renovations

Well, it has been a while since I put anything on my blog. Maybe in part because there has been so much going on.

For those of you who don't know, we (meaning my wife) recently discovered we had a leak in our house. It was easily traceable to our main floor bathroom. The leak had been going on for a while and had rotted some of the subfloor. Thus our adventure begins.

We had to have the bathroom floor repaired so we decided to take out all of the laminate flooring (bathroom, entry, kitchen) which covered most of our main floor, and tile.

My first call was to Chip Bauer Someone I knew through church and got to know more while working on their web site.

This also led to redecorating the bathroom and painting the kitchen. Hey, if you're going to do it now is the time. We also plan on replacing cabinetry hardware and lighting. So it has been a little crazy trying to get everything done.

I had help from Joel Westrum (also from our church) in removing our dish washer. By help I mean I watched as Joel removed the dishwasher.

They are suppose to tile this week. Last night we drove to Wisconsin and met my parents. It is about half way between us and them. Val and Lincoln went to spend the week at my parents. Cooper has school and other stuff going on, so he is staying in Minnesota with me. We got in late last night in which I put him in bed and began cleaning the last items out of the kitchen.

With no baby I slept in this morning and got up around six to do my last minute prepping of the kitchen so I can paint while Cooper is in school.

Anyway, that is what is happening in our neck of the woods.

some pics

My sister in-law pointed out to me today that I hadn't put many pictures up. I realize that is true, and since I started this blog in large part for family far away to be able to keep tabs, here are some pics. Thanks for keeping me in line Angela.

Happy Easter

updates

Why I haven't updated more.

smile

Is there anything quite as precious as a newborn smile? That toothless grin spreads across their face and they look at you with that, "It's great to be alive" look in their eyes.

Then you realize, it was just gas.

It made me think about how many times I assume I know someone's motives for their actions. I need to take the time to understand them before I presume to know why they do what they do.

no pottery barn

Alright, my big, ugly, worn out, blue chair has made it into the house.

If you want to know the story behind the chair you can ask me sometime, but this chair has been with me to 5 states (Arkansas, Texas, Kentucky, Illinois, Minnesota) In Illinois it sat in our unfinished basement and until recently it sat in our garage.

So why move this piece of junk into the house? Because this is the best baby rocking chair ever. It is big and has big arms, so their is plenty of room for me and baby. But the best thing is it rocks. I know lots of chairs rock, but this one (unlike official lazy boys) rocks when the leg rest is out.

I can't count the number of times I sat in the chair rocking Cooper during the 3am feeding and watching SportsCenter.

I am afraid, however, after I'm done rocking #2, the chair will be going to the garbage man.

online nursery

Lincoln is officially in the online nursery.

meals on wheels

I want to stress that I am not trying to solicit meals online. I am posting this because several very nice people from our church approached me about meals. I have been on the cooking end before, but usually someone calls me up and says can you make a meal for so and so. And then I do. I have never been on this end before.

Anyway, for those who were asking, I have asked Nikki Good from our small group to coordinate.

Once again, please don't feel like this is a call for you to make us a meal because you happened to read this post. I just wanted to put out the info for those people who were asking me about it.

Besides being tired, everything is going very well and we will have family in town until next week.

Lincoln is home

It has been a kind of crazy weekend. I was back and forth between the middle school and the hospital on Saturday. We came home on Saturday about 2:30 after KidStuf practice. The whole experience at the hospital was great. Everyone was wonderful and it was very nice to have such caring support. By Saturday though, we were ready to come home.

Sunday I got up early to go to church and get ready for KidStuf. Cooper has been sick, so everyone else stayed home. After the service I went to the airport to pick up Val's sister. So we have a full house now and it is great. It is a lot of fun to have family here at a time like this.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the hospital to say hi. We enjoyed having you all come by.

i wasn't born yesterday

(sorry, yes he was)

Lincoln Mack Welch

Lincoln Mack Welch arrived today, March 1, 2006. More to follow, but for now the stats.

Born 7:40am

weight: 9lbs. 7ozs.

length: 19.5 "

chest: 14.5"

head: 14.5"

original score by Cooper Welch

This is an original song that Cooper wrote on his guitar. He had me write down the lyrics for him. I can't read, let along write, music, so I can only give you the lyrics. But here they are.

