NOT DEAD YET

I’ve heard it from my dad, and from many friends, and from former coworkers. “What happened to your blog,” they say.

Well… I got busy?

Since returning from the Faroes in August, it has been an extremely busy time and all sorts of activities have crowded out my usual blog writing routine. Some of that time has been spent putting out podcasts on a more accelerated schedule. (To listen to the most recent one, search for “Faroe Islands Podcast on iTunes or listen on the audio player here.) I’ve also been, to use an expression from politics, spending more time with my family.

But I’ve got a short break in the action, so I thought I’d check in with an update and a promise to be better in the future.

Most of you have been missing photos of the little guys, so let’s get some of those out of the way right now. First, here’s Nate using his pig toy (that he’s pulled all the stuffing out of) as a beret.
Now here’s Will just being silly.

And the both of them hanging out in the living room.

These photos were taken in August, before the new haircuts. Those haircuts make Nate and Will really look like big boys. It’s exciting and sad all at the same time.

But they need to start looking like big boys, as they’ll have a little sister in about a week. The new child-to-be-named-later arrives next Friday. Julie can’t wait to have it out of her. I think I could probably wait another few weeks. After all, once it comes out, it’s my problem, too.

We’ve been asked a lot about names and I regret to say we’ve been very bad about drawing up a short list. Perhaps it’s the fact that we’ve already been through this process before and naming something just doesn’t have the thrill of the new. Perhaps it’s denial.

Whatever the case, I think I’ve come up with a solution to our naming problems. We wanted something that would have some historical significance, so I went back through my genealogy. I discovered that, with the exception of my mother, every woman on my side of the family is named “Grandma.”

So I’ve unilaterally decided to name our new daughter “Grandma.” How cool is that? Imagine the fun of holding a newborn child and saying, “this is our new baby Grandma!” And Nate and Will will certainly love this. They love their Grandmas. It seems logical that they’d transfer that love to a new baby sister with the same name.

Nate and Will aren’t potty trained and I’m sick of handling their crap. But that’s another story.

And for those of you who missed the Faroe Friday posts, I'll have a little something tomorrow. Really.