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On 12-29-11 our little Liam Parker Templeman was born! We spent two days at Piedmont Newnan Hospital for delivery and recovery before coming home. So we’ve finally settled in a bit and things are becoming more routine by the day as lil’ Liam Parker Templeman joins our happy home! Grandpa has gone home but he spent his fair share with the little one before he left, Nan has had to be careful with how much time she spends with lil’ Liam as Ripley has been more sensitive about sharing her attentions than anyone else in the house but even this is getting better and better. Nan has been a real help for Kellie and I, watching Ripley while we take Liam for his check ups and just by being another pair of eyes and hands to intercept our very quick and very sneaky lil’ ninja!
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Sitting with the Grandkids!
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Meeting Liam!
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Liam Parker Templeman
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A sleepy Liam!
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Tiny feet!
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Liam smiling!
Ripley has been getting better and better with her new little brother, at first she saw him as blatant competition for our attention and affections! Whether she was trying to crawl into our laps during his feedings, poke her nose in during his diaper changes (not something I’d recommend), or just generally wanting to have our attention on her. Just a few days in and well she’s gotten over most of that, she even greets her brother in the morning with a wave, checks on him when he cries out, and sits calmly with us when we are holding him (very endearing in fact). So Ripley is certainly going to be a great big sister!As for Mom and Dad well surprisingly Liam has been almost as agreeable as Ripley was during her early weeks. He’s sleeping in 3~4 hour blocks, eating regularly, no spit up, and processing everything right along. He has been more of a face scratch-er than his sister so we’ve adopted the baby mitts to try and curb him from shredding his puffy cheeks. We definitely feel more rested this around than we did with Ripley, whether that’s from veteran parenting or simply an easier planned delivery is anybody’s guess. In any case we are happy and adjusting as we have too, our next big adjustment is my returning to work this week, so we will see how that goes.
We would like to thank everyone for the cards, notes, tweets, texts, phone calls, gifts, and of course well wishes for our son. Thank you all again very much!
“When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when a son gives to his father, both cry.”
- William Shakespeare
As the year 2011 comes to a close I look back on everything that has happened over the last year with a bit of wonder, surprise, and a sense of accomplishment. Here are some highlights:
- Kellie completed two semesters at Clayton State University with, of course, straight As and finally admission into the Psychology Graduates program!
- Now over a year at Peer1 hosting and still enjoying my job as well as looking for ways to improve it and myself while I’m there.
- Ripley has celebrated her first birthday, we watched her first steps, saw her grow into a fiercely independent, and supremely strong willed little girl.
- We of course celebrated our second wedding anniversary, just the second of many!
- The holidays were a bit of a blur as they usually are sometimes but we spent lovely time with our family and loved ones!
- And last but not least we found out we were to have our second child, and just recently on 12-29-2011 Liam Parker Templeman was born!
This year we haven’t lost any family, thankfully, but we know those who have an our hearts go out to them. We remember those we’ve lost and miss them every time we gather with our family and know they would be sitting there with us laughing, debating, joking, kidding, and smiling with the rest of us. Those we were able to see and be with know you are loved and never far from our thoughts, life keeps some of us busy but no one is forgotten no matter how long between visits.
There have been changes in the world and how people think, the change is spreading and growing more people our age and younger are looking up and realizing that they don’t like what they see. Those that have been active and chosen to participate in active change I salute you, carry on.
We have had a great year and like most it has been a crazy and joyous! Honestly 2012 is looking to be even busier, crazier, and well a whole lot of fun. We look forward to Ripley being able to say more and more and Liam growing into a crawler, a walker, then much like his big’sis a full hell on wheels Templeman. We are blessed and we give thanks for being so, we look forward to the new year with a renewed sense of hope, wonder, and anticipation! We hope every one has a happy and joyous 2012!
“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.”
- Jane Howard
Our house is alive with busy feet and squealing laughter, the family has arrived this week and settled in for the holidays. Ripley has been thrilled and is keeping everyone quite entertained and of course on our toes!
Over time how I view the holidays has changed greatly. As a child it was the usual excitement of gifts and family gatherings, but into my teenage years holidays became a chore and well weren’t always the most happy times in my life. Once I moved out holidays were well sparse for a bit. I didn’t really choose to associate with family along the holidays. Now with a family myself I’m stuck wondering what kind of holiday traditions to have with my kids down the road, because I have very few that have hung around. Right now this is not such a big deal as Ripley is just now old enough to get excited about wrapped boxes, and Liam isn’t even here yet, but the thoughts to occupy my mind.
