All Hallows Eve

So I am finally attacking the mountain of pictures and events that have gone on since well.... too long without updates. So what is a man to do that missed so much time on the blog-us-phere? Well just randomly update the first things that come to mind/picture of course. Order is for the Hadavi's I prefer entropy.


We of course started with pumpkin carving I went with a fairly traditional vampire pumpkin and the other pumpkin welll that is another story for another blog.




This is Lindsey putting up the Halloween Decorations on the door and this is just the perfect pic to capture the moment:


It was Thatchers first Halloween so being the nice perfect parents we are we went crazy on his outfit and crazy on the pictures we took of him. OK so maybe not on both counts. Seriously I think we have about 10 pictures of the kids. Brooklyn went as Belle (from Beauty and the Beast) and T well T went as 007 (Though I did forget to make his Bottle for the night...he likes it shaken not stirred...I know I know say it a few more times it get's funnier I promise!)

T ain't afraid of no Ghosts!




This is T being accosted by his sister. Who does that to 007 really?



I am going to re-name my son to L.L. Cool T (Ladies Love Cool Thatcher)



And this last one I am sure someone had a great idea for this and I am pretty sure it was not the first thing I thought of when I saw it...

Who loves their Body Mass Index so much they make a Lic Plate of it?



This is Los De Marr's with some help from Mr T's WoO Fantasy girls.



And last but not least this is a true Arizona Pumpkin after 3 days outside...seriously seriously

Camping in Payson

So ALL Los De Marr's made it this time (Brooklyn included) up to Payson to camp. Which in Phoenix we use an excuse to escape the heat which is just brutal. So off we went and we had a great time with the Freeds (ALL!), Schauer/Moores, and ourselves. Interesting points was it was actually cool up there never hot. Topped out at ~79

Now I would be remiss if I did not mention two very important points about this trip

1) It hailed on us in such a way as I don't know if it has ever hailed on us. We were on our way back from visiting a lake trail which got rained out. In our Caravan of three heading down the highway the hail littlerally had everyone except a very few pull over and the ones who did not pull over were going 5-10 miles an hour. There was maybe an 1inch of large hail on the ground which made Lisa proclaim 'I really need to check my van for damage'


2) Lindsey was right to a) Pack the Tiller's 10x10 Canopy as this was perfect for most of us to huddle under for about an hour while it rained like all get out! b) After we got hailed on and back to our Camp which was till dry she made me put it up even though I was less then sure it was necessary.






All the pictures.

LOS DE MARRS

Summer things we did and I did not post

OK So this is my LAZY LAZY POST just pictures with little explanation:




and pictures from out Trip to Portland in August to Erin and Date's Asian Banquet:

Miss Brooklyn Shea De Marr's First Day of Kinder!

It was a happy sad day today in the De Marr household.


Brooklyn goes to: CTA Liberty Campus
Which is rated very highly and if we did not live so close to it I am not sure we would have be able to send her there are people send there children from all over Chandler and Gilbert here if they can.


We took Brooklyn off to her first day of kindergarten. She was in Montana for the first 6 days but she woke up strong on Tuesday for HER first day to join her class. Her Teach Mrs Zilm got a great big hug first thing when we got there and she was in line waiting in the almost 100 degree heat at 8AM. Then she was off in line not even looking back like a big girl most self assured!



Hello big girl, goodbye baby girl. So happy proud and sad all at the same time.

Mr T's - 1st Roll

OK so exciting news Mr. T had his first roll and we have one of them on film for you to see. He is such a big boy. This is his new trick and is is quite good at it already going from his right to left onto his belly. Has not done front to back or Left to right yet. That is all just a matter of time. How exciting is that! Oh no this means he is starting the movement phase even if it is small things it changes the ball game quite a bit.

YEA MR THATCHER!

Click it to View:

Brooklyn's 5th Birthday

Wow I am so far behind on the updates there is much to Blog so I will be on a flurry here I guess.

