Makin' of a Meacham

Calvin Feller Meacham

2010-08-05T21:19:00.007-04:00

The day started at 3:15 this morning. Although we were originally scheduled for an induction at 8:30 am, the doctor's office called us back and left a voice mail message requesting that we showed up at 4:00am. Sarah called them back and said, "Um, we actually prefer 8:30 if that's all right." They denied the request and said plainly that if we weren't there at 4:00 am they would probably give away our spot and we would have to come back another day to be induced.

So, obediently we showed up at 4:00 am...and we were the only ones there! They didn't admit us to an L&D room until 5:00 am (what a waste of at least one good hour of much needed sleep). We tried to stay relaxed. We watched Bill Cosby's YouTubeable re-enactment of his wife's childbirth experience and his cheerleading role: "Push it Out! Shove it Out! Waaaaaaay Out!"

Max tried to give his Mommy and new brother some encouragement with a hug.

The pitocin drip started at 6:30am. By 2:30pm Sarah started to have more pain. When the doctor came to check the baby's position she said, "Whoa, are y'all ready to have a baby?" Baby was crowning at that moment and announcing that he finally wanted to come. And after 3-4 minutes of pushing, the baby came out.

Calvin Feller Meacham, born at 2:42pm on Aug 5, weighed 6 lbs 13 oz. His birth was much easier on him and his Mommy than Max was as baby #1.

After talking to Max and prepping him for months for the new arrival to our home, we were pretty sure that he would be ready for the birth. After allowing him to walk in for the first time to see the baby we asked him if he knew who the baby was. He thought for a moment, and then said enthusiastically, "Baby Atticus!" (Atticus is the name of the newborn of our good friends the Fairbanks who we knew both in Columbus and now in Memphis.)

Both Mommy and Baby are doing well and resting comfortably for now. Thank you so much for your love, concern, and interest. We love you all--at least most of you :) .

A Frantic Update

2010-08-01T22:47:00.003-04:00

Dear Friends and Family,

Since it has been a while since we've updated anyone on the ongoings of our life, so here's some bulleted events since our last post.

1)Ryan, as of July 1, finished his general surgery intern year and now he's on to ENT, which is the love of his life (apart from his wife :) )

2)We bought a new computer, a Dell Latitude with a sweet i7 processor and 500GB of memory.

3)Max has grown up so big. Today was his birthday. He was excited to get a white shirt and tie ("just like Daddy"), a basketball hoop, and some new trains for his train set.

4)Sarah has been busy gardening all summer long. She is distraught that the zucchini and yellow squash plants are absolutely huge yet have produced next to nothing.

5)Sarah is 4 days away from being induced with baby Calvin. Her induction time was initially scheduled for 8:30 but they called back and said we should show up at 4:00am. Are they kidding? How absurd to make a pregnant lady, on the eve of travailing unlike anything else she's ever done, not get a good night sleep!

Here are some videos of Max.

Catchin' up

2010-03-15T16:35:00.004-04:00

So we've been a little neglectful of our blog. Ryan usually is the updater and he doesn't have a lot of spare time. So Max and I are going to give in and try our hand at it. (So far I've written two sentences and Max has shredded one magazine, tried to unplug the computer three times and pulled the phone off the desk once.)

I'm just going to start off with some of the messes.

Fall in Tennessee

2009-12-05T11:23:00.005-05:00

One of the things we lament about being away from the West is the inaccesability to the mountains. Oh we really miss them. The Smoky Mountains in east Tennessee are beautiful but they're 6 hours away. We DID find a small forested area that had some gentle hiking climbs just about half an hour away from downtown Memphis. We got some solitude and got to play in the stream.

We want all of our Utah and Ohio friends to know that it is December in Memphis and we are enjoying a beautiful autumn. We've tried to imagine what y'all are up to this time of year. Whether it's sloshing through street slush or pooring buckets of hot water on your car to melt the ice over your windshield, we're sure you're enoying yourselves. Haha. Meanwhile we're still occasionally wearing flip flops and short sleeves. Thank heaven for the Dixie Heartland.

Max and his friends try to participate in a responsible grown-up job in our backyard. Somehow when they get ahold of the rake the leaves seem to spread out instead of make themselves into a pile. Curious.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-28T14:50:00.007-05:00

We had fun dressing up for the holiday. Max "bearly" kept his hat on for the picture. He actually loved cuddling with his costume when it WASN'T on him, but hated it on his head. (Sarah wants people to know that this is NOT a beer in Ryan's hand.)

Ryan tried to bring some holiday cheer to his patients at the hospital. He was the only one that dressed up. He got some smiles and at other times got looks like "Is that doctor really going to treat me?"

This is the mischievous "I'm about to do something naughty" look. Thanks to Mom Jeffery for capturing this moment.

