Star Wars

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

Ryan's Uncle Kyle works for Lucas Films out in San Francisco now so Ryan thought he would try his Star Wars hat on.

Grandma Can't Wait

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

We haven't had Christmas yet because we have been waiting for Marla and Ben to get home from the hospital. Grandma Paula couldn't stand that Ryan wasn't opening gifts on Christmas so she let him open one "early."

Waiting for Drew

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

When we arrived at the hospital to see Marla, Ben and Drew, Ryan wasn't allowed in so we had to wait in the waiting room. There was a fish tank out there and he loved the fish.

Here he is with his Uncle Kyle.


He also did a little napping.

Andrew Pic's Pics Have Arrived

So I made peace with this PC here and was able to figure out how to get pictures to Flickr. Click on any of the pictures below to be taken to the Andrew Pic photo set. There are a lot of GREAT photos there so make sure to check them out. Sharis did a nice job shooting the little guy.





Here is a shot of his dimple.


Grandma and Drew.


Dad and Drew.






Christmas Baby.

Housekeeping

Pictures of our first nephew are still coming. I promise. But I can't get our laptop connected to the internet here at Marla and Ben's house so I am a little out of my element. I HAVE to use a PC. I don't know how to manage pictures on these things yet. And Sharis keeps taking the camera to the hospital to take more pictures of the baby (understandably). Ryan and I are staying at the house because he isn't allowed into the hospital to see the baby. In addition, he does much better when he is on his normal nap schedule so we are trying to keep him on it.

I wanted to do a post to clean up some things from back when we were at my parents house for Thanksgiving / Christmas. My Dad takes a lot of good pictures and he finally was able to get his Flickr account sorted out (it has been screwed up for about 6 months - long story). So now I can share the pictures that he takes as well. He and I usually don't double up on pictures so we complement one another well. He doesn't have many up yet but he is slowly building. So if you want some more pictures of Ryan, click on any of the pictures below to be taken to his Flickr page.

When we were at my parents house, my parents were nice enough to sell us their car.

We have been in the market for a new car for a while but haven't pulled the trigger yet. We were VERY close to getting the Toyota Highland Hybrid but pulled back at the last second. Sharis is a big Audi fan and my Mom wasn't in love with her Q7 so we ended up negotiating a price that was fair.

It was sad to say goodbye to the Pathfinder. She has been in the family since 1997 and I have been driving her since 1999. She has been a great car but has 150,000 miles on her so with Ryan here, it is time to get a more dependable car.

This is how we left my parents as we drove away from the house for Chicago in a nice 2007 model leaving them with our filthy Pathfinder. They kind of got a raw deal.



There are a couple of pictures from a get together we had with my Dad's side of the family. I couldn't make it because I was sick but my Dad took a couple of pictures. This is Ryan meeting my cousin Molly's little girl Riley.


And one last shot of Grammy and Little Man.

Notre Dame Fan

Bath Robe

Sharis put a bath robe on Ryan after his bath. He was lovin' it. But look at the size of those thighs. He definitely has his Dad's thighs.

Ryan Playing Cards

Ryan has taken part in his share of family games over the holidays. It was dominoes at Thanksgiving and we were playing 500 this weekend.

Ryan's photo face:


Ryan's poker face:

Watching the Browns Lose

Sunday gave us the opportunity to watch the Browns game. I have to admit that I have been converted into quite the Browns fan. It's mostly because Brady Quinn is there but some of it has to do with my in laws. The Longs gave me the Quinn jersey for my Birthday.

Ryan Visits Santa

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

We took Ryan to see Santa in Clevelend on Christmas Eve. When we went to get in Santa's very long line, one of "Santa's Helpers" told us that Santa had to "feed his reindeer" so no more people could get in line to see him. But he would be done by 5:30pm so we could get in line then. It was only 4:15 so I thought we were going to leave. But we stayed.

