Airport Woes

We are sitting in the Albuquerque airport waiting on a flight to Salt Lake. Of course, it's late. My rear end is getting sore (can't imagine how Becky is doing!) We are headed up to see my parents for a few days before the new year. We've been looking forward to going up for a few weeks now. They just completed their new house and moved in last week. They have moved a bunch since my brothers accident last May, and are looking forward to having a place to call home. I've been told that my job is to set up all the electronics.

We had a good Christmas. It is the first one that we have spent by ourselves. Becky's parents had planned on coming up Christmas Day and spending the night, but her Dad wasn't feeling very good so they had to miss it. We were disappointed, but enjoyed spending a relaxing day together. I asked for some geeky onesies for America for Christmas. Becky got me some blank ones, and I printed up some sayings on the 'puter and ironed them on. They turned out really well. I had tons of fun making them too. I made one for myself that says "New Dad". I'm supposed to wear it in the hospital when the little tyke is born. I want to make another one that says "Just call me George, I'm the father of America." I haven't run that one by Becky yet, so we'll see what she thinks about it.

I spent the past couple of days painting the nursery. It has turned out really well. A co-worker offered to help me with it in exchange for some coding help. It worked out well as I work much better when I have some company. We just painted it a creme color and are planning on putting a border of some kind on it. I want to do A's in different shapes and sizes. The other day I mentioned that we needed to get some pink paint for the border. Silly me, thinking we would have pink stuff in our little girls room. Apparently, "We are not using a bunch of pink." and "She's going to be a tomboy." We'll see what Dad has to say about that.'

Well the plane just showed up, only 30 minutes after we were supposed to leave! Have a great holiday, what's left of it!!

Scott's Survival Vest

Last weekend we went up to Farmington to visit Scott�s sister, Michelle and her family. We had a good time, even though we really didn�t do a whole lot. It was nice to be able to compare pregnancy stories and get her feelings on labor. (She gave birth to her second son yesterday morning.) We laughed a lot and wondered around with our bellies sticking out.

Since, we won�t see them for Christmas we decided to exchange gifts while we were there. They got Scott a daddy survival vest. It was a fishing vest with all the accessories that he might need when changing a diaper and a couple other things. The best things in there were a mask and surgical gloves. We plan on putting some pictures and possibly a video up of Scott and his vest.

The funny thing about this is I will probably be the one that needs the mask. I have a really weak stomach when it comes to smells and haven�t changed a whole lot of diapers in my life. I tease Scott that I am going to wait for him to get home when the diapers have #2 in them.

Time has slowed down it seems like. I think with the anticipation of quitting work and having the baby, I have done it to myself. The next couple of weeks should pick up. We are going to Utah next week to visit Scott�s parents and then in a couple weeks we plan on having our baby shower. (Don�t worry if you haven�t gotten an invitation yet. They haven�t been sent out.)

We hope that everybody has a Merry Christmas and a Great New Year!!

Semester Winding Down

Ahh, the semester is starting to wind down. It is so nice to start knocking down finals one by one. I have two left and then get a month off to finish my honey do list. Apparently Ami won't sleep well if the walls aren't painted a different color. (I'm just kidding, I'm looking forward to putting some time into getting the nursery ready.)

I have a favor to ask of anybody who has a few minutes. For one of my classes I worked with a team to create a web site. It is located at www.evoart.org. It is basically an attempt to create art by evolution. We take two images and "breed" them together to create a new image. The breeding is based on how popular an image is. It would be great if anybody could check it out, rate a few images, and let me know what you think. Thanks! Back to procrastinating my studying.

Birthing Class

As we are approaching our due date of February 13th, I have started to think about what labor might be like. I have had people tell me to go in with the idea of taking drugs as soon as possible to labor is a wonderful thing. So, I don't really think anybody can explain how my contractions are going to feel.



However, we just got home a couple of hours ago from our birthing class. The class has put me a little more at ease. At least now I know how my labor should progress and when we should call to let them know that we are on our way.



We did some relaxation techniques. Scott was really good at being my support person. I think if we practice some that it will really be beneficial to me. I am thinking of taking some relaxing music with us, so if any of you have any suggestions that would be great.



We've also started our gift registry at Target. Take a look if you are interested. Look carefully there are some special items on the list for Scott.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We hope everybody had a Happy Thanksgiving!! This year was a little bit different since we didn't have Thanksgiving with one of our families. We had Thanksgiving with one of our ward families. We had a good time. I ate way too much, though.

Since, everything is pushed up into my rib cage, there wasn't enough room for all that great food. The main thing that I have been suffering from is heart burn. Well, on Thanksgiving it really got bad after my three deserets. I ended up making myself sick.