Brooklyn's 5th Birthday was a ton of fun. We had Saturday Family B-day and Sunday friends B-day and it was blast! (Though in the equation I somehow sprained my neck which is still bothering me DOH!)




Full Album can be seen at: HERE YEE HERE YEE

More coming soon,
Los De Marrs

Thatcher's First Camping Trip

So we took T-Pain (aka Mr. T.) on his first camping trip and it went well. We meet the Schauer/Moores and the Freed's up at the site north of Payson Saturday morning at about 9:00Am. They had arrived the night before and setup camp and we were unable to leave as we had B until Late Friday. That being said it worked out well as a full day away in the woods running around tired Mr T. out. Not to mention his parents a little bit. So we Showed up and it was time to eat for T and I put up the tent with some help and unpacked the Van during the feeding time. Then we loaded up and went to Tonto National Bridge Lindsey had never been and we had Thatcher and the Dogs who are not allowed so I walked around with them for an hour and let her climb down with the rest of the campers and get a view. (Ahh nice guy!) Then Lindsey came up fed T (Can you see the re-occuring theme here) and then we all had Lunch at the TNB. It was very sunny out so I guess I got sun while trying to keep the sun off Mr T.
We headed back to camp where we hung out and had a few beers/glasses of wine while the kids reached sugar and energy overlaod for a while. Steve rolled a big log up to the camp site to cook on (Which was about 5 feet high) and then we cooked dinner pasta, beans (Lindsey's favorite), asperagus, and for dessert anything you could imagine including brownies. Thatcher ate soon after though of note he took a 4.5hr break between feedings there due to a long nap. Then we again hung out for a while the parents got the kids ready for bed and put stuff away. We scrounded around for extra clothing for the clark kids who seemed to have packed all their toys but no long clothing, OOPS! Then everyone was off to bed by about 7:30. Thatcher had a minor meltdown ate in a 1.5 hour period (instead of 3 hour normal) and then he too was off to bed. I read my book a little then tried to sleep (not well). Thatcher only ate one middle of the night feeding (so 2 4+ hour periods WOW!) and we were all happy.
Woke up the next morning and went on a run with Steve to check out the camping spots in the areas and there was not much. Our spot was the BEST BY FAR! Though we did find 1 or 2 emergency areas in case this one is taken. Then it was back to the site for some breakfast, feed T while I disasembled the tent and camping area and off to home to get B for a sunday Family Dinner at our place.

Full Page

The De Marrs

New Camera and updated pictures

So our old Camera was limping along. I mean I had to hold it just right ans squeeze just right when turning it on just to make it work. To many drops by the kids or water or something.

So I decided to go with a recommendation from a friend and get the Cannon PowerShot D10 (Which was not out and I had to wait two months) and now I am happy. It is a little bigger then the old camera but I think that will not make much of a difference and the added features are too nice:

• 12.1MP - OK it is overkill I Know but nice
• Waterproof - Yea WATERPROOF up to 10 meters and so nice pool pictures! Wish it was a little deeper but what are you going to do? And it sinks rather then floats so that is not a good thing in my mind
• Freeze proof - so when you go skiing it doesn't freeze up on you anymore
• Shockproof - from a fall of 10 feet it says - now I am not going to test this but I feel a lot more comfortable with little kids trying to take pictures now :)

Here are some sample shots!



Full album

Avery

My First Olympic Triathalon (Actually my first Tri period)

Yea I definitely need to train more, though I think this was also a goofy result. Not to make excuses, but it was not a good race for me in terms of a few things that I would change in the next race (Learning) and a few things I have no idea about what happened (Like the Stomach thing which went away late Monday but when I woke up this morning [Tuesday] I still feel a weird stomach cramp feeling). Oh well always room for improvement. I started reading the Triathlon Training Bible yesterday and got about 40 pages into it. I think that is going to be very useful.

