Finally ....

Whoa - Daddy put a new post up on the blog!

I realize that I owe the stalwart readers of this blog (assuming there are any left) a very sincere apology. After all, I know all of you would really prefer to continue looking at Stackson surveying his flooded domain, and here I am ruining it all by putting in some new photos of Sophia.

The primary purpose of this post is to not only show off our daughter a little more, but also to let people out there know that no, we are no longer submerged or bobbing around in our basement. I suppose I could make excuses for my lack of posting, such as the rigors of parenthood, a job that keeps me wildly busy, the failed attempt to maintain some degree of contact with my friends, and trying to get back in shape. But, really, I should've posted before. My apologies.


Sophia has all of the wit, good humor, and natural charm of her mother.

So what's been going on? I hope to expand upon all of this in future posts - stop your uproarious laughter, I do hope to catch up a little with my posting - so here's just a quick summation:

- The house is dry once again, all the repair work has been done, and we've been left with a cool $10,000 bill for the whole fiasco. The drama only begins there, though - it's a sordid tale of professional negligence, legal saber-rattling, and soggy diapers that will no doubt bore you to tears once I get around to telling it.

- Leigh and I have been on a rigid exercise and diet regimen and between us have lost nearly 30 pounds. I've lost more than 20 pounds to date (trust me, I had it to lose) while Leigh is back down to her pre-baby weight.


Sophia gets jiggy with Auntie Kal Marie.

- Speaking of baby, Sophia is now eight months old and as gregarious as ever. With her gorgeous big blue eyes and sparkling personality, she's a hit wherever we go. In the space of roughly a week she mastered the art of crawling, learned how to haul herself up to a standing position, and even now is able to stand on her own without support for several seconds. She's eating solid food also; but teething is appearing to take its toll. Between the pain of teething and the developmental milestones she's flying through, she's not sleeping well, which means we're tired and edgy much of the time. But that's what parenthood is all about, right?

- We've sold the Volvo and the Valiant. Yes, sports fans, the Volvo is no longer part of the family. And to my shocked dismay, we've gone from a three-car family to a one-car family.

That's the quick and dirty update. I'll try to get more up here soon - yes, hold the belly laughs.

One other quick note - the Blogger spell check system doesn't recognize the word "Stackson" and wants to replace it with "sadism." Now that's apt.