I look forward to celebrating many, many more birthdays with you.

I am proud to introduce you to Emily Marie Martinez Laleman.

She came into the world at 2:37 PM, Thursday, July 16, 2009, at 7 pounds, 1 ounce, and 19.75 inches long.

Mother and baby are doing very well.

Thanks to everyone for all of the congratulations and well wishes. We've been burning up the lines on Facebook all day!

Monica did the final step in completing her Master's degree this weekend. She walked the stage in Kingsville.

Congratulations, Monica! We're all very proud of you!

Thanks to everyone who joined us, and a big thanks to Ed, Mandi (big Darby), and Darby for suggesting the wonderful steak house that we dined at after graduation.

Today, Monica turns 30 for the second time. When I put the banner up for September, she looked at me and said "That looks like way more than 31 candles."

You see, that's what happens when you get old. Your eyes start to go, and you think you're seeing things. There are, in fact, exactly 31 candles on the banner.

It's been a heck of a year. Here's to decades more birthdays together. Happy Birthday, Moni.

EDIT: Fine, fine...I'll admit, there were actually 33 candles in the banner, but that's hardly "way more" than 31. It has been appropriately photoshopped so there are now EXACTLY 31 candles. You didn't even notice the difference, did you? But at least my wife can now get on with her life knowing that, once again, she was right. Are you happy now?

Just a quick retrospective of what we were doing three years ago this month:

The wedding, three years ago today...

And our three week honeymoon:

Big Bend area...

That's Mexico behind us in both pictures.

New Mexico...

Bandelier National Monument (north of Santa Fe)

Colorado...

Rocky Mountain National Park

Both of these pictures were taken on Trail Ridge Road...the top one was taken at about 12,000 feet above sea level, and yes, that's snow on the ground behind us. The second was taken somewhere significantly farther down the road, and about 20 degrees warmer.

Wyoming...
Grand Teton National Park

Yellowstone National Park

And finally, South Dakota...
Mount Rushmore

The Badlands

Happy Anniversary, Monica!

Today, Monica turned 30 years old. She asked me a few years back, after another friend's 30th birthday, what I thought we'd be doing on her 30th birthday. I told her we'd probably have a quiet dinner with the kids and go home early. It wasn't quite like that, but we were home before midnight.

Monica's birthday is almost over, but she still doesn't have a gift from her husband. Why, you ask? Because it's been that kind of day. The flowers I ordered for her (albeit same day) never made it to her, I left work late, and because I'm an eternal procrastinator didn't get her anything yet. We did get to have dinner together, sans child, and we did get to spend a few hot, sweaty hours...at First Friday.

What did you think I was going to say?

Happy 30th, Moni!

Monica's NEW CAR! has a BIG DENT in the side, thanks to our neighbor (who happens to work at the same school as Monica). Evidently, she was mowing her yard, and didn't bother to check for rocks before she started mowing. Her mower managed to throw a mighty chunk of south Texas Limestone right into the rear driver's side door.

Luckily, she told Monica about it right away, and her (our neighbor's) insurance is going to take care of the whole thing.

I can picture Rod Roddy saying it now:

This 2007 4Runner comes with everything you need to go to the beach, take the kids to school, or go on that road trip to Montana.

Equipped with power windows and locks, automatic transmission, an AM/FM stereo with MP3 CD player, roof rack, climate control and California Emissions.

And it could be yours...if the Price is Right!

Monica has had it for just over a week now, and she loves it. It's a little dirty already because it's been raining a lot here in south Texas, and it feels a bit like south Florida lately with all the humidity.

Rachel is holding her set of keys in the picture.

So, in case you don't check out my latest photos from Flickr over there on the right side, you really need to see this.

Last night, Monica pointed out this old picture of her with her mother. As soon as I looked at it, I started laughing. I couldn't believe how much the little girl in that picture looked like the little girl in the next room.

The photo she pointed out to me was the one on the lower left.