Thursday, January 31, 2008
Doctor Visit
Alex visited the doctor today. Because he was a preemie, he has to get shots (called Synagis) each month. He is up to 12 lbs., 11 oz. still a little low for his age, but he's up a pound from last month (the doctor said he should gain between a half-pound and a pound each month, so he is getting on track). However, he is taller than 75% of all 4 month old boys at 25.5 inches tall. And, his doctor thought he would be at the 90th percentile very soon (so he has a good chance to be taller than me).
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Christmas DVD
Tonight, Briana and I watched her annual Christmas DVD. This DVD has become a family tradition since her first Christmas. Each year, I make the DVD and give it to our family members as a Christmas gift. Wherever we are on Christmas eve (this year it was Sheboygan, WI), we watch it after opening presents.
The DVD has really evolved since that first year (2002). For the inaugural video, there was one song ("Butterfly Kisses"), only contained pictures, and the disc only worked on computers. Two years later, I bought a new program (Pinnacle Studio) and the quality really increased (although it is a memory hog and crashes quite a bit). I now was able to create a true DVD - one that you could play on a DVD player. I was also able to create menus so I could have multiple songs and was able to incorporate videos instead of just pictures. The DVD has grown over the last several years and Briana had 5 songs on this year's version: 1) Butterfly Kisses - used every year; it focuses on my family members; 2) Ready, Set, Don't Go - my favorite father/daughter song; this one was mostly about me and her; 3) In My Daughter's Eyes - Gretchen's song; it focuses on her family members; 4) My Little Girl - contains a lot of pictures with her wearing Ohio State stuff; and 5) I Learned from You - Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus sing this; it's mostly about Briana and school (including video and pictures of her first day of kindergarten). There were also 2 bonus video features - Briana winning a contest during an OSU women's game and video of her dance recital. I also bought a new Lightscribe DVD burner which allows me to burn a picture directly on the DVD.
Alex had his 1st Christmas DVD, including 3 songs: 1) Beautiful Boy by John Lennon; 2) My Wish by Rascal Flatts; and 3) I Hope You Dance by LeeAnn Womack (this was really about Alex and Briana).
I can't tell you how much I enjoy making this DVDs. It took about a week to make these 2 DVDs this year. I have to first choose the pictures/videos I want to use (I go through all pictures taken since the previous Christmas), decide which song to put them with, then try to (somewhat) sync them with the words to the songs (where possible). It is an incredible way to document each year of our children's lives and I think they will really cherish them when they get older. From a selfish point of view, it is an incredible reminder to me what beautiful children we have and how lucky we are to have them. I still tear up each year when I see the finished product for the first time.
This year, I surprised Gretchen with a DVD of her own. We had purchased a scanner at the beginning of December and on one of my days off (after final exams), I scanned in many of our old pictures (pre-digital camera era), including our wedding pictures. It is about 15 minutes long and includes 4 songs. I believe she was shocked when she opened her stocking on Christmas day and found her very own DVD. I found a few pictures from Gretchen's high school days, including the one below (check out the beautiful cheerleader on the far right of the picture).
The DVD has really evolved since that first year (2002). For the inaugural video, there was one song ("Butterfly Kisses"), only contained pictures, and the disc only worked on computers. Two years later, I bought a new program (Pinnacle Studio) and the quality really increased (although it is a memory hog and crashes quite a bit). I now was able to create a true DVD - one that you could play on a DVD player. I was also able to create menus so I could have multiple songs and was able to incorporate videos instead of just pictures. The DVD has grown over the last several years and Briana had 5 songs on this year's version: 1) Butterfly Kisses - used every year; it focuses on my family members; 2) Ready, Set, Don't Go - my favorite father/daughter song; this one was mostly about me and her; 3) In My Daughter's Eyes - Gretchen's song; it focuses on her family members; 4) My Little Girl - contains a lot of pictures with her wearing Ohio State stuff; and 5) I Learned from You - Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus sing this; it's mostly about Briana and school (including video and pictures of her first day of kindergarten). There were also 2 bonus video features - Briana winning a contest during an OSU women's game and video of her dance recital. I also bought a new Lightscribe DVD burner which allows me to burn a picture directly on the DVD.
Alex had his 1st Christmas DVD, including 3 songs: 1) Beautiful Boy by John Lennon; 2) My Wish by Rascal Flatts; and 3) I Hope You Dance by LeeAnn Womack (this was really about Alex and Briana).
I can't tell you how much I enjoy making this DVDs. It took about a week to make these 2 DVDs this year. I have to first choose the pictures/videos I want to use (I go through all pictures taken since the previous Christmas), decide which song to put them with, then try to (somewhat) sync them with the words to the songs (where possible). It is an incredible way to document each year of our children's lives and I think they will really cherish them when they get older. From a selfish point of view, it is an incredible reminder to me what beautiful children we have and how lucky we are to have them. I still tear up each year when I see the finished product for the first time.
This year, I surprised Gretchen with a DVD of her own. We had purchased a scanner at the beginning of December and on one of my days off (after final exams), I scanned in many of our old pictures (pre-digital camera era), including our wedding pictures. It is about 15 minutes long and includes 4 songs. I believe she was shocked when she opened her stocking on Christmas day and found her very own DVD. I found a few pictures from Gretchen's high school days, including the one below (check out the beautiful cheerleader on the far right of the picture).
Daddy - Daughter Game
A few weeks ago, Briana and I went to a Daddy/Daughter game at Ohio State. We got to see the women's team take on Indiana. We had great seats (front row) and Briana got a rose as part of the promotion.
After the game, we got to go onto the court and shoot free throws.
Briana also got to meet the star of the team, Jantel Lavendar, and get her autograph. It was a great night for both of us.
After the game, we got to go onto the court and shoot free throws.
Briana also got to meet the star of the team, Jantel Lavendar, and get her autograph. It was a great night for both of us.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Christmas Time
Briana and Alex with Great-Grandpa.Merry Belated Christmas Everyone!
The Turner clan had a wonderful, fun filled Christmas time this year. We were able to travel to Wisconsin this year to see my family. It was great to see everyone and have them meet Alex for the first time. It was a quick trip, but definitely worthwhile. Brian and I even got two nights "off" from Baby Duty. My mom took Alex two of the three nights we were there. Even she needed a break in between. She was so excited to see how much he had grown since the last time she was in Ohio. I think she was ready for us to go when we did, though. We really wore her out. See the before and after photos at the bottom of this post :)
Christmas with our children and family is such a magical time of year. Briana can't wait for Santa, but always remembers the real reason for the holiday. Our tradition is to have a birthday cake on Christmas Eve for Baby Jesus. Mom baked a delicious red velvet cake for the occasion. It was nice to share a Turner tradition with my family-and especially nice to enjoy homemade cake (Jesus gets store bought at my house :).
This is Briana, Scott, and Deanna pretending to be reindeer on Christmas Eve.
Grandpa got to spend some time with the little ones.
Alex got to meet his Aunt Heidi for the first time.
Briana had a blast with all of her cousins.
The night we arrived.
The morning we left.Thanks Mom.
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