Man, how time flys

OK so it has been a few months since the last post. Not much time these days to tap the keys on my laptop. With the new kid, now 6 months old and everything that happens in between. I've just let the blog fall to the side.A few updates to get ya up to speed. The blog was gonna be about being a new PoPPa and all that goes along with it. But I find my self wanting to post up other news aswell.
So Be It!
& it has been said.
(Typed) - (2 finger typing that is)
So I sold my motor bike. Yeah, I know. Fuck it!
We bought a car for our family to get around in. With a little left over to spend on ME, I upgraded my hobby of photography. I went from a Canon ELF Point and Shoot to a Nikon D90. So be on the look out for a shit_ton of random shots.

More news. The kid has 2 top teeth and 2 bottom teeth. She eats everything we feed her. She rolled over just last friday. There is an Urban Cyclocross race going on here in my town. Guess who is shooting all the action shots. These races were started to bridge the gap from the Summer Series to Winter Short Track. X-Messenger Lee Flyth put it all together him self. Not bad for a No Budget Race. StarWars in concert this Saturday. Me and the Wife's anniversary next Sunday in Charleston, SC
I'm know there is more updates, but who cares.
Not like anyone reads my Bantha PooDoo anyway.

5 year plan underway

Not even 20 minutes ago, I sold my 2006 Triumph Speed Triple.
For the last few months I've hardly even glanced at her.
She spent most of the pregnancy in the Manderbuilt Estate on her jack stands and hooked up to the tender to stay warm through the cold months.
Ok, I'm not sure what else to say, I'm not sure all of this has set in for me. I feel like I need to be out at the bar, Drinking because I've lost a dear friend.
Maybe tomorrow
Slainte!

Big Day today

Big news today!

Stella did a few push-ups! & she has 2 teeth comming in, Oh and I think she is gonna be a Lefty, With red hair.

Did I mention, I'm a stay at home PoPPa? I go by PoPPa these days.

I work (massage) on fridays and mondays from 9-12 and all day saturday and sunday. Michelle goes in to work M-F from 1-6

So It's me and Stella M-F from 1-on.

SO, I'm looking in to those pull behind trailers these days. You know, the ones for kids. She needs to be 18 months for the long hauls. I still have some time to shop around. However, Chariot makes the one I want. It's so bad ass. You can dial in the suspension for streets OR trail. You can make it a stroller, jogger, and even add snow skis to it! Who knew I'd be stoked about a kids pull behind?

I was worried about my cycling and other ways of life coming to a halt when we decided to have Stella. She has only brought more joy in to my life. Now I have a little MiNi Me to play with and take out on the trails.

All for now,

Kev

DaDDy Day Care

So it has began. The Next chapter of being a PoPPa.

Michelle started back to work today. She took 9 weeks maternity leave to recover and adjust to the new addition in our lives. As planed, I got a massage job with some flexibility. It works like this. On Mondays and Fridays I work from 9-12. I know, just a few hours. Michelle goes in to work at 1pm M-F and works till 6pm. So as long as I'm home by 12:30 to make the

Switch-Ah-Roo, there is no need for day care. Being in the massage bizz, My Big Money Days are Saturday and Sunday. As for Tuesday - Thursday. I'll most likely be pulling a double with Stella. This will free up Michelle for a few hours before she goes in to work. Giving Michelle her "Me Time" to do her working out and socializing. On those evenings when Michelle gets home, I'll be working in my massage clientele at my office space. As for my "Me Time" I don't know, I'll squeeze it it there somewhere.

Side Note;

I think Michelle drank a lot of coffee this A.M. Stella will not go to sleep. Total fake out. She does the cute little yawn, I rock her to sleep, put her down for the count. Then 8 minutes later she pops back up like she has been asleep for 6 hours. OK so it's Decaff for Michelle tomorrow.

This just in.......

Michelle just called home from work and i told her about Stella's fake outs. She thinks Stella is starting to extend her awake time. Sweet! This means more play time for the two of us!

Primal Instincts

I love my city early in the A.M. Long before the corporate stampede arrives, There is a quietness here. No, a stillness that not many get to witness in this metro. My hour of ME TIME seems to drag along. Some mornings it feels like 2 hours. After the Blue Berry Ugly has seen its last moments of day light. I flush it on down with what is left of my coffee. Pedal over to the ATM to do some banking. Then head back to my bungalow where I trade shifts with my team mate. Tagging her out so that she too can have her " ME TIME"



Sleep.........
When you are running low on sleep you start to function on a primal level.
This past week I've been up around 4:30/5am almost every day. When i say up. I mean I've given up on trying to sleep anymore through the night. At this point the primal instincts set in.
Maybe i should call them primal needs. These needs are very basic and a Must Have at this time of day.
1. SEX
2. CYCLING
3. COFFEE
4. SWEET BREAKFAST FOODS
This is the reason you should choose a good team mate when you decide to start a family.
My wife understands these Primal Needs as i understand hers. So over the past few days it's been just like that.
1. Wake up! What time is it? 4am! The baby is hungry. Change her if needed and get her to a boob ASAP. Put the baby back to sleep. OK Now I can't sleep. Quality time with the misses.
2. Head out on the bike. Point it towards the up town. Hunter Gatherer mode sets in.
3. Stop in to a Non Bucket Head coffee shoppe for a cup of the high test
4. Oh how i love those Blue Berry Uglys with my coffee.
This is my ME TIME. The time I take for my self to decompress from it all.

