Happy birthday Jesus and Andrew

It's my favorite holiday, Christmas. But this year is making me rethink that. I mean, it's the time of year when we spend a crazy amount of money on gifts. It's the only time of year that I have to drag boxes and boxes of decor, lights and a tree from the attic to get those unboxed and setup, then reverse that process when everything is over. It's a pain. The house is a mess after the carnage of opening multiple gifts which the kids may or may not have deserved. As a kid, this is hands down the greatest holiday ever. But as a parent, it kind of sucks.

Christmas cards

The Texans are making me fat

Papa John's has a local deal on Monday where you get 50% off of your entire purchase if the Texans win on Sunday. Promo code: TEXANS (duh). So for the past couple of weeks, pizza was what's for dinner. Go Texans! Being that it's such a good deal, we're not ordering just one measly medium pizza. We're going big. So with leftovers, I can say that I've eaten pizza at least four times in the past two weeks. Needless to say, my diet as of late has been quite unhealthy. I'm almost glad the Texans lost yesterday because if they won again, I would have been forced to order more pizza since I simply cannot pass up a deal.

Happy birthday to Lynn

Christmas wish list

Christmas is just around the corner and it's time to shop for those gifts. We asked the kids what they would want for Christmas but they had no clue. Off the top of their heads, they couldn't come up with anything. I figured that they needed to visually see everything so we had them look through various store ads and toy catalogs to compile their Christmas wish list.

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

My second favorite time of year, this one weekend. First there's Thanksgiving. What does this holiday mean to you? Has everyone forgotten that this "holiday" started out with white people befriending the Native Americans and in the end, slaughtered them and stole their land. Doesn't sound like a joyous celebration to me. But no, this holiday is a time for family to come together and to reflect on what you are thankful for. I'm thankful for having a healthy and happy, albeit crazy, family.

Warrior weekend (Austin, TX)

This past weekend we went to Austin, leaving behind all of the boys. Leaving the older two boys didn't feel any different (since they go to my parents on a weekly basis) but leaving baby for the first time was kind of sad and worrisome. But according to my mom, he was really good and there were no troubles. So why the trip to Austin? Besides the good food, our main purpose was to run the Warrior Dash.

Atypical visual weekend update

I'm feeling lazy so this update will involve visuals (pictures and video) of some things that happened this past weekend. But it won't be your typical pictures.

My little paleontologist

In a previous post, I mentioned that Jacob had asked me what's my favorite dinosaur from the Triassic period, at which point I tried to BS my answer and failed miserably. So I followed up and asked him what was his favorite dinosaur from that time period. He responded with, "Coelophysis and Herrerasurus." Geez. He didn't name one but two dinosaurs. And I'm not even sure he's right but there's no way that I'll doubt him.

Ca-Chow!

Today I took the boys, minus baby of course, to our local HEB where they had life-sized cars from Cars 2 (Andrew's favorite movie). Besides the photo-op with the cars, they were giving away lots of goodies for the kids. Good thing the weather was nice (temperature in the upper 60s) or else I would have second thoughts of standing in a long line with other rowdy, undisciplined kids. If one of my boys sat on the ground, cried, and threw a tantrum in the middle of a crowd as I witnessed today, we would have left (as a punishment) so fast that their heads would be spinning. Some of these parents are horrible. Another kid was only wearing his Spider-Man pajamas. Really? If I were president, I would mandate that all parents (and parents-to-be) take a competency test. If you fail, you will be required to take an educational course (paid for out of your own pocket) on parenting or else face fines/jail time/losing your child(ren). Some people should not even be allowed to procreate. I'm not saying that I'm the perfect parent (far from it) but the crap that I see is irritating. But I digress, here are some pictures from today.

Damn you Sony!

Back in 2004 when I moved into my house, I had bought a brand new Sony 55" LCD projection HDTV. A couple years later blue blobs started forming on the screen. WTF. I Googled it and apparently it was a known problem and everyone was having the same problem. So I contacted Sony and eventually I got the faulty optical block fixed free of charge. Done... or so I thought. In 2009 my parents moved into a new house and wanted a new TV so I gave them the Sony TV since I wanted an upgrade. Then recently the Sony TV started forming blue blobs again and even developed a big yellow oval in the middle. They had already replaced the optical block a year prior so this would be the third time it failed. Piece. Of. Shit. So I decided to contact Sony support via their online chat (I didn't feel like holding on the phone and I can leisurely browse the web simultaneously) and it went like this:

Angry for Halloween

We were, as you might have guessed, Angry Birds. Yes they're everywhere right now from plush toys to candy, and it's overkill but what other theme could we have been that has five (or more) different characters and relatively easy to make? Besides, the kids liked them and most importantly, willing to be them so it was an easy choice.

All about Jacob

"I'm not Polish."

