The Kotuby Family Blog

SUMMER '08

2008-10-09T21:10:00.015-04:00

Go ahead and laugh flopsy. So I'm a few months late of my goal. But on the bright side, I've got the whole summer behind me, and alot of pictures to choose from. Becky had on her "list of things to do" for the past month "choose pictures for the blog." She never did it, so here I am, flying solo. For sure, I will overlook the best pictures, and only post the bad ones (as I am constantly accused of by "the critic"). Spielberg I am not, but here's Summer of 08, through Daddy's eyes.

The big news is that we moved. We did our patriotic duty to prop-up the local housing market, and give Wall Street a great big "mortgage-backed security" to deal about. Even though it was only three blocks down the street, we still felt like playing the theme song ot the Jeffersons as we made a right onto Mt. Vernon Avenue, and an almost-immediate left onto Del Ray Avenue in the moving van. We be movin' on up, Weezie. For some reason, I love these two recent pictures of the kids in the new house.

We also took the first joint Kotuby-Grisetti vacation to the beach. Fourteen of us one one big house, not to mention the dog. Lots of sun, lots of booze, and a family clammin' expedition into the Pamlico Sound off the back of the house made for good food and good fun. New brother-in-law Mark is a scallop cleaning machine!!!!!

Karaoke at the "Froggy Dog."

You Should've heard Pap do Kenny Roger's "The Gambler."

Looking forward ot next year already. Other than the above, I'm omitting any beach pictures where certain people may be jiggly in certain places and other people may be hairy in other places, and showing only the kids. You're welcome.

Thatchie stuffing his face with Watermelon, under the watchfiul eyes off "Grammie Bart."

And Ellie and "Grammie Tuby" are feeding the "Sea Turtles"

But I love this picture. Lets leave the kids with "Pap Tuby," or as we like to call him "Captain Ahab." At the beach, he is never seen without a fishing rod and a piece of bloody mullet on a hook. Here kids, while I fish, play in the tackle box. Rusty hooks and lead-based sinkers are fun!

And, of course, the monkeys turned the big number TWO. I've decided that its inherently impossible for there to be "Terrible Twos" with twins. Assuming that there is a maximum threshold of "terribleness," we've been there, stayed there, and made ourselves at home there. It can't be any worse. Right, Ellie?

We spent the Birthday Weekend at our little camp in the mountains. The kids had fun picking "Blackbees" with Pap and Grammie, and messing in their cake afterwards. Below are some of the best pictures of Thatch yet.

And, just last night, I completed the circle of life. I taught my son the "Curly Shuffle," as we spent the evening watching the stooges. Good lessons to learn there (e.g. eye-poking, pies in the face, etc.). Nyuk, Nyuk. I'll try to post video. Who am I kidding; don't hold your breath for that one. Just stop by the house sometime and we'll show you.

SPRINGTIME!!!

2008-04-16T21:20:00.004-04:00

So, looking back on our sorry-excuse-for-a-blog, we generally post 5 times a year. The kids are walking, talking, digging worms and leaving even less time to "Blog" (still can't get used to using that word as a verb). So were scaling back further here at kotubyfamily.blogspot.com; we're downsizing, cutting-back, laying off our tech department, and committing ourselves to the less-than-spectacular but entirely attainable objective of posting new pictures every season. Anything more will be gravy.

Here's SPRINGTIME. In Alexandria, the grass is growing, the worms are plentiful (before dad plants his garden), and we have a new play-fort in our backyard.

This picture kind of reminds me of those old-fashined shots of miners or steamfitters, black-faced and ready to head to work, shovels and lunch-boxes in hand......Here's the contingent of Del Ray Worm-Diggers Union, Local No. 340, clocking-in for a day's work. . . . .

Someone call child services--looks like we have a child-labor violation.
Worms rule!! Del Ray has a gourmet cheese shop and wine bar, a gourmet meat market, and a new Italian Trattoria is opening less than a block away. I think we need a bait shop now, too.

Its Almost Christmas, But . . . . .

2007-12-18T20:17:00.000-05:00

I forgot to post a picture of Peter Pan and Tinkerbell on Halloween. Given that they looked so darn cool in the neato costumes that Grandma made, we thought that later is better than never. Dad even made Thatch a cardboard sword that he used to beat his sister with, and later eat. Mom tried to convice Dad to dress-up as Captain Hook and march with the kids in the Del Ray parade, but she didn't pour enough Captain Morgan for that to fly. Better luck next year.......

This Picture Needed Its Own Post

2007-11-29T23:29:00.001-05:00

thx Sandy!

Thatchy, Thatchy, Where Art Thou?