Lately I’ve really appreciated adopting and making Kellie’s family’s traditions part of our own. I love having a full house and lots of laughing going on even if it is sometimes at someone else’s expense. I’m happy to have the in-laws down, and I’m even happier to have a healthy family to gather with. Liam will be joining us soon enough and we will be starting another new chapter in our lives and I for one can’t wait!
I wish this update was more coherent but it’s 2am… I’ll do better next year.
And she didn’t even cry! This Santa was also a pretty nice guy and definitely legit looking so we were impressed!  Hanging with Santa at the Arbor Place Mall
October was here for what seemed to be the smallest blink of an eye and now *poof* it’s gone and we’re into the second week of November. Our October report is somewhat minimal — not too much of note went on.
Some of the highlights include our impromptu and unplanned day trip to the Atlanta Anime convention, where Ripley had a ball looking at cosplayers galore. People dressed up like everything from Pandas to Video Game characters to Steampunks. She had an intense fascination with a guy dressed as a creeper from the Minecraft game. And of course, a little kid’s backpack that looked like SpongeBob. It was a fun and entertaining day out and we picked up a few really cool things for ourselves from the dealers room. Lots of Japanese candy was purchased and consumed over the course of the week.
A new member was added to the family fleet as we traded in the Honda CR-V for a new shiny 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The Honda was a nice car but really, to term it a SUV was beyond pushing it….. Chris literally has more trunk space in the Optima than the CR-V had. The Jeep is awesome and I’m loving it, it’s loaded to the gills with every electronic device you can imagine and more plus it rides like a dream and honestly isn’t too bad on gas either. It’s also nice being able to put things larger than a grocery bag in our trunk — we can finally go to IKEA and purchase things to take home instead of just going to look.
And since we’ve been working on multiple home improvements lately — we bit the bullet and had some really nice glass Anderson storm doors installed on the house. OMG — Chris and I have been totally geeked up about them to the point where it’s almost laughable. But from Day 1 of having the new storm doors on the front and back of the house, it’s been significantly less drafty in the downstairs and just warmer overall. Not to mention, it just makes the front (and the back) of the house look more complete and definitely stands out from the rest of the neighborhood as not too many people on our block have had these done.
My mom was back in town for several weeks at the end of the month, which was soooooo awesome! It’s always great to have my mom around because she is such a huge help to both Chris and I and of course, Ripley loves her Nana like no other! Chris and I got a much needed date night to dine solo at Carabba’s and take in a movie. We both got a chance to sleep in and eat lots of Mom’s home cooking. Chris has been gorging on my Mom’s homemade Italian Greens and Beans soup, which by request she made a huge batch the day before she left to keep in the fridge so he could take it to work all week. Plus it was nice to just have some “Mommy and Me” time — we had some girls days getting out and about, getting pedicures and having lunch. We got a ton of Christmas shopping done since when my Dad and Mom come back at the end of December I will be in no shape to go out shopping, the baby countdown will begin.
Speaking of the baby — we finally have a name for our son! Which is great because he’s already at 8+ months along and due in just 7 weeks! Our little guy will be anointed (drum-roll please…..) Liam Parker Templeman. I’m so excited and can’t wait to meet him, he will be the best X-mas gift ever! And it will be sweet relief to have all this kicking put to a stop because he is a super active little guy in there.
Halloween also came and went. Ripley has been having a really rough time over the past two weeks with her molars starting to come in. Her naps have been super irregular and she’s had days where she’s just been a cranky and restless monster lately due to the teething fits. Halloween was one of those rough days for her so while she didn’t get a true Halloween celebration, we dressed her up in her costume anyways and took her for a walk around the block, where she merrily “hopped” around and picked up pretty leaves.  Feeling kinda Froggy  Football Sunday smiles And with all that we’re on to November — already looking forward to Thanksgiving and having a really long, relaxing weekend off. This preggo mommy is dead tired these days and I need some serious rest. Hope your Fall is going spectacular!
