Meet Alexander!

Meet Alexander!

The stories of my demise are untrue.  I am still here!  Just a little sleep deprived, over worked and spending my time with my family.

On August 1st we welcomed Alexander Ray to our family.  Mom and baby are doing great and we are rapidly adjusting to life with two kids.

I plan on updating everyone on our goings on soon.  In the meantime here are pictures from our photo shoot with the incredibly talented Anne Wilmus.  If you need family photos or newborn photos make sure to get to her website and check her out she is a fantastic photographer and person!

Building and another new baby (soon)

Been a busy few weeks here in the fitdad household.  We listed our house at the end of May, were under contract in 3 days and closed on the sale June 28th.

We officially became homeless that day and were graciously taken in by my in-laws until our new house is built in October.  We are building with Ryan Homes here in Pittsburgh so expect to be bombarded with posts along the way as we build.

I have been seriously negligent in posting regularly but life has been terribly hectic and given the opportunity to blog or be outside with Noah and the family I will always take the latter.  

We have been doing some of this:

Constantly this:

and, I have squeezed in a few of these:

Grampa has strong affection for ice cream so I think I am going to be doing much more running in the coming weeks...Who can say no to grampa and ice cream...I can't.

Then again if Christine gets around to having a baby in the next few weeks I am going to be doing more feeding, changing, and sleeping than running.

In that case if I continue with my ice cream habit I am going to be a fair bit more Fat Dad in the coming weeks.

Stay Hydrated and get outside!

Thanks for reading.

Happy Birthday Mom!

I keep hearing friends wishing each other a Happy Independence Day, I am not sure what day they are talking about.   All my life I have been convinced that they shot off fireworks on July 4th because it was my mothers birthday!

Happy Birthday Mom!!

The Mother of Boys.

"Handprint on cupboard and shoes in the hall.  

Toilet seat's up and there's mud on the wall.

Every sports channel to them will appeal, 

and the front room doubles as a football field.

The shelves in the kitchen are continuously bare.

There's toys on the couch and jeans on the chair.

Wrestling and mud and cars and noise;

I'm sure you can guess, I'm the MOTHER of BOYS!"

Patsy Gaut

My mom is always a sucker for a good quote or poem, or a treasured and timeless story.  She helped to instill us with compassion and caring and a joyous sense of humour.  She is a tireless worker and silent worrier.  She would sit up late at night waiting for us to get home under the guise of reading a good book kiss us goodnight and shuffle off to bed.  She is our nurse, or therapist, and our shoulder to lay our heads on when we were sad or too tired to hold it up ourselves anymore.  Much of what we boys became in life is because of her.  

Enjoy your fireworks today Mom!  

Love 

The oldest one.  

Happy Father's Day.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads who are there for their kids.  The guys who stuck around and did their duty to their children.

"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around.  But when I got to twenty one, I was astonished how much he had learned in seven years!" -Mark Twain

"I don't care how poor a man is, if he has a family he is RICH." -Colonel Potter (M*A*S*H)

My dad taught me everything I need to know about hard work, living well, and being a quality human being.  He lead by example and at times growing up we most definitely butted heads.  As I matured and grew up though I began to realize how much he truly influenced my life.

I see a similar quote to this online a fair amount but it rings true here... I just can't believe it some days when I open my mouth and my father comes out!

Happy Fathers Day Dad, wish I could be at the lake fishing with you today instead of working a 12 hour shift.

Remembrance.

Enjoy your day off from work, from the trials and tribulations of day to day life.  But also be sure to take the time to remember, thank, and pray for those we have lost.  Celebrate the greatness of this country by never forgetting the sacrifice of our soldiers.

"These heroes are dead.  They died for liberty, they died for us.  The are at rest.  They sleep in the land they made free, under the flag they rendered stainless, under the solemn pines, the sad hemlocks, the tearful willows, and the embracing vines.  They sleep beneath the shadows of the clouds, careless alike of sunshine or of storm, each in the windowless place of rest.  Earth may run red with other wars - they are at peace.  In the midst of battle, in the roar of conflict, they found the serenity of death.  I have one sentiment for soldiers living and dead: cheers for the living; tears for the dead." -Robert G Ingersoll

The Moments,

"You will never have this day with your children again.  Today is a GIFT.  Breathe and notice.  Study their little faces and feet.  Relish the charms of the present.  Enjoy TODAY...it will be gone before you know it." -Jan Hatmaker.

The moments we have with our kids are fleeting.  Sure the long nights seem like they drag on forever, the temper tantrums frustrate and annoy us but really when it all comes down to it we love our kids.  Part of me wants them to just stay young and innocent forever, part of me can't wait to see what they will become.

I take a fair amount of photos and videos of my kid, (ok who am I kidding...it's excessive).  But I make sure that when I am taking those pictures that I am not missing out on the quality time I need to spend with him.  I don't want my kid to grow up and think my face looks like the lens on my Canon.  Most of my photo shoots with Noah when he is posed in an outfit mom picked out last all of 20 minutes.  I wait until he is asleep to edit the pictures and the rest of my time is dedicated to "Daddy Noah time."

I consider myself pretty lucky because I don't have a job that requires me to travel.  I may work long days, but I get just as many days off in return.  When I spend the day with my son we spend the whole day together.  We play chase and hide and seek.  We play with trucks and trains.  We read countless books and we sometimes nap on the couch.  We eat together and we learn together.  Sometime I learn as much from him as I hope he learns from me.

Noah is slowly picking up the pace when it comes to talking.  He has a handful of words that we understand and the rest is just babble.  But the other day while playing in the tub I caught this video of him that I had to share.   If you have ever seen Mickey Mouse Clubhouse you will know what he is saying...even if you haven't I think the video is pretty adorable. 

It's the moments like these that i don't ever want to forget.  These are the moments I could watch on replay in my head forever.  They never cease to make me smile.

A Sad Day for Running...and our country.

Finishing a marathon is an accomplishment regardless of whether you are first or last.  Runners regardless of speed are a surprisingly tight bunch.  We get each other, we understand why we run, we all understand joy and suffering we feel in a race.  Many of us feel a connection to each other as soon as we know that another "runs."  Today that connection makes many of our hearts heavy and saddens us.

I am sure you have already heard about the absolutely cowardly act that was committed at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.  I don't need to go into details about how terrible this act was or how my heart breaks for anyone killed or injured by such a cowardly act.  I hope that the authorities find who did this and make him/her pay for their cowardice.  Attacking innocent people is by far the weakest thing a human can do and right now my blood is boiling with anger and pain.

My thoughts and prayers go out to any and all affected by this tragedy.  The running communities around the world feel your pain, and are praying for you.

Today, when I saw the coverage what I really looked for was the people helping.  Those public servants as well as citizens who turned towards the explosion and ran to help.  Those are the heroes today.  The people who without second thought ran to those who could no longer run.  Many of our public servants (fire, police, EMT, etc)...will have a busy and tiring night ahead of them.  If you see them, thank them and offer them support...today they need you more than ever.

Be safe if you are in the city, and report anything suspicious to the proper authorities.

Ron