On the way out of the beach we stopped by the local shopping area for the purpose of finding Santa. Shay met him for the first time and really enjoyed him! Shay hasn’t met a stranger before in his life! Here are a few pics…
Archive for the ‘Baby Shay’ Category
Obligatory Proud Dad Pics
Nov 10th, 08
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I haven’t downloaded my Halloween pics yet… there’s just way too much going on. But thankfully Kristen has, and so I’ll share a few of hers. 
But here are my obligatory halloween pics of my son. He was a puppy for halloween this year… and our puppy was, well, a baby.
Sunday Fun
Oct 12th, 08
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I’m in my office getting things finished up for tonight and Shay dropped in to say hello. He just woke up from a nap, so the usual smiles were hidden in the seriousness. I had to take a pic of the serious Shay, since we rarely get to see this side.
Things Change…
Sep 29th, 08
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Before Shay was born, almost every parent wanted to let me know how much my life would change when Shay came. Almost as if they were hoping we would experience the same struggles they would… It eventually got almost as annoying as the question newlyweds are inundated with, “So, how do you like marriage?” As if the response would ever be, “Horrible! All we do is fight. Thanks for asking!”
But as old as hearing it got, it is true. Life changes when you have a kid. Tonight as I headed to our bedroom, I passed by Shay’s room and couldn’t wait to see him in the morning. I have been working out the past 3 or 4 months rather consistently. I have thinned up a little bit, but mainly I have simply been working toward a healthier life. (Today, I ran over 3.5 miles… something a few months ago would be rather difficult) I am looking forward to the added benefits of working out… getting thinner, stronger, and overall even more buff than my previous state (though that’s pretty hard to do… but in all reality, do “buff” people actually use the word “buff”? I somehow doubt it…) – but I definitely want to be in shape so I can be a better husband and father.
Life changes, but priorities change too. My life (and living) is now more important – as God has entrusted Mel and I with the incredible blessing of pouring into Shay’s life. I don’t want to die young because of my own actions (or inactions) and not be able to share in Shay’s life.
Parenthood is great… and to all of you future parents out there, just get ready to enjoy it. It’s worth every spit-up-stained shirt and sleepless night.
Baby Shay
Sep 21st, 08
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I can’t believe that there was a time in my life that I wasn’t interested in having kids. Shay is such a blessing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a “kid” guy, but we are so blessed with baby Shay. It’s a humbling thing to think that God has entrusted us with him for hopefully many years to come. I get an opportunity to pour into his life and watch where God takes him. Some of you who know me know that I am praying for him to be a missionary. (And if he’s a musical prodigy as well, that would be icing on the cake.) Seriously, whatever God leads Shay to do I am thrilled about. It will be great to see his life unfold. I’ve already started on my book, which is really a book to Shay… entitled, of course, Touche (Things I wish I knew by now and am still learning). :)
Yesterday Mel snapped a few shots at the pool with some friends and I particularly liked this one. Ellie (the girl next door) is on the left, and in a few years sharing a tent won’t be an option! Mel also has a few more pictures on her blog.
Saturday Night Randomness
Sep 13th, 08
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- Last week my grandparents were in Atlanta escaping whatever hurricane it was threatening the Eastern shore. They of course wanted to hang out with Shay, so we got the whole Atlanta branch (minus Teddy) together at Chili’s! My Uncle, Aunt, Cousins and Grandparents all met for lunch. I love the Gillen’s, we are a fun bunch. Here’s a pic of Shay with his namesake (middle name) – my grandfather.
- I LOVE days like today. At one point Mel just looked at me and said “Isn’t our family so much fun?” I’ll agree. In the pic below you can see how Shay played with Bora. He just kept patting her on the back. He loves his dog!
- On Monday and Tuesday I’ll be attending the NEXT Church Planting Conference in my hometown (Warner Robins). It will be great to connect with some friends who are planters. My folks will be out of town, so we’re going to crash at their place. It will be a good way for Mel and I to get away too…. even though we’ll just really have Monday evening there in WR. I have a LASIK follow-up visit on Tuesday anyhow, so I was already heading down.
- I am super excited about Church tomorrow evening. We are meeting in the evenings at another church in town for a few weeks. It is refreshing and encouraging! I can’t wait until tomorrow… it’s one of my favorite things of the week!
- We are about to get our website up and going, and our old hosting just expired. It was almost perfect timing… except that we lost emails, etc. when it expired. So, I’ve got a band-aid on the problem now — but I can’t wait to get the email fixed. I can only check it on webmail for the moment… and I lost several months worth of emails.
