Gumby, Tink & Family

Spencer's 10th birthday

2012-01-12T09:35:00.004-06:00

Spencer turned 10 on the 10th - his golden birthday! He had a great time. Over the weekend, we took him out to eat at IHOP and Fuddruckers (since he got a free meal both places), as well as Olive Garden (his favorite) on his actual birthday. Last Friday was Greg's day off, so he took Spencer rock climbing:

Spencer got lots of cool presents, including origami and a Tony Hawk skateboarding game for the Wii:

Here he is building a model from the Erector set he got:

Blowing out the candles on his chocolate mousse cake:

Spencer's favorite things right now:
- Skateboarding and other balance-related things
- Origami
- Logic puzzles
- Spies
- Lego
- video games
- reading
He wants to be a spy when he grows up if possible, but thinks working at Lockheed Martin like his dad would be interesting, too.

Spencer also attended his Webelos den for the first time last night. Our little boy is growing up! We love you, Spencer!

Greg's Favorites of 2011

2012-01-02T17:35:00.001-06:00

And another year has gone by. Time for no one's favorite annual blog post: Greg's Favorites of 2011!

I think the interesting theme of this year is the amount of pop culture nostalgia: many old bands and artists reuniting and/or going back to their roots with new albums (Yes, Cars, Peter Murphy, Outfield, and more); movies being remade or properties being brought back (Muppets, Footloose, The Thing, and more); and retro-style gaming becoming more and more normal, and old properties having new incarnations (Zelda, Donkey Kong, several Mario games, etc.).

Overall, there was nothing absolutely amazing that came out of 2011, but there was quite a lot of really good. Below are the more specific sections.

Music:
I didn't discover a lot of new music this year. Some of my regular sources have not been as good at pointing me to new bands, or maybe there just wasn't as much out there to find. Below are the albums that I listened to the most this year:

Greg Whitehead - Another Fine Mess - Is it egotistical to have listened to my own album the most this year? I am really proud to have finally recorded my own music, and it just happens to be exactly the type of music I like. And, with the slow start to the year musically, it was about all I had.
Yes - Fly From Here - If you would have told me a year ago that my favorite album of the year would be a new Yes album, I would have said you were crazy. If you would have told me that the new album was made by practically the same line-up as the 1980 Drama album, and sounds like a direct sequel, I would have never believed it. And yet here we are. This is probably now my 3rd favorite Yes album after 90125 and Big Generator. The only thing missing that would make this album better is Trevor Rabin.
Tally Hall - Good and Evil - I was so happy to finally get a new album from Tally Hall. It seemed like this was never going to come out. On first listen, it was a little slow and different from their first album and it took a while to grow on me, but eventually I came to absolutely love the album. Their first album had some great songs, but also many skippers. All the songs on this are great with maybe one so-so track. This was the soundtrack for our summer vacation driving to Arizona, Utah, and back.
Bryan Scary & The Shredding Tears - Daffy's Elixir (2012) - This is the best album that didn't actually come out this year. It's coming out this year, but I was part of the Kickstarter funding campaign to record the album and was able to preview the album earlier on this year. I guess this may have to show up again next year on my list when it actually comes out.
Skeleton Staff - Psychomorphism (2011) & Solipsism (2010) - These came in at the end of the year for me, so technically I haven't listened to them more than many other albums this year, but I've been really enjoying them.
The Feeling - Together We Were Made - I was quite excited for this album and expected it to be one of my top favorites for the year. They released a deluxe 2-CD edition with a whole second album worth of tracks. Unfortunately, it never quite stuck. I like the album a lot, but I was never compelled to listen to it like their previous albums.
Moon Safari - Lover's End (2010) - A prog rock band with amazing harmonies. My brother introduced me to this retro-prog band who have three albums out. Their latest one is the best of the three. They don't do anything new, but they do old really good.
Weird Al Yankovic - Alpocalypse - A great Weird Al album that is lessened by the fact that I have almost no connection to anything he parodies any more. But the cover more than makes up for that.

Some other bands and albums that I listened to and enjoyed this year:
Gruff Rhys - Shampoo Hotel, Peter Murphy - Ninth, Kula Shaker - Pilgrim's Progress, Sonic Executive Sessions - 2010, Sound of Arrows - Voyage Year, The Cars - Move Like This, Alphaville - Catching Rays on Giant (2010), Howard Jones - Revolution of the Heart (2005), Donkeyboy - Stereolife (2010).

Movies:
I saw a little over thirty new releases this year, below are my top 10 favorites this year:

Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol
Insidious
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Super 8
The Muppets
Captain America: The First Avenger
Thor
Paranormal Activity 3
The Help
Unknown

I was really disappointed in most of the animated films this year. Especially "Cars 2" and "The Adventures of Tin Tin." I only got to see parts of "Rango" and "Puss in Boots" due to having to take Jaden out during both of them. We watched "Kung Fu Panda 2" at home and it barely held my attention. Which leaves "Rio" as probably my favorite of the year and that was only so-so.

TV:
We got rid of cable this year and switched to streaming, so it was a little more difficult to keep up on all the TV shows we used to watch, but that was sort of the point. We are no longer slaves to the DVR, but we also have to wait an extra day or longer for them to show up on Hulu or other sites. There were very few new shows that we watched or kept watching, so most of these are repeats from the past. Here are some of my favorite shows in 2011:

Biggest Loser
Community
QI (British panel show)
The Office
Once Upon A Time (interested, but not sure if it will maintain)
America's Got Talent
An Idiot Abroad (UK travel show)

Watching but less excited about:

30 Rock
Big Bang Theory
Simpsons
Terra Nova (started out promising, but got dumb real quick.)
Parks and Recreation
Person of Interest

I also finally broke down and started watching "Doctor Who" on Netflix and am slowly working my way through them to get to the current series.

Games
I played a lot less games on my consoles this year mainly due to competition with my kids who want their turn much more often now! Here are the games I enjoyed/played the most this year:

Portal 2
Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Batman: Arkham Asylum (I got Arkham City for Christmas but haven't played it yet)
Donkey Kong Country Returns
de Blob 2
Lego Pirates of the Caribbean
Fruit Ninja/Fruit Ninja Kinect/Fruit Ninja Puss in Boots
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Angry Birds/Angry Birds Seasons/Angry Birds Rio
Tiny Wings
Jetpack Joyride
Tiny Heroes
Bloons Tower Defense 4
Ticket To Ride/Carcassonne (iPhone versions)

Podcasts
I tend to listen much more to podcasts now, especially while exercising and traveling to work, than music. Here are some of the shows I've been enjoying the most this year:

Movie B.S. with Bayer & Snider - This movie podcast with Eric D. Snider and Jeff Bayer is definitely my favorite and it's one of the few that I can play out loud without worrying about language.
The Totally Rad Show - Daily video podcast reviewing movies, games, and all things "rad" that nerds like me enjoy.
Slashfilmcast - One of the oldest podcasts on my list which seems strange because I was listening since the first episode.
The Nerdist - Comedy interview podcast. Almost always a great nerdy interview guest.
Pod F. Tomcast - Paul F. Tompkins is probably one of my new favorite comedians. He's been around quite a while, but I'm just now discovering how funny and amazing he is.
Comedy Bang Bang/Comedy Death Ray - Like Nerdist, there's always an interesting comedy guest, but they usually get interrupted by all the strange characters that show up.
The Tobolowsky Files - Great storytelling podcast by Steven Tobolowsky.

Books
I don't take the chance to read much, so I'm just going to briefly mention that I read "The Hunger Games" and the two sequels over the summer. The first book was quite good. I really like the world that was created in the stories, and I'm really excited to see the movie they are making this year. The second and third books, however, get progressively terrible, and ultimately the story is disappointing. I wish it had gone in a different direction and I'm curious to see if the movies will stray from the books at all.

Piano Arrangement: "Coventry Carol/Bring A Torch..."

2012-01-01T12:47:00.000-06:00

For our Christmas program last week, I was asked to perform a number. I chose two slightly more obscure numbers, "The Coventry Carol" (also known as "Lully Lullay,") and "Bring A Torch Jeanette Isabella." I started working on the Coventry melody first, but its modal/minor sound needed to go somewhere else after it ends on a major chord, and somehow "Bring a Torch" worked itself in and so I ended up with a medley of the two. The video above is a semi-live recording of the piece that I arranged and played.

Here's another version on Soundcloud that should allow an mp3 download of the piece:
Greg Whitehead - Coventry Carol/Bring a Torch by GWGumby

And finally, by sibling request, here is the sheet music and midi versions:
Sheet music
and
Midi file

Jaden's new favorite word

2011-10-20T09:45:00.002-05:00

I know, I've been few and far between with blog posts (although I'm finally working on our digital vacation album), but I just had to share the video I took this morning of Colin reading to Jaden. It's pretty funny. Enjoy!

Random Jaden update

2011-09-22T11:14:00.007-05:00

Now that Jaden's a year old, I'm switching from monthly updates to whenever-I-feel-like-them updates. He's 13 and a half months old right now, and he has been growing and changing SO much!

One of his recent developments that I'm especially enjoying is that he likes to put things BACK. Hooray! It will be a little while before I can say "clean up your mess," but it's a step in the right direction! (:

Last week we took Jaden out to get his fourth haircut - though this is the first time an electric razor was used (which he did *not* care for). His hair grows like crazy, so it was time for a "big boy" cut.

Jaden loves to climb anything and everything. He is constantly climbing up the elliptical to get on the fireplace. Recently he managed to climb all the way up our entertainment center in front of our big-screen TV before the boys noticed and got him down. Just today he managed to climb onto the couch, and after jumping for a while, he grabbed a remote and settled down like he was ready to watch some TV!

He likes to stand on his tippytoes and peek over the edges of tables and counters to see what he can reach and get into. He's gotten into all sorts of creams and lotions, managed to open a bottle of chewable vitamins, has unrolled toilet paper, and especially adores markers. Here he is after an encounter with a black marker that was apparently tasty.

He loves opening cabinets, and frequently goes to sit in our dirty clothes cabinet. It's his own little hidey hole!

Jaden has started to draw a little, though we still have to keep an eye on him since he alternates between drawing and tasting the crayons. (: Here's a picture of a couple of his recent efforts.

He loves the magnadoodle, too!

His vocabulary has been just exploding - he says new words every day. The ones we hear the most often are "thank you," "uh-oh," "mo" (for "more"), "hi," and of course "mama" and "dada." He says "kitty" and "cracker" and "ball" and "bottle" (that one sounds more like "baba"). He folds his arms for most prayers and says "men" at the end. He's starting to do more sign language, though "more" is still his favorite sign. He chatters constantly, and it's fun to start hearing more and more recognizable words amidst the babble.

Jaden loves to be in the thick of whatever we're doing - cleaning, exercising, reading, going outside - he wants to be a part of it! Here he is "helping" us sweep the kitchen and load the dishwasher.

Jaden loves to dance, and anytime music is on with any sort of a beat, he stops what he's doing, and bobs up and down. He even dances to the blender and washing machine sometimes! He's figured out how to turn on the music on my iPhone, and holds it up like he's having a conversation while dancing to the music. He has also started trying to jump, though he hasn't really managed to get his feet off the ground yet. Here are a couple of videos to finish things off:

Family photo

2011-09-21T13:42:00.002-05:00

I need to sit down sometime and do a post (or series of posts) about our summer vacation, but in the meantime I wanted to at least put up this great picture of our family that my brother-in-law Jeffrey took while we were at Aspen Grove. It was gorgeous up there!

Colin's 11th birthday

2011-09-20T18:58:00.006-05:00

Colin turned 11 on August 30! The Saturday before his birthday, he had his friend Robbie go out to eat with him at Genghis Grill and then come back to our house to hang out together for a few hours. On his actual birthday, he attended a Yu-Gi-Oh tournament, ate out at Chili's, and (as is tradition in our house) got to be King for the Day.

Here's Colin and Robbie opening a present (lots of Hero Factory figures to build).

Colin happily displaying all the Yu-Gi-Oh packs Robbie got him - bliss!

Colin, Spencer and Robbie opening the packs and comparing the contents

Chocolate cheesecake!

Robbie and Colin playing (what else) Yu-Gi-Oh on the Wii

Colin generously let Spencer build several of his Hero Factory toys while he was playing games with Robbie. Here's Spencer showing one off.

Later that night, Sam and Asa Hicks came by and helped finish building them, and they all had a massive battle.

The morning of Colin's actual birthday, he got an acceptance letter to Hogwarts, delivered by owl!

Colin's birthday balloons. Mario is fine and all, but Colin would have chosen Yu-Gi-Oh if they'd had it! (:

Colin with his birthday breakfast. (We had to get a new birthday tray, since our birthday monkey plate has gone missing.)

A few days after Colin's birthday, we went to go spend some time with my brother Clark and his family, and my awesome sister-in-law Sandi surprised Colin with a cake - the same one she'd made for my baby shower last year that Colin has enthused about ever since. It was amazing! She even made a little one just for Colin.

Colin loves being 11 - he's now a boy scout and has already gone on a campout (but that's a story for another post . . . someday!). (: We love you, Colin!

