Great Organization - Room To Grow

I recently discovered this organization online, and I think it such a great cause. Room To Grow is a non-profit orginization formed in 1998. RTGs mission is to enrich the lives of babies born into poverty throughout their first three years of life. The first three years of development are particularly important because it's when children are most responsive to and influenced by their surroundings. So much growth happens in the first three years! Room to Grow provides parents in poverty with clothing, books, toys, and other essential items for their growing babies; and offering one-on-one parenting guidance and child-rearing information to ensure their child's healthy and secure start in life. If you get a chance - check out Room To Grow's website at www.roomtogrow.org

JOHN

Picture time!

As our open adoption journey continues we've decided to update our main picture on our website, and our birthmother letter. To that end, last weekend our friend Brady came over we walked around taking pictures of John and I. We took a lot of photos, and I'm not sure exactly which one we'll end up with - but this one is definatley in the running. Fell free to let us know what you think!

Martian Child the movie

William and I recently saw the move Martian Child with John Cusack. I read the book Martian Child a few years ago, and thought that it was an amazing adoption story. I was excited when I heard they were making it into a movie. The book is about a single gay man who adopts a young boy out of foster care. The boy has a severe case of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder), and additionally truly believes he is a alien from Mars, visiting the planet for a short time. With all the love in the world these two set out to make a family. Both experience the ups and downs of parenting, the true meaning of what unconditional love is, and the joy of learning that we are all different. The movie version has changed a bit (they always do). They made the main character straight, a widower, and changed the ending a little. In the movie they changed a little bit too much of the book for my likeing - but I highly encourage you to read the book... it's a great tale of adoption.

- JOHN

Omaha - Family, Friends, & Frozen Custard!

As you saw from John's earlier post - we recently returned from a trip to Omaha, Nebraska. For those of you that don't know, John was born and raised in Omaha, and to this day many of his close friends and family still live there. My first trip to Omaha was almost exactly a year ago - at that time we went because John was the best man in one of his closest friend's (Josh) wedding; this time we went to attend the wedding of another of his close friends, Erin. Erin is an amazing young lady, and not surprisingly she married an amazing young man by the name of Jeremy. We met Jeremy at Josh's wedding last year, and beyond his obvious good looks you only have to talk with him for a minute to find out he's both extremely intelligent and compasionate. The wedding was an absolute blast - everything you'd expect from a couple that met in a rehearsal for an Omaha theatre company - and we wish them the best in the many, many years to come.

We spent four days in Omaha so we got to spend some real quality time with family and friends. We arrived on Thursday, and spent the afternoon and evening with John's parents. We ordered pizza (from the famed Valentino's pizza I'd heard so much about), chatted about life, adoption, etc and then watched the most recent episode of Greys Anatomy. It was very relaxing. Friday we spent the morning at the zoo with John's cousin Katie and her daughter Cambell. Cambell is about 14 months old and has to be the cutest little girl on the planet! She's got an amazing personality, is always happy, and is at the age where everything she sees is amazing to her. She loves to point at things, and as we walked around the zoo she would swing her arm around pointing at pretty much everything that moved. She was SO cute! I was also very impressed with the Omaha zoo... I'm told it's rated number three of four in the country - and it shows. It definately puts the Atlanta zoo to shame (although we do have Panda's in Atlanta)... after we adopt we'll definately be taking trips to Omaha, and we'll be sure that our child get's to experience that great zoo!

We also got to spend some time with John's friend Josh... we met up and had lunch at a great little restaurant downtown called M's Pub (www.mspubomaha.com). It was really great. If you're ever there you have to try the Thai Lavosh - yummy! I continue to be impressed with Omaha. Not being from middle america it has certainly surpassed my expectations, and is in fact much more interesting than a lot of similar sized cities that I've been to. We walked all through downtown and I came to realize that Omaha has a very nice artistic community - not to mention the music community. Very impressive! All that aside it was great to spend time with Josh - he's a great guy!