2007-11-29T23:04:00.000-05:00

Finding great pictures of our little boy isn't that tough. Finding him on a minute-by-minute basis is much more difficult. While Ellie is usually bossing Dad into submission or carrying on an in-depth conversation with the dog, Thatch is left to his own devices. That usually means crawling onto the kitchen table to snag a banana, falling down a full flight of stairs, or plunging his face into the dog's water-bowl with a mouthful of dogfood -- all with a big, toothy grin and flopsy red hair These days, the most common questions asked of Ellie is, "where's your brother?"

The Many Faces of Ellie Bellie

2007-11-29T22:36:00.000-05:00

Deadpan cranky yet cuddly-sweet, charismatically talkative yet horribly bossy; in the immortal words of the Dead Milkmen, she's our little "punk rock girl."

Picture Archive: May 2007

2007-09-24T21:09:00.000-04:00

In honor of Mother's Day, this month is entitled "we love our Mom." Here we are hangin' in the back yard, and then out front. . . . .

Picture Archive: April 2007

2007-09-24T20:45:00.000-04:00

In order to catch up with Thatch and Ellie, we're going to drop a series of posts with our best pictures, sorted by month. Here's April 2007. As you can see, we went fishing at the Delaware shore, to a parade, and other fun stuff.

No News, Just a Few Cute Pics of the Kids and Mom

2007-03-06T21:51:00.000-05:00

A Series of Belated Posts: #3 Mmmmm....Food, and Other Recent Musings

2007-03-01T21:22:00.000-05:00

Finally, real food. Kind of. For six months we've been languishing with nothing but breast milk, day in and day out. Sure, it changes a bit when Mom and Dad go out for Thai food or El Salvadorian, but its basically the same stuff. Then, one day, I get a spoon shoved into my mouth and it contains sweet, sweet. . . . . rice mixed with breast milk????
But Dad's eating Brasciole and pesto gnocchis tonight with a glass of cabernet? Oh, wow, one week later its breast milk mixed with oatmeal. Notice the sarcasm? We hear barley's next, but Dad assures me that such a "divine grain" is better consumed in liquid form, whatever that means. We hear rumblings of Sweet Potatoes soon. Can I get a sommolier to recommend a nice vintage of breast milk with that?
After we eat we play and play, and play and play, and play and play.

A Series of Belated Posts:#2 A Hike With Aunt Sandy & Uncle Adam

2007-03-01T21:05:00.000-05:00

There's no denying it -- we're crunchy outdoor kids. Sandy's teaching us to save trees with Al Gore, while Dad's teaching us to shoot things with Charlton Heston. Either way, we love to be outside. Here's some pictures of our first hike on the Potomac:
Thatch watched Teddy and Rommel play fetch in the water and get yelled at for chasing ducks. Ellie slept in the fresh air, but woke up to help Mom take pictures. We had a picnic after our hike.

A Series of Belated Posts: #1 Christmas

2007-03-01T20:42:00.000-05:00

So, we've been noticeably absent from the blogosphere for quite awhile. The family has just been too darn busy. Dad's been busy at work -- you know, the job he actually get paid for. Mom has been. . . well, I'm not sure what Mom does all day (?). Thatch and Ellie have been busy loggin a bunch of firsts: First Christmas morning, first hike in the woods, first time in snow, first taste of solid foods, and first time Dad hasnt been shaking in the corner with a bottle of Jack Daniels every night. Now, things are getting fun. On with the show. . . . .

Christmas Pictures

Christmas eve at Grammies. Dad says Santa Claus leaves better gifts when you leave a cold beer on the table. Thatch is skeptical.
Seven fish is one too many, Grandpap!!

Nevertheless, nearly everyday we get bundled up for a walk around town. Sometimes, we stop by to see our good friends. (Psst. Thanks to Ms. Baer for the really nice hats!! We cant wait to see Grace and her new little brother!!).

Once we're in bed, We're pretty sure Mom and Dad party every night. They put us in bed before the ball dropped on New Years. Jerks. I got you Auld Lang Syne right here, old man.

Four Months And Counting

2006-12-29T22:48:00.000-05:00

A few nice shots that Mom recently took.

Stay tuned for our holiday photos!!!

A Belated Autumn Update

2006-11-04T16:20:00.000-05:00

Yes, It's been quite a season. Sleepless nights have subsided (a bit), and the kids have been livin' life "on the road."

One weekend in an apple-bin in Bedford, the next at a beer-fest at Seven Springs. Thatch enjoyed hangin' around with the fine people from Penn Pilsner.

Last weekend, Mom dressed us in ridiculous outfits and trotted us around Del Ray for candy. Candy that Dad ate that night. Jerk.