Hair baby

2011-08-27T12:45:00.002-05:00

Guess what happens when you leave Daddy alone and in charge of bathing and dressing the baby?

I think he had a little too much fun! (:

Jaden's "official" 1-year pictures

2011-08-16T09:18:00.004-05:00

I realized when I did Jaden's birthday post that I hadn't actually sat him down to try to take just some nice shots of him, so I remedied that this morning. I'm no great photographer, but it's hard to go wrong with a subject that's so cute! (: Notice the sprinkles in his hand - he LOVES to hold tubes and bottles, so this seemed appropriate with the birthday theme!

Actually using the swing in our backyard for once, since it wasn't too hot out yet

(Taking a break for a moment to swing with his brother Spencer)

I brought toys out for him, but he just wanted to pull grass and gaze off in the distance.

This is the grin Jaden uses for when Colin is trying to make him laugh. (Yup, had to bring out the big guns to get his attention!)

Now I ought to get around to our other blogging . . . since other things have happened in our lives besides Jaden getting older! (;

Jaden is one year old today!!!

2011-08-05T20:16:00.007-05:00

It's been one year since Jaden joined our family! Here's how we celebrated today.

Jaden waiting expectantly in his high chair

Spencer made chocolate chip muffins. Here he is showing them off while Jaden nabs one.

After breakfast, Jaden got dressed up in his "I'm the birthday boy" shirt and got to play in his Cozy Coupe (which I bought a few months ago, but has been waiting for his birthday).

We went out to check out the Borders bookstore closing sale.

Jaden likes carrying around little books, though he started treating this one like a hat or scarf or something.

For lunch, we went to Chick-Fil-A, where we ordered Jaden his OWN meal for the first time. He was very happy to get an ice cream cone!

The manager came out and gave Jaden a balloon for his birthday. This was the first helium balloon he's encountered, and he was pretty darn thrilled about it!

Back at home (and after birthday nap time), Jaden got to play with his new velcro wooden food we picked up at Borders.

Here's Colin showing Jaden how to cut it.

Then Jaden decided it was snack time, and his toes were handy.

Here's Colin showing Jaden his birthday balloons we got on the way home from lunch.

We never managed to teach Jaden how to blow out a candle, so Colin gave him a little help.

Jaden REALLY enjoyed the cake and ice cream!

He enjoyed it so much that he got to go straight into a birthday bath.

Later on, we gave Jaden his last present of the day - a Sesame Street playset (so cute!).

Finally, after watching some Sesame Street and playing with toys, it was time for bed. Here's Jaden enjoying a bottle while his daddy plays piggies with his toes.

Happy birthday, little guy! We all love you so much!

Jaden - 11 months

2011-07-05T15:11:00.003-05:00

Just one more month until Jaden is a year old! He is such a delight to be around (even though he's gotten a lot clingier over the past couple of weeks - hopefully a short phase!). He has learned lots of new sounds and some recognizable words, and he's started blowing kisses. He has a very playful personality and we frequently see a mischievous glint in his eye.

Jaden loves all things with buttons, and we can't seem to keep him away from our computer and mouse (I'm fending him off while writing this - no wonder I don't blog much anymore!). Along with all his exploring and opening and getting into things, he has started climbing more and more - what used to be our barricade to block our TV has become his stairs to get to it!

His walking is improving, though it cracks me up every time because he walks with both arms up in the air (he looks like a little monkey):

We took him today for his THIRD haircut, which is just crazy - we're not used to kids with this much hair! He enjoyed sitting in the little car and holding on to the wheel, though he wasn't too keen on the concept of sitting still.

Next up: long road trip. We'll see how that goes (wish us luck)! We love our little munchkin!

Greg Fitness Update: 80 pounds!

2011-07-04T13:53:00.001-05:00

Starting weight: 314
Current weight: 234
Total weight loss: 80 pounds.

See that picture? That's a picture of one of the largest burgers in the world. Made with 80 pounds of beef. That burger also happens to have a pound of lettuce, ketchup, relish, mustard, mayonnaise, 160 slices of cheese, five onions, 12 tomatoes, 2 pounds of banana peppers, 33 pickles, and a 30-pound bun. Sounds good, right? I can't deny my mouth isn't watering just a little bit. Regardless, that patty in the middle is how much weight I've lost as of today.

Wow, this past 10 pounds has been extremely difficult! It's been nearly four months since I hit 70 pounds. I feel like in total I've lost way more than 10 pounds, its just that I've been losing the same pounds over and over again. I'll go for almost a month with no weight loss at all, and then suddenly drop several pounds all at once. It's odd that after all this time I still can't figure my body out, and yet somehow in the long run I'm still managing to lose weight.

Some of the significant events in the past few months have been going to a water park and actually being able to go down the slides with my boys knowing I was now well below the upper weight limit that I exceeded the year before. We also celebrated my birthday with the active and long-since-abandoned activity of rock climbing. We went to an indoor rock-climbing place in Grapevine where we had a blast and wore ourselves out.

I've gone on several business trips as well and found myself sitting comfortably more or less in the once dreaded middle seat of the plane. It's such a weird feeling putting on a seat belt on a plane and then actually pulling it tighter. Plus, the tray actually comes down all the way instead of resting on my belly part-way down!

I've been noticing more and more a marked increase in my energy and stamina. A couple weeks ago I mowed our entire lawn, both front and back in a single go on a Texas early summer afternoon! I have never done that in the nine years we've lived here in Texas.

I've also been slowly replacing my wardrobe with smaller versions of clothes. I'm out of the 40s in pant-size now and down to a regular X instead of the 3X I was wearing last year. A couple days ago I was wearing mostly new, better fitting clothes on my way to work (I usually walk to work for those that don't know) and I was stopped twice by different neighbors asking me how much weight I'd lost. So it's obvious enough now that relative strangers with only a passing acquaintance with me have noticed how much I've changed.

I'm also finding now as my weight gets lower that watching what I eat seems to be much more important. I think a large part of the reason it's taken me this long to lose this past 10 pounds is that I've been a bit more casual with my eating (what with all the business trips, birthday, Father's Day and some other occasions). I've also got to work hard to keep myself from running up extra calories from random snacking. I'm trying not to have to get strict in my calorie counting, but I may have to if I want to step things up.

I'm continuing my normal routine of running and exercise. I'm still trying to run at least three times a week and then I'll do a cardio or sculpting DVD regularly as well. It gets a bit old running through the same DVDs all the time, so if anyone who reads this has suggestions beyond Biggest Loser Power Sculpt & Cardio Max and P90 discs, I'd love to hear them.

Anyway, 20 more pounds to go till I hit 100. In my 70-pound post I was hoping to get there in the summer, now I'm wondering if I'll make it before the end of the year. Hopefully I'll make it by then, but it's gonna be tough.

Below: Me one year ago and me as of last month.

Jaden - 10 months

2011-06-09T09:55:00.008-05:00

Jaden turned 10 months old last Sunday. He's starting to seem more like a toddler than a baby these days - he is always on the go, go, go! Diapering him has turned into an Olympic event, usually involving holding him up by his toes as he squirms and twists to try to get away to do something more interesting (and sometimes succeeding, which results in some naked playtime as shown in the picture above). He has started getting lots of bruises from his adventures in climbing and attempts to walk, but he remains cheerfully determined.

Jaden loves to hold things in his hands pretty much all the time - especially tubes and bottles, so he likes to raid our bathrooms for lotions and shampoos. He loves to go up to tables and counters and stand on his tiptoes to see what he can reach and drag down. He has gotten even more vocal, with a wide variety of sounds and squeals and some words (most recognizably "Da Da" and "Ma Ma," but he also says "hi" and "buh" for brother). He still loves everyone around him - I don't know if he ever WILL go through stranger anxiety!

Here's Jaden with his Aunt Sandi during his first trip to the zoo.

Jaden wants to be in the thick of whatever his brothers are doing, sometimes to their dismay.

Jaden (with his usual tube in hand) having fun emptying a box of diaper wipes.

Jaden has started using lots of different things as chairs - people, toys, whatever. Pretty much everything except the actual chair we bought for him.

One of Jaden's new tricks is making funny sounds with his lips by strumming his fingers on them. This is him in the middle of doing that (while squatting and watching animals at the zoo - multi-tasking!).

Jaden exploring the fridge. Hmm, what to have for breakfast?

Jaden on his tiptoes, seeing if anything interesting was left behind in his highchair from his last meal.

Jaden - 9 months

2011-05-29T19:53:00.003-05:00

These gorgeous pictures were taken by Becky at http://pebblebrookportraits.com/. This first one of Jaden is probably one of my favorites of him ever! Scroll down to see more that she took.

Jaden is just so full of personality and fun to be around! He's such a people person and grins in delight when someone pays attention to him (and usually reaches out for them, too). He is an avid explorer and notices RIGHT away if someone leaves a door or the baby gate to the kitchen open and marches right over to investigate.

He loves being outside - ever since he was a newborn, no matter how sad he was, taking him outside would calm him down. We've now let him play on the driveway and in grass, and he loves picking up little sticks and leaves and such.

Jaden still adores his older brothers and follows them around the house, climbing up their legs and demanding their attention (which they're usually happy to give him). He eats lots of different food now, usually preferring what we're eating over something in a jar. He likes to "dance" to music, and it's so fun to watch him bopping up and down to a beat. He cruises all around the house and has started climbing a bit, and it's getting harder and harder to keep things out of his reach! Every day is an adventure with this little guy, and we all love him so much!

Feeling blue

2011-05-29T18:37:00.004-05:00

Jaden got into some blue food coloring that his older brothers so kindly left out for him. It only took a minute for him to have it all over his mouth, hands and feet.

He looked pretty proud of himself - and he got another bath today out of it, which he loves!

I'm happy to report that he's sporting more of a light blue now - hopefully this will only be a memory in another day or two. (:

March update

2011-05-14T15:01:00.007-05:00

Hey, remember March? I do . . . barely. I've already blogged about our trip to Blanco, so here's other random stuff from the month in no particular order.

We took advantage of the nice weather by getting out a lot. We like to walk down to the park that's just two blocks away from us. Jaden gets a free ride, though. (:

March was a big milestone month for Jaden. He learned to stand . . . and cruise . . .

. . . and crawl! Nothing is safe anymore!

Here's Colin playing a game with Jaden through a clear container.

Jaden eating Elmo. Poor Elmo.

Colin and Spencer displaying the AWESOME pillowcases their friends in Arizona sewed and sent to them.

Jaden enjoying a nice messy dish of oatmeal.

Good times under a blanket fort.

I like to capture pictures of the boys doing chores once in a while for posterity. (:

Jaden having fun in a bath with Spencer.

Spencer's first pinewood derby! He and Colin had fun designing their cars. Spencer's was modeled after a Corvette.

Colin showing off this year's model (on his right) and his car that won two years ago (on his left).

Spencer crossing his fingers for luck at the derby.

We also went to a weekly co-op in March, where I taught Greek Mythology and the boys took drawing and science. It was very fun!

Greg Fitness Update: 1 Year of Running

2011-04-30T12:58:00.000-05:00

Greg: April 2010/April 2011

On April 30th 2010, I was in Utah at the end of a work conference I was attending there and decided today would be the day that I start the Couch-to-5K running program once and for all. I'd been playing a bit on treadmills, but this was my first out-door honest-to-goodness run. I'd never run before in my life without a gym coach yelling at me. The longest I'd ever "run" was the mile and a half--which I never fully ran, I merely ran past the coach and would usually walk the back half of the lap.

Greg's birthdays 2010/2011

Today is April 30th 2011. I've lost 75 pounds on my way to a full 100, and feel better than ever. I've accomplished a lot in the past year running-wise. I've hit quite a number of milestones. As I mentioned above, I'd never run more than a mile and a half in my life. And since I usually walked a good part of that, probably never run more than a full mile straight ever. I wasn't even sure I could run, but I was desperate to find something that could help me start losing some weight.

I worked on the Couch-to-5K program over the summer. I remember the first time I was supposed to run 20 minutes straight. I could barely sleep that night, but the next day I made it. By the end, I was running 30 minutes straight. I was far from the 5K that the plan promised, but distance aside, I was increasing my time. I started the Couch-to-5K over again, this time replacing the cycles of walking and jogging with jogging and faster jogging. I also started increasing my running time with longer runs on the weekend. Eventually, I got to the full 5k (3 miles) and moved on. By fall I was doing 4 miles, by winter 5 miles, by spring 6 miles. In February I competed in my first 10K race at the Fort Worth Cowtown races.

Now, a year later, my longest running distance is 6.5 miles (which I ran yesterday.) I regularly run 3 miles several times a week and do a long run on the weekends. I've run for an hour and fifteen minutes straight. I've run a single mile in under 10 minutes several times, but I'm still working towards that 30 minute 5K (and hour 10K).

A year came make a big difference. I suppose if I formally pushed myself a little better I'd be running marathons by now, but I'm still quite surprised and happy by how far I've come. Just 25 more pounds to go...

My new album! "Another Fine Mess"

2011-04-17T14:09:00.000-05:00

<p>&amp;lt;a href="http://gregwhitehead.bandcamp.com/album/another-fine-mess"&amp;gt;Another Fine Mess by Greg Whitehead&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;</p>Well, my album is finally here, and at last available to download. I recently found a site that not only hosts the music, but also allows you to stream the entire songs, download in all sorts of different formats, and, best of all, provide the album to you for free!

