Partially inspired by the Dream Theatre song, I feel like it's time to talk about the changing seasons in the Acierno house. The 20" of snow that we received this week is a small reminder of the winter to come. Brayden still isn't much of a fan of the white stuff, but we had a lot of fun getting his cool new boots on, his very handsome blue peacoat, and his matching hat. Of course, Owen was looking very dashing in his blue cap as well.
Owen is growing like a weed. He's already 13+ lbs!. Brooke and I know how quickly these stages of development fly by. We love taking the extra time to appreciate this narrow window, no matter how crazy life gets. Recently, Owen is much better at holding his head up. During this season, I'm excited to see him sit up and chat more and more. And on the topic of chatting.....holy cow. This kid talks A LOT. I'm not sure where he got that from ;-).
Brayden is such a big boy. He must have gone through a growth spurt recently, because he definitely looks older. He's also getting pretty darn good at going "poop potty," as he says. For this season, I'm excited to see him learn more of the fundamentals. He can already count to 10..mostly, and he's pretty darn good at his colors. I think he's just about ready to start singing and learning some songs.
A lot of changes have happened, and there's certainly a lot of change to come. In the words of David Spade in the Emperor's New Groove, "bring it on!" :-)
October 30, 2009
September 5, 2009
U pick 'em
This Labor Day weekend has already started off with a bang. This morning we got up and drove to Brighton to get a first hand experience of Berry Patch Farms. Let me tell you, this place is awesome.
Depending on what's in season, they let you go through their farm and pick your own fruits and veggies. The strawberries and raspberries are particularly ripe this time of year, so our spoils consisted of these two fruits. I was talking to one of the ladies who helped store and weigh peoples' bounty, and she said, "it's a crime to walk through a berry patch and not eat some." With those words of encouragement, we sampled a few of the strawberries during our hard work in the fields ;-).
When we first got to the farm, I noticed a nice man roasting some green chillies. They smelled absolutely delightful. When we were in the main shop to purchase, the smell of those chillies drew me quickly to the table where they were available for purchase. I grabbed a bag and added it to our cart. When we got home, there was some left over pepperoni pizza from last night. I skinned, seeded and diced one of my new Anaheim chillies and tossed it on the pizza. I then put the whole works in the oven for 10 minutes at 350deg. Afterwards, I had one of the best tasting pizzas of my life!
Depending on what's in season, they let you go through their farm and pick your own fruits and veggies. The strawberries and raspberries are particularly ripe this time of year, so our spoils consisted of these two fruits. I was talking to one of the ladies who helped store and weigh peoples' bounty, and she said, "it's a crime to walk through a berry patch and not eat some." With those words of encouragement, we sampled a few of the strawberries during our hard work in the fields ;-).
When we first got to the farm, I noticed a nice man roasting some green chillies. They smelled absolutely delightful. When we were in the main shop to purchase, the smell of those chillies drew me quickly to the table where they were available for purchase. I grabbed a bag and added it to our cart. When we got home, there was some left over pepperoni pizza from last night. I skinned, seeded and diced one of my new Anaheim chillies and tossed it on the pizza. I then put the whole works in the oven for 10 minutes at 350deg. Afterwards, I had one of the best tasting pizzas of my life!
August 24, 2009
Family photos
Two weekends ago, Brooke's Mommy-group organized a fun photo shoot & pot luck event. Folks brought all kinds of tasty treats (we brought an assortment of breakfast breads), and for $20 you could get 15 minutes with a photographer. The results are back, and the pictures look great! Please enjoy a few of them below:
Stay tuned for more :-)
Stay tuned for more :-)
August 15, 2009
Recovery with a smile
Things were a pretty crazy around the Acierno household the last two weeks. It all started with a little sniffle from Brayden and Brooke noticing a sore throat. Sure enough, both of them developed a cold. Unfortunately, Owen fell victim to the cold as well. Owen's little immune system is still pretty new and battling a cold takes a little extra effort. He developed an ear infection in both ears and a lung infection. He began antibiotics right away and was receiving nebulizer treatments to help open his lungs to ease his breathing. We also put saline drops in his nose and used a sucker to suck out the boogies. He didn't like that so much.