Jamen on Hime

Who is dat, flying up in the air
He's not St. Nicholas, no he isn't there

It's only just Jamen on Hime
It's just Jamen on Hime

He is here and there
He is everywhere

He makes quilts
And he made one built

I met him before
I didn't just do a tour

I'm making the times, for the rhymes, in da city

He doesn't wear any hat
But he met a bat

Oh yeah, what a great time to do it

And time for me to go
And time for me to go, whoooo yeah

death by suburb

I have ordered books for our small group called "Death by Suburb."

The author identifies 8 toxins of living in the suburbs and 8 spiritual practices for battling those toxins and living, what he calls, the thicker life.

On the website, under toxin 6, "My Church is the problem" one of his discussion points is this:

"You should feel disillusioned with your church. That’s the starting point for great spiritual progress."

I am excited to read and study this book.

my neighbor totoro

Friday Cooper was off of school. So I decided to take him to the children's museum. I think he had gone there once with his mother when we first moved to Minnesota, but I had never been there. Also, I wanted to go while the Jump to Japan exhibit was still there so we could see totoro.

We had a great time at the museum. Every room was his favorite until we went to the next room. The last room we were at was the city, where Cooper got to be a mailman and a police officer.

After 4 hours at the museum we went to the Mall of America to eat at one of Cooper's favorite restaurants, the Rain Forest Cafe.



I realize this is our last outing with Cooper as an only child. So I have been doing some reflecting on the last 6 years. The first 18 months in Louisville that I basically slept walked though. Our little 2 bedroom house with our horrible neighbor. Moving to Illinois and officially being not just the primary care giver, but a stay-at-home dad. Finding out a lot of people consider that to be an "alternative" lifestyle. Our church family there. Our house that was much too big and formal for our life style. The grumpy old neighbor who wouldn't make eye contact with us. Being close to family and being able to celebrate holidays with extended family.

It has been a long journey to get to the point we are at today. I don't know where it goes from here. But soon we add a new life to our family. And it seems like other worries are starting to melt away. Maybe this will help me refocus on what is really important. With one child gown to school age I may understand my roll as a stay-at-home dad better this go around.

I am a stay-at-home dad. It is my job. It may not be the norm, it may seem foreign to some, but it is my job. And I want to do the best at it I can.

cooper tv

For those of you that have known us for a while, you may know that Cooper does not have an imaginary friend, but he does have an imaginary tv audience. For years Cooper had periodically talked to the television audience much like Steve (for those of you with younger children, this was the classic Blue's Clues host)

So the other day Cooper hired a camera man, and although his editor still needs some time with it, I present Cooper TV.

Sorry, for those on dial-up, this is probably not going to work or take forever.

COOPER TV

For those interested, this move was encoded using H.264 at 15fps. The audio is AAC at 32.000 kHz

Cooper joins choir

This saturday we took at trip out to the headquarters of the land of lakes choirboys. They have choirs for boys starting as early as 5 years old. The younger kids, or prep choir doesn't require a tryout.

So this tuesday Cooper will start going to choir practice. He will likely perform in May at the Benson great hall on the campus of Bethel.

We were really impressed, not just with the choir/singing aspect of the program, but the work they do on manners, respect and responsibility. This was something totally unexpected to me.

Cooper enjoyed the time we spent their on Saturday and is looking forward to becoming part of the choir.

Pancakes @ school

It is Friday morning. Today we had breakfast at Little Mountain, Cooper's school.

It was very fun to go to Cooper's school and hang out. Cooper had to say hi to the principle. They had center pieces made by some of the older students. Cooper asked if the one we were sitting by was made by his buddy (meaning his 4th grade buddy, a system at the school where they pair up kindergartners with a 4th grader)

After we ate we took Cooper's stuff to his locker in his classroom and spent some time talking to his teacher. After that we took him to the library where kids were watching a movie until it was time for school. Their we got to spend a little time talking to the person who is running Cooper's social group he started attending at school.

I just cannot express enough how grateful we are to have such wonderful people running our local school system. Even the bus driver will share information with me if something has gone wrong or if Cooper seems out of sorts.

Thanks to everyone at Little Mountain.

balance

Cooper's issues at school recently and our weeks without TV have taught me some things.

One is that we can live without television. In fact, I think we are going to try to cut out TV during the week. It is harder to get things done, but I think it is well worth the cost.

The other is I need to find the right balance in my life. I realize there have been too many times where I have sacrificed Cooper in order to do other things, good things, but other things. The number one thing is stuff for our church. I don't want to get misread here, I think it is important for me to serve at church, I enjoy serving at church, but I can't sacrifice my son for it. I really don't think that is pleasing to God.