All the songs have been updated, fixed, and re-exported and sound better than those that were originally posted here.

For those who haven't been following this blog regularly to know what these songs are like, here's what I wrote about the album on the Bandcamp page:

"There's a new album coming out..."

Greg Whitehead's album, "Another Fine Mess," is a collection of piano and synth-based pop songs with plenty of thick harmonies and catchy melodies.

Recorded over three years (2009-2011), this album is a labor of love and a fulfillment of a longtime dream to finally realize the songs that have, up till now, only existed in Greg's head.

This album's musical style is centered mainly around 80s synthpop, but the 13 included songs also reflect Greg's musical influences from the past five decades.

Some of those artists include:

60s: Beatles, The Association, Moody Blues.
70s: Queen, ELO, Elton John, Supertramp.
80s: Thomas Dolby, Howard Jones, Freiheit, Underworld.
90s: Jellyfish, Ben Folds Five, Air.
00s: Josh Fix, Roger Joseph Manning Jr., Scissor Sisters, Keane

Full album download includes PDF to create your own CD sleeve.

credits
All songs written, recorded, and performed by Greg Whitehead except:
"On an Ordinary Day" - guitars by Jeffrey Whitehead.
"Marble Madness Medley" based on music by Brad Fuller and Hal Canon for the 80s Atari arcade game "Marble Madness."
Album art by Greg and Jeffrey Whitehead. Photography by Maria Whitehead.

Please follow the link and download the album, or just listen to it streamed at the top of this post and let me know what you think. You can even share the album from the Bandcamp site itself.

Jaden - 8 months

2011-04-04T08:56:00.009-05:00

Another month has gone by already! Since his 7-month update, Jaden has gotten a couple more new teeth, started crawling in earnest (finally venturing past the living room!), began to pull to a stand (we hurriedly put the crib mattress lower), learned how to open drawers (oh no!), and has developed this interesting trill sound that he likes to do a lot, along with babbling and blowing raspberries. He is just full of personality and loves everyone. Here are some pictures:

Jaden feeling overjoyed at finally being able to pull to a stand

Colin was making silly faces at Jaden to get him to smile, so Jaden made one back. I don't know how he makes his tongue do that!

Jaden LOVES peek-a-boo (this quilt was blown over him by the wind, but he got a big grin like we were playing a game). If we drop a blanket over him, he'll stop wiggling and hold absolutely still for a minute, then yank it off, then grin and wiggle and wait for it to happen again. It's so cute!

Jaden loves to chew on just about anything, especially things he instinctively knows he shouldn't have (remotes, iPhones, etc.). We're still waiting on his top right tooth to come in - he's been having a rough few nights!

This is a sight we see a lot of these days - Jaden crawling away!

Have I mentioned how much we love this little guy? (:

Weekend road trip to Blanco

2011-04-03T12:37:00.011-05:00

We took a road trip down to Hill Country to see my sister Brenda and her family over the last weekend in March. Luckily for us, Jaden travels really well (in fact, he sleeps a lot of the time), so it really wasn't a lot different driving down than it used to be - other than all the baby stuff we were loaded down with!

On the way, we of course had to go to Wiseman House Chocolates in Hico, one of my favorite stops along 281. Not only is the chocolate tasty, but the house is just so CUTE!

Jaden and his aunt Brenda loved each other a lot. They spent lots of time together over the weekend.

This is the absolutely gorgeous (and yes, loud - I wanted it that way) quilt that Brenda made for Jaden. Love, love, love it! Jaden likes to spend time staring at all the patterns.

I coerced - I mean, bribed - my awesome niece Rachel into making scripture bags for my older boys while we were there, too. They're not only super-sturdy (seat belt straps that wrap all the way around!), but they're adorable! I was tempted to steal one.

On Saturday, we went to Pedernales State Park to see the falls. Brenda has suggested that we go for years now, so we borrowed a baby backpack (thanks, Mary!) and planned that as our main activity for the day. William was off on a killer long bike ride (60K!) and Rachel was working, so it was just Brenda and our family.

Jaden seemed to enjoy riding in a backpack. Here he is checking out a water bottle (that we had to move - luckily there were zippered compartments elsewhere on the backpack!).

Spencer posing behind a tree on the way down to the falls

Spencer contemplating the water. It's pretty cool that you can walk right up to and across the falls.

Colin trying to catch the little fishies (no luck).

Happy Jaden. He leaned off to the side like this pretty much the entire time - we're guessing so he could see past Greg's head.

Spencer and Colin poking sticks at the water and getting wet.

Greg was more adventurous with a baby on his back than I would have been.

Colin and Spencer liked going down between the high rocks.

Greg and Jaden finding a way across the rocks

Bluebonnets growing in the craziest place! They were all by themselves in the sand there. We saw a lot of gorgeous flowers on the drive down, but I didn't get pictures of most of them.

Hiking through the forest on our way back to the main path

Back home again - and it started raining. Brenda grabbed the boys and Rachel to go do a happy rain dance (especially since she wouldn't have to water the garden). I took a picture right as Rachel fell victim to the slippery grass.

The sunset was really cool - I liked this division of light halfway across the sky!

Greg trying out Brenda's cool trike. Spencer and I got to try it out, too. (Conclusion: Spencer is too short, and I need to work up to using something like that. Those hills! Oh my!)

The boys turned over a board and found this scorpion on our way out. Eek!

We went home via 35, partly so we could stop at Round Rock Donuts that we heard about from the Gees. Oh MAN were they good!!!! (Not pictured: Colin hugging the building because he loved it so much.)

This donut was half the size of Jaden!

We also stopped at the Mayborn Museum in Waco. Here are Jaden and Colin having fun with soft blocks.

Jaden trying out a riding toy (that he toppled off of after a minute - he's not quite ready for that yet)

The boys in a school bus

Greg trying out his favorite instrument

Spencer posing with clogs and a hat. Is it just me, or is this boy getting goofier? I think it might be Colin's influence. (;

Spencer blowing a giant bubble on Colin.

It was really nice to see the wildflowers, see Brenda and family, and have a fun weekend to boot.

February update (before March is over!)

2011-03-19T18:14:00.011-05:00

Wow, February seems like a long time ago already. The kids and I spent a lot of it being sick! We've already blogged about the snow early in the month and Greg's 10k, so on to other pictures from the month (and be warned, there are lots!)-

Jaden getting a piggyback ride from Greg, and sampling his tasty hair in the process

Jaden attempting to eat a rice rusk. This kid LOVES food!

Jaden giving Greg a dental checkup. Yup, all good!

Colin's still enthusiastic about Yu-Gi-Oh. He usually duels with Spencer at least once a day.

Cute little chub-chub playing with his ball

Spencer assisting with a cub scout flag ceremony

Colin getting an award at pack meeting

Spencer getting an award at pack meeting

Jaden and his friend Clark checking each other out

Colin all ready for church

Spencer ready for church

Jaden working on crawling

3 boy pile-up! I love Colin's expression.

Spencer showing off his new pocketknife and his soap carving he did as a Bear requirement.

My four guys - in Houston's museum district. We visited some friends over Valentine's weekend and spent Monday in Houston before heading home.

Greg and me near the Houston Natural Science Museum

Jaden smiling at his daddy

Spencer and Jaden at the Hobbit Cafe

The boys started a martial arts class at a local rec center in Feb. They love it! Here's Colin helping demonstrate pressure points.

Spencer getting ready for attack.

We went to Dallas one Saturday to see some of my family while they were in town. The boys always love seeing their cousins.

Jaden loves his grandpa!

I went with my dad, Spencer, and a few of my nieces and nephews to go see some exotic cars. Spencer especially loved the Ferraris and Lamborghini.

They even let him sit in the Lamborghini! That made his day.

One of the things we've started doing is going to skate parks. Colin rides his scooter while Spencer takes his skateboard on the ramps. This one is a nice park just a few minutes North of us.

It was a fun month!

Jaden - 7 months

2011-03-11T08:34:00.006-06:00

Jaden turned 7 months old last Saturday. He is just growing so fast it's incredible! It seems like he acquires a new skill or two every day. He is definitely the center of attention in our family at all times. As I write this, I'm hearing both older boys hovering over Jaden and telling him how cute he is (no, he won't be spoiled AT ALL!). (: He loves to grab people's cheeks and give them big wet kisses. He loves everyone - especially if they smile at him!

Jaden has just barely started crawling in the last day or two. He pushed himself to a stand against a toy REALLY briefly last week but then toppled over. I'm torn between wanting him to progress and dreading all the things he'll be able to get into!

We love all the sounds he makes - buh, bwah, guh, da, muh, and so on. He's started calling "muh muh" from the crib at night. His first two bottom teeth have just come in this month, so no more chewing on our fingers! He's having a good time trying out all kinds of new foods.

It's fun to watch our sweet little boy growing up, but we're glad we can enjoy this cute baby stage for a while longer!

Here are some pictures to celebrate his 7-month mark:

Greg Fitness Update: 70 pounds

2011-03-09T10:57:00.000-06:00

Starting weight: 314
Today's weight: 244
Total loss: 70 pounds.

Seventy pounds = a decent sized dog, an *extremely* large fish, a young elementary school kid, and the weight limit over which most airlines and delivery trucks will stop taking your stuff.

It's been nearly a year since I started my weight loss journey. Unfortunately I didn't record the day that I decided to make the change. Mainly because I'd tried many things in the past and they'd never worked and I wasn't going to publicize yet another failed effort. By the time I realized things were working this time, I was already a bit fuzzy on the dates when things started. Essentially, the turning point was last February when Maria was investigating joining a gym (before her pregnancy put a halt to most of her physical activity) and we'd just started watching "The Biggest Loser." I started a weekly volleyball game at church and actually bought a pair of tennis shoes rather than the sandals that I normally wore on weekends.

Anyway, that's all last year. What's been happening more recently? Well, from the last post on this blog, you can see the biggest event was that I ran a 10K a little over a week ago. That was something that a year ago was inconceivable and completely crazy. Now, I'm starting to think about looking beyond the 10K and wondering how much further I can go.

I'm currently on my 4th pair of shoes since last year and on my third belt. I can now wear everything in my closet including clothes that I owned and never wore because I was too big at the time I acquired them (like concert T-shirts). The only thing I don't fit is a couple new pairs of pants that I purchased recently that are way too small that I fully expect to fit into in the next few months.

The hardest part of this past 10 pounds was the weather. January and February had some really cold weather including extremely icy days that made it impossible to go out and run in. On top of that, my family has been sick multiple times which I've somehow managed to avoid myself, but having everyone else sick in the house doesn't exactly keep you energized to go work out. It was mainly the thought of the upcoming 10K Cowtown race that kept me pushing myself so I would be ready.

The last couple weeks, though, we have had some really nice days, and I've been able to get out running more regularly. On top of that, my family has started the couch-to-5k program and I've gone out running with them as well, usually pushing Jaden in a special jogging stroller we have for him. Unfortunately, Maria has just recently hurt her foot which has put the running program on hold for a few weeks while she recovers.

I also had a chance while visiting friends in Houston to actually go on a long run with someone for the first time. Up until now, almost all of my runs have been alone. This time I went out for a 5 mile run with my old college friend Rex. He'd been running a couple miles regularly with his daughter, but had never gone that far before. I was a bit apprehensive running with someone because I wasn't used to it, but it was actually quite enjoyable and we both managed to push each other to do better than either of us would have done alone.

Anyway, 70 pounds achieved, still another 30 to go to reach the 100 mark. Can I still get there by summer? We'll see, but it's getting closer than ever now.

Greg's 10K Race (Fort Worth Cowtown)

2011-02-27T17:24:00.000-06:00

So yesterday I did something I never thought I'd do. I ran a 10K at the annual Cowtown race in downtown Fort Worth.

A little over a year ago I was sitting in a weekly status meeting at work and my boss was talking up some 5K race and encouraging people to enter. I distinctly remember thinking what a crazy thing that was. Why would someone intentionally pay money to make themselves go run 3 miles? Why would someone even run 3 miles, except for if a bear was chasing them? Just the concept of recreational running seemed beyond my grasp. I would never understand "those people."

Now a year later, I found myself signed up and running in a 10K race (6.2 miles). Isn't it interesting how things change?

When I started the Couch-to-5K running program last year, several friends suggested that I aim for the annual Cowtown marathon. So when it got to the point where I was getting good enough to consider entering a race I went ahead and signed up. However, by that point I was running 3 miles regularly each week. It didn't seem like a challenge. I wasn't fast enough to consider running it competitively, so I decided I'd skip the 5K and sign up for the 10K to force myself to continue to push my training to where just finishing it would be an accomplishment.

So for the past few months I've been out doing longer runs once a week or so, gradually going from 3 to 4 miles and then to 5. Just to see if it was even possible, I even mapped and ran a full 6 miles a few weeks ago around our neighborhood. It was challenging, but I found I was just barely capable of it.