Also I wish my Garmin did not flake out on me. It froze for some reason and I got part of the bike ride (maybe 19 of 24 miles and 1/2 a mile of the run). I bet my race was something like the following:

Swim:

1. 100 meters - OMG I AM SWIMMING I AM GOING TO DIE! Where am I in the pack, how am I doing, I can't see anything, but I think I am going to right direction
2. 600 meters - wow this is not too bad... just like a long chill run but in water I am doing ok think I am about in the middle of the pack 'I think'
   
3. 50 meters - shoot I just got passed by the fast people from the group that started 5 minutes after me (Good news is that I am super in line with the buoys)
4. 50 meters - ok turning yea that means I am almost 1/2 through the swim...how long have I been swimming? Feels like a long time, I think I am way over time already for the entire budgeted time of swimming, but I can't be because I am in the middle of the pack right?
   
5. 200 meters - ok so not only the fast people from the group behind but 2 groups behind are passing me but a few are now laboring and I am just crusing along with them...or them with me whatever!
6. 400 meters - watch out for the bridge, hey Mr lifeguard wish I had your job! (He laughs as I say that in mid swim - I know I am a loser but it kept me going strong)
   
7. 10 meters - OMG everyone seemed to have reached the last bouy at the same time! 'How the hell does that happen?' This is worse then the start, people everywhere.
8. 50 meters - Now everyone is sprinting for the shore, me included, but I am not really getting passed by anyone so that is good.
9. 50 meters - Ok people seemed to have fizzled out someplace, and I am going strong(ish).
1. Shoot missed the step when the guy tried to help me out of the water and almost brought him in with me. :)
   

Transition 1:

1. Hey look there is Lindsey with Thatcher and Brooklyn watching me run and taking pictures! I better show them a nice Peace sign! (see pic above)
   
2. OK running on grass - I did not really think about all the grass I would get on my feet. I mean Steve told me but it did not register.
   
3. People are all over the place on the side cheering for you. This is kind of cool!
4. OK at the bike: stop - drop - shoes on
   
5. Jump up helmet glasses and HR monitor ON!
6. Jump on my ----shoot no jump off the bike still in transition area can't get on bike will get DQ'ed!
   
7. OK leaving the transition area and I am almost dry already. It is starting to get hot.

Bike:

1. Mile 1-2 Why the heck is my Garmin not working right now...this sucks - start - restart - restart again AHH DARN IT!
2. 3-4 OK still not working so I have no idea how hard I am going but I feel good. This course is a lot more challenging then I thought it was going to be a lot more hills then I thought though the turns don't seem to be that bad.
3. 5 - OK my garmin started to work for real, Yes! Now I am feeling better I seem to have found a good pace 2:45/mile and my HR is in a mid zone 3 that is good. Just keep on cranking.
4. 7 - remember how I said the turns were not that bad? I was wrong! This one is a complete u turn I got there with 4 other people had to coast a bit still almost stopped to avoid collision.
   
5. 8 - Just got passed for the first time by 2 guys who made me seem like I was standing still of course their bikes look like they cost about 10K each and all they do is train. (Were they yellowheads? That would be odd if I killed them swimming and they made me stand still in the bike, my better sport, they must be orange or blue or pink heads).
   
6. 9-11 - OK I have settled into a grove, except for these Stupid U turns! The 2nd one was worse the the first one and I almost almost hit the sidewalk it was so quick a turn. I had a little too much speed I guess. The 3rd U turn was not that bad. A few more people passed me but not many. Again did I mention this course had more hills then I thought there would be. I was expecting a pancake. Not that it was south mountain or anything like that but there are climbs.
7. 12 - Yes I reached the 1/2 way point. 1st girl just passed me (At least I think it was the first) 2nd is right next to me and she appears happy like a clam.
8. 13-17 - Wow just cruisen feel great and relaxed. Though it is getting seriously warm and then 1st u turn was worse the 2nd time as I think I am running into more people on there first lap.
   
