The Sias Family

One year ago today …

J & M — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:17:15 +0000

… at 2:12 in the afternoon …

Crazy.

First haircut

J & M — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:07:17 +0000

So, we took James for his first haircut the other day. It’s not that it was really, really long or anything; but it was gettin’ kind of raggedy around his ears and in the back, and one side seemed quite a bit longer than the other.

Anyway, I took some pictures. Enjoy.

Gettin’ back into the swing of things

J & M — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 03:14:56 +0000

I don’t really know what happened, but if 2008 is any indication of the future, summertime is no longer a time for rest and relaxation. Somehow, this summer has been more stressful than last summer … and last summer, we were moving to a new state, starting a new graduate program, and expecting our first child. So really, I’ve been looking forward to the start of the Fall semester more than ever before. And everything kicks off tomorrow (Monday) morning.

This semester, my course load falls from 4 to 3 classes, but I’ll also start TA-ing … which will more than make up for the loss of a class. For those of you who might be interested (i.e., nobody), I’m taking a course on the history of moral philosophy, a seminar on meta-philosophy, and a seminar on truth (i.e., what does it mean for something to be “true”?). And I’m TA-ing for a course on practical ethics (covering issues like war, medical ethics, sexual ethics, racism, sexism, capital punishment, and the environment), which ought to be interesting (as opposed to the mind-numbingly boring class I had to teach at Georgia State).

Anyway, that’s that. On a side note, the Georgia Bulldogs are #1 in both the preseason AP Poll and Coach’s Poll. It’ll be ridiculously tough to make it through our schedule unscathed, but I don’t think I could even possibly be any more excited than I am to see the college football season get started.

Here’s a name you should learn if you haven’t already: Knowshon Moreno.

Back in North Cackalacky

J & M — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:28:34 +0000

Okay, Molly and I (and James and Clem) are settling back into the swing of things in North Carolina after being away for more than 2 weeks. We left for Georgia in the last week of July so we could be there for the arrival of Lucy Campbell. Then we dropped James off at my parents’ place and headed to the beach for a few days. It was the first time since James was born that Molly and I were able to have more than just a few hours to ourselves, so that was cool. And it was the first time in almost a year that Molly was able to sleep, uninterrupted, for as long as she wanted. We missed James a lot, but I gotta say, the word “vacation” took on a whole new meaning. It was so weird not having to constantly think of what James is going to need during the next minute … hour … day, etc.

When we returned to Georgia, we threw some early birthday parties for James (one with Molly’s family and one with mine), which are pictured below. James loved being the center of attention, as usual. And we got our first real taste of what it’s like when your kid’s on a sugar-high.

We finally got back up to North Carolina this past Monday (the 11th). A few minor crises later (e.g., I left my keys in Georgia and the neighborhood association was threatening to tow my truck if I didn’t move it before tomorrow morning, etc.), we’re relaxing, enjoying the Olympics, and looking forward to the start of the Fall semester next week.

So here are some pictures and videos. I didn’t bother taking pictures of our trip to the beach because (a) I really don’t think any of you care to see pictures of us unless James is also in the picture, and (b) I trust you all know what a beach looks like. Sand, water, and people wearing bathing suits that I wish they’d rethink.

He loves feeding his snacks to Clem … and I’m sure the feelings are mutual.

Clem’s thinking, “It’s like takin’ candy from a baby.” And James thinks it’s hilarious.

Apparently, Daddy’s super awesome box rides aren’t nearly as fun as the dog.

The Sias family and the Campbell family, sans dogs.

Gettin’ ready to party.

He used to picky about what sorts of things he touched. Not anymore. Zero hesitation. Here’s a video of him taking his first bite:

It’s hard to believe that any of it actually ended up inside his mouth.

Molly made the mistake of leaning to close to him, and he ran his icing-covered fingers through her hair and across her cheek. Here’s a video if it happening:

Eventually, he made his way down to the actual cake of the cupcake. Here’s a video of him taking his last few bites:

Opening presents. The blue button under his fingers makes honking noises, which he loved (it kinda looks like he’s crying, but he’s actually laughing).

And here he is drooling all over it.

Chillin’ at Lake Hartwell.

He likes boat rides, but …

… apparently, naptime couldn’t wait any longer.

Listening as Molly reads him his birthday card.

As Molly’s unwraps a new book, James is thinking, “Yeah, yeah, whatever. What’s in the big box?”

This thing goes from something he rocks back and forth on … to something he rides (while we push) … to a tricycle.

At first, I think the flame on the candle made him nervous …

… but once he realized what was going on, he started smiling.

Pictures of Lucy Campbell

J & M — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 02:10:28 +0000

We visited Mark, Janna, and Lucy in the hospital today, and this time, we actually remembered to put some batteries in our camera. So here are some pictures.

And Molly wanted me to add an old shot of James, similar to that last one of Lucy, for the sake of comparison:

We were talking earlier about how neat it is that, even at just 1 day old, Lucy’s face is distinctively girlish and James’ was distinctively boyish.