Today (March 27th) is Jenny’s birthday! So here’s a wishing her a happy birthday! Thanks for being such wonderful wife and mother!
Love,
JR, Olivia, and Red
PS. Feel free to add comments with your own birthday greetings!
We started a web page when Jenny was pregnant with Oliva to share news and updates with family. Then we were using the free web space provided by our Internet Service Provider (ISP). But the space went quickly after she was born and we wanted to post more pictures. So we started investigating web hosts and asking our friends for recommendations. We ended up registering this domain (www.drozmonkey.com) at www.8-95.com. Not only did they register our domain for 1 year for $15, but with a new domain they also provide free web hosting. It is 20 MB of space and you can check out all the details, but that’s what we’ve been using and it has been great. We’ll probably upgrade to one of their paid plans shortly just to get more space for pictures, but it was really nice to be able to get the domain name and ‘test drive’ the web host. 8-95′s motto of “web hosting when you don’t need your hands held or your forehead patted” was a little daunting, but I wouldn’t let that scare you off. I think you would be on your own with most web hosts and your best resources would be the web and friends. So if you are looking to get your own web pages started we’ve had a good experience with 8-95.com and figured we’d pass it along.
So how do we run our website? Well the core of our website is WordPress, which is an open source (free) software package for blogging. There are a lot of benefits to it and similar packages versus traditional web site development. In traditional website development you create the web pages on your computer using software like Microsoft Front Page, and then upload them to the site. So there can be a lot of maintenance involved if you want your website to change frequently. With WordPress, it uses Themes which makes all the pages looks similar and you can download lots of different themes. In our case we started with a theme and then modified to our taste. The next thing is that to add content to our webpage, we just log in. Once logged in, there is an administrative interface page which lets us manage our web site from our website. So if we want to add a post, we just log in and start typing. WordPress also supports plug-ins to add extra functionality. For example, we use Contact Form ][ (WP-2.0.x) for our contact page, WeatherIcon for the weather on the sidebar of the main page, and ChenPress (although setting up a WYSIWYG editor isn’t always easy). The biggest thing is that we now spend our time sharing our information, rather than learning how to design and publish web pages. But if you are into that kind of thing you can get your hands dirty with WordPress, themes, and plug-ins too! So Jenny and I can both be happy using it.
If you’ve got a favorite theme, plug-in, or WordPress hack let us know!
While JR was traveling for work, my mom and grandma came to visit Olivia & I. They arrived late on St. Patrick’s Day (Friday) and were originally planning a short trip with a departure on Sunday, but ended up staying until Tuesday (more on that later)! Saturday we went baby shopping with stops at Babies R US, USA Baby, and Special Addition. We made Great Grandma Hatt’s signature spaghetti for dinner and had good wine & conversation. Sunday we got up to go to the airport and that is where our adventure began! Their flight had been delayed two hours for mechanical failure, so we waited in the airport and enjoyed the extra time for visiting. We said our goodbyes and they went through security and Olivia and I drove home. Right as we were walking through the door, the phone rang and it was Grandma saying their flight had been cancelled and they were re-booked on the 8 o’clock flight later that night. I put Olivia back in the car and we drove down to the airport to pick up Grandma and Great Grandma (again). After grabbing some lunch, we hung out at the house for the afternoon and enjoyed the extra time for visiting (again) 
. We headed back to the airport around 6:30 and Olivia decided on this third trip of the day that she was tired of the 30 min car ride to the airport. She screamed at the top of her lungs for the second half of the drive. 
I pulled into the parking garage and told Grandma and Great Grandma they would have to check themselves in and I was going to feed Olivia in the car and try to calm her down. We said quick goodbyes (again) and they were off. After sitting in the car for about an hour debating whether to go home or not, I got another call from Grandma saying that this flight was delayed two hours due to weather. I told her to grab us some ice cream on their side of security and meet us at our "usual table". We sat there and had a good laugh about the crazy day and enjoyed the extra time for visiting (again). Suddenly, we realized that Olivia needed a diaper change. I took her to the bathroom to clean up her fullest diaper ever, and after a complete "bath" in baby wipes, I realized I had no more diapers in the diaper bag! 