9. 18 - Wow Jay (Friend of mine) just tapped me as he road by...DARN IT! I thought I was going to be way out in front. OK so I will speed up and ride next to him if I can.
10. 20 - OK heart rate on climbs was hitting into zone 4 trying to keep up with Jay need to settle down a bit - bye jay! Same girl is still riding next to me yelling at friends as she goes. 'Hey Girl how come you are yelling at people as they ride bye aren't you tired?' Girl 'Tired the race doesn't start until the run!' 'Oh I though it started 1/2 way through the run'
    
11. 21-23 - Hey the girl next to me I am still with for the last 12 miles that is a good sign though she seems to have the course/turning things down to a science where I just make huge bumbles of the turns!
12. 24 - Almost there and I am still neck and neck with the girl and I can actually see Jay just ahead...

Transition 2:

1. Wow came in OK got my shoes off while still attached to peddles that is good never could do that before and I bet it will save me some time. I know don't try new things on the course but it worked!
   
2. Girl is literally the setup RIGHT NEXT TO ME - 'Hey girl what are the chances of that?' Girl 'Not high' (GRUPH why are you talking to me attitude)
3. Hey look I made up time on Jay in the transition. Its got to be the shoes! :)
4. OK RUN RUN RUN
   

Run:

1. 8:01 - stomach hurt but ran through it - keeping up with Jay - good god can I tell you how HOT IT IS! - STUPID WATCH JUST FAILED AGAIN ARGGGGG!
   
2. 13:00 - BOINK! Though about quitting had to walk there goes Jay! I'd mess with the watch but I am too hot.
   
3. 13:00 - DOUBLE BOINK! I really thought about quitting - had to pull over to almost vomit but not really a vomit feeling more of a hard hard stomach feeling like something stuck in my esophagus, lower esophagus cockles lower cockles....ok you get the idea.
   
4. 9:30 - F'it I'm going to jog through it - plus I just saw Lindsey and the kids and they are so happy for me I have to find some strength from some place.
   
5. 9:10 - Wow this sucks but only 2 miles left - Some guy is talking about can't wait for football season to start so he does something else on Sundays besides this - wow I can't agree more and I am not a football guy.
   
6. 7:30 - Heat is about to kill me but my stomach loosened up so I am finally passing people instead of getting killed. Last mile and seems like people are boinking hard. I pre-boinked so I guess I got that going for me, which is nice.
   
7. .3 miles I feel like hell! It is about heat related exhaustion time, but I can see the finish line!
   

THE END! - Did I tell you it was almost 100 degrees when I finished! WTF seriously we are having near record heat on my first Triathlon what weather god did I piss off! Thank goodness they have water for me here, better wander over an see Lindsey and the kids. Man she rocks to have them here. I think I am going to puke. Nope I'm good just very very tired. Very tired and... wait water park? Brooklyn wait a minute let me catch my breath...ok water park you were good I will drag myself that direction...maybe that water was a good idea I almost feel human again...what time is it 11:00? already? OK let me get my bike and then we will be off to B's friend Connor's Birthday party. Man this is going to be a long day! :)

OK so here are my results:

• Total Time - 2:57:42:61
• SWIM: 39:06
• T1: 1:45
• Bike: 1:11
• T2: 1:09
• RUN: 1:04 (I know I know I boinked what can I say!)

24/40 in my age group
277/540 overall

Did I mention that I am a geek? I parsed the data into Excel so I could see how I did proportionally:
Swim - 244 out of 540
T1 - 158 out of 540
Bike - 149 our of 540
T2 - 40 out of 540
Run (uh OHHHH) - 399 out of 540 (BOINK DOUBLE BOINK!)

http://www.tucsonracing.com/results/TATres09.htm



Not to shabby for 3 weeks of actually training. I mean I was always working out but had not gotten in a pool or specifically had a goal in mind until 3 weeks ago. While it was not the sub 2:45 that I was hoping for on a day like that I will take it!