Then I found out we couldn't take our own pictures unless we bought one of their photo packages. So in order to document Ryan's first visit with Santa, we had to pay them to allow us to take pictures - oh and we received one of their "professionally" taken photos. It's a good thing Ryan doesn't understand any of this. He doesn't need to know how commercially driven Christmas is just yet.

When I thought we were weren't going to wait for Santa to finish feeding his reindeer, Paula and I went to see if we could "steal" some pictures of Ryan with Santa:




Because we had to wait for Santa, Paula and I took Ryan around the mall to get some shots (Sharis was talking to her pregnant sister about pregnant things):





Ryan window shopping. He must be his mother's child.










Little Drummer Boy:


All that running around made him hungry:

Marla and Ben Have a Boy

Andrew Anthony Piccolino was born around 10am Eastern Time this morning. That's right! It's a Christmas Baby. He is a beautiful little boy with one dimple on his right cheek, a little wrinkle on his forehead, lots of black hair and big hands (his hands are bigger than Ryan's already). He was 9 lb. 7 oz. which is about 40% bigger than Ryan was. Andrew is 19 inches tall which is a half an inch shorter than Ryan was.

He put Mom through quite the labor, but they are all doing very well right now and the family is happy to be together. Marla made it through the labor without the epidural and looks great. I don't think Ben's feet touched the ground the whole time we were there. Andrew took to breast feeding very well right away.

I will let Marla and Ben share more details in the coming days. I will get pictures up whenever I get a chance. It certainly is a Merry Christmas isn't it? Don't take this time with your families for granted. We are truly all VERY blessed.

Marla Update

The news is there us no news. No baby yet. Everyone is still doing
fine. No news is good news, right? Stay tuned...

Sent from my iPhone

New Friends

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Originally uploaded by sharislong6

A high school friend has a little guy (Joey) who is 8 months old. They came to visit Ryan on Wednesday while we were at my parents house. It was so much fun to see them interact...



Hey! Come back here!!


Back off dude or I'm going to eat you.


Woah! Ok, well this guy is bigger than me.


Now he seems to be in a better mood.


I know this will probably just piss him off again, but I can't resist poking him in the eye. A guy's got to stick up for himself you know.

Click on any of the pictures to be taken to flickr.

It's a tongue thing

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Originally uploaded by sharislong6

This is Ryan's newest "ism". For about 2 weeks now he has been sticking his tongue out of his mouth like this quite often. He just looks at you and holds it there...like it's helping him to learn maybe?

Seven

Wow! Sorry blog fans. I just counted up the posts and realized that we have gone for 7 of them without any Ryan pics!! That's irresponsible blogging on our part. I know, some of you have said that you enjoy Dan's random posts...but the IBM one might have put you all over the edge - a long post, about geek stuff, AND no pics!!! Zing! (Had to get you back, boy)

So here he is...the [little] man you have all been waiting for...Ryan Sherman.

Kerry helps Ryan to walk across the room on the Cooley "Christmas" morning (during T-giving).

Posted by Sharis.

IBM's Innovations

IBM has released a report on their website about the Innovations that will change our lives over the next 5 years. If all 5 of these things actually happened, the world would be a better place. Some of the things they suggest will happen are:

1. We will be able to more closely monitor our "carbon footprint" so we will be able to see in real time how much energy we have used. We can then monitor it more closely and more accurately pinpoint where we can save that energy - just like we monitor our cell phone minutes now. And how cool would it be to turn off your iron from your cell phone?

2. We will be able to have more information on traffic while we drive. I think it is so inefficient the way we get traffic now through the radio (although there are a scant few navigation devices now that help). And they claim that traffic light technology will improve. How many of us have sat at a light for a couple of minutes while NO ONE goes through the intersection?

3. We will be able to have more information about the food we eat - where it came from, what climate it was grown in, what type of soil it was grown in, and what pollution it was exposed to. We will be able to make more informed choices about our meals. Whether we actually do that or not is a whole other story.

