Day Two: Sunday

On day two we set all of the 4x4 and 4x6 posts and braced them with 2x4s and more concrete.

Day One: Saturday

My brother in law Kevin and his family came down late last night to help me build a deck. I had 9 of the 11 holes dug plus all of the lumber moved to the back yard by the time they had gotten there. Each hole was 2 feet deep and 18 inches wide. It was quite a chore to dig in this hard memphis clay.

So after running some lines, digging 2 more holes, and pouring 14 80lb bags of Quickrete, we called it a day around 11:30 a.m to let the concrete set up.

Gabe and Allie were such big helps.

Worst Toy Ever

Today while shopping I decided to buy my little Princess a new toy. I thought the Fisher-Price Baby Gymnastics 1-2-3 Tetherball looked like it would be loads of fun for Libby to play with. It is horrible. Libby and I became bored with it in the first 3 minutes. One of the play modes is "tethered mode", where "as baby grows, keep the ball attached with the tether. Encourage baby to bop it right off the base, roll it around, and crawl after it." But the problem is, the tether is only about 2 inches long, so the ball has no place to roll. The sounds and music are horrible and way to short. This toy gets 2 thumbs down.

Speaking of toys, Rudi's mom emailed me this cute video clip of Rudi unwrapping his Nintendo 64 on Christmas Morning. He sure was an excited little cowpoke.

Pick Pickler

My niece Maddy and I are huge fans of Kelly Pickler from American Idol. I found this horrible picture of her before prom on BWEB. I thought she was a good wholesome southern girl.

Standing Libby

While Libby hasn't gotten the hang of sitting up yet, she has started to stand on her own (with the help of her music station and her Dad standing behind her to catch her when she topples).

Don't Shoot the Puppy

If you have some spare time have fun playing this game. It is much more difficult then it seems. I haven't been able to make it past the second level. I bet Rich won't make it past the first level.

TV shows I watch

I have been asked to again post a list of what is on my DVR. With new shows popping up all the time, it really keeps me on my toes staying current.

Sunday:
Malcom in the Middle (final season)
King of the Hill
Simpsons
War at Home
Family Guy
Free Ride (replacement for American Dad)
Sopranos
Big Love
Number One Single
Surreal Life

Monday:
King of Queens
How I Meet your Mother
Two and Half Men
New Adventures of Old Christine
Prison Break
The Apprentice

Tuesday:
American Idol
Hope and Faith
Scrubs
Teachers (starting this week)
Sons and Daughters
The Real World (great season so far)
8th and Ocean
Blow Out
The Amazing Race

Wednesday:
Black. White.
Out of Practice
Courting Alex
American Idol (results show)
The Heist
Good Eats
Ham on the Street

Thursday:
Will and Grace
Four Kings
My Name is Earl
The Office
Survivor
The Loop

Friday:
The Soup
Best Week Ever

Saturday:
This Old House Hour
Hometime
The New Yankee Workshop
Saturday Night Live

My new favorite TV find is America's Test Kitchen, it is on 4 times a week here. It is a PBS cooking show and I have found more good recipes there in the past few weeks then on the Food Network in the past year.

People always ask, "How to you find time to watch so much tv?". I always tell them that you find time for the important things in your life.

Don't Avoid the Noid

I never thought I would be saying this after what they did to my brother Dave, but Domino's Pizza is excellent. It has been at least 15 years since I have had a slice of pie from Domino's, but in the last two days, I've had 1 1/2 medium pizzas for various meals. On Sunday night after finding nothing in the house to eat, Beth and I order the 5-5-5 deal (three medium pizzas each with one topping on them for $5 apiece). I think it shall be a while before I order from Papa John's, they are way to expensive and their quality has really gone down in the past few years.

By the way Rich, the toppings we got were mushroom, sausage, and ham.