Max's first word was "doggie." He adores his stuffed animal that is affectionately called "Cruiser" since he was purchased on our cruise holiday to Mexico last year. We first knew that Max was following directions when we told him to "Go find Cruiser."

Holiday to Utah

2009-10-13T21:40:00.006-04:00

Sarah and Max flew out to Utah for these last couple of weeks to be with Sarah's sister, who just had a healthy baby girl (Abby is the cutest). Sarah took advantage of the time out there and spent several days with both of our families. All of our extended family gushed over Max because they hardly ever get to see him.

As usual, Max got to be the center of attention. The scene below was no exaggeration. The flashes of cameras were incessant and the narrating of home movies was non-stop. His life might as well be a documentary...there IS enough footage.

The timing of this picture was quite serendipitous to capture the exact moment of Max tipping over the bowl of water and apples. He had merely been splashing the water around. Since everyone was laughing, he must have taken courage to get a little more bold and throw the whole bowl over and ruin the dehydrating project.

Max got to spend time with his new cousin Abby. Although he is smiling in this picture, Max was really quite jealous and indignant about having to share the spotlight with a new face. Maybe this is a sign that he's not quite ready for a sibling of his own. :)

Spending time with cousin Elijah. They look to be future wrestling compadres.

Max's 1 Year Birthday

2009-09-11T16:37:00.007-04:00

This post is a little belated. Life seems to get pretty busy. On August 1, Max celebrated his first birthday. He has learned so many new things this year.

These are some of Max's friends in our backyard. The older kids were good sports to sit in the kiddie pool.

In choosing how we would decorate his first birthday cake, we thought of what was Max's most prized possession...his dad's Blackberry phone. So that's what he got.

Somehow we were not surprised at the transposition of cake from platter to face.

And the video below has nothing to do with his birthday party, but you can hear his contagious giggle as he frolicks in the man-made rainstorm at the botanical gardens.

Beautiful Botany

2009-07-26T17:38:00.006-04:00

This week we had a fun adventure at the Memphis Botanical Gardens. We were delighted to see that something within Memphis honestly can be described as beautiful. There were expansive lawns and manicured flowers, trees, and hedges. If any of you come to visit us, we'll probably take you to this place just so that you think we're living in a great city.

Max loved the sandbox. When he saw the dinosaur he flapped his arms and hands, pointed to it with an outstretched finger, and clamored "Oouu Oouu."

At the Japanese Gardens we found some geese who were interested in our fish food. Max flapped his arms with glee, even as the geese menacingly hissed and tried to scare us, as if that would make us surrender our fish food. (Notice how Max zones everything around him out when he notices the camera.)

We finally got to use our fish food for the fish. The coi weren't the only ones who appreciated these nutritious snacks. Watch on.

Choppin' it up

2009-07-19T14:37:00.006-04:00

For all of those that are new to tree felling, we've created a step by step breakdown of how to get the job done, based on our experience.

1--Survey the damage created by the tornado that rips into your town 2 weeks after you arrive. You may have desires to vomit after you notice that even though you are paying for home insurance with your new house, it costs two month's groceries to reach the deductible.

2--If your tree is mammoth like ours, you may have to borrow a 24 foot extension ladder from a neighbor (thank you Bro Jones) to reach the first branches. You'll then have to climb about 15 feet higher to get to where the broken branches are.

3--Tie yourself to the tree with a high-quality borrowed nylon rope (thanks Bro Jones) that, if you should lose your footing and fall, may break but at least will soften your blow to the ground.

4--Tie another rope onto a nearby branch and attach the other end to a hammer, which you will throw down below for your wife to catch.

5--Your wife will remove the hammer and tie on the chainsaw that you have borrowed (from Bro Jones). Hoist the chainsaw into the tree.

6--Attempt to start the chainsaw on the precarious footing in the tree. After the first near-fall your life will flash before your eyes. When you give up, lower the chainsaw back down to your wife.

7--Encourage the wife to start the chainsaw from below.

8--When your wife fails, climb down the ladder and show her how to start a chainsaw.

9--When you fail to show your manly skills, return the chainsaw to a real man (thank you Bro Jones) to show you that there is indeed nothing wrong with the chainsaw and it can be easily started.

10--Start the chainsaw on the ground, then climb the ladder and the tree. Hoist the running chainsaw into the tree and rest it genty on a limb for a moment. Tie another rope to the branch about to be sawed off and throw the end of the rope down to your wife to pull..away from the house.

11--Saw off the damaged branches.

12--Groan as one of the branches, despite your efforts, slams into your roof, tears up some shingles, and damages the gutters.

13--Saw down the branches into firewood.

14--Haul the remaining branches to the street for the city to remove.

15--Sip some lemonade in the backyard as you look at the work you've done (over the course of 4 days) and dream about next Saturday's project--fixing the roof.