Saturday February 26th was the race date. I went the night before to pick up my race packet and T-shirt. Parking everywhere around the race was $5, so they told me to get there early if I wanted to park in one of the outer free lots. The race started at 7am, so I woke up at 4:45 that morning to be there in plenty of time for the race. My goal was to arrive by 6:00. I got there no problem by 5:45 or so and parked in an empty lot. So maybe I was a bit early.

But then people started showing up, and then more people, and then more, and more, and more, till there were thousands of people all lined up ready for the 7am race. The picture of me there in front of the starting line is right where they were pushing people back so they didn't crowd into the starting line. So it looks like I'm practically alone, but if you turned the camera around you'd see a huge throng of runners all getting ready to go.

There were signs on the side where they had people arrange themselves based on their running speed. 7 minute mile, 8 minute mile, 9 minute mile, etc. I walked way back until I got to the last posted sign of "Pace 11:01 +." That was me. I was the "+." I'm a faster runner than when I completed the first round of Couch-to-5K last year. I was doing 15 minute miles then. Now with more training and less weight I'm up to 12 minute miles or so, but still too slow to even get its own category.

The race started at 7. Although you could barely tell. There were so many people that it was several minutes after start before my area was even moving, and it was a little bit after the starting gate before there was enough room to actually start running. I used my iPhone to record my own run, but I also had a strap on my shoe that recorded my official time.

Eventually, once the room was there, everyone broke into a run. What surprised me most was how quickly people gave up and started walking. We weren't even much past the first street before I started to notice people slowing down and walking. Eventually, the various speeds of the runners thinned things out enough that I found myself in a crowd where I could keep pace. So all I had to do was just watch the roads and follow the crowds and keep my legs moving.

Unfortunately, Maria was incredibly sick this weekend with strep throat, so my family was not able to come cheer me on. Instead, they would call me every 20 minutes or so to find out how I was doing and to cheer me over the phone.

The morning was cool, around 42-45 degrees. I started wearing a jacket and my breath was constantly fogging up my glasses. Probably my biggest struggle through the race was being able to see and having to wipe my lenses every few minutes. Around 2 miles in, I shed the jacket and wrapped it around my waist. The sun was up and it was starting to warm up a bit.

My goal was to run the entire 6 miles. From start to finish line. After 70 minutes of running I passed the last mile marker (6th mile, with .2 to go). There was a crowd of people telling us we were almost there. I gathered my last bit of strength to run to the approaching corner anticipating the finish line right there. As I turned the corner, I didn't see a finish line. My last bit of energy having been used up for that final sprint, my body sort gave up and I had to stop running. I walked down the road for a couple of minutes, where it bent around and on the other side I could finally see the finish line. I managed to find a bit more energy with the finish line in sight and was able to run the rest of the way through the finish line.

It took me about 77 minutes from start to finish. My official chip time was 01:16:46, my iPhone program told me it was a pace of 4.95 mph or 12:07 min/mi. Here's a link to my recorded run at runtastic.com. According to the race results, I came in 2840th place and 154th in my division (which, I believe is Male, 35-36 yrs, 200+ pounds.) There were 3691 runners in total. I actually thought I did a bit better than the results make it look. But as I said earlier, my goal was just to be able to run the race, and I succeeded at that.

At the finish line they handed out special finisher medals. Here's a picture of mine.

On the way out, I met the Gee family who were getting ready to run in the kids 5K that was starting at 9. I thought it was crowded when my race started, but at this point the place was just jam-packed with people. So much so that all the racers weren't even able to fit in front of the starting line.

I made my way back to my car (which walking in and out of the race probably added another 2 miles to my total distance that morning) and then ran into the hardest part of the morning: getting out of Fort Worth when every other road was blocked off due to the races!

Eventually I made it home and found the boys had taped up banners celebrating my race to greet me on the front door.

It was a great experience running the race. I am proud to say I did it. What's next? I don't think I'll make running races a regular habit, but I can see doing it again some time. The question is, will it be with friends or family next time? Will I work towards completing a half or whole marathon? Or maybe even a triathlon? Anything's possible, I guess. I still think running's crazy. But I've always been a bit crazy.

Jaden is 6 months old!

2011-02-06T17:36:00.003-06:00

It's been half a year now since Jaden joined our family! Right now his favorite things (other than playing with his big brothers and parents) are pulling on Mommy's hair, sitting up and chewing on or banging toys, jumping in his jumper, eating, grabbing anything within reach, and blowing raspberries.

He is a happy boy almost all of the time - even while he's been sick this past week he's often been smiling and playful. He's a ray of sunshine in our home, and we all love him so much! It will be fun to see what he's like in another six months.

Song: "The Ballad of Bruce"

2011-02-06T12:31:00.001-06:00

Greg Whitehead - The Ballad Of Bruce by GWGumby

Gather 'round and listen to the tale of Bruce "Ash" Campbell and his battle against the Army of Darkness. Bruce has to struggle against his complicated problems when all he wants is just to take some time off to enjoy the simpler things in life.

This synthpop song was inspired by the events of "The Army of Darkness" coupled with the musical stylings of some of my favorite late 80s synth-based bands such as Underworld (mk 1), Stan Ridgeway, and even a little Martini Ranch. It also includes the debut of my first acoustic instrument, the jaw-harp.

The video is basically a slideshow of screencaps from Army of Darkness that more or less match the lyrics of the song, especially the verse portions.

My niece Stephanie

2011-02-03T10:18:00.006-06:00

I've posted on Facebook a few times about my niece Stephanie and her diagnosis of cancer, as well as her recent liver transplant. Her transplant has been successful so far, and she is recovering as well as could be expected at this point (it's been four days). Their family is still in dire need of prayers, service and financial help.

As it says below, my brother is taking unpaid leave for all of these medical visits and is still the sole provider of his family of 10, and Stephanie will need to stay in the Ronald McDonald House for another 3 months. If you're able to help even a little bit, please click on the link below to donate.

Here is Stephanie's story, taken from the COTA website at COTA for Stephanie Dawn:

Stephanie Dawn Bassett

With the cost of a transplant often exceeding $500,000, many transplant patients are unable to shoulder the financial burden of such a procedure. The Children’s Organ Transplant Association (COTA) is a national charity dedicated to organizing and guiding communities in raising funds for transplant-needy patients. In Longview, volunteers are raising funds for transplant patients like local girl Stephanie Bassett.

Stephanie Bassett is a bright caring eleven-year-old girl. She is the fifth of eight children. Her beautiful smile is not easily forgotten. Stephanie’s faith and love for the Lord is evident in how she behaves and treats others. You can see it reflected in her as only a pure Child of God can. Stephanie is often found reading a book, playing with her siblings, engaged in her home schooling or participating in activities with her church group. It is hard to not be impressed with this beautiful intelligent young lady.

This past year Stephanie started to have severe stomach pain and unexplained itching. Due to this, she found it hard to eat and sleep through the night. Her mother took her to her pediatrician but left without many answers. Within a few days of that visit, her mother noticed she looked Jaundice. Blood results confirmed that diagnosis. Stephanie and her family visited specialists who helped but issues kept arising and deep down her family knew they had not found the cause or a cure for Stephanie. She was eventually referred to the Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. It was determined that a surgery to have a stint placed in her bile duct was needed to help it drain. What seemed like all too soon that stint failed. More long trips to specialists, testing, procedures and waiting occurred until it was determined that she would need to have a bile duct bypass because it appeared her bile duct had not formed properly. Was this the cause of all these health issues? Prayers were offered and family and friends hoped this would be the final procedure.

During this procedure, her gall bladder was removed and the surgeon noted that there were enlarged lymph nodes pressing on her bile duct. While examining these lymph nodes they found that Stephanie had lesions on her liver. After a two week stay in Children’s Stephanie returned home while she and her parents waited for answers. More lab work and testing were prescribed. And as always, the waiting began. Waiting for results and answers. Waiting for healing and peace. It would appear that the Lord had guided the surgeon to find this so that the prayers of a proper diagnosis could happen. Further testing gave the diagnosis of Hepatic Epithelioid Hemangeoendothelioma (HEHE), which is a form of cancer of the liver. Only a handful of pediatric cases have been diagnosed. Most cases of this cancer are found when it has progressed much further. This was another evidence of the hand of the Lord in Stephanie’s life. After her medical team meet several times her family was told the only treatment option for this very rare form of cancer was for her to have a transplant. After seeking the Lord in prayer her family determined to go ahead with the necessary but draining process of working with insurance and the Transplant Team at Children’s to have Stephanie placed on the Donor List.

On Sunday, January 30, 2011 at 5:00 am in the morning, her family received their first call that a liver might be available for her. The liver was a match!! By 4:30 pm that afternoon, she was in surgery and by 10:15 pm that evening the transplant was completed. Stephanie is now in the very early stages of recovering and healing. Many prayers are being said for a full and quick recovery.

The Bassetts are a large and loving home schooling family. Despite the illness of a family member life continues. Children’s is a long three-hour drive from home and Fred & Maggie, Stephanie’s parents, have had to find caregivers for her siblings for appointments and stays. Great pains have also had to be taken at home to help keep Stephanie as healthy as possible and this will continue to be the case once she returns home after the transplant. Stephanie has had to wear a mask, most of the time, in social situations to help her stay healthy and prevent sickness. As well, diet has been a major part of Stephanie’s care. Her siblings supported her during the fall holidays by all choosing to not have any candy because Stephanie couldn’t have any.

Even with the support of Grandparents, friends and church family have found many opportunities to serve. Meals have been taken to them and household cleaning has occurred. Friends have helped with yard work, home repair, schooling and childcare. This support has been offered in hopes to help maintain the physical needs of the family so they could work on supporting each other and trying to keep Stephanie as healthy as possible.

This has been a very stressful time for all of the family. They love their daughter and sister very much and want her to be well. One of the components of dealing with a major illness is that as much as you need and want to care for that child you have other dear children tugging at you to keep life normal for them. The daily strain of living and maintaining your entire family can be overwhelming. All your energy is focused on caring for your child and dealing with the “What ifs?”.

In addition, one question that still remains is where will the finances come from to pay for all of this needed treatment and the transplant. Fred is the sole provider of their large loving family. Fred & Maggie see their role of providing and caring for their family as a sacred precious responsibility. Financial decisions and sacrifices are always made accordingly. Fred has missed work and has used all his days off so he could be there for Stephanie and Maggie for many of the stressful procedures and treatments. Time taken now is unpaid. And looking at the road ahead of a three month stay at the Ronald McDonald House and the cost of the $75,000 out of pocket expense of the transplant, seems bleak. In addition, Stephanie will require immunosuppressant medication for the rest of her life. This medication is only obtained by paying a large monthly copay.

How blessed they have been to receive this miraculous gift! Prayers have been answered. However, the support Stephanie and her family needs is still ever present. Recovery and healing is a process not a onetime event. Fred and Maggie, Stephanie and her seven siblings have had to find a new kind of normal and will have to continue to do so for many months and years ahead. The need for help of friends and family with household maintenance and spiritual support is still needed. And just as before the transplant, financial assistance from friends, family and a caring giving community will ensure that the bills do not became the new source of “illness” in their fragile family existence. In addition, as we serve one another we find the blessing of serving the Lord. It is evident the Lord needs sweet Stephanie here a while longer.

Local volunteers and community members are helping to raise an estimated $75,000 in order to support Stephanie and her family. No matter how you feel driven to help whether financially, through volunteering or prayers please do not wait. Your help will be evident as Stephanie is able to slowly move forward in her life with the light and love of Christ, that has only been brightened by the service and love of others.

Ice and snow

2011-02-02T17:55:00.002-06:00

It's been a white and chilly couple of days around here! It sleeted and snowed Tuesday, and today it's mostly turned into ice (making it even more hazardous to drive on). The schools around here have closed through tomorrow, and I'm just glad we can stay home and don't have to go anywhere (thank goodness we got Jaden to the doctor on Monday before this all hit!). Greg walks to work anyway, so he's still been able to go in and get stuff done.

Here's Colin showing Jaden the snow through a living room window (I am NOT taking a baby with the flu out in snow with a wind chill in the negative!).

The boys mucking around in the backyard when it was still snow and not ice

Here's what the boys are doing as I type: "Clearing the driveway." With a hammer, chisel, and ice scraper. Crazy boys. But hey, they're having fun!

I'm so ready for another 70 degree day.

January update

2011-02-01T21:02:00.006-06:00

January was a fun month - we got to celebrate Spencer's birthday, we bought a new car, and Jaden learned to sit up on his own! (We ended the month by all of us but Greg having the flu, but we don't really have pictures of that. Be thankful.) (;

Colin holding up a mirror for Jaden

Colin and Spencer ready for laser tag on Spencer's birthday

Jaden having fun with shoelaces

Greg put a box of Kleenex on his lap and let Jaden pull them out. Fun!

Spencer reading to Jaden

Jaden enjoying a bite of squash or peaches or something. This boy LOVES food!

More fun with tissues!

I was trying to get a picture of Jaden's little outfit and boots, but Jaden was more interested in lunging for the exercise bike.

Spencer counting up his money (I love how he folds his bills into teeny little rectangles)

Colin with a handful of shiny gold dollars - he's pretty excited about them!

Jaden playing ball with Spencer and Colin.

