Six!

It's wonderful to have our arms and laps full!

Grandma and Grandpa (Amy's parents) are in town this week -
we have appreciated the extra help...

and the boys are enjoying the extra attention.

2 weeks

Maegli is 2 WEEKS old!

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Our little girl is eating very well (every 2-3 hours), sleeping soundly (when swaddled tightly), and is more alert every day.

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She now weighs-in at a whopping 6 pounds and is a long little lady at 20 inches!

Announcement

Now thanks be to God for his gift, precious beyond telling!

2 Corinthians 9:15

The little one is now 9 days old! It is hard to believe she's here...

and yet, we can't imagine our lives without her.

pics

"the" hire

The Reds hired one Mr. Johnnie B. Baker, Jr. (a.k.a. Dusty) late in 2007 to take over managerial duties. While the Reds clearly hosed Pete Mackanin by not giving him an interview, the question for us to ponder until Spring Training starts is whether or not Dusty is the right guy.

Pros:

1. Nickname same as Chevy Chase in Three Amigos

2. Won division pennant in 2002

Cons:

1. Only won one division pennant, despite managing on teams with owners constantly willing to spend money (Giants, Cubs).

2. Trend in finishing order in last 4 years with Cubs: 1-3-4-6 in weak NL Central.

3. Reputation for ruining young pitchers by ignoring pitch counts (see: Mark Prior, Kerry Wood)

4. Playing veterans over youngsters with talent (i.e. Neifi Perez over Ryan Theriot with Cubs). Hence, I don't expect Jay Bruce to get much playing time at all, even though Baseball America and many other baseball publications rated him as the #1 prospect in either league.

You can guess my opinion on the hire. Let's hope the Reds prove me wrong and win the NL Central in 2008.

Kids

Three in red...one in pink.

Our Little Girl

Our little girl is in PINK! Maegli has been sporting "blue" since she came home...now we have more pink in our house than ever before (thanks Grandma!). We have been enjoying this little sweetheart - she is a blessing.

IN-famous

Geoff Young at The Hardball Times just wrote a very good article about the 10 worst pitching seasons of all time. Problem is, a very recent Reds' season was featured.

#5: Eric Milton, 2005 Reds

IP: 186.1
ERA: 6.47
BA: .302
OBP: .349
SLG: .543
ERA+: 66
OPS+ : 136

Once upon a time, Milton was a hot young prospect in the Yankees organization who became part of the package that sent Chuck Knoblauch from Minnesota to the Bronx. In his 1998 Minor League Scouting Notebook John Sickels rated Milton as the 23rd best prospect in baseball and compared him favorably to Andy Pettitte. Milton teased for a few years, then got hurt, then lost effectiveness. Always susceptible to the home run ball, Milton gave up 40 of them in 2005 (half of which came in his first 11 starts). That's not quite Ken Dixon territory, but it's not good. Milton allowed six runs or more in 11 of his 34 starts.Milton owns an 87-84 record over 10 seasons and counting. The highlight of his career came on Sep. 11, 1999, when he no-hit the Angels at the Metrodome.

Reds fans will remember his signing -$25 MILLION over 3 years...the most we had spent on a player since Griffey in 2000. Those numbers are truly horrible. An ERA+ of 66 means he was 34% worse than the league average.

Being free from that albatross of a contract has allowed us to go sign Francisco Cordero, so here's to hoping he turns out better and our bullpen is hassle-free in 2008.

Family of Six!

The girls are home! Maegli and Amy were discharged from the hospital yesterday afternoon...we are thrilled to have our entire family together.

A little about our sweet little girl's name:

• "Maegli" (may-glee), Swiss, is Mike's grandma's maiden name.
• "Virginia" is Amy's grandma's name.

We are proud to honor our Grandmas in this way.

Maegli is doing wonderfully well...she is a real sweetheart (the boys are smitten!). She is nursing beautifully, sleeping soundly and seems to be a real fire cracker when awake - a good thing to be as the youngest of four!

It's a....

GIRL!