New House Pics

2009-06-28T19:57:00.011-04:00

Yeah! We finally are finished with most of the fix-me-up projects around the house. Perhaps Max is most excited about it. For much of the past two weeks he has been quarantined in the piano room so that he didn't go exploring onto the exposed tack strips or dip his hands into the opened paint cans (which he successfully did).

This is our new tile floor entryway. We chiseled out the old pink tile (don't ask me what the original builders were thinking when they put in pink) and put in this new stuff. It turned out to be an all day project.

Below is the front room. You can see bits of the piano room and Sarah's yellow kitchen with white cabinets.

Below is the master bedroom. Ahh, we love the space.

Below is the master bathroom. Its got fun textured walls that replaced the yucky wallpaper that you saw in the previous post. This room might have taken the most work on a per square foot basis. We were happy with the result.

It's time to celebrate!

House Updates

2009-06-17T00:38:00.009-04:00

It's been a while since we last updated the blog. We've been busy with family trips, graduation, moving to Tennessee, and fixing up the house. We thought we'd give a few updates on how the house is coming. Here she is: our little house on Sandywood Ln.

We bought the house for its structural solidarity and not for its curb-appealing cleanliness. Mom Meacham helped us clean every nook and corner.

The two spacious walk-in closets are the advantages of the master bathroom. The horrendous wallpaper is not, at least judging by the actions of Dad Meacham.

Sarah is using joint compound to fill the defects left behind by the wallpaper and she will try to add her artistic touch to bring the master bathroom to life.

Ryan and Dad Jeffery throw on a fresh coat of paint to the door connecting the kitchen and the garage.

Even Max was trying to be helpful. He decided our new walls needed to be scrubbed. The scrupulous viewer will notice the fresh bruises on his forehead, which resulted from a fall this morning. We learned that it's not a good idea for the beginning walker to wear socks onto a hard tile floor.

Memphis Video

2009-04-14T17:47:00.003-04:00

Sarah and I got past our nerves and we bought a house last week in Memphis. We'll have to take pictures and put them on a future post.

Memphis is quite a place. The video you're about to watch is a commercial paid for by the city of Memphis to foster a good neighborly spirit in town. We're so excited to move there!

Max's 7 Month Photos

2009-03-29T15:02:00.009-04:00

Match Day!!!

2009-03-26T22:59:00.008-04:00

What a day it was. One that we will never forget. All of the medical students with their families met in the auditorium of one of the buildings on campus. There were a few speakers from the medical school that told us how proud they were of us and all that we had accomplished. Mostly they were just trying to burn time until the magic hour of 12:00pm. At noon they sounded a bullhorn and everyone in the room opened their envelopes simultaneously (not only at Ohio State, but all around the country). So what did the letter say?

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE--MEMPHIS!!!

It was not quite where we expected to end up, but we're excited. It was a day of much celebration with time to reflect on the accomplishments of the last four years.

Die Deutschen Besuchen!!!

2009-03-22T13:34:00.009-04:00

We had a lot of fun when our friends from Germany came to visit. We love the Deppisch and Spranger families and are so happy that they included Columbus, OH in their tour of the Midwest. They have now been to all but four of the 50 states. We are a bit ashamed of ourselves.

We took them to the Horseshoe because it's what makes Columbus Columbus. I tried to explain to David and Papa Deppisch the rules of football. Imagine trying to explain the game in simple English terms without using terms such as punt, sack, fumble, wide receiver, defensive back, etc. They wondered why a game that had so many pauses in it could be fun at all, either to play or to watch. It was also confusing to them why the same 11 men on each team couldn't play offense and defense.

On St Patrick's day weekend we all went to the parade in Dublin, OH. It was a great time as we cheered on the high school bands, watched for the giant shamrock balloon, and caught green plastic footballs from the local pee-wee division team. Mostly we had a good time chatting and catching up. Max loves his German Family. What a lucky boy!

Guatemala Video

2009-03-07T10:40:00.002-05:00

Here are a lot of memories wrapped up into a few minutes.

At the Beach

2009-02-19T15:30:00.006-05:00

Our adventure last weekend was to take off to the beach at Monterico, on the southern border of Guatemala. It is a black sand beach that has a very touristy feel, loud music, and expensive seafood. We took Max into the ocean, but he didn´t last long there. He belted out his disapproval with the first wave that crashed at my ankles and sprayed water and sand all over us. The waves were probably the most powerful that I´ve ever swam in. I tried to bodysurf over and over and was repeatedly hurled into the ocean floor. There were a few times that I was just hoping that I wouldn´t lose consciousness. Max did, however, enjoy playing on the beach. We tried to keep his hands out of his mouth, but as you can see from the picture, his parents failed. It made us laugh for the next few days to discover black grains of sand in his diaper.