I feel like my belly has doubled in size in the last couple of days. I finally have realized that I am really pregnant. I mean I know that I have been pregnant for the past seven months, but it really sunk in yesterday. I have started to feel a little uncomfortable and my belly gets in the way. Previous to this I pretty much went about things as I normally do. Pregnancy has hit home.

Too Practical

So I told Becky that we would go and buy an outfit for our baby if we found out what it was yesterday. So after the ultrasound, and posting some pictures, we headed to the stores. I don't think Becky wants me to pick out any baby clothes for Ami. I see small little pink clothes and imagine my daughter in them, and everything looks awesome. So I'm picking out stuff that Becky is just rolling her eyes about.



My wife being the very practical individual that she is wanted to buy something that we could use. She was looking at onesies (sp?) and little sweat pant type things. I kept giving her a hard time for being to practical. She said that it was good to be practical, and while I agree with that statement, the entire activity of purchasing clothes for a baby that is still more than 3 months from getting here is impractical! So therefore I argued, get something that is cute!



Becky was worried about buying too many clothes that are newborn size. The doctor said that Ami is a good size, not too big, not too small, but we know they grow like weeds. So we were wondering from those of you who have kids (or if you just have an opinion on the subject), what types of clothes were most useful to you in the first weeks and months? Becky is worried that we will buy a bunch of cute, frilly outfits and stuff, and then the kid will just be in a onesie and/or pajamas for the first 2 months. What worked for you?

It's a Girl!!

We just got done with our second ultrasound. We were very excited to find out that we are having a little baby girl. I am now officially in trouble. Becky has me jumping whenever she says, a little girl is going to be even worse. The technician was very confident in her declaration that it was a girl. We put a couple of new pictures of the ultrasound in the photo album, including one that shows we are having a girl! I am very excited about having a daughter to spoil. Michelle has already told me that she is going to get me a little 49ers cheerleader outfit. I have a feeling we are going to spend a ton of money on clothes before America even gets here.

Early Christmas

Becky and I are like little kids. We can never wait until Christmas to get or give each other our gifts. It seems like we, usually me, always know what we want and see no reason to wait to get it! Each year about this time, I start frothing at the mouth for whatever gadget or gizmo is hot that year. This year it is a digital camera. I have convinced Becky that it is "for the baby". I keep telling her, "Just think of the memories that we can capture, no money spent on film, and we can post the pictures to the website immediately!" I think she is excited about having one too. After a bunch of research and a handful of worthless salespeople, we ordered it online last night and hopefully it will be here early next week. After that, there will be tons of pictures in the photo album! I know it annoys my Mom when I put pictures up that aren't of Becky, so until I get my camera to take a picture of Becky, here's a picture of my camera!

Changes

As we anticipate the arrival of the little one more anxiety creeps into my mind. I can't help but think about how different my life will be. I won't get up every morning and go to work. Scott & I won't be able to go on date on the spur the moment. (We seem to plan everything else but those.) I'll have to think about somebody else's needs before mine. I think I already do that with Scott, but I can be selfish when I really want to be. Right now I don't have to do anything if I don't want to at a particular time. The baby is not going to wait until next week for its needs to be met.

I probably sound like a crazy woman, but it is all true. We'll be fine, but our lives will never be the same. It will be good in a different way.

Magical

It's been quite awhile since I have posted a blog. I apologize, but school has been keeping me busy. Becky probably won't agree, but this isn't her post! One of my classes is working on a project where we will create new pieces of art by "breeding" two other pieces. The pieces are selected by how popular they are, so we are trying to do a little bit of natural selection to see if we can come up with something that is universally attractive. It is pretty interesting, once we get something working I will post a link to it so anyone can check it out.

So it seems like the baby is getting more and more active. Almost any time I try and feel him, we don't know yet about the sex, but I always say him for some reason, I can. I ask Becky all the time how my baby is doing and more often now she tells me that he is kicking.

We went to the doctor on Monday. It was pretty much the same as usual. They did want to get Becky to take a flu shoot. She isn't too excited about it because she has never had one. We did hear the heart beat again, it too seems much stronger. You can have a listen if you want. You can also listen to the first recording of the heartbeat for comparison. We are looking forward to the next visit on Nov. 14th. We are doing our second ultrasound to see if the placenta has moved and if the kidneys have cleared up. We also hope we will be able to see the gender then. I'm afraid of all the clothes we will buy if we know the gender!

While I'm looking forward to the second ultrasound, that will mean we are entering the third trimester. That means more visits to the doctor and that this process will be over soon, and then the real adventure begins. I sure am looking forward to getting started. I kind of feel like the final strip of Calvin and Hobbes. It was sad that the strip was ending, but the strip itself indicated that the future was wide open.

