Fathers Day

Here are a few pictures from my first real Father's Day. First Eleanor helped me open my card and presents, mostly by trying to eat the card, envelope, and wrapping paper. Then we headed off to Cincinnati to see the Reds play the evil BoSox. Well the BoSox aren't evil but their fans are certainly obnoxious.

Nora, in her Reds gear, and I posed in front of a 6 foot baseball "card" of Adam Dunn. According to this picture Adam Dunn at one time actually caught a ball in the outfield. Who knew?


This is a picture of Nora posing as Sweet Lou Piniella in a picture of the players from the last Reds Championship team. That was back in 1990, two years before I graduated high school. When she gets older Nora won't be able to believe anyone ever lived back in the 1900s.

Here we are in the stands. The seats were upper deck right behind home plate so we had a great view, although Eleanor was not impressed. It was damn hot that day and we were baking in the seats, so we only lasted an inning or two in the seats.

Eleanor became increasing frustrated by Homer Baily giving up long balls (this picture is after he gave up his 4th HR of the game) and the Reds not being able to hit themselves out of a wet paper bag, so we headed out in the 5th innings with the Reds down 8 to 1. So we beat traffic and had plenty of time to stop at Dairy Queen on the way home.

Despite the BoSox fans, the hot weather, and the Reds sucking, it was a great day. Really it was great to take Nora out and spend time together as a family. Hope we can do it again soon. Thanks Wen and Nora!

So, whatcha doing for Christmas?

For Christmas this year, The Grove Family is having a baby! That's right, little boy or girl Grove is due, get this, on CHRISTMAS DAY! 2008! Here is the first picture we have of the kiddo. And yes, there is only ONE kiddo:

Nora is thrilled (not really)

Mookie is annoyed (not really)

And the parents? In shock (not really). But, we have said "Really? Already? Cool." a few times.

We are just over 11 weeks along, so it is still early in the process. Here are some fun facts to get you in the mood for a new baby:

Last time, I was preggers all winter and had a baby in the summer. This time, it is the exact opposite--pregnant all summer and a baby in the winter.

Last time, everyone was shocked by the news. This time, the first 3 people I told, responded immediately with: "I knew it!"

Last time, I was preggers for ComFest and Za Za Weekend. Same thing for both this time *sigh* Last time we told everyone in a Christmas letter, this time, well, it's the blog. So, if you are feeling a tad mad that this is how you are finding out, feel happy! We could have waited to tell ya in the Christmas Letter!

A quick word about reactions: When someone chooses to tell you they are pregnant, you might think a tad longer before saying, "Oh, is this an ooops?" Let me set the record straight for what some of you may be thinking: (1) We wanted this baby at this time, (2) we are thrilled that our kids will be 17 months apart, (3) yes, we know we will be very busy, (4) this does not compromise Wendy's health and waiting another few months would not make one bit of difference on that front. Rest assured we are intelligent individuals who made this choice consciously. If you have ever thought otherwise, you don't know us very well and shouldn't be reading our blog.

Finally, for those of you who do know us, this should not surprise you one bit: Names already under consideration include: Phillip (Brandon Phillips), Javie, Geronimo (GG, for short), Unique, Modesty, and Honor. Edinson, and Volquez Votto or Jesus or Houshmandzadeh or Darwin.

Down by the River

Over Memorial Day weekend (yup we are a bit behind on posting) on our way to meet the Pollocks for lunch we took Eleanor down by Scioto River. The weather was perfect and Nora got to check out the swings. Not sure if she was more unsure of the hat/sunglasses combo or the swing itself, but she perked up once she got to swing with Dad.

Then we took a walk along the river and Nora got her first glance at Canada Geese. She had never seen anything like them before and she couldn't take her eyes off of them while they honked and waddled around next to us. Being that there were bigger than her and can be mean birds we are glad she was in her stroller.

Here are a couple pictures of us by the edge of the Scioto. Wendy was taking our picture when a Policeman stopped by and asked if we want a picture of all of us.

Then we loaded up in the new car. Yup, we finally decided the 170,000+ miles on the Cherokee (not to mention countless "quirks") was enough. We looked at a couple of Mini-UAVs and thought we would end up with the Saturn Vue, but nothing felt as comfortable as the Jeep Liberty. So we gave some love to Toledo, and Toledo can use all the love it can get. The nice thing is the Jeep is so safe we don't even need a car seat. Just toss Nora in the back and go. She loves it.