A Couple (plus One) with Dogs

New things for Spring

2010-03-24T12:19:00.000-07:00

We had a couple of new things to report this past week. Since Jax wasn't sleeping well anyway and was growing like a weed, we decided this past weekend was a good time to move him from the bassinet to his big boy crib. Easier than we thought. He likes his new mobile and doesn't mind all the space at all. Have found that even bundled up like a burrito he can wiggle his way down to the foot of the bed if he doesn't like where mommy put him.

This is what Jax's crib used to look like, full of blankets and a storage place.

Now it holds mommy's little burrito. Umm...can you help me out and pass the paci?

Yesterday it was a beautiful 75 degrees so we went with some play group girls to the Arboretum for Dallas Blooms. What a great time we had! Jax was the only little man with his friends Darby, Ella, and Jane. Decided to sport his plaid cap for the ladies.

I like how he's just noticing the flowers in this picture. :)

He is about 7 weeks behind all the girls who are the same age, about 5 months. At 3.5 months Jax does a great job standing and keeping up with them. Don't tell Great Aunt Marie I'm wearing the new socks she gave me in the dirt and my mom didn't think to put shoes on me.

Lovely Weather We're Having

2010-03-18T14:34:00.000-07:00

Thankfully we've been having some great weather lately! Jax and I have been getting outdoors and loving it. Enjoying our little guy. Here are some pics.

I took some pics of him in his Bob Jogger and can't believe how big he is already. Happy as a clam with his ears like Yoda. We have a dog whose ears do Yoda too. Interesting.

Flirting with Lindsey Davis. We went walking with Darby, Lindsey, Ella, and Laurie that day at the Plano Nature Preserve.

Jax how big are you now? This big? He is 3 months old in this picture, about 12 weeks.

Here he is in the Bob at 6 weeks for our first walk. We'll call this bitty Bob.

Thought I'd insert a picture of Grant and I here in case you forget what we look like with the new direction our blog has taken; obvious baby focus.
Our baby is napping for his long afternoon nap for the first time since Sunday otherwise I would not be posting an update this week. He's had an unusually rough week (equals we've had a rough week). Typically a good natured guy, growth spurts and not enough sleep adds up to a grumpy Gus. I actually had to load him up in the baby Bjorn multiple times this week to cook dinner, etc. in order to have my hands free. We went for a walk in it on this day below and he has the most adorable old man's cap to block him from the sun. Sooooo thankful for the Bjorn and the swing this week!

Some of my fav pics

2010-03-10T15:14:00.000-08:00

How cute are these mittens? About to go for a walk with mommy.

Mr. So Sweet, I'm at my 2 month appointment about to get 7 vaccinations shot into my thighs but I am so sweet I am happy to be in mommy and daddy's company.

Mr. Serious, I'm working on some serious business that you can't see right now. Can you guess what it is? It involves a diaper change.

Mr. Sassy Pants, I think I'm funny.

How about once a month?

2010-03-10T13:33:00.000-08:00

Okay so it's not easy these days to A/ find time to update this and B/ find time when Grant is not on the computer studying or doing something. So how about once a month? :) Let's hope it's more.

Jax is 3 months old tomorrow, March 11th. Hard to believe. Here are some snapshots from home. Some are blurry b/c he moves around so much and I'm not using my super duper power shot camera, of course the only one I have handy at the time I want a pic is my iPhone.

Jax has started a new thing. Fussing to be let up off his back. So we propped him up on the chair and he's thinking about it. So later that day we try it again (yes we change outfits several times a day due to body fluids). Then he looks up and he's like yeah I got it. This will work. So cute.

He is definitely a happy baby and really likes to interact with you. Enjoy some tough guy/smiley guy moments.

Jen's 1st Blog

2010-02-14T16:27:00.000-08:00

I need to figure out how to do this if we're going to keep this updated. Grant is a busy man these days. Who isn't? This is a test. We'll call it Jax watching the Olympics. Grant calls it Jax's first pump.

Jax on Christmas

2009-12-26T09:57:00.000-08:00

Time with Great Grams

Morning Chill Time

1 Week at Home

2009-12-22T02:58:00.001-08:00

We have been home from the hospital for a week. Enjoy these pictures:

Yes - that is a smile

First Bath

Jax with his sleep sheep

The Arrival of James Grant

2009-12-15T07:27:00.000-08:00

James Grant Farrell (Jax) arrived Friday, Dec 11th at 3:45pm, 8 lbs 11 oz.