The reason that we chose to go to Monterico is that they boast one of Central America´s few sea turtle reserves. Sea turtles have a 1 in 100 chance of survival to adulthood for various reasons, so that´s why Monterico houses this reserve. The females come ashore and lay eggs from July to August and then the eggs hat ch from November to March. Every Saturday afternoon during the hatching season the reserve invites guests to come and help in the releasing of the sea turtles. For a fee of 10 quetzales ($1.50) you can ¨buy¨a turtle to race. They draw a line in the sand about 3 feet in front of the starting line. If your turtle is the first one to make it across the line then you win a free dinner at a local restaurant. Our turtle didn´t win. In fact, for some reason, he kept turning around and walking back towards us. (We felt the love.) Actually, turtles inherently crawl towards the light which is reflected off the water. For that reason, it´s imperative that they release the turtles at dusk.

Our friend Jatsiri, one of the girls of the Perez family with whom we´re staying, loved the turtles. (Jatsirí´s sister, Ismari, is pictured to the left wrapped up in her towel. She was less than happy that we woke her up from her nap to watch the turtles walk.) Max wasn´t quite sure how he felt. It was great to watch the turtles crawl slowly across the sand only to watch them be washed right back to the starting line with each wave of surf that rushed onto the beach. Overall, we had a great time.

Guate! Guate!

2009-02-07T11:13:00.007-05:00

Greetings everyone from Guatemala! Yes, we finally made it and we are safe. There is much to talk about, it´s hard to know where to start. The above picture was taken while hiking through the jungle at Tikal, the largest Mayan complex ever built. It´s in Northern Guatemala in the state of Peten. Max has been a good sport. It was a 9 hour bus ride from Guatemala City to get up there, and although we were on a ¨first-class¨ bus, the air-conditioner was blowing out hot air and with all the sharp turns we were making at high speeds, the ride was quite nauseating. We made about 10 stops on our ¨directo¨ (non-stop) bus.

The ruins were sweet. Sarah´s only complaint was that this tour guide did not tell us anything about the ruins or people themselves. I was satisfied, however. I think Sarah was expecting to get the same quality of tours that she got from her professors in the study abroad program in Jerusalem. Max´s favorite part of touring the jungle was sitting on his Mom´s shoulders for the first time and realizing her hair was long enough that he could grab it and stick it in his mouth.

Also in Tikal we went on a canopy tour. We were kind of nervous about taking Max at high velocities through the trees, but we decided it would be a good experience for him. He is our little ¨travel baby¨ afterall. He liked chewing on the harnesses as we loaded up, but he screamed his heart out the whole time after we started on the zip line course, speeding from platform to platform above the jungle trees. We kind of regretted the decision to take him. Oh well.

We also toured Lake Atitlan, which is rumored among some scholars to be the Waters of Mormon. We almost got ripped off by a guy that wanted to take us around the lake for 400 quetzales ($50), but we soon found the public boat tour company that charged us only 180 quetzales. In the picture you can see some of the volcanoes that surround the lake and give it a very mystic feel. In fact, many of the Mayan locals believe it has healing powers and they come here to bathe. We visited three little villages along the lake. At the last village, San Antonio de Palopo, we found some Mayan ladies that were more interested in Max than in selling us there little woven bracelets. They held Max and let him participate in the weaving. They were terrified when showed them Max´s trick, standing up in my palm as I hold him up as a trophy.

We have lots more to say, but we´ll save it for the next post.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

2009-01-13T15:36:00.008-05:00

This Christmas was filled with many new firsts for Baby Maxwell. It was the first time he was able to sit up. And thus it was also the first time he fell over and hit his head, as almost happened in this picture.

It was the first time he got to participate in the Christmas pageant. When was the last time you saw Baby Jesus sitting up in the manger looking out at the rest of the stable?

This Christmas was also the first encounter with Santa. Before deteriorating to tears, Max's initial reaction was to stuff Santa's white beard into his mouth.

This holiday was also the first time Max got to try solid foods. He has so far tested and digested well his bananas, rice cereal, and green peas. His parents have noticed a dramatic deterioration in the smell of the biproducts of his digestive system.

Overall, the holiday was swell. Max got to open lots of presents. Of course, he had more fun with the ribbons and wrapping paper than the actual contents of the packages. The best part of being home was, well, being home. It was so nice to be together as a family. It's too bad we can't have Christmas time all year long.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T10:28:00.006-05:00

Thanksgiving was a real good time. My parents decided about 30 mintes before the big dinner that I should dress up. It's a good thing that Dad picked up a paper bag from Kroger that morning. Although it was kind of scratchy fitting it over my head, once it was on it was delightfully tasty to munch on. It's hard to appreciate in this picture how slobbery my paper bag is. Pictured next to me is my pilgrim playmate, Charlotte.

I have been practicing lifting my head. Most baby books say that a baby should lift his head off the ground while laying on his belly by about 3-4 months. My parents are starting to worry about me because I'm almost 4 months old and have showed no interest in lifting my head. They've decided that they need to give me "tummy time" every day to strengthen my neck muscles. But I just squirm and fuss (as you can see in the video) until the parents give up and turn me over to my back.

