The first stop was SuperCuts downtown where she met Sherri, the woman that’s been cutting my hair for over 12 years now.

Then we went for a walk outside since we were downtown in Chicago. Sydney told me the sun was a bit bright so we kept the walk short.

Next stop was the Apple store in Oak Brook, where she was clearly just as excited as I was to be there.

On the way home she asked if she could have some ice creatm, so we stopped at DQ for a special treat. She didn’t eat the whole thing so I had to finish it off.

Finally at home, she passed out. I like to call this photo “Creepy Sleepy” because she’s sleeping with her eyes open. She does this all the time.

All in all, it was a great day with my little princess and I can’t wait for our next date together.

Love you daughter.

I slept here and there on the flight, but probably not more than 7 hours. Of that I’m sure it was not really quality sleep. My butt was so numb I had to keep getting up to walk.

But all in all it was a good trip and I’m glad to be here. I’ll be here 13 nights before I head back home.

As much as I like the occasional travel job as a change of pace, change of scenery… there is also a down side. Once I commit to a job I’m pretty much there for the duration, almost no matter what. That can be tough when your family needs you. This was one of those weeks that if I had the option, I would have left the job early or had somebody else take over for me, things that would have been possible had I been working here in Chicago.

We have all been trading colds for the last several weeks, but when I left it looked like the worst of it was behind us. As it turned out, the worst was yet to come. Sydney ended up getting a cold on top of a cold, which is annoying when you’re a adult but very serious when you’re 7 week old baby and unable to be treated with any type of medication. After 3 trips to the doctor throughout the week, Brenda ended up taking her to the hospital on Sunday night after she turned pale and appeared to stop breathing.

Long story short, Sydney is doing better but is still in the hospital and probably will be there until at least Wednesday. She’s improving but her oxygen levels are still dropping too much, especially when she goes to sleep. Brenda is staying with her around the clock and has only come home to pack some clothes and other daily items.

Andrew is home with me today because he’s still pretty sick and has a fever, Max is at daycare (thank god for only having one today!). I’m very sick and so is Brenda. So all in all, it’s just a little slice of “heaven” around here. It sure makes you appreciate the simplicity of just being healthy.

But I am very thankful that we live in a city that has access to great doctors and that Sydney is in great hands. I’m very confident that we’ll all be doing a lot better in the upcoming weeks.

[See post to watch QuickTime movie]

One for the plane, one for the RedCarpet Club. I’m out the door at 6am sharp tomorrow.

It’s with great pleasure and joy in my heart that I introduce to you our newest special gem.

Sydney Etheena Tomchak

Sydney joined us in the outside world at 9:43am this morning (November 27th 2009), and weighs in at a healthy 7 lbs, 4 oz. and measures 20.75 inches. Mom and baby are doing fine and Brenda is now in her room resting up.

We’ve known since the beginning (even before the boys) that if we did have a girl, some part of the name would be Etheena, named after Brenda’s oldest sister Tina who passed away in 2004. Tina’s legal name was Etheena, but friends and family called her Tina for short. The first name is a name that we both really liked after many weeks of throwing names at each other like darts. It was not unusual to just walk into the room and yell out a name, and the other person automatically knew what you were “asking”.

While it’s true that we would have been happy with a boy or girl, we’re extra happy that we have a girl to round out our family. I’ve said right from the beginning that I really wanted to have a “Mini-Brenda”.  And I know how happy Brenda is that she now has a little girl to go shopping with and do all of the girl things that she misses out on with the boys.

Speaking of shopping, we have a little confession to make. We’ve known from the 20 week mark that we were having a girl, but decided to keep it a surprise for everybody else. We just couldn’t wait to find out this time – we were both pretty confident that it was going to be a girl. The day that we found out, we actually went shopping at the mall and Brenda bought her the first outfit. See the video below for our documented trip.

[See post to watch QuickTime movie]

We have been in love with her for awhile now, so it’s nice to finally meet her!

More updates and plenty of photos in the days to come.

Click on the image to get a more detailed look.

My sister Dawn, who couldn’t make the trip from Detroit for the birth of #3, sent along a care package for the family. It includes a variety of interesting and useful items for all of us.

Most notably, she thought she would help with the “timing” of any future children, since the timing of this one was not totally of our choosing.