Colin was making Jaden laugh by patting his tummy with his feet.

Jaden in a walker, though he hasn't quite gotten the walking part down yet

Closeup shot of little cutiepie

This is what you get when you try to take closeups with a dangling camera lens

Jaden enjoying being able to sit up and play with his kitchen. He's really growing up!

Mazda #4 - getting a bigger car

2011-01-29T09:40:00.004-06:00

A couple of weeks ago we (okay, I) decided we REALLY needed a bigger car. Much as we loved our Mazda 5, it was bought with a family of four in mind. Now that we've been blessed with the addition of Jaden, one of the kids had to sit in the back seat, and the other was folded down to accommodate a stroller - leaving little room for grocery trips and making things like road trips almost unthinkable.

So, we said goodbye to the old car . . .

and got a black 2010 Mazda CX-9.

It initially looks a lot like our Mazda 5, but it's much bigger - a bit more like a minivan as far as height and space. All three boys (including the carseat) fit on the middle bench (which folds down 60/40), and there are two adult-sized back seats and LOTS more cargo space (the stroller can fit behind the back bench - yay!). After we bought it, we found out that it had fun things like seat warmers and Bluetooth - nice, but not the reason we got it. We just needed SPACE! (:

So, here's a recap of our previous Mazdas:

My 1986 Mazda 323 that I bought in 1995 for $1700. It was a good little car - took me from Texas to Utah without a hiccup - but it couldn't withstand the two cars that smashed into it the month before our wedding (that's another story).

The 1995 Mazda 626 that we bought in April 1998, soon after getting married. This has been a great car, and we still use it for when we need to go two different directions.

And finally, the Mazda 5 that we only had for two years but traded in for the CX-9. We loved this car - it just didn't cut it for our family anymore.

Not surprisingly, we got a Mazda Loyalty discount. Hee hee. The main "problem" now is that I can't say to Greg, "Are you taking the black Mazda?" (;

Christmas and New Year's

2011-01-23T20:17:00.009-06:00

It was a wonderful Christmas, with a new baby in the house!

We discovered that Jaden loves wrapping paper far more than presents.

Colin loved helping Jaden open presents. He's so sweet and patient with his baby brother!

Colin and Spencer modeling their new pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa Whitehead.

Our Christmas Eve turkey dinner. I firmly believe in taking it easy on Christmas, but I don't mind putting in the effort on Christmas Eve for a nice dinner (especially since that leaves leftovers for Christmas).

Some after-dinner Daddy snuggle time.

Spencer showing off his make-your-own pop-up book.

Colin looking at his new Harry Potter pop-up book. Notice that Jaden is just staring at the wrapping paper. (:

Jaden napping in his new pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa Whitehead.

The boys posing in front of our traditional Christmas Eve fire - this was the first year they got to light it themselves!

All the boys loved just sitting and watching the fire log burn for a while. There is something magical about fire!

More pajamas - nothing says Christmas like lots of skulls, huh?

The boys were feeling particularly goofy as they modeled their robes and pajamas.

Jaden was happily jumping as we set things up for Christmas morning. He *loves* his bouncer so much!

The boys piled up the presents on the fireplace so we wouldn't have to reach under the tree for them. Hey, whatever works!

We let Jaden have a sneak peek at his stocking. Don't tell!

Here's Colin, first thing Christmas morning, giving me the interactive felt card he'd made for me (based on Kirby's Epic Yarn). It was adorable!

The boys crawling around and looking at the electronic Hogwarts buildings that were a Christmas morning surprise.

We'd laid a sleeping Jaden by the Christmas tree when we got up, but he woke up fairly soon - and happy to boot!

I love this sweet look Jaden is giving Greg as he's being put on the couch.

Here's Colin reading a book he bought for Jaden to him. Colin put a lot of thought and effort into the presents he gave. Both boys did a really good job with their present buying this year.

Spencer dumped out his entire stocking, and then sifted through the pile. Here he is showing off the McLaren F1 Hot Wheel that he'd really wanted.

Colin and his "Bang" gun from his stocking. He opened his one item at a time, instead of dumping it out like Spencer. Honestly, I would have thought it would be the other way around!

Me showing off the Minnie Mouse that Spencer gave me. So cute!

Greg opening a Lio comic that the boys promptly ran off with to read. (:

One of the presents we all got in our stockings was a Maverick Nerf gun.

After all the presents were opened and we were ready for some entertainment, we had a giant Nerf war. It was hilarious!

This is one of the coolest presents we got, from Greg's parents - a puzzle of our own family picture. It was very fun to put together (but surprisingly difficult, with all those leaves)!

Next up - New Year's Eve. We had a low-key day, which was actually really nice. This is how Greg occupied the hours until midnight. I was working on puzzles (when Jaden allowed), and we were all watching Merlin (great show, by the way).

The boys were SO excited that they'd actually stayed up until midnight! They were more awake than I was. I went promptly to bed, but they actually stayed up with Greg for another half hour or so.

It was a great end to a great year!

December, finally

2011-01-23T16:29:00.009-06:00

December was just last month, but already feels FOREVER ago! Here's some highlights from last month (except for Christmas and New Year's, which will get a post of its own).

Colin continued his Harry Potter passion. Good thing, since most of his Christmas presents were HP-themed. Here he is holding one of his MANY wands.

Spencer, eating his daily green apple and playing with an early Christmas present.

Jaden likes to look all around - especially above and behind him. Here he is tilting so far to look back that he's about to slide off Greg's lap.

This was a very roly-poly month for Jaden. He started rolling and scooting, and loved to hold his feet together (and even munch on his toes once in a while - sad I haven't managed to get a picture of that yet!).

Our December Cub Scout pack meeting was caroling at a nursing home. Here Spencer is with a lady that got the card he'd made - she was a sweetheart! She clapped every time we sang.

Colin receiving his Webelos award.

"Christmas doesn't come to a dirty house" is powerful incentive to get the room clean!

Jaden conked out on Greg

The boys took advantage of a warm and sunny day to do some of their reading outside.

Colin and Jaden with their respective books. Jaden LOVES books, possibly more than either of the other boys did at this age.

Fancy jumping Jaden.

Jaden is very, very grabby right now. Hair, noses, cheeks, glasses - anything he can get his hands on!

Happy baby!

Here's Jaden being entertained by Colin

More happy baby!

The boys on a walk somewhere on the Trinity Trails

Jaden enjoying our walk from the comfort of the jogging stroller

One of our annual holiday traditions is this house that broadcasts music that's synchronized with the lights. So fun!

One of my very FAVORITE things is a sunset behind bare trees in winter. Love it!

The boys at Sundance Square, where we went to see the lights

Greg reading to Jaden at the library - he was SO interested in the books!

Colin and Spencer on a "camel" at the Ft Worth Science Museum

Some of the kids at our church Christmas party acting out the nativity. Spencer was Joseph, and Colin was a wise guy. (;

We substituted Jaden for the baby doll afterward, and the boys were much more enthusiastic about offering gifts.

And now - on to a Christmas post! (:

Song: "Turn Your Back On The World" (instrumental)

2011-01-16T16:55:00.000-06:00

Greg Whitehead - Turn Your Back On The World by GWGumby
"Turn Your Back On The World" is an instrumental piece that I started writing on the piano over 15 years ago. I wrote it intending it to eventually turn into a full song, but never having the capability to do so (until recently), it eventually evolved into a solo piano piece. Now I've finally taken that piano piece and added synthesizer, drums, and other various noises to make it into something a bit bigger and more exciting.

This piece is inspired by instrumental 70s rock songs by artists such as Genesis, Elton John, ELO, ELP, and Yes mixed with more modern artists such as Air, Roger Joseph Manning Jr., and Chateau Marmont.

Once again, here's a static YouTube video alternative.

Song: "Today's The Day"

2011-01-10T16:22:00.003-06:00

Greg Whitehead - Today's The Day by GWGumby
Here's my most recent track for the new year of 2011. It's a little happy spacey synthpop song called "Today's The Day." There's no real story or background behind the song, it's just some ideas and musical phrases that organically emerged while playing around on my musical equipment that sort of capture the hopeful feeling of entering a new year with a sci-fi slant.

I tend to struggle with lyrics maybe coming up with one or two ideas quickly and then struggling to stretch it out to a full song. This song, though, seemed simple enough that I felt like the few ideas that came first were enough to sustain the rest of the song. I wanted the journey to be through the music and harmonies rather than the lyrics, hence the repetition of the lyrics.

While I was making this song, I was thinking it would be a song my wife would really like: a little softer, a little dreamier, and full of arpeggios (she likes those!) She did like it. She says when she hears the line "And when you see us flying overhead" that she pictures people with their arms outstretched flying through the air. So that inspired some of the image for the YouTube video below.

As always, the song was written and performed by me using my standard equipment. All synth sounds in this one come from the Korg R3. The rest from my piano and from plug-ins to my recording software.

9 years of Spencer

2011-01-08T15:43:00.015-06:00

Spencer turned 9 today! My little baby (okay, not my LITTLEST baby anymore) is growing up! Here's a look through the past 9 years we've enjoyed having him in our family.

Brand-new Spencer joining our family

3 months old

6 months old

1 year old

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old

5 years old

6 years old

7 years old

8 years old

(almost) 9 years old

This morning - with the traditional monkey mug (can't find the plate! Arg!) and King-for-a-Day crown.

We love you, Spencer!

More family photos

2011-01-07T09:38:00.003-06:00

Here are more photos from our family session with Mandy a couple of months ago. Enjoy!

Jaden - 5 months

2011-01-06T14:17:00.003-06:00

This little guy turned 5 months old yesterday. He is such a people person - he'll wait and wait until someone looks at him, and then just beam. (In the picture above he was looking at his beloved big brother Colin.) He is rolling and scooting just a little, but his VERY favorite thing is being in the doorway jumper - he's gotten so good at it that he can even get it going and then lift up his feet and let it swing for a minute!

He's working on sitting up - he'll be okay for a little while, then topple to the side, so we keep a hand on him just in case.

He loves to grab his toes and try to eat them, as well as anything else he can reach out and get his hands on (Mom's hair, Dad's glasses, toys, blankets, and so on).

Nom nom nom - I love his intense look here!

He loves balls - and loves to toss them off so we pick them back up again.

Unfortunately, he does NOT love sleeping and missing out on all the fun. We're working on that still. (:

Greg Fitness Update: 60 pounds

2011-01-04T10:10:00.001-06:00

Starting weight: 314
Today's weight: 254

The image to the left is of Thumbelina, the world's smallest horse. She weighs 60 pounds. That's how much I've lost since last year. An entire really small horse!

This most recent 10 pounds has been difficult to reach. Mainly because it occurred over the Thanksgiving through New Years holidays. Many meals were eaten and many desserts were not avoided. I probably ended up losing over 20 pounds in total these past two months, but that's only because of having to fight off the extra holiday weight at the same time.

There were a number of other difficulties in achieving weight loss over the past while besides the holidays. The first is the temperature change. It's getting more and more difficult to find good weather to go outside and continue my running. You can still get great weather in Texas in December, but it can get really cold too. It changes regularly, so you never know what you are gonna get, and when a good day suddenly shows up, you have to take advantage of it. There was a really fair day last week during my Christmas break where I ran my longest time and distance ever, 5.11 miles in 73 minutes. If it's too cold, I will stay inside and use my treadmill instead, but I much prefer running outside when possible. I even got me some cold weather running gear to assist on those slightly colder days.

Another issue I had recently was that our elliptical machine started squeaking like crazy. The point of the elliptical machine was to have something I could do to exercise while watching TV. When the machine is making more noise than the TV, that sort of makes things difficult to watch. Plus, the noise was filtering into the boys' bedroom which was keeping them awake at night while I was exercising. As a result we sold it on Craigslist, but being so close to Christmas, we didn't have any extra budget money to replace it. So one of my main exercise choices was taken away over the past month. Luckily a nice family from church contacted us that they were getting rid of their elliptical and offered it to us and allowed us to pay them back after Christmas. So I'm now getting my muscles used to a new machine.

60 lb bag of concrete mix.

As for physical differences between now and a couple months ago, I am now down to size 40 pants from originally being about to outgrow a size 46. I'm hoping to shrink back into the 30s soon. I replaced the belt I was wearing last year with a new belt that barely made it an inch past the buckle, now it's another four inches past that. I've noticed a lot less body jiggling when I'm working out--especially to some of the hoppier moments on our exercise videos. I'm gradually running faster with less of a load I have to carry with me. I've been sleeping much more comfortably now than I ever was a year ago plus I have more comfortable resting positions with less of a belly in the way.

I'm still moving towards my goal of 100 pounds total weight loss and it seems more and more possible every day.

2010 Newsletter

2011-01-02T17:28:00.002-06:00

I almost didn't get this out before my Christmas break was over! The following link contains our 2010 Whitehead family newsletter. It's in PDF format which should be viewable on most computers and most smart phones too, I believe.

What follows is the text from the newsletter.