Great Article

I read an article today on the BWE Blog that really spoke to me. I have been saying this exact thing for years. While my choices of shows may differ, I still feel their pain. You would think having a dual channel recording DVR would help, but there are nights that there are three shows on three different channels on at the same time that I would like to watch. The solution has been to record two shows and watch the third one in the other room, not a great cure, but it works. Most of the time I have 75-85% of my DVR full, barely watching enough TV during the day to make room for the new shows at night. Some might say "just stop watching so much tv", but we all know those people are being rudiculous. Here is the article:

I've been frustrated for a long time by the fact that there are too many good shows to keep up with, but last night after The Sopranos, I reached my breaking point. Already exhausted from having been through the tense campaigning in The West Wing, I was totally drained after watching Tony fighting for his life and his family just fighting. So drained, in fact, that I couldn't watch Grey's Anatomy. I had planned all along to Tivo Desperate Housewives and Big Love, but missing out on Grey's was just too much. How am I expected to be able to talk to my coworkers about Sunday television on Monday morning when I can't even watch half the good shows?

Now, you might be thinking that it's not such a big deal and that I can just catch up on the second-tier Sunday shows on Monday. But then when do I watch Wife Swap and 24? Do I Tivo them while I watch stuff from Sunday? And then what happens to American Idol? Scrubs? Do I put those off too? And don't forget about my Netflixers. I'm in the middle of Lonesome Dove, but I've been stuck at the beginning of the cattle drive for a week because I can't squeeze it in to my viewing schedule. What's worse is that I hear about all these other good shows that I can't get to like Lost and House, to say nothing of the stuff on FX, Showtime, and who knows what else.

So I have a request to all the network executives out there: Stop making so many good shows!

Bucket-head

Not many toys hold Libby's attention for long. But these soft buckets that her Aunts Rudi and Errin got for her for Christmas are her new favorites.

Click here to see more of Bucket-head Libby.

Oxymoron

Helpful IRS. Yes I know it sounds like an oxymoron. Today I got a letter in the mail from the IRS stating that instead of getting a large refund I actually owed $59. They said that one of us didn't have a social security number and so we weren't eligible for the child tax credit. I figured it was our big goverenment at work and they messed up with Libby, as she is new. Of course I had double checked all of our social security numbers before I mailed in the tax returns. So as usual when I have a problem I call my Dad, but he wasn't home. So I called the 800 number on top of the letter, figuring I would be on hold forever and have to make 20 other phone calls and fill out pages of forms. As I was waiting on hold for about 20 seconds after only having to hit two options (1 for English and 1 for tax refund questions) I looked at Libby's social security card and at the copies of the tax forms I had and noticed I had entered a "7" instead of a "1" for part of her social security number. So when the guy answered the call I explained the situation to him and he had everything fixed within 10 minutes. I don't even have to resubmit anything. He couldn't have been any nicer or more helpful. He even asked how Libby was doing. So I say "Yay" to the IRS.

It was definetly worth my 10 minutes on the phone for the $1800 swing.

Delirium

This afternoon Beth was given two tickets for us to go see Delirium by Cirque Du Soleil. We have seen a few other shows by them in Las Vegas. Jen was nice enough to babysit Libby. We delivered ourselves to the Fed-Ex Forum at 8 p.m. sharp. Then there was a 20 minute opening act of some crazy lady singing along with her band. Then a 20 minute intermission before the real show got going at 8:40. The show got off to a very slow start, lots of singing and not many feats of strength. It continued this way until about 10 when they started hulu-hooping and doing some outragous strong man stuff. I guess what I was most disappointed in was that 90% of the things they did on stage, I could have done myself. For those of you who have seen "O" or Mystere this was NOTHING like that other then both are under the Cirque Du Soleil umbrella. As Beth said, it was like watching "O"'s red-headed step-child perform. All I know is that I would have been very angry if I had shelled out $115 per ticket to see this. On the brighter side, we had great seats, about 12 rows from the stage right in the center and we got a nice evening out by ourselves.

Rich made it on QVC

Looks like Rich loves his new Dell that he got on QVC.

Solid Food

Last week Libby tried a piece of solid people food for the first time. At the suggestion of her pediatrician we bought her mesh food holders. You cook the food until it is soft and then the baby can suck on it throught the mesh and not choke on any large pieces. She tried a carrot and wasn't overly impressed with it. Oh well we will have to keep trying. After all Libby's cousin Matthew didn't eat solid food until he was 4 years old.

The Munchkin Fresh Food Feeder can be found at most target stores (we bought ours at the SuperTarget on Germantown Parkway).