Not to worry, we Aciernos are strong fighters and everyone came through unscathed (I somehow dodged the outbreak all together). Owen is finishing the last of his antibiotics and we stopped using the nebulizer a few days ago. He also had no problem gaining weight during his ordeal. Last I heard, he's at 9lb 6oz which puts him in the 50th percentile for weight.
The first week of the outbreak was also my last week of paternity leave. I returned to work on the 10th to a new desk on a new floor. The folks at work did a little re-arranging when I was out. After my first day, my eyes were pretty sore from looking at the computer. I'm proud of myself for staying away from my computer for most of my leave, and my sore eyes were a testament to my discipline :-). It took a few days, but I feel like I'm getting back into the swing of things. Brooke agrees - she's getting back into her schedule as well.
Many have noted how life goes in cycles - at times, things seem a bit down and difficult. However, Owen gave us a great sign that things are looking up. Just today, he smiled at Brooke 4 times! He was conscious at the time AND it wasn't gas related. Thanks Owen :-)
Not to worry, we Aciernos are strong fighters and everyone came through unscathed (I somehow dodged the outbreak all together). Owen is finishing the last of his antibiotics and we stopped using the nebulizer a few days ago. He also had no problem gaining weight during his ordeal. Last I heard, he's at 9lb 6oz which puts him in the 50th percentile for weight.
The first week of the outbreak was also my last week of paternity leave. I returned to work on the 10th to a new desk on a new floor. The folks at work did a little re-arranging when I was out. After my first day, my eyes were pretty sore from looking at the computer. I'm proud of myself for staying away from my computer for most of my leave, and my sore eyes were a testament to my discipline :-). It took a few days, but I feel like I'm getting back into the swing of things. Brooke agrees - she's getting back into her schedule as well.
Many have noted how life goes in cycles - at times, things seem a bit down and difficult. However, Owen gave us a great sign that things are looking up. Just today, he smiled at Brooke 4 times! He was conscious at the time AND it wasn't gas related. Thanks Owen :-)
July 27, 2009
Brayden turned 2
Since we like to keep things interesting in the Acierno house, we decided to follow Owen's birth with Brayden's second birthday - hehe. He got a sweet new "bicycle," which is actually a tricycle, but Brayden absolutely loves the word "bicycle." He also got some sweet new cars, clothes, a soccer ball, and a Mr. Potato Head. Of course, he was most interested in the balloons at first:
Brooke and I saw and episode of Cake Boss where he made a checkerboard cake. Brooke really liked the idea and gave it a try herself. I'd say that she was very successful:
Brayden is fortunate to have so many talented cake decorators in the family. His Nona baked him a truck cake for his birthday BBQ:
In the end, I think that Brayden really enjoyed his birthday:
If you'd like to see more pictures from Brayden's birthday, check out my web album.
Brooke and I saw and episode of Cake Boss where he made a checkerboard cake. Brooke really liked the idea and gave it a try herself. I'd say that she was very successful:
Brayden is fortunate to have so many talented cake decorators in the family. His Nona baked him a truck cake for his birthday BBQ:
In the end, I think that Brayden really enjoyed his birthday:
If you'd like to see more pictures from Brayden's birthday, check out my web album.
July 20, 2009
Breakfast of champions
We had a wonderful treat this morning. Sloan and his girlfriend Kristen came over to cook a delicious breakfast. This visit was a nice gift to us and a chance for them to see Owen. We had a fresh egg scramble wrapped in a crepe and a desert crepe. There's a chance that I ate my egg scramble a little faster than normal so I could get to the desert crepe sooner - just a chance though ;-)
July 17, 2009
Out 'n about
He's only a week old, but Owen is already pretty well traveled. Yesterday, we grabbed some sandwiches and took the boys to hang out at the Boulder Creek.
