The Blue Toy Showdown

Below I narrate a recent interaction captured on photo between Kendall and West. Enjoy!

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Kendall: "Hey West, I'll trade you a ring for your blue toy!"

West: "Well, rings are cool, especially red ones, but I really want to play with my blue toy"

K: "Look, just trust me, this is a good trade. Red rings are the best rings. Now let me just try the blue toy..."

W: "Um, well, like I said, red rings are great, but I really like chewing on my blue toy right now"

K: "Here, you have my red ring and I'll just take the blue toy now"

W: "Thanks, but actually I'd like to keep my blue toy"

K: "Fine. I'll just innocently rest my head right here. No rush. No pressure."

K: "Oh West! Have I mentioned how cute you are with your face?! And your fur??!"

W: "Um, actually you haven't. But it's nice to hear. And I like being petted. Babies are fun!"

K: "We're the best of friends, you can totally trust me!"

W: "I love you, little Kendall. Here's a kiss just for you to seal our trusting bond"

K: "Look how cute and smiley we are! Smile for the photo, West!"

K: "Oh look at this blue toy I found that no one is playing with! I love the blue toy!"

W: "Oh wait, what? I thought..."

W: "What about all that trust talk?"

K: "Huh?"

K: "Mine!"

K: "Nom nom nom!"

W: "Humphf... Where's that ring?"

New Kendall Meme to Start the New Year!

Thanks to Grandpa Porter for coming up with this one!

Now what phrase would really liven up this photo??

I kind of like, "I got my mind on my milk and my milk on my mind". Let us know your thoughts in the comments below :-)

Kendall Memes - I need your help!

Thought it might be fun to get some memes featuring Kendall going... I've got the first one, but let me know if you can come up with something funnier in the comments section below...

Also, here's a fresh picture to get the captions going... let's see who can come up with the funniest comment. Put #1 for the top photo and #2 for the bottom photo in your comment.

Kendall and Daddy's Big Afternoon!

Kendall and I had our first "Non-Mom" afternoon today. Crystal went out to get her hair done in preparation for tomorrow's newborn photo shoot. Things went so smoothly for the first 2 minutes. Then the reality of what was going down set in - for both of us...

No mommy!

For, like, 2 hours!

We withheld sending text messages to Crystal for the first hour or so, as to let her enjoy her hair appointment... But by the second hour, Kendall and I had to reach out...

Here's the text conversation to give you a flavor of our big afternoon!

We had such an adventure! Hopefully next time we get into our groove a bit more... ;-)

UPDATE: Kendall's Nursery Remodel

Crystal took a few more photos of the room this weekend when we finished putting up and re-arranging the decor. I wonder if people will even see the differences, so how about this: In the comments section post things you notice are different. It's like a game of "Spot the Difference"! (Sonoma's butt doesn't count... but see if you can spot it anyway...)

Kendall's Nursery Remodel

When Crystal and I found out we were pregnant, one of the big concerns was which room would be the nursery and how much remodeling would we want or need. We decided on converting the office into the nursery, which of course meant relocating the office. We moved all the furniture to the sun-room and made that the new office. The remodel of the room started in July and we're still completing the final touches. The next few photos are an attempt to illustrate where it started, the process, and the (almost) final product. So here goes...

This photo was taken when we toured the house before we bought it. I didn't think to take photos before I started the nursery project, this is the best I could do after the fact! Notice the "lovely" purple, black and brown...

One of the first steps that Crystal and I took when we decided to remodel the room was to decide what we would do with the built-in. Using SketchUp we drew up different models and ultimately chose to add a few more shelves and remove some existing drawers. Below is the mock-up (with the closet doors and center drawers removed). The brown elements represent the items that had to be added to the built-in. The grey color elements were already in the original built-in.

This is taken shortly after I started the demo. You can see the carpet removal is underway and the office furniture has been removed already (thanks for the help with that, Dad!). At this point I had also removed the drawers on the bottom of the built-in (except for the middle, obviously).

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Further along in the demo process now, carpet and padding fully removed. It's surprisingly easy to remove carpet and the padding. I simply cut it into strips as I went and rolled it up. Whole thing took about 30 minutes. Over the course of 2 weeks or so it all went right in to the garbage can and was taken away by our garbage collection.

This picture shows the room almost totally demoed. I started to fill in holes in the wood paneling to prep for painting. Now, let me tell you something about painting wood paneling: it SUCKS. All the ridges made it very challenging because the paint wants to "web" across the gaps and it creates dark shadowy areas; makes the whole job look very uneven.

Crystal's brother Zach is a professional painter (ZM Painting) and saved me on this project. His help and just overall knowledge of painting made this room look incredible. We ended up caulking every single ridge in the paneling to make the paint look nice and consistent. It was a painstaking process, but totally worth it in the end. The white trim really stands out against the grey walls. Gotta thank Zach for taking two weekends in a row out of his busy work schedule to help me with the painting. He half-jokingly, half-seriously told me "I'm not doing this to help you, I'm doing it for my niece!"

I painted the built-in unit with a semi-gloss paint. That helps give it a nice sheen and really bright white look. Also, notice the brown door on the left. The plan all along was to replace this barn-looking door because the black hinges no longer matched the room and the latch-style handle was not conducive to a nursery.