We offically have a new tradition when we're in Omaha - visiting Sheridan's frozen custard shop (www.sheridansfrozencustard.com). We went there for the first time, last year... and this time we managed to sneak in three visits in just four days! You really have to go to get the full affect, but I'll try my best to explain. Each dessert starts with a base of some kind of frozen custard - usually vanilla or chocolate. Then they add various ingredients to make up the final product - the only difference is that they add GREAT ingredients. My favorite is called "wedding cake." I watch through the window as they scoop the frozen custard into the cup, and the litterally blend an entire peice of wedding cake into the custard. John had the season pumpkin dessert in which they blend an entire slice of pumpkin pie into custard. Needless to say, the quality adds up to a great tasteing dessert.

Saturday night John's parents hosted a little get together for the family. It was great to see everyone again. It easy to see why John speaks so fondly of Omaha. He has such a great family... and he was so lucky to grow up with so many family memebers so close. They are all caring, intelligent, funny people. I'm so happy to be part of such a great family!

Sunday, before we left, we had brunch with newly weds, plus Josh and Katie. Having all them together in one place is a total blast... They are all so funny (& interesting). A great time was had by all!

John and I look forward to our next trip to Omaha - hopefully our next trip will with our future baby!

Thanks for reading.
~W

OMAHA

We got back from Nebraska last night, and we had such a great time.

These were the highlights!!

(William will post tons of pictures by the end of the week when we get them all back!!!)

Jeremy and Erin's wedding

Seeing the family

Valentinos Pizza

Seeing the Zoo with Cambell

Custard Ice Cream!!!

Homemade Banana Bread

Spending time with William driving from Kansas City to Omaha and back again

Breakfast with Josh, Katie, Erin, and Jeremy

Best,

JOHN

Found Picture

I found a throw away camera that we had with us in NYC, here is one of the pictures of William and I!!!

John

Habitat For Humanity

One of the things I've been able to do to pass the time while we wait to adopt is various kinds of community service. This week I had the opportunity to be part of a Habitat For Humanity project. For those of you that are not familiar with Habitat, it is a non-profit organization that works to build homes for some of the less privileged. Habitat For Humanity takes donations from all kinds of places (corporations, philanthropists, etc) and then uses the money to buy land and materials to build a house. The entire house is built by volunteers. On top of that, many of the volunteers do do not have building experience. My mother - who was a carpenter - has been volunteering with Habitat for years. It is absolutely amazing to me that over the course of seven weekends an entire house is built. My group helped put up the siding - we managed to get all the siding done that day. It's a great feeling to know you've played a small part in helping a family have a great place to live.

If you want to learn more about Habitat For Humanity you can check out the orginizations website at: www.habitat.org

Thanks for reading.
~W

Adoption Blog Carnival

While looking online I recently discovered something called an "Adoption Blog Carnival." As you might imagine, we are not the only people who are touched by adoption that are blogging about our process, thoughts, experiences, etc. The carnival creates a way that people can share thier blogs with others. We joined the carnival this month - there are a lot of great blogs out there, from people who are still trying to grow their families, and from many more people who already have adopted and just want to share their experience. Take a look at http://makingofamom.blogspot.com if you want to see a list of some of the other blogs in the carnival.

Thanks for reading.
~W

Nebraska here we come!

Our friend Erin is getting married in October. She lives in Omaha so in addition to attending the wedding we will be spending a few additional days with friends and family. Omaha really is a great little city! Plus, we're really looking forward to the cool, Nebraska, fall weather.

JOHN

Smart Ideas

I was reading the New York Times this morning, and there was a great article titled "My Dad, American Inventor." The article talks about how more and more fathers are taking on more and more of the day to day kid challenges, and in doing so are creating new products for their kids. My favorite product discussed in this article is the BabySport nipple (www.babysportonline.com). Tommy Habeeb was at a park with a cold bottle of water and no way to offer that water to his todler who was slung across his chest. After some rough starts, he came up with a nipple with a twist bottom that can fit on most water bottles. SO SIMPLE, SO SMART.