Perhaps part of the problem of not being able to turn over is that my body is just too heavy. I love to eat. And it shows. I think this picture of me with my friend Jeffrey shows how mammoth I've become. Granted, he is a few months younger than I am, but I think you can appreciate my ginormousness.

Happy Halloween

2008-11-02T19:50:00.005-05:00

I was almost as excited as my mom to get dressed up for Halloween. We had a good time dressing up. My dad wasn't satisfied with the costume alone, so he put on the finishing touches. Don't I look spooky?

I cried the whole time that Dad put on the face paint, but I was real good and didn't scratch any of it off. And that's saying something because now I have a lot more control of my hands. I like to alternate fingers that I suck on.

Baby Blessing

2008-10-26T11:01:00.008-04:00

On Sunday, Oct 19 we blessed Max in church out in Utah. I was trying to see if I could get any last-minute revelation and name him something different than what we had been calling him for the last few months. Sarah was glad I didn't get "inspired."

We chose to bless him then because it was Kevin's non-"farewell" missionary talk as he gets ready to go to the Edmonton Alberta mission next week. For those who would like a little cultural education, here are a few facts: Edmonton is Canada's second most populous provincial capital (after Toronto), has one of North America's lowest population densities (9.4% that of New York), and is home to North America's largest mall.

Max is definitely getting spoiled by his grandparents. I mean, how many babies do you know that get M&M's customly printed for them? I even heard that his Jeffery grandparents want to get him a Wii for Christmas. Max's father supports this decision.

Maxwell Photos

2008-09-30T20:42:00.009-04:00

Tractor Pull

2008-09-26T16:04:00.008-04:00

Sarah and I decided that we had one more activity to do before completing the middle America trifecta of hick motor sports. We had already been to the demolition derby and the monster truck rally, so all that was left was the tractor pull.

It was actually a bit louder than we anticipated. Max cried with the very first race. Max's parents were even plugging their ears because it hurt so bad. Sarah took the baby to the back of the bleachers, but the sound was still too loud, so she walked outside the venue for most of the runs.

I didn't know what to expect before coming. When I thought of a tractor pull, I envisioned a competition of local boys pulling a rope tied onto a tractor and seeing which group could pull it the farthest. Boy, was I wrong. The tractor isn't even pulled, but is the pullER. I guess it shows we're city folk.

A Yankees Rip-off

2008-09-21T21:12:00.013-04:00

We spent the weekend in New York with Mom, Dad, and Kevin for his high school graduation trip to see the Yankees. All the tickets to the game for purchase on the internet were more than $100. My Dad, being the true Meacham that he is, refused to pay such a price for tickets, and decided that we should risk flying to New York without tickets and try to get them from scalpers before gametime for a cheaper price.

We knew that there were criminals scalping fake tickets. In fact, posted all around the stadium were signs that say: "Beware scalpers selling counterfeit tickets." We met a guy outside the stadium that was selling tickets. We asked him if he had 5 tickets for the next day's game and he pulled out some tickets from his coat pocket to show us. We were kind of skeptical that he was legit, but he told us he had been doing this business for 13 years. He pulled out a wad of cash that must have included 50 twenty dollar bills to prove to us that he had been doing business with many others.

My thought was that either he was for real or else he was ripping a lot of people off. We asked him if he would go up to the ticket office with us so that we could verify the tickets' legitimacy, but he declined by saying that even legit scalpers get hammered with a $200 fine for selling tickets within 1500 feet of the stadium, so he didn't want to be discovered. He was selling them for $50 instead of the face value of $65. My Dad and I deliberated a little more, but when he showed us that the seats were between home plate and the Yankees dugout just a few rows up, we decided that these tickets were too good to pass up. We bought 5 tickets for $250.

After buying the tickets, my dad marched right on over to the ticket office to ask for their verification. The man behind the counter looked at the tickets and said, "I'm sorry, these are fake." We were shocked, angered, betrayed, saddened, and a bit embarrassed for falling for a scam artist. We tried finding that guy, but of course he had walked away right after our transaction. My Dad called the scammer's cell phone number (which he had given us as "proof" that he was legit) and left a message on the voice mail that unless this guy called us back in one hour, we would call the police (which we never did).

Looking back, there were signs that should have tipped us off that this guy was bogus. The posted signs, the fact that he was selling them before gameday, that he wouldn't verify with us at the ticket office, that his ticket price was too good to be true--all these things pointed toward the conclusion that we were too obstinate to see. Afterwards it made me reflect on the signs of the Second Coming; I hope I'm not equally obstinate with those signs. And just like we were rejected at the gate to enter Yankee Stadium with our fake tickets, we will likewise not gain passage through the heavenly gates if we are not prepared and haven't given heed to the signs of the times.

ps--we had to buy another five tickets to finally get into the game.