(Click on it for a bigger version)

Balloon Fiesta

Nothing too exciting has happened since the last blog. We had a pretty busy weekend with going to the balloon fiesta and doing Saturday chores. We went to the balloon glow on Friday night. They always have a great firework show after the glow. Scott & gazed up into the sky looking at the fireworks for a while. I mentioned to him about walking and watching towards the end of the show so we could beat the mass crowd. He told me I�m not sure you are capable of doing that. I thought about it for a second and told him he was probably right. I had already almost taken one spill walking around in the dark that night and I wasn�t looking up in the sky. (We will be posting pictures from this event & the state fair tonight if I have anything to do with it.)

Everything else is going fine. We have our next doctor appointment on the 23^rd. I assume it will be a routine visit. I am starting to count the months until I am able to retire. I am excited about the fact of being able to stay home with the baby, but a little apprehensive since work is all I know. I am sure there will be a period of adjustment.

Scott's Hidden Obsession

I'm not sure who is going to be worse about buying stuff for the baby it doesn't really need. The other night we were at Kohl's looking around. Of course we had to check out the maternity and baby section. Kohl's is pretty smart they put them right next to one another.

They already have little Christmas outfits for sale. Scott was discussing the idea of how cute it would be if they had a Santa outfit for him and a little elf outfit for the baby. I advised him that our baby won't even be born yet at Christmas time.

Then, last night we were doing our midnight grocery shopping at Walmart and as we are walking through the baby section Scott says really loudly that we will need to get a 49er's baby bag. Not that they have them there, but to get a reaction from some ladies standing down the isle. They giggled.

Maybe it is good that we don't know what sex our baby is or our house would be filled up to the rim by the time the baby is born.

Reality Setting In

I know that I won't fully understand the impact that our new addition will have on our lives until he is here, but I think that some reality is starting to set in. Up to this point it has been looking for names, new clothes, painting, and in general having fun trying to anticipate the changes we will need to make. I guess today a little bit of reality has begun to set in. Don't get me wrong, I am still very excited about what this new baby will add to our lives, but it is a little bit frightening thinking about the lifestyle we will be giving up. We can pretty much come and go as we please, just have to make sure the animals have food and water. We can eat on the couch without worrying about what kind of example we are setting for one another. I can watch football do homework until all hours of the night and only have to worry about how tired I will be the next day.



My boss recommended that sometime in February Becky and I have a final night out on the town, because it will be the last one we have in awhile. I was listening to a comedian talk about how he would rather shovel manure all day than take care of three kids. He said that, "the manure will at least work with you." I began to think, now that's a bit ridiculous, it can't be that hard. Then I realized that was thinking exactly the thing that people with kids laugh about thinking before they have kids. Can it really be that hard?



However, as I think about all that I will be giving up, I also thought about all that will be gaining. I think of seeing Tristen, my nephew, and the joy he brings to his parents, and everyone around him. I think of how much my friends smile and laugh when they talk about their kids. I'm sure that it will be frustrating and make for some long nights, but the rewards will be worth it (they'd better be or I'm holding all of you responsible for telling me so). I guess it's just part of growing up.

Ultrasound

Yesterday was a pretty eventful day for us. It was our five month appointment along with an ultrasound. Pictures don't do an ultrasound justice. I didn't realize the details that you can see. They did an extensive review of the baby. We know our baby has two arms, two legs, five fingers on at least one hand, two hands, two feet, a heart with four chambers, two kidneys, a bladder, a spinal column, lips, eyes, nose, and...the sex is still up for discussion.

The sex is a mystery. Our technician said that she didn't see any boy parts but she didn't see the genital area well enough to be able to indicate the sex of the baby. After all this Scott tells me that he has wanted to know all along but was giving me a hard time. (What am I going to with him!?!)

They pointed out a couple of things that they want to keep an eye before I deliver. I have a low lying placenta, which means it could obstruct the passage way for the baby to come down the birthing canal. Nobody is too concerned about. They said that I have enough time for my uterus to grow and pull it up away from the cervix, but would like to check on it in the 7th month. That means we get another ultrasound and another chance to see if the baby will perform for us to see the sex. (Yeah!) It almost seemed like the technician was like, "oh, it looks like this is a little low and we don't the sex, so we will do another ultrasound." However if it doesn't move up then I would have to have C-Section.

As far as the baby it seems to be developing normally. They did mention that the tubes coming from the kidneys looked like they maybe backed up. This could mean that it hadn't gone to the bathroom in a while. The doctor said the majority of the time the baby is born normal and is something to mention to the pediatrician if it appears next time in the ultrasound.

