Nim Lost Her First Tooth!

It was bound to happen eventually, but I am so happy it happened while she was staying at our house.

Naomi lost her first tooth tonight. It has been wiggling for a few weeks now, and she reminds us every day that it is nearing it's demise, but I didn't think she was quite ready for when it actually did fall out.

She was munching on an apple, and then suddenly it came out. Bit frantic at first, because she didn't know it had fallen out (Steph noticed it was gone) so we had a quick search around and low and behold, it was on the floor. Tiny little thing. Very cute!


Check out the hole on the bottom row!

She was a little upset to find out that blood accompanied this happy event, and the tears did come, but they soon stopped when she realized that it also meant the tooth fairy was due a visit, and she was bringing money.

Click here to see a little clip of video from right after the tooth came out.

Man of the Year!!

That's right...I can hardly believe it, but MSN's most influential people in the entertainment industry was lead by Sasha Baron Cohen, who people from this country will know only as Borat!

The British comedian has taken on many personas over the last two decades: Kristo, an Albanian television reporter; Ali G, a wannabe gangsta rapper; Bruno, a self-absorbed gay Austrian fashion personality; and most recently, a naïve Kazakhstani journalist named Borat.



In 2006, Sacha Baron Cohen starred as Will Ferrell's nemesis, Jean Girard, in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. But it was the release of his reality-based movie, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan—as well as his many character appearances as Borat—that got everyone talking. The mockumentary depicts Borat's travels across the country on a mission to marry Pamela Anderson. Cohen's Borat created what many critics call "a new genre of film," fusing the off-the-wall stylings of Jackass with Candid Camera.

The film debuted to great fanfare and earned a reported $26.4 million at the box office. With a Golden Globe nomination for both Best Film (Comedy or Musical) and Best Actor (in a Musical or Comedy), and a top box office movie, it's apparent that America is ready to "make a sexy time, yes?" with Cohen.

Hows sweet is that? It's Niiiice.

Christmas Was Blast This Year!

We had a great time this Christmas as Joann, Eric, Austin, Madison, and Autumn all joined us for festivities.

Everyone was in good spirits, and the kids had a ton of fun opening their gifts (that IS after all what it is all about, right?).

Well, anyway we all had a great time together, just relaxing. We even hooked up the web cam to the televison so that my parents in England could watch the kids open their presents. We had fun!

Enjoy some of the photos!


The Tree


Nim gets her Polly Pocket fix!


The boys fulfilled the stereo type by truely having more fun with the paper and the discarded boxes that with their actual presents!


You can see the web cam on the TV in the background. That is my sister, Emma, in the top screen


You can never go wrong with dinosaur books


This is something I have wanted for a while. I used to play as a kid, and then stopped, and I have always wanted to pick it back up. Now I can! Thanks lover!

Pursue Your Dreams!

Stay tuned for my 2007 resolutions, but I will give you a sneak preview for one of them, and that is because I read a story regarding the creators of YouTube.



If all the Web is a stage, YouTube is its spotlight. Founded in 2005 by Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, the popular Web site allows anyone to upload, view, and share video clips.


These are just some guys who don't ever have to work again.

Since its inception the online community has posted music videos, television and movie clips, and amateur video from various contributors. The site is most popular among the 12- to17-year-old set, drawing in 20 million visitors each month according to Nielson research.

Conglomerates such as CBS, NBC, Sony Entertainment and Warner Music realized the potential the medium has to reach the masses and now post movie and TV trailers, promotional clips and public service announcements on the site. But the true stars of YouTube are Hurley and Chen, who took the Web site to the bank this year after finalizing its acquisition with Google for a cool $1.65 billion...thats billion, with a "B".

Why should this mean I should follow my dreams? These guys just had an idea, and believed in it. The created it, using all their own knowledge and experiences, and came up with a program to make it happen!

So, stay tuned because there will be a new phenomenon coming your way, via the internet, starting in January. Look for the Help for Daddy gang coming your way in 2007.

Steph's New Car

Well, today my lovely wife turned 31 !



I rustled up some pennies and bought her her dream car. She had a great time and the car was a huge surprise for her.



Brilliant!

Am I Mad?

I must be. I went to visit the Mall of America on December 21st.

For those of you who do not know, the Mall of America is the largest shopping mall in the world. It has a rollercoaster in it, and yes, I went on it!


Welcome to the Gates of Hell

I was in Minnesota working, and the mall is by the airport. I had some hours to kill and decided to go. AWESOME fun!

My First Kids Christmas Play

Steph, Jack and I went to Springwater School to see Nim's first Christmas Play. It was so cute!

She was a sun ray as her and her friends played the role of sunshine. It was so chaotic but it was great.


Her biggest fan was there to cheer her on

Of course, being the first time parents that we are, we decided to bring two cameras so that we could take some photos and shoot some video. Yes, we have a camera for pictures and a camera for video. Don't knock it.


She is the one in the black pants with the mask

We ended up shooting 10 video clips, each about 2 minutes long. Nim's first on-stage appearance is in video #4 (she is the one in the yellow top, and black pants, skipping like a mad woman), but there is plenty of stress back stage when she can't find her sun-mask, and then relief when she finally finds it.

All very cute stuff.

I Need To Lower My Carb Intake

I am thinking that perhaps my carb in take may be a tad high.

Why you ask?

Not sure.


Hmmm. What should I have for lunch?


Dinner is served.

Kimber's Party

So, we went to the obligatory Xmas party this weekend. It was fun to see everyone, again as it has been a while. Especially the host Kimber, who is, in my recent memory, the flakiest person I know.

Could be that they live in the 'Couv, but that can't be an excuse for not showing up to anything. The capper came when this was the first time she had seen Jack standing up and walking! It is funny how we measure time now in kids' accomplishments.

Anyway, bottom line is that you need to stay in touch more. Friends drift apart, but the true ones stay around.


Steph and her little man


How grown up does he look?!

Our Anniversary

Today is a special day.

It marks the three year anniversary of Steph and I getting engaged. Yep, that's right, three years ago today, she realized that she was one of the luckiest women around when she knew she was going to be with me forever. Coincidently, that was also the day when you could almost hear the hundreds of other female hearts all over the country breaking simultaneously.

So, to mark that occasion, I am posting some pictures that WE took while in Paris on that fateful trip!


The tower lights up at night


We both really liked this picture, and it was actually the background to our wedding invites


She said yes (of course)!


Understandably, she was overwhelmed with joy at the prospect of being with me forever. Lucky girl!