Adam Robert Jouvert was born on January 16th, 2010 at 9:07 am in New York City to the proud parents Monika and Victor Jouvert. He weighted in at 7 lbs 6 oz or 3.46544 kg and measured 20.5 " = 52.07 cm in length.

Having seen the births of my other children and partially biassedly attesting to their miraculousness can say say that on this particular day the miracle to be seen was my beautiful better half Monika doing everything she could to deliver our second son into this world.

Monika's tenacity and determination that I've become oh so familiar with were key to making this vbac a success. From the beginning the odds were against us and at every stage we were met with doubt and words of slight discouragement and even at points people making faces and shaking their heads as if to question why in the world of scheduled c-sections would anyone want to do that. Don't get me wrong they really applaud and encourage the idea of attempting a vbac but somehow they "warn" you repeatedly about the dangers. Hospitals just want to cut down on any risks! They could equal unsuccessful births, surgeries. They'd just as well have every baby cut out. Nice and easy no risk.

The residing Obyg at the hospital was quick to give us a shruggingly 40% chance of success as well as a release form listing all the possible horrors that could occur attempting a vbac birth. For those that haven't googled that yet its and acronym for vaginal birth after cesarean. Noah our first son was breech and after atempting an inversion was delivered via cesarian delivery aka c-section.

So to make long story shorter in the end Monika's reading up on this, the class we took, the prewritten and submitted birth plan and the countless discussions that we had about various scenarios plus Monika's tremendous will and endurance triumphed.

I got these Coffee mugs that are like chalk boards and they are nice because you can draw something or write a message to someone when you make them a cup of coffee. So I thought I would photograph them each day this year. I probably wont post every day but I will photograph the morning mugs everyday to share. Mixed in there I will also have other photots from time to time but at least it gives me something to photograph daily.

Well I have to say I was thinking of this New Year as just another New Year until some people mentioned that it is in fact a new decade and that also brought into mind that a decade had just ended.

So I started thinking about all things that happened in the past 10 years as well as what was the current state of events in my life.

Ten years ago I had just moved out of my dad's house for the second time after leaving my ex-wife. My daughter, Victoria, was 4 yrs old I was in my mid 20's. Financially I was in debt and living check to check. It was a time of my life when there were more questions than answers. I didn't know what the future held for me. I had ended my marriage and was struggling to make sense of lots of things. I was dealing with not seeing my daughter everyday or even every week. That is just the beginning. I stop to think of the people that I know today that I didn't even know 10 years ago. Any way I could go on and on, but who has that kind of time. I just wanted to say Happy New Year, or better yet Happy New Decade!

Its hard to beleive that two years ago this little man came into our lives. I had a nice day with him although he didnt sleep well the night before nor did he nap today. He must have been excited about turning 2. Here is a photo showing Noah on his new scooter that we gave him for his birthday.

I never got to post these but here they are. Expect in the next couple of weeks more photos from earlier this year that I wanted to share.

Grand Central Station

Grand Central Station

Typical NYC hotdog stand

The world's best roller coaster, The Cyclone

Lea is our au pair that has been with us since December 2008 and will be with us through May 2010. She is truly amazing. Life with her has been amazing. Especially with Noah exploring his independence. She doesnt let him push her around.

Here is a rare cup of coffee from a local coffee place. Monika and I have been like many people in the world these days economizing and figuring out new ways to save save save. We've been figuring new ways to be better with fianances with our lives and with eachother. One of the things we stopped doing is buying coffee from outside. We brew our morning cup and our second cup to go in our travel mugs. Today was a random day that I needed a third cup and here it is. I shot this with my phone (htc touch pro, a nice answer to the I-phone) Any how I hope to shoot more soon.

This is one of the buildings in New York City that I really like above any others.

I love beer and popcorn. Its that simple. Mmmmmmm.

I took my camera on my lunch break this saturday and it seemed everyone was outside enjoying the warmer weather. These were some guys that I guess really needed to play soccer. They didnt seem to mind the mudddy, slushy conditions they just wanted to play some good ole soccer. It was unseasonally warm and much appreciated.

In This Place...
Written & Directed by Ain Gordon
Starring Michelle Hurst

1830: Samuel and Daphney Oldham are the first free African-Americans to build their own house in Lexington, KY. Five years later, they disappear. Now, award-winning artist Ain Gordon imagines the full story behind these bare facts as told from Daphney's perspective in a new one-woman play featuring Brooklyn’s own Michelle Hurst. In This Place… sheds light on a forgotten story of 19th century America, when Daphney returns as a ghost, striving to remember her living days.

Happy New Years !!! I ran into Santa in Puerto Rico during New Year's week. He said after the stressful holiday season he likes to catch some waves in Rincon. He also enjoyed the beautiful sunsets, snorkeling and horseback riding on the beaches.