I'm not sure if Scott was more excited about being able to see the baby or the technology. The look on his face was like a ten year old going to Disneyland. He especially got excited when we could make out the baby chewing. (It moved a lot more than that, but it was that specific movement that you could tell what it was doing.)

Overall we had a good experience and look forward to the next one.

Pics of the Baby

Becky is going to write an entry about our experience with the ultrasound, but as proud future father, it is my right to pass around the photos! So here they are. They are all very similar, you can see the baby's head on the left, looks like a skull, and then the body on the right. The tech said our baby was very photogenic (he said beaming with pride). Click on the picture to get a larger view and view the others in the photo album.

Algorithms Everywhere

Becky was feeling sick on Tuesday. She was feeling vertigo again. We found out that she was pregnant because of her vertigo. We flew up to visit my Mom and Dad for Memorial Day, and about a week after the flight she started to have vertigo. It lasted about a week, and at the worst of it we thought it might be because she was pregnant. We had her take a test and it was positive. We don't think that the vertigo was related to the pregnancy, but rather the flight. This round came about the same amount of time after we flew to Phoenix. (I know the 49ers lost, but they looked much better than I feared.)



Anyway, the vertigo returned this Tuesday. She started feeling bad on Monday night and by Tuesday it was full blown head spinning. Becky took the day off from work and was not looking forward to spending a week watching the room spin. Our home teacher had some wristbands that he let her use. Supposedly, they work by acupuncture or rather acupressure. His wife gets vertigo when she travels and they help her, so he said to give it a shot. It seemed to do the trick. She woke up the next day and was able to go to work. She wore the wristbands most of the day on Wednesday just to be sure, but they seemed to have worked. Whether they actually worked, or it was only psychological, we are grateful that she is feeling better.



Last night we were moving bookshelves in order to make room for a nursery and we found a baby name book. We still aren't sure where it came from. Finding it prompted me to want to decide on a name for a boy. Because we have been all over the map on names I thought that we could take a different approach. So I started reading names out of the book and we made a list of the ones we liked. We came up with about 20-25 names. Then we each rated them with a 1, 5, or 10. Then we went on the Social Security website and found out the popularity for each name last year. Using a little bit of math, we were able to eliminate all but 5 of the names. It was fun to apply a simple algorithm to narrow down the choices. Becky thinks I'm nuts, but I don't care. You can't expect me to go to school and learn how to define and solve problems mathematically without applying to other things.



So today we have 6 names (one more snuck in there). We decided to post them and see what everyone thought. They are, in no particular order:

• Aiden


• Parker


• Alex


• Benjamin (Still surviving, though looking weak)


• Jonathan


• Preston

The middle name will be Scott for all of them, the kid will be version 2.0 after all. Write a comment and let us know which one you prefer! Becky read something that said in order to pick your baby's name, go to the park and yell it at the top of your lungs. If you don't feel dumb doing it, then it's a good name. So look for us at the park tonight yelling like idiots!

State Fair Time

It's the most wonderful time of the year, turkey legs, roasted corn, funnel cakes, everything fried imaginable, and freaks that only come out at the fair. (And you thought I was talking about Christmas.) Side note, they should really get the people for "What Not to Wear" from the fair. There are plenty to choose from.

This past weekend we went to the State Fair with Scott's sister, Michelle and our favorite nephew, Tristen. Michelle is expecting too. She is six weeks ahead of me. It was pretty comical to walk around together with Scott being the only guy in the group. People couldn't quite figure out how we all fit together. Some probably thought Scott was a stud hanging around two pregnant women. At one point we stopped to watch a street magician and he asked Michelle about her husband next to her. It would be difficult for husband to be next to her since he was in the Socorro area hunting for oryx. Nope, it was just her brother. We will be posting pictures once we get them developed of this great event and our bellies.

Very Photogenic

Becky and I added a bunch of photos to the photo album from our trip this past weekend. We also added a new category on the photo album. The first category will contain new photos. They will remain in that category for 10 days. Hope you like them!

Give a High Kick!!

Well, everything turned out ok with my urinary tract. I was advised to do exercises for my back. Heck, I won�t call the doctor anymore to complain about anything if they are going to tell me to exercise.

We had a great time in Phoenix. (We will be posting more pictures of our trip as time allows.) We ate too much and hung out with crazy Cardinal fans (not by choice, assigned seating). Probably one of the highlights was Scott being able to feel the baby kick for the first time. I haven�t felt it kick before or after like it did, but there was no mistaking it. Scott proceeded to talk to it and tell it that they were watching football.

