Unconditional

I type with Jude heaped over my left shoulder. Out cold. Today is a particularly bad day, uncharacteristically so for little man. Typically fairly independent, he will not even consider sleeping unless he is touching me. Nothing seems to occupy his mind for more than a minute, except the desire to be held. We tried walking, singing, dancing, bouncing, stillness, inside, outside, the rattle, the mobile, total silence. Nothing. This afternoon he actually reared back (with his newfound head strength) and spit up all over my face. So there I was, splattered in my own milk, loving him more than yesterday and twice as much as the day before. This love, it’s madness. The compounding pace is incomprehensible. I will burst before his first birthday.

Clean up aisle #13….SI reviews Tech’s USA

SI, as a part of their On Campus Arena Evaluation series, picked up the KU game at Tech’s United Spirit Arena. Though book-ended with less than favorable quips and an overall failing grade of 62%, all-in-all the piece painted a fairly positive picture of the most modern facility in the Big 12.

Not that I plan on including all On Campus reviews…just throwing this one our there for the Tech fans.

Posted by: Brent

We hit the Flickr 1K mark

As we are wrapping up the migration to the BakerGalleries2.0, the last photo posted put us at an even 1000 photos to date. And it just so happened that our 1000th photo was two of our favorite people – Scott and Robin. It also serves as yet another reminder that this weekend is the 2006 OFCC weekend in Lawrence. Bummed that we are not in attendance, for the obvious reasons, and will have to settle for the dail-a-shot.

Posted by: Brent

Afterglow

I was terrified on the way to the hospital. We checked in on Sunday night, 12/3 and Jude was born Tuesday morning, 12/5. Everything that happened in between was astonishing. And now, when I reflect back on those two days – the unimaginable pain, the extraordinary high – this surreal experience is wrapped up in a kind of warm, incandescent blanket. Every detail of our stay in the hospital and the weeks that followed are touched by an indescribable afterglow.

A lot of women claim to have forgotten the pain of birth, stating that without this euphoric memory block they wouldn’t dare consider another. In contrast, my afterglow is due in large part to the extreme pain of both labor and recovery. But then, I am a known masochist.

It’s like training for a marathon. You are awarded a rush of exhilaration when you cross the finish line because of the struggle to arrive, not despite it. You reflect back on the sacrifices for, and the deep connection with your unborn child during pregnancy. Only in retrospect can you truly appreciate those tiny kicks inside of you, and all that you did to prepare for that moment. That glorious, transcendent moment.

Posted by: Julie

Don’t fear, the Jude picts will keep rollin’ in

All….as we are moving the Galleries and all its content over to a new home you will see a number of photos over the past five years showing up on our Flickr page or along the “Recent Additions” at right. Do not fear, you will still be able to get your Jude fix. The oft sought after picts will continue to stream in at a steady pace and you can always find them wihtin the Announcing Jude Louis Baker set or by searching by the following tags:

jude
judemeetworld
month1
month2

There are also some picts from Jerry and Sharon’s recent visit…and yes, Jude is included.

Posted by: Brent

SuperBowl XLI – Sweet home C…hicag…o

Just getting in the right frame of mind….

Posted by: Brent

A new bakergalleries

So with the new year and new addition Julie and I evaluated the current site and felt it was dated, stale, and costly — not a recipe for success. For one, the site was consistently stale as it takes too long to reformat the photos and set up the gallery slide-shows. My homegrown solution from 2001 has become obsolete with solutions like Flickr. we can upload, edit and tag in a matter of minutes as opposed to blocking out a few hours on a Sunday.

There were economics that also drove this decision. Currently we are shelling out hundreds a year to host the site and maintenance was our/my responsibility. The wordpress.com solution is completely managed and hosted for free. Yes we are giving up full control of the look and feel but the costs, both time and money, simply do not outweigh the sacrifice in aesthetics. Thank you Matt Mullenweg and the team at Automattic.

Finally, you’ll notice that the updated BakerGalleries is a consolidated blog as opposed to the He Said and She Said blogs. Both Julie and I will retain a unique voice but this time it will be on a shared blog managed by two authors. And don’t worry, we were able to successfully export/import all of our old blog entries. Hopefully with the ease in use we can do a better job keeping it fresh.

Posted by: Brent