Another pretty good invention mentioned in the article is called "Toteatot." It's basically a car seat with straps that allow you to safely secure it to your suitcase. Again, simple and smart. This picture below explains it all!!!


JOHN

Anniversary Time

Aug 20th marks our 6 year anniversary as a couple. I can still remember when I first met William, and all of the thoughts, hopes, and dreams that came flooding in with a simple handshake. For me, William is everything I dreamed of finding when I was younger. He is everything I could hope to be, he makes me a better person everyday, he can make me laugh at all times, and continuously amazes me day by day.

I wont embarrass him on our blog, but I knew immediately after meeting him on our first date that he and I would end up together. I knew then that we would one day be fathers, creating an amazing family together, and knowing that a hug was always waiting for me when I walk in the door. It does not get better than that!

Ok, so I will embarrass him a little bit with some Celine Dion lyrics.... I first heard this song in the car with William during the holidays. I quickly ran out and bought the CD... I played this song over and over, so many times in fact, that there was one time I found the CD hidden in a spare bedroom, but William said he never touched it..... I could not say it better than these lyrics how much William means to me.

I cant wait for the next chapter in our lives as parents.

"These Are Special Times"

In these moments, moments of our lives
All the world is ours
And this world is so right
You and I sharing this time together
Sharing the same dream
As the time goes by we will find
These are the special times
Times we'll remember
These are the precious times
The tender times we'll hold in our hearts forever
These are the sweetest times
These times together
And through it all, one thing will always be true
The special times are the times I share with you
With each moment, moment passing by
We'll make memories that will last all our lives
As you and I travel through time together
Living this sweet dream
And every day we can say
These are the special times
Times we'll remember
These are the precious times
The tender times we'll hold in our hearts forever
These are the sweetest times
These times together
And through it all, one thing will always be true
The special times are the times I share with you
These tender moments
When heaven is so close
These are the moments that I know
These are the special times
Times we'll remember
These are the precious times
The tender times we'll hold in our hearts forever
These are the sweetest times
These times together
And through it all, one thing will always be true
The special times are the times I share
Are the times we share, are the times I share... with you
Special times I share with you



Best,
JOHN

Summer fun (in the future with a baby)

I don't know if you agree, but John and I love summer. I know we've mentioned several times in the blog about going to museums, and theatre, etc (because even at a young age there are SO MANY fun things for kids to do at museums), but we are also looking forward to helping our future baby explore the outside. Summer is such a great time - even if it can get a little too hot from time to time. For us it also brings back so many fun memories for John and I, and hope of some of the fun things we'll be able to do with our child. We both love being outside, and we can't wait to share our passion for being outside with our baby. Although a great plus to living in Georgia is that we can go outside year round, it's even nicer in the summer. Almost every day we take walks through our neighborhood. Growing up, my grandmother would take me on walks and point out every tree, bird, caterpillar, and ant. It's really amazing that with the right guide, and a little perspective even the most mundane walk can become an adventure in learning about the world we live in. I just can't wait to teach our little girl (or boy) about all the wildlife the lives in our little surburban neighborhood.

Growing up on the coast of Maine I have a lot of great memories that involve water, and the beach. My father has always had boats and airplanes, and on top of that loves having family and friends visit him on them. My Dad is always asking for me and John to come and visit, and once the baby comes we plan on spending as much time as possible on the boat with my dad. Luckily it's big enough so that we can all stay the night on the boat without feeling too cramped. Below is a picture of my dad's newest boat that I took with my camera phone... not a very good picture - but you get the idea. This picture is actually the first time this boat was ever in the water. I flew up to Maine for a few days to help my dad take delivery of the boat he ordered. It turns out that "taking delivery of the boat" isn't to much work. They put it in the water - presumably to make sure it doesn't sink - and then test the engines, electronics, etc. All in all it's pretty exciting. Looking at this picture makes me realize I don't really have any pictures of his new boat. My dad was really focused on making sure the engines worked properly, and I made sure that all the TVs, the shower, microwave, etc were working. As I recall everything worked perfectly except for the satelite radio - but that was just a reception issue. I'll have to email my stepmom and ask her to send some good ones!