To the zoo we go

Libby woke up on Sunday morning with a smile on her face and a hunger in her tummy. She seems to have totally recovered from her sickness. Since it was a beautiful sunny day and was suppose to get in the mid 80's we decided to take Libby to the Memphis Zoo before running the rest of our errands. She seemed to really enjoy it. Her favorite animals were the brand new polar bears that just arrived in time for the March 1st opening of the Northwest Passage exhibit. There were 3 of them and they swam and played in the water right in front of us.

After the zoo we went to our favorite mexican restaurant for lunch, el Porton. The food was great as usual, but I made the mistake of telling the waitress that I needed two more minutes to look at the menu before ordering and of course she took 10 minutes before she came back. Since Beth was very hungary, I am lucky there were chips and salsa on the table for her to eat, or I would have gotten a beating.

From there we went to Target, Micheals, and Old Navy to get me a new pair of pants.

We would like to thanks everyone for the nice calls, emails, and letters asking how Libby was doing. You can all rest easy knowing your granddaughter, niece, and friend Libby is doing just fine now. If you would like to see more pictures of Libby in her "going to the zoo" outfit, click here.

Healing Power of the Weiner Dog

I am sure all of you have heard the old Irish folk stories about the healing powers of the miniature dachshund. Well it seems to be true. Stretch hardly left Libby's side the entire night that she was sick. Libby would reach over and grab at his fur or yank on his ear. She has quite a grip and each time Stretch would wince in pain until we could get Libby's hand off of him. But at no time did he growl or try to bite Libby. He is a good boy. As I have always said, Stretch has NEVER tried to bite a good baby.

Poor Baby

Beth had a much needed weekend off, so we decided to go and get Libby's six-month pictures taken today. In the past we had gone to Sears Portrait studios and have had horrible luck. Libby cries alot and the pictures don't look very good. So this time we went to Picture People in the mall. They shoot with film instead of digital and the pictures turned out great and they are ready in about an hour. They are a little more expensive, but well worth it.

As we were driving home from the mall we stopped at Backdoor Burger to get lunch. As we pulled into the parking lot Libby vomited up a copious amount of formula and applesauce. For the next 4 hours she threw up and screamed the entire time. Around 5 p.m. we finally got 1/2 ounce of apple flavored pedialyte to stay down and then we got her to drink about 2 ounces every hour until she fell asleep exhausted at 9 p.m. Hopefully she will feel better by tomorrow.

I know most of you are probably blaming Libby's friend Isabelle for getting her sick, but we don't. I am sure Isabelle didn't mean to do it.

Libby Lou

Libby is really starting to grow up fast. She is now rolling over from her belly to her back all by herself and with a little prodding will go from back to belly. Isabelle's mom, Jen, has been giving us lots of good exercises to do with Libby to improve her arm strength and coordination. Jen promises to have Libby walking before she is 7 months old (2 months before her cousin Matthew).

As you can see the exercises are really starting to pay off and Libby can now stand by herself while leaning up against the ottoman. One week ago she was unable to do this. She still can't seem to get the hang of sitting by herself, but we work on it everyday and am SLOWLY seeing improvement.

Odd Landscaping

It's springtime in the mid-south and flowers are beginning to bloom in our yard. We were quite shocked when we saw what a plethora of plant life we have growing in our jungle of a backyard.
Some are coming up in the middle of the lawn.

While others are growing through the rail-road ties that separate the "lawn" area from the "foresty" area.

And we are still trying to figure out what the previous owners of the house were doing when they planted this in the middle of the yard. It is almost a perfect rectangle and then dotted in the middle with random plants. I have tried standing on the roof to see if from the sky it forms a word or picture, but it dosen't seem to.

Laughing Libby

Here is a cute video of Libby laughing at her toy firefly (and by "her toy" I mean her cousin Elise's). I apoligize for the poor quality of it, but the camera we use to take short videos with is out of commision because my brother Dave hasn't yet mailed me one of his spare batteries that he has laying around (and isn't even using anymore). So it had to be filmed using my cell-phone.