Amy and Mike are proud to introduce #4 - Maegli Virgina Young. She was born this morning at 7:56 a.m. at Regional Hospital, weighing 6 lbs. 4 oz., 19" long. God is good for giving us another successful delivery! Mom, baby, brothers and daddy are all doing well and looking forward to Maegli coming home on Friday. Her delivery was quite quick (our doctor wasn't even in the room for it) and we have decided she looks almost just like Hendrick at birth: round head and flat feet.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

Amy is back home...and the baby is still inside. After being monitored for two days, the doctor decided to let her come home - labor had been successfully halted. Praise the Lord we have made it to 36 weeks! We can't wait to see when baby will make its entrance. Maybe third time (to the hospital) is a charm?

Not again!

We got to head to Regional Hospital again yesterday - Amy was contracting every 5 min, so the doctor told us to come on in. They were able to stop labor, but she had dilated enough by this morning that she will be staying until baby #4 makes his/her appearance. Please pray we can make it to 36 weeks (Sunday), and that we can work out how to handle the kids this week!

Bath and Bed Time

Wagon Ride

We have been having so much fun with the boys...

baby #4 has three wonderful big brothers. We are very blessed.

(And, Burke, Hendrick and Davis are super cute in their winter hats!).

Hangin' in There

Amy is easing off bed rest...and the baby is still inside - praise God! We have made it to 35-1/2 weeks...let's see how much longer we can go! We are hoping and praying for at least 36 weeks.

The baby is approximately 6 pounds. Hendrick is still determined that this one is a girl...and he thinks the baby will arrive Sunday the 16th (hmmm...?). What's your guess?

Media Recommendations: January

Here are the current media favorites for our family...hope you enjoy!

MIKE

"Gigi" by Gigi - an Ethiopian singer and musician. She is definitely the most famous pop musician from the African horn today.

AMY

Roots by Alex Haley - an American classic and incredible epic story of an American family

THE BOYS

Veggie Tales: The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's - another great spoof that is just as enjoyable for the parents as for the ankle biters.

"Ohians and fifers and mares!"

Family Party

Happy 1st Birthday, Burke! Amy's mom has been with us this past week (she generously took two vacation days) helping out around the house and allowing Amy to stay on the couch (8 days and counting....). I don't know what we would have done without her - we appreciate her unselfishness, and of course the boys had a blast with grandma in town. Bonus, grandma was here to celebrate Burke's birthday with us...Can you tell Davis enjoyed Burke's birthday cake? Thanks Mom!

Game Night, Part IV

One new favorite of the household adults is an Italian fishing card game called Scopone. Mike found it on one of his favorite websites and we have taken a liking to it due to the simplicity of play, similar to why so many Midwesterners like Euchre. It is for 2 or 4 players and involves "capturing" cards which count for points at the end of the round. We ordered a deck of Italian-suited cards from Amazon so we could play more authentically!

Hamilton out - good move?

If you follow the Reds, you know by now that Josh Hamilton has been shipped to Texas for 2 pitchers - Edinson Volquez and Danny Herrera. Despite some very poor trades in recent years (Gary Majewski, anyone?), I think Wayne Krivsky and the Reds' front office got this one right.

Hamilton's 2007 was lightning in a bottle (.292/.368/.554) and we "sold high." Outfield is deep for the Reds as we already have Dunn, Griffey, Hopper, and Freel, and getting two blue chip prospects in the deal is what we needed. Volquez had a ridiculous 2006 in the minors, striking out 166 and only wakling 60 (better than a 2:1 ratio, which is considered quite good).

That being said, it will be sad to see this man leave Cincinnati. His recovery from a serious drug addiction and conversion to Christianity was about the lone bright spot in a long, long Cincinnati summer in 2007. Best of luck, Josh.

Can you tell Mike is doing the posting?

Couldn't resist sharing this...

Game Night, Part III

As any guy knows, Risk has immediate attraction for the male half of humanity. Hendrick is no exception to this rule! The original version is "Good Guy Risk" and The Lord of the Rings version is "Bad Guy Risk." The latter gets the majority of our playing time, and in Hendrick's version, either the red or black armies are all stood up. Then, the largest cave troll is chosen and he proceeds to knock down all of the goblins and Nazgul. The remaining cave trolls are knocked down with the dice. He plays this one so often the board has already been ripped in half

Breakfast Time