Brad Wheeler.net

News Archive Software Other Downloads Contact

Noah Playing

august 12, 2008

JULY Update

kaleb spent a lot of time in the pool this month

What a hot month it was! Luckily for Kaleb he learned to swim this month so he was able to stay cool. Not that long ago he was scared to get in the water and had to be held the whole time, but after spending a few days swimming with his Nanna Sue he's loving the water. He's even swimming without his "life jacket" now and only using arm floaties.

Noah is also doing great. He's crawling around the whole house now and even standing up when he has something to pull himself up with. He is such a happy baby - it's amazing that both our boys are so great! We're really lucky.

Cory hooked me up with an 80 GB Zune mp3 player that he got from a friend and I'm loving it. It's great for the Spyder - I got a pair of helmet speakers/headphones and it makes riding even more enjoyable.

Speaking of the Spyder, my dad will be coming down later this month to visit and he'll be taking the Spyder home with him until October. I'll miss it but I'm excited for him to get to ride it too. I'm also pretty curious to see what kind of gas mileage he's able to get on it; I get the feeling it'll be better than the 30-33 mpg I'm getting.

August 1st was also my dad's birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! It'll be great having him down this month. We all really miss him.

Click here to view our July pictures.

august 5, 2008

June Update

Gracie's sister Aymi came down for a visit this month

June was a very busy month for us. Gracie's sister Aymi came down from Utah for a visit early in June. She and her son Bryce stayed the weekend with us. On Father's day Steve and Stephanie came over too for a nice dinner. The girls loved all being with their dad for father's day - we were even able to get everyone up on the trampoline for some fun romping and picture taking.

Kaleb really enjoyed playing with his cousin and it was great having them down.

Here are a couple of videos from their stay:

Gracie at the Half Moon Bay beach

The next weekend after Aymi left Gracie, Noah, and I all flew to San Jose, California for our friend Tina's wedding. Tina was Gracie's college roommate and she was also one of the brides maids at our wedding. While we were in California we also spent a day driving around the area. We spent some time at beach in Half Moon Bay and then drove up to San Fransisco for a few hours. Unfortunately we didn't take my camera, but I was able to get some halfway decent pictures just using my phone.

Baby Noah is really getting around!

Noah is getting around really well now. I wouldn't call it crawling exactly - it's more of a "scoot", but he can definately get where he wants to. He'll probably be crawling on all fours within the next week or so. Be sure to check out his pictures, along with pictures from the rest of the month (including our 4th of July party) here.

july 10, 2008

May Update

our Spyder came in early!

The Spyder that my dad and I ordered wasn't supposed to arrive until August, but I got a phone call from the dealer last week letting me know that they received an early shipment and I could come pick it up that day! I took the rest of the day off and went straight to the dealership to pick it up.

The Spyder has been a joy to ride. I really didn't realize just how FAST it was until I drove it off the lot. The speedometer says 200 and it sure seems like it'll do it. This thing is a real attention grabber too. It seems like every where I go people want to take pictures of it and ask all sorts of questions about it. On my way home from work the other day I even had someone honk at me and ask me to pull over so he could take pictures of it with his son sitting on it!

we began work on screening in the back porch

My Papa was nice enough to come down from Arkansas last weekend to help me screen in our back porch. He brought my grandma June and my cousin Frank with him too and we had a very productive (but pretty fun) weekend. Unfortunately I didn't like the red color I originally picked to paint the porch so we didn't actually put the screen up yet. I'm going to repaint the frame a lighter color and figured it would be easier to paint without the screen up. Hopefully I'll get it all painted and screened in this weekend.

Having my Papa, June, and Frank come down was a huge help. We were able to nearly complete the entire project in just two days. It would've taken a least a few weeks without their help! Of course, it turned out much nicer with the guidance from an expert as well!

Gracie turned 28!

Gracie's 28th birthday was this Monday (June 2nd) and we celebrated by going to Olive Garden with the family. It was a very nice meal and everyone had a great time. I also painted our kitchen and living room for Gracie's birthday. She hasn't liked the colors in those rooms since we moved in so she's very happy with those "presents."

Pictures on the Spyder, porch project, and Gracie's birthday can be viewed here.

Our friend Lacy came over and took some nice pictures of the family last month. Lacy takes great pictures (she also shot our engagement and wedding photos). They can be viewed here. The high resolution pictures are available in the album in case you want to print any of them out.

june 5, 2008

A Great JET Interview

Jason Terry was on the Collin Cowherd radio show Tuesday morning and offered up some very candid comments regarding his hatred for the Spurs. It's very entertaining.