Meet Ricky.

Tyson's birth announcement

Pumpkins and bats

It's that time again. The weather gets (relatively) colder. I can start wearing jeans without the risk of sweating in them. And most importantly, the holidays begin. My favorite time of year. First up, Halloween.

Bananas Foster

Sad weekend in sports

And I'm not talking about the death of Al Davis. Well I guess it is sad for those people who remember him for the good things he did for the NFL but that was beyond my time. The Al Davis I know is the one responsible for the hiring and eventual firing of Lance Lane Kiffin and drafting LaMarcus Russel. Both were monumental flops. The passing of Steve Jobs was more sad as he was more of a pioneer in my eyes, and I don't even like or own any Apple products.

Grilled PB&J

Used diapers

Diapers are expensive. And with baby Tyson going through so many in a day, I am bleeding money. Being the smart shopper that I am, I get my diapers through Amazon's Amazon mom program (30% off). Why couldn't it be called Amazon parent or Amazon legal guardian? Moms are not the only ones caring for a child nowadays. Come on, we're in the 21st century now. But I will forgive Amazon as their customer service is outstanding and Prime is like crack, I cannot go back to anything less than free 2-day shipping.

Coffee and cars, and cowboys

Well it was actually cowboys and Indians but that would have messed up the "C" pattern of the title. With the much improved weather (70s-low 80s), I decided to take the boys, sans baby, to Coffee and Cars on Saturday morning. The drive is such a deterrent (80 miles round trip) but I figured it would be a good opportunity to take photos (something I'd like to get back into), the boys could look at their favorite cars, and I could get my favorite carrot cupcake at Treat Cupcakes.

McD's English pub burger

I am a sucker for new things, especially if it's only available for a limited time. Something about the phrase "limited time offer" always get me. My response to that is "I must get it." So when I saw a giant billboard for McDonald's new English Pub Burger, I knew I had to try it, even though McD's is the last place I would go for a burger.

Mongolian beef

This week in art

Are you smarter than a Kindergartner?

The obvious answer is yes. You shouldn't even have to think about it. But there may come a time when a Kindergartner makes you look dumb. Unfortunately for me, this has happened one too many times. And this Kindergartner happens to be my son, Jacob.

Thit nuong (grilled pork)

Fall TV season

The fall TV season is about to begin and I'm ready to get into a new show. Ever since the end of Lost, I haven't religiously watched any show, well besides Modern Family. I've tried to get into a few other shows but either I lost interest and/or the show got cancelled.

Chick-fil-A-ish chicken sandwich

Weekend of anniversaries

First the happy stuff. On September 10, 2011, Tyson turned one month old. Usually it's nothing monumental but knowing that this is most likely our last child (unless there's another accident), I wanted to do a little something for baby. Nothing big. I just made boxed brownies. Not like baby could eat it but it was more for everyone else. Well Tyson was getting some brownies indirectly via breast milk when Lynn consumed some. I wonder if he can tell. I wonder if the milk is sweeter. Wait, why am I so obsessed with breast milk?

(Fantasy) football begins!

Football season officially begins but more importantly, fantasy season starts. My favorite time of year. For those that don't know and/or have already judged me, wikipedia defines fantasy football as "a competition in which participants select imaginary teams from among the players in a league and score points according to the actual performance of their players." It has nothing to do with wizards, elves, or ogres, although I wouldn't be opposed to that either.

Labor Day weekend

Another three-day weekend thanks to the US government. (I also appreciate Memorial Day weekend.) I'm not too sure what the meaning of Labor Day is all about. I thought it meant that it was a day people take off work, free of labor for that one weekday. But apparently it doesn't apply to anyone who works in retail or else who would operate the stores for all of those Labor Day sales?

Pizza night (homemade)

Just Andrew

All the attention and focus lately have been on Tyson (new baby) and Jacob (starting Kindergarten) but what about Andrew, the middle child? Let's not forget about him.

"The call"

The call. The phone call the father-to-be receives from his pregnant wife (or girlfriend) telling him it's go time. The days leading up to the call can be quite nerve racking. Are you ready? Are you prepared to leave at a drop of a dime? This is my recollection of what happened when I received "the call" with the three kids.

Jacob's first day of (real) school

On Monday, Jacob officially started his school career. It was his first day of Kindergarten. He's been to our church's ECC program which is essentially a preschool for the past three years but this is different. This is "real" school.

Who does he look like?

That's the most common question one will get asked with a newborn. It's too early to tell. All babies look like old men (or women) when they first arrive and you can't really tell until they are six months or even a year old. I decided to compare all the boys when they were about a week or two old, since I'm curious how Tyson will turn out. So let's take a look.