I tell you my husband is obsessed. Since preseason started all I have heard is the roar of a football game from the TV. I don�t mind an occasional game, but with the NFL on ESPN it seems like there is a game on every night or it might be the fact that we have a DVR. I can�t believe I agreed to this.

Anyhow, I did enjoy myself at the game and even cheered. I should have had a notebook to write down the strategies that Scott was explaining to me. Previously I just assumed certain players have a job to block and the other ones run out there and try to catch the ball and if no one is open you run the ball yourself. Come to find out there is a lot more to it. By the time the season is over maybe I will become obsessed.

Homework? Nope, vacation!

Apparently if I don't post an entry, Becky won't either. School has been going well. Classes are starting to get up to full speed. I've been having some fun in my Software Engineering class. The lecture is pretty dry and boring, but each member of the class gets to propose a project for the semester and then we select 3 or 4 to work on. I have an idea for a new type of real estate web site. My Dad doesn't think too much of it because it would compete with Realtors. It will be interesting to see what other projects are proposed by my classmates. Our professor said that he was truly suprised at the uniqueness of some of our ideas.



Things have been more stressful because my laptop is having hard drive problems. I can't believe how much I rely on that dumb thing. I sent it in to get repaired and it has been a very stressful week. I have had to revert to using our old desktop computer. It is functional, but I will be glad to get my laptop back next week.



Things are still going along fine with the pregnancy. I think we have been blessed to have such an uneventful (knock on wood) experience. Although, today Becky contacted the Doctor because she has been feeling some pain in her kidney area. I don't know if all wives are like this, but Becky is a hypochondriac. Any pain or strange discomfort and she is convinced that she has some terrible disease or infection. In this case, I am very glad that she contacted the doctor. I guess you can never be too careful when you are pregnant. The doctor sent her to give some urine samples and gave her a prescription for some antibiotics. Hopefully it is nothing, we will get the results back from the test on Monday.



In the meantime we are going on a mini-vacation! I had a coworker offer me some tickets to the opening game between the Cardinals and 49ers. It will be my first regular season 49ers game. It will also be in the brand-spankin' new Cardinals stadium. The field is retractable! It is pretty cool. I am extremely excited. We are flying to Pheonix tomorrow and then back after the game. We will post some pictures when we get back. Go 9ers!!!

Artist drawing of Cardinals new stadium.

Fat Girl in a Little Skirt

The other day I asked Scott if I looked pregnant or fat. He gave me this blank stare. So, I proceeded with, "Fat, huh?" He still didn't give a verbal answer. I am still wearing some of my normal clothes and they tend to make you look on the chubby side instead of cute & pregnant.



We did break down and go to Motherhood a week or two ago. (I was able to get Scott to go with me with out bribing him with ice cream.) I tried on a couple of shirts and the first one I came out with Scott said you look pregnant, which I took as a compliment. The second time I was in the dressing room I realized that there was a pillow I could strap to myself to see how my expanding belly will look in a couple months. I giggled to myself that would be a great trick to play on Scott. When I came out the dressing room this time his eyes just about bulged out of his head until he realized what I had done. I looked like I should be giving birth any day. You have to have fun with this stuff, or you will cry, right?

50-50 Split

School started this week for me and has been going pretty good. I have some classes that I am really interested in, which always makes the semester better. It sure will be a busy semester though.



We went to the doctor yesterday for our third appointment. We heard the heartbeat again, and for whatever reason we both were much more excited about it. It may have been the nurse who did it, we like her better than the nurse we had last time. I recorded it this time as well. It probably isn�t that exciting for anyone but us and the quality isn't that great, but if you can hear it if you want to. Becky�s heartbeat is also in the recording, anything to get into the act! The baby�s heartbeat is faster and more prominent in most of the recording. In one part we lose the baby�s heartbeat for a few seconds; it�s just the nurse moving the Doppler around to get a better sound.



There is also one spot where there is a little �thump� about 10 seconds into the recording. The nurse said that this is the baby moving. I think that may have also been what got us more excited about hearing it this time. Becky thinks that she can feel the baby move already from time to time. I keep telling her that there is no way she is feeling it already, and the doctor said yesterday that she would be very surprised if she had felt any movement this early on. In spite of my skepticism and the doctor�s, I hope she is feeling movement, and she probably is. What do I know about being pregnant or how it feels? And the description the doctor gave for what it feels like is exactly what Becky has been describing. Even the motion the doctor used to demonstrate how it would feel is the same as what Becky did to me to show me what she was feeling. I think I�m just jealous that I can�t feel it and until I can, I feel its my duty to give her a hard time about it. If she has a problem with it, she can blame my Dad; I learned everything I know from him.