John also has great summer memories of his childhood. He tells great stories about the many times that him and his father would go to his uncles cabin on "the lake." I gather that John and his cousins (Nick & Ryan) were pros at riding the inter-tube and water skiiing. I guess they managed to do some pretty amazing tricks! Like me, beyond the exciting things (boats, planes, etc) he has lots of great memories of just exploring the outside. Anyway, the point is we're really looking forward to taking our future child outside to the beach, to the forest - to explore!

Thanks for reading!
~W

WeeRide

In a recent NYT I read a great article about all the new baby/toddler seats for riding bikes. They article reviewed several, but by far my favorite was the WeeRide. I love that it's in front of the rider. The article did say that it's much safer then the old seats that are on attached on the back of the bike. I think it's also better, because if the little girl (or guy) gets cranky you can see exactly what's going on without having to pull over. I also really like that it's got the enlarged holding pad in the front. Not only can the little one hold on and feel as though she's driving, but she can also just lay her head down and go to sleep if she gets tired during the ride. Plus, to us it makes so much more sense to have the baby up front. In the old carriers the baby would just stare at the riders back, but with the WeeRide the baby gets to see everything. Love it!

~W

Family visit...

After we adopt we're really looking forward to having our family and friends from out of town come and visit us to meet our new baby. It's so comforting to know that we have so many great family members and friends that will be around to support us and our baby. If the saying "it takes a village to raise child" is true - then we a REALLY well prepared to adopt!

Thursday night my cousin Nick and his friend Sarah were driving through Atlanta on their way to Florida. Luckily, it worked out that they were able to spend the night with us and have breakfast with us in the morning before they got back on the road (they had already driven 13 hours!!!). Nick was helping Sarah move all of her stuff down to her new home in Orlando from Nebraska.

Both Nick and Sarah are recent graduates of the University of Nebraska. Sarah was accepted into a very competitive graduate program in Orlando. Out of the the thousands of people who applied she was one of only 30 people chosen! Wow. Nick is basically a genius, and could get a job anywhere. I seriously think that his business card should read "Professional Genius." He's also a pretty amazing athlete, so after graduation he was asked to be an assistant coach at the University. They have great program at Nebraska so this will be a great resume builder for him. I have no doubt that in a few years he'll be the head coach for an amazing team. So, yes folks we have yet another teacher in the family. That makes 5 of us with either coaching / teaching degrees. Nick will be fantastic at this, as he is one of the nicest, most patient, mature people I have had the pleasure of watching grow up.

As I mentioned before Nick and Sarah are / have been very active with college sports. You can check out Nicks YOUTUBE video on the post below this of him and some of his teammates pole vaulting!!!!

It was great to see them both, and am so proud of Nick and Ryan for the guys they have grown up to be. With great family and friends, like Nick and Ryan around, our future child is sure to be succesful in whatever she/he chooses to do.

Best,

JOHN

Nick's vaulting video

NEW YORK CITY HERE WE COME... AGAIN!!!!

This year seems to be a good year to visit New York City. After we adopt we're so looking forward to traveling with our child. There are SO many great places for kids in New York - museums, parks, theatre, etc. Luckily, William has to go to NYC at the end of this month for some meeting and I happen to be off for two days, so I will be traveling to NYC to spend time with William. He will be working during the day, but we are planning on having some great evenings while we are there. I'm looking forward to doing some walking around and enjoying all the city has to offer! We are also thinking about seeing a show. We were thinking about seeing "Wicked." William has read the book that it's based on, and my cousin Matt and my aunt Sue just got back from London where they saw it, and said it was fantatsic.

JOHN

Baby room

As I've mentioned before on this blog, our adoption coordinator has told us that to make the wait easier we should not go out and fully decorate our baby room until we actually have a baby. She insists that all of the necessities (crib, diapers, etc) can be bought at the last minute. This has proven to be very difficult for us. Probably because we're just so excited to be parents, we've gone ahead and done a few things to the baby room. As I wrote earlier we had some great wallpaper put up (picture frames that the baby will be able to draw or paint in as he or she gets older), and we had some new shelving built in. The shelving became a requirement because we've been slowly buying books since we started the adoption process. We've got close to a hundred childrens books already - so at least we know we'll have plenty to read to the baby (at least for a little while.)

