Friday afternoon I got a call from my wife saying she was going into labor. She gave me a half hour to get home. So, I wrapped things up at the studio and headed to the house.

To make a long story short, we headed up to the birth home, and four hours later our fourth child, a girl, was born. Everything went as well as could possibly be hoped and both mother and child are doing well.

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As we gathered tonight for scriptures and prayer the following evening, it really felt like our family is complete. That little pink raisin is ever so adorable. She is squirming and trying to look at us.

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Her name is Willow.

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I’ll be waiting on Tamie hand and foot over the weekend, and then back in the saddle on Monday (a woman from the ward is coming over on Monday to help out). You may think that I want to be left alone, but that is not the case. I would be more at peace and have more time to spend at home if January were booked up. So, by all means “bug” me with orders/inquiries!

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PS- The pic makes it look just like she has three fingers! I assure you, there are four.

This should round out the Dark Elf line nicely.

I don’t even know where to start.

My good (and much missed) friend Jon painted a hydra and handlers for our D&D game. I have inducted it into my Dark Elves army– making a few modifications so it will fit into the paint scheme. That’s a piece with sentimental value! Not to mention that it’s chomps-ville for my hapless opponents.

I also managed to paint up a unit of Shades, we’ll see if they are any good. I have a unit of harpies (based on daemonettes) ready to be painted up, too.

On Saturday I went on an all-day daddy-daughter date with my nine-year-old. We bought some pokemon cards at the local game shop. We also went to the mall and wandered around and got some sushi. Good times. I really felt we were closer after that. I think I need to do it a lot more often.

I also dropped in on a local shop (Dragonskeep) I haven’t been to in many years. They have vastly improved their place. I was duly impressed.

If anyone is looking for a good shop in Utah Valley I recommend checking out Blakfyre Games in Orem (1600 North and State). They are a really professional operation; well-stocked, knowledgeable staff, and solid gaming area.

We dropped by the studio on our way back home to wrap up some loose ends.

It was the ward christmas party, which was an absolute delight in every way. Some kid wandered in from the neighborhood and swiped my daughter’s Pokemon cards out of her hand. I had to chase that punk a few laps around the building. How’s that for the spirit of Christmas? Blarg.

The cherry on top of the sundae was sitting at home, munching on some crunchberry cereal (generic captain crunch) and watching 30 Rock. Good times.

My wife looks like a fleshy round gourd with arms, legs and a head. Her feet are painfully swollen. Late at night I was massaging those down to a reasonable mass.

This morning (Sunday) I was in quite funk. My thoughts: you know what, no one appreciates my antics, I’m just going to keep my mouth shut, and watch the show. Time to take a bow and get off stage. And stop making eye contact with strangers. I’ve been doing some serious examination of my own soul and I think my character is full of holes as swiss cheese. I am really having a hard time properly taking stock. I think humans generally are pretty hard on themselves. Maybe that’s me, too.

So, I got the kids ready and headed to church, leaving my wife at home to rest. The kids were angelic as could be. I finally came out of my funk during Elder’s Quorum. I love that class. All men with roughly a similar age and situation, and anything is proper topic. A few claps on the back and I was golden.

Guess what? Other people better just get used to my peculiar stylings. Some people are uplifted, cheered up by my quirky sense of humor and love-everyone skip-through-the-tulips attitude.

I’m back baby!

I also have plans for a Warriors of Chaos army as follows:

2x mounted heroes
2x mounted sorcerors
10x warhounds
10x marauder horsemen
10x chaos knights
3x dragon ogres (already have these)
1x War Shrine (should be a fun scratch conversion)
1x Hellcannon

I am very, very worried about the new Chaos Warriors codex. Here’s why– people are starting to ask for seven wide movement trays. That means the killing power of units is so high that it’s better to have more models in the front rank than to have more ranks. I don’t like this trend. It’s very obnoxious and gets rid of part of the Warhammer Fantasy that makes it work.

But don’t get me wrong, I really like this list. There are a lot of fun things on there, a lot of possibilities and intriguing magic items. The Troll army has a lot of possibility, I know at least one person who has plans to do it.

One last thing. Tamie’s sister is a massage therapist and she came by tonight to give her a massage, which is likely to get things “moving”. We’re hoping for baby in the next few days. But who knows, it could be weeks.

Which reminds me, a tip for new parents. Sometimes kids get stopped up and a massage therapist can get them worked out. It’s a tremendous relief for the poor child. Sometimes they suffer so from constipation. Too much cheese will do it sometimes.