On the Links

2008-09-06T21:15:00.007-04:00

It's too bad that my parents didn't start giving me golf lessons when I was 2 years old because for sure I would have ended up like Tiger due to my insanely uncanny abilities. Um..yeah!?! Actually, I don't think there are any golf skills in my genes.

The OSU golf course was rated the #1 collegiate golf course in America, so Dad and I thought we'd give it a try. Since I'm a student I got to golf for only $18 on a course that was definitely the most groomed and scenic that either of us had ever played.

Our favorite hole was #10 where we both had memorable shots, and serendipitously it was the only hole where we took out the camera. We were kind of nervous hitting off the tee and having to make it over the lake because both of us had skipped many previous shots, the kind that rocket off at 100+mph about 3 inches above the ground.

Dad shot first. I tried to take the picture mid stroke, but because of the camera's delay I was late. But it turned out to be a good thing. Circled in red is the area that I have enlarged for your viewing pleasure. Yes, Dad nailed that poor duck. It squawked and flapped its wings, perhaps grateful that he didn't die yet annoyed that we hadn't called 'fore.'

Determined not to lose my ball in the lake like Dad, I swung as hard as I could. Unfortunately, I hit one of those skipper shots, but fortunately this one skipped through the water and up onto the fairway.

It was a time of good laughs and light sunburns. Oh, what a sport.

Zucchini Festival

2008-08-31T20:27:00.004-04:00

Like some of our other activities in Ohio, the Zucchini Festival will be most remembered for all of the hicks that we saw. I call them "hicks" for lack of a more politically-correct descriptor.

According to wikipedia, to call someone white trash is to accuse a white person of being economically, educationally and/or culturally bankrupt. White trash should be differentiated from the more socially acceptable term Redneck.

My favorite "redneck" moment was not the pony turn. It was not the zucchini fudge. It was not the fried snickers bar (pictured). It was the mouse run (unfortunately, not pictured). Inside a large booth was a round spinning table that had holes numbered 1-100 along the perimeter. The booth workers would hold a mouse (named Sparky) above the table and then drop it. Whatever hole the mouse ran into for cover was the hole that won. The cost to play the game was 25 cents. If you had placed your quarter onto the correct hole number then you would win a larged stuffed animal. I placed quarters on numbers 65 and 61, but alas, victory was not for me.

My First Sunday, by Max

2008-08-17T18:29:00.012-04:00

Hi everybody. This is Max. I wanted to tell you how rough my first day at church was. It started out all right. I loved my littled ducky outfit that one of Mommy's neighbors gave me.

But then I got a little bit nervous about being adored and passed around by all those
people at church. Just the thought of it made me a bit queasy...so I threw up.

Really I had no reason to be nervous. Everyone at church said I looked adorable. And they all talked about how Mommy didn't look like she had just brought me here 2 weeks ago.

I didn't like Sunday School too much. I fussed my way out of that meeting and got myself into the much more comfy mother's lounge. My mom was so good at making me comfortable that I relaxed a little bit too much and spit up down her shirt and tinkled through my diaper, through the blanket, and down Mommy's skirt.

(picture not available)

Mommy and I left church right away and for some reason when we got home, Mommy wasn't anxious to put new clothes on me. So I just chilled in my stylish garbage collectors.

But I soon found a softer blanket and I decided to take a nap.

I love my naps. They make me happy. I have happy dreams.

In fact, sleeping time is some of my best thinking time.

Maybe I should think about how to behave better next Sunday.

Max at 1 week

2008-08-10T21:42:00.005-04:00

Here is some video of Max. It's amazing how much you long a little newborn can hold your attention. Sometimes we will lay next to him and just look at him as he makes countless facial expressions in his sleep, which range from looking like he's in excruciating pain from a circumcision to smiling as if he's in a warm uterus. Do you think babies dream? If so, did they dream in utero? If so, where do they get the ideas of which they dream because they have yet to process any visual pictures? Do their dreams then consist only of sounds that they've heard before? I guess these are pointless questions, but ones that we've thought about over the last week.

Max has decided that he likes to sleep all throughout the day and have little interaction with his parents. However, he does like to wake up from 10pm-2am and doesn't seem to understand that we want as little interaction with him at that point as possible.

He is a cutie, though. It's amazing how fast the bonds start to build between parent and child.

Baby Maxwell

2008-08-02T15:57:00.005-04:00

Sharing an August 1 birthday with the likes of Francis Scott Key, Herman Melville, and Coolio, Maxwell Ryan Meacham decided to come into the world after 14 hours of induced labor at 11:46 pm. Weight: 8 lbs, 7 ozs. Length: unknown.

