November Photos, Thanksgiving and more

November photos are up. Click here!

October 2011 Photos

October photos are up here!

September photos, 2011

Not a great month of picture taking. The good news is, we are making up for it in October. For September's photos, click here.

Reilly's School Talent Show, 2011

Today Reilly had her talent show at school. She and a few friends chose their talent, routine, song, and organized a play date to practice. I thought that was pretty damn impressive for a bunch of 1st Graders!

You can watch their performance here.

I want to ride my bicycle...

For some time now, Reilly has been asking us to take the training wheels off her bike but Shawn and I were hesitant. We didn't think she had enough strength to master the weight of the bike. Besides, we told her, you really need a new helmet.

"Okay, well, let's go get one."

So we got one, and I loosened one of the wheels on one side of the bike and she rode that wobbly thing around the lake like a bat out of hell.

The next day I got out the wrench and pried off both wheels, grabbed the video camera and an audience of two, and we set up in the alley. The result is here.

When favoritism is not really favoritism

August 24, 2011

This afternoon I picked up Maeve from school and took her home. When I got her in the door, I put her down and walked her to my room to get out of my work clothes. As soon as I was changed, she put her arms up toward me, and I picked her up.

I put some music on the ipod and walked her around the house, just chatting with her and pointing out things. At some point I stopped in the living room and just rocked her a bit while we watched a storm approach from outside the window. She snuggled in and we were both very content.

A few minutes later I heard Shawn and Reilly outside. Reilly was crying because of some slight from her gymnastics teacher, and Maeve was very concerned about all the emotion her sister was displaying. While Shawn was explaining the whole incident to me, she reached out her hands for Maeve, but Maeve didn’t budge. This is quite unusual.

I said to Shawn, “Maybe I’ve got a daddy’s girl now?”

Maeve stuck with me for a while, and I enjoyed the attention. I should have known that her unusual attention meant something.

I finally handed Maeve off so that I could get dinner ready, and Shawn gave her a bath. As Shawn got her out of the tub, Maeve began to throw up.

Poor baby.

And poor daddy – she wasn’t and isn’t a daddy’s girl, she was just sick.

Growing up

Maeve recently had her 15 week appointment, complete with SHOTS. Like her big sister, she handled it admirably.

Her stats:

Height: 30.25 inches - Percentile: 34%

Weight: 20lbs 12 oz - Percentile: 14%

Head Circumference: 17.5 inches - Percentile: 11%

Reilly's stats at the same age are here, if you want to compare.

For Reilly's part, she was both 18% for height and weight, which I didn't even need to know. She is the shortest (and second youngest) in her class of 1st graders. But she is also very bright and super-intuitive for her age, and fits right in.

P.S. I'm proud of her.

Maeve gets hers

August 18, 2011

This evening my mom was over to serve up some kosher dogs on hot dog buns she carefully returned home to Florida from Cape Cod. She had also made potato salad from a handed down recipe, a recipe that, it turns out, is identical to my mother-in-law’s.

Following the rule of threes, my mom also brought along some honeydew melon. I normally avoid honeydew because it is never good. I remember recently posting on Facebook that in every fruit cup are a few pieces of honeydew melon, and in every case, without exception, the honeydew is unripe.

The honeydew my mom brought over tonight was ripe, sweet, and probably because of my past experiences with said melon, was about the best I’ve ever had. Maeve thought so too. When my mom offered her a bite, Maeve gobbled it up without hesitation, then went over to a drawer, pulled out one of her bowls, and then offered it to my mom.

My mom dutifully filled it with little bites of melon and then handed it down to Maeve. Maeve beamed, held the bowl of melon out, and then walked proudly to the dining room with her prize.

Overcast Family vacation: the mountains, Summer 2011

Brace yourself: family vacation photos ahead.

