Baby Pool Time... Again!

So, it is time once again for the Atkinson baby pool. If you have forgotten how it works, here are the rules:
Submit your guess for DAY (including time), WEIGHT, LENGTH, and your choice of any SONG you want. The person that gets the correct day wins if they don't share the day with anyone else. If they do share a day then it defaults to the closest time. (Note: if you don't enter a time and the person you share the winning day with does, they automatically win.) If there is still a tie at that point, the tie breaker will default to the WEIGHT guess and then to the LENGTH guess. You can submit your guesses in the comments section, to my Facebook, or in an email to [email protected].

Tell them what they will win Bob! This is where the song will come in to play. I will sing the song that the winner  has chosen and I will post the video of it on my blog. This was the prize for the winner in 2010 congratulations again Kristen.

Helpful hints:
The current due date is November 4th.
Our first child (now 6 years old) was born 10 days early in the early morning. She was 7 lbs 3 oz. and 19 inches.
Our second child (now 2 years old) was induced 7 days early and born in the early morning. She was 8 lbs even and 21 inches.

Good luck everyone!

PS. If I win, I don't have to sing, so my guess is October 23rd at 5 am. Weight: 8 lbs 3 oz. Length: 20 inches. Song: n/a

She's Still Doing it After All of These Years

So, you would think that as your children get older they would eventually stop humiliating you in public. I think I still have a long way to go before that happens. Let me tell you about the most recent encounter. I decided to be nice and wash Tricia's car and also thought it would be nice to relieve her of one of the children. So, Keira and I went through the car wash and then pulled in next to another car at the vacuum stations. I noticed the other driver was an extremely large man and his pants were literally hanging down to his knees showing off his purple boxers. I also noticed that Keira had noticed and, understanding the potential embarrassment this could cause me, I decided to put out this little ember before it became a forest fire. Thinking I was covering all of my bases I said to her, "look, I know you see that man's pants are falling down. Whatever you do, DO NOT say anything about his pants falling down, or the color of his underwear, or about how enormous he is"
Of course she agreed and so we proceeded to vacuum out the car.
As soon as the vacuum turned off Keira yelled to me from the other side of the car, which just happened to be the same side of the car that this gargantuan man with purple underoos was wiping down his car (no vacuum noises there either).
What she yelled: "HEY DAD, IT'S OKAY NOW BECAUSE HE FINALLY PULLED UP HIS PANTS!"
The next words out of my mouth: "Get in the car, we are leaving right now. We will stop later and put the seats back up then so you can buckle up."
My question to other parents out there: On average, what is the age that children don't cause awkward moments for their parents?

Horses! Horses. Horses?

Ah crap, the girls (aka wife, daughter, and daughter) are big into horses. I don't think I will be able to keep them happy unless we own horses. Tricia has already done all of the research on what it takes to take care of a horse. She knows how much it will cost, and what you have to do each and every day for the horse. She even has researched ways to lease a horse. Yes, just like leasing a car. You pay money to take care of someone elses horse (mostly) and in return you get to ride it whenever you want and you get to see if you are cut out for that kind of responsibility. I have also introduced her to a program that lets special needs children ride horses for therapy (it is called Saddle Light and their site is: http://www.thesaddlelightcenter.com/.) They are willing to teach her everything she needs to know to take care of horse, and she will be able to do it and get the hang of it. Keira is of course sold and is currently taking horse riding lessons. And let me tell you a little story to illustrate why I know Allyson is on board too. Tricia was taking Ally to a park to play. Allyson got out of the car and started running enthusiastically towards the playground when all of a sudden she stopped. She looked left and then she looked right, and then she looked left again. She then turned and looked at her mother with the saddest face, then threw herself on the ground to start her enormous tantrum.

"WHERE HORSY"

"I WANT HORSY"

"I WANT HORSY"

Those were the only discernable words that came from her. So of course, Tricia, being a horse lover too, scooped her up and drove to the nearest ranch so they could walk around and look at the "horsies". Life will not be a happy one for me if I do not bite the bullet and get the girls their "horsies". Here is the proof:

New Years Resolution

Here is one of my New Years Resolutions so all of you can check up on me. Hopefully that means I will be better at accomplishing this one. My goal is to get into top shape. You know, the regular working out goal. I won't bore you with the "how I am going to do it", but I do have that written down and mapped out. This is my before picture. And Hopefully this will be my after picture.

I think I can do it and I know Tricia hopes I can too (wink wink nudge nudge).

Look Who's Laughing Now

So, with life in general, and school, and PCSing ("moving" for all you civilians) and SCHOOL, I haven't had the time to partake of an old past time that I have always enjoyed. And that is, telling you (my one reader, if that anymore) stories. But I am still in the giving spirit of Christmas, and this story is just too great to let it fall by the wayside so, here it is. Oh, and my new year resolution is to add at least one post a month (even during school). Help me keep this resolution. OK, now the story.

So, one morning during this Christmas break, I was fortunate enough to be awake when my youngest daughter (2 yrs) woke up. She walked into the living room all grouchy and sleepy-eyed and I said "good morning. Come give daddy a hug and a kiss."

To which she replied, "NO" shaking her head from side to side very deliberately.

I countered with "Please. Daddy loves hugs from his baby."

And that too was met with the stern "NO" and over-exagerated head shake. So, I did what any hug-desperate dad would do. I got down on all fours and slowly started crawling toward her with the intention of stealing a hug and a kiss. Well to my surprise (although I shouldn't have been surprised by it), as soon as I got within an arms reach, I was slapped full force across the side of my face. Needless to say, I didn't want the hug anymore. I promptly sent her to "time-out" and explained that we do not hit. She quietly walked over to fulfill her punishment, turned around and stood there motionless scowling at me through her binky while she clutched her blanky. After about a minute of this, I asked, "are you ready to come tell daddy sorry?"

And with the same amount of enthusiasm she gave me another "NO". After about 5 or so minutes of trying to get her to apologize I devised a plan that I was sure would be successful in getting me my "sorry" (It is so cute when she says it.) I went over to her and took her binky, and her blanky which she never goes anywhere without, and I tried again to coax a "sorry out of her by holding her most prized possessions hostage. When that was again shut down with a harsh "NO", my plan developed further. I went into her bedroom and retrieved her most favorite dolly, went to the couch across the room (where she could still see me, but not the T.V.), put the binky in my mouth, the blanky over my legs and cradled her dolly. I then put on her most favorite show, Yo Gaba Gaba. When she didn't budge during the entire episode of this ridiculous kids show, I decided to pull out the big guns. I turned up the volume and I put on Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse. Still with the binky in my mouth, dolly in my arms and blanky on my legs I completed the entire episode. Throughout these episodes I gave my daughter many chances to apologize and "come watch the show with daddy" and every opportunity I gave her was cut short with her stern and resounding "NO".

The thing that amazes me about this 2-year-old's determination and stamina, is that she stood in a corner without moving, not even her face to change her expression of disgust for almost an hour, let alone her resistance of all of these very desirable temptations that were put within her reach if she would just say "sorry".

In the end, she was sent to her room and I quickly followed. I took the nice guy approach this time and read her a story. She became very happy, but still refused to say sorry, so I gave up. My wonderful wife was very enthusiastic to make sure I recognized that I lost the battle miserably. And, for a little extra sting, she pointed out something I hadn't thought of. The joke was on me. I, a 32-year-old man, was duped by a 2-year-old little girl to watch 2 very torturous episodes of children's shows all while sucking on a binky, holding a baby dolly, and cuddling under my little frilly blanky covered in flowers.

For all of you keeping score at home, the current scores are:

Tricia - Infinity, Eric - maybe 2

Keira - 2,156, Eric - 10

Allyson - 327, Eric - 0.

Until I can get the rest of the videos loaded...

So, I am trying to load some videos on Youtube so I can put them on here. There is one of Keira's dance recital. but until we get a better ISP the one I have already loaded will have to do for now. It is one of Keira's soccer games. She is number 13, but she isn't in this clip very much, but it was too good not to post. Oh, she plays for the team wearing red and white. Enjoy!
The boy was alright, so I think it has been an appropriate amount of time to be able to laugh about it now. I don't even think that the boy getting hit in the face is the funny part. I think it is more the reactions of everybody that I find amusing. The boy that kicked the ball looks like a bully and it looks like he meant to do it. Watch him stare the kid down. Then there is the little girl that winces at the sight. Also, there is the other little boy that is the teammate of the bully and he too looks to be saying, "I dare you to get up again." Of course there is the reaction of the little boy that took the blow to the face. He sits there with his head off the ground looking at his attacker like, "I can't believe you just did that." And finally, there is the referee. I know there was no foul or penalty on the play because nobody did anything wrong, but these are little kids that don't know the rules anyway, so blow your wistle already. I think it is silly how he runs in at the last second after the boy has been laying on the ground for a while and looks down at him (maybe to see if he is conscious) and then blows his whistle and holds his hand up towards the bully like he thinks the bully is about to strike again now that he has his prey where he wants him. That is what I think is amusing about this clip. I do not think that little children getting hurt is entertainment (ok maybe a little and only if it isn't something serious that they won't get over in a matter of seconds) Also, I doubt the boy I have been calling a "bully" is really a bully, I just think that had this been done on purpose, that is how I would expect a bully to act. It is funny though because after this incident, every time the "bully" would run toward the ball everyone including his own team would run away from the ball. I think I am becoming a soccer fan. I really enjoyed watching Keira play this year.

Fine... I Will Do Another Post

So, everyone continues to bug me to do another post... ok, that is a lie. No one has even mentioned that I haven't posted in forever. It kind of makes me sad actually, that no one has said, "Hey Eric, get on your lazy butt and do a post so we know what is going on with you!" It is a good thing that Tricia posts about what we are doing so at least some people know what we are doing. Now, I have finally taken the initiative to post again and here it is. In about three weeks we are heading to The SLC where we will spend 2 weeks with my family. We are looking forward to that. Then it is off to Colorado to my in-law's for 2 weeks. Tricia said that I have to say I am looking forward to that too. (Just kidding mom and dad "B". We are looking forward very much to our entire trip. I just thought that would be a good place to insert an "in-law joke", and warm you up to all of the jokes you have been missing the past 4 years.) Oh, and Mike I hope you have been practicing your Foosball. I better take off now because it is late and I have a yard sale to attend to early tomorrow morning. I will write again soon, but in the mean time, here are some photos of our past couple of months for your viewing pleasure.

Pig Roast (the Sequel)

Nasty ankle sprain (I'm ayight!)

Swimming with the family.

Well the computer is acting up so that is all you are going to get for now. Sorry.