Big girls sit up by themselves...

Yup, Ava is now easily sitting up on her own! She can't get to that position by herself yet, but once she's there she can sit forever! The occasional flop onto her back here and there, but she's got it pretty much mastered. We are so proud! :)

She's also expanded her diet to include Carrots, Green Beans, Sweet Potatoes...as well as a little banana and apple sauce! Tasty.

We had a good weekend up north last weekend. Weather was great! The guys got a little fishing in, Ava took a pontoon ride with G&G Shallman, and we went on another bike ride! She had a blast but it really wore her out. Another 6 days of it coming up this weekend for the 4th!

Speaking of fishing, Justin caught his first fish ever! He didn't know what kind it was..he thought it looked like a crappie. None-the-less, we were very happy for him, and as you can see, he was pretty proud of himself. It was actually pretty cool...he caught 2 fish at once. He first caught a small bluegill, and while reeling it in the northern ate it! he got it in and the bluegill's tail was still sticking out of the northerns throat. Pretty cool stuff. Way to go Justin...fish(s) on!

Cristin passed her boards! Nice work! Finally done with school and makin the big bucks. Too bad Justin will spend it all on ugly haircuts.

Going forward, there is a standing offer of a 'free beer' for anyone who manages to comment on a new blog entry BEFORE Justin does. And i'm guessing Justin will have plenty to comment on for this one. Good luck!

Tiny heads are cute!

So Ava had her 6 month checkup/shots yesterday afternoon. She did great! Cried for about 5 seconds and then was fine! She's a trooper. So the numbers...

Head was 16" around....still the 5% range! While this is rather small compared to the slew of huge noggin babies out there, it's right on par with where she's been percentage wise...Her 5% head is what makes her so cute I think. If you think otherwise, buzz off.

She was 26" long. Right up there with the average....50% range.

She was 14 lbs. 13 oz...in the 25% range.

So she's still a little lady but quite a bit bigger than last time! Kind of a skinny bean like her daddy and mommy are (or was in my case).

She had her portraits taken as well. Check out our website to get a glimpse at how they turned out!

We ordered up a bag-o/cornhole game...whatever your crew calls it...for part of my fathers day gift...we should have it early next week..so start practicing. I'll be challenging you soon.

That's all i'm willing to tell you right now.

Back in business

Ok, after a couple week break, I'm back. I had a valid excuse though...i was really busy..out of town...at a conference. As you can probably guess from the picture, I was in Boston, MA. Pretty cool, town...at least what I got to see of it. The highlight was by far the evening event at Fenway! Check out my website...I should have all of the pictures from Fenway added later today...if they aren't there...check back later.

As far as the actual conference...pretty decent. A lot review/updates from stuff we hit pretty hard at the PDC, but all worth it. And coolest of all, the GAT! It rules. Service Factory is by far what I'm the most excited about, but there is plenty more than that. And of course, WF is still pretty sweet stuff. Hopefully our group will get over to Visual Studio soon enough to make use of it before it's all yesterdays news. For now i'll just have to play around with it at home...that's how I roll. Super nerdy.

How bout those Twins! 2 sweeps in a row! Was pretty nice being in beantown during the Twins/BoSox series...too bad they weren't in Boston for the week. Hanging out on a perfect night at Fenway (It was probably 75 degrees...perfectly sunny, and no wind) makes me realize how long overdue an outdoor stadium is in MN. Too bad we have a few years more to wait.

Ava has her 6 month appt. Tuesday night...so we'll have the new numbers then. Pretty exciting. We think she's starting to teeth...teath....teeeeeth...?? How the hell do you spell Teath? Is it like Teath, or Teeth? Or what? Whatever. Let me rephrase....We think Ava's teeth are starting to come in. Much easier. She's also started eating Carrots! They stain like crazy. But she sure likes em.

Back to work! Lot's of catching up to do after being out for a week. Expect another post midweek. And don't forget to check out the Fenway pics (once i get around to posting them :))

Website Update

After my IP address change and the fact that my web server is running low on disk space, i finally decided to host my website offsite...and in the process decided to finally break down and spend the 2 bucks to register a domain name...so, our new website address is:

http://www.shallman.com

I know...it will be hard to remember...but deal with it. Shallman.com. Shallman.com. Shallman.com. There...now it's stuck, right¿ Good.

Hopefully the site runs a little faster now too. There is a new link or two on the menu with links to the other sites i host for people...so check those out if you are REALLY bored. Look for new pictures on our picture page anytime! Once I get around to it.

IN OTHER NEWS: Ava has her first ear infection(s)...and she made it a double...She's pretty cranky and really doesn't like her medicine...but she still behaves better than most other babies on their good days! At least we think so. She figured out that she can get her feet in her mouth...so that's a fun game. See how many times daddy can pull my feet out of my mouth in 1 minute. So far her record is 8 (unofficially).

Happy start to the week...check back later for more exciting blog content!