As Promised...

Alright, I promised one update a week on Thursday or Friday, and I figure 11:00 on a Friday night is still Friday, so I'm still on time. I'm only harping on this because my Uncle Dale threatened to beat me up. If you don't believe me, check out his last comment. Oh yes, he seems so nice. That is, until you make him angry....

Anyway, happy Easter, all! Had a big family dinner over my parents' place tonight. You know, it's always a good day when there's turkey involved. Oh, and stuffing and mashed potatoes too. Hey, does anyone reading this call "stuffing" "dressing" instead? When I was growing up, we always called it "dressing" in my house, but I got persecuted for calling it that when I met Steph. So I'm not sure if this is one of my family's little idiosyncracies or if it's a more wide-spread thing. Post a comment and let me know.

"So Mark, how are things?" you may be asking. Well, they could be better, but they also could be worse. I mentioned the colic exensively in my last post, so I won't beat the dead horse here--suffice it to say it's still there, although it seems to be getting more infrequent. This is only a good thing, let me tell you. In that sense, things could be going better. But then again, Theo's a healthy and seemingly happy little boy (when he's not crying, that is). His weight gain is normal, he has all his various appendages, he can hear (figured that out when I dropped a metal pan into our kitchen sink) and see (you should see him staring at a set of blinds--it's like, whoa, dude, they're totally weirding me out), and is extraordinarily cute. So it could be worse. All in all, I think we're doing well.

Okay, how about some much-anticipated and long-awaited photos? I happen to have a few for you. This first one I think I'm going to send to the Canucks organization. They broke the heart of one of their youngest fans by TOTALLY CHOKING AND NOT MAKING THE PLAYOFFS ...*ahem*... sorry. I think we all know how I feel about that. But hey, if you say it in a Professer Frink voice, it's pretty darned funny.

See? He's totally devastated. Take that, Bertuzzi.

Next, here's Theo and daddy, hanging out at Grandpa Ted's probably waiting for a hockey game to start or something. I just absolutely love the expression on his face in this one. Totally priceless. Check out the little feet, too.

What else we got? Oh yeah, here's a good series--a triptich, if you will (and I will). He's on the couch, wearing quite a cute little sleeper and mommy's taking some pictures. Like I said before, the blinds totally make him whacked out. Here he is, just staring at them. Uh, Theo?

Hey Theo, look over here...

Ah, finally, we got your attention (although he doesn't seem too impressed with having to look away from the blinds, does he?)...

I especially enjoy the little fire truck on the front of this sleeper. Whoever gave that one to us (sorry, but I don't remember who gave what anymore) if you're reading this, good choice.

There's one more thing I want to talk about before I sign off for this week, and that's our showers. We've had the most amazing array of showers thrown for us over the past few months that it's almost overwhelming. By the way, for all of you who have given us gifts, we (and by "we" I mean "Steph") are trying to send thank-you cards to everyone for them. We're (and by "we're" I mean "Steph is") about 65 cards into the stack, and the list just keeps growing. Our apologies if you haven't gotten one from us (and by "us" I mean, oh, never mind), but it's on its way.

But that's not what I wanted to talk about (then why'd you waste a whole paragraph?). What I really wanted to say was a big public THANK YOU to everyone who's had a part in throwing us a shower. Props go out to Kristi, Steph's step-sister, and Betty, Steph's step-mom, who planned one for Steph's side of the family (which my side came to as well); my Aunt Brenda and my mom who planned one for pretty much everyone from Richmond Baptist and my side of the family (which Steph's side came to as well); Kristen at Focus who put a work shower together for us and Carl and Amanda; Bill and Gwen Converse and the amazing young married's care group at North Langley Community Church for a fun care group shower (no family at those ones); and Tanya Szczur (yeah, just try to pronounce that name--I dare you. And no hints, either) for a great shower that she not only put together while on the other side of the world, but also threw while fighting an ear infection and the flu. Mind you, she did pick them up in Fiji, so my sympathy level is relatively low. It's great to have you back, Tanya--we missed you (especially beating you in Dr. Mario). Plus, we've still got one more shower to go that Angela Buvyer is putting together for the Murrayville Church crowd, so thanks in advance for that one.

And of course, everyone who came to these showers and got us amazing gifts, we're really appreciative of all of it. Your love and support and all is really overwhelming to us. We really do appreciate everything you do for us, and how much you mean to us, so thanks.

Okay, getting sappy--time to sign off. That's it for this week, everyone. Have a great Easter weekend, however you choose to spend it. If you're in Langley and looking for something to do on Sunday morning, our church is holding a really cool Easter celebration, complete with egg hunt for the kids. Drop me an email or comment on the blog if you're interested in getting directions. Even if you're not, drop us a comment anyway--we love to hear from you.

Talk to you all again next week.