The house hunt begins

We've finally begun looking for a new house in the Charlotte area. Well, technically, we're looking in the Cabarrus Country area, which is immediately north and east of Charlotte. Fortunately we aren't really pushed for time in this process, so we have the luxury of going about the whole thing with considerably less stress than could have been involved. But we're kinda hoping that we'll be in our home by the time Winter hits—you know, destroy (again) the nice routines Gavin and Aidan have just settled into.

Sold!

After five days on the market, it seems we're under contract for the sale of our home. That's rather cool, don't you think?

Moving along

Five and a half years ago, Amy and I had one of those "firsts"—we bought our first home. Today, we had another one as that first home went on the market for sale. The basic plan involves relocating back to North Carolina. We've not worked out the finer details yet, and are fortunately not under any sort of time constraint to do so, but, you know, it feels newsworthy.

Aidan just crossed the three-months-old milestone. Gavin is, of course, fully two years old and then some. And their parents? Tired, a little wacky, and phbbrt amblen jaconisygna. Fortunately Amy's best friend, Beth, is visiting this week, doing far too much to help us ready the home and bring calm to our pair of wee-n-wild ones.

Welcoming Aidan

At 12:58pm today, Amy gave birth to our second son, Aidan Joseph Pilato. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 6 oz., and stretched to 19 inches long. The birth itself was a complete success, with Amy rockin' the whole time. A mere 45 minutes of pushing was all it took (though we were hoping for 46 so she could match Gavin's 12:59 delivery time).

So, Aidan, welcome to "the outside world." And we completely understand if you find yourself wanting to go back in.

Our luck has just completely changed

Amy and I ordered some Chinese delivery tonight. Excellent food (we tried a new place), and a decent price. After the meal we were doing the fortune cookie thing. The place gave us four cookies, which was cool, because we have four family members. I opened my cookie first.

"Nothing is more beautiful than the smile of a loved one."

After smiling at me, Amy opened hers.

"It is more wise to listen to advice than to give it."

Next, Amy opened one for Gavin, letting him pull the paper out of the cookie.

"A wise person cares not for what he cannot have, but what he can achieve."

Finally, I opened the one for The Unnamed Child. We decided to let Gavin pull the paper out of this one, too, telling him to get the fortune for his brother. Well, unfortunately, the paper ripped, leaving half of the fortune still in the cookie. After breaking that half of the cookie, I tried to pull the rest of the fortune out, but it ripped into two more pieces. Finally, we were able to assemble the three pieces.

"Your luck has just completely changed."

Hrm. For the worse, it would seem….

Oops, we did it again!

It's apparently a boy. It's allegedly due April 27, 2005. And it's amazing news.

Where did summer go?

We spent as much of this weekend outside as possible. Gavin now walks around in his shoes with confidence, even on rough(-ish) terrain. Confidence, mind you, not so much gracefulness, but then we all take our share of tumbles in life. Actually, in the last week or so he's begun moving at rate that might just qualify as "running". We think this is a good thing, but will reserve judgment until the cold hits in a couple of months and we're all trapped indoors. In Chicagoland, Autumn doesn't last for long (it's the shortest of our three seasons). And so we'll be squeezing in as much outdoor time as possible, as our boy never grows tired of going out the "doh" to "guh" play "ah-hide" ("door", "play", "outside", for those requiring translation).