Paternity leave (AKA free time)

My two weeks off work started the moment Tyson was born. I was really looking forward to the pseudo-vacation and with all of this free time, I could start completing things on my long laundry list of random crap I want/need to do. But nothing ever goes according to plan.

Tyson is here!

The wait is over. Tyson has finally arrived. He came in at 6 lbs, 7 oz (biggest of the three boys). From my perspective, this delivery seemed the easiest but Lynn may disagree. I thought it went really smooth. One of the nurses said Lynn was a "super ninja", whatever that means but I took it as a compliment. There were no major issues with baby or mom. We could have probably gone home after the first night but unfortunately we had to stay the standard three days postpartum.

Another birthday

After turning the big 3-oh, I imagine any subsequent birthday is just like any other day. There's nothing monumental about turning 31. It's just a number at this point. What's more important is how you feel. Today, I feel like I'm at my healthiest, my prime. And according to RealAge.com, I'm younger than I actually am.

Documentation

The big thing that I have been taught all throughout school and at all of my jobs is to document everything. "If you don't document it, it never happened." I wish I applied this to my two boys. And this goes for everything, from their various milestones to the crazy, funny things they say. My problem is that I don't think to write it down. Who does? You're too busy in the moment. But I plan on changing that, especially with baby #3.

Calm before the storm

I'm not talking about a hurricane but the pending arrival of baby #3. At this point we're ready... the crib is setup, old baby clothes are out of storage, and all the bottles are washed and ready. The only thing left to do is wait. Waiting is probably the worst part. It's the not knowing that kills me. Not knowing when he's coming. Not knowing how he's going to be as a baby. He can be difficult and colicky like Jacob or super easy and sleeping through the night by day two like Andrew. So many unknowns. I'm excited yet very anxious.

It's a rave

When it's time to settle down and go to bed, the boys occasionally always have a sudden burst of energy. And it doesn't matter if they missed their afternoon nap, they will still expend a crazy amount of energy right before going to sleep. Yelling, running, jumping, wrestling, etc all around 10 pm. So one night I decided to give them some glow sticks I bought from the dollar bin at Target and used my camera to capture the chaos.

Make me babies

We're counting down the days and the one thing I keep wondering is, what will baby #3 look like? Jacob and Andrew look nothing alike so will this newborn look more like one of his siblings or have a totally different look? So I turned to the internet in hopes of answering this question.

"I like your glasses"

In my line of work, I get to meet a lot of people. And everywhere I go I've gotten a lot of compliments on my new pair of eyeglasses (I broke my previous frames). I'm not here to brag but to point out one common trend of those compliments.

Keeping the (burger) streak alive

Last week I mentioned my addiction to burgers so when going out to eat yesterday, I couldn't help myself from ordering one. I'm not purposely eating a burger every week (because we all know how unhealthy that can be) but I don't crave anything else.

What's in a name?

It's almost time to meet baby #3 (a month away) and we need to come up with a name. Honestly we haven't put much thought into it. Maybe it's because of the fact that it's our third child, a third boy. We're running out of boy names here.

A name is a big deal since you're stuck with it for the rest of your life, or until you're old enough to go to the courthouse and change it to something like Ochocinco. I'm not a fan of my own name. I don't like saying it. I don't like the way it sounds. But it's my name and I've learn to live with it. So when picking a name for my own child, I want to make sure it's a name that he will like and most importantly, meet most (if not all) of my criteria for a name.

I'm addicted to hamburgers

This marks the fifth weekend in a row where I got a burger (not counting any fast food ones). After Jacob's T-ball game on Saturday, we had lunch at 9er's Grill. I ordered the Tex-Mex burger which included jalapenos, bacon, and cheese. The beef patty was big and thick. Each bite was really flavorful. The fries looked like the frozen variety but it was cooked really well (crisp) and lightly seasoned just right.

The value of money

Initially to reward the boys for whatever the reason (sleeping by themselves, eating their entire meal by themselves without having to be constantly reminded, brotherly help, sharing toys, no whining for the entire day, etc.) I used reward calendars from Chuck E Cheese. If they did any of the previously mentioned good deed, then they would get a sticker to put on an empty day and once they completed their calendar, their reward was a trip to Chuck E Cheese. Initially, it took them quite a while to complete a calendar but then they literally got a sticker everyday. It got too easy for them. So easy in fact I still owe them a trip to Chuck E Cheese (but I don't think they remember). I needed another reward system.

Independence Day weekend

Independence Day weekend was the beginning of my independence from eating healthy. This was the first weekend since the end of the weight loss bet. This was all going to end very badly.

I'm a loser baby, so why don't you get me a burger

Today was the end of the weight loss bet and unfortunately I was not the biggest loser. I was just a loser. Mike (Nez) won the bet with an impressive 24 lbs lost, 13.8% weight lost! The detailed results are posted in the weight loss page.