I had a cloth diaper that we use for a burp cloth so I put that and a spare outfit on her and then ran out to the car for the spare diapers in the glove box. By the time I made it back in, she had wet the cloth diaper (and the spare outfit)! Oh, the adventures of motherhood!! We got everything cleaned up and said our goodbyes to Grandma & Great Grandma (again) and sent them through security. At that point, it was definitely not worth going home since we had to pick JR up from his work travel at 10:45pm. We hung out at the hotel bar since it was the only thing open (thank God for smoking bans). Grandma and Great Grandma had been given vouchers for use at the airport resturaunts for all their trouble, but of course they were no good at the bar (or for the ice cream)! The waitress took pity on us and gave us a complimentary bottle of water. 
Just as we were about to go downstairs to baggage claim and wait for JR, Grandma called and said their plane was cancelled (again)! Apparently the storms in Dallas had not subsided and the pilots had too many hours on the job at that point. Grandma & Great Grandma were told to call American Airlines and rebook. Most of you northerners are aware of the blizzard that hit Nebraska early last week. There were up to 24 inches of snow in some places! 
Well, that system brought severe thunderstorms to Dallas that ended up cancelling Grandma & Great Grandma’s plans of getting to Dallas Sunday night (they were to spend the night in Dallas Sunday and continue on their journey Monday morning). At first American said they couldn’t get them out until Wednesday, but we eventually got a Tuesday itinerary and were grateful for that. Happily, due to the blizzard in Nebraska, all the appointments that Grandma & Great Grandma had Monday and Tuesday were cancelled and what better way to spend two snow days than in sunny Texas with your only granddaughter/great granddaughter! 
We eventually got JR and headed back to the parking garage (through the torrential rain) to go home. Monday we were given a beautiful, sunnny, 75 degree day and we spent it at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The Bluebonnets were blooming and it was a much-needed peaceful day. We headed back to the airport Tuesday morning and everything went off without a hitch. Grandma & Great Grandma got home safe & sound Tuesday night. We sure enjoyed our marathon weekend!! 
Well, my weekend was quite an adventure. On Sat. I spent the day at Bristol Mountain and went snowboarding. The "snow" was more like ice from the size of sugar to gravel, with solid ice underneath. It was a fun day and I managed to survive a full 8 hours on the slopes, and came away with the bruises to prove but for only having snowboarded once before it went really well.
There were guys dressed in full fire-fighting gear on the slopes practicing for a "Fireman’s Slalom" race to raise money for a local burn center. The race is where 4 firemen in full gear man 25 foot fire hose while going through a slalom course. It didn’t look very easy, especially for last guy on the hose. But they were having a benefit lunch too so I grabbed a hotdog and soda from them.
On Sunday there were more "Falls" but not on the slopes. One day of snowboarding on the ice was enough, so after finding a local Catholic church for mass, I headed over to Niagara Falls. I spent a couple of hours walking around Niagara Falls State Park. It was neat to be there in the winter time and it had snowed that morning which made it scenic. I heard that the Canadian side is even more scenic but I left that for another trip.
I should also give some credit to my amazing travel agent, Jenny. She hooked me up with an internet special on a rental car for $15 a day! (I paid about $8 in tolls on Sunday.) But to top off the deal on the rental car, they were out of the economy cars so I got a free upgrade to a Pontiac G6, which made the drive over to Niagara falls much nicer.
But I made it back to Rochester and my return flights were uneventful. It’s nice to be home!
Here’s an update from Rochester, New York. Yup, I’m out of the office this week and I’m presenting at some LabVIEW Developer Days in Pittsburgh, PA and Rochester, NY. Everything has been going well so far and it has been fun. The most excitement was the second leg of my flight from Cleveland, OH to Pittsburgh. I had seat 8F, which you might have guessed it was a window seat but probably wouldn’t have guessed that it was also an isle seat in the last row. Yep, that’s right. It was a twin propeller plane with 8 rows with one seat on each side. (I’m not sure why the seats were "A" and "F".) But we were sitting in the airport and they announced that there was a ground hold but it looked all clear outside so I turned to Noel who was traveling with me and said "That’s odd, usually they only hold for weather but it looks clear". That instant a downpoor started. That was kind of ominous. It passed and we were cleared to board and take off, but we had to fly right through the storm. I’m generally pretty calm, even on a rough flight, but we got thrown around pretty good. I have to admit that I even grabbed the arm rest once. But we made it without any major incidents.
