Corey Andrew Castillo is Here!

On Wednesday, December 29th at 8:40AM Lisa gave birth to our second son Corey Andrew Castillo at North Shore Hospital, LI. He weighed in at 7lbs 7ounces and 20 inches. Lisa was in labor for 15 minutes - I spend more time on the bowl - can I get a witness! =)

It was painful (no meds) but quick and all the women who spent much more time in labor called to leave hate messages!

Thank you all for the visits, calls, flowers and gifts...Nani thanks for buying Aaron's gifts to give Corey...Tanya thanks for getting to the hospital first so I could be with Lisa...Junior & Lulu thanks for getting Lisa pancakes, Aaron McDonalds and Dad Pf Changs...

I wanted the baby to be born after Christmas but before New Years (tax credit) Heyyyyy! I also wanted to be home in time for Saturday's Giants & Raiders game...and the Lord granted me both requests! God sweats the small stuff too! As you can see my priorities are in the right place (taxes and football)...just kidding...we are thrilled with our new addition and wanted to share some of these priceless moments with you. Please feel free to add comments as I will print and save as a keep sake for Corey!

Play by Play:


Corey is born!
Mommy holds baby after very long, brutal and extensive labor! =)

Daddy holding Corey Andrew minutes after his arrival.
Dr. Steven Seidman, Dr. Julia Aronovich, Corey Andrew and Lisa.
Dad, Lulu, Junior, Tanya, Big Brother Aaron with Mommy and Corey on the way to recovery! These guys obviously broke the law since they made it to the hospital so fast...all my family would soon follow...but by then the baby was born!
Mom, Big Brother Aaron and Corey Andrew a few hours later.
It's dinner time...feed me! If's he like his Dad...you don't play with my food!
After a long day and "dinner" - Corey call it quits...and me too for now...bye!

Ralph

Christmas at The Castillo's

Here's the First Lady by our Chrismas Tree! Corey Andrew Castillo is expected any day now...stay tuned! Have blog "ethics" been drafted yet? Since the only place to see pictures of the new baby will be on my blog and I am cleary leveraging the birth of my son to generate some serious traffic - how would my actions be judged in blogosphere? LOL
On MTV Cribs, the vehicles are always shown last...but Aaron wanted to show his "rides" first: Black GMC Denali w/ spinners, Blue Nissan Z & Grey Porshe. This photo was taken after we took his cars for a spin!
Here's Aaron playing his new drum set while he watches Youth Explosion The Concert...The Story. He has memorized every song on the album and shows promise of being a great drummer. I'm flattered since his Daddy help to produce the CD/DVD and that's about the extent of my fan base! He may be the only one who reads my blog too...and he only ask for the pictures. LOL
At his request, his Titi Nani and Tio Sean purchased his first violin. Aaron's request for a violin may have something to do with my love for Lucia Micarelli - she plays a solo piece on Josh Groban's (CD/DVD) Live at The Greek which I watch over and over - part of my addictive personality! =) Aaron's interest in the violin may have been sparked from her exceptional performance - Aaron knows her as the girl who performs barefooted!
Here's Aaron responding to the two minute warning before midnight!

Family Photo: Titi Stepanie w/Aaron, Mom, Lisa w/Corey, Titi Nani and Tio Sean celebrating Christmas Eve/Day together!

*A special thanks to Titi Nani who will do anything short of selling a kidney to make Christmas special for her nephew (she spoils him rotten) I promise to post the photos of Aaron at the golf range with his "official" set of irons. I have one issue - he asked me to carry his clubs since they were to heavy...does that make me his caddy? I told him "become like Tiger Woods and I'll carry whatever you want, but until then...carry your own clubs"!

Here's Johnny!

It's official...Johnny Damon is a New York Yankee...clean shaven and all...

Confucius says...

"Choose work you love and you will never have to work a day in your life!"

I Know Mo!

Chaplain Willie and Ralph discuss business while Aaron is hard at work securing an autograph!

Aaron and Dad with Mariano Rivera - Christmas 2005!

Aaron and Dad at his fist Yankee game!

Aaron watching Mariano Rivera sign his baseball.

Does it get better than this...if I have my way...Aaron will play for the New York Yankees and this picture will be in the Hall of Fame! Mariano autographed this picture for Aaron.

2005 has been an incredible year for many reasons I'll discuss in a later blog !

But one special item is the opportunity I had to personally meet New York Yankees relief pitcher Mariano Rivera. Twice this past year I attended an exclusive bible study at his home with members of the team and shared! I had dinner at his home and participated in ministry opportunities together! I still can't believe it! It's a dream come true for me as a die hard Yankee fan! My four year old son thinks it is perfectly normal to be with Mariano (if he only knew he was hanging out with the best relief pitcher in Major League baseball)! On Saturday, we were together again! I've included some old and new photos.

A special thanks to Chaplain Willie Alfonso (chaplain to the NY Yankees spanish players, Staten Island Yankees, and New Jersey Nets), he has been a great friend and responsible for my connection with Mariano!

Ralph

Big Blue

27-17

The New York Giants beat the Kansas City Chiefs yesterday! Sunday is special because it's God day, but when Big Blue wins it's icing on the cake!

Ralph

Who Knew?

As the adage goes "a picture says a thousands words". But are the words, thoughts and emotions provoked from this photograph based on an actual event or a staged photo op?

I always thought the white dude in the back was an insensitive, indifferent bigot and racist - and maybe he was! But I came across an article that suggest a different story. Note: these new "findings" in no way minimize the impact and legacy of the late Rosa Parks. Just food for thought!

The Man Behind Rosa Parks
New York Times
By Peter Applebome
Published: December 7, 2005

Signing Off

I think therefore I blog!

Ralph

Cigar Smokin Preacher!

Yesterday Kirk Franklin was a guest on the Oprah show where he revealed his long time struggle with pornography and his battle to overcome. One point of interest for me was an enocunter he described with his pastor:

"When I was 15, Kirks says he began getting serious about his faith and went to his pastor to talk about his struggle with pornography. "He sat back in his chair and he took a puff out of his cigar," Kirk remembers. "He said, 'Oh, you're young, you'll grow out of it.' He had no idea that he spoke death into my life. That shut me down because [I thought], 'Well, someday I'll grow out.' [Instead], I grew in and I grew in deep."

Can you imagine for a moment, had the conversation with his pastor gone another way, Kirk may have been on Oprah for entirely different reason. I see hundreds of young people every week and I want to "cut them at the pass" before they end up on Oprah describing how they almost lost their reputation, family and career because I (or some other pastor) was willing to settle for trite answers (about their issues) instead of being willing to do life with them and walk through the stuff!

Signing Off

I Think, Therefore I Blog!

Ralph

not invited to His own birthday party!

Last night, New York City officially kicked off the Christmas season with the annual tree lighting at Rockefeller Center. As I watched thousands of people scream, shout and wave, I wondered how many of them knew the Christ of Christmas. It's no suprise that Jesus has been snuffed out of our celebrations and not invited to his own bithday party...well from the begining. A census forced everyone back to their hometowns - old school traffic jam. There was no room in the inn for Joseph, Mary and Jesus. Today we have no room in our celebrations, no room in our lives and no room in our marketing camapigns. My friend Jeremy takes us back to the scene of the crime in an article entitled Barnyard Births in the City - you'll be suprised what he finds.

"The word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood."

John 1:14 The Message