Well I haven't had a lot of time to blog lately. I guess I won't be getting those advertisers to pay me money to be on my blog, Damn! Everything has kind of been a whirl wind.

Jeannie and I did get to escape to Hawaii for four days which was a great chance to relax. It didn't feel like as much of a break as I thought it would. Jeannie and I have been together 14 years without kids and 5 months with kids. It was more like, wait was that a dream that we had kids for the past 5 months. We had a blast and the girls stayed with Tres Abolitas ( the three grandmas) Marjie, her best friend Colleen Foster and my Mom. A big thank you to them!

And that brings us to this week. I am officially Mr. Mom. Jeannie leaves for work in the morning and I have the girls. It is so strange and feels like such a role reversal but I have been having fun. I do love my girls. They are so cute and so sweet and I seem to be able to handle anything they can throw at me (knock on wood!). My days now consist of walks, bottle feeding, cleaning, laundry and making dinner for Jeannie. I am a 50's house wife. I am cool with it though it is better than going to work! However, I still work. Jeannie comes home and we basically high five and she takes the girls and I get ready to go out and play music. Such a weird switch to play music for people drinking and having dinner after hanging with the girls all day.

So not many funny stories today, just trying to keep everyone updated! Oh I did find a great recipe for Risotto in a crock pot which is real easy and you don't have to stir it for two hours. Anyone know how to get poop stains out of PJ's?

I am still here

Today these two super girls are sucking the life out of me. Jeannie asked if I wanted a break today ( meaning she hold a girl for five minutes while I regain my sanity). I said "no I just want to run off into the hills and never come back." I know someday I will say they are the best thing that ever happened to me and I can't imagine life without them, but today is not that day, and tomorrow isn't looking good either.

Thank you to those of you who just say "it must be hard" that means so much. A little compassion and understanding. I know people have it, have had it, and will have it way harder than we do. However this is our reality right now. I know no different. I just know that having twin daughters is kicking my ass right now. It is also kicking my marriage in the ass.

Luckily Jeannie and I have a strong bond that I believe can withstand most anything. I am slowly regaining sanity because Jeannie just left with Maggie and I put Phoebe down for a nap so I have a few precious moments to communicate my thoughts. For those of you that know me , I am about as real as it gets and I am not gonna lie and sugar coat how I feel. I love these girls dearly but man it is tough.

One amazing part of my life is that I get to go out and play music for a living. My job is awesome and helps me stay alive, but it does not recharge me. I love hanging with people and having relationships and right now I have none but my three girls which is really hard for a social extravert like myself. I know this is just a season and things will change. I don't believe anymore that they will get easier , just different.

Having twin daughters does teach you a life lesson about patience and selfishness. I am starting to become more selfless which is probably a good thing. Realizing that my life is not my own and I have to help two other life forms who could not survive without me, crazy I...... HOLY CRAP PHOEBE CAN"T BE WAKING UP... is has been 20 F$%%king minutes. Please pray I don't throw her out the window!!!

Hugs and Kisses

another night's adventures!

Last night was a little back slide in the sleep cycle but we are still doing good. However this was going through my head last night .....

Some people have told me now that I have two little girls I have a sense of how much God loves me. Not my experience so far. Last night I felt more like the God of the Old Testament. I wanted to throw Maggie out the window! I would rock her for 30 min and then she would be sound asleep and I would try to lay her down. The second I pulled my hand away her eyes shoot open and she starts to cry.

Babies and People for that matter can be so annoying and frustrating. Oh your town is sexually immoral BURN IT, Noah is the only righteous man on the planet DROWN THE REST!! Egypt won't release the Israelites 10 Plagues on you and kill the pharaohs first born!!! SO yeah I guess I did have a glimpse into how God feels.

after waking up at 3:50 AM to help feed the girls I stumbled back to bed at about 5:30 and passed out.

The next thing I knew it was 8 o'clock. Jeannie had left for work and Marjie had let me sleep in. Then I walked in the living room and saw Phoebe's face. So cute I can't even describe. I do love my girls :) I think I will let them live :)

It has been a while ....

Sorry spelling and punctuation have left my skill set. Good luck :)

Wow, This raising twins thing has taken a little bit out of me :) Not a lot of free time to sit around and blog. However this is the second time my wife has taken the girls to Cambria and given me the precious gift of a night alone.