Click here to download the mp3. I recommend Right Click -> Save Target As.

I sure hope JET doesn't get traded...he's one of my favorite players and interviews like this make me like him even more.

may 21, 2008

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope they already know it, but I these three women really mean a lot to me. I appreciate everything they do. Unfortunately I can't do a whole lot for them this year because I'm stuck in bed recovering from my knee surgery I had on Thursday. Thank goodness I can count of them to take care of me!

may 11, 2008

Can Am Spyder

I've been considering getting a motorcycle for a while now but I'm to scared to drive on the highway so I've been putting it off. Good thing I waited because now the new Can Am Spyder looks like the perfect solution. Gracie and I went and checked them out last week and loved it! I mentioned it to my dad and he immediately decided he wanted one too so we actually decided to split one. We'll split the cost and switch off every month. This seems like a strange idea, especially considering that he lives in Arkansas, but I think it may end up being pretty cool.

We went ahead and placed an order for a yellow one and it should be here by the end of August.

Here's a really good youtube video on the Spyder that does a great job of describing what it's all about.

may 8, 2008

April Update

april photos online

Kaleb celebrated his 3rd birthday last weekend! We were considering having a party at our house, but he was very excited about going to Chuck E Cheese so for the third straight year we had his party there. This was the first year he had other kids there, though, and he had fun playing with his friends Riley and Hanna. He got lots of presents, of course, including a big pirate ship, a VSmile game system, and a new bike!

We were a little concerned about Kaleb's speech so he was evaluated by a speech pathologist earlier this month and he did great! While his speech is a little delayed, it's nothing to be concerned about and his comprehension is very advanced. He actually scored at a 5 year old level in some areas. That was great news.

Noah is doing very well too. We had a little scare a few weeks when he had double ear infections and was showing signs of asthma (we think the ear infections may have been a result of his plane ride to California with Gracie). After a week or so of medicine and breathing treatments using a nebulizer machine, he seems to be right back to normal. Throughout the entire ordeal is was still very happy and friendly - Noah is a very resilient baby!

Here are about 20 pictures from April.

Avery Johnson fired

The Maverick postseason went about how I expected it to. Although I had a slimmer of hope after Dirk came back so strongly after his injury, deep down I doubted we had much of a chance this year. This year's playoff exit hurt less than any other I can remember and now I'm actually pretty excited about what this off season may bring.

It certainly didn't take long for Avery Johnson to get fired. Less than 24 hours after losing the series in Game 5, it was already official. Even though I personally like Avery, it's clear that this was a change that HAD to be made. Our playoff record since being up 2-0 against Miami in the 06 Finals was something like 3-12! It seemed like Avery was consistently getting out coached in the playoffs by superior coaches. I think Avery's greatest strength is as a motivator and when your team comes out looking flat and uninspired night after night, something's obviously wrong.

Next up, can we PLEASE get rid of Josh Howard and Jerry Stackhouse!

may 1, 2008

KalebWheeler.net Archive

KalebWheeler.net expired last month but no worries, I'll keep an archived version of Kaleb's site available on my site. All of the pictures and videos Kaleb posted are still available in the archive, exactly how they used to appear. Access the archived version of KalebWheeler.net here.

dirk is back

After only missing 4 games with sprains to his ankle AND knee, Dirk has returned with a vengeance! Dirk basically single handedly willed the Mavs passed the Suns and his game winning shot against the Jazz on Thursday night was amazing. The Mavs have clinched a playoff spot and they're playing some of their best basketball of the year.

The playoffs start next weekend and I'm actually pretty hopeful about our chances!

april 12, 2008

March Update

February and March photos online

Kaleb and Noah are both doing great. Noah is starting to really show his personality and he smiles all the time. Kaleb is getting bigger and bigger and is really enjoying his baby brother. He's also doing very well in "school" (he goes to Mother's Day Out at our church about 10 hours a week). Kaleb can now spell his name, Mommy, Daddy, and a couple of other words as well.

Here are about 40 pictures from February and March.

