23 Week Update

Hooray for 23 week updates. Janna looks pleased doesn't she?

Our Trip To Lake Michigan

This weekend we went to my folks beach house (they call it a cottage, I wouldn't call it as such). The weather was windy but a good time was had by all.
The views from the beach house are quite excellent. They have two levels of porch, both of which provide awesome views of Lake Michigan.
The sea was angry that day my friends. Like an old man trying to return soup at a deli. Winds were around 40mph with gusts over 60mph on Saturday.
The beach house has an excellent kitchen and I'm sure that Janna and I will be making many edible treats here this summer.
And what beach house wouldn't have a lovely living room? Sadly, this one has way to many pillows as evidenced by the pile of such next to the couch?
Once can lookout a wall of windows and glass doorways to the lake.
The wind raged outside Saturday. In the distance we can see the Ludington lighthouse. This is but one view from the living room.
If one wants to go to the beach one must walk down the stairs. Sadly, the wind was whipping and Seamus didn't want to join daddy in a trip to the beach.
Wildlife can be seen at the beach house. Seamus detected these intruders of the venison kind.
These three just won't give up, I'll have to send Seamus out to take care of them.
These deer wanted nothing to do with Seamus. He did a wonderful job protecting his mommy and daddy.
Such a good boy he is.
Meanwhile the lake rages outside. It was so windy that I could barely hold the camera still to take any pictures.
Sunday brought a new day and much less wind. Thankfully the clouds moved east and it left us with a wonderful view of the blue water.
The town of Ludington can be seen in the distance.
The upstairs porch is spacious and lovely. It's in need of some chairs but I suppose that one wouldn't want to sit out there in the winter.
The downstairs porch is also in need of some chairs, but again who wants to sit out there in the winter? It ought to be nice this summer.
The waves around the lighthouse are much calmer today.
When one goes to the edge of the hill heading down to the beach, one can see this lovely view of whatever that is in the distance.
And one can see this view looking straight down. The waves are still strong but the beach is a delight.
And yet another view of the beach, notice the stairs heading down.
Janna, Seamus and I are happy to return home. We certainly enjoyed our weekend away and look forward to many weekends spent at my folks beach house. We also look forward to entertaining our friends up there, hopefully we'll see some of you there. Lord willing of course.

An Heir To The Throne

Stuart Mark Birn is due on April 27th. We have an heir to the throne, a future lawyer, loyal Spartan and hopeful servant of the Lord. BTW, the previous post was a joke, though the ultrasound picture seemed to show the unmistakable outline of a snout.

It's A Boy!

Dastardly Crime! Reagan Bobblehead Decapitated!

A great tragedy has happened at the Birn compound. On Thanksgiving Day my beloved Ronald Reagan bobblehead had its head stolen. We here at Life On Union Ave 2 have compiled a list of potential culprits, we have a pretty good idea who did it. We ask that anyone who can provide information to please leave a note.
Our first suspect is Mark, aka MJ, aka Adolph. Mark is known for his shifty eyes and witty retorts. Would anyone be surprised if he stole the head?
Next up is Lydia, aka mom, aka mama. Lydia has a history of stealing bobbleheads. My sources indicate that when she was a child she regularly ripped the heads off of dolls.
Next up we have Brian, aka B. Brian has been known to play pranks at the Birn Compound in the past. But does he have the guts and gumption to rip President Reagan's head off?
Next we have Janna, aka Mrs. Birn, aka Mommy. Janna has been known to destroy things of my past before, including but not limited to tearing down my President Reagan dining room picture. Janna has the motive but does she really think she can get away with it?
Next we have Nate, aka papa, aka daddy. Nate has the dastardly look of a bobblehead criminal, it's hidden behind the optimistic artist stuff but it's certainly there. But did Nate have the guts to steal it that evening?

Finally we have James, aka, well, he's not known as anything else. He would like to think of himself as cool but he's not. In any event, we know that James was at one time a church pick pocket. Has he returned to his formerly criminal ways?

Please help us solve this crime against humanity. One of these people has stolen our beloved Reagan bobblehead, please, we beg you to help us solve this mystery. To the mystery machine!

21 Week Pregnancy Update

Janna is not always amused when I get the camera out. In fact, Nate pointed out last week that Janna had a grimace on her face. So in honor of our favorite McDonaldland character, I present you Janna's 21 week Grimace report.
Janna, wearing a black dress and pearls isn't showing much more since last week. In fact, if you compare she actually looks smaller. Nevertheless, Janna is progressing nicely.
And here we have a profile shot. Notice the pot in the background which will be the future home of chicken noodle soup with homemade stock.