So, as you can see - what was supposed to be an empty baby room has started to fill up a little. We've justified our "little additions" by not buying a crib, or any baby specific furniture - yet. One can definately tell that it's a childs room -but it's also clear to anyone who comes that a child hasn't moved in yet. Our search for a birthmother continues - with any luck we'll adopt soon, and the baby room will be filled!

Thanks for reading.
~W

iPhone

William finally got his iphone!!!! So after months, and months...and months of hearing about all the magical things that the iPhone can do, William now has it.

I was telling him about the long lines, and having to sleep overnight in front of an apple store to get one, but he ended up walking into the mall and getting his phone in about 15 minutes last night. He had already programed everything on his apple laptop, so all he had to do was plug in the phone and download everything. So within about 20 minutes he was calling people and telling everyone that they were talking on his new phone.

That night after William was done testing every feature on the phone, William gave me a quick seminar of all the cool features it has. In the end, all I grasped was that it is a touch pad, my picture will show up when I call him, it has a quick link to YOUTUBE, he can check his e-mail, play music and movies...and I AM NEVER EVER TO TOUCH IT. (Joke - I can touch it, but I probably won't. LOL)

I am amazed that the directions for the iphone are still in the box, and that William just naturally knows how to do all of this "technical" stuff.

I on the other hand still cant work our TV remote control when William is out of town!!!

Best,
JOHN

New York was a blast!!!!

As William mentioned in one of the earlier blog entrys, William took me to New York city for my birthday this year. It was so much fun!! We walked all over the city, and ate at some many great places. My favorite was a new restaurant called PUBLIC (www.public-nyc.com). It is in the Soho area of the city, and if there ever was a perfect restaurant this is it. The theme is something between that of a public library meets a community prep school. I LOVED IT. We had brunch there, and I could have stayed all day. (check out more of the pictures on their website)

We saw the play Spring Awakening (www.springawakening.com). This play has now become my favorite musical. I didn't think any play could beat RENT, but this is it. This musical has won 8 tony awards and won best musical. The music was written by Duncan Shiek. He had a hit about 5 years ago called "Barely Breathing." I have still been following him, and buying his later albums. I think he performs some really great songs. I could definitely hear his voice throughout the musical. I will let you discover the musical on their website if you wish, but I am telling you...find a way too see this musical!!!

William and I had a great time with my parents. We arrived on Thursday, and they arrived on Friday. It was my mother's first time visiting New York city. Amoung other things, we took a few great, long walks through central park (which was right near our hotel). Obviously, we have adoption and "baby on the mind," and we started counting the Bugaboos (www.bugaboo.com) and other strollers in the park. I counted around 35 in about 30 minutes. Lots of color combos and we saw one with a tiny umbrella for the kids. By the way, Bugaboo has a new stroller out called Bugaboo Bee. It is a collapsible stroller, easy for in and out of the car. Although we love our stroller, I'm still very interested to see how we manage to get it in and out of the car. William and I cant wait until we adopt, and get to take our little one to a park, just have a lazy day of playing, smiling, and laughing!

Speaking of being outside, the weather was perfect while we were there. The last time we were in the city in June it was quite hot, but this year it was great. About 70-80 degrees with a nice breeze. My parents really seemed to enjoy themselves. My mother loved the park. She also thought Times Square was amazing with all the people. Times square is the quintesential picture of the hustle and bustle that is New York City.

OK, so here is my funny "dad in NY story." My dad wanted to show my mother the Trump Tower....here goes...