Whitehead Family Newsletter

This past year has been one of changes for our family. It started at the end of 2009 when we learned we were expecting our third child. Jaden Alexander Whitehead was born on August 5th and our year has pretty much revolved entirely around him. The first half was spent getting ready for him, and the second half enjoying and adjusting to him. He's an amazingly happy baby and he has brought so much joy to our family. Our two older boys love playing with him and Maria enjoys the extra help she has this time around!

Greg has gone through a lot of changes this year. After discovering and being inspired by the television show "Biggest Loser," Greg embarked on his own weight-loss journey which culminated in the loss of nearly 60 pounds by the end of the year. The whole year felt like one long training montage spent running, exercising, working out, and being more active. He plans to continue until he has lost at least 100 pounds. Otherwise, Greg continues to work at Lockheed Martin primarily as the F-22 Interoperability Specialist, and is currently the Elder's Quorum President at church. After exercise, work, church, and his family, he squeezes a little free time left into recording music (hoping to make a full album in 2011) and playing with his iPhone.

Maria went through a lot of changes this year going from being pregnant and hardly able to walk to having a baby and hardly able to sleep! Maria continues to home school our older boys while trying to juggle a baby and other day-to-day duties. She is the Cub Scout Committee Chair in our ward and tries to make sure the program runs smoothly and the Cubs get all their advancements and awards. In her bits of free time she enjoys reading, playing on her iPhone, and working with photos (taking, scanning, categorizing, and occasionally scrapbooking).

Colin turned 10 this year. He has officially graduated on to "big books" by starting the Harry Potter series which he is now over halfway through. As a result, he has turned into a giant Harry Potter fan, dressing himself and others in the family with Hogwarts' themed costumes (including making a Hedwig costume for Jaden), as well as collecting many props. He has even made his own magic wand. Colin moved on to Webelos this year and earned his Webelos badge. He has been learning how to earn and manage his money, including buying presents for everyone this Christmas. He has also finally learned to climb trees this year.

Spencer turned 8 at the beginning of the year (and will be 9 next week) and was baptized by his dad on his birthday. He has also started the Harry Potter novels as well as all reading all four of "The Name of This Book Is Secret" novels. He started Cub Scouts this year and has earned his Bobcat and Wolf badges. Spencer's greatest passion this year has been learning about cars. He first learned all the car symbols on the road, and now he's learning to recognize all the rare and classic cars by model and year. Any car that goes by now, we can ask Spencer what it is and chances are he'll be able to identify it immediately. He loves his pogo stick and got a new, bouncier one for Christmas. He could spend all day outside hopping around on it. He and Colin love traveling down to the nearby park and spending time exploring there.

Happy 2011 to everyone!
From Greg, Maria, Colin, Spencer, and Jaden

Song: "My Dreams"

2011-01-02T15:56:00.001-06:00

Greg Whitehead - My Dreams by GWGumby
Here's one of the things I did over my Christmas vacation. I've got a few more songs in the queue and I'm hoping sometime this year to collect them together and turn them all into an album.

Anyway, this song is called "My Dreams." Once again written, recorded, and sung by me (Greg). The inspiration and idea behind this song came from watching shows like "American Idol" where the people there are so convinced that their dreams of fame and fortune are the most important thing in the world and they'll do anything to make them come true. From that point of view, this song sort of emerged gradually throughout the year in my head until I finally recorded it last week.

Here's the static YouTube video of the same song.

Greg's Favorites of 2010

2011-01-02T15:46:00.002-06:00

It's the start of another year and time for my annual post of my favorite things from the past year.

Music:
This year was a little different from most years in that I found myself listening to quite a lot less music and more podcasts. As a result, I spent less time searching for new albums and thus found less good music. I didn't even find enough to put together a full top 10 list. On top of that, many previously loved bands put out rather mediocre albums, so there was a lot of disappointment this year music-wise. There were still a few good highlights, though.

Hoosiers - The Illusion of Safety

Scissor Sisters - Night Work

Kids of 88 - Sugarpill

Ginger Ninja - Wicked Map

Rock Sugar - Reimaginator

Special mention: They Might Be Giants - Here Comes Science

Podcasts:
I was listening to podcasts more than music this year. Here's who I was listening to.

Movie B.S. With Bayer and Snider
Slashfilmcast
Comedy Death Ray
The Nerdist
Pod F. Tomkast
The Tobolowsky Files

Movies:
For movies, I put a list together of all the movies I watched this year and culled off the top 10. Here they are:

Toy Story 3
How to Train Your Dragon
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
The Karate Kid
Inception
Scott Pilgrim vs the World
Tangled
Despicable Me
Paranormal Activity 2
Exit Through The Gift Shop

TV:
Found a few new shows this year, "Lost" a few favorites as well.

"Biggest Loser" - Finally started watching this year and went back and watched every season up til now as well as several seasons from the UK and Australia! Definitely a life-changing show.
"Lost" - Not exactly happy how it ended, but I can't dismiss the entire show from an unsatisfactory ending.
"Community" - Has become our must-watch show on Thursday. The paintball contest episode has to be one of the best TV episodes ever made of any show ever.
"Big Bang Theory" - Has become our second must-watch show on Thursday.
"Office"/"30 Rock" - Both still crowd our Thursdays.
"Sherlock" - Great British series with a modern version of the Sherlock Holmes story.

Games:
Most of the games I really enjoyed this year were on my iPhone. Which makes up the bulk of the list below unless otherwise noted.

Bejeweled Blitz
Tilt To Live
Angry Birds
Peggle
Super Mega Worm
The Incident
Fruit Ninja
Helsing's Fire
Plants Vs. Zombies
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
Lego Harry Potter (yrs 1-4) (Wii)
Bit Trip Runner (WiiWare)

Whitehead family photo book

2010-12-26T10:47:00.001-06:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Feeding fun!

2010-12-21T13:05:00.004-06:00

Feeding a baby is a messy, messy business. The first couple of times we fed Jaden (see earlier blog post) weren't too bad, but now he's really enthusiastic about the process and wants to help out!

Here's Jaden sticking his fingers into his mouth between bites. He also really likes to talk with his mouth full (tsk, tsk).

He likes to look up and all around - so sometimes we're aiming for a moving target with the spoon!

On his face and bib - not too bad. Some feedings have required a complete strip-down and bath.

Jaden happy about getting to play with his empty cereal bowl

This little contraption is pretty cool. It's called a Boon Spoon and you can put the cereal right in the handle and squeeze it into the spoon bowl. However, that doesn't stop Jaden from grabbing it with his fingers and making a mess - just not as MUCH of a mess. (:

Piano Arrangement: "Once In Royal David's City"

2010-12-21T11:25:00.002-06:00

This year for our church's Christmas program I was asked if I would perform a piano solo for the song "Once in Royal David's City." I wasn't all that familiar with this particular Christmas hymn, but I agreed to look at it.

After sitting down and playing through it a few times, I wasn't particularly excited about performing a solo to this hymn. It's a nice song, but not all that interesting if I were just to play it as it sounded right from the hymn book. So I decided to start improvising. I went through the song and wrote out all the chords and then just started playing with it. Eventually I came up with the arrangment that you hear in the video above.

By the time I got everything figured out, I was actually quite excited by the song. I recorded the arrangement, and then, by request of my sister Sharie, I turned the arrangement into sheet music. For the actual performance, I continued to just use the hymn book as my guide and play from memory, but this sheet music pretty much captures what I played.

Here's the link for the sheet music.

The actual performance last Sunday, along with the rest of the Christmas program went quite well. I was actually shaking a bit as I was playing the song, not because I was nervous, but because I was emotionally moved by all the great music from the program. I was also supposed to accompany a men's quartet who were singing "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night" but our lead singer got sick so I ended up taking his place at the last moment while someone else jumped into accompany us. There were a lot of other great performance that really made this one of the best Christmas programs we've had in years.

Maria's birthday

2010-12-19T08:09:00.007-06:00

For the first time this year, I started to understand why some people don't like their birthdays. 37 is starting to feel awfully close to 40 . . . eek! Still, my family did a wonderful job making me feel special and it was a great day.

The guys made me oatmeal and hot chocolate for breakfast.

Colin was SO excited to give me the present he'd picked out and bought himself!

Aw, a cute little Mickey!

Spencer gave me candy . . . which he promptly asked for a piece of. This kid knows how to work the system!

Displaying all my presents. Some awesome Tangled stuff (LOVED that movie), and I got the photo scanner that I really really wanted! Thanks Greg!

After the kids had done school, I dragged them out to the Benbrook Antique Mall. I'd never been, and it sounded like it would be a fun thing to look through.

Lots of Jim Shore - I love his stuff! (Hardly antique, but I'm not complaining.)

Colin was impressed by all the antique coins.

Spencer loved this goblet with a Hot Wheels car as a base. You just never know what you'll find at a antique store!

We took some time during the day to try to get a good picture of Jaden for his grandma's bath collection (she has a picture of all the grandkids as infants in or around tubs or towels). We had tried in November to get one at Kiddie Kandids - it was a miserable failure, so this will have to do for now!

Greg out doing his magic with the grill, getting my birthday dinner ready.

Mmmmm. This picture makes me hungry all over again! Greg sure makes great steaks!

The cake that the boys decorated - it was very tasty!

Colin showing off Mickey as our "Christmas star" on our tree (;

This is how Spencer set up the Tangled dolls. I laughed and left them there. These kids crack me up!

It was a fun day surrounded by my family that I love and adore . . . what could be better? (:

Jaden's first haircut

2010-12-18T21:16:00.002-06:00

Today was another milestone for Jaden - his first haircut! I don't think I got the other boys haircuts until they were around a year old, but Jaden's hair is much longer than theirs was, and it was starting to get tangled and looked funky.

Look how long it was on top!

We had quite a crowd there - Greg holding him, Colin collecting his locks of hair and watching, and me taking pictures! (Spencer was getting his hair cut the next chair over.)

He did really well! He sat up straight and was really happy, which helped (until he started to imitate Colin lifting up his arms).

Now that the darker hair he was born with has been mostly cut away, he looks much more blond!

Happiness

2010-12-14T10:50:00.001-06:00

Here's some Christmas joy for you. (:

November (and a wee bit of December) update

2010-12-05T07:16:00.009-06:00

Jaden is four months old today! Time for another blog update!

To me, four months is the magical point where babies really start coming into their own. They've grown out of that universal newborn look and you can start seeing the boy (or girl, but in my case always boy) they will become. They can sit up with help, start eating cereal, roll and wiggle around, grab things and bring them to their mouths, and entertain everyone around them. I LOVE this age.

Colin and Jaden in jammies

Jaden feel asleep in his jumper again - it was hysterical, because he'd startle awake and start jumping again, and then doze off a minute later.

The boys at the theater, the day Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows opened. They were SO excited to see it! Now we just have to wait for the last installment.

I got to go see my sister Brenda and celebrate her 40th birthday with her! We had a fun time browsing an antique store and hanging out at Dairy Queen.

A shot of Jaden I took when we were out getting family pictures taken. Magic fingers!

Greg put Jaden in a swing at the park after taking family pictures - and he fell asleep!

Colin and Spencer got to go with some other Cub Scouts and earn a horseback riding belt loop and pin, thanks to the generosity of a church member.

I couldn't resist this "1st Christmas" sleeper. Soooo cute!

Thanksgiving is over - who's ready for CHRISTMAS?!?!

Here are the boys decorating the tree the morning after Thanksgiving. They actually did it almost entirely on their own, though I admit I did some coaching from the sidelines about not hanging all the ornaments at their eye level.

Spencer heard sounds in our garage one evening, and this is what we found when we opened the door - eek! Time to figure out how to block the opening.

We're very lucky to have a park just a couple of blocks away. We like taking the occasional family stroll down to enjoy the trees and let the kids play on the playground. Jaden gets to ride in style in our jogging stroller:

We found a big pile of leaves that the boys just couldn't resist!

Greg taking Jaden for a horsey ride. It's never too early!

What could possibly be holding Jaden's interest?

Ah, it's his big brother and constant entertainer Colin!

I took this picture at 4 am one morning when I came out and all the lights were off but the tree. So pretty! I love this time of year!

Despite my best efforts to prevent it, Jaden really loves to suck his fingers. He started out with his right hand and then switched to his left. He usually sucks two fingers at once - I'm not a giant fan of finger-sucking (because I remember how hard it was to break that habit *myself* as a kid), but it is cute!

Jaden is teething bigtime. He always wants something in his mouth. This is a teether that he likes, though he takes turns chewing and sucking on it.

Here's Jaden getting his first taste of rice cereal! Colin and Spencer both were excited to feed him. Seriously, is there any better entertainment than a baby? Jaden loved the cereal and was enthusiastic about it, though he also kept stuffing his fingers in his mouth which hampered the process a bit.

Greg and Colin had fun putting a whole bunch of toys in front of Jaden to see what he'd do. (Answer: eventually get frustrated that he couldn't reach all of them, put his face down to the floor, and cry until someone took pity on him.)

Soon we'll get to celebrate Christmas with a baby in the house again! So fun!

family picture day

2010-11-28T18:55:00.003-06:00

We went out last Monday to get our pictures taken by our extremely talented friend Mandy Lackey. It was a very windy day, and Jaden had a cold and wanted a nap, but we managed to get hopefully at least a few good shots! Here are some she sent us as a sneak peek:

Song: "Saturday Night"

2010-11-26T15:20:00.001-06:00

Greg Whitehead - Saturday Night by GWGumby

Just finished another song thanks to some extra days off before Thanksgiving. This one came together quite quickly. It's a song about going out to have fun once in a while. Not very deep, but there you go.

