Last Sunday Joshua was baptized at the First United Methodist Church of Saline. It was a great time and Kerry and I str very excited that Joshua can be a part of this church. The service went well and as you can tell, Joshua was pretty relaxed through the whole thing.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Baptism
Santa comes to Wildwood
This weekend Santa payed a visit to all the good boys and girls at our neighborhood Christmas party. Joshua (of course on the good list) seemed more interested in Santa’s beard than his toy bag. It was a great party both for the kids and the adults.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Java 6 Released
I really haven’t used this blog for tech stuff lately, but I really have to rave about the newly announced Java 6 release. This is a huge release for the Java community, not only is it the first release fostered from community input, but it contains some huge advances in services that the JVM offers developers.
Once huge thing is scripting. I’ve used scripting engines such as Groovy and found them very useful in real-world senarios. Especially when you need to provide custom functionality to an out-of-the-box software package why not include a custom script rather than creating a special build for a customer. Now you get all of this for free just by using Java 6, awesome!
Here is the http://www.theserverside.com/news/thread.tss?thread_id=43434
Enjoy!
Friday, December 08, 2006
New Movies
I know I know, I’ve been lazy about getting some movies up. Here are two good ones. The first is Joshua eating food from a spoon for the first time. This was done one day after he is 6 months old. The second is him almost crawling. As you can tell the cats are great motivation to get up and move. I’ve left then in Quicktime format this time so if you don’t have it you can get it from Apple. Enjoy!
Monday, November 27, 2006
Meat and Potatoes Man
Sunday night Kerry and I gave Joshua rice cereal for the first time. He seemed very interested and gulped down every spoonful Kerry offered. Of course we learned that it is better to do this right before bath time, since one will require the other.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Welcome Drew Christopher Dazey
Drew Christopher Dazey was born on Sunday, November 12 weighing in at 8lbs,9oz and 22 inches long. Congrads to Kevin and Crissy on a great job and we can’t wait for Drew and Joshua to meet (this picture actually shows their first meeting, but I’m pretty sure Drew won’t remember it).
Moving day
As you can tell from this photo, I’ve been replaced in Kerry’s life. Just another lazy Sunday at the Duty house.
Friday, November 10, 2006
The 411
A bunch of people have been asking how we are doing so I thought I would post a quick update:
My new job at PTC is going great. I’m slowing moving from the “I’m new and don’t know anything” to the “I’m not as new and can begin to start contributing, but still know very little.” luckily they are at the end of a development cycle and doing QA to get a release out so its a great time to learn the surrounding code. The people here are really great and they seem to really know how to create enterprise-level software. My boss is really cool also and with his million responsibilities regarding the upcoming release is very willing to take the time and help me learn.
The product I work on is highly XML based and some employees were actually on the W3C board that created and manages the XML spec. I’ve worked with XML pretty much since I got into technology but I have to admit, I was just skimming the surface. There are so many awesome features that I didn’t know about but wish I did. Obviously with the amount of technology out there its impossible to stay on top of everything. But every once and a while you learn something that, if you had known earlier, would have changed the design decisions you had made in several of your previous projects. I would recommend to any developer, working in any languages, to go pickup a book on XML and learn it. I would also challenge any universities and training organizations to cover it pretty well. Just like knowing data-structures or algorithms, a good foundation in XML can benefit several areas in software development. A lot of the problems I have solved in the past and seen colleagues solve were already handled by some of the features in XML.
Ok, enough shop stuff…
Joshua is doing wonderful. Kerry and I are amazed how much he has changed and his personality has grown. He can almost stay sitting up on his own and has found a whole new octive in his voice. We think is first took is beginning to come in (upper right) so we are a little nervous about that. By far his new favorite activities are playing in his exer-saucer and tearing up any magazine we get in the mail. He just celebrated his first Halloween and I’m proud to say he pulled off the lobster costume with flying colors. Those pictures will definitly be coming out when he brings home his first girlfriend.
My weekends have been busy with a big, manly project. A neighbor and I have been building a deck on the back of my house. Its been a great learning experience, especially since my neighbor knows what he is doing and I have no clue. Its a 12×16 foot deck and I decided to go with the trex synthetic lumber. Its a substancial amount more but I really think you save time and money in the long run (you never have to sand, stain, or refinish it). You can cut, nail and drill it just like regular wood but since it is composite you never have to worry about splitting or warping. If anyone is looking to build a deck I would highly recommend it, either pay now or later.