So I need to find that balance. I need watch my checkbook of time more carefully. I need to stop using the television as a baby sitter while I just need to get this one more thing done.

I think sometimes people really don't understand Val's schedule and sometimes forget that I really am a stay-at-home DAD. Sometimes I think I have forgotten it.

With #2 on the way it has started to make it clearer that I can't live the way I am right now. So I pray for God to help me see the things I need to do and the things that I need to say no to. To help me find that balance in life so that I don't relinquish the responsibilities I have to my family.

a visit to the dentist

Today Cooper had his regular visit to the dentist. Apparently today was also the day they talked about brushing their teeth in school.

Cooper loves going to the dentist, which is pretty strange for me with my slight dental phobia. It is funny because, I have watched the kid being born, been there for most every needle shot and other painful act, but I had to turn my head when they stick that pointy mental tool in his mouth. I cringe just writing this.

I'm not totally sure where my phobia comes from. Maybe it just is. But I am glad my son enjoys his trips to the dentist.

welcome to the dome

The Pseudoviolence of the Fusion Dome
By Valerie Welch (guest blogger)

This Christmas, my six-year-old son wanted two things. The first was a Sponge Bob beach ball. His old beach ball, given to him by his Granny, met its untimely demise in a family game of “Throw the beach ball inside as hard as you can.” His second request was rather mysterious; known only to him and his father, it was referred to as “the set.” Cooper and Chad saw this toy at Wal-Mart, but neither has a knack for memorization of details such as the actual name of the toy. Here’s what I first learned about “the set”:

1. It was a toy.
2. It was at Wal-Mart.
3. It had “men” that “came together.”

Now, this description was about all that my husband or son could come up with. I didn’t worry about it too much, trusting my husband to at least be able to visually identify “the set” and intervene with the North Pole accordingly.

To get even closer to Santa that year, we went to the eighth floor of Marshall Field’s in Minneapolis to see the holiday display and speak to the big man himself. After a long wait in line with some other children’s overzealous grandmother breathing down our necks, Cooper finally got to hop aboard the old man’s lap and answer the traditional question: “So, what do you want for Christmas?”

With a conspiratorial smile, Cooper raised his little hand to his mouth and related in a stage whisper, “I want a set.”

“Ohhh…a set. A set of what?”

“Of the men. That come together.”

Santa gives a jolly, yet slightly questioning glance to us, the proud parents waiting in the wings beside Brittany, the teenage elf photographer. We nod and smile knowingly...we are aware of the meaning of “the set.” All is well. Cooper and Santa briefly discuss the Sponge Bob beach ball, then we’re off to watch the Holidazzle parade.

On Christmas Day, I discovered at long last the true identity of “the set.” It is a toy made by Fisher-Price known as the Fusion Dome. This consists of a plastic, stage-like apparatus, upon which various plastic beings are set. The beings are each part of their own gang, posse, or “Fusion Crew.” There’s the animal crew and the monster crew. Each creature has the same “tough-guy” stance, with arms braced for action and legs slightly bent at the knees. The figurines also have the unique talent of splitting in half, down the middle of the body, in what we would call in medicine the mid-sagittal plane. The creatures then are able to merge the right halves of their bodies with the left halves of other creatures bodies, creating an entirely new beast by means of strategically placed magnets.

This is where Fisher-Price cleverly appeals to a young boy’s zeal for testosterone-laden violence, yet skirts the actual appearance or mention of such. Any given beast and his “opponent” are placed on the stage and covered with a semi-opaque hemisphere—The Fusion Dome. Next, the “opponents” are “challenged” to a “match.” Again, note the lack of words such as “fight.” Lights start to flash, and we hear the figurines grunting and crying out—yet we do not see any actual hits, kicks, or blows whatsoever. After a few minutes, one beast is declared the winner, and the other is quickly dumped down a miniature plastic tunnel to make space for the next “challenger.”

I find this concept in male-oriented toys intriguing, and at the same time confusing. Is this promoting violence, or providing a safe, relatively non-violent way for children to express their natural desire for competition and aggression? Is this a “starter drug” for more violent games and toys later in life, or a more positive alternative? At any rate, my son loves playing with it, and actually is much more interested in combining the half-figurines in various permutations than conducting “matches.” Eternal questions, therefore, have surfaced in my household about the nature of masculinity, violence, aggression, and competition—all because of “the set, where the men come together.”

Virtual Fusion Dome