2009_05_17_Olympic Triathalon

Avery

Mothers Day

Well it is Mothers day and I am married to the best Mother I know. Thatcher is now almost 6 weeks old and Lindsey is cleared to do anything she wants as of Thursday. She hit the GYM immediately with a cycling class and is out running. This is on top of taking care of Thatcher with his feedings every three hours (including the night time when most of us sleep) pumping so he has milk when she takes a mini vacation in June, Taking care of Brooklyn who is now home full time. This is not just watch your kid sit on the couch mom time. This is love your kid by teaching them science, math, reading writing etc. I don't know where she gets all the love and energy to do all that take care of me and keep us all a happy family. She is the best I tell you. This is not decryin the moms in my life or even other moms out there. I know they all do a lot of work and some are equal to my loving wife and mother of Mr. Thatcher and Step-mother to Brooklyn but none better I tell you. Men I am sure you feel the same about your wives and good for you. I just know I am blessed with my wife/mom and could not ask for more.


TO LINDSEY MY NUMBER ONE WIFE AND MOTHER OF/TO MY CHILDREN.

New Born pictures are up now

STILL LIFE STUDIOS
Password: demarrbaby

These are all his 2 week old pictures with his Easter costume and everything yes I know an Easter costume!

Avery

So the first two weeks

The first two weeks with Thatcher have been great! Mostly due to our Family and Friends who are amazing. I cannot have better people around us. People who call us to make sure we are ok and don't need anything, people brining over dinner for us so we don't have to do anything like cook or prepare meals. Thank you all so much for keeping us in mind and helping us out
No real complaints though he has been like all babies either pooping, Sleeping, or feeding. He is starting to get onto his 3 hour schedule which allows Lindsey all of two hours between feedings so I worry about her in the long run. I can't wait until she starts to pump so I can do some night feedings for her and get her a couple of 5 hours sleep sessions in there. Overall I try to do as much around the house to keep it clean and in shape since I am home and she is doing the hard work. This is my last week off of a total of three weeks so I hope I am helping a lot. I know I am tired which means Lindsey must be wiped but she never shows it. She is a true and honest Rock star I could not ask for a better mom more devoted to her child. Here are all the pictures we have taken so far. I will try to update the full Labor Story later today which includes 5 total days in the hospital LPD pushing for 3 hours and me delivering the baby! Hope you are all well loving you lots.



Love,
Avery

Birth Photos (In Total)

All,
Here are the latest Photos of the birth they are for Lindsey and I well worth it we love Matt and Still Life and it is great!

LINK
Password: demarrbaby

Hope you enjoy all the pictures!

Avery

Still Life Studios: Photos of Thatcher's birth

All,
So some of the blog pictures are up of Thatchers birth. A preview of the total, they are great as always. Matt did an awesome job. I can't wait to see them all.

Still Life Studios Blog pictures
Yes the lamb in in them!

We will let you know when they are all there to view.

We love Still life if you need a Photographer, Matt is you man Still Life is your company: info@stilllifestudios.com 3496 E Merrill Ave, Gilbert, AZ‎ - (480) 985-3959‎

Love,
Los De Marrs

Days old pictures for you all

All,
Here are a few pictures of the first few days, we are all well learning to adjust to new sleep habits etc. Though I think Lindsey is actually getting more sleep now (Scary I know!).




Full Link of Pictures

Have fun we are!
Avery

Thatcher Frederick De Marr

Thatcher Fredrick De Marr
Born at 10:48AM 3/30/09
7lbs 10oz
19" Long
Head: 14.5"
Chest: 13.75"


Looks like 2/3 of the voting community got the sex right as: MALE

• 12 votes: 8 male 4 female
  

Looks like 1 person guessed the day right at: 3/30/09

All our bags are packed...

All our bags are packed, we're ready to go
We're standin' here outside our door
We hate to wake you up to say goodbye

But the dawn is breakin', it's early morn
The car's waitin', I'm blowin' the horn
Already We're so happy we could die

So kiss us and smile for us
Tell us that you'll come see us
Hold us like you'll never let us go

'Cause we're leaving on the baby train
We don't know when we'll be back again
Oh, baby, we can't wait to see you grow....