So like everything else in life I am learning a lot through experience. The main thing I am learning is no one knows your experience. Whether you have one baby or triplets, your first or fifth child, no one can predict or truly know your experience. Not all baby tips and tricks work. It is all trial and error (this is for you knew or expecting parents, you veterans are saying "DUH" right now). I believe the first year is all about survival. I have never understood how someone could shake a baby to death until I had the girls. Don't get me wrong we love the girls and are so thankful for them. I know that sounds horrible but both Jeannie and I have handed one of the girls to each other with that look in our eyes that says "if you don't take this child I cannot guarantee their safety".

The one thing I have realized that I never want to hear and I hope I will never say to new parents is,"oh I know how it is". Nobody wants to hear that , nobody wants you to top their experience. The best thing you can say is," that is so hard, stay strong it will get better," or "Can I help , it must be so challenging". I know my friends are getting tired of me trumping all their newborn stories. Sorry friends.

Now that I said that - TWINS IS WAY HARDER THAN ONE BABY- WE HAVE TWO, TWO, to make it fare we should at least have two other full time people to pull this off. Luckily we have had Marjie my Mother-in-law and many awesome friends.

Here is some specific props and love to people that have provided serious help to us!

Aunt Stacy and Uncle David

Aunt Suzy

Aunt Kristin and Uncle Eric

Uncle Bill and Aunt Michelle

Rebekah Law

Kelz ( like Madonna all you need to say is Kelz or Kells)

Kim Schissler

Kelsey and Whitney

Shelley King

Colleen Franco

Steph Zambo

Grandma Colleen and Grandpa Tim

Thank YOU!!!

Many nights I am deep in sleep dreaming about killing and invading Alien horde in the streets of New York city. Or looking for land from the crows nest of a pirate ship before I turn into an eagle and fly to freedom. When suddenly I hear the cry of a smaller bird back on the ship. No, it is a box of kittens, no wait .... and suddenly I wake from my peaceful sleep of about two hours to hear the cry of one of our beautiful babies. So I get up slowly and walk to the girls room. Then I figure out which one is crying, change her daiper and bring her to Mom to feed. And just as I relax on the foot of the bed, the other one starts crying. Then I do the same routine and bring the other baby to Mom. By this time the first one is done and I have to try and burp her and put her down before the other one is done. If I can do this all succssefully then Mom doesn't have to get up and If I can prevent Mom from getting up that is the goal. If Grandma is there I want to keep her asleep so that when the girls wake up at 5:30 she will entertain them for a couple hours so we can get a little more sleep. This is most every night.

At least I am not physically bound to be by the girls every couple of hours like Jeannie is. I would do almost anything right now to give my wife a full 24 hours off to sleep and be pampered at a spa. She so deserves it!

Just when I think, "Why the hell did we have kids?" I look down and see this.

I cannot wait for the girls to get older. I know people say don't wish it away but I am not a baby person. I want them to be little girls so we can go ride bikes and try and roller skate and do art projects. I know those days will come and go before I know it, but I am so excited. They are finally big enough to go on regular walks in the ergo carriers and almost big enought to cruise around in the BOB stroller. They are not quite 10 lbs yet and they are 11 weeks old.

I found out that there are a lot of people who actually read this besides my Mom. Thanks :) and I will try and do this more regularly.

So I have been out of the loop, Right now everything is pretty repetitive. Feed, Sleep, poop, pee, repeat. I have noticed that the girls are getting bigger. Another realization I made is that I am not that into babies. I cannot wait for them to get bigger:)

Sleep Deprivation

Don't be fooled, I took this picture because it is as rare as capturing Bigfoot on film!

Everything every parent told me was right! Everyone said " Get your sleep now!" but you can't possibly know until after you have the kids how little and sporadic sleep you are going to get. Only those of you who are already parents could possibly know. There is no preparation for this no matter how many people warn you or tell you from their own experience.

