Charlotte

While we are not the prolific bloggers we once were in the recent past, and given the fact that much of this blog's recent entries have centered around the happenings of Ava over the past two years. . . we thought it was only fair to give some adequate press time to the new addition to our household. . . Charlotte. Charlotte Mary came into the world quite a bit easier and faster than Ava did, albeit with a little more collateral damage to Emily in the process. Weighing in at 8 lb., 10.9 oz., she nearly approached Ava's birthweight of 8 lb., 12 oz. She's fairly long, like Ava was, measuring 21 inches.

She's demonstrating that she's fairly content, with nary a cry, but more satisfied with little 'grunts' and 'squeeks'. Aside from Emily healing from surgery, the next few weeks will most likely prove most difficult for Ava, but change is inevitable, and realizing that you're not the center of the universe forever is probably a good lesson. Chris' lesson for the day is that he is quickly becoming an endangered male species in the Barwacz household, being outnumbered by the more prickly estrogenic conundrum.

So welcome Charlotte, or "Charlie", we're looking forward to seeing what you're all about.

Stumptown

About five or six years ago, about the same time that I started driving Emily to work in the dead of winter (invision dark, very cold, very windy mornings), I discovered the benefits of coffee. Mostly, it was a way for me to perk up before facing a brutal walk into school, since parking is a scarcity in Iowa City. McDonald's drive-through served as my gateway coffee of choice, as it was a mere 99 cents.

Fast forward five or six years, and I pretty much have found myself to not only benefit from the eye-opening properties of coffee, but also genuinely enjoy the taste, smell, and act of making coffee (sounds like a smoking addict), and have tried developing a rather novice palate for different types of coffees.

Recently a co-worker of mine gave me as a Christmas gift a coffee from a brewer in Portland, OR called Stumptown Coffee Roasters. Specifically it was their Guatemalan variety, and it has been a really great brew! 

So, if you happen to enjoy really really good coffee, or you just happen to find yourself in Portland some time soon, I would check out their coffee, it's worth your time.

The Mountain

Cleaning the Forest Floor

It was a beautiful, albeit windy autumn day here in Iowa City. We spent the first half of the day with Ava out at Lake Macbride, where she enthusiastically attempted to demonstrate the importance of leaf taxonomy. After wearing out her energy, we watched the Hawks finally defeat Northwestern. Can a fall saturday get much better?

Cheesy

We're not sure if it was because we said "Cheese" or because we told her she was going to be a sister . . . we'll keep you posted once we find out . . .

Summer Couture

Cuddle Time

Overall Rider

Typical Iowa biker garb . . .

Keeping Up With Current Events

Who cares about Osama when Ava has Lindsey . . .

Happy Easter!

Our neighbors Mark and Joyce invited Ava and I over for dinner to celebrate Easter, as Emily was working the holiday. Ava enjoyed the afternoon, especially the Easter egg hunt with their grandson Leif. Here are a few pics from this afternoon. . . Thanks again Mark & Joyce!

Nest Cam

This is a live cam on a bald eagle nesting in Decorah, IA . . . and the baby eagles are due any day. Pretty cool!

Ava's New Do

Yesterday afternoon, before our friends Sarah and Anthony stopped by from Chicago for part of the weekend, we took Ava to have her hair cut for the first time . . . and much to our surprise, she did remarkably well. Only a few tears were shed in the beginning "prep-work", but once the cutting began, Ava just fell into her typical flirty self, waving to nearby patrons and hairstylists, as well as saying "Hi" in her most optimistic tone. Will going to the hairstylist be a regular event for Ava? . . . we think not, but we figured 'hey, why not give her a cool do for her first cut'. Ava celebrated by coming home and eating some mid-afternoon snacks, and then taking a great nap before Sarah and Anthony arrived.

"All Done"

While our post-status to the blog has been at best lackluster, plenty has been happening in the life of Ava. Each day seems to make us smile at new developments and little quirks of her personality that are starting to emerge. However, in the midst of all this change, Ava still holds to some stalwart traits such as giving slobbery open-mouth kisses, and muttering "all done", with the conclusion of anything she's tired of doing. Tomorrow we'll be taking Ava for her first hair-cut, and Chris will have camera in-hand. We thought we'd post some recent photos of her as her hair has continued to lighten and lengthen.

1/1000th

I was driving home the other night from work and heard a story on NPR regarding a technique in which people on YouTube were playing popular songs, but stretched to between 1/800th or 1/1000th its normal speed. One of the excerpts was from the Jurassic Park soundtrack, which is great music to fall asleep to when played at this speed. Take a listen.