The big news is that Kerry, Joshua, and I will be down in Texas with my family over Christmas. With the geographical seperation my family is all in the same room so seldom so this will be a great treat! Of course I’m sure Joshua will be spoiled rotten by everyone and who knows, maybe Santa will make an appearance. Luckily my parents have a mac so look for pictures almost daily.
Well, thats about it here.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
the legs are working
I don’t think Joshua’s legs have any problems. I’m trying out the famous YouTube video site, but I still may post the standard Quicktime format also. Enjoy!
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Busy Kid
Some of Kerry’s co-workers got us an exer-saucer which Joshua just loves. It basically stimulates him in all 360 degrees. Here is a video of him working it.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Art & Allyss are coming to town!
YEEAAAHHH! Our friends who moved away earlier this year are coming to visit us next weekend! We have missed them so much and can’t wait to see them. They left when Joshua was less than a month old so they will be blown away by him. Currently they are both getting their DMA at the University of Iowa and as you can tell from this picture they are both very serious academic types.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Joshua Giggle
Caught on tape, the Joshua giggle. We have found that he is ticklish in his chest, armpits, and feet. Wedesday he was all giggles and I was fast enought to catch it on video. Enjoy!
Monday, October 16, 2006
Joshua vs. Peter
Every month Kerry takes a picture of Joshua in this chair next to Peter Rabbit. This one is at 4 months and I think this is the first time Peter looks a little small compared to Joshua. Both Kerry and I love how big Joshua has gotten, especially since his size and weight was an issue at birth and after. Of course the only thing better than the size is the new smiles.
One week less green.
So last week marked my first complete week at PTC. I have always found switching jobs a little stressful because there is always a period of adjustment where you sort of feel like a fish-out-of-water. That being said I’ve really enjoyed this first week at PTC. The people here are very nice and processional and they all really know the correct way to build enterprise-level software. A lot of emphasis seems to be placed on product quality and making sure all things have been wrapped up and tested before the customer even sees stuff.
Oh, and the perks are amazing. The first really nice perk is that I get my own office with a door, which is a HUGE change from always living in cube land. Next is the hardware, dual flat-panel display with a dual xeon, dual core and each core hyper-threaded (if you have done the math that’s 8 concurrent execution paths). Makes starting at a computer for 8+ hours a day much more enjoyable.
As far as projects I’m still in the learning phase. I was able to work on a few issues and start a project that will act as a proof-of-concept for future things.
Friday, October 06, 2006
Big news!
Now that things are final I can finally share the big news. Yesterday was my last day at Mediaspan. The past 2 and-a-half years were great but for reasons I won’t go into it was time to move on. Monday I will start my new job at PTC (Parametric Technology Corporation). Specifically I’ll be working on their ArborText line. I’m really excited about this opportunity and I can’t wait to start. During my interviews it was very apparent that they have assembled a top-notch team of very skilled and friendly engineers and I feel privileged that I get to work with them. A big thanks to my neighbor, Andrew, for helping me get in the door at PTC. As most people know, getting a job is as much about what you know as it is who you know.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
4 Month Pictures Up
Today we got the proofs for Joshua’s four-month pictures. This is by far the best photo set we have done, he was all smiles the whole time. It’s amazing to look and see how he has changed from his one-month pictures. Oh, and yes, that is Joshua dressed as a lobster, they let us take a few with his new Halloween costume. These will absolutely be shown when he brings home his first girlfriend.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Video Evidence
This morning I was finally fast enough to catch Joshua rolling over on video. So here it is, video evidence that we have now entered the mobile stage. You will need quicktime to view this.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Like a Rolling Stone
Last night Joshua rolled over for the first time. He started on his belly and rolled right to end up on his back. We have now entered the mobile stage. I’ll have to see if I can catch this on the camcorder and post it.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Chunky Monkey
Last week we had a doctor visit where we learned Joshua is now on the weight chart. Below is his stats:
5/25 - 5.5 lbs 5%
5/30 - 5.49 lbs 2%
6/02 - 5.73 lbs 2%
6/08 - 6.39 lbs 4%
6/19 - 7.36 lbs 7%
6/29 - 8.64 lbs 16%
7/11 - 9.46 lbs 17%
7/25 - 10.63 lbs 26%
9/01 - 13.21 lbs 39%
Friday, August 25, 2006
Nap Time
Joshua loves his naps, and we love them also. This is Kerry doing her mom-magic with Joshua. Its pretty amazing, no matter how fussy he is, a few seconds in this position and he is out cold. Go mommy power!