Then there is twins! It is fricking insane. Praise God we have my Mother-in-Law Marjie staying with us and helping out. Without her I would either be

1. Die

2. I would have sold a baby on the black market (white babies fetch quite a price)

3. Packed my camping gear and headed off into the hills to be a hermit.

4. I would have killed a random homeless person.

All that was avoided by the selflessness of my Mother-In-Law, (here to referred to as Marjie).So you had one baby and thought it was hard! Two babies at once.... TWO BABIES! It is as crazy as it seems and are girls are doing amazing and we are having almost no real problems. I can't imagine what it would be like if they were difficult or colicky or something, just thinking of that gives me nightmares.

It is Tuesday morning , at least I think it is. For the past two weeks there is only one night that I had over four hours of consecutive sleep and I know it is just the beginning. We have to feed every three hours and Jeannie has to pump so this whole process takes about and hour and a half. Then we get a hour and a half break and begin the process all over again. I am so thankful that my job is playing music, I can barely pull it off. I have zoned out a couple of time behind the mic but all in all I think I am pulling it off okay. Right when I think I can't do this anymore or I am going to loose my mind, Marjie steps in and relieves us and saves the day!!

My wife.... She is amazing. She gets less sleep than me guaranteed because she is the owner operator of the Cross Dairy specializing in nutritional raw milk (Cheese and Ice cream coming soon!). She barely complains and she has shown very little emotional or hormonal distress. Jeannie has come through this whole process like a champ and she is definitely in the 95 percentile of successful Motherhood,(just like everything else she does).

So that is our days as of now. Feed, sleep, rest, change diapers, hold babies, change diapers, feed, rest, sleep, change diapers. ...........

Alright! Day 10 of being a Dad. Talk about learning something new everyday. Last night I learned that if you don't double check if you did the diaper right your daughter shits all over Grandma ! Whoops.

So now I have diapers dialed in. I am learning what things are most important to a new Dad, and I have decided to share my list with you! It is not a long list mind you , Lucky you :)

1.

This book is awesome, well I didn't read it but I watched the movie and it has helped so much in soothing the girls and calming them down. The nurses at the hospital didn't really know it and they thought I was the baby whisperer! Guys, watch this movie, it well save you from shaking your child to death or giving them up for adoption!

2. Gentlemen, Your wives boobs are gonna look awesome! Awesome.. Right! Well they are not for you, and your wife does not want them to be touched and by the time you can touch them again, they probably won't be as awesome, but they may return to their former glory. To quote Brandon Rogers " they are like an oasis in the dessert you keep thinking you are getting close but you can never quite touch the water" (sorry Brandon not an exact quote)

3. EARPLUGS!! This is another necessity. TO sleep it blocks out all the crazy baby noises and if you have an inconsolable baby you can hold them while they cry and it won't drive you crazy! Seriously , ear plugs . Get them!

4. Iphone or smart phone, or ipad.... There are many hours that you will be sitting watching babies, holding babies, waiting to feed babies, watching your wife pump milk. With the Iphone I was able to watch late night with Jimmy Fallon on my phone, or play angry birds while waiting for babies to go to sleep, or taking pictures of babies and posting them on facebook. I made a movie of the babies first bath edited it and sent it to the Grandparents.It gives the ADD child of the 80's Dad something to occupy his busy mind with. Your wife may not be a big fan of this! Keep it on the down low

5. Beer, Two beers a day just helps everything Go a little better around dinner time :) , more than two beers..... no .... never .... no, okay sometimes.

Well I guess those are the most important things to me right now:) Tonight is date night , Grandmas are babysitting and Jeannie and I are going out to dinner :) so excited.

Until next time.....

THEY HAVE ARRIVED

Wow, A few things of happened since my last blog, mainly my babies have arrived! I will sum up a long story :) We went to the hospital for a quick check up before celebrating Grandma Marjie's birthday and due to some medical complications 6 hours later I was holding my baby girls! Praise God they are healthy and so is Momma. I have a new level of respect for my amazing wife. She is a stud. Women who have had babies are the true warrior clan, their tolerance and spirit cannot be touched! I don't care how tough you think you are gentlemen, we can't compare :)

Props to Moms and Moms to be everywhere!

Maggie Lou and Phoebe Jane are here! A lot of people told me that I would fall in love so fast and it would be amazing to me, that I would be swept away. That wasn't my experience. It is a slow growing love that deepens everyday. The first day I just tripped out! These two cute little pruny raisins are my daughters! My daughters! I have two kids. Yesterday, no kids. Today two kids. HOLY SHIT! (sorry Moms and Grandmas and Great Grandmas.) Each day that passes and I experience new things the more I grow closer to them and fall more in love.

