Advetures in "moving"

The Goodwins continue to venture out in new ways (as mom and dad are brave enough to try). A couple of weekends ago we braved the first trip to Atlanta. There were two occasions to celebrate. The first was the wedding of our dear friend Ainsley. It was a beautiful event. Congratulations Greg and Ainsley! The second was the 100-day birthday of Chelsea and Colman. For those unfamiliar, in Korean culture, the 100-day birthday is a big milestone. See the pictures of the party below.

The trip was a great experience for us. We have discovered that any trip like this is pretty much like moving. After two pak-n-plays, two bouncy chairs, a double stroller, mom and dad's bags, kids bags, diapers, feeding supplies and equipment, and various toys/amusements get loaded into ye olde minivan, it's pretty much packed to the gills. Much more and we'd have to call U-Haul.

By and large, the kids tolerated the trip pretty well, but we have discovered that our kids greatly appreciate routine. Violating the routine resulted in what came to be very predictable results. Everything came to a head on Sunday afternoon at the James household. We had a full-volume meltdown (in stereo no less!). It was the first one of those in a long time for us. We also discovered the 70% rule. Chelsea tolerates her car seat for about 70% of the distance to our intended destinations. For the trip to church this means about 1.5 minutes of fussing and crying. For the trip to Atlanta... you can do the math. Carol wants to go to Virginia for wedding in October. Yikes!

All said and done, we enjoyed the adventure. It was great to catch up with friends and introduce Colman and Chelsea around. Of course, the best part has been to see Hadeubuhjee and Halmeunee dote on their grandkids. That combined with all the Atlanta friends that C-n-C have yet to meet translates into many more trips to Atlanta in the near future.

Fun Hats

Dominoes

More Pics

Pics of Colman

Pics of Chelsea

Much can happen in four years

It is amazing what can transpire in the space of four years. Carol and I reflected on this over breakfast today. It turns out that Carol and I met for the first time four years ago today. I drove up to Atlanta to meet her for dinner on July 5th, 2004. She took me to Seoul Garden for what would be the first of many Korean dining experiences. Now, here we are four years later. We're married with twins, living in Auburn, AL in a brick house with a yard full of every invasive plant you can imagine. All-in-all, I'd say the first date went pretty well! Neither of us could have guessed then where we'd be now, and we are excited to see what the next four years bring.

Chelsea and Colman continue to do very well. They are both eating well and gaining weight (especially Colman!). By-and-large, they sleep pretty well at night. Right now, we end up feeding them once during the wee hours of the morning, but I expect they'll be sleeping through the night soon. Every day they give us new expressions and show us their newly aquired abilities.

We had a few out of town visitors in their first month. Of course, Grandma was here, and Uncle Phil, Aunt Joanna, and Cousin Richard made a Memorial Day visit. Sahm Cheun (aka Uncle Mike) also stopped in. In their second month, Chelsea and Colman have met Hadeubuhjee and Halmeunee (best I could do on the Korean transliteration of Grandpa and Grandma). Rebecca Johnson with her son Jake and the new Mrs. Lila Stark were able to spend an afternoon. The big surprises were my longtime friend Burnie from Colorado and my friend Alan Lennon from Texas. Burnie was in Atlanta for a conference as a chaperone of sorts. He found space in his schedule to take an unguided tour of Georgia and a make a stop here in Auburn. Alan, who I'd not seen in 12 years stopped for night on the way back to Houston with Beth and thier son Sam. It was a blessing to see each of these folks and introduce them to the kids.

Of course, any posting here wouldn't be complete without some new pictures of the kiddos.






Colman gets a little time with Hadeubuhjee.













Colman cuddles up to Halmeunee.














Here's Chelsea in one of her many moments of cuteness.











Colman in one of his many moments of handsomeness.














Chelsea in front, Colman behind. Kind of a "forced perspective" shot. Colman outweighs Chelsea by at least a pound and a half at this point.
















Grandma takes 'em both on.