Our Trip To Detroit

This weekend Janna and I traveled to Detroit for the weekend whereby we did many amusing things. First let the record reflect that my worthless camera freaked out and declared that my memory stick was locked. For this reason you will discover that every picture on here has been lifted. In any event, our first stop was at the Ikea store in Canton. Janna is all about this store and has been there three times already. I frankly don't get it. It's a huge warehouse store, which is fine but it's filled with tons of junk and a lot of really moronic people. For example, there was one lady there who I informed Janna was exactly what I expected a Michigan fan to be. Fake leather Michigan jacket, tights, hair going every which way and the voice of 60 years of smoking. I don't blame Ikea for this but if this is the class of people one can expect at Ikea, well, I just don't care to go.

Janna and I then went to Greektown where we enjoyed some lovely greek food. We had a half an hour to kill so we decided it might be fun to visit the Greektown Casino. For the record, we didn't place any bets, our only reason for going was to walk around and gawk at all of the gamblers. Frankly, I just don't get these casinos. There were thousands of people in this place playing slots, staring at the slot machine for hours on end. They all had a glazed over look. The table games weren't much better, fools losing big at the craps table and such. Having wandered around this place for a few minutes we both determined that it was all completely ridiculous and a waste of time and no doubt money.

Next we headed over to the Joe to watch my beloved Red Wings take on the hated Toronto Maple Leafs. This is an 81 year old rivalry and likely the second biggest regular season game of the year for the Wings, only beaten out by the Anaheim game January 2nd and only because that happens to be Steve Yzerman retirement night.

As is the case with all Wings-Leafs game, there was a large group of visiting fans. Arrogant Canadians crossed the border and were more than willing to boast about how wonderful the Leafs were and how pathetic the Wings were. Whenever I hear a Leafs fan yap like this I can't help but think 1967.

Our Wings shut the Canadians up pretty quickly, scoring 2 power play goals in the first period and going up 3-0 and 4-1 in the second period. Hasek played great and the Wings won 5-1. Janna will deny it but she really enjoyed the game. She was itching for a fight the entire night, there were several scrums during the game and each time her eyes lit up with joy at the prospect of a fight. Slowly but surely Janna is becoming a hockey fan.

After the game we went to the Astoria Pastry Shop in Greektown for a little desert. Janna got herself a Canoli and I got a piece of Peppermint Cheesecake. We also got some breakfast to take back with us, Janna got a Croissant and I got a lovely Pumpkin muffin.

Finally Sunday we went to the Southfield RPCNA for their morning worship service. I haven't been back since I was kicked out along with Brian Schwertley and the gang. Ok, so I was in Cleveland at the time and wasn't really kicked out, in fact I doubt anyone noticed that I was gone. In any event, little has changed there with the exception of the pastor. I wish Janna would have been able to hear Ray Joseph preach but we don't get everything we want now do we? In any event, we enjoyed the worship service and we especially enjoyed the fact that they sang psalms in a not slow manner. (James, Linda, whichever one of you is actually leading, you need to pick up the tempo!) We got to see some old friends, which was nice. Now we're home and all is right in the world.

Winter Is Here, Pregnancy Update!

It's a lovely snowy day here on Union Ave. I always look forward to this time of year, the snow is always so lovely. With winter comes hockey season and we have already been to one MSU game this year. We plan on going to the Joe this weekend to see our Wings take on the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Our Janna has been sleeping a lot lately and this is often what she wears after having taken a nap of 10-15 hours.

Janna running around the house after having taken a long nap gave me a great idea. Why not take pictures of her growth while she's expecting! Here she is at 20 weeks.
A lovely profile shot. You can barely tell she's expecting.
Our backyard looks especially nice this time of year. Isn't the snow lovely?
The only time of year more beautiful than winter is the fall don't you think?
The snow is especially nice on pine trees.
The blessed puppy of Alger Heights especially enjoys the snow. As you can see he's been enjoying himself quite a bit.
Look at that blessed puppy run, he's so cute!
Seamus is having a wonderful time in the snow.
And so protective of his family, he's clearly looking out for our safety.

This is Janna when she discovers the pictures I've posted of her tonight. I suspect she'll say something like "I loathe and despise you." I love you too honey.