land of Cleves Part II: The Machados

So much to our delight and surprise the Machados decided to come down from Michigan and visit us in Cleveland. The land of Cleves is significantly closer to Schwartzcreek Michigan than St. Louis and so they decided to come for a visit while were closer. They came down Saturday night and hung with us, then came to church with us on Sunday, hung out through the afternoon before heading back. It was great to see them and give them a chance to hang with their god-daughter (Emma Jane), as well a chance for us to see our god-son (Samuel).

Always prim and proper, Marcos and Hannah pose with Emma Jane.

Meanwhile, their children sat entranced by a magical box that tells stories

Marcos and Hannah with Parker and Emma Jane

It has been eight months since Samuel has seen the girls, and yet he has found it no easier choose between them. (At least he has moved on from the smell their feet test)

It was wonderful seeing them. We had a great time.

Chicago whirlwind wedding trip

Sooooo...a couple of weeks ago we braved a trip to Chicago.  What would cause us to brave such a harrowing trip with two wee babes?  Why, the nuptials of one of my dearest friends, Scott Sexton of course.  What made this wedding especially fun is that it was a "Tower Player" wedding, and they are always sure to be chalk full of stupid silliness, as indeed this one was.

We had been looking forward to this trip and dreading it for some time.  Looking forward to it because, we would be seeing friends we had not seen in a long time, and others we can never see enough of.  Not looking forward to it because traveling to the city of Chicago was sure to be filled with all sorts of baby tensions.

Turned out, due to the hard work of other people, we had nothing to worry about.  The trip was made possible due to the hard work of Nana, she came along with us just to help with the babies (now that is unconditional love).  Nana flew to St. Louis, so she could drive with us to Chicago and help in the car, and then watched the girls in the evenings when we were at the rehearsal dinner on Friday night, and on Saturday night while we were at the wedding and at the reception.  Leaving us free to....

...to enjoy ourselves...and, for me at any rate, to act like...um....well...this guy...

The trip also wouldn't have happened without the gracious kindness of Paul and Emily.  They, because they are amazing people, gave up their apartment and allowed us to take it over with our motley crew.  (Thanks Paul and Emily!!)

On the last day, a bunch of us got together to introduce each other to our kids.

All in all it was a great trip

"Hey Paul"

"Yes Emma Jane"

"Do we have to go home?  We've been having so much fun"
"Sorry Emma Jane...all good things come to an end"

PS Paul's Birthday is tomorrow (the 24th) say happy birthday!

PPS Marcos Machado's (Emma Jane's god-father) birthday is tomorrow, say happy birthday!

PPPS  Steve and Becky Gadlin's wedding anniversary is tomorrow, say happy anniversary!

Happy Birthday Samuel

Samuel Eduardo Machado is our godson. His parents (Marcos and Hannah) are Emma Jane's godparents. Today is Samuel's birthday. Now godparents worth having would probably have called today, but us? Nope. In our defense we were a little distracted by Marcos and Hannah's goddaughter who was being a pain in the...um...neck. Anybody want a colicky baby? How about a colicky baby who won't eat? Cause we got one. I won't say which baby we're talking about...just that her name rhymes with Hemma Blane.
In all seriousness, Emma Jane has had a rough day. Yesterday wasn't great for her, but today she just decided that she wanted to cry instead of eat. Luckily Mary Jane got to come home early from work because when she got here dad was pretty near tears. He was convinced the girl was deathly ill because she wouldn't eat and usually Emma Jane is all about the food. Okay...I'm exaggerating a little, I didn't think she was deathly ill, but I did learn something else about myself. Turns out I can ignore the crying and cuddle and coo and not let it phase me, but if they seem like they are in pain it just breaks the lump of coal I have hidden away in a Tupperware container where my heart should be.
All this is a way of saying...Marcos, Hannah sorry we didn't call today. It's 10:50 your time now and we figure it's too late. But know we were thinking about you and were meaning to. Tell Samuel we said Happy Birthday.

We love you guys.





When the Machados were in town a couple of weeks ago I told Samuel he could pick out his future wife. Here we see Samuel resorting to the sniff test. Who ever has the smelliest feet is out.

And we have a winner!

If you are curious to know Samuel's thoughts on this and, well all things Samuel you should check out his blog.

A flurry of blog activity

After a veritable drought in the posting department there has been a sudden flurry of activity. To what do we owe all this excitement and cuteness? It's hard to say. It could simply be a growing sense of guilt fostered by those who still check the blog on a regular basis. It could be due to a little extra time given to the blog, rather than sleep. It could be because we have had a couple of good eating days, although I definitely hesitate to attribute it to this, because if this were the case, and I by no means am suggesting that it is, but if it were the case, and little ears were to be listening in, why, then they might get it in their wee little heads to start stinking up their feeds again (meant in this case in a metaphorical way, however they are quite good at doing that in a literal way).
It could also just be the fact that there are suddenly a whole lot of people in town for what is sure to be an exciting, yet busy weekend (speaking of which...if you want to see an example of a sudden blizzard of blogging activity, head over to Marcos and Hannah's blog {Emma Jane's Godparents} They have had nearly half a dozen posts just since they got into town this morning!). Whatever the cause, we here at the home office hope you a) have noticed. b) haven't quite given up on us yet. and 3) enjoy

(pictured above...Emma Jane lounging around)

Parker, getting ready to make her social debut. While her sister was at the nephrologist the other day, Parker decided it was time to go meet some people. She took a quick trip to the church during non peak hours so she could meet a few people, without being overwhelmed or exposed to a lot of germs during flu season. This was so successful that she headed over to the school. The germ factories...er...students...were gone, but she was able to meet a number of the teachers. Parker was pretty excited, and pretty nervous about this whole trip. She was constantly worried about how her hair looked, but with her comb in her back pocket she was ready for any needed last minute fixes.

In an attempt to spread good will and harmony throughout the world, Parker and Emma Jane sat for together for a photo shoot. "If we can get along, so can all of you"

Personally, I am thinking that if you just brought this picture to Israel and passed it around to all the Israelites and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and...presto...problem solved. How can you have fighting and violence when there is such cuteness in the world?

"Can we stop being cute yet?"
"Just keep looking at the camera."