All is good

Libby went for her follow-up appointment with the pediatric ophthalmologist today. After applying the cocaine eyedrops twice to her eyes and then waiting 30 minutes, it was confirmed by the doctor that Libby does not have Horner's Syndrome. She just has one pupil that is a little bigger then the other, or in medical terms "Opticus Stinkus".

When Rich Dies

When Rich dies I might become the President of the United States.



If you would like to succeed please click here to add yourself to the list. Thanks Dan and Ricardo for turning me onto the site.

Separated at Birth?

I get alot of people asking me who "$E$" is that leaves the funny (and much appreciated) comments all over the Kurt Family Blogs. It is Rich M, a friend from way back. His wife Amy and Beth went to medical school together. She is finishing up her residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN and was instrumental in getting my mother other there for her Whipple Opperation.

I had always assumed that "$E$" stood for the cartoon character Richie Rich. But after reading an article in US News and World Report about Club Kid "Richie Rich" I know see more of a resemblance Rich and the club kid.

Fun Fact

Memphis, TN has the distinction of being the U.S. city were the least number of people are watching the 2006 Winter Olympics. GO MEMPHIS!!!!!

Eye Update

Libby went to see her pediatric opthalmologist today. Even though we had to wait over an hour to get in to see the doctor and another hour for the visit Libby did very well and didn't fuss at all. I have decided that being a pediatric opthalmologsit is kinda like being a children's photographer, because you have to amuse the baby and get her to look at you while you are shining a bright light in their eye. The doctor said that her left pupil is a little larger then the right and the eye has a tiny bit of a droop to it. It could be something called Horner's Syndrome, which in it of itself is not serious, but could mean she has a tumor behind her eye. The doctor thought this was unlikely because her eye looks so healthy over all. But she wants to completely rule it out so next Thursday Libby has to go in for another test. They are going to administer liquid Cocaine drops into her eye, I was reassured that it would not turn her into a "crack" baby. Then if the test is positive and she does has Horner's Syndrome then she will have to have additional tests such as a CAT scan. Please keep Libby in your prayers.

A Few Corrections

I would like to correct a few things from my brother Dan's blog. On Saturday Dan and I did decide to install a new vanity and sink in my bathroom. And yes it did only take one trip to Home Depot, but what Dan didn't tell you is that it took an addtional six trips to Lowe's. What Dan also didn't tell you is that the project still is not complete. The trap leaks still, that is the reason there is a plastic container holding a towel under the vanity. So it looks like I will be calling a plumber in the next few days. It also turned out to be the worlds most expensive vanity and sink by the time you add up all the parts that were bought, opened, cut, destroyed, then never used. I could hook up 2 or 3 additional sinks in either plastic or metal with all the parts that were left over.

Booklight

I got more comments (two) about the booklight I used this morning to check on Libby. Above is a picture of the light and how it is used when reading a book. The reason I used it was that it was the first thing I could find that would shed a small amount of light on Libby. I could have used a Mag-Lite or even turned on one of three lights in her room, but each one of those would have been overkill and probably woken her up. It was used as shown in the first picture, so NO Dave, I didn't have to clip it on my body, just hold it in my hand. And I also didn't have to crawl on the floor, I just walked in silently making sure I didn't step on any of the creaky floor boards. Rich, Zima is only drunk at the Damon and Jen's house and we drink it straight up, but maybe Red Bull would help kill the taste a bit. Anne, I wish the dogs would sleep through the night, but alas they still wake up around 4:30-5:30 a.m. wanting to be fed.

C.M.O.M

On Sunday we took my brother and his family to the Children's Museum of Memphis. The kids had been cooped up in the house all day Saturday because of the "ice storm". It is a great place and totally kicks G.R.C.M. in the butt.
.
Libby and I had fun riding a police motorcycle,

driving a car through downtown Memphis,

and not entering the human habitrail the wrong way.

The human habitrail was so cool, I wish I had been allowed to climb around in it. It was about 25 feet high and consisted of platforms wrapped in chicken wire, so the kids couldn't fall off.