4. We will be getting and storing more information on our cell phones. If you are in a city you are not familiar with, you will be able to find what you need no problem - without having to be at your computer.

5. Organization of our medical records will improve. This is another area that has always flabbergasted me. I never understood why my new doctor can't easily see the records of all my previous doctors' visits. I understand it is monumental task to organize all that information, but it should have been done by now. It is so antiquated the way we do it.

It's all about getting more information for the parts of our lives we use the most - energy, driving, food, cell phone and health. These are obviously just what IBM thinks will happen and in no way are all of these things guaranteed to happen. But can you imagine how different things would be if we had access to all this information? Why does Google's market cap continue to grow? Because they are the best ones on the planet at organizing information. Of course the organization of this information begs the question of what happens to our privacy.

PB & J

You are all probably sick of these pointless posts but I am not around
Ryan so I don't have any other content (and I am sitting in the
airport all by my lonesome). If my wife would post once in a while,
you would hear more about Ryan. Zing!

Anyway, I just had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a milk for
dinner. Sort of random but it was really good. Peanut butter jelly time!

That's all for now. I will be with the family shortly and will have
more interesting content then.

Sent from my iPhone

People Watching

I am at the airport waiting to fly to Cleveland. Luckily there are no
delays at this point. I don't know how that happened. This should be
one of the busiest travel days of the year. But the airport experience
has been fine so far - short lines, happy patrons and employees, good
weather.

Unfortunately I have to connect in Detroit before I get to Cleveland.
That's what you get for flying Northworsrt that include cities that
aren't their hubs.

So anyway, anyone who knows me knows I love to people watch. You
should also know that I am anal about getting to the airport early.
There have been multiple times in our relationship where Sharia will call me on the aT to the airport upset because she is late. It usually worked out.

So I am here early watching the Christmas traveling crowds. I am being especially mindful of the traveling families around me. While Little Man and my lovely wife aren't traveling with me now, I notice how much easier it is to travel without kids. There is so much more gear involved with kids. I am trying to notice how other, more seasoned family travelers travel. I am trying to see how they do it because I am nervous about it. We have traveled with Ryan before on airplanes but he is easy now. Wait until he wants to be constantly entertained. And with both sides of the family out of town, traveling for us is inevitable.

Sent from my iPhone

Bring On The Sunlight

Today has the least amount of sunlight of any other day on the
calendar. Don't you love the prospect of more light? I know Sharis
does.

Sent from my iPhone

Three's Company

Well, we continue to bring new bloggers into the blogosphere. My cousin Katie and her husband Darin have just started a blog. I only have 3 cousins on my Dad's side of the family and now all of them are bloggers (along with Katie's sisters Molly and Meg). Let's keep it going. Who is starting a blog this week ... well, OK maybe not this week. But maybe as a New Year's resolution some of Sharis' cousins can start their blogs (although one of Sharis' cousins - Nicole - has a blog). It is so great to keep up on the news of family and friends - and especially all these little kids.

Do you think we can get Tim to start a blog? We can hear about his nights out on the town. Wouldn't that be entertaining?

One Down, One To Go

For those that hadn't checked back on the status of my cousin Meg and her husband Chris, she had her baby last Friday (which is the same day as Sharis' Dad) after Sharis posted she might have it that day. Here is Adrienne Kelley Tredinnick's introduction to the world from Meg's twin sister's blog. And if you are interested in labor stories, you can read Meg's. Adrienne has been given a warm welcome and from the look of Meg's posts, they seem to be doing quite well so far. (I stole the great mosaic at the left from Matt and Amber Tredinnick's blog since I don't have any pictures of my own. Thanks.)

As for Marla, nothing of consequence has happened yet (I say that and Marla is probably thinking "I know something that has happened - a whole lot of uncomfortableness - that's what has happened"). They are still waiting patiently. They had a stress test on Monday and the baby was doing fine. They will have another stress test on Thursday. We will keep you updated.

