Grad-U-A-Shee-oon!!!

Aphter ovar 7 yeers uv postt hie skool edukashon i fineely maid it. Now i git two put phancee e-nitials afta my naim. Hear i am bee'n al disteengished looken.
We had one last chance to get the gang all together. From a distance we clean up perty good!

But it's a little different story once you get up close! (Does anyone else think I look like a pirate in the picture above???)

"Peeple R gonna call us doktors!!"

" Are you thinkin what I'm thinkin Pinky? Now that I'm a doctor I'm gonna take over the world!"

" I hope they serve those little Beanie-Weenies after the ceremony is over!"

"Wa-Ha-Ha-HAAAAA!!!!! "

Judge Judy & the Loch Ness Monster

They say that little girls are made of sugar 'n' spice and everything nice and we couldn't agree more.Unless of course, Judge Judy is on. You see, while she is still quite little and mostly mild mannered, do not let her size fool you. She knows how to pack a punch and she has already learned to pick her battles. She has learned that family life is all about the give and take to keep everything harmonious in the home. But when Judge Judy is on, there is no give, only take. Look at the fire in her eyes as she guards the remote!!
She's even scoped out her own spot on the couch and has doubled her feeding schedule so she can grow faster and leave very own 'impression' on the couch (she learned that trick from Homer Simpson).
While the girls are focused in on JJ, us boys gotta get outta the house or we risk a pretty severe tongue lashin' from the women folk. Fortunately, the conditions were just right to do a little hunting-- for the Loch Ness monster. Seeing how they've never actually found her across the pond we figure there's a slight chance that she's hangin out here in America tryin to avoid the spotlight, or perhaps taking a vacation (monsters take vacations right?)
First we scouted out just the right spot on our Loch Ness-O-Meter we bought from E-Bay (and people say there's nothing good left on E-Bay anymore).

Once we secured our hunting grounds it was time to come up with a gameplan. Our first option was an 18 Slant PA pass X sprint.

But LittleMan thought it best to go all out with a Double Reverse Flea Flicker Statue of Liberty Fumble-Rooski Hook 'n' Ladder Hail Mary. It was a sure fire plan that just had to work!

It was the aged eyes of Dad that spotted Nessie first.

"You're right Old Man, she is out there. Let's go get her!!"

"Oh no, she got me. Man down... Abort! Abort!!"

Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt in our attempt. It was a difficult blow to take, that's for sure. Maybe next time we'll send Judge Judy after Nessie, I bet she could catch her.

The Teaching Moment

Little Arianna, so small and so young, she's hardly even a speck on the canvas of life. She has so much in front of her yet to come, so much life to live and so many choices to make. How will she handle the rigors of a 21st century world in a fast-paced, dog eat dog world where only the strong survive and the weak become mere pawns in corporate America's chess game of more, more, more? Who will show her the way, so she can avoid the painful thorns and weeds that life presents along the way?

Fortunately, this little girl has a big brother. He is the one who will blaze the trail of life leaving a wide path in his wake. He will go where no brother has gone before in his quest to teach and nurture his new companion. It's his role to teach her that dessert tastes best before dinner, that PB&J is far superior to a nasty ol' bologne sandwich, that farting noises are always funny and that silverware is always optional.

In fact, Little Man takes his new role so seriously that he has already had some one-on-one teaching sessions with little Arianna. His first topic of discussion- the proper eating of a birthday cake. Realizing that Arianna is so young and inexperienced he decided it best to actually show her the correct technique and not just tell about it. It's just as they say, "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day; but teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime." Little Man couldn't agree more.

The Blog Post of All Blog Posts

Well... a lot has gone on for the Young family over the past few days and here are the highlights. Of the course the biggest and most important highlight is Arianna, our little bundle of joy, born at 12:34 am Friday, Feb 12. She weighed in at a mighty 6 lbs 14 oz. (the same as Connor) and is 18.5 inches tall/long (choose however you'd like to think about it).
We are happy to report that both mom and Arianna are doing great! Jacque attributes it to all of the fried chicken and french fries she ate during pregnancy. Apparently fried food is good for you after all. Who knew?!

Here's some glamour shots of Arianna or "Squeaker" as she has been affectionately dubbed. The hat is compliments of grandma and certainly made her the talk of the nursery.

Apparently TV reception is pretty good inside the womb, and Arianna is a big fan of Clint Eastwood reruns. This is her "Do you feel lucky, punk? Go ahead, make my day!" face which occured as she say daddy trying to reach for the last Swiss Cake Roll

We've also noticed some very subtle cues in her body language. We think in this one she may be sending a message to the pesky photographer who kept flashing that shiny light in her face.

"No really stop, I've had enough. Don't make me call my lawyer!"

In other news, some of you may be aware that we recently fled Iowa in hopes of warmer weather. We thought South Carolina was a pretty safe bet, but perhaps we need to re-think our plan. Here is 6.5 inches of snow that came last night. Seriously, South Carolina, who'd have guessed???

The Little Man wasn't too happy to see his former arch nemesis return either. Especially not when he's got enough on his plate now that his competition has arrived.

But despite any friction there may be, we're still one normal happy family of four.

OK, so maybe normal was too strong a word, but you get the point.

In still more news, and in order to minimize his turf lost with the new arrival, Little Man and Little Man Productions (his PR company) have launched a new cuteness campaign. Billboards are going up all over the city to make sure that he will never be forgotten, or replaced.

And you've got to hand to to the Little Guy, he is pretty darn cute when he wants to be.

Along with his new PR campaign Little Man has decided to broaden his appeal to a different crowd. If mommy and daddy are occupied then there's always another way to get attention!

In our closing story, Aaron had a great idea to open Valentine's Day gifts early as part of the celebration of everything going on. Jacque's gift was a new sharp bread knife (she had been complaining about not having a good sharp knife to cut her homemade bread with). After searching long and hard, I found a quality knife that claimed to be extremely sharp.

But of course, there's only way way to truly experience how sharp a knife is and let's just say that less than six hours after leaving the hospital a certain someone was heading back to the hospital.

2 interior stitches on an extensor ligament and 7 exterior stitches and one tetanus shot later this became the most expensive Valentine's Day gift that anyone has ever given Jacque. How romantic!!

Tahnk you for being a part of these past few days with us. Stay tuned for more entertainment which is surely to come!