As the summer draws to a close and the temperature levels off somewhat I have to look back a bit to think how much has gone on in just a few short months. At the beginning of summer season in May we celebrated Ripley’s 1st birthday, a fine time and we were happy everyone could come. June became a flurry of activity as we had our Anniversary, my birthday, and I got to celebrate Father’s day with my family. Then comes July and the temperature has risen and the city is in full Summer swing, moving steadily to August where the temperatures peak. We also had Barbara come down and stay with us for a visit. I love when Barbara comes down first she brings heaven knows what treats for us from Niagara Falls, NY but then she settles in and while she’s on “vacation” we kinda of have a sense of being on “vacation” cause well our routine changes. It’s not a upsetting shift, just a change that kind of breaks up the same old same old we sometimes get use too. When she left everyone was sad to see her go, including the dogs. I had to watch Ripley and the dogs wander round looking in the usual places for her almost two days before they realized she had gone elsewhere, but they’ve accepted she’s gone and know she’ll be back. Nana always comes back! 
While we’ve been spending the summer going here and there, visiting folks, and getting out an about our son has been growing. It’s hard to imagine that he is already 6 months along and that in a matter of months we will have another tiny person in the house. Kellie and I have been going back and forth on names, nothing is permanent yet but we’ll get there cause before we know it he will soon be here! We’re already planning how to get everything he needs but this time around and we are better prepared as we’ve been through the drill before so we’ve been looking for all the odds and ends.
So the summer was fun I’m looking forward to fall and winter, I’ve always been more a Fall kinda of person. Give me semi-cloudy days, a chilled breeze, and low humidity any day! Plus you get to make soups and chili in the winter when it’s a perfect time to have it, and Kellie makes killer pots of both! Not to mention I’m trying to get an at least monthly D&D group off the ground with some friends and I think soups and chili will make some excellent shared meals while battling this and that.
…that’s what little boys are made of! Kind of an exciting day yesterday at our 20 week ultrasound because we found out that we’re having a little boy! I’m so excited that like me Ripley will have a little brother and in turn, he’s also a lucky little guy because I know she’s going to be a really great big sister to him. She’s starting to understand the term “gentle” (which I hope she grasps in it’s entirety by the time he gets here in January) and gives super sweet hugs and sometimes when she’s in the mood, kisses too. Even to the dogs, bless her heart. So far, he appears to be a strong healthy little (and wiggly!) guy. Last night, I spent a lot of time looking at both Chris and Ripley sitting on the couch and tried to imagine what he’ll look like — will he look more like me or more like Chris? A couple more months to go and we’ll find out. His name is still a work in progress but when we figure it out it will be perfect.
In other summer news, really not too much to report. It’s been a busy summer yet still feels like it was too short. We celebrated our June holidays –Chris’s birthday, Father’s Day and had a low key and enjoyable 2nd anniversary dinner celebration with Ripley at one of my favorite restaurants, the Big Chow Grill which was awesome. I finished my first semester at Clayton State with a perfect 4.0 GPA. We took a break to hang out with our friends and treat Ripley to some culture at the Fernbank Museum and she loved it. Who am I kidding? We all loved it! It was a lot of fun seeing dinosaurs, mythical creatures and then just releasing Ripley into the unbridled wilderness of the children’s nature exhibit — where she got to run, play and abduct small rubber turtles.
My mom is visiting for a bit this month. It’s been enjoyable and a relief to have her around, the Ripley spoiling has picked up to full steam and hopefully this is the last time she’ll have to “visit”. Their house in Niagara Falls is ready, all packed up and priced to sell so the next time her and my Dad are down here in another month or two, it will be to stay permanently. I know we’ll all be happy when they are down here and settled into their own house and Ripley can see them every day in person instead of via Skype during dinner. I so look forward to having a family X-mas celebration at my Mom and Dad’s new house in Sharpsburg this year as long as everything goes smoothly as planned. And my Mom will have to recruit someone else to import our Italian bread and Macaroni cheese from the Italian Deli’s in NY for a change (Uncle Tom, maybe?).
But that is it….those are all my thoughts for now. Fall is on its way, can’t wait since it’s been too damn hot for the last two months. Hopefully, Chris, Ripley and I can take a mini-vacation get-away before our new little guy shows up in the winter. We’ll be prepping his room come October/November since we already picked out a crib and his new bedding/room theme. And the purchasing of the boy baby clothes has begun with Nana already getting him a bunch of stuff. We’ll have to add another wing to the Templeman mansion to accommodate all these kids clothes…. between Ripley and the lil guy we’re running out of room fast.
