Happy Saturday

We hope everybody is having a good start to their Labor Day weekend. We're getting ready to take Patrick up to the Suskay Cabin for the first time! We're really excited about this trip because both Meme and Grandpa Joe are going to be there along with Abbie and Mollie. And as a bonus, Grandma and Grandpa Flowers are coming up for Sunday and Monday along with Aunt Katie and Uncle Brandon.

It should be quite a fun weekend and I'm sure we'll have a ton of pictures and videos when we get back. For now, this picture of Patrick in his 'somebody better give me some food fast' mood will have to suffice...

A Few New Pictures

Just a short update today with some more recent pictures (as always, clicking the pictures will give you a bigger version)...


Here's Patrick playing with his favorite floor toy



Playing with Daddy








And here he is all dressed up for Church in a little sweater vest from his Aunt Anna and some shoes from his Aunt Mandie. You'll be happy to know the shoes have some non-slip treading on the bottom; you know, so he doesn't fall with all the running around he's been doing.


Napping with Daddy





Smiley Baby!

Patrick's First Month

Well, I know I'm a few days late but Patrick is now 1 Month Old!

This very cute picture was sent to us by our good friends Mark and Megan. The beautiful little girl (and possibly Patrick's future girlfriend) is their daughter (and our Goddaughter) Nora.

Patrick turned 1 month old on 08.08.08. I think China threw him a big party that day with a bunch of drums and fireworks and a gigantic birthday candle or something. They seem like nice people. So, if you're reading this China - thanks!

We took Patrick in for his 1 month checkup and he weighed in at an even 10 lbs. and is 21.5 inches long now. Patrick also decided to have his own Olympic event last week. He rolled over 3 times! It was, of course, completely on accident but still fun to see nonetheless. He started on his tummy and then managed to get his left arm stuck under him and in an effort to get his mouth to his hand, flipped onto his back. Then did it two more times.

Luckily, we grabbed the camera after he started getting himself into position on the second one. Here's a a quick video I threw together of the event and some music to go with it, in keeping with the Olympic theme (literally)...

All About Mommy

There’s a really great feeling I get watching somebody do the exact thing they’re supposed to be doing in life. I think it’s why I love going to see good, live music so much. There’s just something fulfilling about watching the performer do the one thing they were meant to be doing and sharing it with everyone. Anybody who knows me knows that I’m not a huge sports fan; but even I can’t help but be impressed watching someone like Tiger Woods in action. There’s a feeling of satisfaction, a feeling of pride for another person that comes up in me when I get to enjoy someone doing the thing they were made to do.


That's the same feeling I’ve had for the past month watching Angie be a Mom. From the second Patrick was brought into this world, Angie has cared for him and bonded with him in ways I didn’t really know were possible and it's become more and more evident that this is exactly what she was meant to do. Watching the two of them interact with each other has been amazing. Angie has an incredible instinct about motherhood and about Patrick’s needs and wants. So much of being a Mom has come effortlessly to her; and the things that still take figuring out, she's been patient and persistent with. Patrick is never more at ease than when Angie is around. The sound of her voice or even just the scent of her close by calms and comforts him almost instantly.

Not that there’s such a thing as an “easy labor” or “easy childbirth” but Angie’s was definitely NOT easy. It was very long (23 hours) and slow and done on very little sleep since it started at night. I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud than I was watching Angie go through labor and, especially, delivery (and believe me, there’s a lot to be proud of when you’re married to her). She honestly made the whole thing look easy. Every step of it seemed to come naturally to her and she rolled with the punches the entire way no matter how fast or hard they came. She was cooperative with every nurse or doctor that came in the room no matter how much pain she was in and even when we lost Patrick’s heartbeat for several minutes (that felt like years) towards the end, she stayed calm and just tried to do what she was asked to do by the nurses. One particularly telling moment was the morning of the day Patrick was born when the doctor came in to check on Angie. He had told her this was going to take longer than originally expected and to plan on it being late afternoon before the baby was born (as opposed to the original mid-morning prediction). Angie was understandably not thrilled to hear the news. But while the doctor was walking out of the room and Angie was in the middle of a huge and uncomfortable contraction, she still managed to thank the doctor and wish him a good rest of his day. The doctor actually came back in the room to tell Angie how sweet she was that even at that moment she was still thinking of someone else and being kind.


Before having kids, I didn't know what pregnancy and parenthood would mean for our relationship. I knew the hectic schedule and the division of attention would affect both our amount and quality of time together somehow; but because we weren't yet in the situation I didn't know what it would end up translating into for us. We had concerns, as I think most about-to-be-parents do, about growing further apart or having to divide our affections. I had heard a hundred horror stories of pregnant women with mood swings that would tilt the earth off its axis and was naturally curious how Angie would react. Not surprisingly, she reacted to pregnancy the same way she reacts to most things in life: calmly, selflessly and optimistic. It was great watching Angie actually enjoy being pregnant. And she couldn't have been more beautiful. As for our relationship now, Patrick being born has not only given us both a completely new kind of love that we feel for him, but also a new appreciation, love and respect for each other. We enjoy our time together more than ever and have so much fun just playing with him and sitting together watching him.



Usually when I post here, I run it by Angie first to make sure the post makes sense, doesn't have any huge errors I’m overlooking and has the pictures she wants in it. But, I won’t be running this one by her because I know she would tell me not to post it out of modesty and humility. So, if you see any mistakes in here, that’s why. Sorry this post is even wordier than my usual but, believe me, I could have gone on much longer. Thanks for reading all the way to the end if you did. And now I’m going to go be with Angie and Patrick and watch them both do what they do best – love each other.

The Tummy Time Special

We've discovered Patrick LOVES being on his stomach! Most of the time I'm not even sure he realizes there's a difference between his back and his stomach so he's just as happy either way. He's also gotten pretty good at holding his head up for a 3-week-old (at least, in my overly-biased-Dad opinion). Here are a few pictures of him on our bed looking around (at 2 weeks)







And here's a video of him following the camera with his head at 3 weeks (he's not lifting his head up very high on this one...probably because it's about the millionth time I had him do it. Why didn't I film it the first 999,999 times he did it? I have no idea. Hopefully he gets his Mom's brains.)