5 Year Plan

No room here for a car seat.

I'm a big kid. Playing in traffic on my 450 Lb. toy

Base camp @ Sun rise.

The Parkway early fall.

Out with the old & In with the new.

The 5 year plan has began.

Stella, the new love of my life leaves me little time to my self these days. No time to sleep, No time to eat and hardly time to take a shit, shower or even shave. That being said. We, Michelle (my wife) and I have noticed that the vehicles we have bought and paid for, no longer work so well for our latest addition to the family. I have a 10 year old 4X4 2 seater truck and a sweet ass motorcycle with a few more years left to pay it off. She has a 8 year old 2 door sedan. We have been tossing around the idea of up grading to another vehicle. One that will provide the family with enough room for Stella and her stuff = 85% and our stuff = 15 %.

We went on a road trip this weekend. Taking the sedan, we also brought along our 14 year old nephew. It was tight. A little too tight for a 3 hour car ride (1 way). Long story short. The motorcycle is the first to go. I've posted it to craigs list along with some sweet pix of the good times i've had on it. This just made sense and it is for the greater good of the family. I have no time to do the kind of motorcycle riding i use to do. With a new born, when will i get to take another 5 day trip on the BRP? No time soon. Thats for sure. It's a monthly payment I could be making on a vehicle that can get us in to the mountains for a family camping trip. Or a trip to Charleston,SC to visit other family for hollidays. Michelle and i have decided that in 5 years ER so we will both get new motorcycles and dog. I guess only time will tell.

All for now.

PoPPa

The Greenway in the Ballantoon.

My favorite.

I took this only 2 hours after she was born.

On May 15 2009 Stella Scott Thompson was born here in my home, in her room.

A healthy vegan baby. She was 8 lbs. 14 Oz. 20 1/2 inches long. My life has changed for the better in so many ways. I have never know a love like this. What do i know about babies? Nadda! But this life changing event is too big and too fun to worry with the minor details. Details like sleep. Sleep is a funny thing. The lack of sleep for weeks on end will do weird things to the psyche. For my wife, Stella's melt downs in public are huge and often the reason we don't get out as much as i'd like. However, we have been working on this over this past month and have learned the signs to look for in our little girl. Alot of it has to do with timing. Today we went out to a mid day movie. We have Stella on a sleeping schedual. At first it was 90 minutes awake and 90 minutes asleep or untill she wakes up. Now she sleeps in 4.5 to 5 hour blocks. I'd imagine that my blogger will become mostly about my wife and kid. The things I learn in raising a family and the things i come to enjoy most about being a PoPPa.

All for now

Werd to ya Mutha

It's funny how things in life work out. I bumped in to an old friend one day. I use to work with her ^. We spoke of meeting up for beers at a later date. Then that night, over beers, we got to catch up a little. The conversation was amazing that night. We are still having that same conversation.

Check out the BLING!

Giving the new nephew a beat down.

I'd do it all over again if I could . I wouldn't have changed a thing.

Words to the rest of the family from my mother in law.

