Isabella Kate Wasserman

Wanted to share the great news that Isabella Kate Wasserman was born Monday to our good friends Peter and Katie.

All went smoothly and everyone is doing fine.

We went to visit yesterday evening and got a glimpse into our future (two more months!) as we got to hold and hang out with Isabella.

We are so happy for Pete and Katie and can't wait for our little girl to be her best friend.

Here are some pics of the cutie and the proud parents:

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Candy/Lights Weekend

Ash and Angie have a tradition where they cook Holiday candy... many of you have enjoyed said in the past, and this year will be no different. Luckily, I did not need to go to the store multiple times to get unsalted or salted butter, etc.




The ladies working hard and the first views of the products.


Instead of making grocery store runs, I got to concentrate on my personal tradition for this weekend, hanging Xmas lights. Here's my product (depending on the leftover lights we don't use on the tree, there might be more to add!):

Next comes the tree, which is on the list for this coming week.

Tonight, we're heading to our Neighbor Lee's band Outformation's show at the Variety Playhouse. Should be great as usual.

Deck pics

So, as we've mentioned, we have added a screened-in back porch and deck to our house. Should be completely done by Monday and we are very excited about the finished product!

Here are pics of the work in progress:

And here are a couple of it done.

All that's left is new French Doors and some painting and it's good to go. Everyone now needs to come over and enjoy it - when it warms up!

Home Projects

So with the impending arrival of the little lady, we've decided to make some home improvements... although our list is long, we've managed to mark some things off!

1.) Back porch and deck - should be wrapped up by early next week... awaiting new French Doors and final painting touches.

2.) Baby Furniture - purchased (my credit card melted).

3.) New Fridge - well, just because our old one was small and broken.

4.) New Living Room Rug - thanks to our parents for that one (this one will last!!!)

5.) Murphy Bed for Nursery/Guest Room - will be installed on Monday

6.) Paint baby room - we picked a nice color we think will work (not pink)... did first coat last night and second coat is on schedule for tonight.

So I'd say about a 3rd of the way down the list, but making progress! Please stop by anytime (maybe wait until next week) and see us and the new stuff.

Wine Party 07

So one of the traditions among our friends is a wine party every December (around the 1st weekend). Our Friends Chris and Heather Buerkle (also pregnant) along with several of their friends host this event and it is usually at Chez Buerkle, but this year what with the nugget and all, they moved it over to Phil and Holly's house... great crowd and larger venue.

Thomas and Elizabeth joined us and we caravanned with Pete and Katie after a nice pasta dinner Ash whipped up.

Not too many pics taken, but here are a few:


The girls (Heather, Ash, Amy and Wendy) - notice the two pregnant ladies on the left without wine.




And the LBi crew (Me, Gelfond, Brooke and Dawn) - yes, these are some of my co-workers... not sure what was going on with the camera, and I'm sure Gelfond is happy I've posted this shot of him.

I have to say the best part is that I have a guaranteed designated driver.

Belated Thanksgiving pix

We had a great Turkey Day this year, having finally made it down for the annual St. Pete Austin gathering. We took our time getting down there, somewhat beating the traffic by leaving Tuesday night. Of course I slept during the worst part of trying to get out of Atlanta, so Park may have more 'choice' words on how much he enjoyed passing the extra hour+ with our 4 million neighbors.

We arrived at my dad's place on Davis Island in Tampa, and spent a beautiful 80 degree day on a golf course. I got to drive the cart and managed to only run it into a bush once :)

Thursday morning we trekked off for St. Pete and spent a wonderful day with the Austin tribe, grazing and waiting not so patiently for dinner! For a comic relief, Park and I decided to do a bit of canoeing....the comic relief comes at the part where I try to get into the kayak. Note that this is PRE-THANKSGIVING DINNER, and Park and I have nothing to change into should things go awry.

What could possibly go wrong?

Whew! Made it! I'm not totally convinced that others weren't a little disappointed that they didn't get a chance to roll on the ground with laughter had I gone in...

Cold busted.
Gratuitous belly shot for Cartier :)

Notice that we are all cracking up in this picture....I have a series of all the versions that came before this one! Thanks to Ray, though, we really got a great shot of everyone!!!

Surprise!

In the great tradition of not adhering to any traditions, WE ARE HAVING A GIRL! Yes many generations of Fowlkes' and Burks' male-only (or at least male-majority) progeny production have been interrupted with the news that our little one is a little girl. Literally, the first words out of our mouths were, "Are you sure?" Not surprisingly, these were Thomas' words as well.

So now we figure she'll have dark hair, eyes and skin tone. Why stop at gender?

Chomp and Stomp

The Cabbagetown Chomp & Stomp! Chili cook off and bluegrass festival! Now that's MY kind of fest! Can I get a yee haw?

