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var DominicBirthday2011Text = "This is what our lives have become, I guess.  Instead of going out late at night for wild birthday celebrations out and about, we now get together at noon for equally wild birthday celebrations at home.  Dominic's first birthday party was filled with food, cake, presents, and toys.  The older adults were hanging out outside and mostly away from the wildness of the kids.  Us younger adults were all together in Dominic's playroom listening to the noises of the children as they played with all of Dominic's toys.  Maybe in a few years, us young adults will need a break from the noise and join the older adults away from the little ones.  But for now, we were all too entertained and happy to watch each baby be amazed by the toys and by each other.  In what seems like a birthday tradition, Dominic got his first taste of cake and was only mildly interested in it.  But that just left more cake for the rest of us, although he did to touch most of it.  And after opening all his presents, Dominic received the biggest present of all - a brand new car!  I won't allow him to take Kara out for a spin until he shows me his license first.";
var DominicBirthday2011Title = "Dominic's First Birthday Party - Fall 2011";

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var StamfordParade2011Text = "For probably the last 5 years, Jen and I have talked about going to Stamford for their annual Thanksgiving Parade Spectacular.  And now that we have more responsibility than ever and it's much more difficult to travel, this was the year that we actually went!  Since Bryan, Jen, and Marissa are regulars to the parade, we learned all the tricks of the area, from parking at Stop N Shop, to...well, I guess that was it for tricks.  Jen's Dad has a friend who has an apartment on the parade route, so we had a great spot for keeping Kara warm during her nap and for enjoying some snacks.  As I said on the Kara-section of this site, Kara really enjoyed looking at the huge balloons.  We're not sure what she thought these giant balloons were, but I guess they were big and bright and colorful and that's good enough for her.  After the parade, we went back to Bryan and Jen's house for lunch and hanging out.  And in Marissa's mind, this was finally her chance to share her iPad with Kara.  As soon as she found out Jen was pregnant, her first question was if she could show her iPad to our baby.  Now Kara is finally big enough to sit up and look at things.  So Marissa could finally show off her favorite toy.  Kara seemed mildly interested in the technology, since she cooed and cawed at some of the videos and games that Marissa showed off.  Based on our experience with her at home, Kara is an old-school type girl and is way more interested in a traditional laptop than a tablet.";
var StamfordParade2011Title = "Stamford Parade Spectacular - Fall 2011";

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var KimMikeWedding2011Text = "Switching jobs brings a fun new set of friends.  At least that's what I assume happens, since I've only done it once and so far so true.  Kim was not only awesome enough to invite me to her wedding, she also hired Chad as her photographer.  This was also a momentous occasion for our little family, since this was the first time that we went out to a formal event while leaving Kara in the good hands of Grandma and Grandpa.  We had fun, the grandparents did a fine job, and Kara had a great time before our late night drive home.  The wedding itself was a ton of fun, with one truly awesome feature: a photo booth!  They made the mistake of putting it right near our table, so of course Jen and I had to over-do it with the photo booth pics.  It's just so hard to resist when you're having such a great time!";
var KimMikeWedding2011Title = "Kim And Mike's Wedding - Fall 2011";

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var Poconos2011Text = "Kara took her first vacation, just before her four month birthday!  Kara, Jen, and I found a bed and breakfast in northern Pennsylvania that allowed children to stay there.  That worked out great because we got our own little cottage so that any cries wouldn't disturb anyone else.  The cottage provided us with a bedroom and living room and a full kitchen.  So it was like a home away from home.  Kara seemed to enjoy everything about the trip, but towards the end she got a little tired of being in a car seat all the time, which made for a less-than-pleasant drive home.  But all that was worth it to see Kara's reaction to Bushkill Falls.  She was thrilled to be in the Bjorn for hiking through the woods.  And she couldn't stop herself from watching everything that was new to her: trees up close, the sights and sounds of rushing water, and climbing large wooden staircases.  She loved every minute of it and her face during that part of the trip was definitely the highlight.";
var Poconos2011Title = "Poconos - Summer 2011";

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var MarissaBDay2011Text = "About a week before Marissa's birthday, she told her dad that she wanted Sleeping Beauty and Derek Jeter to show up at her party.  Bryan can pull off quite a few surprises and getting Sleeping Beauty to show up for Marissa was certainly amazing.  We'll have to work on Jeter for next year, I guess.  This was probably Kara Jo's first real public appearance and definitely her first trip across state lines (two of them, in fact).  We were quite excited when we arrived in Stamford and Marissa wanted nothing more than to introduce everyone at her party to Baby Kara.  And then when Sleeping Beauty arrived through the front door and Marissa was over the initial shock and excitement of it all, the first thing she wanted to do was introduce Sleeping Beauty to Baby Kara.  Just goes to show you how wonderful a child Marissa is that even at her own birthday party she wanted our little daughter to be the center of attention!";
var MarissaBDay2011Title = "Marissa's Birthday - Summer 2011";

