happy halloween!

yup. it's hard to believe, but that was us almost exactly one whole year ago -- unknowingly beginning a new family tradition, picking pumpkins at milledge avenue baptist church. we weren't yet married, and we were just beginning to house-hunt in earnest. eileen was rooming with a friend and still warming up to life here in athens. of course, athens has always been home to me. but on that cool october night, as we harvested our first halloween pumpkins together, the old city started to feel like a new place for both of us. it started to feel like home.



we returned excitedly to milledge avenue again this year, ready to meet those two lucky gourds who would sit proudly on our own front stoop: our first official jack-o-lanterns (since last year's pumpkins never became anything but a soggy mess on my parents' driveway).



the selection was endless. there were big pumpkins, little pumpkins, and pumpkins that climbed on rocks.



it was a hard decision. but i finally decided in favor of the orange one.



eileen counted pumpkins while waiting for me to decide.



in honor of this little milestone, i tried to carve a likeness of my beautiful bride. she says she doesn't see the resemblance. (everybody's a critic.)



eileen carved the tree silhouette. qué artista, ¿no?

meet baby logan, 10 1/2 months young

two out of two photographers agree. logan is as cute as a bug's ear -- and i'm not talkin' one of those green, slimy bug's ears. i'm talkin' a really, really, ridiculously good looking bug's ear. maybe we're partial. eileen and i think mixed babies are extra cute, which is why i married her. (ouch!!) I mean, just one small, fleeting reason that crossed my mind when I married her. anyway, i was saying we may be partial, but we think you'll agree.

logan's mom and dad, mary jane and robert, are good friends of ours. neither is allergic to grass, but their baby seems for some reason to have a phobia of the stuff. just see the pics below: happy as can be on his blanket, then put him on the grass and his legs begin to hover above the blades in an amazing acrobatic feat.

besides our great time with logan, we attended a baby shower for our sister-in-law carrie, expecting in december. congratulations carrie! do i hear maternity shots?? (i promise, nothing provocative.) among the men at the shower, i won the bottle-drinking contest. i'm very proud, but had an unfair advantage as i was weaned from my bottle only at 18 years of age.

just kidding. i was actually weaned at a relatively acceptable young age. my mom told me big bird stole my bottle. i didn't buy it then, and i still don't. everyone knows big bird lives on sesame street in new york. he couldn't possibly have made it back from georgia in time for the next morning's show.

look at those piggies. don't you just wanna chase 'em to market?

a beautiful moment: dad arrives home from work to greet his excited boy. okay, so he doesn't look that excited. hey, after ten months it's easy to start taking some things for granted.

...and there go the feet! what amazing balance!

wasn't it great to be a kid? there's nothing like a mother's comfort.

behind the scenes: a disturbing look into our digital darkroom

parental advisory: the following image may be frightening to young children.
childrenal advisory: you HAVE to see this photo! it's hilarious.

i don't know. maybe i was just up way too late the other night. but when i looked up at the monitor and saw my viewer tool floating over nora's little baby lips, i couldn't control myself. eileen watched me quietly from the futon, her brow furrowed with concern. i managed to smother my guffawing, and we soberly decided it was time for bed. (but seriously, does this not remind you of something from star wars? or angelina jolie, perhaps? i'm just sayin'.)



unfortunately, a lot of our favorite work (and i'm not just talking about creative portraits like the one above) ends up on the cutting room floor -- never reaching your eyes.

the photos below didn't make our last blog entry either. in this case, because we just couldn't agree which we preferred. well, i knew which i preferred; and eileen knew which she liked, too. we couldn't post both. we were at an impasse.

not to mix you up in all of this, but...
what do you think? do you prefer the excellent composition and masterful content of the photo of my nephew and the egg? or do you like the missed moment and slightly out-of-focus snapshot of that other one? (i won't tell you what i think.)

down on the farm: a weekend with the davis family

during our childhood, i probably wouldn’t have described my sister rebecca as the "rustic" type. don’t get me wrong, she was never a girly girl. but she didn't exactly exude the tomboy temperament i associate with farm women either.

to be fair, my impression may have been based on the way she and my sister rachael (they're twins) used to dress me up in doll clothes. although i finally grew old enough to put my foot down about the lace and lipstick, i quickly realized i'd never win them over to my macho taste in toys. instead, i compromised and introduced my egon spangler action figure into barbie play. (i achieved some success here by having egon perform wedding ceremonies for barbie and ken dolls who, as we all know, can all too often be found lying around without clothes.)

the point is, sometimes people surprise you. (not barbies. i mean real people.) my sisters now pour all their energy into their growing families. and i couldn't be more proud at how much they've toughened up.

eileen and i spent the weekend with rebecca on the south carolina farm where she and her husband michael now live and direct a home for boys. they have a few boys -- and girls -- of their own. five in fact! all seven years old and younger!! they're a pretty tough crowd. but for the record, they have a soft side, too. need convincing? consider the film they required me to watch with them, in its entirety: "barbie fairy princesses." some things never change.























do you have any idea how cool "build-a-bear" is? let me tell you. really cool.
our mom took the grandkids here for a special treat. they all got to build a bear, or build a bunny, or a cheetah, or a dinosaur.

now let's play a game.
Q: just looking at these photos, can you guess how my two nephews dressed their animals? take a wild guess then look below.
A: how ever did you guess? yes, as a fisherman, and as a racecar driver, respectively. the girls dressed theirs as fairies. no surprise.

gretchen & steve are engaged!

there is really nothing sweeter than a cool afternoon in the park, spent in good company. and on a recent sunday, eileen and i had the pleasure of spending just such an afternoon with a charming couple: gretchen and steve.

for these two, walks in the park aren't easy to come by. for one, steve's job has taken him on the road lately, marketing some little events you've never heard of. (i think one was called something like "the american idol tour." currently he's working on a project for some lady named "madonna." i don't recall her last name.) gretchen works around town, nannying the children of a famous financial guru and one of my favorite radio personalities. talk about brushing shoulders with big wigs!

but the real stars in this love story are gretchen and steve. and i love how their affection comes through in these photographs. these two look great together! very GQ.

congrats, you two! you make a perfect pair. can't wait to spend another special day with you very soon!