We're growing more every day (13 lbs each), sleeping more every night, and smiling more when we're happy. Enjoy the pictures.

New Adventures, New Pictures

2006-09-25T21:30:00.000-04:00

We've had an eventful two weeks. We made the trip home to Ellwood City to visit the proud parents and grandparents, and found it wonderful to bring four generations together for the first time in five years. Thatch and Ellie even got a taste of their proud heritage, and spent Saturday morning walking through the Strip District. A piece of cappicola even fell into Ellie's sling from her Mom's Primanti's sandwich. Mmmm, cappicola.

Last weekend we all travelled back to Bedford to meet grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. We all enjoyed the fresh country air, and are looking forward to coming back in a few weeks for apple-pickin' and fresh cider.

We're now back in Del Ray for at least the next two weeks. Here are few pictures (courtesy again of Sandy Marks, the Del Ray baby paparazzi).

Frustration and Joy

2006-09-10T14:24:00.000-04:00

The past two weeks have been filled with wide shifts in frustration and joy at the newly-expanded Kotuby household. For the first few nights, Becky and I are reasonably certain that they collude in their crib nightly to piss Dad off, with great success. After the midnight feeding, Thatch would take his turn of staying awake until the 3a.m. session. By the time that feeding was done at 4, Ellie would take the reins and close out the night at 6. Mom and Dad would finally get some rest when the sun came up, with some gratuitiuos sleep until the kids' breakfast at 9. Two whole hours, 120 minutes ....whoop di doo.

What evidence do we have of their malevolent collusion? We picked up on this conversation between Thatch an Ellie last night at around 9p.m. "I'll keep the old man up first, and you take the second shift." Gotta love those NSA-sanctioned baby monitors.

After Dad spent two sleepless nights rocking babies to sleep while searching the internet for methods of Hari Kari and ways to deny paternity in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the twins finally decided that he had had enough. Two nights in a row they ate magnificantly and immediately fell asleep, allowing Mom and Dad a whole 6 hours of slumber. Victory....or so it seemed. Last night the collusion began again, and Mom and Dad are sleepy today.

Now, in the middle of the afternoon, Dad can hear Mom downstairs trying to feed Ellie, and shouting "wake up!" They love to sleep during the day. Little monsters.

Here's a new picture of "Dad and his Irish Half Pint" -- A fresh keg of homebrewed Guinness on tap in the basement is the only way we are getting by these days. Thatch will have to wait at least another 2 months to enjoy a homebrew with his Dad. House rules.

In the meantime, the adventures continue. Gramdma and Grandpa Grisetti visted this weekend, and we took the kids to Pat Troy's Irish Pub for dinner. Thatch had his daiper changed at the bar, and I assured him that, if the apple falls relatively close to the tree, this will the be the first of many times he's naked in a bar. We then went for a long walk through the Old Town Art festival. It was overheard from an anonymous passer-by looking into the stroller that "there is the best work of art I've seen all day." I need to invite that guy over for a midnight feeding to adjust his opinion........

Introducing Ellie & Thatch!

2006-08-24T23:04:00.000-04:00

Chuck and Rebecca Kotuby are pleased to announced the long awaited arrival of the Twins

Ellie Marie was born on Thursday, August 24, at 8:05pm, and weighed in at 6lbs 8oz.. Thatcher Thomas was born soon thereafter at 8:07, and weighed in at 6lbs even.

The first picture below is Thatch. Many people say he looks like his Dad (with the red hair), and eats like him too. He has more of his mom's temperament, though; generally easy going, cuddly, and only fussy when something's wrong.

Ellie, on the other hand, looks like Mom and acts like Dad. She is very independant and generally self-soothing. She has a long fuse on her temper, but, when that fuse reaches its end, look out!! Dad and Ellie are already butting-heads; she has a cry which, as Dad describes it, "burns the soul." It sounds especially nice after the 3 a.m. feeding.

Since arriving home last Monday, both have enjoyed long afternoon naps on the couch with Mom and Dad, and long nights awake too. Thank God Dad is on paternity leave for a few weeks. We are all still trying to get to know each other.

Ellie and Thatch have had lots of visitors at their house, too. Everyone was in the hospital to welcome them into the world. Grandma and Grandpa Grisetti, along with Uncle Marcus, were here when when they got home last Monday. Grandma and Grandpa Kotuby visited over Labor Day, as did Uncle Clint. Aunt Carrie and Uncle Mark have stopped by to meet them as well. Ellie and Thatch are looking forward to visiting everyone in Pennsylvania in a few weeks.

We will try to keep this blog updated weekly with new pictures and adventures, but that necessarily depends upon how cooperative Ellie and Thatch want to be at nighttime. Wish us all luck; we need it!!