To an expecting father, soon to be with a child, I recommend the following: Have a list of possible things that could be distressing the poor baby. Go through them systematically. Sometimes the baby needs to cry herself to sleep. Sometimes. The problem is that men are “solvers” and get all bent out of shape when they don’t know how to resolve things. The list will help you keep your composure and keep you busy doing useful things. When the list runs out, just relax. You don’t have to fix everything!

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The baby has no other mode of communication than to cry. Just roll with it. If it is really getting on your nerves, take a little break and remind yourself that you don’t have to fix it. Pretend that the baby is talking to you in a different language. Talk nice back to the tender infant. Sometimes the baby is stressed because it senses you are stressed– she wants you to be calm.

Also babies are only crying like 3% of the time. Most of the time they are sleeping. Of course, that’s no comfort when it’s 3am!

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Oh, man, I can’t wait until the baby is here. A sweet little baby girl, smelling of baby powder, baby shampoo and clean diapers.

Picture: Deathwing Terminators. One was a sample sent by the client from a project we did over a year ago. One big thing about Blue Table is that we are pretty good at matching previous projects. We keep pictures archived (usually) indefinitely.

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See stuff we have for sale. I’ve got four 40K armies on the block: IG, CSMs, Eldar Iyanden, and perhaps soon the “Roach Nids”. I hate putting things on sale. I like to maintain steady and fair pricing. You’ve probably noticed that when I run specials, there’s always a fair caveat (eg for December, get 25% off on painting if you give artistic license for certain armies). Which reminds me, I still have two slots open for December. You can still have something done.

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As usual I am pondering my next army. The Dark Elves are nearly complete. I have a unit of Shades on order. I’m going to add a new unit every week for the next three weeks. After this probably a Manticore OR use a McFarlane scavenger dragon as a mount for a Dreadlord. That will push the army into the 2500 range, nice and comfy for any sort of game.

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I do hope, though that the point level remains around the studio at 1500 or so, because then it’s not a power game so much. It’s still friendly games, with the thrill of new discovery, and that’s a magical time that never comes back.

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As most of you know I am in my life in the process of divestment. I’d be happy to get rid of almost all the various figures I’ve accumulated by the end of December. Both in my personal and business life I am paring down to the essentials. I’ve got plenty of clothes, food, blankets, and the necessities of life. I don’t want anything else. Except maybe to rotate in a few new armies a year. However, I think I need to play more– savor more, eat less. I’m dedicated to playing at least one game a week.

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I’m also reading Ron Paul’s “The Revolution” for the fourth time. That’s a good read. Good stuff.

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It would be cool to make an Empire army made using Khandish or Harad LotR figures. They are dirt cheap (less than a dollar per figure), simple to paint, and really cool theme-ish looking.

I spent the entire morning with my young son while my wife was out on errands. We watched Cartoon Network and I took him for a few shoulder rides. We also raided the halloween candy stash my wife thinks is hidden. Sweet.

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Everything is running smoothly at the studio as usual. I got everything lined up for assembly this week, well almost everything. They are behind on account of the holidays. I need to plan for that better. We should be caught up in the next few days. Everyone shuts down for Thanksgiving. It’s a poor reason for picking a man’s pocket everything December the 25th.

What else? We put together the baby’s crib. That room is every so cute. We re-did it with a white-slat wooden skirt and pink paint. Tamie is in full nesting mode– knitting borders on the edges of baby blankets and getting laundry cleaned, disinfected and folded. But she needs to be resting more now. If the baby comes too early (like the next four days), we can’t have it (her) at the birth home and have to go to a sterile, unfeeling, and expensive hospital.

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There may be a temptation to leave me alone after the baby comes. Don’t you do it! If there are inquiries and orders, that will make my life less stressful. And if there is money/security it will make Tamie’s less stressful, not to mention the workers at BTP.

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Someone asked how the company is doing. We are doing well. Things are slower than I like, but they are picking up and they haven’t dipped down to 2007 levels, so I have a lot to be thankful for. I am well aware that every order is a miracle. We’re lucky to have such great clients.

My wife went in for her baby checkup today. The baby’s coming in about a week.

The problem is that the Birth Home has to be paid before we can go there, in the sum of about $2200. What I’m trying to say is… I would encourage the noble reader to take a look at the various items I have up for sale, and very reasonably priced I might add. I am ready to make group deals.

Shawn