The Bachelor

Shawn and the girls are away this week in North Carolina and I am here at the house in Florida playing the bachelor. It is quiet without them. The normal activities of my day are dictated by sound, and so it is odd to notice parts of my routine -- softly closing doors, creeping into bed, laughing with restraint -- which remain even when there is no need to be quiet.

In short, I don't have to worry about not waking the baby. I don't have to worry about the creaking hardwood floors or my cracking joints. I have only myself for which to be responsible, and I take this opportunity to be somewhat irresponsible.

Of the sounds around me, I hear myself most: with all of the music of my daily life stripped away, all I have left is to think. I enjoy, and do not enjoy, the time to think.

There is more lack in the house than life, so to fill up the absence of the girls, I find ways to make noise -- I turn up the radio, I shut the doors with abandon, and I create noise where it is normally organic; I manufacture the sounds of a full house and I drown out the silence of an empty home.

5 Things

In keeping with an old tradition, here are five things you might not know about Maeve:

1) Maeve loves to dance. Her dancing starts at her head with some back and forth wobbling, works its way down to her torso, with some hands in the air, and finally ends with her best attempt at jumping around. She has yet to leave the ground. Her musical preferences are totally different than her sister’s. Whereas Reilly loves her Jackie Evancho, Maeve likes to rock out to Justin Bieber. (Reilly loves Justin Bieber too, but not for his music.)
2) Maeve loves her Italian food. Pizza, lasagna, pasta – pretty much anything with red sauce on it. Red sauce is to Maeve what ketchup is to Reilly.
3) Maeve can identify her eyes, nose and mouth when prompted. She will point to her eyes and nose, but when we say, “Where’s your mouth?” She will move her tongue back and forth across her mouth.
4) In addition to the words eyes, nose and mouth, Maeve also can say: no, Rah-Rah(for Reilly), wa-wa(for water), bird, ball, bubble, woof, nana, dada, mama, ow!, wow, uh-oh, more, and all done. The last two words she also knows in sign language as well.
5) The things she carries: Shoes and flip-flops, play-dough, and mama’s cell phone. Her favorite thing to carry around the house is a washcloth. She will walk into the bathroom, open the door, pick out a washcloth, and then walk around the house with it for quite some time, maybe up to an hour. And don’t you dare try to take it from her.

July 2011 - 4th and Reilly's Birthday

Over 100 photos chronicling the 5 days between the 4th of July and Reilly's 6th birthday are here.

June 2011 Photos

Photos from June are up now. Clearing out the camera for the 4th of July weekend.

For more, click here. (Updated again on 6/30/11).

Photos through May 2011

May was a busy month in the Overcast house! Big pile of photos here.

10th Anniversary Photos

For our 10th anniversary, Shawn and I revisited a portion of our honeymoon, traveling again to Montreal and Quebec City. Photos are here.

Grandma and Nana watched the girls while we were gone. Their photo set is here.

Photos through mid-May

Photos up to mid-May are up here.

Easter!

For more, click here.

Maeve's First Birthday

We had some close friends and family over for Maeve's first birthday. I was busy and trying to enjoy the moment, and so I only picked up the camera a few times. Thankfully, everyone else at the party was not shy about snapping a few photos, so I ended up with a great representation of the party through different eyes and from different perspectives. Here is the result.

Happy Birthday, Maeve.

Uncle Pete's 70th Birthday

The other night we went over to my mom's for a surprise party for my Uncle Peter. The resulting photos are here.

Islamorada Beach Vacation, 2011

We had a rockin' good time in the Keys. Check out the photos here.

Photos through March 20, 2011

A little backed up, but here are a few weeks of photos.

March 8, 2011

Ready for more cute Overcast's? Click here.

iPhone Catch-up, January to February 2011

Exported a couple of months of photos from my iPhone. The results are here. More to come soon from the real camera.

Daddy Daughter Dance and Disney

Prepare yourself for cuteness:

For more, click here.

New! Improved! Photos!

Hiatus is over! New photos are here!

Happy New Year!

New photos! Click here!