Everyone talks about how hard it is and at first I got all cocky. The first two days I thought this was way easier then people made it sound. Then Jeannie and I tried a day in the hospital without help from nurses and I got humbled really fast. It is hard, but it is worth every second and we are so blessed with the privilege to have a kid at all much less two beautiful daughters. (now i have to type with one hand because i am cradling phoebe in the other : )

The other thing I have to do is thank my Mother-in-Law! If anyone tells me a degrading Mother-in-law joke in the future I might punch them in the mouth. She is amazing. I know it breaks my Mom's heart not to be here and she would and will be amazing when she gets here. We are lucky to have Marjie so close. Without her I might have given the girls up for adoption. Her selfless service is the biggest act of love! Thank you so much Marjie!

so stay tuned to our adventure I will try and update our adventure as much as possible!

Warning - controversial opinionated religious talk- proceed at your own risk

Okay you were warned. I am two cups of coffee in at Sally Loo's and I am in my deep thinking mode.
I haven't thought about "church" in a little while but now that the twins are fast approaching it keeps popping in my head. Where am I at with God and what do I want to teach my children. Maybe God and the spiritual world are not something that you think about or burden yourself with but it is something that I could never escape and life seems empty without deeper meaning or purpose.
For about 15 years of my life Christianity, Christian summer camps, Religious study, and Youth ministry were the center of my life. It was what I felt called to do. There were many parts that I really enjoyed and parts of it that I still connect to but about 6 years ago the weight of human burden and religion weighed too much on my relationship with God and I cut the straps and threw away the load, and for the first time in my life I felt free.
So what does that mean now? To go from a pastor to a bar musician is kind of a big switch. Some people may think that I fell from Grace and fallen, but I am happier and more blessed than I have ever been. Some think I have abandoned my faith and maybe I am just spiritual. Nope I am not spiritual , I don't change me theology each week based on Oprah's guests. I have not fallen from Grace, I think really for the first time in life I am experiencing Grace.
I feel like so many people I talk to are so tired of trying to be a good person. Or live the lifestyle of modern western Christianity they are over it. In my experience everything about the "Christian" lifestyle is focused on trying not to sin, avoiding sin, avoiding temptation, trying not to tempt others,it becomes your focus. then the guilt of not spending an hour a day in quiet time and fellowship in a coffee shop or living room. Aaahhhhhhhhh, Never again. I was talking to a surfer out by the beach and he said that " being out in the water is my church" and there was a time I would have told him " no you need fellowship with others and go to church" be in a building? Of course he feels close to God out in the water! that is God's creation! you Go bro! For the first time I sat back and realized and truly knew in my soul that God has given me the gift of grace! That God loves me no matter what I do and no matter what I have done:) There is nothing I can do to weaken or strengthen that bond. Do you know how many people I have told that to? But for the first time in my life I am feeling it! To lay back and shut my eyes and let go of all the crap and judgement and guilt and pressure! It is amazing! I feel like we have made Jesus so cheesy in our society today and such a pansy. When in reality he walked the earth in one of the most persecuted times in human history during the height of the Roman empire, and laid his life down to pay the price for me so I can experience this Grace, So I can be free of guilt and shame and judgment. Thanks Jesus!
Which brings me back to my original problem. How to teach my children because well I can't stand church. I can't sit and listen to one guys opinion of the Bible every week. For a while I was that guy! To sit and listen to one persons experience and journey with God, I don't just want to hear that one guy once a week, and unfortunately I can't stand the music. You might love your church? awesome keep going! But I know there are many of you that feel the same way I do. No I don't want to try and start the new edgy cool church for the next generation. I want to hang with people that embrace life and celebrate it! I want to be encouraged by people who have read the bible and discuss it. a lot of the people treat the Bible like a software license agreement online, they scroll to the bottom and click agree and never bother to read the content for themselves.
I want to celebrate art and music and share meals with friends. I want to drink beer and wine and share about our dreams and desires of life for our selves and our children. I want to enjoy life and nature and Gods creation. I want to learn how to be less selfish and serve others and make my community a better place. I want to learn to show others grace and compassion and forgiveness like I have been shown by God. Now that sounds awesome! give me a call if you want to share that some night with Jeannie and I and the two scoops. maybe I just answered my original question :)