The labor process was quite “laborious” (how ‘bout that for a descriptor). Apparently, Baby Max just didn’t want to come out. I mean, who wouldn’t want to stay in a microwave oven drinking over and over again his own urine to his heart’s content?

The delivery was unique for me because the nurse midwife, knowing that I was a 4th year med student, convinced me that I should be the one delivering the baby because this might never get to happen again. So I scrubbed in and when the time came, pulled out his greasy cheese-caked body.

We actually had a little scare for a few minutes when he came out. The cord was wrapped so snugly around his neck that they couldn’t reduce it, but had to cut it off him before he was out of the birth canal. He came out completely blue and limp. After I tossed him onto Sarah’s belly for 5 seconds while they dried him off, they quickly took him over to the incubator where they placed a bag valve mask over his mouth and pumped oxygen into his lungs. He stayed blue and still hadn’t moved. They called the NICU nurse to come intubate him. After a minute of endotracheal ventilation he started turning pink and about 30 seconds later he started moving on his own. They took the tube out 5 minutes later and he has done fine ever since.

In total he was probably motionless for about 3 or 4 minutes, but it seemed like a couple of eternities waiting for him to show signs of life. We were so grateful for the nursing staff who acted so quickly to resuscitate him. I have no doubt that had it been a home delivery he would not have lived.

Sarah was a champ throughout it all. In fact, true to form, she seemed more concerned about other people than herself. She asked Dad Jeffery if he needed an extra pillow for his head while he rested, and then she kept asking all of the nurses, doctors, and midwives about their own children. It was very painful for her, but she was very much under control. She didn’t even need me to do the Bill Cosby cheer I had prepared ahead of time: “Push him out, shove him out, wayyyyy out!” (Actually, I might have been slapped if I had tried.)

In short, things are well. We hope you all get to see him at some point, hopefully sooner than later. He seems like a real calm fellow so far.

Nite Out 2008

2008-07-08T19:36:00.001-04:00

This is from way back in April when our med school holds its annual talent show to benefit the Columbus Free Physician's Clinic. We also were asked to sing this song that Kelly made up to a regional group of med school administrators.

Day at the Races

2008-06-29T11:35:00.007-04:00

We found out that we've been living in a horse racing paradise for almost three years and we haven't done anything about it. Scioto Downs track is just a couple miles south of the beltway and holds a trove of good experiences waiting to be had.

It was only $3 to get in to watch the races because the venue makes most of its money off the people that gamble on the races. I thought that we ought to be good citizens and provide more revenue to this beautiful venue. Wouldn't it be good to participate in a little gambling so that we might understand and be able to better relate to those that suffer from such addictions?

It was Elder Maxwell that said the study of doctrine will do more to change behavior than the study of behavior will change behavior. That established, wouldn't it be easier to understand the viles of gambling by participating in it rather than reading about other peoples' experiences with it?

Well, truth be told, we didn't put down any money on any horse that night. But we did try to make guesses among our dinner party to nail the trifecta, perfecta, or the exacta. Those weren't the only terms we learned that night. We also learned the difference between a standardbred vs a thoroughbred, a trot vs a pace, a harness race vs a saddle race. We also learned that not all jockeys are petite (to put it nicely).

This post was initially supposed to have a third picture. But for some reason the pregnant lady did not think it becoming to show her beautiful belly in the doorway. So instead I took some artistic freedom to recreate for you all what pregnant lady looks like. These dimensions are proportional and realistic in every way. T minus 4 weeks!

Smoky Mountains

2008-05-04T22:50:00.004-04:00

Did you know that this is America's most visited national park? And to think that I hadn't even heard about this place before arriving to Ohio.

Wildlife in the Smokies is incredible. Over the course of the trip we counted 145 deer, 11 elk, 5 black bears, 2 snakes, and 3 salamanders. The bears were all at a distance, but the snakes were more up close (I nearly stepped on one, and the other one I accidentally ran over with the car).

Monster Truck Rally

2008-04-12T19:22:00.005-04:00

You know, sometimes being a hick is fun. Six months ago Sarah and I went to the demolition derby at a county fair. This derby was located just ten miles out of Columbus, a city of two million people, but of the 35 entries in the derby, only two or three were from Columubus. Everyone else was from a Hickville, OH.

And that's why when we heard of this opportunity for the Monster Truck Rally, the Meachams were stoked.

But when we got there it was kind of a shock. Sarah had told me I was going to need ear plugs. I had initially thought she was being overly cautious in the normal Sarah soon-to-be-mother type of way, but she wasn't pulling my chain. With the deafening growl of the engines and the annoyingly shrill microphone of the emcee designed to penetrate the stoutest of ear plugs, my head and ears hurt despite my earplugs and two hands squeezing to attempt to create a tight seal around my ears. As a future ENT, I could just imagine the cochlear hair cells getting fried in my inner ear. As a future father, my instict was to take off my coat and wrap it around Sarah's belly to save the hearing of my cute little fetus.