It has been a whirlwind couple of days but we (Jax, Jen and Grant) are out of the hospital and at home. Mom and Jax are doing well, learning to feed and learning to sleep in this new life stage. Enjoy some pictures of the last few days:

15 Minutes Old:

4 Hours Old:

1 Day Old:

Day 3 - GOING HOME!!!

CATCH UP!

2009-10-04T17:46:00.000-07:00

So many events have taken place since the last post.

The events include:

Answering questions about what JG's name will be;
Preparing the "baby room" for a crib and ... a baby;
Answering questions about why he will be called Jax (there is an "X" in his name... nuff said)
Moving Grant's stuff out of the "baby room" and into the dog room (the former dog room is now officially a man cave... with man's best friend);
Taking a final trip to California as a couple without kids (living dangerously and standing on fault zones);
Enjoying the gifts from the baby showers; and
Getting a 29th week sonogram.

Enjoy some pictures from these events

A very sweet Ballpark!

A view from THE COVE side

Proof that Jax was at AT&T PARK... only 28 more parks to go....

A redwood tree that is as big as the Statue of Liberty

A sign from the Fault Zone that I was not told we were going to.

Here is a picture of the Baby Room with the crib and all the "bedding"

We had our first baby shower recently and we received a "Sleep Sheep"... this thing makes soothing noise (like rain shower noise, whale noise...and a heart beat noise)... the dogs were very interested in this fluffy, noise making sheep:

Jax also got his first set of golf clubs from his Grand Abba (new word for Granddad)... good looking set though:

Here are the pictures from the latest Sonogram - 29th week. Doc told us that Jax was measuring like he was in the 32nd week... so words of a big boy were not that comforting to Jen.

Those pictures were really difficult to make out the figures, but that is all that we got. Nearing the home stretch now... we have about two months left. Due to the size of Jax, the doc wants to see us back on the last week in November for another sonogram. Could mean he may be big enough to deliver then. We'll find out more then. Have a great Day!

Week 18 - A Boy!

2009-07-13T18:12:00.000-07:00

We went to the Sonogram specialist and received these pictures

You can see his face here:

Little Profile Action:

More Profile:

And more profile

Here he is Mooning the camera... that's when the Doctor got confirmation that it was a HE. We also have a DVD of the 10min video appointment that I was not able to upload, but there was an additional confirmation shot on the DVD. HELLO SON!
Doctors said JG is progressing normally - fingers, toes, heart, kidneys, ribs, heart beat, brain, spine... amazing everything they can see (or claim to see). Birthday is still set for December 11... he is 9oz and about 8 inches long.

We will learn more at the 26th week checkup!

Week 12

2009-05-30T13:36:00.000-07:00

This week marked the 12 week point of JG. We received this photo from the Doctor:

If you are thinking that this picture is fairly blurry and not easy to see what the heck your are looking at.... we agree.

We saw better shots of GJ at the appointment but this is what the doc sent us home with.

If you look carefully, GJ is extending it's arm to say "hi"... kind of awkward for GJ since it is upside down at this point.

At the appointment, GJ was very active, I counted several tumble rolls, a somersault and a flip!

Of course it is possible that it was practicing it's golf swing (that is what i want to think).

Last Memorial Monday was GJ's first time on the golf course - and it got a lot of sand time:

He also got to watch Dad revert back to an old school finish... the "Reverse C"

A busy Monday for GJ.

Tuesday was even more exciting as it got to experience it's first Ranger Game... from a SUITE!

This kid is spoiled already, although it did have to endure a 3 hour rain delay:

It was a great night after the rain though!

So after the excitement on Monday and Tuesday... wed. to Friday were very low key - except for the golf lesson or gymnastic display it gave us on Friday morning.

A great week for sure -

top it off with some Starbucks on Saturday morning... and it's very difficult to beat...

We also discovered that Annika likes coffee.

Enjoy her fascination:

Memorial Day Post

2009-05-25T07:51:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a good three weeks since I have posted anything new on this blog... and since I have such a vocal fan base that lets me know I need to update the blog, I have decided to spend a whole 10 minutes on this beautiful Monday to blog ramblings... here goes:

Memorial Day: Hopefully everyone remembers, at least once today, those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to help preserve our freedoms in this Country. For Christians, today also makes a good "bridge" to spread the Gospel and tell of Christ's ultimate sacrifice for us.

I took the bait -
After waiting months for my Sprint contract to expire, I was finally able to get on the same cellular plan with my wife. At first, my intention was to go with the Blackberry phone. Once informed that Blackberry removed my favorite features of there phone (the scroll feature) and replaced it with a "track ball" (wasn't that the first generation computer mouse?)... i decided to go with the Iphone.