- Went to Wordle.net via Philip’s suggestion and put my blog in. It turned out kind of cool.
- I am playing electric tomorrow at church. I’m becoming a backup in a few areas. I really dig playing in the band… but I seriously need to improve my skills. I borrowed Janik’s telecaster this week and I love it. I am going to have to get one.
- Got a water issue at my house. I am hoping it’s hail damage… at least them insurance will cover it.
- I’m playing fantasy football this year with some guys in the church. It’s a lot of fun, but I can’t believe I had the second highest score last week. Who had the highest score? The guy I was matched up against. So now I start out with a loss. Serendipity Now!!
- Today was Geoff’s Birthday, so we had the Miller’s over for cake. I remember back in the day when I was 26… 2 years ago. BTW, the cake had 26 spelled out in candles.
- I will be seeding my lawn again in the next few weeks. Maybe we can FINALLY get over this drought and I can grow something. The first few years we lived here I just didn’t care… and now that I am trying to grow something I am restricted from watering. Am I getting old that I want a good looking yard?
- I have been more consistent about working out in the past few months than I ever have been in my life. I don’t know if I’m losing any weight yet, but I know I’m getting in better shape. I would like to lose a few pounds, but ultimately I just need to be able to take Shay in a wrestling match for the next 20 years or so. It’s no contest now… so I’ve got some time to buff up.
Particularly Late Night
Aug 25th, 08
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Shay had a Doctor’s visit today that has left him a little bit of pain. Even with baby tylenol, he’s been up a lot tonight. Eventually he ended up downstairs with his dad just to relax a bit. Of course while I’m working on stuff I often have MHD on. It’s usually concerts, etc. in High Definition. Tonight Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were on (that green Rickenbacker-looking mandolin Tom Campbell plays is just so cool) and it calmed Shay right down. I think he’s a fan! After the Heartbreakers went off, they started playing different artists randomly. Shay likes Clapton, but I don’t know how to interpret what happened next… the Rolling Stones came on and Shay starts laughing hysterically! I look at the screen and see a close up on Mick Jagger. He either has a really good sense of humor, or I’ll be seeing that Tongue and Lips on his wall in a few years. I’m guessing he just thought Mick looked kind of funny (something tells me he’s not the first one)!
Oh the Joy
Aug 20th, 08
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Oh the joy of being married to a sleep-walker/talker.
I have some pretty great stories. There’s the one where Mel walked into the Guest room and started moving pillows around… I asked her what she was doing and she told me she was grading tests. Seriously, it’s a lot of fun.
Tonight I am downstairs and I hear Shay cough. In a split second Mel is running full speed upstairs into his room. I’m (of course) worried that maybe she knows something I don’t. I got upstairs and she was back in bed. She told me that she ran because of her dream. Her dream involved vampires (Twilight books influences?) and when she heard Shay cough she thought “he’s not going to be a vampire yet!!” and ran in his room to protect him!
I love it. (btw, Shay is fine!)
Crazy Evening
Jul 3rd, 08
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Happy July 4th!
This one snuck up on me! It’s inevitable that I will wake up and the summer will be over.
Tonight Mel and I got to go out on a date. Kristen watched baby Shay for us… and I think he was an allright kid for her. He cried for a little bit, but he slept a good bit too. He did spit up – but since she was wearing the same clothes, we took that as a good sign.
We went to Red Robin for dinner and then hit up the new AMC theater at The Avenues to watch Wall-E. I wish I could give you my thoughts on the movie… but the projector kept cutting out, so 30 minutes into the movie (and an hour of sitting in our seat) we decided to head out. The theater was great about it, and understood their problem. They gave us vouchers… though I’d have preferred my money back. Basically I gave them a $20 loan. I’m hoping to see it sometime though. I’m not a huge fan of animation movies, but this one did look pretty good!
New Photography Stuff
Jul 3rd, 08
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Today we got our camera… in fact, it was about 45 minutes ago. I couldn’t wait to bust open the new flashes and give them a shot! The only thing I’m waiting on now is my backdrop stand… but that will come while we’re in San Francisco.
Here are a few shots we took (in haste) and it didn’t take long to figure out the learning curve a bit. The flash and everything worked flawlessly, but I’ll need to buy a solid white blanket for him to lay on. This one was a little off-white. I can’t wait until I get home from Powerplant to spend a little more time honing in my skills!