Baby Showers

I never thought this would be the title of anything that I wrote. Baby showers! This is not the realm of men! Baby products are definitely not designed for men. I know you are so thankful that I pointed that out. Don't get me wrong we all love free stuff and there is no way we could afford to buy all these must have products without the help of loving friends! However there is no way men should have to endure these events. I am super excited about having and raising kids! I just don't care about accessorizing my girls and putting them in Tutu's I think freaked out a little bit when I saw this.........



No I didn't freak out about my cute Mother-in-law:). A pair of tutu's with ice cream cones! AAHHHHHHHHH this made everything a little more real. I love the fact that I am having daughters but do they have to like girl stuff. Can't the be indie artist, song writing, bohemian intellectuals? I hope they get into muscle cars and can change their Dad's oil for him. That is all I ask. I am not ready for hearts and Ice cream cones and puppy dogs and hello kitty. Well actually I kind of like Hello Kitty.

Then there is all the gear! Holy Crap. Swings, seats, bouncy seats, onesies, clothes, spoons, blankets, receiving blankets, teething rings, Breast pumps ( I volunteered but that didn't go well) , Monitors, swaddlers, Car seats, strollers, jog strollers, and a million more products. I mean come on I watched the documentary Babies where an African Mom wipes her babies but on her knee then scrapes it off with a dried corn cob, that is hardcore!! And Corn Cobs are cheap! We already had 5 different conversations on how to wipe our babies butts and what to use! WHAT!?!?

But it seems like most women relish the opportunity to go and participate in a baby shower. This is a sacred time among women. Some women get news on what it will be like to be pregnant. Other women share their horror stories of their pregnancy and labor. It is just like guys comparing scars or sports injuries, except this is way more hardcore than any sports injury I must say ladies. If someone told me I had to pass a cantaloupe through my privates I would cry myself to sleep every night of the pregnancy. However the shower is a time for mothers and mothers to be to relish in their accomplishments. The redeeming factor was there was a lot of good cheese and wine!

There were four men besides myself that showed up at our shower. To these men I say thank you and you know who you are ( I will not print the names to protect the innocent!). They all looked about as uncomfortable as myself and were looking for a way out. That shows some serious love when a man shows up to your baby shower! When women start a round robin conversation about how often they pumped breast milk during there child's first year and how big their nipples were Men should not be in the immediate area. Boobs are our favorite things in the world please help us protect their mystery and sexiness!

We are at 24 weeks and everything is looking good. My guess is the babies will be here in late May early June. That is my professional opinion. Jeannie is a CHAMP!! I can't believe how uncomfortable this must all be. I know when the babies get here everything I know gets changed completely! BRING IT!!

Life behind the mic

As the new bathroom project comes to an end ( Jeannie and I should finish grouting tile tomorrow). We are returning back to normal. Well as normal as it can be. I mean come on I am playing music in bars and restaurants, and according to national geographic we live in the happiest town in the united states! Which really puts pressure on you to be happy. I mean if you aren't happy in the happiest town in the US what hope do you have to be happy anywhere else! Luckily we are very happy and so thankful for our lives. My life has taken an interesting turn I am realizing that most of my interaction with other is from behind a microphone.

Everyday is spent pretty solo. Breakfast , then trying to figure out some house hold chores to do to make Jeannie happy and feel loved, workout or some kind of exercise, then music somewhere. It is awesome don't get me wrong! I love what I do and it is so amazing to do something again that I feel like I am good at. I am a people person and love interacting with others and you would think I would get recharged performing, and I do but behind the mic is a lonely spot. You aren't really spending time with anyone. I am playing songs for them and then people clap for me which is always kind of weird, but I guess it is more weird if they don't :). what most people don't realize is I can either hear their conversations or kind of read their lips and figure out what they are talking about so I am also part of this weird reality show. Where else can you just stare and someone and listen to their conversation and then they clap for you and tip you a couple bucks. I get to see first dates. I get to watch guys get up the nerve to talk to or hit on a girls and then either get rejected or hit it off. I have watched too many people drink too much and make fools of themselves. I have seen so many lonely people have a drink and just sit at the bar for hours so they can at least be near people. I have heard people debate politics and religion and have wanted to comment on the mic out loud about what they are talking about. It is fascinating!