Kind of a conflicting message here.

Thanks Dawn. I love you baby sister.

Another great saturday downtown with the boys. Not many days like this left, summer is nearly gone!

2001 Drivers License – In shape, at ideal weight.

2009 Drivers License – Face is now fat and round, and I’m 35 lbs. over weight (I misreported my actual weight this year, but don’t feel guilty about it)!

I’m not one to celebrate my Birthday. In fact since my late 30’s it has become a day I really don’t look forward to anymore. Why celebrate that I’m even older then the year before? It’s not like I’m trying to be of legal driving age, drink or get into strip clubs in Windsor Canada (I’ve heard some guys do that). I can rent a car without a cosigner, vote, buy liquor without being carded and represent myself in a court of law should I chose to do so.

SO… what exactly am I to celebrate?

In recent years I have become more attuned to my age, and at one point last year I woke up in the middle of the night freaked out by the realization that most likely, I’ve already lived more then half of my life. Up until that moment I had always thought “Ahhh, I have my whole life in front of me”, and suddenly I realize that a good chunk of my life is now behind me! How did that happen?!

I’m not really as bothered about my age as this post may have you believe. I’ve made peace with it for the most part. But the subject does bring me to a great book I’m currently reading. It just made sense to share it on the celebration of my 15,330th day of life on this earth. The books is called “Younger Next Year”.

Here is a synopsis from the publisher.

Announcing the paperback edition of Younger Next Year, the New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestseller, co-written by one of the country’s most prominent internists, Dr. Henry “Harry” Lodge, and his star patient, the 73-year-old Chris Crowley. These are the books that show us how to turn back our biological clocks–how to put off 70% of the normal problems of aging (weakness, sore joints, bad balance) and eliminate 50% of serious illness and injury. The key to the program is found in Harry’s Rules: Exercise six days a week. Don’t eat crap. Connect and commit to others. There are seven rules all together, based on the latest findings in cell physiology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, and experimental psychology. Dr. Lodge explains how and why they work–and Chris Crowley, who is living proof of their effectiveness (skiing better today, for example, than he did twenty years ago), gives the just-as-essential motivation.

Both men and women can become functionally younger every year for the next five to ten years, then continue to live with newfound vitality and pleasure deep into our 80s and beyond.

It seems as you grow older staying healthy and at a reasonable weight (notice I didn’t say ideal weight) gets more and more difficult. Gone are the days when I could eat absolutely anything, do nothing and feel healthy with no weight gain. This book really brings this problem into focus in a way that leaves you more educated on exactly what is happening in your body as you get older.

While this book speaks to men 50 and older specifically, it’s obvious that the advice given is good for men and women of any age. I’m only about 25% through the book but I’m finding it very inspirational. If you’re looking for something to give you a good kick in the pants where your health and fitness is concerned, this might be just the ticket.

If you’re interested, click on one of the links below. In both cases you can find reader reviews and get even more information.

Younger Next Year, Audio Version

Younger Next Year, Paperback Version

Now get off that couch and do something!

A window seat in a exit row, with the seat next to me empty. What’s not to like!

I’m back from Indiana, and off early tomorrow for Cancun Mexico. Given how cold it’s become in recent days, the timing couldn’t be better!

Walking the great wall right now.

http://tinyurl.com/5ayrsa http://twitpic.com/bs9u

Andrew has been thinking about the best way to attack this CT scan, and I think he finally has it figured out. He’s just going to show them that everything is perfectly fine. 

Max is not worried at all and told Andrew to have fun in the hospital gown. 

So if it wasn’t enough that you could do web browsing, email, SMS Text Messaging, watch movies and listen to music, now with the new updated software you can do about 500 new things (if you so choose to do all 500 things that is).

I have downloaded several free applications, as well as a few inexpensive paid applications that are making my phone even more useful. For example, my to-do lists and projects that I’m working on that I normally keep track of on my computer automatically sync to my phone now as changes are made. And if changes are made on my iPhone, the changes update on my computer as they are done!

I love being a nerd.

Since we were unable to make the trip last weekend for the family reunion, we made a last minute decision to visit the family this weekend instead. We’re here until Sunday night when we’ll drive back starting at 8pm in hopes of making better time then we did coming into Detroit. Due to traffic and non-stop construction, it took us 8 hours to make it here. That’s the longest it has taken, with the only exception being a snow storm trip that took 12.