As usual, "Saturday Night" was written, performed, sung and recorded by me (Greg). This one is a bit less synthy than many of my other songs, but I guess it's nice to mix things up a bit now and again.

Here's a YouTube Video with the typical static image:

Song: "Video Life"

2010-11-18T09:23:00.002-06:00

Greg Whitehead - Video Life by GWGumby
It's been nearly 11 months since the last song that I wrote. I haven't given up, I've just had other things to focus on this past year. I took a musical break after the last song I finished and then found myself hyper-concentrating on my quest to get myself into shape.

I just recently re-set up all my equipment in another room and finally sat down to try working on some ideas and somehow this song erupted out in less than 4 days. My hope is to finish a few more before the end of the year with the various holiday breaks coming up.

"Video Life" was sparked by my browsing through back log of Netflix's "Watch Instantly" section. Once you get past the first few pages of semi-recognizable movies, you eventually start finding some really weird stuff. One title that stood out to me was a horror movie called "The Video Dead." My mind kind of started riffing on the idea of video coming to life like what's being presented here or in the movie "The Ring." However, not wanting to dwell on the horror aspect, I switched "Dead" to its natural opposite "Life." Somehow "Video Life" had a great ring to it. It brought to me back to the 80s with the start of MTV and video shows like "Friday Night Video," and songs like "Video Killed the Radio Star" and "Living on Video." So now with bands like The Buggles and Devo in mind (with their song with a similar lyric in rhythm "It's a Beautiful World,") I started sketching out the loose concept of someone from the 80s who has made a video that's going to premiere on a show called "Video Life," and how the whole world is now moving to video. There's also some shades of today's world with reality TV and YouTube and how easy it is to capture and share your life through video.

Like the rest of my songs, "Video Life" was written, performed, sung, and recorded all by me using my usual equipment, the Korg R3 and Roland JV-1080.

The YouTube video is just a still photo. I am fully aware of the irony of writing a song all about video and then posting a static image with it instead. I hope you can all forgive me.

Baby blessing, cars and other stuff

2010-11-14T18:07:00.007-06:00

Time for more pictures of the random happenings in our lives! Jaden keeps getting bigger and cuter every day. He's teething now, so he'll chew on whatever is available:

Jaden is getting better at tummy time (though he still complains a lot about it), and is lifting himself up and rolling around a bit.

The boys keep having fun with their younger brother. Colin just HAD to see what Jaden would look like with his Mario hat! It was just a teensy bit big for him just yet.

Here's Colin showing Jaden what he looked like in his spiffy white tux before his baby blessing:

Greg and Jaden

Maria and Jaden

We actually got Colin to take a picture of us where our heads weren't cut off! (:

Proud older brothers holding Jaden

This star on Jaden's gym is his favorite toy. He loves to watch it and bat it to make it play music.

Jaden all wrapped up in a towel after bathtime

Colin and Spencer reading the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book together

This is the kind of thing I have to contend with when taking pictures of the boys.

This is a picture of a VW show that Greg took the boys to

Here's a bug Colin liked

And here's a dune buggy Spencer liked

We saw this car at a gas station on the way home from church today. We stopped and talked to the owner, and he was nice enough to let us take pictures.

It was a 1937 Chevy Coupe, in case anyone is interested. Sweet car!

Colin & Spencer: Award Winning Artists

2010-11-08T13:28:00.000-06:00

During a recent trip to Home Depot, the boys noticed a coloring contest that the store was holding. Maria brought home a page for both of them to color and they began plotting what they could do to win the top prizes.

Colin decided he would elaborate on the original picture by adding a background and other details. Spencer decided he would spend extra time coloring very carefully and thoroughly. After getting on mom's case, Maria eventually returned to Home Depot to enter their pictures into the contest.

This afternoon Maria received a call from Home Depot telling her that Colin had won first place! He was extremely excited and Spencer was being a good sport and a supportive brother by congratulating him. Not more than a minute later, the phone rang again and there was the same person from Home Depot calling to inform us that Spencer had won third place! So we immediately ran over to the store (thanks to home schooling and lunch break at work) to pick up their prizes.

Colin won a $50 prize pack, and Spencer won a $15 prize pack. Since it was a safety theme, both packs had a smoke detector and a pretty full emergency kit (first aid items, emergency blanket, MREs, matches and candles, and a few other things). In addition, Colin got a double flash light kit, a fire extinguisher, an emergency blanket/sleeping back, and a Home Depot water bottle (and probably one or two more items that escape me at the moment.)

Here's a couple more pictures of the boys with their award-winning artwork (Colin's is sideways so you can read the "1st Winner" award) and their prize bags.

Jaden - 13 weeks

2010-11-04T04:57:00.003-05:00

This little guy is 13 weeks old today, and will be 3 months old tomorrow. It's amazing how fast babies change and grow! He is making all sorts of sounds (lately he's gotten really good at imitating what we say) and laughing and reaching out and grabbing things - his hands are always busy, busy, busy. We still consider it a miracle that he joined our family, and we all adore him!

Greg Fitness Update: 50 pounds

2010-10-31T21:07:00.001-05:00

(Warning: Gratuitous fat guy photos included below.)
Starting Weight: 314
Current Weight: 263

Well, somehow after having a slow month in September, things ramped up in October and I lost over 10 pounds this month alone! So I finally hit the 50 pound mark, my half way point.

I don't have a lot to report beyond the milestone. I'm still just doing the same things like running several times a week, (it's starting to cool down, so I've been using the treadmill a little more!) elliptical, stationary bike, workout DVDs, volleyball, walking, and generally being more active. Oh, and being sick. Apparently that can help occasionally as well for a few pounds.

I've been taking pictures each month to document my progress. I think now that I'm at the half way point, I feel comfortable enough in showing some comparison shots. Here are some pictures of me from May at about 305, next to a picture of me mid-October at about 270. There's still a lot to go, but you can definitely see the progress. Apologies in advance for those who don't like the site of a half-naked hairy fat guy. :)

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T10:10:00.007-05:00

Happy Halloween! Here is another week of photos, including our costumes at last night's Trunk-or-Treat at our church.

Here's a Jaden in a box. Wouldn't you like one for Christmas?

The boys opening their present - they loved it! (;

Jaden showing good taste in his choice of a teether.

Jaden chewing on his musical giraffe in his swing. Have I mentioned what a lifesaver a cradle swing is? We LOVE this thing!

Jaden waiting for the doctor at his 2-month checkup. Little did he know what was in store for him. ):

Sweet sleeping baby on a couch.

Jaden looking up - he's always trying to look at things in every direction.

Colin and Jaden having some bro time on the couch.

Hatching evil plans together.

More boppy sleeping on the couch. I won't be able to get away with this once he starts rolling more.

Okay, Halloween stuff now. I went into Colin's bedroom yesterday and found that he had laid out everything he needed for his costume hours ahead of time:

He turned his Pooky teddy bear into Dobby, and made his own Marauder's Map to carry with him.

Colin even turned this white bathrobe into a Hedwig costume for Jaden. I thought he was really creative, and so sweet to make his baby brother a costume!

The boys and me showing off our costumes. (You can't really see the two owls on my shoulders that Colin put there, but I'm supposed to be an owlery, since I'd be holding Jaden.) I'm happy to say that the black and orange hair dye washed out of the boys' hair - I was a little nervous about that!

Harry Potter and Hedwig together

Greg's costume he made - the sign says "Snickers Race to the End of the Race." He got a lot of laughs, but also had a lot of little kids grabbing the candy.

Jaden seeing his first dog at the Trunk-or-Treat. He was pretty interested!

I'm glad we were able to celebrate Halloween yesterday - not just because we don't trick-or-treat on Sunday, but because poor Jaden caught Greg's cold and is miserable today. ):

October pictures

2010-10-24T17:37:00.003-05:00

It's been almost a month since I posted pictures! Jaden is 11 weeks old and changing all the time. He loves to stand or sit with support, and is constantly interested in the world around him. He is a very happy baby, and smiles a lot (in fact, just tonight he laughed for the first time - at Colin - but we don't have it on video yet). Here are some pictures from the month, in no particular order:

Colin and Spencer making Jaden smile

Tummy time. He can scoot a little, but mostly swivels sideways.

Sleepy Jaden with his binkie (he wants to be a thumbsucker, and I'm trying my best to discourage that. It's MUCH easier to take away a binkie later than a thumb!)

Jaden smiling at Greg

Colin was excited that he finally learned how to climb the tree in our front yard

Colin and Jaden having fun together.

Jaden conked out on his gym. I love his sweet sleeping face!

Maria and Jaden having a contest to see who could smile bigger.

Jaden won!

After learning how to make about 18 different kinds of paper airplanes, Spencer invented his own.

More Colin and Jaden. They really love each other!

We went to a pumpkin patch earlier this month. This is how Jaden spent the entire time: asleep.

Spencer posing in the pumpkin house

Colin and Spencer hanging outside the hay maze with Harry Potter and friends

Spencer in a truck at the pumpkin patch

Colin on a hayride

And some more sleeping Jaden. I could have woken him up, but I really don't think he would have cared much. (:

Fitness Update -- 40 pounds!

2010-09-30T08:00:00.003-05:00

Starting Weight: 314
Current Weight: 274

It's been two months, a little longer than I wanted, but now I've finally hit 40. Looking up items to compare that weight loss to, the closest I could think to relate it to is one of those 5 gallon water jugs that everyone hates to replace on the water cooler! Those things are heavy and it's crazy to think that's how much lighter I am from the beginning of the year.

With the new baby I was unsure about how my weight loss would continue. But surprisingly, the first week or so of the new baby it came off quickly. I was down to about 278. Then after a weekend of eating Chinese food three times, I suddenly bounced back up to 283 then 284. I thought maybe it was water retention from all the salt in the Chinese food, but I somehow got stuck at 282 for about two weeks until it finally started to come down again. It's weird how the body works. I have no idea how it's possible to gain 5 pounds in a single day and have to work it all back off again. Then I got stuck right at the border of 275 again for another couple weeks until I finally hit 274 today!

Still got a belly, but shrinking.

Most of my exercise still consists of running at least three times a week, regular use of my stationary bike and elliptical. My poor treadmill has been left mostly abandoned since I have found I prefer running outside. Maybe when it gets colder, I'll stay inside a bit more.

I recently started talking with a health coach as a service provided by my company with a call every four weeks. She suggested I use more variation in my exercise particularly in introducing more high-intensity intervals. Rather than just jogging at a regular speed, try and vary speed and intensity to keep the body guessing. As a result, I have restarted the Couch-to-5K program which starts with intervals, but rather than walking/jogging intervals, I'm jogging/running. We'll see if that will help bring my 5k run time down. I'm still running the 3 miles in about 50 minutes and my goal is to get it to around 30. But hey, I'm running 3 miles--I've never been able to say that before.

I've now reintroduced clothes back into my wardrobe that I'd pretty much retired years ago. Maria also insisted we go clothes shopping for me because my regular pants are way to baggy on me now. This is the first time I bought pants to "grow into" that are smaller than my current pair.

By the way, now that Maria's been given the all clear from her doctor, and we've gotten a bit more used to the baby's schedule, she's getting ready to join me in my weight loss efforts. So any encouragement from any of you out there on her behalf would be welcome. :)

More baby cuteness and other stuff

2010-09-26T19:35:00.006-05:00

It's been a fun couple of weeks with Jaden. He's gotten so much more alert and aware of the world around him, so it's been fun to introduce him to toys and playthings. He's making lots of sounds and likes to watch our lips intently and respond when we talk.

Here's Jaden sitting up in a Bumbo chair

Colin imitating Jaden in his gym

Greg supporting Jaden as he stands and takes steps. He LOVES to be held upright.

Colin posing with Jaden in his carseat

This picture turned out blurry, but I loved Jaden's smile with his tongue out!

Spencer bouncing Jaden up and down - he likes being in the jumper but doesn't quite have the wherewithal to do the jumping himself yet.

Colin taking a turn bouncing Jaden

Jaden asleep in his jumper - all worn out after too much fun!

Spencer and Jaden having a staring contest

Jaden's cute little profile as he looks up

Greg holding Jaden out so he can fly like an airplane (;

Aunt Sandi and Jaden

Colin and Spencer with their cousins at Subway

Colin trying to make the same face as Jaden - what a ham!

Colin and Jaden again

Colin and Spencer holding up the little fish they caught in a river at a nearby park

Jaden hanging out on his boppy and looking curious

Jaden sitting at the table with us in his highchair. He likes being where he can see us.

Jaden asleep in his activity center

Jaden discovering his toes - ooh, interesting!

A short video of Jaden sneezing and reacting. I already posted this and the next video on Facebook, but I know some people read our blog that don't get on Facebook.

