1000 Words

Here I am again with my week in picutres.  This week was actually very exciting, and for once in a good long while I knew I had to plan to take lots of pictures this week.  As you'll see below it was a very exciting week, so without further ado here is my week in photos.

As always I give love and shout-outs to Kim at Yep, They're All Mine.

Ana has learned how to pull down the buffer in her crib.  Apparently she didn't like her view of the world being blocked by some adorable bedding from Pottery Barn Kids.  Oh and this is pretty much  the cutest picture I've ever taken of the girls.  Also we'll be dropping the crib soon.

And this is a picture of Grace sleeping in that my wife sent to me.  I swear it makes me want to start working later, so I stop missing these things.

I purchased Texas Toast this week for the sole reason of my wife making french toast.  It was a completely frivolous and unnecessary purchase, but it was worth it.

This week was also wedding week.  My sister got married on Saturday, but we had about 3-4 days worth of activities that were dedicated to the wedding.  Thursday was bachelor party day.  Now normally I would plan on taking a day off and doing something after sleeping in and having a nice relaxing morning.  We didn't do that.  We got up even before the butt-crack of dawn to do some fishing in the bay because my new brother-in-law loves to fish.

It wasn't a wasted day by any means.  We started drinking at 6 (That is AM by the way).  I got to know the other groomsmen in the wedding who are all awesome, and I wished that they didn't all live in Cincinnatti because they are a blast.  And I caught a pretty good sized fish.  That is a Striped Sea Bass in case you were wondering.  I also won some money on it because as you may or may not know guys bet on everything, and this fish won some money that we kicked into the pool.

We also got to see views of The City like this.  And that is certainly worth the price of admission.

Ana wanted to help me drive to the rehearsal dinner, but I'm pretty sure she had no idea where she was going.  But as the saying goes "Crawl before you drive."

The wedding was the first time we've both spent a night away from the girls since they were released from the NICU.  Erin's mom helped out and watched them so we could party down with my family and friends.  She sent us pictures to let us know they were still alive.

My wife is so cute.  This is pretty much recreating one of the photos she took for our wedding.  I love her.  I will say that I didn't really take any pictures on the day of the wedding for various reasons.  But mostly I didn't want to drain the battery on my phone in case we were called and needed to leave at a moment's notice.

My wife however did take pictures (also the reason her phone died very early on during the night).  My little sister getting married is one of the more surreal experiences in my life.  I mean she is my little sister.  I can remember times playing in our back yard or going to her soccer games when she was a kid.  We are the closest in age from all my brothers and sisters, and we probably have the most similar personalities in the family.  And we've always kind of gotten each other, but I can honestly say that I never really thought about her getting married.  When I saw her in her wedding dress for the first time, I realized how beautiful she really is.  She isn't that little girl I used to make fun of anymore.  She is a woman who has achieved so much.  She found a wonderful and caring man that I am proud to call my brother.  She radiated beauty and grace like I've never seen until now.  I give her a hard time for not always showing emotion and being a little too matter of fact, but I know how joyful and full of love she was on this day.  It brought a tear to my eye to see it.  I love my little sister and the woman she has become.

The morning after.  My brother, dad and me out in front of where the wedding and EPIC after-party took place.  Seriously one of the most fun nights I've had in a while.  These guys from Cincy know how to party, and the ladies hold their own too.  There are so many stories that could be told here.  In fact I just don't have enough time and space to relay them.  All I will say is that I was not nearly as hung over from the previous week in spite of how hard we partied.  Dancing will always allow me to sweat most of the alcohol out of my system.  And as a final note to all the guys out there: I can't explain it, but women love guys that dance.  It is universally accepted.  You don't even have to be a good dancer.  Just be willing to have fun and make a fool of yourself, and the ladies eat it up.  In fact one of the women at the wedding told Erin how lucky she is because I dance.  She wasn't quite sure how to respond as I flailed away on the dance floor.

As much as I had a great time at the wedding, the highlight of the entire week had to be my first Father's Day since having Grace and Ana.  It was the perfect way to cap off my week.  Obviously being a dad is a big part of who I am and what I write about, so this is a special day for me.  I know that the girls don't know any better, but seeing their faces light up when they saw me for the first time in almost 24 hours made me realize what Father's Day is all about.  Erin got me a wonderful gift in the name of the girls.  It is a personalized brick that will be put outside of AT&T Park (Mays Field if you will) that is all about my two little ones who will forever be tied to my favorite team.  It is so thoughtful and will last so much longer than a tie or some tools from Home Depot, and it is all about being Grace and Ana's dad.  What more could you want?

What a great week.  You'll see me next Sunday.