Date: Monday, November 17, 2008, 9:48 AM>
I survived the weekend and the prep leading to the weekend. It rained like hell on Friday and we started putting a Plan B into place in case Saturday's nuptials had to be inside. Couldn't complete the yard work; ergo, we let it go. Cindy came 1st thing Saturday morning and did flowers she ordered from the Farmer's Market. Who knew she had a flower talent, but she does. The flowers were plentiful and she arranged them better than I could. I garlanded the banisters since it figured into Plan B. The groom's mother and granny came an hour early since they were bringing food and the same went for Steve and Marie. They were quickly followed by Michelle, then Cindy, Mike and Micah. This was the first meeting between Kevin's family and Michelle's. The forecast rain did NOT happen and the temperature was mild. Hooray.
Kevin and his pals came with the white folding chairs and put them on the patio. Michelle was cool as ever. She had broken a strap of her busy, color-patterned dress and needed a needle and thread to repair it. She tried to pin me down as to what I thought of the appropriateness of the dress." Was it too Hoochie-Mamma?" I was vaguely supportive that it was fine and she replied that I wasn't helping. Bob said he was not going to offer an opinion because it was a no win question. When it came to light that she had a second dress with her and it didn't need needle work, I suggested she change into her backup choice. The backup dress was dark blue and ,having no go-with flats, the bride went shoeless in the wet grass: besides the ground was soaked and heels would have been a handicap. The minister, Linda Boozer, is a friend of Michelle's. She spoke of Kevin's pick-up line to Michelle when they met and their first date: a moonlight hike with flashlights. The minister acknowledged baby Stella as there to witness the marriage of her parents. The couple wrote their own vows. They spoke softly and said they accepted the other for who he/she is now and promised to accept the other for who he/she becomes. An airplane flew over during Michelle's vows. She paused briefly but continued, fearing the guest would think she'd forgotten her lines. Kevin promised to always let Michelle have the first bite of his waffle. The tee-hees threw him. He recovered. A fire truck, which I tuned out, his heightened senses picked up, as it passed in the distance. My neighbor loaned us 2 big purple potted something-or- others for my front porch. Michelle brought all sorts of potted plants and flowers and a black wrought iron table and chairs for the patio and porches. Cindy's friend loaned potted plants for the back retaining wall. All of these will disappear at the stroke of midnight and my house will again be in tatters and I will sit by the cinders and hope to be rescued by the prince and my fairy godmother. As this isn't a fairy tale, that won't happen. Dinner was a kitchen buffet line of lasagna, salad: both green and pasta, bean soup, dill carrots,and brussel sprouts. Before the ceremony we had appetizers of boiled shrimp, shrimp paste on crackers, brie with fruit and crackers, tapanade and crackers, humus and vegetarian chips. About the house we had dark chocolate covered pecans and salted peanuts. Dessert was a two tiered vegan cake. The top layer was yellow lemon and bottom was chocolate raspberry. In all there were about 20 in attendance in our home for the wedding. Bob and I opted out of the continuing festivities in Belmont that night. I believe some did frolic. Lydia and I did, however, join Steve and Marie, Cindy, Mike and Micah for a smorgasbord Sunday brunch at Upstream on Sunday. Steve Mack treated us all. Bob and Joe tailgated for the Panther's game and enthuasticly wore> the Panther toboggans Lydia had knitted to the Panther's vs. the Lions football game. As the Panthers won, the toboggans are now deemed The LUCKY Hats. As if we had an ounce of party left in us, on Sunday evening we headed to Gastonia to Kate's Roller Skating> Rink for the big wedding reception for friends and relatives of the couple. I missed the memo stating to come in costume from the 70's and was surprised to see guests in Afro wigs, prom dresses, jumpsuits, plaid pants and newsboy caps. Christina wore a kilt that barely covered her black bloomers and she pushed her baby round and round the oval rink in a stroller. I'd see the wee pink toes and baby fingers wiz past as I sat safely un-rollered in a booth eating pepperoni pizza and sipping Pepsi Cola. Bob ate a hot dog and a cup cake from the cup cake tree. At the far end of the rink 2 dudes in helmets battled it out in a blow up boxing ring. Their weapons were air filled boop 'em sticks with big hammers on each end. Kevin's mom made his favorite cake- German Chocolate- and eventually, we had some of that goodie. Kevin's Granny was hanging in there with the pop music and bestowed on Michelle 2 lockets, each with Kevin's baby picture. The skating rink dude challenged revelers into races and a game of musical paper plates. The bride, who wore a white baseball type hat with a toole white veil, declined to race proclaiming to be with child as her excuse. Cindy raced and came in third. She was bested by the attractive redhead in a strapless black cocktail dress. The lovely prom queen in the aqua formal was handicapped by the length of fabric jailing her long legs. This material, she attempted to gather up into one hand and thereby liberate her gaily knee highed, striped socked legs. For those unfamiliar with Musical Plates it is played just musical chairs but instead of chairs on the rink, the rink master keeps removing one paper plate. Meredith's youngest daughter won this but I suspect the young adult males let her win for fear of hurting her in a> mad dash to plop their bottoms on the remaining plate. Bob and I left the reception before it concluded but not before the slicing of Tina's moist German Chocolate cake. We took 2 slices home. I went to bed around 9:30 last night and awoke around 5:00AM. Life goes on. Bob is at work and so are the bride and groom. Cindy starts a new nanny job today and Joe and Lydia are back in Asheville but leaving today for the long drive to San Miguel. It has been the most ambitious summer into fall that I can remember. We get by with a little help from our friends.
If I knew how to forward photos, I would. We'll see. I am not giving younger minds a chance to edit this telling before I mail it. That means it could contain flaws. What the hey. I'm a story teller not an historian. File it or not. The mother of the bride has spoken.
-Nette

I could not have said it better