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Flying High
When better to take a picture than when a plane full of 100+ people is trying to unload. This is Joshua after completing his first ever plan ride.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Hot fun in Dallas
So Kerry, Joshua and I just got back from a great vacation in Dallas. Joshua got to meet his great grandparents and got royally spoiled by his grandparents. Other than the weather (which usually leveled off at 105) it was a wonderful week. Lots of rest and a big thanks to Mom and Dad for giving Kerry and I a much needed break. Some of our college friends also got to meet Josuha for the first time. I have to admit, it was sort of weird, 5 years ago we were college kids sitting on porches drinking beer, now we are introducing our kids to each other. How time flies!
While in Texas Joshua really started talking quite a bit, so I decided it was a good time to invest in a camcorder. I got a Sony HandyCam and it is awesome. I’m hoping to post some stuff later this week after I get the videos imported into iMovie. Until then checkout the new photos on Flickr!
P.S. This picture shows 4 generations of Duty men.
Friday, August 11, 2006
War over the chair
Before Joshua was born, patches loved the rocker and has been pretty bitter since loosing it. Looks like a campain has been started to get it back. Of couse she could just be warming up to Joshua, but that doesn’t sound like our evil kitty.
Long time no post
Its been a while since our last post, mostly because we have been very busy. The last month we have had a slew of visitors, from college friends to grandmothers and we have loved every second. We have really enjoyed having everyone around to meet Joshua.
Speaking of Joshua he is doing great. He now over 11 lbs which the doctor is very happy with and earlier this week he giggled for the first time (well, it was either a giggle or gas). Its amazing how much more aware he has become over the past few weeks.
As for us we will be vacationing in Dallas, TX next week. There Joshua will be spoiled by his grandparents and get to meet his uncle and great grandparents for the first time. Other than dreading the 105 degree weather we can’t wait. If any of our Texas friends want to get together give is a call.
Friday, July 28, 2006
Sound Bite
If you haven’t noticed we are very camera crazy when it comes to Joshua. The last few weeks Joshua has really started talking but unless you are in Michigan or available to do an iChat with us its pretty impossible to hear it. Below is a Quicktime movie created with Kevin’s camer and edited with iMovie that shows Joshua and mom having a pretty interesting conversation.
Joshua Talking Movie (Requires Quicktime)
Monday, July 17, 2006
Album Cover
I’ve decided that if I ever join a band, this will be my first album cover. This is Joshua method acting.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
My Cube through my eyes
Kerry and I had to renew our cell phone plan so we took this opportunity to treat us to shiny new Motorola Razors. After playing with it way too much today I really love it. Especially the camera and Bluetooth. To break it in, here is a picture of my cube at work. So stand back and bask in the glamour that comes with being a software engineer.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Time to relax
Just thought I would post this relaxing photo. And no, not all moments in childhood are like this. Kerry and I are really enjoying the Digital Cannon Rebel.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Cara Leigh Newsome
Cara Leigh Newsome was born 6/20 at 2:55PM CST weighing 7lb 13oz. Congrads to the Eric and Misty! Check out their blog at Newsome Blog.
Fun in the tub
Last night Joshua got his first real bath. Before we were always using a damp cloth and some soap so this was a big change for him. He seemed to enjoy it for the most part, no real screaming, just some funny faces. Of course shortly after this he filled his diaper and spit-up, but it was nice to have him clean for those few minutes.
Monday, June 19, 2006
The gift of sleep
Saturday night Kerry’s parents gave us a great gift. They watched Joshua all night while Kerry and I slept. Anyone who has kids knows this is a HUGE gift and can’t thank them enough. I woke up Sunday feeling like I could lift a car. And yes, that is a 20-pound cat sneaking up on Joshua in the picture. The question is whether he is more interested in the baby or what he is eating.
The Bug
Kerry and I use the nickname “bug” for Joshua. This picture should explain it all. I should note that this position is very calming for him and makes for easy and stylish travel.
