Picture Bombardment

Hey, long time no post. So, here are some pictures to quench your thirst.

Here's the link to the whole album of recent pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/phorne96/62809?feat=directlink

6-28-09

And, here are some cool ones I'd like to point out:

Jackson at Music Class:

From 6-28-09

Jackson doing his Al Bundy impression:

From 6-28-09

Jackson being forced to make Father's Day presents:

From 6-28-09

Jackson chillin with the Fam:

From 6-28-09

Jackson meeting the ocean for the first time:

From 6-28-09

Oh, that's right, we have a blog

Monthly blog update incoming...

Another month has gone by, with lots of things going on.

I finally managed to get myself a job. A friend put me in touch with a mobile games company that has an office in San Diego, and they were looking for a producer type person with experience in the console market. After about 7 interviews with people all the way up to the president of the company I finally got an offer. I accepted and I'm going to be starting next week. Woot for me!

We took a trip to the Carlsbad Flower Fields. It was beautiful day. Sunny with a nice coastal breeze keeping it cool. Jackson got to see all the colors of the flowers, and even tried to taste some dirt. He didn't like it very much.

We also made a trip up to Ventura to my grandparents for Easter, and had a wonderful time. Everyone loves Jackson and can't get enough of him. Jill's Mom came out and stayed with us for a few days over her Easter Break, and she got to spend a bunch of time with Jackson.

May's coming up soon, and Jackson will be 16 months old. He's walking so much, and he's starting to run. He also likes to practice climbing stairs. The normal stairs are too big for him, but he likes to step up on the fire place ledge, and then step down. He'll do that over an over for what feels like hours, but really is about 10 minutes. He's blabbering up a storm, and it's fun to listen to him because he sounds like he's really trying to communicate something important to you. We've got him pointing to his belly and his nose when you tell him to. We're still working on words with him. He can still say ball (or "bah") and sometimes he'll say "bobow" for elbow and "bebe" for belly. He doesn't like to "perform" so he'll shake his head no sometimes when you ask him to do one of those things.

We can't wait to see what he'll start doing next!

Here be the new photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/phorne96/42409?feat=directlink

4-24-09

Beware the ides of March

Well, it's not the 15th of March yet, but it's close enough.

Let's see what's going on in the past couple of weeks.

I think I forgot to mention that Jackson and I spent a weekend in Mesa, AZ with my Nana a few weeks ago. My mother and sister also came out and we all had a great time.
Nana has a Wii, and I think I almost wore my arm off playing all of the Wii sports games. It was definitely interesting to see my mom and Nana beating the crap out of me at Wii Bowling. I'm supposed to be the video game guy.

Jill spent a week in Scotland for work. She had to collaborate with some of their folks over there on the project she's been working on. At first it was between Scotland and Milan, and she was cheering for Milan. Of course it was decided that Scotland would be the better choice, but at least she was going to stay in a nice hotel. But wait! It turned out that hotel didn't have enough rooms for everyone and she ended up staying at the Holiday Inn Express at the Glasgow Airport. I think she put it well when she said she might as well have gone to Michigan for a grey and bleh as it was there.

I had my 31st birthday a few days ago. Unfortunately, Jill was in Scotland at the time, but we had a little pre-celebration before she left and we went out to dinner. She got me a Jawbone II bluetooth headset, which is awesome. She also got me a cooking class later this month at Sur La Table, which I'm super excited about. Over the weekend Jackson and I took the train up to my Grandparents in Ventura. It was interesting taking the train. It was about an hour longer than a drive, but Jackson didn't have to sit in a car seat the whole time. He still fussed quite a bit, but over all I think he liked it better. The weekend was nice, and my parents came down as well as my uncles and their families came up. After everyone left on Sunday I spent an extra day with my grandparents which was wonderful.

Jill's back from Scotland today, and she is missing Jackson so much I hope she doesn't drive to fast coming home from the airport. I don't think we have anything major planned coming up in the next couple of weeks, but if anything comes up we'll be sure to post about it.

I've posted a few more pictures of Jackson so be sure to take a look:

http://picasaweb.google.com/phorne96/31309?feat=directlink

3-13-09

Blogging Negligence

I know, I have been horribly negligent in posting new stuff to the blog since we've moved to California. You would think I'd have all the time in the world to take new pictures and videos of Jackson and then post them. But, I've slacked off. Sorry.