So far I have found out that technology has surpassed my intelligence and I am having to learn about this device from scratch. After several hours of uploading, organizing and subsequently losing all my contacts... i think i have figured out how the "syncing" process works... i think it will be very cool!

If you care, I will keep you up to date with my Iphone stories.

Next Topic - I Saw STAR TREK

HOW COOL IS THE NEW "ORIGINAL" ENTERPRISE!!!!

I have heard for over a week that this movie is "Smack your Mama Good!" (don't really smack your mama though)... After reviewing this movie last night, I have to agree. On the Farrellio Movie Rating Scale (the "FMRS") I give it a 15 (my rating goes to 20, 0 being the worst and 20 being the best).

This score would have been higher if this movie was not so hyped in the media, via friends and other sources. I was expecting something spectacular... instead I got good entertainment... nothing wrong with that... my expectations were too high... but since it was my rating system, that factors into the final score.

I loved the character development. (WARNING, IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE AND WANT TO BE SURPRISED... DO NOT READ THE REMAINING POST!)

Dr. McCoy was my favorite: This character was portrayed brilliantly... i think i was more entertained by his lines and actions than any other part of the movie... very fun and spot on to the "Original" Bones.

Uhura & Spock
A LOVE STORY??? This was the biggest twist in the entire movie for me. I'm not sure how i feel about this - i was conflicted and confused during the movie when they hinted at this relationship (later they outright displayed their feelings for each other with a few kisses... nothing else... its rated PG 13, but what does that mean these days...) Why is this needed? Yes Spock is half human (his mother was apparently human) so I guess they want to show how he takes after his father and wants to be with a human... whatever, Star Trek is good enough without a love story... why degrade it?

The Evolution of Captain Kirk
Do they really want to bread these types of Leaders in Star Fleet? He cheats, fights, whines, complains, fights, argues, (did i say fights?) for everything that he wants... doesn't take "no" for an answer, manipulates his friends and others to assume command of the Enterprise and is congratulated on his actions? If this is what Star Fleet wants their Captains to be like, they should get rid of the Star Fleet Academy. It was entertaining to watch, but a odd "heroic" trait to have.

Scotty, Sulu and Chekhov
Brilliant portrayals of each characters - each are hysterical in their own right, but very entertaining to see how these actors would develop these famous roles.

Overall - I'm looking forward to the next Star Trek movie with these actors. They set it up for many more movies to come and I hope they make them. However, it is possible that the entertainment I enjoyed in this movie may not be able to be replicated in the next movie since most of my fun was watching to see how the new actors would portray the old Star Trek Characters. That was best part for me.

FMRS: 15

Friday Appointment

2009-05-02T15:45:00.001-07:00

Jen and I went to the doctor yesterday - We came away with this:

We will call it "JG" for now.

As you might expect, Jen and I are very excited!

Looking forward to December 11th!!

Work

2009-04-05T14:49:00.000-07:00

Sometimes people love work. Other times, people can't stand work. We wanted to get a dogs perspective on Work. When they work, why they work, and their overall impressions about work - or their overall impressions about their Masters going to work... We asked Annika what she thinks about work... and this is what she told us:

Interesting.

Introductory Post

2009-03-22T07:23:00.000-07:00

Basically, Jen and I started this blog to keep our friends and family updated of the most recent developments of our family. Since all of our other friends and relatives seem to have blogs of a similar nature... we figured we should join the media wave.

Our first post will be some random and funny pictures of our "furry" kids... just to give people something to look at other than a blank, black background of this blog template.

We'll keep updating periodically so keep checking back!

First an introduction to those who do not know us... (why are you looking at this blog?)

This is me and my wife Jen:

These are our Two Dogs - Mia and Annika ("Anni" for short). Mia has the Red collar and Anni the light blue collar:

Anni has an amazing ability to look like she is a distant relative of the Star Wars character YODA. Meet YODA DOG:

Jen and Anni in their normal morning routines

When you see these two in this position... it is best not to mess with them... they are in "WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE" mode:

Mia really does not like it when you distract her while "Protecting the House"... this is her "Leave me Alone or Else - Camera Man" look:

So I did:

We sectioned off this part of the yard so that we could re-sod... don't know how she got on the inside of the fence.

This picture was taken during the Summer of 2008 - The Dogs were very hot. We purchased a small pool... it lasted 2 hours thanks to Anni's gentle style.

The following picture is from our Family Christmas (The Farrell side) - we brought all of our dogs together for this event... it was quite entertaining: