Robby: Party Time!

We had over first party for the new kid last weekend, complete with steak and potatoes, Aunts and Uncles, Grandparents, squirrels, a Woolly Booger Caterpillar, and several cousins, etc, etc, etc. I know--get  to the pictures!

Scope out the new guy!

Robby's always down for a nap!

And the kids love him too!

Robby was the star of the show, with everyone looking to take a turn holding him. As Grandpa Hall is apt to say: "I want to come back as this guy. What a life!"

And we got a very special gift from Sue, Jim, Chris, and Nick: Beatrix Potter's Nursery Rhyme  Book. It's a classic!

Even better is the heartfelt note on the inside of the cover, penned by Robby's cousin:

"I hope you like this gift. Please thank us when you're old enough to talk. Love, Nick"

Priceless. Thanks Nick--and next time we get together, I promise to wear shorts and shoes so we can really kick the soccer ball around.

Mommy Baby Burger Time!

There are few things in life better than a good cheese burger. It just so happens that I just got the chance to celebrate one of those better things, while having a cheeseburger!

Christina and I took Robby to the Manchester Famous Catsup & Mustard on Sunday afternoon. It was, as always, a wonderful burger experience. We did hit the lunch time rush right at the end: we waited 15 minutes for our table, which wasn't too bad, except that we had to mingle with the townies while we sat. A few gruff characters, to say the least. Nothing better than overhearing the poetic conversations of a pair of 2:00 pm drunken camo wearing bums. They probably smelled the part too, but we stayed clear.

But at least Robby enjoyed his nap!

And Christina enjoyed her onion rings!

Trending now on Ashford Living: Understanding Your Audience

Checking the recent traffic to Ashford Living, I noticed something.

Beyond the standard assumptions I can make from traffic sources, such as the fact that sending emails and RSS subscriptions will pull traffic to the site, and that the cuter the baby pictures the more traffic I get, there is the following:

Most of you come by facebook, people actually still use yahoo, and someone actually came to the site looking for guacamole turkey burgers! How deep in the google rankings did it take to get here from there? And the oyster bar thing is a mystery. So, as a good marketer, I can only assume that people want more stories about guacamole and turkey burgers. That's Pork o Licious!

Grandma's Beef Soup (with beer grains)

I'm breaking with two long standing traditions in this post: I'm showcasing someone else's cooking, and advocating the consumption of perfectly good brewing grains in a non-beer related manner. This doesn't happen, like, ever, so make sure to turn of NCIS or the Antiques Roadshow or The Biggest Loser or whatever network blockbuster you're watching and listen up.

The newest member of the D-bomb crew (D-Bomb being a registered trademark of P. Bagshaw, October 2011) has made cooking, cleaning, bathing, etc. become an epic ordeal involving logistical coordination that would have made General Bradley scratch his head and call Ike for backup. Thankfully, we received a special delivery right ahead of the stork: 1 heaping pot-full of Grandma Hall's Connecticut famous Beef and Barley Soup!

Veggies perfect, Beef tender and moist--barley fluffy and filling. Perfect for a couple of crazy kids trying to keep it together and feed ourselves at the same time.

Thanks Grandma, and I approve of taking a little more barley from the product for which nature intended it to used if you promise to make us more of this soup. Deal?

 

 

Happy 1 week birthday! -or- 'Twas a week after baby

Time goes so quickly when you're changing diapers. I can't believe that just one week ago I was poking fun at Christina for being D-Date plus 8--who knew we'd have a beautiful baby boy only a few days later. Well, I guess it was bound to happen, wasn't it...

Check out Mom's perfect swaddling!

We've done and seen a lot in the past week: Hospital rooms, doctors offices, firsts of all sorts. Here's the first non-white onesie we put Robby in:

I think he took a pee in it about 10 seconds after this picture was taken. Which was about 15 seconds after we dressed him up. 

Our first doctor's visit as a father was a neat experience. Looking at a waiting room full of other, obviously less attractive babies was fun. Nothing like having a beautiful baby to make a dad feel swell!

The Honda Fit has been returned fresh and new, and now we're a complete family again. Stina says it rode fine and still smelled like paint thinner--the hallmarks of a job well done. Most importantly, I can now roll over on the couch and say "You've got a car seat in your car", and then go back to sleep. First world living is grand!

Friendly's has shut down a few under performing restaurants in our area, none of which will be missed less than the patron saint of terrible, terrible service that was the Storrs Friendly's. Good riddance.

Well Robby, you picked a nice time to be born. The weather has started to turn fall--(even with Indian Summer just around the corner)--and the leaves are falling. Stay bundled up!

We had a great time walking at the Mansfield Hollow Dam yesterday--Robby's first stroll through nature. We got to see an airplane land, a few swans, and several weird old men just wandering along the trail. Noticeable absence of any other families, despite the nice day. Creepy.

Notice the wind cocoon we built over the stroller--nifty little mobile sleeping unit for the baby. Kids these days....

The most precious commodity

Everyone told us before the stork came that we should treasure the sleep we have. "Get it now while you can", was a common refrain from seasoned parents.

I figured I would be up all night, waking every time the baby stirred and comforting him while Christina tried to get a few precious moments of shut-eye. I assumed my days would be filled with a wakeful haze of diaper changes and doctors appointments, napping in the car and reacting to every coo and cry with a jump and a jerk.

Boy was I wrong--I can get sleep anytime I want!  I have to say, it really hasn't been too bad with Robby. He always finds the time to sleep. Those precious seconds of quiet! There's literally nothing stopping me from collapsing on the couch whenever the mood overcomes me.

Sleeping with Robby: Easy as can be for minutes on end!



Whenever I have a chance to slip out of the living room, I make sure to grab a few Z's in my favorite napping spot:

As for the diaper changes--another great time to succumb to Mr. Sandman.

Never felt better!

The firsts of third, or "How do you tell time with that?"

For those of you who are frequent readers of Ashford Living, you'll know there have been a few changes afoot: A new header, a few more pictures, and the crazy new "Baby D" storyline we just introduced on Wednesday. We know that not all of you will be 100% happy with the changes,  but as the series expanded, we realized that we needed a new character to keep us fresh and appealing to the widest possible variety of readers.

That's not the whole truth. What really happened is I met a girl the first week of college.

The First time I saw her, I was hooked. The first time she talked to me, she commented that I had a nice watch (Skagen, my favorite), and asked how I could tell time with that? (Skagen, no numbers)

The first time we hung out, I mooned her (what can I say, I'm classy like that). The first trip we took together was to Store 24 in my Camaro. The first time I met her Mom I drove up to Connecticut in a Blizzard (in that same Camaro).

The first time I saw her at our wedding I fell for her again. The first time I heard "Mr. and Mrs.", I was the happiest man alive. Our first dance was to "Wouldn't it be Nice".

The first thing I remember Wednesday morning was her saying to me that the contractions were 4 minutes apart. The second after that I began to panic and celebrate all at once. We rushed to the hospital as quickly as we could, and now there is a third of us.

And, on this, Robby's third day, he's been through a few firsts of his own:

First new onesie.

First trip outside. First taste of the sun. First time in the car seat.

First time on the patio.

First day at home with Mom and Dad. First time in the house. First time meeting his partner in crime.

First time in the most portable of his multiple official baby beds (thanks Grandma H. and Great Grandma U. for the get up and accoutrement).

What do you think, Robby?

Well I know how I Feel!