I'll miss you Papaw

On a much more sad note, my Papaw passed away last week after struggling with bladder cancer the past couple of months. Luckily, I was able to travel to Arkansas to visit him last weekend to see him one last time. Obviously I'll miss him, but after seeing him last week it was easy to see that he was ready to go. I'm glad he's not suffering anymore.

dirk goes down

Things are not looking good for the Mavs at all now. After losing 3 home games in a row to the Lakers, Celtics, and Spurs, their record against teams with winning records since the Jason Kidd trade is now 0-8. To make things infinitely worse, Dirk suffered a pretty bad knee and ankle sprain Sunday against the Spurs. He's now out indefinitely. With the Mavericks clinging to the 7th spot in the West, only 2 games ahead of 9th place Denver, I wouldn't be terribly surprised if they didn't make the playoffs at all next year. Devean George tried his best to save this team...unfortunatlely Cuban still found a way to force the trade through.

march 24, 2008

January Photos

As promised last week, here are our January photos. These are mostly of Noah and Kaleb so enjoy!

Kaleb's site will be expiring in March and I don't think I'm going to renew it. Instead we'll try to figure out a site that Noah, Kaleb, and maybe even Gracie and I can all share.

February 20, 2008

It's Official, Kidd is Back

The Mavs and Nets were able to rework the original deal that got blocked by Devean George to replace George with Trenton Hassell and Stackhouse with Keith Van Horn. How lucky is Van Horn...he hasn't played in a couple of years but because he was needed to make this trade work he gets to collect 4 million dollars just to go to New Jersey for 30 days!

I'm still glad Devean blocked the original trade because I like this one a lot better. I know it costs Cuban more money, but now we're basically just trading Diop and Harris for Kidd, which seems like a pretty fair trade. Now if we could just get a backup center...

Kidd will make his debut tonight against New Orleans. I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing how this works out.

February 20, 2008

Thank you Devean George!

I know this Kidd to Dallas trade may still happen, but if it doesn't, Devean George may just be the MVP of the season this year. Through some obscure right in his contract, George blocked a trade that would send him, Harris, Diop, Stackhouse, Ager, 2 first round picks, and $3 million in cash to New Jersey for Jason Kidd and some other guy I've never heard of. Jason Kidd is a great point guard, but trading 7 players (5 active plus 2 future picks) for basically 1 guy! Are you serious?! That's half the team!

This trade just seems like a panic move coming off the heels of Phoenix getting Shaq (which I actually think hurts them) and the Lakers getting Gasol (which I think is a GREAT move). For the past year or two all we've heard from the Mavs is that they won't trade half the team to get a player and the only way they'd make a trade is if it's a no-brainer. There goes that promise...

So, thank you Devean George! Although everyone might not realize it now, I think you may have saved the day.

February 15, 2008

Shake it Gracie!

Who's that sexy lady in the green Mavs shirt?! Not bad for a mommy with a newborn. Speaking of which, I've got some pictures of Noah that I'll be posting soon...check back within a week or so for them.

In the meantime, enjoy Gracie showing off in her Hip Hop Hustle workshop.

february 11, 2008

Runnin' With The Devil - A Cappella Style!

I'm not a Van Halen fan at all, but I heard this on the radio and couldn't stop laughing! Someone has isolated the vocal track from Runnin' With the Devil so all you hear is David Lee Roth screaming like a mad man to silence. This is definitely worth a listen. I'd recommend Right Click -> Save As to save the file to your computer.

January 25, 2008

Another Dallas Playoff Failure

This whole #1 seed thing isn't working out so great for Dallas teams...

January 15, 2008

Lost Recap in 8:15

catch up on all the entire lost series in 8 funny minutes

LOST returns on January 31st and ABC has released an entertaining recap of the entire series to catch everyone back up again. There's obviously a lot missing (it's pretty hard to recap 3 seasons in just 8 minutes!) so I'm not sure it'll be good enough for those who have never seen the show, but those who follow LOST will be sure to get at least a few laughs out of it...

January 7, 2008

Christmas 2007

my mom got a new Chihuahua puppy for christmas

We had another great Christmas in 2007. My family and Gracie's both came over to our house on Christmas Eve for dinner and presents. We also went to my parent's house Christmas morning for more presents and a Christmas lunch. My biggest gift was a Nintendo Wii, which is awesome! Unfortunately I had to go to work the next day so that kind of put a damper on things. That will be the last time I work after Christmas - I'm taking it off from now on.

Sorry it took me so long to post pictures. One of my gifts on Christmas Eve was a new 2GB memory stick for my camera. When I got it I took my old one out (which I'd been using to take pictures throughout the night) and now I can't find it. It's very disappointing because there were some great pictures on there. I've been waiting to post pictures until I could get those as well, but finally I decided to just give up and post what I have. Hopefully I'll find it later and I'll post those pictures then. Until then, you can see the pictures I took with my new memory card here.

Kaleb's site also has a couple of new movies taken over the holidays as well.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

January 4, 2008

More Photos

Kaleb is excited to have a brother!