Upon arriving at the Trump Tower William is the first to walk into the revolving doors...so William has pushed the glass revolving doors and the whole things starts to move. William is then inside the glass revolving door and still pushing forward so he can exit. What is supposed to happen next, is the next person in line waits for the next section of the door to come around and then he gets in and pushes the glass as the whole thing revolves. The first person then exits...you all know the drill. SO, my dad was standing too close to the back of William. (I am behind my dad) My dad gets wedged into the revolving door, half way in with William, and half way into the next revolving area he should have been in. So, we have William, and the people coming out of the building pushing the door, and my dad is getting more and more wedged in the door. I am behind my dad wondering how this has happened? The only thing I can think to do is push my dad forward into Williams revolving area, for fear that if William and the others keeps pushing they will end up crushing my dad. After pushing my dad forward he smacks into the back of William, who gets freaked out because he then gets pushed up against the glass wondering why my dad is in the same revolving space that he is. Then I go through the revolving doors like normal laughing my head off. William is still dazed and has no idea what just happened. My dad acts like that is his usual way of entering revolving doors. I then gave a 5 minute lecture to my mom and dad about how revolving doors work, and that you have to wait for person in front of you to get moving / out, before you can enter. For the rest of the trip William decided to avoid revolving doors as much as possible.


Here is the picture of the revolving door. Mr. Trump is lucky, if not for my lighting fast reflexes he could have been sued!!!

We had an amazing time, and it was the perfect birthday present from William.

Best,
JOHN

A trip to New England.

It had been a little while since I had made it home, so I took a trip back to New England and visited with family and friends. First, I flew into Cape Cod, Massachusets where I got to see A LOT of my family. I actually got to see some of my aunts who I hadn't seen in over a year. Needless to say, it was great to see them. They all asked about how the adoption process was going. They all seemed surprised that we're still searching for a birthmother, but I assured them that when our time comes it will come. Hopefully sooner than later!

After the Cape I went on to visit some family friends in New Hampshire. I also hadn't seen them for sometime. I first met them whe I was attending boarding school in Dublin (www.dublinschool.org). One of my close school friends was a girl by the name of Sierra, and over time I essentially adopted her entire family as my own. After college I actually moved back to New Hampshire and lived with them for a little while. I got a job, and spent the rest of my time as a mentor to Sierra's little brother (Jesse). For years I have called Jesse "my psuedo little brother." He, and his other sister Sasha, have really grown up so much over the last few years. I'm so proud of them both!

After New Hampshire I drove to Maine to visit with my parents. My Dad and stepmother still live on an a little island off the coast of Maine. It's always great to see them, and the island is such a neat place. There are only 600 year round residents! There are no big grocery stores - just a couple of local markets, and a restaurant that's part of an Inn. This time of year all the summer people come to the island. This increases the population to about 2000, which drives my parents crazy. They really like the pace fo the island, so when the "summer people" come and try to, in some cases litterally, speed things up they get pretty annoyed.

I was there most of the week, and it was pretty low key. We did take my dad's boat our for a quick trip around some of the surrounding islands, and then over to the main land to grab a bite to eat. Not only do I enjoy being on the boat, but seeing my dad - who LOVES being on boats - enjoy himself is great too. Basically, when he's on the boat he's happy no matter what's going on. I can't wait until we have a baby and he, or she, is old enough to go on the boat. Here's a picture of my dad and I in the yard.

Visiting my mom and stepfather was also great. They are both doing well and staying busy with one thing or another. A couple years ago my mother started volunteering for a group that supports gay youth in the MidCoast Maine area. She really enjoys it, and is now the group counselor. She invited me to their weekly group meeting. I was REALLY impressed by the youth members that were there. At this particular meeting there was a radio host there interviewing my mother and the youth about some of the challenges of being a young GLBT person in rural Maine. Everyone did a great job, but I was particularly impressed with how well spoken the youth members were. It was clear that they had put a lot of thought in to the world around them, and what needs to be done so people can accept people for who they are. I have no doubt that they will be leaders wherever they end up!

My mom's house was the last stop on my trip. John wasn't able to join me on this trip - so at this point I was really ready to get home and see him (and the rest of my Atlanta friends and family). It's always fun to travel and see friends and family - but it's also always great to get back home!