Likewise, we now have a tradition of taking our newborns above timberline :-). Today, we packed up the boys and went to Rocky Mountain National Park. We drove all the way to the Alpine Village, which is about 12,000' above sea level. Here's a picture from 2007 when we took Brayden here:
...and here we are today:
Likewise, we now have a tradition of taking our newborns above timberline :-). Today, we packed up the boys and went to Rocky Mountain National Park. We drove all the way to the Alpine Village, which is about 12,000' above sea level. Here's a picture from 2007 when we took Brayden here:
...and here we are today:
July 13, 2009
Welcome!...and sneaky Snickers
As you may know, our beautiful son, Owen, arrived in this world late last week. He's absolutely precious. In a curious way, Brooke and I feel that our family is more "complete" now. Armed with a "complete" family, I think it's a great time to start a family blog. I'm super excited to talk about the journeys, challenges, and joys that we're going to face, and I hope that you enjoy the updates to our blog.
As some of you are aware, I created a blog for Brayden called Ten Toes which was used to tell his stories from his point of view. Since Brayden AND Owen will have great new stories to share, I don't plan on writing for that blog any more. Not to worry, all of his future adventures will appear here.
To get things started, I'd like to tell a story about our little dog Snickers. I've heard stories of dogs being very sensitive to emotions and change, but I've never seen it - until now. Just before Owen was born, Snickers kept very, very, close to Brooke. Wherever Brooke walked, there was Snickers. As time went on, we often found her sleeping in Owen's (future) room. Days before Owen's birth, she completely shocked us when she tore through the metal fencing in her kennel. If you know Snickers, you know that this is really weird behavior for her. I promptly replaced the fencing with chicken wire. When Snickers broke through the replacement fencing, Brooke calmly said:
"Well, that wire is only strong enough to hold a chicken."
"Ha, ha, ha. Very funny," I replied.
It's as if Snickers was trying to tell us, "something big is going on, and I need to be there when it happens!"
On the day we were in the hospital for the birth, Snickers and Callie stayed with Brooke's folks. I was a little worried about her tearing up their house as well. She was definitely "on edge" at their house. However, once Owen arrived, Snickers noticeably chilled out. The anticipation had finally been lifted off her shoulders, and although it's been a pain to repair the damage, I'm grateful for her concern.
Now that we're back home, she still likes to hang out in Owen's room and still sneaks out of the kennel through a third hole that she created prior to the birth (I haven't fixed it yet ;-). Nonetheless, she seems back to her mellow self.
As some of you are aware, I created a blog for Brayden called Ten Toes which was used to tell his stories from his point of view. Since Brayden AND Owen will have great new stories to share, I don't plan on writing for that blog any more. Not to worry, all of his future adventures will appear here.
To get things started, I'd like to tell a story about our little dog Snickers. I've heard stories of dogs being very sensitive to emotions and change, but I've never seen it - until now. Just before Owen was born, Snickers kept very, very, close to Brooke. Wherever Brooke walked, there was Snickers. As time went on, we often found her sleeping in Owen's (future) room. Days before Owen's birth, she completely shocked us when she tore through the metal fencing in her kennel. If you know Snickers, you know that this is really weird behavior for her. I promptly replaced the fencing with chicken wire. When Snickers broke through the replacement fencing, Brooke calmly said:
"Well, that wire is only strong enough to hold a chicken."
"Ha, ha, ha. Very funny," I replied.
It's as if Snickers was trying to tell us, "something big is going on, and I need to be there when it happens!"
On the day we were in the hospital for the birth, Snickers and Callie stayed with Brooke's folks. I was a little worried about her tearing up their house as well. She was definitely "on edge" at their house. However, once Owen arrived, Snickers noticeably chilled out. The anticipation had finally been lifted off her shoulders, and although it's been a pain to repair the damage, I'm grateful for her concern.
Now that we're back home, she still likes to hang out in Owen's room and still sneaks out of the kennel through a third hole that she created prior to the birth (I haven't fixed it yet ;-). Nonetheless, she seems back to her mellow self.
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