So we have another controversy brewing. From the get go we have said that we wanted to know what the baby�s sex is. It will make planning for the baby easy and we can purchase some clothing before the baby is born (we need to know whether to get a 49er�s jersey or a 49er�s cheerleading outfit). I�ve been having feelings lately that I don�t want to know, I think it would fun to be surprised. I said that to Becky yesterday, and she is having none of it. The doctor mentioned again that if they can determine the sex during the ultrasound at our next visit, they can tell us. We chuckled a little bit because we had been discussing it while waiting for her to come in. She said, �Well it�s your decision.� I mentioned that in our marriage rather than the ideal 50-50 split on decision making, ours was more like 70-30, and I was not the 70. Becky said, �Do you really think that is how it is?� To which I responded, �Do you really think it isn�t�? I will probably lose out on this decision as well, all Becky has to do is bat her eyelashes and she gets what she wants. So I�m looking for a little support, those of you who have add children (or just have an opinion on the subject, in my family experience is not required to have an opinion) did you prefer to find out or to be surprised?

50-50 Split

School started this week for me and has been going pretty good. I have some classes that I am really interested in, which always makes the semester better. It sure will be a busy semester though.



We went to the doctor yesterday for our third appointment. We heard the heartbeat again, and for whatever reason we both were much more excited about it. It may have been the nurse who did it, we like her better than the nurse we had last time. I recorded it this time as well. It probably isn�t that exciting for anyone but us and the quality isn't that great, but if you can hear it if you want to. Becky�s heartbeat is also in the recording, anything to get into the act! The baby�s heartbeat is faster and more prominent in most of the recording. In one part we lose the baby�s heartbeat for a few seconds; it�s just the nurse moving the Doppler around to get a better sound.



There is also one spot where there is a little �thump� about 10 seconds into the recording. The nurse said that this is the baby moving. I think that may have also been what got us more excited about hearing it this time. Becky thinks that she can feel the baby move already from time to time. I keep telling her that there is no way she is feeling it already, and the doctor said yesterday that she would be very surprised if she had felt any movement this early on. In spite of my skepticism and the doctor�s, I hope she is feeling movement, and she probably is. What do I know about being pregnant or how it feels? And the description the doctor gave for what it feels like is exactly what Becky has been describing. Even the motion the doctor used to demonstrate how it would feel is the same as what Becky did to me to show me what she was feeling. I think I�m just jealous that I can�t feel it and until I can, I feel its my duty to give her a hard time about it. If she has a problem with it, she can blame my Dad; I learned everything I know from him.



So we have another controversy brewing. From the get go we have said that we wanted to know what the baby�s sex is. It will make planning for the baby easy and we can purchase some clothing before the baby is born (we need to know whether to get a 49er�s jersey or a 49er�s cheerleading outfit). I�ve been having feelings lately that I don�t want to know, I think it would fun to be surprised. I said that to Becky yesterday, and she is having none of it. The doctor mentioned again that if they can determine the sex during the ultrasound at our next visit, they can tell us. We chuckled a little bit because we had been discussing it while waiting for her to come in. She said, �Well it�s your decision.� I mentioned that in our marriage rather than the ideal 50-50 split on decision making, ours was more like 70-30, and I was not the 70. Becky said, �Do you really think that is how it is?� To which I responded, �Do you really think it isn�t�? I will probably lose out on this decision as well, all Becky has to do is bat her eyelashes and she gets what she wants. So I�m looking for a little support, those of you who have add children (or just have an opinion on the subject, in my family experience is not required to have an opinion) did you prefer to find out or to be surprised?

My Husband Thinks I am Crazy!!

Well, for the past couple of days Scott has told me that I am not thinking right. Normally Scott and I have different opinions on how to communicate, but since Thursday the gap has widen. We can be discussing ideas as simple as baby furniture or directions to a place and we don't understand each other. I think I am making myself perfectly clear but in Scott's scientific brain he doesn't understand what I am saying. Needless to say this has become very frustrating to me. So, I think from now on I will talk to him in very detailed sentences as if I had a six year asking why after everything I say. He probably won't like this either but too bad.

Other than that, Scott will be starting school on Monday. Yay!! I am happy that we will be one more semester closer to him being finished with his bachelors. He plans on eventually getting his masters, but we'll take one step at a time. Baby steps.

My Husband Thinks I am Crazy!!

Well, for the past couple of days Scott has told me that I am not thinking right. Normally Scott and I have different opinions on how to communicate, but since Thursday the gap has widen. We can be discussing ideas as simple as baby furniture or directions to a place and we don't understand each other. I think I am making myself perfectly clear but in Scott's scientific brain he doesn't understand what I am saying. Needless to say this has become very frustrating to me. So, I think from now on I will talk to him in very detailed sentences as if I had a six year asking why after everything I say. He probably won't like this either but too bad.

