snacks in your basket too.

http://www.annies.com/

Another first for this Easter, this made the first time, as a kid, you’ve ever gone to the main church service with us; at The Church at Station Hill. You love your Pre-K class that takes place while Mommy and I are in the main auditorium, but today, all the kids remained with their parents.

http://www.annies.com/

I’m pretty sure you thought it was neat. The story was fresh on your mind as I read the Easter story to you from your children’s Bible yesterday before your nap.

http://www.annies.com/

If nothing else, you got to work on an activity sheet where you had to help Mary through a maze to find the empty tomb of Jesus.

What a great Easter day for our family. And imagine, by next Easter, you’ll have a nearly one year-old baby sister!

Love,

Daddy

Dear Jack: Easter 2016 at The Shell House

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Dear Jack: We Built the Pullback Race Car at Lowe’s… Twice

5 years, 4 months.

Dear Jack: We Built the Pull Back Car at Lowe’s… Twice

Dear Jack,

Last night as a family we drove to Lowe’s, which we can see from our upstairs windows facing the backyard, to build a free pullback race car; as part of their Build and Grow program.

I was eager to serve as the camera man, since we just got our new Canon PowerShot G7 X as part of my upcoming 35th birthday. Meanwhile, you and Mommy took turns hammering in the nails.

https://familyfriendlydaddyblog.com/2016/03/24/dear-jack-our-new-canon-powershot-g7-x-camera/

We were all so busy doing our jobs that no one us happened to see the obvious warning in the instructions that one of the panels had to be facing a certain way.

Needless to say, we didn’t see that part in the instructions until the car was built. Therefore, your racecar didn’t propel forward after you pulled it back, like it was designed to do.

A fellow dad came up to me just then to discreetly explain he had made the same mistake and had to rebuild his.

https://familyfriendlydaddyblog.com/2016/03/24/dear-jack-our-new-canon-powershot-g7-x-camera/

Fortunately, the lady kindly gave us another car and so we started over. At least we knew exactly what to do the 2nd time around. After we built it the right way, you had so much fun testing out the race car’s pullback action!

I’m glad that Lowe’s has this program. And it’s really convenient that we live so close.

https://familyfriendlydaddyblog.com/2016/03/24/dear-jack-our-new-canon-powershot-g7-x-camera/

We used to take you more often to these events at Lowe’s when you were a toddler. I don’t know how we got out of the habit, especially now that you’re at the perfect age. Perhaps in the process of building and moving into a new house last year, we just sort of forgot.

Oh well, I have a feeling we’ll being going quite regularly now. And I guess we’ll be more careful to follow all the instructions; otherwise we’ll do the craft twice… even though, you didn’t seem to mind that at all.

Love,

Daddy

Dear Jack: We Built the Pull Back Car at Lowe’s… Twice

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Dear Holly: You’re Going to Be a Small Baby; in the 23rd Percentile

36 weeks.

Dear Holly: You’re Going to Be a Small Baby; in the 23rd Percentile

Dear Holly,

This week Mommy and I went to Vanderbilt for another sonogram appointment. We just wanted the assurance of knowing you’re still doing okay in the there. I’ll cut to the chase:

You are. Thank God.

We were informed that everything is great; your heartbeat, your fluids, and your movement. There is no reason for concern. You are simply going to be a small baby.

You currently weigh 5 pounds, 9 ounces; with just about 4 weeks left before you’re born. They told us that if you were in the 10th percentile or lower, then it might be an issue; but instead, you’re in the 23rd.

Knowing that you “have been measuring a couple of weeks behind” for a while now had caused us to worry that something was wrong. It’s good to have some relief on that.

This is the opposite of what we experienced with your brother Jack. It seemed he was always in the 90th percentile. He was a big baby with a big head, which made his birth very difficult for Mommy. Granted, that doesn’t mean he’s a big boy now; he’s average.

They told us this week that in addition to being a small baby, you “don’t have a big head.” I’m happy because that hopefully means an easier labor for Mommy when you are being born.

If I haven’t said it already, Mommy is ready for you to come out. And I’m ready too.

This is the “misery” part of the pregnancy where Mommy just can’t get comfortable to stay asleep or even just sit comfortably. I think it’s funny that her favorite t-shirt to wear at night is the Wonder Woman nighty I got her for Christmas.

Plus, it will be nice having you outside of the womb so we can see for ourselves that you really are doing just fine in there, just like the doctors say.

We’re now less than a month away from your due date. I keep reminding myself that when you’re finally born… we’ll actually have a little baby girl!

I know that part seems kind of obvious, but it’s how my mind works right now.

Love,

Daddy

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Fuller House Recaps- S1: E5 “Mad Max”

Fuller House Recaps- S1: E5 “Mad Max”

In the canon of the first season of Fuller House, this episode ultimately feels like a filler episode, with the exception of one major revelation:

Stephanie explains to DJ, at the end of the episode, that she is unable to have children.

While I’m sure the writers of Fuller House want the audience to focus the majority of their attention of who DJ will end up with, I don’t.

Instead, I’m sort of obsessed with the fact that the writers have made such a conscious effort to paint Stephanie as the ultimate middle child.

Here she is at age 34, without a real job, without a family of her own, and without any real direction in her life.

Now on top of that, she has recently find out that even when she does settle down and start a family of her own, she can’t have her own biological children.

This plot line is crucial to the character of Stephanie finally beginning to start acting her age. She is now realizing that by infusing herself more fully in to DJ’s family, she can begin to have a sense of being needed by a family again.

To further illustrate this, Stephanie helps “Mad Max” gain confidence by letting him practice his song to Stephanie’s audience, via her cell phone.

This is also the episode where there’s a classic misunderstanding when Ramona flushes a baby diaper down the toilet, causing DJ to believe that a guy who Kimmy set her up with online is actually the plumber. From there, innuendos follow to help ensure we know that Fuller House is not a G-rated show.

Please mark my word. The aspect of Fuller House that is the most intriguing is not DJ, but instead Stephanie.

For this show to really go somewhere, we will have to see Stephanie truly grow into her age; because truly, right now, she’s about a decade behind.

She’s not the typical 34 year-old. Leave it to Stephanie’s family to change that.

Also, here’s my own video version of this recap as well: