Banana-Fana Fo-Fana

Let's play the name game, shall we?  It's well known in our circle that we cast a wide child-naming net.  There are lengthy lists, a scoring process, eliminations, re-scoring (seriously), and a whole slew of names that are just off the table from years spent in a kindergarten class.  It's a hairy ordeal no doubt, but it did yield Avett the first time, so the bar is set pretty high.

We're struggling to find the right name for #2.  We did some work coming back from the beach in March and narrowed the multi-page list to a shorter (still multi-page) list, but haven't gotten any closer since then.  Today I put them all up on the chalkboard in our kitchen so they're in our face and maybe we can figure this thing out.

Baby Timmons v2.0 is on here somewhere, probably

Between this whole name thing, this recent purchase, and a soon-to-be nursery that's still pretty full of junk, your friendly neighborhood blog writer's been a little stressed.  Like, waking up in the middle of the night and staying awake stressed, which those of you that know me know is very abnormal if not caused by a brand new baby that needs to eat all the time.  I'm a guy that likes my sleep, so we've been working hard to get stuff done.  Van?  Check.  Nursery?  Ruth Ann has been great in picking and compiling things, and with some help, I got the room painted and most of the new furniture assembled.  So yeah, some progress.

Great Helper

Voila!

Lo and behold, I got a full night of uninterrupted sleep last night!  And it was awesome.  So we'll continue to chip away on the name and all the other prep work for this baby, and try to manage to relax, take a breath and have a little fun while we're at it.  As busy and stressful as things have been for me, we've still managed to do some fun stuff.  Proof below...

Mother's Day at the Deacon Tower.  Someone enjoyed spending time on the field:

and even put up with some family pictures with the Moms:

The Robinsons:

The Timmons Collective:

And Team Timmons (I'm sporting the temporary Clark Kent look):

And for comparison, here's last year's Father's Day vs. Mother's Day this year:

Let's not also forget that the rascal turned 19 months old (give yourself a hand, kid), 

And that Ruth Ann turned 32 weeks (!!!) pregnant.  She looks good, right?

 

And in late-breaking weekend news, after more long hours, I can proudly say that all baby furniture assembly is complete.  Our upstairs is kind of in shambles as we search out a home for everything that's being redirected out of the new baby's room, but we're making headway on that too.  And over dinner tonight, we did a little bit of name work.  We might get ready for this little guy after all!

 

Read More

End of an Era

No, I'm not just talking about the series finale of The Office, but did you watch it?  It was amazing.

The particular era that's come to an end is my glorious 11 years spent with a very special...automobile.

This Automobile:

That's right, friends, my undercover (yet very functional) sport wagon aka, silver bullet, aka Scooby has moved on.  The hood scoop, the turbo boost gauge and all 227hp, the whole shebang - gone.  This was the first new car I ever bought with my own money, and I've loved it.

(a lot)

I know what you're thinking, "if you love the car so much, why don't you marry it?  Or at least don't sell it?"  It's a fair question, and here's a hint:

And while you can't really see it in this picture because RA is a great-looking pregnant lady, she is indeed quite pregnant.  And as great as the Subaru is, putting a second car seat in the back wouldn't be all that comfortable for anybody.  So, what's an almost dad of 2 kids under 2 to do?  How do you possibly replace such a great ride?  What you do, if you're me, is embrace fatherhood and take the plunge.  And when I say "take the plunge", I mean buy a minivan.

Zoinks.

Now this:

I'll let this settle in for just a minute or two.  Everybody back with me?  Cool...

In the words of Ron Burgandy, "that escalated quickly".  After I mentioned needing to part ways with this glorious piece of magic, a friend was interested in giving it a great second home.  And before I knew it, I was driving something that could swallow my old ride.

Is it weird to think of me driving a van?  It is for some people I've talked to, but maybe the weirdest thing is that it's not weird to me.  At all.  I mean, do I watch that Swagger Wagon clip more regularly now?  Sure, I do.  But by and large, I'm almost proud to roll in this giant tank of a vehicle.  I consider it a dad's badge of honor, that just so happens to have a back-up camera and Bluetooth.

So, transportation is all set.  Stay tuned for another update on names, nurseries, and general prep for still unnamed baby #2.

Read More