Sharis and Little Man are in Cleveland right now hanging out with her family. They will be headed to Pittsburgh once news comes that Baby Pic is on the way. I am headed out that way on Friday after the close of the markets. We will be spending the whole week there which will be nice. It is weird how it works out that this is the year we spend Christmas with the Long's - right when Marla is having her baby. Unfortunately that means we won't head down to Cincinnati like we usually do for their family's Christmas. That is always a good time to see Sharis' aunts, uncles and cousins down there.

We will then head to Boston for a wedding of some close family friends over New Year's. Annie is a good friend of the family and (her sister Susie was in our wedding as a "groomswoman") is getting married in Boston so my whole family is heading out for that.

We wish everyone a Happy Holidays. Enjoy this time with your families. It is such a great time of year because of all the family time.

Step Aside Ryan

We've been a little remiss at posting about two new babies who are coming very soon!! When I was pregnant, as many of you know, I wanted to do the whole natural thing and so sharing anything made me nervous that I would get caught up in the excitement of it all and not want to wait the course and be patient for Ryan to decide when he wanted to get here on his own terms. That said, it was kind of a silly fear. AND, being on the other end of it I sure am glad that my sister and Dan's cousin are willing to share much more with all of us!

Dan's cousin is due on the 26th of this month and it seems as if she may have the baby today! Both of her sister's were early and they all predicted (with astounding accuracy) that she would follow suit. We're so excited!

Now this news makes me even more anxious for my little niece or nephew soon to bless us!! Ryan can't wait to meet his cousin and Dan and I are so excited to be aunt and uncle for the first time. Marla is doing well and feeling good. Her last update on the blog was from her appointment last week and she was 1 cm. Her due date is Monday and if she hasn't had the baby by then they want to do an ultrasound and stress test to make sure all is ok. Love and Prayers Mar and Ben!!!

Oh, the link to both of these blogs is on the right so check them out for yourself if you are so inclined.

Drew Gooden Hair

Ryan had a lot of hair when he came out of the womb and he has slowly been losing it. Sharis and her Mom gave him a haircut a couple months ago because it was pretty messy back there. Well, he has lost the majority of it except for a square patch on the bottom in the back.

There is a player in the NBA named Drew Gooden who has the same hairstyle and he plays for the Cavs. I don't really know why that is relevant. I just thought I would throw this post out there.

New Look

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Originally uploaded by flowmug

This is a new look we haven't captured before. Is that an inquisitive look or what?

Christmas Photo Shoot

Here are a couple of pictures from Sharis' Christmas shoot with Ryan. She had a vision in her head of what type of shots she wanted to see Ryan in and she did a very good job of capturing him.

Apparently he was a very tough model to deal with. Cas, I know you enjoy a good poo story so listen up. Ryan is a fairly consistent pooper. When we get him up in the morning after sleeping all night (he hasn't woken up in the middle of the night since we first posted he slept through the night!) his diaper is completely full and very heavy - but there is no poop. He does his poop in the morning and then is usually good to go until the afternoon.


Well, Sharis had just changed him right before the shoot but wanted him naked or nearly naked for a bunch of shots and figured he was good to go because he had taken his poop. (By the way, why is it that it is so natural to capture babies when they are naked and it is such a no-no for adults? Are they so innocent that no one really cares if they are naked? I don't get why society is like that.)


Anyway, during one of the first couple of pictures, he poops all over the blanket Sharis was shooting him on. So she runs and puts a diaper under him (not on him) while she cleans the blanket. Sure enough, he poos all over the diaper underneath him. So she takes him into his room and puts a clean diaper on him. As soon as she is walking him back to the photo shoot scene, he dirties the clean one. So another change and he is ready to go. During the first picture he dirties another one. She did this about 8 times before all the poo was out.


If you click on any one of the pictures you will be taken to the entire photo shoot.