I realized that so many of us are isolated even though we are surrounded by people. If we take the time to reach out to others and share lif with others it makes life a little more worth whille. ( at least that is what my fortune Cookie says:)

more philosophical then funny today, thanks for reading my blog.
until next time my friends.

Nesting

Now I have heard about women nesting and wanting to create a cozy space for their new baby or babies in our case :) I didn't think it meant I would have to tear out a ton of bathroom tile and a 400 pound cast iron tub! Yes Jeannie said she could not bare the thought of using our disgusting 60 year old tub to bath our babies so I agreed to put a new bathtub in. You might be thinking wow Matt's a musician and he knows how to remodel a bathroom, no... No I don't, but that is what contractor friends and YouTube are for.

I am the new HI TECH do it your selfer. I was running back and forth between the bathroom and the computer watching YouTube videos on how to effectively remove tile , how to remove tub spouts, and a video of a kitten and a duck who became best friends( come on it was cute!). That and a few panicked phone calls to my plumber friend Chuck Barnett and the tile is out. Next steps are to move old tub, put in new one, fix dry wall and tile. Simple right? I am sure a few more views on YouTube and I can do it all and maybe a little Kittens inspired by Kittens (go watch it on YouTube it makes Jeannie cry laughing!)

Car seats!?

Okay, when the world finds out you are pregnant you begin the process of receiving advice from everyone who has recently had kids, anyone who has ever had kids, and people that might eventually have kids. Now a lot of it is helpful and welcome advice , but sometimes I want to hit the mute button and just smile and nod. I hear every nightmare scenario of things that might happen and every product I "need" to raise my kids successfully. I have had a few people ask if I want to change their babies diapers to practice for the twins. I want to say sure then you can wipe my butt to practice taking care of your aging parents!
We as a culture of new parents and families have become out of control! it is ridiculous the products that people say they need. I watched a documentary the other day of a tribal African mother wiping her babies but with her knee and then the baby played in the dirt with chicken bones! Now I know a lot of you are laughing to yourselves thinking "Just wait Matt!!" I know I will probably be sucked into the whole insane baby consumer comfort madness as well because well.... I am Lazy and like anything that makes my life easier and that is because I am a spoiled upper middle class American (but that is another blog). I have seen good friends make do with less and I hope we can to.
Car seats are my new nemesis. I understand that babies and infants need car seats to travel safely in a vehicle but do they need three different ones before the age of three. Then they still have to have a booster seat and sit in the back until they are like 18! When I was a kid we rode in the open bed of pick up trucks and there were boards with rusty nails and broken glass. We sat on the floor of the back seat playing with G.I. Joes on road trips or slept in the way back of the station wagon on top of our luggage. that was awesome. Now kids have to be buckled in three separate ways and have it certified by the CHP! To quote my friend Glen " LAME!"
To top it all off when there is a car seat in our car I don't fit! So not only do we have to buy multiple car seats for our multiple babies we have to buy a NEW CAR! LAME! (thanks Glen).
And the only car that will really work for us is a mini van! Which I am not as opposed to as Jeannie is ha ha ha!
Well until next time friends, I am stoked that a lot of you are following along . please leave comments so I am encouraged to continue on plus I am an attention whore and need affirmation.
Rock and Rolll all night and Daddy every day!

The twins they are a changing!

Yeah we are pregnant

I think we can see a bump

There is definitely something going on in there!

Growing!

HOLY S&%T!!

Now this won't mean anything for the guys out there but Jeannie is not even 5 months yet! For you Moms out there you will appreciate the fact that Jeannie is bigger than a lot of women at 7 or 8 months. TWO GIRLS! Luckily Jeannie is a trooper , I am so proud of her. People see here and ask when we are due and when we say June their eyes usually get super huge and they say "oohh MY!".