I know a long way to tell you that we are on the way to the Hospital to have the baby but hey we are on the way to HAVE THE BABY!

Baby Sex/Delivery date Poll

OK so I can't believe I did not think of this. How simple is this and how fun it is. OK so look to your right and below the floating baby you will see the Poll on the Date of Delivery and the Sex of the baby (aka Baby De Marr).

Please feel free to take a guess. If you are really into it you can reply to this by stating why you think it is going to be X sex or A/B/C date.

Avery

P.a. Thanks Martha for the fun suggestion!

15 days 15 days!

Are you kidding me 15 days? Well we are ready to go and I mean really ready the room is there the bags are ready we are just waiting on the baby now :)
No really we are not in a large hurry really. In fact I think I would prefer if the baby decided to come knocking on March 29th. That way I could get a full 3 weeks off from Freescale to hang with Lindsey and the Baby! MTO-PTO-MTO IN Freescale this year I have to take 1 week of Mandatory Time Off (unpaid) in the first quarter and then another 1 in 3rd Quarter but I can't take them back to back so I am going to scweese 1 week of PTO (Personal time Off - aka our vacation and sick time) in between them and then we have 3 weeks to hang out.

All you girls who have had success in self happy induction I would love to hear your thoughts :)

The important thing is that the Baby and Mom are healthy. Lindsey looks great still and is out taking walks and went to cycling earlier in the week. She WENT TO CYCLING! She is a rock star. I love that girl!

Avery

SiCKO thoughts

Wow I just watched SiCKO all the way through finally and I am just frustrated. Not sure what the heck is even going on except I know a number of things felt way too true in the movie:

• Why is America the place based on revolution and demonstration put in its place by corporation and greed?
• For the People By The People? Does that mean for the few?
• How come so many things feel like lies and setups in our world?
• Does even a knight in shinning armor like 'Obama' seem so far away from where we should be?
  

Me being the super pessimist that I am especially on political/social issues I am constantly surprised by the things I learn and how it makes me want to just sell everything and go fight how horrible things are.

WOW,
Avery 'Sad Panda' De Marr

The Baby Room is DONEish

OK so the Babies Room is done. Last Week Mrs Tiller, aka Mimmi aka Kay, finished the mural she started in the Babies room and I cannot be more impressed. Now to be honest when Kay first started I was thinking ok a tree in the corner and some bees hanging out around the bee hive and scatered in the room in various places. Well once she started I took a big step back because I realized I was going to be very very wrong! I mean this thing was an actual tree in the room. Now in no way shape or form do these pictures do ANYTHING resembling justice to the tree that she created. The room is awesome! Lindsey had the idea and Kay put it into reality. I am just so happy that we have some talent in the family becuase it is just remarkable. I seriously can't wait to think up what we are going to do for the next room!



WOW!
Avery

Fastest 32 year old male at lost duchmans when the wind is blowing temperature is below 50 on a Sunday at 7:30AM...

OK So I ran this 1/2 marathon last Sunday and I did not do very well in my estimation but as my buddy Steve put it "you got up off the couch and ran it in 1:45 what is bad about that." So that was funny but now he sent me this link to the results. These just crack me up! I thought it was bad enough when I looked at it and saw that I was the fasted male in my age what an anomaly that is if you look at it data you will see that between being 60 and 23 I am the slowest person there. Then when you look at it in more detail you see that even the woman at my age beat me by 2:20. Then proceeds to tell me that not only is that for this one race but for the history of the race (or at least the past 4 years) ARE YOU KIDDING!!! So needless to say I had to laugh at myself the anomaly that is the data (can you say outlier or sigma). I will do better in two weeks after some recovery and my confidence builder :) In good news I only have to drop off 1:45 seconds off my time this year PER MILE to get the record for 33 year olds. Enough writing I have to get running!


Avery 'The Fastest 32 year old male Lost Dutchman racer EVERY' De Marr

P.a. You got all the sarcasm dripping off this right? If not you are no longer my friend...no really you are no longer my friend.