My nephew (and Godson) Andy, played chess against some other random kid, but sadly, he got schooled. There were tons of other games to play in the game room, like Toptafel, of which I got the high score of the group, 165. There was also a full size Fed-Ex plane that you could crawl around the cockpit and play with the levers, a Kroger store full of fake foods that the kids could shop for and play check out with, a HUGE human heart that the kids could crawl through (it wasn't real I don't think), and a scale model of the Mississippi River complete with barges you could captain. All in all it was a fun day, and Libby and I will be back one day soon. It was also the first time we got much use out of Libby's BabyBjorn carrier. She was great in it and loved being able to look around and see everything.

Yay Libby!

Libby slept through the night for the first time last night. She went to bed at about 7:45 p.m. and woke up this morning at 7:30 a.m. When Beth got up at 5:20 this morning, I woke up also realizing that Libby hadn't woken up yet. So I sneaked into her room with my book light to check on her to make sure she was ok and still breathing. She was. I hope this wasn't a one time thing and that she starts doing it on a regular basis.

My Name is Jon

Karma kicked me in the butt last night. Dan and Kris were nice enough to babysit Libby on Sunday night so Beth and I could get out for a "date". We went to Bahama Breeze, it was very good. I had the seared Ahi-tuna and Beth had the coconut shrimp. Sitting across from us was a very nice looking family of four, a mom, dad, son and daughter. The kids looked to be about 9 and 11 respectively. The funny thing was they were all wearing matching light blue snowflake sweaters . We spent at least half of our meal time talking about them and their funny looking sweaters. When we got home my brother Dan noticed that I was wearing my sweater inside out and that there were two big tags showing. Boy did I get my comeupance.

A Luge Love Affair

I saw this great clip from the Today Show on the Best Week Ever blog. It is even funnier if you close your eyes and just listen to it.

A Deal that is not a Deal

You can buy the movie Envy at overstock.com for only $1, including shipping. But it is such a horrid movie, it still isn't worth it. Use code "73617" to get free shipping.

Opticus Stinkus (Stink Eye)

Yesterday while giving Libby a once over before her 6 month doctor appointment, Beth noticed that one of Libby's pupils was larger than the other, or one was smaller than the other. After pointing it out to Dr. Geiger, she performed a few tests to test Libby's light reflexes. Those seemed okay, so Dr. Geiger called a pediatric ophthalmologist to get her opinion. Dr. Pandya-Lipman thought it would be a good idea for Libby to come in and be checked out. So next thursday, the 23rd, Libby has to go in and get her eyes examined. They will do a dilated eye exam to look at her optic nerve.

Big Girl

Little Libby is becoming such a big girl. She is now taking her meals sitting up in her high-chair. She eats carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, and her favorite mashed peas.

The mashed peas smell just like the creamed peas that my mom makes for me at every holiday.

Public Apology

Beth and I would like to publicly apologize to Isabelle's parents. Jen and Damon were kind enough to invite us over last saturday for an evening of food, drink and euchre. And with the kindness that was shown to us that night, Beth and I should have let Jen and Damon win a few hands of cards. Instead we put the smack down on them. I don't remember how many games of euchre were played, but I do know that Beth and I won them all. And not only did we win them, we won each game by scoring 11 points (10 wasn't loud enough). The only good thing is that their daughter Isabelle was asleep while we were playing cards so she didn't have to see her parents being beaten like circus chimps.

Six Month Check Up

Libby went in today for her six month check up. The doctor was amazed at how much she had grown. She is 15 lbs 13 1/2 ozs putting her in the 49th percentile for weight. She is 25 3/4 inches long putting her in the 50th percentile, she is getting so tall, she will soon be measuring herself against her cousin Nathan who is tall as a whip. Her head circumference went up also to 42.75 cm puttin her in the 50th percentile there also. All in all Libby did pretty well. She likes Dr. Geiger and the nurses except for the shots and the cold stethoscopes.

Mid-South Snowstorm 2006

We are getting our first taste of a mid-south snowstorm today. We are suppose to get anywhere between 1-3 inches. It start snowing around 1:30 p.m. and people are already packing the grocery stores to pick up supplies, it is insane. I went to pick up some baking powder and it wasn't even worth waiting in line for. Well no worries, it is suppose to be in the high 30's tomorrow.

***UPDATE***
All ACT tests have been canceled in the Memphis area tomorrow.

More bath time for Libby

It still never fails, when Libby is getting crabby we can put her in the tub and get lots of smiles. Her new thing is to suck on one of the wash clothes as she is trying to be cleaned.