I grabbed a bunch of pics I took on my iPhone, and I've posted them on Picasa, and I've taken some video of Jackson and I'll try to get that posted soon too.

http://picasaweb.google.com/phorne96/PatIphone?feat=directlink

Pat Iphone

First post from California

I'm finally getting some time to make a post from since we moved in to the new house. We're pretty much settled and most everything is in its place. We still have a garage full of boxes, both empty and half full, but that shouldn't take too long to clean up. We love the new house, and the backyard is wonderful.

Jackson had his first birthday a couple of weeks ago and I've posted a few new pictures from his party as well as some others from over the holidays.

http://picasaweb.google.com/phorne96/11709?authkey=5P_piPG7uGY&feat=directlink

1-17-09

I'll try to post some video today if I get a chance.

It's been a busy few weeks

We're at the end of the year, literally, and a lot has been happening for us in the past few weeks. Like I mentioned in our previous post we've moved to San Diego (or technically Carlsbad). It took a lot of doing, but we made it happen on a fairly quick timetable. Jill's mom came out and helped us pack and then, along with the help of her aunt Jenny, they drove the Scion to San Diego and brought Einstein along with them as Navigator. Jill and Jackson flew out from Austin to San Diego, and I coerced my sister in to making the drive from Austin with me. With the help from my good friend Bob, we loaded up a 26" Uhaul and attached a trailer with the VUE on it and started our drive out here. It should take about 19 hours for that drive, but that is for a normal car that can make decent speed. We we're driving that behemoth and could only make 45mph up some of those hills. Over two days we drove for a total of 27.5 hours, and traveled 1,337 miles. To say that drive sucked would be an understatement, but on a morbid note we did count 43 dead deer on the side of the road in Texas. It's a weird thing when you see Tara jump up and shout, "There's another one! That's 43 so far!"



We got a great house in Carlsbad, that's only a few miles from the beach. We just moved in a couple of days ago and are still in the process of unpacking everything. I'll post some pictures of the house when I get a chance to take some. It's great being back in California and we're excited that Jackson is going to be able to spend more time with his family.

Speaking of Jackson, his first birthday will be on January 4th. We've got lots of people coming and we hope that the weather stays good for the party.

I can't forget to mention that we took holiday photos, and I've posted those up. Please check them out!

Holiday 2008

http://picasaweb.google.com/phorne96/Holiday2008?feat=directlink

What's the news in town?

The news is we are moving back to California! Woot!

It's been tough living away from our family, especially with Jackson. Everyone wants to be able to see him but it's a pain to fly out here. Flights are expensive, and there are almost no direct flights from California to Austin. A while ago Jill and I made the decision that we wanted to start looking at moving back. I've been looking for jobs for a while and nothing has worked out for me so far. But, Jill has had some really good luck. She applied to a bunch of jobs and heard back from one that she was perfectly qualified for. She did the phone interview for that job and they made her an offer the next day. Pretty awesome. The pay is decent enough that we can survive off of one income for now. If I'm lucky I may qualify for Texas Unemployment too, which would be really helpful while I'm looking for a job out there.

The job is in Carlsbad, which is just north of San Diego along the coast. We'll probably live either in Carlsbad or one of the other north San Diego county coastal communities. Living there will also give me some flexibility if I find a job in southern Orange County, like Irvine.

The plan is to be moved out there over the holiday break, and Jill will start her new job on the 5th of January. That's about 30 days away, and we've got a lot of work to do. Better get to it.

It's time to fall in to autumn

Another month goes by and it's time to post some more pictures of Jackson. Let's see, what do we have to share with the good people of the internets?

We took Jackson to a local pumpkin patch where they have a little fair each year. Jackson got to see lots of pumpkins, and I don't know if he knew what to make of it all, but he likes to get outside and see people.

From 10-28-08

He also got to see some animals at a little petting zoo. I can't say that he was very impressed, but I think he enjoyed it.

From 10-28-08

We also went to Kansas City to visit Jill's dad and her sister Nicole. It was just starting to get cold up there and we had to bundle up when we went out to see Nicole cheer at her High School's football game.

From 10-28-08

Here's a link to all of those pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/phorne96/102808#

Then, my parents came out at the end of the month and visited for Halloween. We dressed Jackson up as a pumpkin since that is one of our nicknames for him. He turned out to be a pretty cute pumpkin.

From 11-6-08

Here's a link to those pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/phorne96/11608?authkey=PDMPVxHvHCA#

Be sure to turn in next time, same pumpkin time, same pumpkin channel for more pumpkin cuteness.