I've added about 25 more pictures to Noah's newborn album. There are some really great photos of Kaleb and Noah. Click here to jump directly to the new additions.

Things are going better than expected. Gracie is doing well and didn't have any problems during her first day alone with the boys. Kaleb really enjoys having a brother and can't wait for him to start playing with him. He lays toys on top of Noah and says "Play! Play!". Noah is getting into somewhat of a schedule and is sleeping in his own crib at night now. Gracie just keeps the baby monitor and nurses him in his room when he wakes up. My mom got her a beautiful glider as an early Christmas present and it's made things so much easier.

Enjoy the new pictures and Merry Christmas to everyone. It'll probably be after Christmas before I post again. Expect to see more pictures then.

december 14, 2007

Introducing Noah Blake Wheeler!

Noah was born on December 2, 2007 at 12:30 am

Noah Blake Wheeler is here!

Gracie went into labor Saturday night (12/1) around 9:30 pm and we made it to the birthing center by 11:00 pm. The labor moved pretty quickly and Noah was born at 12:30 am. Gracie used the water birth method without any medication and performed amazingly. She really made it look easy! After Noah was born they kept us at the birthing center for just a few hours to make sure everyone was doing okay then they sent us home around 3:30 am.

Kaleb spent the night with his Uncle Cory and stayed with his Nanna Sue and Pawpaw the next day. I picked him up Monday morning and brought him home to meet his new brother. It took him a few seconds to figure out what was going on, but it didn't take long for him to want to play with Noah. As can be expected, he was a little rough with him, but all in all it went really well.

I'm taking the next two weeks off of work to help out with Noah and Kaleb and to nurse Gracie back to tip top shape. She'll need to be 100% to take care of these two boys! Noah is sure to change a lot over the next few weeks so I'll try to post more pictures along the way. You can see his newborn pictures here.

december 4, 2007

It's Getting Close!

Gracie's original due date of November 29th is only 8 days away and her updated due date or December 7th is just 16 days away! We're getting pretty nervous (and a little excited) about our new baby boy. Right now we're leaning towards the name Noah, but we're still not 100% certain yet.

Here are a few great pictures of Gracie that were taken by Chris Mosley's girlfriend Leann. They look great - and so does Gracie!

November 21, 2007

These Guys are Good

At 8-1 the Cowboys are poised to go deep in the playoffs

This just in: the 2007 Cowboys are good. Real good.

Oh yeah, Kaleb's site has been updated with new pictures as well.

November 14, 2007

Happy Halloween!

kaleb's first time trick or treating

Kaleb was old enough to really enjoy Halloween for the first time this year and we were able to get his first Trick or Treat experiences on video, along with some pictures which I'll be posting in the next day or so. We also had a lot of Trick or Treaters visit our house this year, which is something we've never had before in our old house. Unfortunately we underestimated the number of visitors we'd have and actually ran out of candy. It was a lot of fun though.

After Trick or Treating I came home and watched the Mavs season opener against the Cavs. They looked good. I'm excited about Brandon Bass and Devin Harris starting.

The Cowboys are looking great so far too. These next few weeks against all the other NFC East teams should be interesting. An 11 or more win season is looking like a pretty accomplishable goal, which is pretty amazing!

October 31, 2007

Gracie Update

click to visit gracie's myspace page

Gracie's pregnancy is going great so far. She's had no problems and is actually enjoying being pregnant! The baby is due November 29th so it should be an interesting holiday season this year.

Gracie's opted to use a midwife this time instead of the traditional hospital approach and she really seems to be enjoying it. The midwife doesn't actually come to our house though - there's a small house/office they work out of and that's where she'll actually give birth at as well. Gracie is really into the whole "natural" way of doing things.

We still haven't settled on a name for the baby yet. We can think of lots of girls names that I like; but we're having a hard time finding a boys name that we both love...

For more news and pictures, visit Gracie's myspace page here.

October 15, 2007

Play of The Year? (so far...)

cowboys 35 ~ rams 7

This may be getting old, but Romo never fails to impress me week after week. This play is just ridiculous! I really think this play turned the game around (at the time the score was 7-7) Virtually every other quarterback in the league would just fall and the ball and be thankful for not losing the ball.

Romo = amazing.

September 30, 2007

Romo is my Daddy!

the cowboys rolled over the bears 34-10 this week

I haven't been this excited about a Cowboys quarterback in....come to think of it, I've NEVER been this excited about any Cowboys player, period. I know lots of people will scoff and refer to the glory days of Aikman, Emmit, and Irvin; and I do remember how great those years were. But there was a year or two of growing pains even with those great Hall of Famers. The excitement grew over the years as the championship seasons unfolded - but what's happening now with Romo is different. He came out of nowhere and is far and away the best quarterback Dallas has seen since Troy Aikman. And he's been successful since day one...it's all just so exciting!!