Time seems to fly by these days. Not a year ago I was just celebrating my first year of marriage, the recent birth of my precious daughter Ripley, and still working at Bennett. Today I’m close to celebrating my second year of marriage, my precious daughter just turned one year old, and I’m working for a new company close to a year now called Peer1. So what have a learned since last year? Let’s see…
- Babies respond to schedules and don’t like it if you think changing it is a good idea.
- Sometimes being a better father means being a better husband, conversely being a better husband means being a better father.
- That in all things I am strongest when I know my wife is by my side.
- Babies violate the 1st Rule of Alchemy, they create more waste than the actual amount of food they consume.
- Life is full of risks, but nothing ventured nothing gained.
- Working at night creates a void from the world of the day timers.
- Ripley enjoys the mornings and the afternoons, so long as she gets her nap.
- Ripley will try to eat anything in front of her: chicken, strawberries, noodles, cucumbers, cookies, plastic blocks, chair legs, the dogs…
- My wife is the most ruthlessly protective creature I’ve ever seen, let none doubt that she isn’t afraid to do harm if required.
- That a full house is not a happy home unless all are happy within it.
- Talking about your day is more than just whats happen but more about what you wanted to happen some days.
- Nothing is scarier than seeing your child injured.
- My wife is graceful and tactful under pressure when I’m not, likewise I am when she is not.
- That no matter where I am, home is where ever my family is.
- Nothing can bring you more joy than your child’s smile.
- Nothing can drive you more crazy than your child’s smirk.
- That my wife is my most precious treasure, the heart of our family and light of my life.
In a nutshell the past year for me has been more about learning how to be a better husband, a better parent, and a better friend. More internal changes and motivations than anything else, honestly life demands so much of my time internal changes are all there has been time for. So what can I learn over the next year? I dunno, hopefully it will be just as educational and happy as the last year has been. And if not, there is still something to be learned in that too.
“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. “
- Henry Ford
“Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned.”
- Mark Twain
It may not officially be summer yet but dog gone…. it sure does feel like it! It’s the first week of June and the temperatures in Atlanta have been pushing upwards in the high 90′s for about a week or so now. We survived the month of May — Mother’s Day was a fantastic time, my husband made it special and I enjoyed spending the day with my two sweeties. Ripley made out like a bandit with a total of 3 birthday celebrations… she had a family blowout on her birthday (5/13), another mini-birthday with Uncle Randy and Aunt Val on the following Monday and a Georgia Tech birthday the next day complete with homemade (and wonderfully awesome) panda cupcakes baked by my friend Stacie.  Daddy trying some Panda management  Panda Cupcakes!  NOM NOM Pandas! Also with the summer starting — I have started taking classes towards my Master’s Degree at Clayton State University. I’ve been wanting to go back to school for a while and pretty much just dragged my feet. With some support from my husband, I bit the bullet and this summer semester I’m taking two Psychology classes which so far I’m doing pretty well and are pretty interesting to boot. It’s also helpful that my work pays for tuition so it’s a win-win as long as I stay with it. It’s really scary, surreal and exciting to be sitting in classes again. The last time I was in college was 8 years ago when I graduated from SUNY Buffalo!
And for the craziest, most awesome news of all….. we’re expecting a second baby! We found out in early May and after a visit to the Dr. on the 16th, it was all official. Right now, we’re 9 weeks along and the due date is January 1, 2012! Chris and I are elated and even though Ripley really doesn’t have a clue yet she will be the best big sister ever! It will be a very exciting start to the New Year to welcome in the newest Templeman baby! We don’t know the sex yet but we’ll most likely find out sometime late July or early August. I would love to have a boy but if it ends up being a girl, Ripley will get the one thing I never had… a sister! and I’ll be happy regardless. Chris just wants a healthy, happy baby and could care less.
And with all that, life continues. I’ve been tired as you can imagine…. working a full time job, being a mommy to a busy active 1 yr old and adding classes and homework to the mix while preggers is not easy. But it definitely makes the day go by pretty fast and I’m enjoying every minute of it! Coming up we have Chris’ 31st birthday, Fathers Day and our Anniversary! YEAH JUNE!!! 
Hoping the start to everyone’s summer is fabulous!
Celebrating our little girl’s 1st birthday!
You have changed our lives so many ways,
Your smile brightens our hearts, your laugh lightens our spirit,
A year ago today you changed our lives for the better in all things….
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