Whew!

Forgot to post this picture that Melody took of Bethany.   We've all had that face when changing Samuel.

Variations on a Theme

Who would have thought that a baseball cap for a baby was a good idea. Well - it is.

All Played Out

The green triangle man really wigs me out. Especially after I've taken a hit off the pacifier.

Samuel compilation video

The first seven weeks.

A lower resolution version is here.

Aunt Bethany 2

Awwwww.

Psychiatree

"...and there was this bright light and I was suddenly very cold.  The rest is a blur.  What do you think it means?"

Samuel animation

Dance, Samuel, dance!

Aunt Bethany

Samuel has been looking forward to Aunt Bethany's week long stay in Flushing.  He was, however, a bit confused to see her side by side with Mommy.

Good nap

Samuel enjoyed the time he could spend with his Great-Grandparents.

Great-Grandparents

The Great-Grandparents from the Spatz side got in yesterday.

Samuel Fashion Show V - Suspenders

Check me out.

Samuel Fashion Show IV - Shoes

Looking good in new shoes.

what?

How you doing?

I love Daddy

Thank you for working so hard Daddy. I know you get tired like me. :)

Picasa album

Google recently added a feature that links Blogger (the space hosting this blog) to Picasa (a Flickr like service that hosts pictures). Now (supposedly) when pictures are added to the blog, they are added to Picasa and stored over there. They have also already moved pictures already posted on the blog to Picasa. This is convenient for you all as it provides a way to quickly look at pictures and avoid all the annoying text that I write.

A link to the album is here.

The albums also provide you a way to order prints of the pictures. I upload pictures at a fairly decent resolution so prints upwards of 8x10 should be just fine (and probably even larger).

To order prints:
1. Go to the album, and click on a picture.
2. On the picture's page, select "order prints" (link on the right). This adds the picture to an order. You can return to the album page and select other pictures if you want.
3. When you've selected all the photos you want, click "view order" in the upper right hand corner. This starts the ordering process. You have 2 vendor options, they both offer a certain number of free prints to new users and they're both about twenty cents per 4x6 print. There are other options (like photo mugs, t shirts) as well, specific to each service.

If you use this service let me know - I'm interested as to how you like it.

P.S.
I say "supposedly" because the initial migration did not take every picture over, so they not all currently available. There are 2 ways to post on blogger - through their website, and via email. It looks like when you post via email (my usual method) the pictures don't get added. Yet. I'm guessing eventually they will.

Site stats

There was a request for some more statistics.

This is a graph (Google generated) of the visits since Samuel was born. We seem to have settled down to an average of 20-30 visits a day. Note that the blue dots are individual visits, the orange dots are the number of pages viewed (e.g. if you look at old posts). Average pageviews fluctuate between 25 and 80 or so. They go up a bit more on Mondays (I'm guessing because people browse around more looking for updates they missed).

The map shows where you all are clicking from. Since my previous post, the new leader is St. Louis (20%), followed by Houston (19%) and Wichita (12%). Previously, Houston held a whopping 66% of all visits. How did the numbers change so? I have no idea (Jason).

Hands up

Good looking?  Guilty as charged.

Visitors

Aunt Karina and Uncle Ryan visited today.  Samuel enjoyed being held for an extended period of time, as he usually does.

The End of an Era

What is this unassuming and seemingly unimportant picture? It is the view out of my kitchen window. What is important is not what is in the picture but what is NOT in the picture - THE ASTRO VAN HAS FINALLY DEPARTED MY PROPERTY! After many bumps in the road to dumping the van (i.e., the next title owner not having a license, Samuel arriving, the van not starting after five months in the driveway freezing up, the next title owner forgetting his proof of insurance when we went to transfer the title, etc., etc.) it is finally gone. I can't tell you how happy I am that I do not have to back around the van when coming out of the garage. Good riddance.

It is slightly bittersweet, however, because Big Blue (a.k.a. the Resurrection - earlier red Astro van was the Jesus Mobile as named by high school friends), was a part of the Bira-then-Machado family since 1992. Goodbye and thanks for 15 years.

Almost...

This really wasn't a smile but it's pretty close. He's almost there.

Chair to Compare

Getting bigger.  At his 1 month checkup 3 days ago he was up to 9 lbs, 9 ounces. 

What a stud.

You can't pose this stuff.

"I know Kung Fu."

Samuel likes the bathtime.  He pretends he's Neo from the Matrix. 

Hello ladies.

Just lounging tonight.  Just back from my bubble bath, and the only thing missing at my house tonight is you.  And, at the moment, a diaper.  Which is why I'm sitting on this burp rag.  Cause I have no qualms about dirtying up my new chair.  How you like me now, ladies?

OK - Here's how it is...

Me - cry.
You - feed and change.
Any questions?

Resting

mmmm soft blanket...

The afterbath

Getting ready for the day.

The other day...

...so I was feeding the other day and I look up and - its that same lady again!  Anyhoo, so we're talking-you know, weather, stocks, small talk-and I realize: I just pooped my pants!  And I think she liked it!  Weird, huh? Anyhoo, I fell asleep after that.

Vote Samuel '08

Samuel...a man of vision.