Friday, June 16, 2006
3 weeks old
Yesterday (Thursday, Jun 16) Joshua was 3 weeks old. Looking back at the pictures it is amazing how much he has changed both in appearances and personality.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Movies Movies
The past few weeks Kerry and I have been renting movies like mad from the Blockbuster down the street. Since one of us usually has to be holding Joshua movies are a great way to pass the time. So every few days I’ll go pick up 3 new ones. Here are a few we have seen that we can recommend:
Unfinished Life
Match Point
Chicken Little
Glory Road
TransAmerica
The Producers
Shop Girl
The Chronicles of Narnia
King Kong
Derailed
A History of Violence
Proof
There are many others, but due to exhaustion I can’t remember. I will update this as it comes to mind. If we keep renting at this rate I may look into one of the online movie stores.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
A time to read
Our normal routine at night is wake up when Joshua is ready to feed, feed and change him. Then rock him back to sleep in our nursery. The back to sleep process usually takes between 30 min to an hour and a half depending on how he is feeling. When its my turn I usually like to use this time to read. Since you do this several times a night the reading time can really add up. I just finished “Primary Colors” which is a great book written about the life of a fictional politician. It was published as written by anonymous, but later found out to be the former editor of Business Week. It really has nothing to do with political opinions, as every instance of “Democrat” could be replaced with “Republican” and the story would be exactly the same. Rather it shows you how the people behind the candidates live their lives and play the game. The reader is taken through the gruling year of a presidential campain and shown the ups and downs and how people have to dedicate their lives to deal with both. Its pretty interesting and a good read. Now I’m really excited because I just picked up Nick Hornby’s new book “A Long Way Down”. He is one of my favorite authors and I can’t wait to dive into this one. If you have never read any of his books, I recommend starting out with either “High Fidelity ” or “About a Boy”.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Grand Parent time
Saturday Kerry’s parents came to visit us, or really to visit Joshua. It was a great day, Kerry and I got to go out for lunch while they had some grand parents time and I was able to go for a long run (8+miles). And of course Joshua just soaked up all the attention.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Summary of the last week
So now that Kerry, Joshua, and I are home and have time to catch our breath, I thought I would give a little update on what has been happening the last few days. Wednesday May 24th 7:30am – We had a routine ultrasound to determine Joshua’s current weight. This ultrasound showed he was small for his gestational age. Since he is only 3 days from full-term the doctor’s decide to induce. 10:00am – We are fully admitted to the University Women’s Hospital Birth Unit and Kerry begins a petosin drip. 8:00pm – Kerry is fully dilated and a faced. She begins to push. Thursday May 25th 12:30am – Doctors decide to perform a C-section (for those keeping track, that is after 4.5 hours of pushing). 1:34am – Joshua is lifted over the curtain and Kerry and I see him for the first time. Since Kerry had a fever, combined with Joshua’s weight, he is admitted to the Holden NICU. Friday May 26th Kerry and Joshua receives antibiotics for fevers and Joshua stays in the NICU so he can be monitored and gain weight. Saturday May 27th Morning - Joshua is released from the NICU. 9:00pm – Joshua is re-admitted to the NICU because of a few serious issues. A bit of a scare that I won’t go into. Sunday May 28th 10:00am – Joshua is released from the NICU and allowed to stay in the hospital room with Kerry and I. Monday May 29th Joshua and Kerry are released from the hospital and we go home. So it’s been a busy week. Overall Kerry and I were very impressed with the University of Michigan Mother-Baby Unit and the Holden NICU. Those people really know how to keep on top of things and provide very good care. A big thanks to the nurses who took care of Kerry during and after the birth, they were nothing short of amazing. Also, a HUGE thanks to Rachel, Kerry’s sister. She was in the room before, during, and after the birth and was a HUGE help. She was completely giving of herself for Kerry and Joshua, already starting out to be a great ante! The grandparents were also a wonderful help. Both sides pitched in to provide support during the last week. My mother stayed with us until Wednesday spoiling me with home-cooking and a clean house. Thanks Mom!