Baby's Room is painted somewhat

So thanks to our friend Steve who helped us think about how to paint the lines here as he had some experience of his own. We set up the lines then painted the tape with what we thought was the same wall color so that it sealed the paint from the next coat(Turns out it was mis-labeled and we painted with GLOSSY ARGGG). Then once t hat was dry we put on the Green paint (2 coats) then waited till the next day. I got up ran a 1/2 marathon and Lindsey took care of Brooklyn and Aidan and took down the tape. Then after we all went to lunch we put up more tape and painted the interior Yellow color. Now there are two jobs left both of which I will have very little part in:

1. Touch up for the various little stuff
2. Touch up the Glossy base that was mislabled (That is once I find the flat paint if there is any....arggg)
3. Paint the Tree, bee hive and Bees (ALL Grandma Tiller)

Anyways here are the pictures:

Ha Ha - funny

Looking back at the Still Life Blog I found the pics from our wedding and comments which are funny as can be.

STILL LIFE BLOG -DE MARR WEDDING

and a few pics from our exciting cider the other night :)




Avery

The Brooklyn Baking Experience

So on Sunday Brooklyn (And Lindsey) did a little baking with Brooklyn's set that Mimi (Grandma Tiller) Gave her for Christmas. They were off like a shot having a ball by creating some great cupcakes. Half of the cupcakes went to the Weekly Sunday Tiller get together and were eaten up in a shot. Well except for 2 or 3 extra that Grandpa Tiller just had to keep as he liked them so much. Contrary to what he thought when he first heard about the idea, "Brooklyn and cupcakes we'll maybe not" he said, but BRooklyn proved him wrong and good for her baking skilled.

So here are the pictures of their skills!

Can I tell you how much I love my wife! (And you can always see why!)

I don't think I can but man I love my wife. So yesterday was our FIRST Anniversary which was very low key and was just right for the two of us. There was the cake top from our wedding, Cards of love, Flowers galore, Apple Cider (Since Lindsey and I are both not drinking through her pregnancy - it seems only fair) and a dinner at the Keg Steakhouse, which is actually a fairly nice place and I learned a number of things about steak.

We have been as everyone has been struggling with the thoughts of 'What if' equations that the serious financial downturn has caused with our industry and the world. We have a budget and try to stick to it as much as we can, but occasionally you have to splurge on some things and re-adjust your budget to account for these. Recently Lindsey and I struggled with how much to spend on our maternity photos and what we wanted to do. Well we decided this is a one time items that we wanted to be able to show and I can only tell you that I am very very glad we did. I can't tell you which one is my favorite but I can tell you that I absolutely love just the few on their website and can't wait to see them all:


Man my wife is one beautiful woman!



Ahh family shot (At least my hands)!

For the pictures that Still Life Studios has so far you can look at their BLOG

WOW blown away.
Avery

Nursing Class and Shirts

So on Monday Lindsey and I headed off to Nursing class. While Lindsey seemed excited I was not so much. I mean a nursing class really? Anyways I went as I should being a Dad and boy was I wrong. This class was cool and has totally changed my view on pregnancy, birth and breast feeding. I think I am going to try to make Lindsey nurse until 2012 when I think the second kid will be about 2! (Karen I listened to you the one day but I did not listen listen to you. You are NOT a strange person you are a very great mother!)

Anyways here is the picture.


Also Lindsey's good friend Brittney sent Lindsey a shirt the other day that I had to take a picture of becuase it was so funny and cute!




I think the above shirt is acutally in response to the shirt that I send Brian (Brittney's husband) when we got the girls prego.

This is greek lettering for 'Knocked the Bottom Out of That $&%^'



I know I'm Crude
Avery

Cardinals Still Winners in my book!

So I have to say last night I was so proud of the Arizona Cardinals. When things were bad they came back. Not only did they come back but I did not once think to myself...Well this game is over and just like since they moved here we don't have a shot. I was yelling at the TV even on the last play disagreeing with the refs like no other. No review really and how many penalties did Arizona rack up vs how many did Pittsburgh have? (I like that they threw the occasional flag when it did not even matter.) I digress because I was proud of our cardinals! GO STEVE BREASTON!

