Mind the Gap

 The eight year cliffhanger comes to an end! What did we do with the vouchers? Well, we took a trip to Orlando in November of 2016. Jillian wanted to attend a family reunion at the time and it afforded us the opportunity to save some cash. We were able to live it up a little bit and stay at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando. It was nice.

The family reunion was enjoyable. Probably the most special aspect of this trip was Lorelai being able to meet her Great Grandmother, Edith Blackmon ("Gigi"), before she passed away. I don't have access to it as I type this, but Jillian was able to obtain a four generations photo with her Mother, Gigi and Lorelai.

So, now I've got 8 years of catching up to do. Some pretty important things have happened since. Probably the most significant is the birth of Lorelai's younger brother. I'll get to it... hopefully within the next 8 years. 

Financial Landmark

About 20 minutes ago, I paid off the remaining balance of my student loans. I just thought it was worth recording. Now I can start working on Lorelai's College Fund...

Also, it turns out those Hilton vouchers I won were for two nights, so that's also great news. I guess we just need to decide what to do with them.

Winner, Winner !!!

I've been entering travel sweepstakes for years. Websites, facebook, twitter; anything with an entry form. Like most, I've never won anything, so you could imagine my surprise when I opened my email yesterday morning to discover this message:

The week prior, I had put together a collage of miscellaneous travel photos and posted it to twitter. I almost immediately forgot about it and I didn't even know about the possible prize. Naturally, I got this email and thought, "Ok, someone with a fake Hilton account is going around looking to do a little phishing". I logged into twitter and checked my messages. There's a little blue check mark by the Hilton logo, signifying a verified account. Sweet. So what exactly did I win? Turns out, a one (possibly two) night(s) free stay in any Hilton hotel anywhere in the world. I say possibly, because there are two vouchers. I'm not sure if they say one per person or one per night. I'm a Hilton Gold member, so either way, my wife is supposed to stay free with me during any stay. We'll see.

Either way, I won something! It's pretty exciting. Hopefully, the luck continues and I can happen upon some sweepstakes that will throw in some free round trip airfare. 

Easter 2016

Easter weekend was full of first for the McKelroy family; Lorelai’s first church service, Easter basket and visit from her Uncle Jarred. Jillian’s brother, Jarred, works as an EMT/Firefighter in Georgia and had not had the time off to come see his first niece until this weekend. Unfortunately, the rest of his family couldn’t make it. He made it to town of Friday and had just enough time to see Lorelai before being whisked away by his mother for a majority of the weekend.

Sunday was a bit of a whirlwind. From about 7am to 10am, we took turns taking care of Lorelai while the other dressed for Church. We went to the last service available at Fairhope United Methodist (11am). We made it there with a little time to spare, but the weather was as awful as the parking and we had to make our way across traffic in a downpour; umbrella in one hand, car seat in the other.

To our surprise and delight, Lorelai slept through the entire one hour service. The only noise she made was early on during some of the musical bits, and that was only a fit of hiccups. They were really cute, so no one around seemed to mind. 

The service lasted a little longer than we expected, and we had plans to be at my parent’s house for lunch. The rain had not let up and we got equally wet on the way out. I even managed to step in a newly made stream on the edge of the road, filling a shoe with water. We let my parents know that we’d be a little late and went home to change. 

Lorelai finally woke up just in time to say hello to everyone at my parent’s house and then nurse. After we all ate lunch we took to taking family photos with everyone. Here’s a sample:

We stayed at my parents for a while to visit and then came home to start making spaghetti. We hosted Jarred, Jillian’s Mom and step-dad for dinner that night. It was nice to be able to spend separate but equal time with both sides of the family.

Lorelai Gael McKelroy

WONDERFUL NEWS!

I'm now the proud father of a healthy baby girl. Lorelai Gael McKelroy was born two weeks ago tomorrow; March 5th 2016 at 6:08 am. It has been a bit of a whirlwind since but I wanted to jot down a few things about her name and birth.
Name first. Jillian and I wanted something original and reflective of our heritage and I think we worked it out well. Both of us share a lot of Celtic ancestry. You wouldn't it know it with a mix of Keane, Andrews and McKelroy in our names. On my side however, there is a strong German/Polish influence from my mother's side. Lorelai, the name of a famous rock in the Rhine River, was a favorite of Jillian's (especially the spelling, which was taken from a character on the 90's show Gilmore Girls). Gael was a no brainer for the Irish/Scottish side. It literally means 'of Gaelic decent' and seems to roll off the tongue with Lorelai.
Now for the birth story; which was much shorter than expected. All day Friday (the 4th), Jillian had been experiencing light, sporadic contractions. There were so sporadic, in fact, that we halfway dismissed them as braxton hicks contractions. Around 9pm that evening, we went to bed and started a movie (The Intern, starring Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro). The contractions were getting a little more common but still very inconsistent, so we were writing them down. There wasn't too much to note until 10pm when all of a sudden Jillian had a VERY strong contraction. This one was very noteworthy because it was paired with her water breaking. From then on, things got real... quickly.
We packed up the car at a lightning pace and I played 'Nascar driver' on the way to Thomas Hospital in Fairhope. They checked us in around 11pm and thankfully, for Jillian, it only took about 30 minutes or so to get her an epidural. Nearly seven hours later, Lorelai was introduced to the world. Her official measurements: 8lb 11oz, 21 in long.

Baby Shower at work

Jillian's due date is nearly upon us...

and my office decided to throw us a late notice baby shower. It went really well, but Jillian wasn't able to attend so I had to fly solo. I don't think the ladies who attended were completely satisfied with my lack of "Awww" 's and "That's so cute!". I tried to humor them with what I could, but I know they wanted more. Regardless, they were very generous and we got some great stuff for little McKelroy.

Mardi Gras 2016

Despite living in an area that widely celebrates Mardi Gras each year, Jillian and I had not gone to any parades together. The weather was a little chilly, but we had nothing else to do so we decided to go to one of the night parades in Fairhope.
I guess age changes your Mardi Gras priorities. I had no desire to get adult beverages and rack up on plastic beads and frizbees, cups and coins made in China. Our one focus was free food; specifically moon pies and oatmeal creme pies. With such a limited goal, I was surprised by how successful we were after only two passes of floats.
As the crowds relocated for a third pass, Jillian and I ran off with our loot with the goal of avoiding traffic. Thankfully, we were achieved that goal and got home at a decent hour.

We thought we were one and done for the season but got a call the next day from our friends Gavin and Jessica. They were in town with their kids and were going to another parade in Daphne and wanted to meet up. It turned out to be an even colder night, but a couple free beers helped.
The Daphne parade exceeded my free stu

ff expectations. It helped that we appeared to be set up right beside someone who knew someone (possibly everyone) on one of the floats. That usually results in a waterfall of goods. This instance was no exception. Jillian and I kept the edibles and gave everything else to the kiddos. A very enjoyable night and two great parades back to back.