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Joshua Michael Duty
Joshua Michael Duty was born at 1:24AM, May 25. He was 5lb, 10oz at birth. Both mother and baby are doing great. I’ll update more later but take a look at some of these pictures.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Update
Just realized it has been a while since I have posted. Just to calm everyone we have not had the baby yet (much to Kerry’s dismay). He gets all 10s on every checkup so we are pretty much just waiting for the first signs he is coming. A best as we can tell we pretty much have everything ready for his arrival including diapers, toys, nursery, bottles all setup and the call list is made. If there is something that can swing, hold, rock, vibrate, or stimulate the baby odds are we’ve got it in our living room now. Once again big thanks to everyone for all the great stuff.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Things that help
So things have been cranking along very well. We are getting settled into our new house nicely and Kerry has done an awesome job with the nursery. As our lives are about to change rapidly we’ve really been leaning on some great ways to stay connected with people. I thought I would share some of the things we have found to make things easier; iChat One thing we have been doing a lot of is video conferencing with my parents in Dallas and Santa Fe using iChat. I really have to applaud Apple, this is the BEST video conferencing software I have ever used. We have never had a problem with it, the video is clear and the sound is always in full duplex. I really thing a big part of it is the iSight that comes with either the MacBookPro or the iMac. I’ve done conferencing with people who just use a standard webcam and the performance really decreases. If you are going to be doing some video conferencing and want to use a Mac, I really recommend either getting a Mac with one built-in or purchasing a stand-alone iSight, its worth the extra money. Flickr: With the move, the purchase of a digital cannon rebel, and all the ultrasounds we have had a lot of pictures we have needed to share. Flickr is a great way to do this. Flickr is an online photo repository and sharing site. With limited bandwidth you can sign up for free, or you can purchase a professional account for $40 a year which is really worth it. Uploading pictures is a snap because they offer several applications and plugins that interface with common photo applications (we use the iPhoto plugin) and a web interface. Once photos are up on the site you can organize them in sets and also tag photos based on common subjects (for example we have a tag called “cats” that associates the million cat photos we have). Of you want to share these photos people can either go to your flickr site on their own, or you can send them a Tag to view if you only want them to see certain pictures. Plus, flickr also allows you to give people RSS feeds so people will actually get notified when you upload new photos. We love it.
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Hard life
I came home one day from work and saw this. I’ve decided when I go I want to come back as a cat.
Best baby shower EVER!
Saturday our friends, Art and Allyss Haecker, threw us the BEST baby shower EVER! We had it in a bar, Cady’s Grill in Ypsilanti, with hot-wings and beer! And to knock it up another notch, the NFL draft was on. We had a great time celebrating with our Ann Arbor friends and they did a wonderful job. We can’t thank them enough for the great time. Click on the picture to see more.
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Michigan Baby Shower
Saturday Kerry’s mom threw her a baby shower that her extended family attended. It was a beautiful day and it was great seeing everyone. Special thanks again to Sandi for making it a very special day. Click on the picture to see more from the shower
Kerry’s Work Baby Shower
On Friday Kerry’s work threw her a baby shower. Kerry loved it and enjoyed celebrating with all her co-workers. Click on the picture to see more from the shower!
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Update
Kerry and I are quickly getting settled into our new house and we love everything about it. Its so much space compared to our old place and the neighborhood is awesome. This last weekend we put together the crib, which looks great. However it was a huge reality check to see that thing sitting in the corner just waiting for a baby. It’s hard to believe that in a month (or less) we will have a child of our own. Kerry has been doing an amazing job during the pregnancy and is on the home stretch! P.S. I have a million pictures I need to scan, hopefully I can get to that this weekend.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
We are in!
The move is over!!!! After 3 days of pretty intense moving it is complete. I’m always amazed at how much stuff 2 people can accumulate over 3 years. I pulled the last of our stuff out of the old house around 4pm yesterday and turned over the keys so we are now officially Saline residents.
Now that we are in the new house we absolutely love it. There is so much more space, not only living but storage also. We met a few of the neighbors and can’t wait to meet the rest. One of the days we were moving in they were having a neighborhood Easter-Egg hunt! It was awesome seeing all the kids running around together and I can’t wait for Baby Duty to be involved with that. The more time we spend there the more we feel this is the perfect environment to raise a child. We are very happy with our decision.
A quick note, we can’t thank our friends Johnny, Art, Allyse, and Jim enough for helping us move. They put in some very long back-breaking hours Saturday helping us and we know there was better ways to spend a Saturday. Thanks again guys!
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Almost there!