I love watching this team play each week. And my favorite part is watching Romo drop back to pass. Every time he does I get a feeling that something good is going to happen, especially if it's 3rd and long!

September 23, 2007

So Far So Good!

The Cowboys season is off to a great start, with their first 2-0 start since 1999. And with the offense scoring 45 and 37 points in the opening weeks, it's the first time the Cowboys have scored 35+ points since 1987!! I know it's only been two games, but so far so good!

I am REALLY looking forward to this week's game game against the Bears. It will be interesting to see how well this offense plays against quite possibly the best Defense in the entire league. My prediction: Cowboys 27, Bears 10.

September 17, 2007

Football Season is Here Again!

I have very high hopes for TO and the Cowboys this season

It's already September and that, of course, means it's time for some real NFL football - and I am READY! Last night's game (Saints vs Colts) was a good start, but I'm really looking forward to seeing what the Cowboys are going to do this year. I'm very pumped about Wade Phillips; I think he is such a nice change to Mr. Negative Parcells. It seems like most of the players are excited to have a change, too. Hopefully TO will really break out this year now that he's got a supportive coach who will actually say his name.

I think the Cowboys will do very well this season and might even win 11 games. The thing that's scary to me, though, is that most of the professional analysts feel the same way, which typically is not a good sign in the NFL. :)

Of course Fantasy Football is starting up now too, and I'm just as excited about that. I'm playing in two leagues and Gracie's playing in one. We've both played for the past 4 or 5 years and I don't think a single year has past where at least one of us didn't win a pretty good portion of money from Fantasy Football. Hopefully this year will be more of the same. I've actually created a "Spectator" account that non-players can use to log in and view our league standings and details. Anyone can log in and view our leagues by clicking here

and using the following login information:

Username: FFSpectator

Password: Password

The Fantasy Football 2007 league is our big money league ($50 entry fee, $5 transaction fees) and the Bill Baller league is our small money league for those not wanting to risk too much ($10 entry fee, $1 transaction fees). Check it out if you want and if you're interested in playing next year, let me know. I always love getting more "donations"!

September 7, 2007

SeeqPod

Chris Mosley introduced me to SeeqPod and I must admit that it is very cool. Seeqpod allows you to search for music and play the results immediately - without even downloading the track! I'm not sure how great this would work for people with slower Internet connections, but for high speeders, this is great! You can even save playlists so you can play them later and add to your "collection". Seeqpod even offers recommendations for similar songs based on your search criteria by clicking the Discover button.

You can also share your playlist with others or embed a playlist in html (see my Electrelane playlist below). Seeqpod is definitely worth checking out if you have the time.

August 21, 2007

I can't Stop Listening to this Album!

I've been an Electrelane fan for a long time but didn't know they had a new albumen out until Chris Mosley gave me a copy at our housewarming party last week. Since then I haven't been able to take it out of my CD player...I just keep listening to it over and over again. This has got to be one of the best albums I've heard in a long time.

Here are some of my favorite songs:

August 10, 2007

The Results are in...

it's a boy!

Our housewarming party was a this weekend was a lot of fun and even though only about half the people showed up who we were expecting, I think it was a great success. There were about 15 adults and 3 young children there and we had some great food (thanks to Saul and my mom for their help cooking), played some volleyball, and the kids had fun playing on a big inflatable water slide. One of the highlights, of course, was finding out the gender of our new baby. We found out that we're having a BOY!! I am super excited about it...Kaleb is going to be a great big brother. Now it's time to start seriously picking out names.

You can check out pictures from the party here. Thanks to all those who made it out...we had a ton of fun.

August 6, 2007

House Warming Party

We'll be having our "official" house warming party this Saturday, August 4th. Things will get started around 4 pm with volleyball, barbeque, board/card games, and whatever else we feel like doing. We'll also be finding out the gender of our baby during the party (the results of the sonogram have been in a sealed envelope for the past month) so that should be exciting.

I'll post pictures of the party next week some time.

Oh, and Happy Birthday Dad!

August 1, 2007

KalebWheeler.net Updated

click to visit kalebwheeler.net

Kaleb's site has been updated with news and about 25 new pictures, many of them showing our new house. He's been seeing a speech therapist and his talking has really started to pick up!

