"Pretty Penny was her name."

I can't help but think of these words from the Stone Temple Pilots song Pretty Penny right now. The line is very apropos as we are extremely happy to announce the birth of Penny Joan Atkinson.

Penny was born on Saturday, September 20, 2008, at 1:51 pm, weighing in at 7 lbs. 4 0z. and measuring 19 1/4" long.

Welcome to the world, Sweet Pea. Below are a couple of action shots.

Hamming it up for the camera a few moments after being born:


Trying to eat mom's nose:


Sticking her tongue out to the world as she shows off her bicep:

Hot Mama

I must say, I've always looked forward to the day that Melissa got pregnant. It's been just over five years now since we got hitched, and it's been a great five years. We weren't ready for kids right away, I actually couldn't imagine having a 4-year old right now—that would be insane. I feel like we've waited the perfect amount of time.

I don't think you could ever be ready to have a kid, but what do I know, we haven't even had ours yet? I realize that I have no idea the swath of destruction that this little hurricane will inflict upon our lives. Yet, inside m'head and heart, I feel I am ready.

That being said, one of the things I've always said I can't wait for is to see Melissa pregnant. And more importantly, see other people's reactions when they see her belly. In case you haven't noticed, Mel has kind of a young look. Even long before she got knocked up, people would give us interesting glances, probably thinking in their heads that I am some perverted 35 year old with a 16 year old wife. This becomes especially true when I have my mustache.

As a nanny, it seemed that everyday she would mention to me that someone (usually an elderly lady) had come up to her and said, "there's no way that's your little girl, you're not old enough." Mel would reply, "well, she is not my baby, but I certainly could have a kid, I am 27!)" They were always shocked to hear this. I love how people just assume things, without paying attention to what they are saying or doing. Personally, I don't think Mel looks that young (not that she looks old, don't get mad at me honey!), but I think she looks her age. She just happens to be a little shorter than most people, so everyone assumes she's young.

I always had the feeling that she would be the type of pregnant girl who only showed in her belly, and pretty much no where else. This came to be true, as seen here: front.jpg, back.JPG, versus here: side.jpg, side2.jpg. I've been anticipating these nine months for over four years. And now that it's here (and almost gone), it didn't disappoint. It's great! I love going to the mall, or Costco, or anywhere really, and just walking around. You should see the looks that people give her. Her belly is so big compared to the rest of her body, I don't think people quite know to react. And they don't just give looks, they make comments, sometimes to themselves, and sometimes out loud, as if she's not even there. I want to conduct an experiment where we go to the mall and I just film people looking at her. If we get around to it, I'll post it for all to enjoy.

I have really loved having a pregnant lil wifey. She is the cutest, hottest, most adorable pregnant lady in the history of everything. I am convinced of this. However, I will miss her belly a great deal when it's gone (although I will enjoy having the little babe that comes from that basketball under her shirt, and I know that she is excited to have her old flat tummy back).

Here are a couple recent pics of the hot little mama:

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The big day is coming soon, we'll keep you all posted.

Things I hate (update).

Just wanted to update all my readers on my previous post (Things I hate). I know you've been anxiously waiting to find out what happened when I called Time Warner . Last week I called and explained my predicament—the fact that I'd been charged $200 dollars for something that seemed pretty simple.Well, for once, their response was good news! Yes, you heard that right, I had a good experience with Time Warner Cable. (Although it didn't necessary look good at first).

So what happened? I explained my story to the lady on the phone, and asked her why I was charged $99.95 twice for my install. I fully expected her to say that it was a mistake, and that I was only supposed to be charged $99.95 once. At that point I would attempt to talk my way out of that $100 charge. But no, what did she do? She acted like it was NORMAL. She said I was supposed to be charged that much money! I said, "What? It costs $100 just to cut a $%#in hole in the wall? That is not a mistake? That is ridiculous!"

I think she could sense from her tone that I was not a happy camper, one who she did not want to deal with she transferred me to her supervisor. "Good, I can finally get something done," I thought to myself.

After waiting for probably 10 minutes, a guy answered. Let's call him Albert, to protect the innocent. He asked how he could help me, so I told him how the first lady had transferred me to her supervisor.

Albert was not her supervisor. "Awesome," was my first thought, another run-around. However, Albert was something better than her supervisor.
Albert was very nice.
Albert was a God-send.
Albert was a blessing in disguise.
Albert was in the "Retention" department.
Albert has the power to try and make me happy and to retain my services with Time Warner.
Albert is my new best friend.

To keep a long story from being way longer, Albert sympathized with my predicament, and fully agreed that $200 dollars to run some cable and cut a couple holes was obscene. Thank you Albert," was a phrase I repeated often during this call.

He dropped the $200 to $6o, and, for all of my trouble, he gave me some free services, which was awesome, so now I am paying about $16 less per month.

Anyway, the moral of this story is that standing up and not taking BS worked for me. I firmly stated my case and stood my ground, without being a dick about it. It turns out I am my father's son! He would be so proud.

In fact, he's probably up in Heaven right now, taking a break from talking his way into a brighter halo and a bigger set of wings, to look down and smile upon me.