And yes I was up at 5:30 because I could not sleep last night I was still so amped thinking about the game.

Avery

The Lion King

So Grandma and Grandpa De Marr gave tickets to The Lion King to Lindsey and I so that we could take Brooklyn. They had already seen it a time or five so we had 4 tickets and decided to take Grandma Tiller (aka Mimi).

[Insert plug where we are eternally grateful to the enriching development of not only my child but of myself in general from all the musicals and plays that my parents have consistently taken me too since I was about 14. While I can't say I was always 100% happy about it I look back and say that I am very indepted to my parents for making these items happen.]

Now my parents could not have known nor could I have anticipated but this trip to the lion king was on January 18th the day before MLK day, 2 days before the Inoguration, and the start of Brooklyn's week long exploration of famou African American's in our history. The Lion King was a perfect begining as it was a great exploration into Africa from an animal perspective. Now I admit that I am beyond silly at times but I never really looked at the deeper meaning of the Lion King until I saw the musical looked into all the African Roots that this musical has. On a side note I re-watched the Lion King with Brooklyn this past weekend and was amazed I had missed it, though half not surprised as I think a) I am beyond an idiot at times and b) at times so color blind I don't get the idea of points being made. I know I know I am an idiot see 'a)'. Anyways it was a great time had by one and all. Brooklyn really loved the show and was constantly amazed at all the information she had to process. She thought she was going to be scared and quite the opposite she was enthralled by the costumes the music and then dancing. To date I think this was one of my personal favorite shows to tell you the truth.
One other small note before I let you have at the pictures of which there are few: DO NOT EVER TAKE A CAMERA INTO THE LION KING. We sat their waiting for the show to start and were maybe 10 minutes early and we decided we would take a few small pictures of the 'family' not the stage not anything but us sitting in our seats. Well we had 3 attedants, yes three, at our seats yelling at us not to take the picture before we could take the 2nd picture and a second picture does not take long for the De Marr family (as you well know), hence my rather sour expression on my face in the 2nd at our seat pictures.

The Free/Schauer/Moores are fun

So last night we had a few families over at our place as we also had Aidan (Our Nephew) over with Brooklyn and thought it would be fun to have a few more over. We had fun just watching the kids go nuts and filling the guests full of wine.

And while we did not put wine in the kids we did put Jello and meat calzones in them that kept them active all night. 7 parents and 8 kids is a lot of fun with the trampoline, various kid games,

...and everyones favorite part...

DRESS UP

Strike a pose Diva!


Oh no come back you look good in those shoes!


How about it Karen are you up for a little dress up?

That a girl!

Steve Are you down for a little Who's Your Father?

Wait don't lose your head....



Karen keep it under control not too much laughing:

Yup that's life :)

New Face to 2009

OK so this is kind of funny kind of lame and kind of just well out lives at present. I grew my beard out for the winter break and finally about 1.5 months in I could not take the iching anymore and it had to be cut. So Lindsey went to town on it with some shears and here are the pics....



I know that's our life!
Avery

On the Next Season of Entourage

Just kiddin and while Entourage may be starting again soon the real Entourage that I am talking about is our new Mini-Mini-Van-Van that's right we traded in the SanteFe and got a Entourage. We absolutely love it so far. Hopefully with the new baby camping and all the stuff we do the extra space will come in handy. The car was just too packed with stuff when we did things outside...2 dogs, 2 kids, 2 adults, camping gear in the SantaFe was just no enough room. So were is the nexct adventure. Since we bought it at the end of the year be got the deal of a lifetime. Let's just say we beat our little friend Edmunds by about 2.5K out the door with the options. Yea De Marrs!

Lindsey in the new mini-mini-van-van


Lindsey (&baby) and Brooklyn in the new Assault vehichle