Perhaps the best part about the event was the people watching. From across the arena I could spot a thirty something year old with a mullet and beer belly standing up and waving his arms around his head as one of the trucks jumped. In the row in front of us a father had purchased for his son some earplugs that were shaped as oversized monster truck tires; the tires were squishing this poor kid's face, but he kept them on only because he thought he looked cool.

It's experiences like these that let me know that it was the right thing for me to come to Ohio. Oddities abound everywhere. Finally, a place where I belong.

Happy B-day Piano Meacham

2008-03-29T23:09:00.003-04:00

You know, I never knew how much work putting together a stupid little video would take. This was my maiden voyage into video editing and it took several hours of downloading software, taking tutorials, and re-doing the whole thing on different software after the first one wanted to put its company's logo right in the middle unless I paid $40 a year. Arrgh. I hope I've advanced on the learning curve so that the next one isn't so painful. Enjoy.

The Polls are Closed

2008-03-07T22:35:00.005-05:00

Well, I guess the polls are not technically closed, but it's kind of futile now to vote for a girl because...it's a boy! I know this news might disappoint the grandparents who don't have a girl grandbaby to spoil yet, but hey, I'm stoked as I think about the upcoming ballgames, the fishing trips, the donut outings, and the wrestling matches that'll happen once he can climb up the couches and jump off to deliver the body slam. I'm thinking already about how I'll train him on his balance, poking him on the shoulders as he begins to walk at 12 months. Only by stumbling will he champion his equilibrium and prove to be The Rock that I know my boy will be. Yes, this is great news. Sarah is excited too because she thinks that by having a boy maybe I'll release all of my rough housing energy on the offspring instead of her. We'll see how that works out.

I got to the OB's office a little late today. I got away from the hospital a little later than expected and started driving home on snowy roads to the OB office. It's kind of funny how all of Ohio hits the panic button with just a couple of inches of snow and starts to shut down. The OB's office even called Sarah to let her know that they were moving her appointment up an hour to 2:00 or else they would have to postpone her visit until next week because the roads were so bad. Good grief. I wish the city council could move to Utah, or Michigan, or Minnesota where people experience "feet" of snow before schools and cities shut down. It's kind of annoying actually. But anyway, I arrived after the OB had already started his evaluation. I got there after they had used the ultrasound to rule out any cleft lips or palates, increased nuchal rigidity (a sign of Down Syndrome), or extra digits. I DID get there in time to see the baby's beautiful cerebrum, aortic arch, and the extra little extension coming off between the two legs. Yeah.

Somehow everyone thinks Jimmy LeRoy is a joke. I personally think it's quite noble to name your child after his two grandfathers. And the name kind of rolls off the tongue. We'll have to see if we can get a few more pollsters to come away in favor of it. I think our plan will be for me to have one vote, Sarah to have another, and give the last vote to the public. Come on, I'm trusting you guys.

Maple Syrup Festival

2008-03-02T19:45:00.005-05:00

This week we had Jesse and Alicia Alba come up and visit from the great city of St Louis. Actually, I don't know if being voted as "America's #1 dangerous city" in 2007 counts as "great," but whatever.

We drove up to the Maple Syrup Festival outside of Mansfield, OH. We enjoyed a free day of taking a horse-drawn trailer up the snowy "mountains" (I mean "hills") to get demonstrations on the making of maple syrup from the indians, European settlers, and modern day syrup makers. We learned that the sap drained from the trees is 2% sugar and 98% water. To get the syrup you have to boil out the water to get a 66% sugar consistency. You can also boil out all of the water and have dried maple sugar, which the pioneers used instead of going down to the mercantile store to pick it up. Although everything here was free, they did ask for donations. And they did sell maple fudge, maple beef jerky, maple barbeque sauce, hot dogs boiled in maple syrup, and of course maple syrup.

We're sad to report a member of our family died today. Yes, Brutus passed peacefully this afternoon. Although it was a little sad, I think it must have been fate coming. When we bought the fish back in September, I made the agreement with the little fish that we would name him Brutus and dedicate him to the Buckeye's football season. We had the arrangement that if the Buckeyes ever lost, we were going to cook him up for dinner. Well, he DID bring us luck for most of the season, but alas it wasn't enough. We extended him mercy by not eating him when the Buckeyes lost 2 games at the end of the year, but perhaps karma was reaching out to him when we weren't. Over the last 2 weeks he started swimming more slowly and developed some black spots on his chin and on his ventrolateral side. Note: black spots are never good. Last night he decided to curl up into a semicircle shape. His gills opened slower and slower. We're not sure at what minute he expired, but we're pretty sure it was overnight. At least, we hope he's dead because Sarah flushed him down the toilet already. She said he had "fish rigor mortis"--he maintained a perfect semicircular form as he disappeared down the crapper in clockwise swirls.