After about 4 weeks total, the painting was finally complete and we had the carpeting installed. This was the one job we had done professionally because it was critical to really make the room look nice. I was so nervous when the guys were finished installing it and they called me in to take a look... Painting the room was such hard work that I was afraid the color wasn't going to match, or something would just be off. But as soon as I walked in the room and saw and felt the carpeting, my fear went away. It looked amazing and was so proud of the decisions Crystal and I made for the room. If you're thinking about putting in new carpet in your own home, I would suggest the approach Crystal and I took. We went with a mid-grade quality carpet (and found it on sale) and spent extra on really nice, thick padding for beneath. It feels amazing underfoot. Also here you can see the first pieces of furniture in the room.

Finally, here are some photos of the (almost) finished nursery. We've got the brushed silver hardware on the built-in and decorations set up in the room. It took a long time and a lot of work to get to this point, but we couldn't be happier with the outcome. There is still some decorating to do, but that will come over time and we now have the room ready for Kendall when she arrives! We have two types of curtains, one that's translucent to give privacy and the other is a thicker light block thermal curtain.

As you can see we changed the door with a standard solid core 6-panel. That on it's own was quite a learning experience to install. I had to prep the entire thing from scratch including chiseling the mortises for the hinges, core and strike plate (I had to learn to chisel) and drilling the holes for the handle and core. It took almost an entire weekend to hang. Hanging door is no easy task - it takes a lot of patience...

And to be honest, I learned pretty much everything as I went through this remodel. You can sort of see the fan/light combo I installed in the photos which was my first dabble in electrical wiring. The room originally had a plain, brass light fixture in the ceiling. I also rewired and installed two new light switches and replaced all the black receptacles in the room with tamper-resistant white ones.

That just about captures it all, except we have one more addition to make to the room... And she's scheduled to arrive on Oct 24. I hope you enjoy the photos, but I really hope Kendall enjoys her new room :-)

Wedding Photog's Blog Photos

It's been a while since the last, full official blog post was written. But obviously things have been really great for us. We got married last month on the 16th, and left quickly for our honeymoon in Fiji for two weeks. While we have some really amazing photos from our honeymoon, our wedding photographer just put up a new blog post from our wedding. Tyra is so talented and she captured some really amazing photos from the day. You can see the blog post by clicking here, or going to http://www.tyrableek.com/. :-) Enjoy! Photos from the honeymoon to follow soon!

Dear The Relative News,

Oh - how I've negelected you over the past few months! No updates amidst all sorts of exciting life events. Wine country, agility trials, wedding shower, dog injuries, and more... For some reason, "Oh, sorry, wish I could help with the wedding invitations, but I have to post another 30 pictures of our dogs and talk about their training shortcomings" is not a viable excuse to get me out of helping with planning or really anything related to the wedding...

But alas, the light is at the end of the tunnel. Neglect will ultimately transform into over-excitement once our wedding passes and honeymoon comes to an end. The bolus of photos and stories from our new life will certainly overwhelm my browser's bandwitdth, causing multiple "Internet Explorer Not Responding" messages and, ultimately, many many "power button" reboots.

Rest assured, TRN, your time will come. You will once again, like the Pheonix, rise from the ashes of your prior form and emerge a beautiful, powerful blog once again.

Sincerely,
Greg

On this Valentine's Day

As C and I get ready for our wedding, and it being Valentine's Day and all, I decided to share this article from the Huffington Post today. As we plan, C and I look to each other to stay grounded and focused on what's truly important...

You can find the original story here.

My Worst Wedding... Was My Own

By Rachael Hollis

I've been thinking about writing this article for a while, but pride may or may not have kept me from it. You see, I'm really proud of the reputation I've built up over the last eight years as a high end, stylish wedding planner. I have been known to, on more than one occasion, look down my nose at items I deem to be tacky wedding fare... carnations, tulle, DIY invitations. And yet, the wedding I'm most embarrassed of having planned, the one I'd never put into my portfolio, is my own.

A little back-story... I got married eight years ago this May at the ripe old age of 21. Back then we didn't have a ton of money, or a ton of taste for that matter. I set about planning a wedding that was nicer than what I'd grown up with but it turns out, lacking in several key areas. We picked a gorgeous locale on a cliff overlooking the ocean but I was hesitant to spend exorbitant amounts of money on items I didn't think were crucial. I can admit to you all now, albeit sheepishly, that we had plastic folding chairs at our ceremony... can you imagine? The "upgraded" chair was in our reception and even then it was white wood folding. The reception itself had ficus trees with twinkle lights, the cake table was skirted and piled high with fabric, the bar served beer in plastic cups, and yes, there may or may not have been tulle swathing each exit. Dear Lord, I shudder to think of it now!