Interactive Jackson 1.2

Jill's mom, Jody, came out to visit this weekend. She hadn't seen Jackson since August and was so excited to see him grow and doing all the new things he's doing like crawling, and cruising. We took a bunch of new pictures, so be sure to check them out:

http://picasaweb.google.com/phorne96/101208#

10-12-08

Also, we think we hit a new milestone with Jackson yesterday. At dinner, after he was done eating Jill had given Jackson the spoon and he was playing with it and making a mess as usual. But, then Jill leaned over and said "Jackson, mommy is hungry!" and opened her mouth wide. Jackson turned to look at her and immediately brought the spoon over and put it in to her mouth!

From 10-12-08

It doesn't sound like much, but it means several things. First, Jackson recognized his name, which he's been doing for a while. Secondly, it means he saw Mommy's mouth open wide which he knew meant that she wanted food. Lastly, it means that he knows that spoons carry food, and they go in to mouths. Yay for learning!

OMG, is it October already?

Boy, time is sure flying along this year. Jackson just turned 9 months old last Saturday, and it still seems like he is growing and changing almost every day. He's moved from his army crawl to a full hands and knees crawling which allows him to get around even faster. It's as if Jackson has some sort of Terminator vision where he scans his environment and identifies things that he hasn't yet put in his mouth. Once he finds that thing he bee lines for it and in to the mouth it goes. You could put a dozen of his favorite toys in front of him and one old dirty shoe and he'll go for the shoe every time. I guess it just means we have to clean up all the time, and don't forget to baby proof!

Jackson has also started to do what's called "cruising." That's where he can pull himself in to a standing position on something his size (like a piece of furniture) and then start to walk along the piece of furniture. It's pretty exciting to watch him start to get close to full on walking.

My family came out to visit us in September. My sister, Tara, and her friend Katie came and out spent several days with us and took the opportunity to check out one of Austin's big events, the Austin City Limits festival. My parents came out for a long weekend. All told, we had a great time, and they all loved seeing Jackson.

We're going to have a pretty busy fall and winter as we've got lots of visits and trips happening. Next up, Jill's mom is coming out to visit this next weekend, and then some of Jill's friends will be in town the next weekend. After that, we have a trip to see Jill's dad in Kansas City. Moving on in to November, Jill's mom will be in Austin for Thanksgiving. Then in December, we'll be visiting my grandparents in Ventura. Lastly is the Holidays, and lets not even get started on that.

I know that no one wants to read, they just want Jackson photos, so here you go:

CAUTION! OBLIGATORY BABY IN THE BATH PHOTOS AHEAD...

http://picasaweb.google.com/phorne96/100808#

10-08-08

Picture Delivery

Jackson has had another great month. He is really scooting around on the floor now. He's still just doing his army man crawl, but it gets him where he wants to go. Also, now that he can move he seems much happier. He has always had that look of "If I could just get over there and put that thing in my mouth I would be much happier." Well, now he can.

He did have an ear infection in each of his ears a couple weeks ago, but a round of antibiotics cleared that up and he's feeling much better now.

Here are some new pictures of Jackson:

http://picasaweb.google.com/phorne96/91708#

Forgot the link!

I forgot to add the link to the photos when I posted my previous post. Here it is:

http://picasaweb.google.com/phorne96/82508

Month of August Update

I've uploaded some new photo's of Jackson. In the first few you can just start to see him kind of crawling. He gets up on his toes and does these pushups. It's really cute because he grunts the whole time. He has started to move himself around though. He can spin around on his belly, and if he really wants a toy he puts his arms out in front of himself and he can drag himself forward in a kind of army crawl. I've got some video of him doing it, and I'll post it when I get a moment to convert it for the web.



Jill's mom, Jody, is out for a few days before she has to start school again, and we have a few photos of her and Jackson.

Then we have photos of our plot where the house is being built. We also went inside of a house in our neighborhood that is under construction. It is the same plan and layout as our house so we took a bunch of photos of the inside.

Need a Jackson Pic

I just noticed that we haven't posted any pics of Jackson recently. So, here's a couple to satisfy his ravenous fans.