It still doesn't seem real. I mean I can definitely see things are changing. I just can't wrap my head around the fact that I am going to have two girls here in June! We are starting to get the room ready and think about the things we are going to need. So crazy! To jump straight to two children. Well I am going to do my best to document my experience here on my blog. Thanks for your comments and encouragement. I will try and bring all the highlights and play by play to you all.

Two girls, TWO, Two girls!!

In 4 and a half months I will be the father of two girls. I know that there is no possible way to prepare myself for this mind altering life change. I am very excited about it and I am sure I will figure it all out and love it but thinking about it now is so weird. I didn't have a sister. Just me ,Mom,Dad, and Brother. Even our dog was a boy. So the world of little girls is still an alien landscape to me. However, I am already feeling mind and body altering effects.
I consider myself a pretty non violent person. On the way to coffee this morning I saw a little junior high couple waiting at the bus stop and the boy had his hands all over the girls butt. First I thought "my girls will wait at that same bus stop" then I though " if a boy does that to my daughter , then she will be my pen pal from prison because I will cave his skull in with my bare hands!". Oh dear Lord I am in for the ride of my life, but I am so looking forward to it. Of course odds are that my daughters will be able to take care of themselves they definitely don't come from fragile stock! A couple weeks of weapons and self defense training with Uncle Bill, Uncle Steve, and Uncle Kelly and they will be just fine. Come to think of it, with Uncle Bill we can provide a police escort to any date, and with Uncle Kelly we have the means of tracking them down with night vision and some family black ops missions to track them down at any school dance. I am feeling at peace already!
Last night Jeannie warned me that when I am changing diapers I have to make sure to clean away from their tiny vaginas to prevent infection, I turned a little pale and said " I am not quite ready for "tiny vaginas" to be part of our conversations."

THE BARBER SHOP

So my hair has always been an after thought. I either let it go and let it get a little long and crazy or shave it. There has never really been an in between. I have had it shaved or trimmed by a few friends who are stylists and although I dearly love them it always felt weird going to a salon. As I sit there and stare at tables of fashion magazines and see women with tin foil in there hair talking about skinny jeans and the newest bag that they must have for the season, I always feel awkward and out of place. A man does not belong in a place like this. Like I said a bunch of my friends are stylists and I love them all, but what happened to the true barbers?! A man's barber! Where you go in and don't have to say anything , the barber just knows you want it shorter. Where it just smells like spearmint alcohol and deodorant. Where there is no products for sale? I have found him!!!

Mark Ramirez AKA: THE BARBER has been cutting hair in SLO for over 20 years. He is old school. His Dad was a barber and now cuts hair full time at the army base (seriously, you can't make this stuff up!)


The Barber shop is an old shack decorated with memorabelia and diamond sheet metal. It makes you feel like a man. Mark will shoot the breeze with you, remembers what you do for a living and catches up with you on life. He usually has the TV on to the discovery channel which I love! And at the end he uses an old school straight razor to clean up the neck and burns. THe man is good at what he does. I can't wait for my hair to grow these days because a trip to the barber is a treat. He is working on getting his alcohol liscense so you can have a beer while he cuts your hair! Are you kidding me! Does it get any better.

call or text him before you go by to make sure he is in! Mark Ramirez 805 -593-0240

By the army surplus store in SLO

It's a new year! It is time to get back on the blog. I got a little intimidated by my friend Holly because hers is so aWesome but, variety is the spice of life!
So I was up at 6 and walked to coffee this morning. I figured it is time to take advantage of my freedom before the twins come. Twins , I can't believe it! I know it won't seem real until they are here. SO I guess in June this turns into a blog about a first time Dad raising twins. That will be entertaining for you I bet. Don't get me wrong I thank God every day for the blessing of children , I am so excited about raising a family with my beautiful wife. I just know that there is no way to prep myself! I have never changed a diaper, I don't know how to use a car seat, and I am pretty much ignoring every parenting book! Well not really;)
we are super blessed that Jeannie will be able to have the first four or five months off with me, then I am Mr. mom. Bring it on, I am ready for the Mommy and me classes and the Mom's workout group in the park and story time at the library. Then at night I am playing music at bars and restaurants. Rock and roll all night and Daddy every day! I have no concept of what I am in for but I am in! bring it on Life! I am ready for bottles, blankets, strollers, binkies,swaddling, and diapers, well maybe not diapers , that is the only shitty part:)