We had a sonogram and everything looked good. They identified the gender of the baby, but we had them put the results in a sealed envelope, which we'll open with our family and friends at our house warming party, which we're planning on having on August 3rd. I'll be sure to post the results here when we have them.

Things have been going well with the house - been keeping me very busy. I got quotes this weekend on extending our driveway to accommodate a second 2 car garage. Hopefully I'll be able to get started on adding that next month. It will be amazing to have a four car garage!

july 15, 2007

In the New House

Sorry for the long delay between postings, but we have been very busy these past few weeks. Everything went surprisingly smoothly during the closing process and we started moving into the new house on the evening of June 15th as planned. Since then we've had to shop for 3 new tables, a new washer and dryer, a computer desk, a guest bed, a push lawn mower, a new entertainment center, a new TV, and countless other little things. We're still looking for a new refrigerator and a riding mower and we still have a few boxes left to unpack, but for the most part we're settled in. We're trying to plan a house warming party but the nonstop rain has really made that difficult.

We want to say thanks to all the people who helped us during the move, including Cory, Clinton, Greg, my dad, and my mom and Saul. Y'all always come through for us when needed.

I'll try to get some pictures posted soon but until then you can check out this announcement that Gracie made.

july 5, 2007

We're Moving!

this will soon be our new house

We got an offer on our house over the Memorial Day weekend and things have been moving very quickly since then. We found a house that we absolutely love and quickly made an offer that was accepted. If all goes as planned we'll be moving in on June 15th, which is only 10 days from now! It will be interesting to see if things actually go according to schedule this time - our last closing was postponed 7 days.

Our new house will be in Fate, which is just a few miles away from Rockwall, and it's on a half acre lot. It's going to be amazing going from no yard whatsoever to so a large fenced yard. It's nearly 2,000 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2 baths. One of the nicest features is the 40x17 covered back patio with a HOT TUB that's included with the house! We can't wait to move in and start having parties! Check out pictures of the new house here.

june 5, 2007

LOST Finale - Wow!!

now that was a twist!

The LOST writers have definitely got this whole season finale thing down! Last night's 2 hour episode had Gracie and I yelling and high fiving (during the rescue scene), gaping in amazement (during the final Kate/Jack scene) and even had Gracie crying (during the Charlie/Penny scene). I don't think it could have gotten any better than what we saw last night. The whole flash FORWARD twist was totally unexpected and I'm really looking forward to seeing more of that format.

February 2008 seems like such a long time to wait for more LOST and not only that, but the Office is over too! With those two shows off the air and no more Maverick games until October I don't know what I'm going to do with all my time now! We're thinking about watching Heros on DVD since we never saw that show live and I've heard lots of good things about it.

The Lost Blog has a wonderful recap of last night's episode so if you're interested, check it out.

may 24, 2007

Top 1000 Names

Gracie and I have been having fun thinking of names for the baby on the way and while browsing online I ran across this site of popular names from the Social Security office. They have some really nice stats available and I compiled some of them into a single spreadsheet for easy reference. I thought I'd go ahead and share this with anyone else who's interested in downloading it. It contains the top 1000 names by decade for the 1990's and 2000's as well as a comprehensive alphabetical list on a separate tab.

I know that finding a downloadable list of names can actually be a little difficult to do so if this will help anyone out, feel free to download it here.

may 22, 2007

Kaleb's Two!

Kaleb's 2 year old birthday was last month (April 27th) and I know it's been a few weeks since then, but we just now got his 2 year old portraits back and posted on his site. I also created a Google gadget that can be added to your Google homepage that will rotate through pictures of him! I'll update the pictures as often as I can so you can stay up to date and see his cute face when searching on the Internet. Click here to visit Kaleb's site and view his birthday pictures and here to add his Google gadget to your homepage.

may 15, 2007

LAUNCHcast AdMute 3.0 Released

admute now essentially becomes adskip

I've released a new version of AdMute that basically skips the ads instead of simply muting them. AdMute will now refresh your LAUNCHcast player when an ad is detected and instead of hearing 30-60 seconds of silence (or worse yet, an actual ad), you'll be hearing a new song after just a few seconds! I actually considered changing the name to AdSkip but didn't want to confuse old users or have to worry about uninstalling AdMute after installing AdSkip, plus AdMute's been around for over a year now and I know a lot of people are pretty familiar with it. So, all that considered, I now present LAUNCHcast Admute 3.0. Enjoy!

