Good ol' ribs

One thing Katy and I miss horribly about living in San Luis Obispo is the world famous weekly Thursday night Farmer's Market. Ok, maybe not world famous, but pretty famous, at least in SLO. They always have great local produce, great local food, and great local crazies. I didn't have to work yesterday so we made a day out of it. A costco trip for some juice and diapers, three poopy changes, two feedings, and a great evening. We usually eat at the last vendor on the west end of the market, this local bbq joint with Santa Maria style beef ribs. You don't get beef ribs very often and so its always a treat. And the seasoning they put on these ribs is amazing! Granted, in her usual style, Katy did not eat the ribs but instead enjoyed a nice pulled pork sandwich on grilled garlic sourdough bread. For some reason, she likes to buck the system. For instance, whenever we go to a renowned steak house she'll always order chicken, even though she likes steak. I guess if we went to a chicken house she'd probably order steak there. Sorry, I digress. The thing about Santa Maria style is that it's done on an open wood fire and usually involves little to no bbq sauce, just seasoning, fire, and smoke. We ate on a curb next to this reggae band that apparently had done a marching band style parade down the street before attempting to be as Jamaican as possible while actually whiter than ghosts and all in their mid-60's. They had a few girls and guys dancing in front of them with their hula hoops as a sort of hoola hoop group troupe with glow sticks around the hoops, costumes, the whole nine. We also got to dress Nick up a little warmer with a sweet hat my mom got us from Gap, and his killer Vans, which are not featured in the pictures below. Hopefully I get Thursday's off more as I love this tradition that may have developed.

The boy wondering why he has a hat on in a 70 degree house

Posed by dad

Katy after enjoying her pulled pork...or was it spiked pork? Or maybe it's the Reggae band?

Rob and a snuggled up Nick...I promise he can breathe!

A month in a post

Wow, life sure does get busy fast. In the last month we had visits from both parents, 3 friends, a birthday, Halloween, a sucky election (other than prop 8) and Nick is 11 weeks old tomorrow. This would take up about 12 posts at least, so I decided to have a variety show of sorts. One post, one month long, and hopefully, as the holidays gear up, I'll have more time to put together higher quality posts. After all, it's what the public expects. Each date will be a link to our Picassa site where you can view all the pictures from said event. So here we go...the Grindy's from October 20th to November 19th:

October 20th - Nick was growing too fast and we were worried he might not fit in his Halloween costume, so we took pictures a week before in a staged Halloween setting with our pumpkins and a bag of 50 cent hay. I call it: Nick as Cow.

October 23rd - Our good friends Adam and Michelle live in Virginia. Adam's a captain in the Army and stationed in D.C. We met in high school and have been awesome compadres. Anyway, he had some training in Monterey and blessed us with a visit. We met in Shell Beach at Del's Pizzeria and Adam got to meet Nick for the first time. Thanks for coming up bro! We've missed you guys!

October 26th - Our other good friends, Noah and Laura Brown, stopped by to meet Nick for the first time as well, along with their Rhodesian ridgeback, Sierra. I'd never heard of this breed of dog, but they're awesome! Needless to say, Lucy did not think he was awesome, at all. She hid under the coffee table most of the night as evidence by the picture. Noah and Laura were very sweet for driving all the way up from SLO for a whirlwind visit, as I had to work in the morning, but it was well worth it and well appreciated!


October 29th - I turned 28 this day and my folks came up for the rest of the week. I'd like to think they came for my birthday, but I quickly came to the realization they came mostly to see Nick. It's alright though, while my dad held his first grandson, I sat in my first recliner (thanks Kates!), which he has never had the privilege of owning. Fair trade I guess. So, Firestone Grill for dinner, Guitar Hero World Tour to play (kind of, that's another story for my personal blog), a recliner to sit in, and a wacky cake to eat, this birthday ranked right up there with the best of them. Infinitely better than last year when I was sick and at the Academy and had to wake up at o dark thirty and PT. Thanks guys! Oh, and check out Nick's killer outfit...Velcro shoes (a Grindy must) and Argyle socks.




October 31st - We weren't sure what we were going to do about Halloween. Katy didn't do anything but harvest festivals growing up, and I did the whole trick-or-treat thing. Well, when we were in Sac we went by the Carter's outlet in Vacaville and Katy saw the cow costume and she was sold. Trick-0r-treat it is, so long as they aren't evil costumes. I don't know, cows can get scary. Nick did get a little tired by the end. Guess it'll be a few years before I get free candy.