I often joke with my husband that if we were getting married today I would put us into financial ruin with all of my choices. I would insist on custom everything and have my favorite wedding photographer flown out from New York. The floral costs alone would rival the annual operating budget of a small island nation and the bar would be top shelf with vintage wine flowing like the Nile. But, at the end of that lavish spectacular day, we'd be exactly where we are now: married. You see, as much as I can't stand to look at décor shots from my own wedding, I still wouldn't change a single thing about it. Our friends and family couldn't tell you what chairs we had or even what "skirting" a table means. They remember our hand written vows that made total strangers stop and listen on the bluff and then end up crying with everyone else. They remember the French fries and champagne we served during cocktail hour and that everyone danced and danced until the wee hours of the morning. They remember seeing two kids in love who might not have known what "high end" was, but who were so grateful for that sunny day and the opportunity to spend the rest of their lives with each other.

I think of this now when I have an indecisive bride who's paralyzed about something simple like whether or not to serve champagne at the toast or which shade of pink is ideal. Choosing elements for your wedding day should be fun, but these choices won't make any difference in the stuff that matters. For better or worse, you'll end that day married to your partner and that's the truly exciting part. Chances are in a few years your dress choice will be out of style, and the centerpieces you thought were so modern might look outdated. But the timeless photos, the ones that will always make you grin, are those of two people in love in their Sunday best ready to take on the world together. Those pictures are always in style.

USDAA Trial in Turlock

Crystal and I took the dogs to Turlock, CA for a USDAA agility trial this past weekend. Both West and Sonoma competed, and if you're wondering, yes they do compete against each other. The concept behind many of the agility organizations is that the dog starts at level 1, then moves to 2 when a certain set of criteria is met, then on to level 3 when that same criteria is met at the second level. Once in level 3, the dog competes to get its agility champion title of that organization by accomplishing a rigorous set of criteria. So for example, in AKC, the dog starts at Novice (level 1), then moves to Open (level 2), and finally competes in Excellent (level 3). Once you're in Excellent, you work towards your Master Agility Champion (or MACH). Sonoma started her agility "career" in AKC, and has achieved an Excellent title, and is currently working towards her MACH. We had heard that USDAA trials were a bit of a younger, more competitive crowd, so when West started competing, we decided to give them a try. So even though Sonoma is in Excellent in AKC, she has to start over again in Starters (USDAA level 1), alongside West, who has no titles in any organization.

So, this weekend we competed with both dogs in Starters. There are a lot of different "games" in USDAA agility, which means about 5 runs a day for each dog. In AKC agility, the dog typically only runs 3 different events. So if you think about it, we were used to sharing Sonoma's three runs per day in AKC, and now we have two dogs, running about 5 runs per day each in USDAA - a much different ballgame!! Overall, we had a lot of success (and a few learning opportunities). We walked away with a bunch of qualifying runs, and a few 1st and 2nd places. Both dogs are just one run away from their Starters title, and will hopefully be competing soon in Advanced (USDAA level 2). Here are a few pictures from the weekend. I must say, we have some really good looking dogs - but not that I'm biased...

West and Crystal competing. He doesn't knock this bar over, believe it or not, but he's taking a very short path around the course by jumping on the inside of each jump. Ideal placement for the dog over the jump in this circumstance :-)

You can see on the same jump, that Sonoma isn't hugging that inside of the jump as much as West. While she successfully completed the jump and made a nice turn, she probably lost a split second of time by taking a slightly longer path. And those split seconds add up. We'll work on our rear crosses (where the handler crosses behind the path of the dog to signal a turn) to tighten up that behavior.



Here's West and Sonoma each getting ready to launch! The "Sit, Stay" at the beginning of the course is probably the hardest behavior we ask of them out there. They get out on the course, the leash taken off (see it in the grass there??) and we lead out into the course somewhere. They are ready to RUN! West loads his legs up, and just wants to explode......... but he has to stay until we say the magical release word, "OKAY!"

At this point, Sonoma's "Sit, Stay" is much more reliable than West's... but rest assured, her heart is beating a million times a minute right now and her brain is firing like crazy! She's one step away from just letting her adrenaline take over...



Sonoma and me somewhere along the course. She's pretty serious.

One of Sonoma's best obstacles are the weave poles. To do the weaves successfully, the dogs must enter in between the first and second weave poles from the right to the left. They must alternate through each pair of poles, until they exit on the 12th on the left... Hmm, okay, I'll draw it out:

Sonoma having such reliable weave pole entries, allows us to be anywhere remotely close to the weaves and still have trust that she'll cleanly enter the poles and complete the entire set, without popping out somewhere a long the way.

And S coming out of the tunnel and making a nice tight right turn... Again, the tight turn out of the tunnel shortens the dog's path and keeps them from exploding out of the tunnel, adding distance (and ultimately time), and then finally turning yards away from the tunnel exit.

S jumping over the same jump (as before) a second time in the run, but this time heading straight instead of turning.

Before each event starts, the judge responsible for the ring will hold a "briefing". They will quickly review the rules of the game, answer competitors questions, and those types of things. In this particular briefing, our agility friends Matt and Penni, who both run border collies (Buzz and Einstein), are listening too. They are both in our Monday night class with West because their BCs are young, beginner dogs as well. Actually, their two dogs are siblings from the same litter and they just happen to train agility at the same place. It's fun to see the difference in the two dogs as they grow up with different handlers but are from the same pedigree.