Thanks for reading!
~W

G-diaper update

For those of you who have read most of the blog you are familiar with the G-diaper (www.gdiapers.com). For those of you that aren't, I'd encourage you to read the blog, BUT essentially they are diapers that are a cross between a cloth diaper and disposable diaper. I'm happy to report that Gdiaper recently expanded it's product line to include diapers that are not only solid colors, but also diapers that have pretty patterns (such as girly girl swirl, and Gone Hawaiian). Needless to say - when our baby comes he, or she, will have more then just solid colors to wear.

~W

NYC Here we come... again

Just wanted to put a few updates on our blog. William and I are meeting my parents in NYC in June!!!! We cant wait. We are going to take them to a broadway show, do some eating and soome shopping!!!! Very exciting. William and I are going to be there for four days, and my parents are going to join us for the last two. It's the first time my mom has been there and we're very excited to show her all the exciting places that we love. We're going to see the broadway show Spring Awakening (www.springawakening.com). It's recieved great reviews and the music was written by Duncan Sheik.

My parents also report that they have been baby sitting my cousin baby Cambell recently, and my mother told me that of all things she loves to play with the tupperware. William says that when he was a baby he used to love to play with rocks... so I guess flashy toys don't always win!

~JOHN

Modern baby furniture??? Maybe not this modern...

Along the same lines as yesterdays post - today's search for baby furniture brought me to an interesting furniture maker from the Netherlands called Piet Hein Eek (www.pietheineek.com). PHE uses reclaimed wood for all of their furniture pieces. They hand select each piece of wood to make original one of a kind furniture. I usually think that time consuming, hand made goods are better then most but I'm not sure this time. When I showed these pictures to a couple of my our friends the first thing out of their mouth was "splinters."

I guess I can appreciate the aesthetic value of these unique pieces, but I don't think we'll be buying these pieces for our future child.

JOHN

Gold Stroller

Since we've been in the adoption process (currently we're searching for a birthmother) I've become accustomed to keeping an eye out for interesting baby items. I figure, if we buy a baby item here or there... it can't hurt. I had heard about this baby stroller made by Mamas and Papas from a friend of mine. It is a limited edition all gold stroller. There was only ten of these made, and I think Stella McCartney and Gwen Stafani each have them. I was worried about showing this to William, as I figured I would then be highly encouraged to track down the remaining eight strollers and buy one. Luckily, he didn’t think it was quite as cool as I did! Plus, we already have an amazing stroller... so I guess we don't need two.

JOHN

Nike+

Among the many, great gifts that I received this holiday season my favorite was the Nike + iTunes set (http://www.nikeplus.com/). The set included a pair of Nike+ sneakers, the Nike+ sensor kit, and a new iPod Nano (www.apple.com/ipodnano). I've had an iPod for sometime, but the Nike+ system only works on the Nano, so John had to get me another one for it all to work. For those of you who are not familiar with the Nike+ system it's a really interesting system that sends information from your shoes (as you run / walk / or both) to your Nano. The iPod then tracks all the information - how fast, far, often, etc that you run. This is interesting enough, but the best part is that all that information is loaded in to the Nike+ website where it charts all of your activity. The website also has features which allow you to set and track goals, meet other runners, and challenge the runners you meet to contests/races that are instantly tracked by the website. Needless to say that I have become completely obsessed with this. I have joined about five different challenges, and am happy to say that I am in the first or second place in three of them, and in the top five of the other two. I check the website constantly (that might be a little of an exaggeration) to see my standing in the races. I have also managed to run almost every day since I received Nike+ as a gift. So... with any luck when we finally adopt our baby I'll not only be able to set a good example (exercise is a good thing - LOL) but I'll also be a little bit healthier too!

~W

Picture of John

I thought I'd share this picture of John... I love it. I took this picture the other night while he was waiting for me to get ready to go to dinner with some friends. I got a new camera for Christmas, so anytime I see a shot that I think looks good I snap it. I think this picture is very "modelesque." Yes, he looks a little serious... but I think that adds to its feel. LOL

~W