Kerry and I just did our final walk though on our soon-to-be new house. Everything looks great and we can’t wait. I’m really happy with our choice of Saline and the neighborhood. We can actually see our church, future school, and pediatrician from our house. Plus, as we were driving in we saw that there will be a neighborhood Easter-egg hunt. After we finished the walk through Kerry and I buzzed less than a mile down the road to the historic downtown Saline for some lunch at a local restaurant called the Brecon Grill. Yet another reason to love Saline.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Hospital Tour
The hospital tour today was very interesting and helpful. A RN showed us where to go when its time to come in and what to expect. We saw what a triage, delivery, and high risk delivery room looked like. We also learned about what services the hospital offers while we are there (food, nursery, medicine, etc). Overall I was very happy and I’m glad we did it. We will be delivering at the University of Michigan Hospital. It is a teaching hospital so odds are Kerry may have a few med students along for the ride. However we have been very pleased with the care we have received so far so no worries in that department.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Graduation Day
Last night Kerry and I graduated from Lamaze class. It was even made official with a stamped certificate of and everything. I really enjoyed the classes and would recommend it to anyone about to have their first kid. I’m sure the experience completely depends on the instructor, which ours was great. The theme for this weekend will be packing, packing, packing. I’ve got to make some headway or next week will be very busy. We also have our hospital tour on Saturday. Not sure exactly what they going to show us, but I’m guessing we will see what a birthing room looks like. Should be interesting.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Iliotibial Band Syndrome
The last 2 weeks I’ve been back running and loving it. I was averaging about 4 miles per day at a pretty easy pace (didn’t want to push it). Over the weekend I started feeling a pain on the outside of my left knee. After doing some Internet searching it I’m pretty sure I have Iliotibial Band Syndrome. Even though its sort of painful I’m really hoping this is correct because it is not a “structural” injury to the knee, but rather an inflammation of a ligament that runs from your quad around your knee and attaches in the middle of the shin. Runners see this when they rapidly change their workout regimen, or in my case start it all together. So I’m playing it safe icing my knee for 10 minutes every hour, taking IB Profin every 4 hours and not running for a few days. Something all the websites seemed to stress is you really don’t want to run through the pain because it can turn it from a very treatable inflammation to serious knee injury. Considering I just spent 2 years trying to get my knees healthy again I’ll take the advice.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
The great exodus
The exodus has started. Today I really hunkered down and started packing for our move in 2 weeks. I can’t believe how much stuff we have, especially since I actually haven’t seen a lot of this stuff since we last moved!
Jay is Engaged!
Something that I completely forgot to blog about is Jay (Pimp-Daddy) Hudec is engaged to Laura. The only information I have was that they were on a vacation in Hawaii and he popped the question. I’m really happy for Jay and Laura and can’t wait to learn more about the whole engagement.
When I first arrived at Baylor Jay was one of the first people to reach out and welcome me into the band and into Kappa Kappa Psi (Band fraternity). After college we lived together through the fall of the telecom market in Dallas (a good part of that time we spent unemployed). It was hard work spending all day by the apartment pool and harassing Dan’s miniature panther.
Congrads again Jay and Laura!
[UPDATE] Jay and Laura’s Engagement Announcement
Monday, March 20, 2006
We got our crib
With much thanks to my parents for covering the bill Kerry and I ordered the baby crib this weekend. The one we initially ordered was discontinued so we went with our second choice. We got the Highland Park Crib in the natural color. Personally I like this one better since it’s a little smaller and seems a lot sturdier. The important things we were looking for were a side that drops down so Kerry can reach over the side and that it not be made out of pine (we hear kids like to chew). We are really excited and the nice thing is the store agreed to keep it for a few weeks so when we move we can just pick it up on the moving truck.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
29 Week Ultrasound
Last Friday Kerry and I went to another ultrasound appointment. After doing some measurements Baby Duty looks perfect, right down the 50% on all marks. Since this was a really fast one we only got one picture. This is by far the pest profile we have of his face yet.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Digital Cannon Rebel XT
We decided to take the Digital Cannon Rebel XT out for a test spin. The detail is amazing, and it should be at 8 megapixels. Each picture avaraged at around 3 MB each!