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var JennyGlenWedding2011Text = "Two weekends after Kara Jo was born, Jenny and Glen got married!  I attended this party solo, as we weren't totally ready to leave Kara Jo with a babysitter just yet.  I had a very important role in this wedding, as Glen and Jenny asked me to be their officiant.  I was flattered to be given such responsibility.  A few weeks before Kara was born, Jen and I went out to Queens to hang out with Jenny and Glen and during that time we rehearsed the ceremony, so at least Jen got to watch that part live.  The actual ceremony was filmed, so I'll have to post my work soon as an advertisement for doing future ceremonies.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of myself in my officiant robe.  Oh well, next wedding I guess.  Jenny and Glen provided an awesome party for sure with all sorts of friends and family participating in various ways.  I felt very privileged and honored to play my part.";
var JennyGlenWedding2011Title = "Jenny And Glen's Wedding - Summer 2011";

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var LukeFirstBirthday2011Text = "This appears to be the final documented event of Jen and I before our family grew.  So for that, Luke will always hold a special place in our hearts.  The way he eats cake is another reason Luke will hold a special place in our hearts too.  Luke's party was lots of fun, with outdoor tents and plenty of food.  Based on the pictures, there was only one star of the show: Luke! Everyone got to watch him eat his first bites of cake ever, and he certainly seemed to love it.  Much thanks to Justin and Lisa for hosting such a great time, and for helping prep us for what it's like to have a little one on the verge of running around.";
var LukeFirstBirthday2011Title = "Luke's First Birthday - Spring 2011";

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var Babymoon2011Text = "Since we are under 3 months to go until our lives change forever, it was time for Jen and me to take what might be our final grown-up vacation for a long long time.  So we decided to do the relaxing thing and hit up a bed and breakfast in Lancaster PA to just get away from it all, whatever 'it' is.  We found a really cute place that puts together babymoon packages.  With it, we received milk and cookies at bed time.  And Jen was given a pre-natal massage one day too (on an extremely rainy day, so what better reason to stay inside?).  So it was full of lots of relaxation, which apparently we are supposed to do as much of as we can before the baby arrives.  And since we can't just sit still, we also did much that central PA has to offer.  We had all the chocolate we could eat at the Hershey's museum and factory.  We randomly drove past a cave and took a tour of it with a mostly Amish contingent.  We visited Roxanna, Dave, and Sophia, since they live so close.  And not photographed, we of course played plenty of board games.  Our B & B had a hot tub in it too which we could have used, but the warnings made us skeptical of getting in.";
var Babymoon2011Title = "Babymoon - Winter 2011";

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var RohanBaptism2011Text = "Little Rohan isn't even two months old yet and he has already traveled near and far.  He's been to our house for the Super Bowl.  And now he's been all the way to Philadelphia for his own Baptism.  Jen and I were flattered to be invited to such a special event and we arrived early enough to get a good seat in the third row.  You might see some pictures of Chad here too, but he was working.  Chad was the official professional photographer of the day, so you can go to his site to see the good pictures from the day.  Rohan was a very good boy for the most part.  Most babies cry during a Baptism.  But not Rohan!  While on the pew, he spent most of his time admiring his Mom's dress.  Kavita and Vivi couldn't stay around Philly for very long after the ceremony, since they had so many family members in town to entertain.  So Jen and I had to suffer and get extra cheesesteaks to bring back to NJ with us later in the day.  Rohan couldn't appreciate the steaks yet, but one day he will.";
var RohanBaptism2011Title = "Rohan's Baptism - Winter 2011";

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var SuperBowl2011Text = "In an attempt to baby-proof our house, Jen and I made sure to invite people with children to this year's Super Bowl party.  And somehow other people snuck in the door too, but that was okay since there was room.  This year's food highlight was Mike and Laura cooking Luther burgers for the crew.  Mike suggested bringing them as a joke originally, but then the more we thought about it, the more we liked the idea.  So they took their sliders and their munchkins and created a magical goodness that everyone seemed to enjoy.  As a sign of things to probably come, the three families that came with babies had to leave before the full game was over.  I guess that's good to know for future events for ourselves.  And fortunately, the gambling luck was with those who stayed on the couch, because the four quarter winners were all those who stayed until the end.  Granted, two of us that won were Jen and I.  But still, we never seem to win these things, so we consider ourselves pretty darn fortunate here!  And of course we all maintained the annual krupnik tradition.  And somehow I still have two full bottles left.  So maybe by the NY Super Bowl, I'll need to purchase new krupnik.";
var SuperBowl2011Title = "Super Bowl - Winter 2011";