Oh yeah, a new custom skinning option has also been added to allow you to customize your players appearance.

may 8, 2007

Indefensible

mavs lose to golden state 111-86 and are out of the playoffs

I knew going into this series that Golden State was a dangerous team - I was actually more worried about them than any other team in the playoffs. It's obviously upsetting that they lost this series, but more than anything else, I'm extremely disappointed in the way in which we lost it. Dirk, for example, only scoring 8 points in a must win game and doing so with an apparent lack of passion. Is this really the same guy who carried us past San Antonio and Phoenix in last year's playoffs? Sure, he showed up during Game 5 during the last 3 minutes, but other than that it looks like he was just going through the motions. I've been trying to defend his performance during this series but after last night there's nothing left to say.

I really hope Dirk doesn't win the MVP now. Sure, I think he deserved it during his regular season play (and it is, after all, a regular season award), but winning it now would be very awkward and I would hate to see Dirk have to go through that. I'm beginning to wonder if the whole pressure of the MVP (along with having the #1 seed) didn't actually contribute to his poor performance.

It doesn't all rest on Dirk, though. I put a lot of this on Avery. This is two consecutive playoff series where Avery appears to have been completely out coached. 6 games into the series and you still haven't figured out Golden State's zone defense?! Come on, they were one of the worst defensive teams in the league this year and our offense is nothing but a bunch of one on one's and jump shots! The wrong tone was set even before the first tip off when he decided to change lineups to try to match up with Golden State's small lineup. What happened to the "system" you've been preaching about all year, Avery?!

I'm very concerned about this off season. This is the type of thing that can either leave a team scarred or lead to an overhaul. I can see Dirk getting traded, Avery getting fired, or even Cuban selling the team. Despite this series, I wouldn't want any of those things to happen...but who knows what's going to happen.

may 4, 2007

Dirk Saves the Day (Game 5 vs Warriors)

Mavs win 118 - 112 but still trail the warriors 2-3

With about 4 minutes to go the Mavericks called timeout, down 6 in a must win game that would end their season otherwise. Dirk spoke up during the timeout - something he very rarely does - encouraging his team that they could come back, that it wasn't over yet. Shortly after that, Golden State hit a wild three pointer to put them up 9 with just a little over 3 minutes to go. Things did not look good at all.

Then Dirk FINALLY decided to step up. He hit back to back threes with a very nice block in between. He also grabbed some crucial rebounds and hit a few clutch free throws. Devin Harris chipped in with a driving layup and Josh Howard added a couple more free throws. Add it up and Dallas went on a 15-0 run to end the game and win 118-112 and kept their season alive.

I was so excited for Dirk. He's been under serious heat the past few days from media and fans for not stepping up and carrying this team. After defending him it may me so proud (and relieved) to see him take such control over the game when it seemed all was lost. This performance brings back memories of Game 7 vs San Antonio last year. Looking back on it, I can't think of a better way to end the game for Dirk. He carried the Mavs to a must win victory. Now, can he do it again on Thursday? As you already know, I believe.

may 2, 2007 - 12:43 am

I don't know either, Avery (Game 4 @ Warriors)

Mavs lose 103 - 99 and trail the warriors 1-3

Man, I really don't know what to say. We had this game but let it slip away again. I think it really hurt us when Diop went out of the game. At that point we were up by 8 with about 6 minutes to play. I don't think he came back into the game and it really showed.

Now we've got to win the next 3 games. Luckily, 2 of them are at home. Hey, the Suns were in a the same situation last year vs the Lakers and came back to win in 7. The Spurs were also in the same position against us last year and nearly won the series in that famous Game 7 in San Antonio. So all you Mavs fans out there, have faith. I know it's hard to do but stick with it...it'll pay off in the end.

Here's hoping the Mavs playoff season mirrors their regular season - 4 bad games where they looked terrible, followed by winning streak after winning streak to give them the 5th best record of all time. We can do it.

april 30, 2007 - 12:10 am

Mavs Pregame Post (Game 4 @ Warriors)

I'm feeling really good about tonight's game. I've been hearing lots of negative stuff about the Mavs on the radio (and from my lesser confident friends) since Friday night's loss, but to me those are all good signs. The Mavs seem to always play well when they're down - and somehow seem to struggle when they're feeling too good about themselves. I don't think there's any question that their backs are against the wall now and I seriously doubt anyone on the team is feeling too good about themselves now.

My prediction: Mavs win 99-89 to even the series 2-2.

More to come after the game.

april 29, 2007 - 9:00 pm

The Big News

As some of you already know, Gracie's pregnant again! We found out the news a couple of weeks ago and wanted to tell a few people in person before posting it on the site. Sorry for the delay...