We did our seminar in Pittsburgh and then drove over to Rochester and are doing it again. Then I’m staying through the weekend and I’m going to try to squeeze in a little time snowboarding. Luckily I’ve had internet access and have been able to video chat with Jenny, Olivia, and Red. I’ll update you on how the slopes are, but my thought was that the snow here has to be better than in Austin!
(Here’s a picture from the first leg of my trip which I took on my cell phone.)
In our first piece of official family news on our new website, we congratulate Jenny’s brother, Matt Kane, and the Boys Town Basketball team for winning the Nebraska State Class C1 Championship. They came into the state tournament as the 8th seat and won all the way through, beating Louisville in the championship game 68-62. The Boys Town Cowboys came out strong but then late in the first half things cooled and they went into the locker room down at half time. But in the second half they came back with strong defense, strong rebounding, and feeding the ball inside to come away with the win.
Oh and does it sound like we were there? Well we weren’t because we live in Austin, Texas, but we were able to tune into the live web cast of the championship game and watch all the action.
Congrats Matt!!! Your hard work all season has paid off. Go Cowboys!
Here’s a tip most of you probably could’ve figured out on your own, but to save you the trouble I just endured, I’ll spell it out for you – when you’re about to go to bed and your dog is outside doing her busines, don’t step onto your porch to check on her without being sure the door will remain open (especially if you’re in the habit of locking the door and leaving it slightly ajar because your dog can then push the door open with her nose and turn around and pat it closed while standing on her hind legs). The wind may blow the door shut and you may be locked out of your house at 1:30am with a bathtub filling with water and an infant sleeping in her crib!! Thankfully, doorbells do wake the dead and JR came to our rescue after six rings! Wasn’t quite sure how I was going to get out of that one otherwise!
Our super baby just rolled over from her tummy to her back! She isn’t fond of "tummy time" and smart as she is, I guess she figured out a permanent way to avoid it! I don’t know that she actually did it on purpose, but I did see the flip, so it’ll go down in the official baby book record. We’ll try to catch one on camera one of these days so you can see it, too. plendil
Olivia was born three months ago today. On one hand, I can’t believe so much time has already passed and on the other hand, it’s hard to remember what life was like before Olivia graced us with her presence. She has been a wonderful baby for us who eats good, sleeps good, and is now full of smiles! Right now, she’s laying in her crib watching her mobile and talking to herself – one of her favorite things to do. If you’re in the market for a mobile, we highly recommend ours. It’s provided hours of fun for our little one. Last night JR & I looked at the photos & videos from the hospital. She was so tiny (go to the photo gallery to see for yourself)! In three short months she has almost doubled her weight (she’s around 14 lbs. now), gotten herself a sleeping schedule (including 8 solid hours at night – most nights), figured out how to hold her head up, and found her voice which entertains us with the beautiful babbles of a new baby. I think now she also realizes that her hands and feet are attached the to rest of her. She spends quite a lot of time just marveling at the fact that she can open and shut her fist and she finally figured out that it’s easier to suck on one’s fingers with an open hand than trying to jam the whole fist in her mouth! Her hair has thinned out a bit, but what remains has grown longer and is starting to curl on the ends. I’m hopeful she will have the pretty ringlets that her cousin Abby did. If she does, it looks like they won’t be blonde like Abby’s, but perhaps auburn as her hair has a red tint in the light. Her eyes are still blue, very blue and we are hoping they’ll stay that way. She’s a very beautiful little girl!! As you can tell, we are extremely proud of our little bundle of joy and we are ever grateful for the gift of being her mother & father. We look forward to sharing her little developments through the website. lynoral