Man...It Is Cold Outside!!!!

Upstate NY has been pretty lucky this winter in the fact that it has not been very cold. Today, on the other hand is a different story (It's 14 degrees right now). Tonight I decided to be a little goofy and put a hat on Maggie before I let her out. For those of you who know Maggie must be wondering how I did this with out the use of drugs. Well...the secret is to get her when she is half asleep...she was sacked out on the couch for two hours. I'll remember that when we try to take a picture of her and Charlotte together for Christmas.

PEEEEUUUU!!!

Yep...Charlotte is doing everything a 3 week old baby does (eats, sleeps and poops). This shot caught 2 out of the three.

And we wonder why people don't do business in New York State

Another classic reason of why businesses don't like to set up shop in New York State is in today's addition of the Times Union. According to the TU, Assemblyman Felix Ortiz wants to make it law requiring fast-food restaurants to post nutritional information about certain menu items. This would only apply to chain restaurants and Ortiz is noted in the article that chains such as McDonalds and Applebees already label certain dishes.

Two things here: When is society going to take some responsibility for its own actions? I have high Cholesterol and the only way I can control it is to watch my diet and to exercise. I know that when I go to McDonalds, chances are I'm not going eat anything healthy....But that is my choice. Anybody who doesn't understand that most restaurant food is not prepared in a "healthy" manner needs to get a clue. I don't need the government to tell me this. The government shouldn't be forcing restaurants to spend more of their hard earned money on labeling for the few morons who don't understand that McDonalds (or any other restaurant) food is bad for you.

Second...It's noted in the article that restaurants are starting to label food on their own. Obviously they are doing this because their customers want this info. If the industry is already labeling, then why is government forcing restaurants with this new law? Let the free enterprise work. If a majority of customers want this nutrition info, then restaurants will provide it because they want to keep the customer. By forcing labeling, you will increase the cost of food at restaurants and thus make consumer pay more for a hamburgers. This "tax", I mean labeling law is not a tax on the restaurant, but just another tax on the consumer.

Growing Before Our Eyes

Here some more pictures of Charlotte and the family. Charlotte is growing so quickly...Amazing!!
Mom, Charlotte and Maggie
Chillin
My eyes are open
Give me some food
Maggie on guard duty
Good one

NBC Goes Into Bonehead Mode

Along with spending a lot of time with Charlotte and Chris these last two weeks, I have been able to watch a lot of the Olympic coverage on NBC, CNBC, MSNBC and the USA networks. For the most part the coverage has been great specifily the curling coverage. All of the US Men and womens matches have been telecast Live during the day. Obviously people must be watching or else NBC wouldn't cover it as much. However, NBC made a bonehead decision on Friday in regards to their coverage of the womens Russian-US match on the USA network. Russia had a 7-4 lead over the US heading into the 10th and final end (end is currling's version of a baseball inning), but the US didn't back down and scored 3 in the 10th to tie the match at the end of regulation. When there is a tie at the end of regulation you go into extra ends (extra innings in baseball). After the commercial break, USA Network host Bill Macatee announced that instead of showing the extra end, USA was going to switch to Women's hockey. Granted women's hockey is probably more of a money maker then Curling, but they switched to hockey 15 MINUTES before the puck was dropped. So instead of seeing the final end of curling, we had to watch all the pre-game hockey stuff and commercials. Why couldn't NBC/USA show the end of the Curling match, skip all the pre-game hockey stuff and if necessay, join the hockey game in progress? Well according to NBC spokesman Brian Walker "The curling team had not fared well to that point,...There was no definitive end in sight, and we had to make a decision. Had we stayed with the curling match, we would have missed the first five minutes of the hockey game."

I don't care if they are showing competitive knitting, if you are going to show any match/game and the game is close, you don't breakaway before going into overtime. If it was a blow out, fine, breakaway. But that was not the case. Besides, who cares if we miss the first 5 minutes of the hockey game. Here is another thought, how about showing the hockey game on one of the other 4 networks covering the Olympics and then switch when curling is over. Bottom line, USA/NBC made a BONEHEAD move.

I'M AWAKE!!!!

Here are some more pictures of Charlotte from the last few days. My family has been saying that they haven't had a chance to see her awake. I guess they need to stop by at 2:00am. Anyway, when Charlotte is awake, she seams very alert.

Charlotte snoozing in her favorite spot.
Charlotte trying to watch the game, but dad has her pointed away from the TV.
Sleeping in the swing.
Waking up.
I'm awake...OK???

