St. Simons Causeway to get divider

After many pleas and the loss of many loved ones along this stretch of the St. Simon's causeway, the GA DOT has finally come to their senses. Unfortunately, Josh and others have lost their lives on this stretch of road, even after repeated calls to State and Federal Highway officials to get the funds to build a barrier. Hopefully the barrier will be built soon and will save others from tragedies like this. A link to the article can be found HERE

Happy Easter!

Today is Emma's 5 week birthday and she is growing each day! I have posted more pics and continue to be amazed by our little girl. If we could just get her to sleep from 10pm to 7am, we will be set! Enjoy the latest pics.

A month gone by...how time flies!

It has been almost one month since Emma entered this world although it seems like it yesterday in some ways. It is ALL I was told it is cracked up to be and she is wonderful.

I returned to work this past week which was tough since I wanted to spend more time at home and it was going to be hard to get back into the groove. Jessica has been very nice in letting me get extra hours of sleep during the week so I can perform coherently during the day. Emma is doing great and we think she has gained weight on schedule. Her days and nights are still a bit mixed up although she did sleep a full 5 hours in a ROW last night...that was very good. We have her one month doctors appt this week along with her birthday (one month) to celebrate. I have added some pics to the latest gallery on the left Emma - 3 weeks and beyond

The picture taking has slowed down some this week but I am still at it. We are really looking forward to the giggling, laughing, and more animated phase coming shortly, along with full nights of sleeping :)

The boys are retuning this week as we have our fence finally getting installed after some contractor delays. We are looking forward to having the whole family together and seeing how the boys welcome Emma and vice versa. It will probably be pretty anticlimactic since they are both in their own worlds right now.

And yes, even more pics of Emma

If you don't know by now, I am camera happy and take LOTS of pictures. I had over 1100 for our 2 week trip in Italy and have amassed around 800 so far, post-Emma. I am trying to pic the best ones and share the ones that really capture her and the moments we are sharing with her. Don't worry though, no pictures of poopy diapers or other new parent realities that are better left private!

For those interested, I am shooting these photos with my new Canon Rebel XT and a Canon EF 50mm 1.8 MII lens.

A sad goodbye...

Josh, Me, Matt, and Stuart in 2003

Last Monday night, 2/25, I received a call from UM (Stuart's Uncle Michael) who was pretty broken up. "Josh was killed in a car accident this afternoon" he said. I was in shock, thinking I did not hear him right and would not believe it. It was the first time I had lost a friend so close and I was unable to process it.

Josh Franklin was like a little brother to me and many people. His older brother, Stuart, and I were and still are great friends. The whole Franklin extended family is an entire second family to me and we have shared lots of good times and hard times together over the years. We all grew up in Decatur, went to Medlock Elem., then onto Druid Hills High with Stuart and Josh taking a short trip to Stone Mountain, then on to our various college careers until we all settled in separate places. Stuart settled in Albany, GA, Josh and Jack in St. Simon's, and me here in Atlanta. There are so many memories and stories that it is hard to know what I should mention here and what is the most significant.

Josh's funeral was a hard time for many people because it was so sudden. I was not prepared for it at all and fell apart completely. But I think if he were to tell us what we should do to honor his life, it would be to cherish the times you have with family and friends as he did. He was an honest man, happy, positive, very outgoing, and just genuine. There was no denying his honesty or genuine character in any situation. I admire Josh for this and for being just a great person I knew for many many years (i think we all met in 1984).

So for magnolia bud wars, crabapple wars, cops and robbers on bikes, Nintendo marathons after school, games of horse, the party shack, the cabin, athens, three-man at the cabin, Medlock park baseball, and all of the other times we all shared together, we are going to miss you Josh.

Josh's Obituary Here

Emma - The first 2 weeks

The first 2 weeks have been amazing, life changing, exhausting, and just wonderful. We had lots of help from Jessica's mom Paula during the first 2 weeks and have tons of food stored up in the freezer now thanks to all of her efforts in the kitchen. We have been learning lots about parenting with a newborn including the sleep deprivation challenges, eating and feeding times, poopy diapers, and all of the joys that come with a newborn.

So far, she is our sweet pea that can be either a peanut or a pickle depending on her mood. Mostly, she loves being close to mom and dad, swaddling, eating, and sleeping. We are happy she is healthy and growing as she should be.

I have included more picutres in a new album HERE and will be adding more very soon. I am also going to be posting some onto shutterfly and will post links to the albums as they are uploaded. Shutterfly offers lots of options that we will be using as time goes on including prints, calendars, mugs, photobooks, and lots more. It makes sharing much easier unless you can just download the pictures from the Picasa albums and take them to get developed somewhere. I may also post some instructions on the different ways to get prints of these and any other pictures online since there are so many choices now (this is a good problem).