"Mark" of Fridays: Sweetie

Just in case our previous posts weren't clear enough, yep, we are having another one!
Child II is due in late January. So, technically, this picture isn't of Mark, but not everything is about Mark anymore, is it? (Won't he be surprised!)

If you look on the far left, you will see that this baby is a GE product.
Patent pending.

Quotation Mark Mondays: Baby Names

Mark:  I want to help pick the name for the new baby.
Lynne:  OK, what do you think the new baby's name should be?
Mark:  Hanley.
Lynne:  Well, the baby is going to have the last name Hanley, just like you and me and Daddy.  We get to choose the baby's first name.  Any ideas?
Mark:  How about Mark?
Lynne:  Well, don't you think that would be confusing if we had two people in the house named Mark?  How would you know when we were talking to you, and when we were talking to the baby?
Mark:  Ok, I will pick another name.  (really long pause for thinking and dramatic effect....)
Mark:  We should name the baby SWEETIE!

So, Sweetie it is.  At least for now.  We think Sweetie Hanley, if he's a boy, might run into some problems on the playground.

Mark of Fridays: Oh, brother

Quotation Marks: months

"After November comes Yesvember!"
- Mark, proudly.

Mark of Fridays: Bubbleman

Mark has discovered the sheer joy of a bubble bath.
Now he wants to take a bath every night.
And every afternoon, too.

Books for sale! Get your red-hot books!

Because there's 50 of them sitting in our house. The first 48 were pretty good reads, but the last two kind of dragged.

But how can we buy these semi-wonderful books? Well, you can order them online here.
You can go the book launch, scheduled for Friday, Aug. 24 at the Aurora Historical Society.  (More info on the book's Facebook page.)
Or, you can tackle Matt in the street and force him to sell you one. That would be the most hilarious option.

Quotation Marks: Kisalofadon

Some facts you might not know about Kisalofadons, a dinosaur that Mark made up

- Kisalofadons live underground in a big hole.
- Kisalofadons come out at night.
- Kisalofadons are purple and pink.
- Kisalofadons eat trees and they can climb up trees.
- Kisalofadons will only be alive for three more Mondays and then they will be all be dead.

Books for sale!

The book is officially for sale! Buy a copy right here! It makes a great fly swatter!

Mark of Fridays: Fun in Misconsin

Fun at Circus World and near Misconsin Dells!

(Oh, Mark pronounces that state "Misconsin".)

Remembering a hero

Many of you probably saw the story about the pediatric surgeon who drowned this weekend while saving two kids who had fallen into Lake Michigan.
Dr. Donald Liu had a special connection for our family because he performed the surgery on Mark's stomach when he was six weeks old.

We only met him for a few minutes but he had a profound effect on all of our lives. Lynne and Matt recall the hospital staff saying how lucky we were to get him as the surgeon.
We were very frazzled when we met him, but he was happy and calm. He even spoke to Mark, who was only 37 days old. It made us feel relaxed.

So send some good thoughts and prayers to his family. It's amazing the difference one person can make for so many families.

Matt wrote a story for our paper about our experience with Dr. Liu. You can read it here.

Quotation Mark Mondays: windmills

Mark, as we drove past windmills:
"You spinny around things are not being good. You are making my feet cold. That is not nice to make my feet cold, you spinny around things."

Surely, it has nothing to do with taking off his socks. Nope, it had to be the windmills.