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Special night with my niece Jensen (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:05:42 -0500

Special night with my niece Jensen (Taken with instagram)

Game Day

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:27:08 -0500

Tonight is the first UNC-Duke game of the year. It’s always my favorite - the 9pm start time, the build up of anticipation, and oh-so-many of the recent games have been so close. In fact, I saw this amazing stat this week - if you look at the last 75 combined games between UNC and Duke, UNC has won 38 and Duke 37. In aggregate, the combined scores in these games is Duke 5,558 - UNC 5,557. WOW!

Here’s an amazing video to get you in the mood:

Charlotte Laughs

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:28:13 -0500

We caught this great video of Charlotte giggling tonight

Makes us think of a similar video of Miller from a couple years ago (when Miller wasn’t quite 3 months old):

Some more pics

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:25:22 -0500

From the last week or so:

tiny feet

big boy

daddy/daughter // mommy/daughter

Tired little girl (Taken with instagram)

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:05:27 -0500

Tired little girl (Taken with instagram)

Belated birthday party

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:07:37 -0500

On Sunday afternoon we attended the belated (by a little more than a month) birthday party for our niece Janie Grace. We had a blast and there will be more pics to come but just got this one from Jason and loved it.

Ton of rain this morning. So play in the puddles! (Taken with...

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:07:19 -0500

Ton of rain this morning. So play in the puddles! (Taken with instagram)

3 Months!

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:38:50 -0500

Charlotte was 3 months old as of 1/22. She’s growing up fast!

And just because it’s fun, a pic from when Miller was about the same age:

Lil’ Miss Bumbo (Taken with instagram)

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:11:37 -0500

Lil’ Miss Bumbo (Taken with instagram)

Happy Birthday Jason!

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:05:34 -0500

Today is my brother-in-law Jason’s birthday, which makes it a great day to mention what a great dude he is and how thankful I am that we’re part of the same family.

I doubt Jason knows exactly how much I’ve gleaned from watching him over the years and looking up to him as a man a few years my elder. Jason and Tracy’s sister Jennifer married the year Tracy and I graduated from high school. One of my most vivid memories from their wedding weekend is hearing his groomsmen (predominantly buddies from college along with his brother) speak about the deep relationships they formed while at Taylor University. I was heading to UNC a couple months later and those toasts and stories were deeply ingrained in my mind. ”I want friends and relationships like that”, I thought as I went into my freshman year. I was fortunate enough to find a great group of friend very quickly at UNC - yet I doubt Jason knows exactly what a big impact he and his friends had on setting a vision for me in that regard. But I will never forget and I’m thankful for the example he set.

Jason continues to set an example in countless ways. First, it was in how to be a husband and, then, a father. One of the things I respect most with him is that what you see is what you get - by which I mean Jason is not one to be overly pedantic or to push his wise views on me (though he no doubt could and I’d be all ears!) Rather, Jason tends to lead by serving, he shows he cares by doing. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen him slaving away on the dishes after a big family meal. The man has approximately 10 million leaves that fall annually in his front yard yet he doesn’t complain about how his autumn is spent with a leaf blower on his back 90% of the time. In either case, Jason would say that the acts of service are not tasks for which he’s secretly resentful - instead, he’s has an amazing ability to show gratitude for the blessings he’s been given and to see the “big picture” without get mired in the mundane details of life.

To me, that speaks of wisdom, of which I believe Jason is blessed with amounts which far exceed his years. This has become crystal clear to me in the last couple years as he and Jennifer dealt with the news that Janie Grace would likely have some health challenges and subsequently walked through a seemingly endless array of doctors visits, procedures and general ups and downs. Jason led his family through this process with grace and dignity. Words can’t describe how much I respect him for this. And his leadership in this area will no doubt reap immense dividends in the lives of his family over the years ahead.

Happy birthday Jason! Hope you get a chance to relax tonight and sip on an ice cold beverage of your choice (most likely a Cheerwine that has been sitting on ice for just the right amount of time!)

They call him the sample man (Taken with instagram)

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 12:37:59 -0500

They call him the sample man (Taken with instagram)

100% honest truth…this wasn’t staged. Caught Miller...

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 10:33:00 -0500

100% honest truth…this wasn’t staged. Caught Miller hugging his lil’ sis this morning

hmmmm....

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:38:51 -0500

Mommy just said she’s “smitten”. Anyone know what “smitten” means?

Gotta see how the DC version compares to NYC (Taken with...

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:04:38 -0500

Gotta see how the DC version compares to NYC (Taken with instagram)

Pics from Dallas

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:36:10 -0500

As noted a while back, Tracy and Charlotte took a weekend trip to Dallas and did a mini-reunion/baby shower weekend with a bunch of old friends from our church from NYC. While in Texas, our friend and budding professional photographer Katie Markquart took some great pics. Here are a few - and if you’re in NYC and looking for someone to take family or baby pics, you should check out Katie’s work and set up an appointment!

Too cool for school (Taken with instagram)

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:53:57 -0500

Too cool for school (Taken with instagram)

Was doing my resolution pushups and Miller joined in

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:26:18 -0500

Was doing my resolution pushups and Miller joined in

Tebow Fever

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:25:54 -0500

The talk of the sports world is most definitely Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos and their thrilling OT victory over the Steelers. During the game, Miller showed a little Tebow Fever.

Glad to have his sister home

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 18:06:51 -0500

Glad to have his sister home

Travel Weekend

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 22:17:26 -0500

Tracy and Charlotte hopped on a plane Friday morning headed to Dallas, Republic of Texas for the weekend. They are meeting up with a bunch of other girls (and a few babies) who were in our small group Bible study in NYC a couple years ago and to surprise our friend Shannon, who is very close to having her first child.

This was obviously Charlotte’s first flight so we were interested to see how it would go. Thankfully, it was direct from RDU => DFW and by all accounts Char Char did great (though it helped that there was an empty seat, so she even got her own digs).

Miller and I have been enjoying a guys weekend with lots of playing with trains, shooting hoops on his indoor goal, and some yard work raking up leaves (Miller actually helped!).

Thanks to the magic of iPhone and iMessaging, we’ve been able to text images and even video back and forth from NC to Texas. By way of example, here’s a shot of me and Miller checking in to say “Hi Mom!”

And a subsequent pic of Charlotte and her new friend Beth Lee (who was born a couple weeks before her. Beth is the sister of Bennet Lee, who was born a couple weeks before Miller while we were both living in NYC). Miller and I couldn’t stop laughing at Char and Beth’s sweet moustaches

Just for kicks, here’s an old school pic of Miller and Bennet from NYC (when they were ~2.5 months (miller) and 3 months of age, so pretty similar time frame)

We can’t wait for our ladies to return tomorrow!