I expect this is the first of many overlapping reports between the Fowlkes blogging, so apologies for the repeat. As Thomas and Elizabeth mentioned, it was a gorgeous weekend and the Atlanta festivals were abounding. I don't really have any photographic evidence that we were actually there with the T/E/C clan, but how about an updated 23 week belly shot?

And look at baby Violet!!! Pops lookin cool in his baby bjorn. I can't wait to see Park in one of those!

Conference on an Island

Greetings from sunny Florida.....well, Florida anyway. I'm on beautiful Marco Island, right on the Gulf!
The nerd conference, as Park has named it, has been pretty dull since most of the presentations have been way over my head. Actually it's a bit comforting to learn that I'm really not THAT big of a geek. As for sunny FL, the days have been really cloudy, but since it's not raining and I can still go for walks on the beach, I am happy as a
The beach is covered with shells like I've never seen. There are all kinds of various critters, mollusks, sea urchins, birds


and can someone please tell me what on earth this is??????????

Back in business with a tiny bit of news

In the tradition of Phish, Fowlkes Incorporated spent a bit of time on hiatus. We are back, and have finally brought the widely demanded photos of Ashley & Park in their reproductive state, and of course, the product. Unfortunately, we do not yet know the sex of our amazing little product, since it seemed that the kid was more interested in proving that he/she was indeed MY child.

So we are still using names such as "Cletus the fetus", "Little", "The kid" and "Babe, come here, he's kicking" (we've kinda been using he, since we've got some serious odds stacked against a girl). Hopefully, our next appointment will be a little more revealing. In the meantime, we'll just have to settle for being the most excited parents-to-be in world!!!!!

Hee!!!!!!!!!!!!

Q*bert

During a google image search for a picture of a cinnamon cake doughnut, a sadly undermade and underoffered delicacy of modern America that I now crave daily, I managed to stumble across an image of Q*bert.

If you were a kid in the 80s, you can stop reading as all further information will be well known to you. This was absolutely one of my favorite arcade games, and I took my task of turning all the little blue triangles yellow quite seriously. I do apologize for Coily the Snake's absense from this image.......we was a worthy adversary much deserving of representation. But worry not. I did manage to find both he and Q*bert memorialized in a pair of earrings.

My Christmas list is now complete.

Labor Day festivities

We had a very exciting weekend here in 'lanter. My mom and Allen were in town for some shopping and big city adventures. Though we sadly did not make our way to Dragon*con (next year or bust!), we certainly had much more fun at the Decatur Book Festival. JK. Actually, with the weather finally giving us a break, there couldn't have been anything finer. Sunday night we all headed to Burk and Heather's for a yummy bbq to celebrate Labor Day in proper fashion. Harrison was the clear winner of the "Cute with Bubbles" Award.

Peter proved his father with camera capabilities with this auto-timer pic of everyone as the night ended. What's with that giant belly on Ash? Hmm...anything going on there?

To wrap up the weekend, Thomas arrived to begin the 'lanter recolation project. Per their blog, we should have them settled in by October, but not without herculean effort. We'll be so happy for them to be here, but even happier for them to be here and finished with their month of mayhem. I think Carter's opinion on the subject shows in this picture ;)

book club

All the muchachas from book club.

the wedding.....after hours

A couple of snipits from the end of the night.

the actual WEDDING

Saturday, July 28th!

We had a mostly relaxing day, little hiking, little eating...the good stuff :) Then it was time to get ready for the big day!!!! The wedding took place in the amazing backyard of Shannon's grandparents "cabin".

At last! The moment arrives!
Mike and Jill busted being extremely cute :)
Trip won the travel award. His flight out of Baltimore was delayed, making him miss his flight out of Denver. He ended up with a hotel 35 miles away, instead of the 5 miles he had been told. The following morning, in classic fashion, his flight was cancelled. He made it to the wedding with about an hour to spare.
They were being sweet and cute there for a second, but really just didn't seem right. We all agreed this was much more fitting.
Even WeeCarter made a guest appearance!!

Marc & Shannon's Wedding

At long last, my blog laziness is at an end. We actually have so much to tell, but I can't let another day go by without sharing pix from Marc & Shannon's wedding in South Lake Tahoe. I've explained the story previously, but to sum up, this was my cousin Shannon's marriage to my brother-in-law's best friend. Surprisingly, none of them are Southern ;)
We shared a "cabin" with my mom & Allen, Thomas, Elizabeth & WeeCarter, and Ron & Bronwyn. We filled our days hiking along gorgeous lakes and mountain trails, then spent the evenings celebrating with the family. Needless to say, it was a BLAST!!!

Our hike along Echo Lake

Shannon (aka bride) with cousin triplets Jefferey, Allen and Clayton, with Jeff towering above.

I know it's blurry, but this picture of Lynn, mother of the bride, and Vivian, mother of the groom, was too adorable to pass up.

Thomas and Elizabeth charting out the tale of our wacky relations and how Marc & Shannon got together.

Our near-cabin mates, and Thomas & Elizabeth's other best friends, Rob & Rachel.