Other than that, Scott will be starting school on Monday. Yay!! I am happy that we will be one more semester closer to him being finished with his bachelors. He plans on eventually getting his masters, but we'll take one step at a time. Baby steps.

Naming Conventions

Becky is experiencing many changes. Each day she examines her belly, hoping that it will be a little bit bigger. It's very strange to see a woman who wants to have her waistline increase! I think she either wants to be pregnant and fully showing right away, or not have any change at all. Between the two of us, it will be a miracle if our kids have any patience at all.

She also has some interesting emotional swings. Becky usually is pretty reserved and doesn't have many mood swings. However, since the pregnancy she will start crying for no reason. As I look at her to try and figure out what I can do to comfort her, she will usually start laughing because she doesn't know why she is crying. It is great that she takes it all in stride and that we can usually chuckle about it after a few minutes.

I thought that we have had the names picked out for our baby for several months now. We had been trying to get pregnant for almost a year, so we talked a lot about names. For a girl (which I am hoping for, but I think it will be a boy) we have decided on America Jean Griffin, Ami for short. Everyone looks at us like we are crazy when we say, "We are going to name our baby America". But we don't care. We really like the name and a few months after we choose it, we found out that I actually have a female ancestor with the name of America Griffin. Ironically, the name comes from my Mom's side of the family. It endeared the name even more to us. If the baby is a boy we had decided on the name Benjamin Scott Griffin. Until a few weeks ago I thought that we had settled on these names. Then Becky tells me that there was some creepy guy she knew her first or second year of college with the name of Benjamin, so it seems that we will have to start over looking for a boy's name. I really like Benjamin but I got a list of 'prospective names' in my email today from my beautiful bride, so it seems that we haven't settled on it.

When we first got married I told Becky that I wanted to name my first son Luke. She liked the name and tentatively agreed to it. When I told her why, she changed her mind. I told her that if my son was named Luke, I would be able to say, "Luke, I am your father." Needless to say, that name was rejected pretty quick after that! But I hear that typically the father fills out the birth certificate paperwork, and I will give the blessing in Church, so I think I have the final say.

Naming Conventions

Becky is experiencing many changes. Each day she examines her belly, hoping that it will be a little bit bigger. It's very strange to see a woman who wants to have her waistline increase! I think she either wants to be pregnant and fully showing right away, or not have any change at all. Between the two of us, it will be a miracle if our kids have any patience at all.

She also has some interesting emotional swings. Becky usually is pretty reserved and doesn't have many mood swings. However, since the pregnancy she will start crying for no reason. As I look at her to try and figure out what I can do to comfort her, she will usually start laughing because she doesn't know why she is crying. It is great that she takes it all in stride and that we can usually chuckle about it after a few minutes.

I thought that we have had the names picked out for our baby for several months now. We had been trying to get pregnant for almost a year, so we talked a lot about names. For a girl (which I am hoping for, but I think it will be a boy) we have decided on America Jean Griffin, Ami for short. Everyone looks at us like we are crazy when we say, "We are going to name our baby America". But we don't care. We really like the name and a few months after we choose it, we found out that I actually have a female ancestor with the name of America Griffin. Ironically, the name comes from my Mom's side of the family. It endeared the name even more to us. If the baby is a boy we had decided on the name Benjamin Scott Griffin. Until a few weeks ago I thought that we had settled on these names. Then Becky tells me that there was some creepy guy she knew her first or second year of college with the name of Benjamin, so it seems that we will have to start over looking for a boy's name. I really like Benjamin but I got a list of 'prospective names' in my email today from my beautiful bride, so it seems that we haven't settled on it.

When we first got married I told Becky that I wanted to name my first son Luke. She liked the name and tentatively agreed to it. When I told her why, she changed her mind. I told her that if my son was named Luke, I would be able to say, "Luke, I am your father." Needless to say, that name was rejected pretty quick after that! But I hear that typically the father fills out the birth certificate paperwork, and I will give the blessing in Church, so I think I have the final say.

Pitter Patter

A couple of weeks ago we went to our second doctors appointment and everything seems to be progressing perfectly. At the first doctors visit they advised us that we would probably be able to hear the babies heart beat at our next visit. The doctor built it up as a life changing experience. She said, "It makes the dads cry and as a couple you realize that this is real." We anxiously awaited our next appointment to hear the wonderful sound of our babies heart.