On the up side, we got some great mileage. We averaged over 50 miles per gallon over 300 miles, a new personal best! Normally it’s in the low to mid 40’s. So it took less then a half tank of gas to get here with a 12 gallon tank. Not to bad!

Photos later, as well as some video of Madison.

Photo by Creativity+ Timothy K Hamilton

I’m happy to be back at home. The trip was pretty uneventful and smooth so I can’t complain. More in a few days.

If you have to travel 18 hours on a plane, this is not a bad way to go. 3 full meals during the flight, on-demand movies and tv shows in every seat, and each seat is also a recliner with leg rest. I’ve had 4 hour flights that seemed longer then this one. 

On the plane for LA. We still feel confident that we’ll make our connecting flight.

Now that all the work is done, I’m spending a few days getting all of the equipment ready for the trip next week. Three years ago when I went to Hong Kong I had a whole cart full of equipment to do the job. This year, I’ll be able to fit almost all of the equipment into my normal suitcase. Why? The power of the laptop has grown by leaps and bounds, and things you couldn’t imagine doing 10 years ago, even on a desktop system, are now possible. Add to that the fact that we’re not even shooting on video tape anymore, it’s all memory cards and hard drives. 

Packed up and ready to leave Hong Kong, July 2004. The cart on the right is mine, the one on the left belongs to the cameraman. 

The boys had their 4 month checkup yesterday as well as a few immunization shots. Needless to say they were not happy when it was all over and it was quite the stressful ordeal. Max was screaming most of the time and made some sounds I’ve never heard him make before. I have to give Brenda a lot of credit for the amount of work she puts into these boys each and every day. It really is non-stop action with no time off.

The boys are on track for normal development, weight and growth. Andrew now weights 14 lbs. and Max about 12.5 (I can’t remember the precise numbers so I may be a little off).

During the visit we had a bit of a spirited debate with our Pediatrician about vaccines. It’s kind of a hot topic for many people, ourselves included. There are a lot of questions surrounding what and when children should receive shots, and in some cases if certain shots are even necessary. We’re trying to be as educated as we can on the topic given the risks that are involved, but we’re still learning as we go as well.

One book that we are reading and has a big following is called “What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children’s Vaccinations”. Not only does the book explain in general terms all about vaccines, but it goes into how they’re made, how they work in the body and what the risks are. It also discusses in great length about the learning disorders that some believe are now caused by vaccines. One out of every 150 children are now diagnosed with Autism, a rate that has sky rocked in the last 10 years.

Anyway, my only point is that it’s probably a good idea for every new parent to be aware of risks and be totally informed before making any decisions. In the end, it is absolutely the parents decision how to handle this, and nothing is more powerful then having knowledge on your side.

We finally convinced Scott that he would not break the baby if he held him.

Born at 4:32 pm CT, he weighs in a 7 lbs even and is 20″ long. Both mom and baby are doing fine. I’ll have more photos up shortly.

I think Mommy may be the one who drew the eyebrows.

I only took a few photos of Brenda because we jumped right in almost as soon as we arrived, and after 2 hours we had raced 4 times on two different tracks.

Since we have some free babysitting this weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Tomchak visiting, we decided to go out to dinner this evening at Wildfire and so a little outdoor shopping at the mall.

Last week and this week have been crazy so I’m behind on doing any posts. I had to work over the weekend for the first time in a long time too so there really wasn’t much of a weekend!

On the up side, we hired a new full time editor for the office to replace Brenda. Brenda will still come back from time to time to do small projects, but he will handle the bulk of the work. I’m excited to have some help on the way! He starts on April 1st and I’ll provide more information as time goes on.

The boys are doing very well and continue to grow…

The boys are getting closer to sleeping through the night, and Brenda has really done a good job with having a daily routine for them to get them to bed on time so that they sleep nearly all night. She has really taken the brunt of the overnight duties since I’ve been so busy working.

This weekend Grandma and Grandpa Tomchak to see the boys. They come in late Thursday evening and leave on Sunday, so we’re all looking forward to that!

I hope to have some more video posts soon. I’ve just been too busy to keep up, but that should change soon.

Max has seen the light.