More Digital Cannon Rebel XT Pictures
Open Source Project
I’ve been toying with starting an open source project, to eventually leads to some sort of monetary revenue source. I like the open source business model that companies like Logicblaze (ActiveMQ and SertviceMix) and JBoss have going. When looking at my career, I’ve pretty much spent my entire time creating middleware or content repositories. Both of which have JSRs defined and in use. The middleware market has some pretty big players so I think I’ll stay away from that. But the content repository market really has very few people, especially people who are JUST offering a content repository. The JCP spec is JSR-170 and it is pretty interesting. Anyone want to help
Monday, March 13, 2006
Our New House!
Just realized that I have never blogged about our new house! We have wanted to move to Saline, MI for a while and finally found a house at a great deal that we love. It is in walking distance from our church, the library, schools, sports fields, AND the pediatrician that we will most likely use. We sign the closing papers on April 7th and have a week to move in. Plus, it is on a cul-de-sac with 2 registered nurses, a couple who just had a boy a few weeks ago, and several really nice families who all have young kids. Like most things location is everything. It really sounds like a great place to raise baby Duty.
Weekend Fun
Kerry and I had a great weekend. Friday night we went to Kerry’s parents house and spent the night. Saturday we saw her sister off to college and went to Babies R Us to look around. My parents helped us pick out a crib when we were in Texas a few weeks ago but we just found out that the Simmons company has been bought by Delta Furniture and they will no longer be producing the crib we wanted. So it was back to the drawing board. I’m pretty happy with the one we found on Saturday, the important thing is that it has a drop down side rail so Kerry can get at the baby and its sturdy.
We also went to Kohls so I could get some new running shoes. Just like most sports, there are a bunch of jogging gadgets and accessories that you will never need but running shoes are not one of them. I really believe that running shoes is something you don’t want to skimp on and they can make our break your running experience. I’m not saying they will make you go faster, but they can help prevent injuries. I decided on the Asics GEL-1110. Kohls had a great deal on them and I love how light and breathable they are. I gave them a test run on Saturday and Sunday and they feel great.
Sunday Kerry played in the Church orchestra and did a great job. Especially since she had to sight read everything. Usually she has rehearsal on Thursday nights, but since we now have Lamaze that night she has to skip. Speaking of Lamaze, I’m realty enjoying it. I find it very informative and helpful, especially since I’m totally clueless as to what to expect when everything starts. If anyone is expecting their first I highly recommend it.
Monday morning rolled around and I awoke with Hershey on my chest due to a thunderstorm. When it is dark, rainy, and you have an 18 pound cat on your chest the last thing you want to do is get up and go to work. But I made it in. Hopefully the week will pass with no fires but who knows. However, cheer up! This Friday is St Patrick’s Day! I’m looking forward to enjoying my pint of Guinness (or two).
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
People of the 50’s
Someone forwarded me this email today titled “40 to 70 yr. old survivors”. Odds are if you are in your mid-late 20s then your parents were born in this era.
Anyone who recently has had or is getting ready to have a baby knows that everyone has an opinion on what toys, beds, devices and parenting practices will make our break your child. And those opinions change more often than they stay the same. As a future parent trying to sort it all out, this email reminds me that generations have survived and done well in much simpler times.
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1930’s 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s
!!
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while
they carried us.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and
didn’t get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored
lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and
when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we
took
hitchhiking.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special
treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE
actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with
sugar in it, but we weren’t overweight because……
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were
back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride
down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running
into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo’s, X-boxes, no video games at
all, no
99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell
phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat
rooms……….WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in
us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with
sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we
did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or
rang the bell, or just yelled for them!
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who
didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem
solvers and inventors ever!
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned
HOW TO
DEAL WITH IT ALL!
And YOU are one of them!
CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow
up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives
for our own good.
and while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how
brave their parents were.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn’t
it?!
PS -The big type is because your eyes are shot at your age.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Baby Kerry Jo
While I was in the process of scanning ultrasound pictures I came across a few of Kerry’s baby pictures generously loaned to us by her mom (soon to be grandma). So I figured what the heck and uploaded them. As you can tell from this picture, her love for sweets started early.
And yes, for anyone who is curious, I will get in trouble for this.
Click here to see more Baby Kerry pictures
26 week untrasounds pictures online.
February 15th we had another ultrasound to check on Baby Duty. This was a quick one and we only got 2 pictures, but the doctor says he is doing great. His size is right down the 50th percentile. My apologies for taking so long to get them online.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Fun times in the great state of Texas!