Scott brought the camcorder to record my reaction. He didn't realize that I would be partially naked. But there wasn't much to record anyway. Our baby performed at a wonderful 164 beats per minute. Somehow that didn't impress us. We both looked at each other, so that's what it sounds like. We were puzzled for days as to why we weren't ecstatic. We still haven't figured it out. I think maybe it was shock!!

Pitter Patter

A couple of weeks ago we went to our second doctors appointment and everything seems to be progressing perfectly. At the first doctors visit they advised us that we would probably be able to hear the babies heart beat at our next visit. The doctor built it up as a life changing experience. She said, "It makes the dads cry and as a couple you realize that this is real." We anxiously awaited our next appointment to hear the wonderful sound of our babies heart.

Scott brought the camcorder to record my reaction. He didn't realize that I would be partially naked. But there wasn't much to record anyway. Our baby performed at a wonderful 164 beats per minute. Somehow that didn't impress us. We both looked at each other, so that's what it sounds like. We were puzzled for days as to why we weren't ecstatic. We still haven't figured it out. I think maybe it was shock!!

Changing Definitions

We have had some fun, and some funny, experiences during our pregnancy. One of the more humorous ones happened as we were getting ready to go to a family reunion at the start of July. Typically when we go out of town we will stop and get something to eat as we leave town. There are too many incidents involving ham sandwiches on the road in my family for us to risk taking our own food.

Anyway, as we were getting ready, Becky indicated that she was hungry. I told her okay, and in my mind thought that we would stop at McDonalds or something as we usually do. A few minutes later, she told me again that she was hungry. I said okay and thought, "I know, we are going to stop". Apparently I didn't get the memo about the change in defintion of "I'm hungry" because after another couple of minutes Becky looked at me and said, "Either go get me a breakfast burrito or make some eggs, now!"

Needless to say I made some eggs and since then have been very careful to always have something to eat and drink close at hand.

Changing Definitions

We have had some fun, and some funny, experiences during our pregnancy. One of the more humorous ones happened as we were getting ready to go to a family reunion at the start of July. Typically when we go out of town we will stop and get something to eat as we leave town. There are too many incidents involving ham sandwiches on the road in my family for us to risk taking our own food.

Anyway, as we were getting ready, Becky indicated that she was hungry. I told her okay, and in my mind thought that we would stop at McDonalds or something as we usually do. A few minutes later, she told me again that she was hungry. I said okay and thought, "I know, we are going to stop". Apparently I didn't get the memo about the change in defintion of "I'm hungry" because after another couple of minutes Becky looked at me and said, "Either go get me a breakfast burrito or make some eggs, now!"

Needless to say I made some eggs and since then have been very careful to always have something to eat and drink close at hand.

Announcement

On June 3rd we found out that we are expecting a baby. We were a day short of 4 weeks. The only reason we found out so early is that I was experiencing some dizziness that I couldn't explain. So, we decided that we would take a test. I couldn't even get too excited about it because my dizziness felt like the room was spinning anytime I moved my head. Come to find out I was experiencing vertigo. My dizziness had nothing to do with being pregnant. Thank goodness. I didn't want to be pregnant if it did, because surely I couldn't handle this for nine months.

So, far I have had a pretty easy pregnancy. I haven't had any morning sickness. I get nauseous occasionally but haven't thrown up once. I'm tired. I hear that that should be over soon. I am 11 weeks tomorrow. Only 2 or 3 more weeks and I will be through the 1st trimester.

Our second doctors appointment is Monday. We are expecting to be able to hear the heartbeat for the first time. We are excited!! Maybe than it will seem more real.

It might be a little more real to Scott since I have been acting strange. I will let him tell you from his prospective some of the funny things that have happened and then reply with my imbalanced hormone side.

Announcement

On June 3rd we found out that we are expecting a baby. We were a day short of 4 weeks. The only reason we found out so early is that I was experiencing some dizziness that I couldn't explain. So, we decided that we would take a test. I couldn't even get too excited about it because my dizziness felt like the room was spinning anytime I moved my head. Come to find out I was experiencing vertigo. My dizziness had nothing to do with being pregnant. Thank goodness. I didn't want to be pregnant if it did, because surely I couldn't handle this for nine months.

So, far I have had a pretty easy pregnancy. I haven't had any morning sickness. I get nauseous occasionally but haven't thrown up once. I'm tired. I hear that that should be over soon. I am 11 weeks tomorrow. Only 2 or 3 more weeks and I will be through the 1st trimester.

Our second doctors appointment is Monday. We are expecting to be able to hear the heartbeat for the first time. We are excited!! Maybe than it will seem more real.

It might be a little more real to Scott since I have been acting strange. I will let him tell you from his prospective some of the funny things that have happened and then reply with my imbalanced hormone side.