It's too soon to really know much, but right now we're thinking that it'll probably be born sometime around December. That's not the best time of the year for a birthday, but oh well.

We weren't really trying to have another baby, but at the same time we weren't really trying NOT to either. We've been going back and forth on whether to stick with just one kid for a long time and finally figured we'd just see what happens. Well, looks like it was meant for us to have another! We're definitely sticking with just two though. Now we just have to hope Gracie doesn't have twins!!

Of course, we're very excited about the news. One of the consequences though is that we'll have to get a new house. We were actually planning on staying in our current townhome for another couple of years but that's not going to work now. We're really going to need some more space and a backyard for Kaleb and his sibling to play in. So our home is back on the market again and we're looking for a new place in Rockwall.

If any of you would like to send Gracie a congratulatory email, her email address is graciep@aol.com. I'm sure she'd appreciate it.

april 23, 2007

On Hiatus

I'm going to be taking a break from updating the site for awhile. I've got lots of things going on at home and at work so I thought I would just let everyone know that it may be anywhere from a week to a month before I get around to updating the site.

I do have some some exciting news to share with everyone though, so don't forget to check back in within the next couple of weeks.

april 9, 2007

LAUNCHcast AdMute Update

yahoo's new US url has been added

Yahoo changed the URL for their US LAUNCHcast service sometime last week (thanks to Scott Kolman for pointing this out to me) therefore AdMute couldn't connect to the site to play music. This new version uses the updated URL so AdMute will work again for the US version. The UK version doesn't seem to be affected. Download the latest version here.

March 27, 2007

Back from Philly

it was a lot colder in philadelphia than it was back home in dallas!

Last weekend Gracie, Kaleb, my dad, and I went to Philadelphia to visit my Aunt Carrie, Uncle Jay, and my cousins Zach and Sam. We hadn't seen Aunt Carrie and Zach since our wedding and who knows how long since we've seen Uncle Jay and Sam...probably about 9 years!

We were planning on taking a day trip to New York City while we were there but unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate. A late season ice storm hit the northeast region Thursday night (which made for a long delay at the airport) so we decided to play in the snow instead. Walking through the icy streets of New York with a baby didn't sound like too much fun. It turned out okay though because Kaleb hasn't ever played in snow before so that was actually pretty fun. Sunday night we went to see the 76ers play the Houston Rockets hoping for a good game...boy were we wrong. Oh well, at least we got to see some history. Monday we took Kaleb to the Please Touch children's museum and he loved it. We also spent a few evenings playing Apples To Apples, Sorry, and Uno.

It was a fun trip and it was great to see everyone again. Everyone was very hospitable and showed us a wonderful time. Kaleb's site has been updated with pictures from the trip so if you're interested you can check them out there.

march 8, 2007

Dirk and the Rolling Stones

They've been playing a great new video of Dirk playing with the Rolling Stones at the American Airlines Center recently and it is absolutely great. Here's a short clip I found that someone recorded and posted on YouTube:

Dirk and the Rolling Stones

And here's a hilarious clip of him actually creating the video. Towards the end you'll also see him working on a Christmas video too. Funny stuff.

Dirk on Media Day

Oh, and by the way, the Mavs have now won 17 games in a row and have a real shot at winning 70 games this year. I can't wait until April 28th.

march 12, 2007

A Great Episode!

finally! a few answers

Last night's Lost episode was the best one of the new year in my opinion. After several over hyped episodes that left me (and many others) very disappointed, "Enter 77" really delivered! It had the intensity of a Season 1 episode and most importantly, actually answered a few questions! The backstory was just okay and the beach scenes with the Ping Pong Tournament were kinda silly, but the drama with Sayid, Kate, Locke and the newly introduced Mikhail more than made up for that. I really hope the Lost writers stay on track now that they've got me excited again.

As always, the Lost Blog is a great place for entertaining recaps and comments.

march 8, 2007

Drama Queen

I know this is a little late, but nevertheless, it's still funny.

Makes about as much sense as needing a wheelchair and stretcher for a dislocated shoulder.

march 2, 2007

A New Ninja Turtles Movie?!

I found out last night that a new TMNT movie will be coming out at the end of March. I loved the original Ninja Turtles movie but the sequels were horrible. With many of the recent comic book/superhero movies coming out lately being so well done, I was pretty excited about this new addition of the TMNT series. That was, until I saw this trailer.

yes, the new tmnt movie is in cgi

Did they really have to make this movie animation style? And it looks like such a kid movie. <Sigh> What could have been...

march 1, 2007