Last weekend Kerry and I flew to Dallas to see my parents. It was a great trip and while we were there they threw us a baby shower with our friends. My Mom did an amazing job with wonderful food and a great, laid back atmosphere. It was great to see our friends, some we haven’t seen since we moved from Texas, and we got some great gifts. One of which is the most important item new parents can have, the Diaper Genie.
Check out the pictures on our flickr account!
Saturday, January 21, 2006
News from DutyLand
So it has been a while since we’ve posted, mostly because nothing new has occurred. We are sort of in a holding pattern with the baby right now. We know the sex and have had the 2nd trimester screening so really its just time to wait and let the little guy grow. Kerry says in the mornings she can feel the guy kick and he really likes bacon and orange juice (that’s my boy).
As most people know we’ve been trying to sell our house. Before the holidays the interesting was pretty slim, but these last 2 weeks we have almost doubled our showings! Hopefully we will get an acceptable offer soon so Kerry can start nesting in the house we will be raising the guy in. If you haven’t heard, we have found a great house in Saline, MI. It is within walking distance from our church, the Elementary and middle school and is on a cul-de-sac with other families who have young children. Hopefully we can get our house sold before someone snatches it up!
Work has been going well. We are releasing the product I’ve been working on in early February so we’ve had our heads down with that. This has been a year-and-a-half project that has had many ups and downs, but I think the end result is something people have never seen before.
That’s really all from the Duty home. Remember to all our Dallas friends, we will be in the DFW area on the Weekend of February 17th so mark your calendars!
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
2005 Christmas Letter
Many people will be receiving this in Christmas cards (yes we sent them late because we wanted to know the sex of our baby). But just incase, here is the 2005 Duty family Christmas letter.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
It’s been a very exciting year for the Duty’s. In case you haven’t heard, our biggest news is that I’m pregnant and due May 27th. We found out on the 23rd that we’re having a boy who appears to be perfectly healthy and growing well. We postponed sending out Christmas cards until we had our ultrasound so we could share the news with everyone (or at least that’s the excuse I’m using!).
All the rest of the news is relatively boring compared to the baby but here it goes anyways. In order to further prepare for the baby, we’re trying to sell our house in Ypsilanti and move to a bigger house in Saline (closer to Ann Arbor for the non-Michiganians). We love the area, our church is there, there are great schools, and it’s closer to both of our jobs. We have a house we’d love to buy but have to sell ours first. As first time home sellers, we’re discovering that this can be a challenging and frustrating experience. Hopefully the market will improve after the holidays and we’ll get an offer.
Jonathan is still working for Harris & Baseview developing software for newspapers. In May he was sent to San Francisco, CA to attend the Java One conference hosted by Sun Microsystems. This is an annual conference for software engineers that Jonathan has wanted to attend since he started working in technology. He got to meet some really neat people and enjoyed California. The product he has been working on for the last year had their first install at a newspaper in September and is sparking lots of talk in the market.
As for me, I had a job change at the end of the summer. I had been working for Boysville, a residential treatment facility for juvenile delinquents, as a family worker in the sex offender unit for about a year. It was very challenging work which I really enjoyed but unfortunately, budget cuts led to my position being eliminated, and since I was lowest in seniority, I wasn’t able to stay with the agency. After a month of job searching and catching up on tons of TV reruns during the day, I was offered a job as a school social worker in the special education department for Lenawee Intermediate School District. I’m at a K-12 building for 3 days in Adrian and 2 days at an elementary school in Clinton, which ironically is only 2 miles from Boysville. So far things are going well and I’m learning a lot. I’m also doing contract work with an outpatient therapy clinic to keep up my sex offender treatment skills and am continuing to do research in the field with one of my professors from my Master’s program. We presented at two national conferences this year which went really well and my fear of presenting to large crowds is decreasing.
Jonathan and I took trips to see his family in Dallas and Sante Fe this year which we really enjoyed. We also took a nice trip to the west coast of Michigan for a long weekend and enjoyed the beach and sand dunes. Jonathan got to experience his first football game at the Big House (the University of Michigan stadium for the non-Wolverine crowd), which was a big change from the sparsely populated Baylor games we were used to. We had a great time cheering for a winning team and of course, enjoying the marching band’s performances.
We hope everyone is doing well and love getting updates from all of our friends and family. Jonathan updates our website a lot and there are lots of pictures for you to enjoy – www.jonandkerry.com For now, we can be reached at :
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