Spinning Pepper at a Duck Hunt

Ok...I'm going to chime in on the whole Dick Cheney accidental shooting. Yes, the press is going overboard on the conspiracy theories and making this bigger then it is. (Although I don't blame the press considering how this administration has lied in the past). With that said, the late night talk shows are having a lot of fun with this. Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show said it perfectly Monday night when Duck Hunt Host, Katherine Armstrong stated that Texas lawyer Harry Whittington was accidentally "peppered" by Mr Cheney. Stewart went on to say (I'm paraphrasing) that "Peppered" is what you do to a Caesar Salad...Whittington was shot Dude".I personally think that Jon Stewart is one of the funniest guys on TV and I hope some day when Letterman retires, Stewart is tapped to take over The Late Show.

Speaking of The Late Show, here are "Top Ten Dick Cheney Excuses" for "Peppering" Mr. Wittington:
10. "Heart palpitation caused trigger finger to spasm"
9. "Wanted to get the Iraq mess off the front page"
8. "Not enough Jim Beam"
7. "Trying to stop the spread of bird flu"
6. "I love to shoot people"
5. "Guy was making cracks about my lesbian daughter"
4. "I thought the guy was trying to go 'gay cowboy' on me"
3. "Excuse? I hit him, didn't I?"
2. "Until Democrats approve medicare reform, we have to make some tough choices for the elderly"
1. "Made a bet with Gretzky's wife"

Although this is all in good fun, on a serious note, Mr. Whittington condition was downgraded after suffered a mild heart attach from being "Peppered". We can only hope that Mr. Whittington makes a full recovery.

Chris's Birthday - Monthly Family Dinner

Sunday we went to Mom and Dad's house for our monthly family dinner and Chris's birthday. Mom made her famous Lasagna and Laura made fudge crater cake (One of Chris's favorite). Today we went to the doctors to see how Charlotte was doing, weight wise. She gained 9 oz since last Monday (2/6) and is now up to 6 lbs, 3 oz. Dr. Osborne said Charlotte was doing very well and was very happy with the weight gain. This made Chris and I very happy. Here are some pictures from the monthly family dinner and Chris's birthday.
Amy Spoiling Charlotte.
Time to blow out the candles.
Time to open the presents.
The grandchildren
Charlotte taking another snooze with Mom, G-Mom, and Kate.
Erin and Laura
Michael showing off his toys.
Another picture with G-Mom and Papa before I go home.

Backwards Bush

I'm sure most of you know that for a countless number of reasons, I am not pleased and do not agree with the way President Bush has steered this country. I could write for days as to why I feel this way, but lets just say that my list is long and at this point I don't have time to go into my opinions. I also want to keep this website on the lighter side. What I will say about this topic is that there is only 1,071 days left of President Dubya's administration. It seems like a long time, but counting down the days may make it go faster. Backwardsbush.com has a real time countdown of the days and hours left until his administration ends. If you don't want to go to the website, I have conveniently placed the clock on the right side of this web site.

Our First Trip Out On the Town

Charlotte took her first trip out on the town Friday to G-Mom and Papa's house. Charlotte met her older cousins Michael and Kate for the first time.
Time to get ready for the big trip
Michael's excited to finally meet Charlotte.
Kate loves Charlotte so much.
Taking a snooze with mom. I guess Michael and Kate tired her out.

Charlotte's First Full Day at Home

Charlotte's first full day (Sunday 2/5) at home was typical for a 3 day old...Lots of eating, Lots of sleeping, Lots of pooping!!! Mom, Dad, Laura and Erin also paid us a visit. Today we went to the Peditrician for Charlotte's first visit and the Doctor said she was doing great. Here are some more pictures from the last few days.
Hanging out again with Dad. Notice we are both holding are head. No, we did not stage this.
Snoozing in G-Mom's arms.
Meeting my cousin and future babysitter, Erin.
Giving Mom a rest and spending some time with Aunt Laura.
Snoozing again with Papa.

Welcome Home Charlotte!!!

Charlotte & Chris came home today as expected. Doctors gave both Chris and Charlotte the A-OK.
Time to put on my going home outfit
It's 50 degrees out...isn't this to many clothes?
Time for one last snooze before the big trip!!!
A little big, but very confy!!! ZZZZZZZZZZ
ZZZZZZZZZ
Time to hang out with Dad and watch the Game...
My favorite spot with Mom and my new Pal, Maggie.

More Pictures of Charlotte

Here are some more pictures of Charlotte from the past two days. Chris and Charlotte are both doing great and are expected to be home tomorrow (2/4). You can also check out more photos at my mother's site at Joanmartha.com

The New Family
Taking a Nap with Mom

Hanging with Papa
This is feels so good.
I could do this forever.
My first picture with G-Mom & Papa...I love them so much!

It's a Girl - Charlotte Sandra Hull - Born February 2, 2006

I am very happy to announce that Charlotte Sandra Hull was born tonight at St. Peters. Chris and Charlotte are both doing great. Here are the details:
Name: Charlotte Sandra Hull
Date/Time of Birth: 2/2/06, 6:02PM
Weight: 5'14oz
Length: 19 inches

I'll be sure to post more pictures in the coming days. For now, I'll leave you with these two.