Libby's belly is getting bigger each day we think. Her hair certainly does seem to have a strawberry blonde twinge to it in the right light. Maybe her cousin Maddie won't be the only redhead in the family.

Since the wash clothe wasn't avaible, she chewed on the next best thing she could find. I am hoping that in the next week or two she will be sitting up by herself.

Funny Conversation

I was talking to my brother in law Rudi yesterday and was telling him about a newspaper headline I was reading that said "12 Brazilian Citizens Killed in Rockslide". He said to me "Wow, that is really sad...how many is a brazilian again?"

I caught it

I went to bed Sunday night with a bit of a belly ache and woke up about an hour later vomiting and having diarrhea. At first Beth thought it might be the "bird flu" that you hear everyone talking about, since I had had chicken the past two nights for dinner. I told her I didn't think that is how it worked and that it was probably just a case of gastro like she had last week. Mine was a much more virile strain, in fact it made Beth's look like a stomache ache. Good news is it seems to only have been a 24 hour bug and I am at about 90% today. I don't think I will be running or exercising for the next few days. The bad news is I didn't really lose any weight during the experience and am hovering around 167. (For those who don't know I am on a diet and trying to get down to about 160.) Luckily Libby dosen't seem to have caught the bug from either of usl. I was very blessed to have such a happy baby on Monday, she made being sick just that much easier.

The Arcade

On Sunday we went out for lunch at The Arcade with Eduardo, who Beth works with at St. Judes. It is the oldest continuously run restaurant in Memphis. It has been featured in a few famous movies such as The Client, 21 Grams, and Great Balls of Fire. Beth got a cheeseburger that was bigger then her head and Eduardo got the sweet potato pancakes that looked really good. Mine wasn't as good, for some reason whenever I go to a restaurant and see Chicken Fried Steak on the menu, I have to order it. Even though it is never good and I really don't like the taste of it. But I never remember that until afterwards. So when we got home I gave Beth permission to kick me in the A-B-C if I ever try to order it again. Hopefully that will be enough of a deterrant for me to start ordering something I actually like.

Chatting Babies

The Reeds came over last night for an evening of food and euchre fun. It was the first time that best friends Libby and Izzerbelle took notice of each other. I am not sure what Isabelle said to Libby, but Libby was a pill all day today. We are not sure if Libby is starting to get teeth or maybe a bit of a cold. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

A Tribute

A few weeks ago on SNL some of the new cast members did a tribute song to a young Chuck Norris. You can watch it here, it is very funny. You can see more of Andy Samberg on his website here.

A big thing on the web now are sites dedicated to Facts about Chuck Norris. Some of the most interesting facts are:

• The opening scene of the movie "Saving Private Ryan" is loosely based on games
  of dodgeball Chuck Norris played in second grade.
• In an average living room there are 1,242 objects Chuck Norris could use to kill you, including the room itself.
• If you spell Chuck Norris in Scrabble, you win. Forever.
• Chuck Norris invented Kentucky Fried Chicken's famous secret recipe, with eleven herbs and spices. But nobody ever mentions the twelfth ingredient: Fear.
• Chuck Norris has counted to infinity. Twice.

Happy Birthday Nathan

Every year for Nate's birthday my brother Dave takes him to his favorite fabric store to pick out fabric to make a new "birthday blanket". It is a tradition as old as ballons on the floor of your bedroom when you wake up in the morning. Maybe if you have any left over you can also make Libby a blanket.

I can't belive Nate is already 9 and tall as a whip. It seems like only yesterday he was 8.

A Picture Share!

This car was parked next to me at Krogers today. I figure with my luck with cars lately, mine will look like this one soon.

And yes, that is cardboard being used for the front door and front fender.

Quote of the Night

I woke up at about 2:15 a.m. to the sound of Beth puking in the bathroom. I went in to see what was wrong and she said "I went to bed not feeling great, but I figured it was because I started exercising. But starting to exercise dosen't make you almost poop your pants." Looks like Beth has caught a virus. Well no holding Libby for her for the next few days and alot of hand-washing for me.