Jackson and his Aunt Nicole


Jackson and Mommy


Jackson watching Sesame Street in the morning

Buying a house

After a year in Texas we decided to really lay some roots, and we put some money down on a new house. Jill, as usual, spent a lot of time researching different areas of Austin and the surrounding communities. We decided on focusing our search in the city of Cedar Park which is just north of Austin's city limits. It's a relatively small city, but it has lots of new developments and new stores, restaurants, and the like. We're going to be about 15 or 20 minutes from downtown Austin, which is not too bad. Most importantly, we're going to be pretty close to a Alamo Drafthouse (not that we get to go see movies anymore).

We chose a house being built by KB Homes in their Silverado Ranch community. The house itself is 2,446 sq ft, with four bedrooms and two baths. We had our appointment with the Design Studio and we went through all the options that are available (the option list is 50 pages long) and made our basic choices. We're pretty excited.

We actually got this process started a couple of weeks ago, but we haven't posted anything because we were waiting to be approved for the loan. We just received the phone call from our Loan dude yesterday and he told us that we've been approved. Now we have to go through the remainder of the loan process, which, for those of you who haven't applied for a loan before, is a lot like being groped in public.

However, if everything goes well, then we're hoping that we'll be able to move in around mid-December.

Here's a picture of the lot where we'll be building:

Flat tires suck

In the last week I've had three flat tires, two on the Scion and one on the Vue. Now normally you'd think that some kids were running through the neighborhood slashing tires, but all of my flat tires were caused by FOD, or Foreign Object Damage. The Scion had one flat caused by a a screw and the other by a nail. The Vue had a flat by a screw again. I don't remember driving both our cars through a construction zone any time recently, and I don't think kids are going to go through the effort of driving a screw in to tire.

The only good thing is that Discount Tire fixes flats that can be repaired for free. Go Discount Tire!

Our First Texaversary

One year ago today Jill(still pregnant with Jackson) and I arrived in Austin, Texas. We had to spend our first couple of days in the La Quinta Inn while we waited to pick up our keys for the house we would rent. It was hot, muggy, and a very strange place for us. However, over the last year we've explored a lot of the city. We've found the great parks, some good restaurants, a few good bars, and the good shopping(for Jill). Just like any city it has its good parts and its not so good parts but overall we've come to really enjoy Austin and all it has to offer.

People ask us what we think of Texas, and we don't really have an answer to that because we haven't traveled anywhere else in this state except one short evening trip to the outskirts of San Antonio. So, we don't really know what Texas is like. But, Austin is fantastic.

Jackson's first pseudo-words

One of the signs of Jack's continuing development is his ability to begin vocalizing. At first he just coo'd a lot. Then he started to make raspberries ( where you blow bubbles with between your lips). Next he started to giggle (which is amazing).

Next on his list is to make vowel-consonant combinations. Things like BaBa, DaDa, or GaGa. He just started doing this a couple weeks ago, but it wasn't until this last weekend that he really started stringing together long combinations of these sounds. They are not words, more like pseudo-words. Almost words. He's babbling. Here's a clip of them I recorded in our car on Sunday:




To give you context, he sounds so fussy because he was in his car seat when we were stuck at a stop light and he does not like it when the car stops moving.


Jill and I have talked a lot about how fast things change in Jackson. Sometimes he'll start doing something new everyday. Things that you would never even consider significant, but when you see them happen it amazes you. Jackson is the most fantastic thing that has ever happened to us.

iPhone fever

I've given in to the iPhone fever and I received mine in the mail today. All I have to say is that this is an absolutely amazing device. It really delivers on what Bruce Stirling said at his 2006 SIGGRAPH keynote, that mobile phones are no longer just phones. They are computing platforms from which you can deliver an entire experience to. We'll be picking Jill's iphone soon. :-)

This is a short post but it's the first from my iPhone.

Monthly update

Here is our monthly update for the blog. :)

Let's see what's happened in the last month or so.

My mom came out to visit for a long weekend. She got to see Jackson and spend some time with him. Here are a few pictures of that visit:
http://picasaweb.google.com/phorne96/NanSVisitToSeeJackson

Nan's visit to see Jackson

We also went to Livermore, CA for Jerin and Kim's wedding. It was a wonderful event all together. The rehearsal dinner on Friday was at a place called Stacey's at Waterford, and the food was fantastic. Saturday had a picnic at the Concannon Winery, which was held under a trellis of grape vines. The ceremony was on Sunday at the Wente Vinyards which was absolutely beautiful. Many congratulations should go to the bride and groom, who are at this moment enjoying Hawaii.

Again, here are many pictures of the event:
http://picasaweb.google.com/phorne96/JerinSWedding

Jerin's wedding