November 4th - While my folks were here we went to farmer's market in SLO and picked up some election paraphernalia. Proudly posting it in our front yard, we dressed Nick up in his most white trash outfit and posed him and us. 1/2 of our decorations came true at least. We're batting .500. And yes, Nick looks a little upset. I think he was pushing one out at the time, showing how he felt about the Obama ticket.



November 10th, 16th, 17th & 19th (Each date is a separate link) - Just a few various home pictures to stay up to date on Nick's growth. Mostly so we don't catch any flack from certain Rosevillian grandparents who shall remain nameless. Forgive us for our what appears to be a complete lack of personal hygiene. Katy and I had a few days of getting each other back for taking unkempt photos of the other. Oh well. Part of parenting I guess.

Hope you all enjoyed the Grindy's this month. Until next month! (seriously, I'll try better to stay up to date. It's pretty embarassing.)

Nick's 1st Photo Shoot

As we said in our last post, Andre Niesing came by our house last Thursday and took some awesome photos of Nicholas. Below are some of our favorites and above is a slideshow of the pictures from Picasa or you can view all of the pictures here. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

A preview of things to come...

On Thursday afternoon, Nick's 6 week mark, we had an old friend over for a visit...Andre Niesing, our engagement and wedding photographer. He stopped by for a while and took some pictures of Nick and he's posted some of the better ones in a post on his blog. If you're looking for a photographer, he's the guy. We've always love his candid approach to photo shoots and he's only gotten better with time. We get the proofs and negatives sometime in the next couple of days and can't wait! While waiting for us to post the pictures, check out his blog and website. Here are a few of the pics from our engagement and wedding that he took as well.

Too important not to link

I found this clip over at Justin Taylor's site Between Two Worlds and it relates to a post I wrote on my blog because that's where I like to vent about stuff. My job, the world, politics, etc. My cousin commented on one of those recent posts and I started a dialogue with her about it. If you want to check it out, click here. I'd love to hear your thoughts as comments on that post, or this post, whichever, or just enjoy reading the rantings of a crazy Chippie!

Video Fun

Following in the footsteps of the Davidson's, we thought we'd appease the grandparents and other relatives who don't get to see Nick on a daily basis with some video. The first is Nick's workout video:

The second is simply displaying Nick in a bouncer...a minute and a half of it...exhilarating. But, he is focusing on movement, which, while you can't see it in the video because it's on the other side, is still pretty sweet. So here it is, Nick in a bouncer:

A bit of the country in the middle of Santa Barbara

While in Sacramento we weren't able to go up to Apple Hill like we wanted to (see how our friend's the Wisner's enjoyed their trip there), so we settled for a little trip to the local pumpkin patch in north Santa Barbara (which apparently the Garate's and Lesiw's had the same idea! Way to go guys!). Let me set the stage for you. Santa Barbara is pretty much city, not much rural but on the outskirts. You'd think you'd find something like this out on the edge of town or up in the hills above town. Not so. This pumpkin patch was right in between two subdivisions in north Santa Barbara and apparently it turns into a cool Christmas tree farm in December. So we went. While pumpkin patches are probably fun with toddlers who can appreciate a little more all the goodies these places have for them (hay rides, petting zoo, corn maze, etc.), a 6 week old, I know this is shocking, does not. Because of that fact, it was a little hard for me to swallow when we ended up paying $32 for 3 pumpkins when we could have gone to the Albertson's right up the street and payed maybe $10. But, it was fun and made for some good pictures...right? Only time will tell.

See if you can spot the major roadway behind the pumpkins!

Nick and I in the bright sun with a scarecrow. I know I look a little ticked off, but I swear, I haven't even paid for the pumpkins yet!

Didn't quite get the shot we intended, but Nick's John Deere socks next to a real life John Deere tractor, and me in my John Deere hat! Go Deelick Indiana! (home of John Deere)

Katy on the John Deere with Nick in the blazing sun...what a great photographer I am, subjecting my newborn son to such harsh conditions.

A bit better, not quite as much sun

Katy and her $10 pumpkin equipped with true pumpkin patch dirt.

Nick and his $3 pumpkin that he so lovingly picked out!

Me and my $15 pumpkin...better make some good pie!

Me and the boy on a bright red tractor, farming the land, in our designer jeans.

Learning to drive at 6 weeks...or learning to do what we Chippies do on CalTrans overtime

Katy and the kiddo about to enter the corn maze, which we failed at. We made it about halfway through after 1/2 an hour and said forget this, I'm tired of ducking under corn leaves and walking hunched over in a maze designed for the height of a 4 year old. So we went back out the way we came in and called it a success.

The happy family after a fun day at the patch!

Couldn't help but take a picture of this. Ahhh, my young Jedi warrior in his polka dot car seat!