Jaden smiling and making sounds

Jaden 1 month, school starting

2010-09-12T10:23:00.007-05:00

Our little boy is over a month old now! We can't imagine our family without him. He's gotten so much more alert and interested in his surroundings, and he's started making the cutest sounds! Here are some photos from the last couple of weeks:

Jaden asleep on my lap. I could watch him sleeping for hours, if it didn't hurt my back so much. (; He seems to finally be getting his days and nights sorted out, which is a REAL blessing!

Colin holding Jaden. He'll be a great dad someday. He loves holding Jaden, and I can always count on him to reliably watch his little brother when I need him to (which is how I actually manage to get a shower in every day).

Colin loves to entertain Jaden. Here he put a stuffed animal in every direction Jaden could look at.

Jaden in his cradle swing. I LOVE this thing, and I love whoever invented it. It's been a lifesaver, especially while Jaden has had a cold and needed to sleep upright.

Fun with Jaden's hair after a bath - Greg gave him a mohawk.

Greg and Jaden

Jaden modeling one of the cute outfits his Grandma Whitehead bought for him

Another random picture of him on my lap

Jaden enjoying his new toy. He likes to chew on it.

Greg holding a sleeping Jaden.

The boys started school the day after Labor day. I haven't taken formal school pictures or anything yet, but here they are at work on the first day:

Colin decided Friday's theme was Halloween, so here he's dressed as Harry Potter and doing a Halloween-themed drawing.

Spencer had already taken off his costume at this point ("it itched"), but here he is doing his Halloween drawing:

Both boys read 'Origami Yoda' last week, and Spencer had fun figuring out how to make an origami Yoda of his own.

In other news, we stopped by a car show on the side of the road and the boys were excited to see some really cool cars. We took a lot of pictures to send to their car-loving grandpa so he could share in the fun.

10 years of Colin

2010-08-30T13:29:00.007-05:00

My (oldest) baby is 10 today! I used to think people were exaggerating when they'd tell me how fast the years go by - but it's true! I can't believe Colin is only three years away from being a teenager! I thought it would be fun to celebrate the last decade with some photos chronicling his changes from year to year.

Colin as a newborn

Colin's first professional picture - at about 10 weeks old.

1 year old, just before moving from Utah to Texas

2 years old - this was the birthday that he refused to let go of his balloon for something like three days, other than when he fell asleep. It made bathing and dressing interesting!

3 years old, dressed up as a fireman

4 years old - the Peter Pan stage where he didn't go anywhere without his Peter Pan hat and dagger! It was HARD to find green clothes that year, too!

5 years old, all ready for his Star Wars party

6 years old, with one of his presents

7 years old

8 years old - and a new Cub Scout!

9 years old, approving of his birthday cheesecake

10 years old - all the brothers together

Birthday muffins (made by Spencer) with the traditional monkey plate and cup

Getting some birthday love from Spencer while wearing the birthday crown

It's been a wonderful 10 years. This kid is a constant source of joy and entertainment. We love you, Colin!

Grandma's visit and lots more pictures

2010-08-26T17:12:00.012-05:00

Jaden is three weeks old today, so it's been two weeks since my last blog post. That means I've taken about 2,000 more pictures. Just kidding - kind of.

When Jaden was a week old, his Grandma Eileen Whitehead got to come visit for a few days. It was wonderful having her here! In addition to helping out a lot with cleaning and cooking, she got to spend lots of quality time holding Jaden and also having fun with the rest of us. She's an elementary school teacher, and always has lots of fun ideas for projects. This time she made tape bodies of the boys - which uses LOTS of rolls of packing tape and lots of time, so be warned if you decide to try it - and the results were hysterical. The boys loved it. It's a little tricky figuring out where to keep two life-sized tape bodies - I'm tempted to hang them from the ceiling like a mobile!

Lots of Grandma love

At church with Grandma and Colin

Jaden modeling the blessing outfit Grandma bought for him, along with the beautiful blanket that she knitted.

A tux and a diaper - why not?

Grandma cutting the tape off Spencer's arm for his tape body

Doing a tape torso

Spencer holding his legs

The boys are beside themselves!

With Grandma

It's been fun having a baby in the house. One of the biggest challenges will probably be keeping him from being too spoiled as he grows up, surrounded as he is by two adoring older brothers as well as parents and other family. He's a lucky kid. Colin frequently holds him and says "He is the cutest thing I've EVER seen in my ENTIRE life!!"

I love this look on Colin's face. He really, really loves Jaden.

Greg and Jaden having a staring contest

Jaden in one of his favorite sleeping spots

In his chair, watching Baby Einstein for the first time (surprisingly, it held his interest most of the time)

Daddy and Jaden looking at his iPhone

In his play gym

Colin trying to entertain Jaden

Tummy time

I love all the different faces he makes!!!

Asleep on the couch. I love those little sleep sacks.

On Greg's tummy, looking up at the fan

Looking up seems to be one of his favorite things to do

Cute pictures taken by Greg. It's handy having a camera on hand at all times!

I love that smile!!!

Contemplating life from his seat on the couch

More sleeping on Daddy

Hanging out on the Boppy

Checking out Daddy's goatee

Watching TV with Greg

Sweet sleeping baby. I love those cheeks!

With a hat made by a friend in Utah

Modeling the hat, bear and blanket his Aunt Sharie made for him

On a blanket made by some girls in our church

Yummy giraffe!

Greg took Colin to a Yu-Gi-Oh Tournament last week as an early birthday present (Colin turns 10 on the 30th). Colin was so excited, and spent all day getting ready for it.

Here's a clay Gumby that Spencer made

A picture by Colin

Picture by Spencer

Stop Motion Fun

2010-08-22T20:17:00.005-05:00

Recently I purchased a fun little app on the iPhone called "StopMotion Recorder." This is something I wish I had as a kid because I've always loved animation and I always wanted to be able to make stop motion movies, but never had a good method to do so.

I got it not just for myself, but especially for the boys. Spencer really loves modeling clay and I thought it would be fun for him to bring some of his creations to life. Both boys really took to this app and have been running around making little movies for the past few weeks. Maria has had to fight to have a chance to use her phone. Mine is less available since I take it to work with me. :)

Anyway, here's a sampling of some of their work. They're all really short, usually lasting around 6-15 seconds each. Some of them are so short that they loop a few times just to keep it interesting.

Colin shoots an arrow at Spencer:

Spencer does some stop motion with clay:

Spencer shows off his amazing skill:

1-week-old Jaden scoots around the front room:

Colin's bottom takes over:

Having some fun with Spencer:

Building a Lego house:

This is just a small sampling of everything they've done. Maybe we'll show some more later, but I think that should do it for now. I'm pretty impressed with a lot of the ideas that they come up with and hope they will keep trying new ones in the future.

Video of Jaden

2010-08-17T21:33:00.002-05:00

Here is video proof of just how infatuated our entire family is with our sweet little Jaden. He was awake and alert and we had fun playing with him for a few minutes.

And then there were five . . .

2010-08-13T19:42:00.001-05:00

This post was originally written on Thursday - it just took me a little while to actually finish it!

Jaden is a week old today. I'm going to celebrate by finally blogging about his birth and the past week that we've had him to enjoy. He is so precious - the entire family just adores him!

Last Thursday, August 5th, we dropped Colin and Spencer off at the Gee's house for the day (thank you!) and then headed to the hospital for a 7:30 induction. I'd heard about people having to wait for a bed to be free, so I was relieved when they got me right in.

Me right before being hooked up to everything

They had my pitocin hooked up, and then my doctor came and broke my water around 9:00. I asked a nurse how long I should expect to wait for contractions to start, and she said probably around 1-2 hours. I was surprised when my contractions started only 15 or 20 minutes later! They started at 1 minute long and 4-5 minutes apart, and I progressed really fast. My friend Suzanne came to the hospital for support and helped talk me through the contractions, which REALLY helped me relax.

Suzanne and me

Then my new best friend the anesthesiologist showed up and gave me an epidural, so I was able to smile again and converse normally. I think the funniest part of the whole process was when the nurses weren't even going to check me, but finally did and found out I was already completely dilated and ready to have the baby! Everything went pretty quickly after that, and Jaden was born at 3:08 pm, weighing in at 8 pounds 15 ounces and 21.5" long.

Brand-new Jaden, not looking too thrilled about the whole process

Me right after birth, looking more drugged out than I thought I was. I was happy, though!

Proud daddy holding Jaden

Me finally getting to meet Jaden with Greg looking on

Dr. Merrill and Jaden

Aubrey brought the kids up to see the baby, and they all brought in cards and flowers and a balloon and chocolates - so sweet! They got to be there for his first bath and hold him for a minute, then she took them back home until Greg went to get them at bedtime.

The four Whitehead boys together for the first time

Greg and Jaden - he looks like he's smiling!

Spencer holding Jaden for the first time

Colin holding Jaden for the first time

Aubrey holding Jaden

Jaden enjoying a nice back scrub with his first bath

Me holding Jaden after his bath

One of the things that really impressed me about the hospital was what I believe they called their "baby-friendly" policy - they had me hold Jaden skin-to-skin for a nice long while soon after he was born, and they really encouraged rooming in and having the baby for at least 23 out of 24 hours. It was wonderful having him right there. What was NOT so wonderful was the stinking hospital bed, which constantly was automatically inflating and deflating noisily, which I couldn't sleep through at all. I finally unplugged the bed, but that was even worse since it left me sleeping in a crater. I got maybe two hours of sleep that night. Needless to say, I was all for checking out early and not having to suffer through another night at the hospital! (:

Jaden getting his hearing tested

At some point in the night when Jaden was quietly awake and super-cute

Friday morning Greg brought the boys up to spend time with us. Later in the morning my brother and sister-in-law, Clark and Sandi, came to visit and hold Jaden, and my parents came up for a while as well.

Colin and Spencer having fun tickling Jaden

Clark holding Jaden

Sandi holding Jaden

My dad Fred holding Jaden

My mom Louise holding Jaden

Jaden and I were both pronounced well enough to leave, so we headed home around 6:30 or so. It was WONDERFUL to be back in my own bed again! Still not a lot of sleep, but at least I was comfortable! (:

Finally at home and holding my sweet little munchkin. This is his very favorite place to sleep.

So cute cute cute!

My parents stayed for almost a week. It was good to have them here - in fact, my dad wasn't able to be around when the other two were born, so this is the first newborn of mine he's seen. My dad being who he is (must be productive ALWAYS!) saw that my shower was leaking and the tiles falling off, so he ripped the wall out Monday and spent the next three days in my bathroom fixing it. It caused a certain amount of construction debris and stress, especially when he used a grinder in the dining room and inadvertently covered the house in gray dust, but I truly appreciate having a functional shower again! My mom helped out with cooking and cleaning and holding the baby and such.

Now, here are lots more pictures of Jaden! Enjoy!

Fitness Update -- 30 pounds!

2010-08-03T08:07:00.000-05:00

I've lost 30 pounds this year! I just crossed the thirty pound line this morning and I'm very excited at the progress I've made. I'm still amazed that I've been able to get this far, and awed at how much more I still have to go--but I feel more and more like I can actually get there. In fact, I keep adjusting the finish line further than I thought I would go when I started. My main goal now is 100 pounds, which seemed impossible when I started. Now, I feel I could go even further if I keep at it.

I recently looked up classifications of obesity, and learned that at the beginning of the year I was classified as "morbidly obese"--meaning I was probably just moments away from giving up, throwing away my old clothes, and moving on to muumuus like in the Homer picture. Now I actually have room in my clothes. Maria says my shirts look "blousey" now that my belly is no longer threatening to burst out of them at any moment. I'm pulling my belt tighter and tighter every day. I have photographs where I can actually see physical differences now. I'm not quite ready to share them yet, but I will in a future post. Maybe when I hit 50 pounds.

I finished the Couch-to-5k program a couple weeks ago. I got myself up to running 30 minutes at a time. Something I never thought I'd do, weight-loss or no. Now I'm still trying to go out running several days a week. It's harder to push myself without having a specific program to run to any more, but I can still get myself out on the road in the mornings. We bought an elliptical trainer earlier this year that I could only do 5 minutes at a time on at first. Now I regularly do 30 minutes on that as well.

I just got a fancy pedometer from a program at work that keeps track of my steps every day. It uploads to a site that offers incentive rewards for hitting a minimum number of steps every day (7,000) plus recording exercise and other fitness activities. So I've got an extra incentive to keep myself going every day and get a few more steps in. Plus there's the friendly competition with other co-workers.

So anyway, 30 pounds lost. At least 70 more to go. Feeling better. Looking better. Eating healthier. Moving more. I think that about sums it up for now.

Almost there . . .

2010-07-25T19:55:00.002-05:00

I've had to lay low for the last week and couple of days, ever since I went to an OB appointment and had my blood pressure high enough that they sent me to the hospital for monitoring. My doctor put me on bedrest for the weekend, and when I went back the following Monday, it was still high normal so he wanted me to continue to stay off my feet as much as possible (easier said than done!).

I have another OB visit tomorrow, hopefully with better news. In the meantime, here's what I look like as of today:

Yup. About to pop. I am SO ready to have this baby!!!! My original due date is this coming Friday, but based on the ultrasound they changed it to August 8th (2 weeks from today, but who's counting?). I'm still hoping the original date was right!!! (: