Thank goodness we can read...

Who knew that there were so many books all devoted to spawning? I am sure there are tons more, but these are the ones we have...so far.

Of course we haven't read all of them, but my favorites are the six at the bottom of the picture. Allison has read "What to Expect When You're Expecting" the most.

Wanna Hear Something Cool?...

Allison brought a handheld doppler home from the hospital today so that we could listen to the baby's heartbeat. It is a pretty cool video. Enjoy...

Documenting Growth (22 Weeks)

Today marks week 22 of our incubation. Enjoy...

Is your drywall muddy? Mine is...

It's all about drywall in this entry. YES!

"The Room" with drywall, tape and mud (view #1)...


"The Room" with drywall, tape and mud (view #2)...


"The Room" with drywall, tape and mud (view #3)...

Big news...

I felt the baby move yesterday for the first time. It was very...different. I quickly got the video camera and recorded as much as I could (there was even sound).

See video below...

When the bough breaks...

We now have a cradle! Susan, one of our very good friends, gave us the cradle that she used for both of her boys. Allison brought it home tonight and we just couldn't resist putting it together.

I think it may be big enough to hold a blu-ray player?


As you can see, Allison thinks it can hold a blu-ray player too...

Yet Another Baby Room Update

I'm sure you guys are getting sick of seeing these baby room updates, but one must document everything!

"The Room" with dry-wall (view #1)...


"The Room" with dry-wall (view #2)...


"The Room" with dry-wall (view #3)...


Wait for more updates...I'm sure they will be here soon. :-)

Two Steps Forward...

Two steps forward...hopefully not one step back. Demolition has begun on the baby's room.

The contractor came by this morning and began the great excavation. I guess whenever you tear down walls that have been there for 67 years you should expect to find a few surprises. Freddy (the contractor) found a few when he ripped down the dry-wall in our quaint little home. The one thing that he didn’t find was insulation. I always knew that homes of this era usually didn’t have insulation in the walls, but it was still a shock to see the great void of nothingness. Other than the lack of insulation, a few areas of previous termite and other vermin infestation, he didn’t find anything major and what he did find didn't really surprise us. He did mention that the wiring in the house was 67 years old as well…go figure. He will fix the issues he found...hopefully at a cost that will not cause undue trauma to Allison’s bank account!

A picture mid demolition…


“The Room” gutted (view #1)…


“The Room” gutted (view #2)…


“The Room” gutted (view #3)…

A Realization…

I just realized something…this baby will completely disturb all order and civility of our home! In fact he has done so already. Allison and I cleaned out the front guest room tonight in preparation for the contractor to come on Tuesday to begin his work. All of the contents of the guest room and more importantly the guest room closet have now exploded all over the house. The office now has become a towering haven for the refugees of the guest bedroom. The plan is to purge…purge…purge. Allison and I are not sure if anyone needs a bin full of envelopes and another bin full of scotch tape!!! I blame Allison for all.

See the blog entry for August 2nd for the before...before pictures...

"The Room" cleaned out (view #1)...


"The Room" cleaned out (view #2)...


"The Room" cleaned out (view #3)...


"The Room" threw-up all over the office...

Gangsta Rap...I mean "wrap"..

We got the coolest thing in the mail today. Allison’s friend Terri (mother of Molly-see July 28th blog entry) sent the sweetest card and a “Maya Ring Wrap”. I don’t think it is a Blu-ray Player. I think it is a device that you carry the baby in. You guys be the judge.





I'm telling you...Pregnancy is like Christmas everyday!

Documenting Growth (20 Weeks)

We are officially half way. That is if the dude gestates for the full 40 weeks. I don't think he will for tax reasons.

Enjoy the 20th week picture...

The New Plan...the theme...

As I previously wrote, we started our baby registry and therefore we thought it would be a good idea to come up with a "theme" for the nursery. Allison's favorite bedding and such is shown below. Because I love her, it has now become my favorite too! :-)

The new baby room theme...


Imagine the bedding on the bed we like (see July 20th entry). This is just an example.

The Great Registering...

Today Allison and I officially started the baby registry process at Target and Babies-R-Us. It was an incredible experience that I will always remember and cherish for as long as I live. When I think of the hours we spent walking down aisle after aisle looking at every conceivable baby product imaginable, I almost get a little choked up. The main thing that I wanted to register for, and really the only thing that a baby boy in the 21st century needs, Allison would not let me put on either list. Therefore I have dedicated this blog entry to the item in question…

The Play Station 3…


The technical specifications are listed below. The most important technical specification being that it can be used as a Blu-Ray player.

Communication
Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) IEEE 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)
Wireless Controller Bluetooth (up to 7)

A/V Output
Screen size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
HDMI**: HDMI out - (x1 / HDMI)
Analog: AV MULTI OUT x 1
Digital audio: DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) x 1
Blu-ray/DVD/CD DRIVE "read only"

I/O
USB 2.0 X 2

Dimensions
Approximately 325mm (W) x 98mm (H) x 274mm (D)

Weight
Approximately 5 kg

CPU
Cell Broadband Engine™

GPU
RSX

Memory
256MB XDR Main RAM
256MB GDDR3 VRAM

I am trying to be sensible. I would NEVER want to frivolously throw our hard earned money away on a mere gaming system. I am of the opinion that a tool should have more than one use. Below is a small and abbreviated list of the uses for the Play Station 3 / Blu-Ray player.
1. Blu-Ray Player
2. Gaming System
3. Educational tool (when used in conjunction with educational Blu-Ray disks)
4. Baby-Sitter (pop in a Blu-Ray and the baby will be mesmerized by the beauty, elegance, and crispness of 1080P High Definition)
5. Work-out tool (the beauty, elegance and crispmess of 1080P High Definition increases blood circulation and quickens the heart)
6. Home Defense (when lobbed at intruders)
7. Home Décor (stylish in its simplicity…coordinates with our TV too)
8. Paper weight
9. Door-stop
10. Ballast (critical if ever in a submarine, surface sea going vessel or hot air balloon)

Sonogram Video

I tried to condense and label the video so all could enjoy. Hopefully the video isn't too compressed and the "details" can be seen. Enjoy!

It's a bird...a plane...it's a....

BOY!!!

Isn't that great. We went to the doctor this morning and our SON wasn't shy at all at showing his goods.

The proof...


The feet...


The face...


A Profile...


Another Profile...


Another Profile...


I'll have to convert the video of the sonogram so I can upload to the blog. When and if I can do that I'll upload it.

The Baby's Room (Before)

The future baby's room in our home has some "issues". Our home has all the character and problems of a home that was built in 1941. One of those problems is the guest bedroom (the baby's room). One of the previous owners decided it would be a good idea to completely upholster the walls. It looked very nice if you were going for that poorly decorated padded cell aesthetic. Not all the walls were padded though. In fact one wall was paneled and whitewashed to give it the very popular early American Tom Sawyer / Huckleberry Finn good old cheap look.

When I removed the fabric and the batting from the walls, the dry wall was in horrible shape. The only thing that my budget and handyman skills would allow at the time was to cover the wall with textured and paintable wallpaper. I also quickly painted the whitewashed paneling with a color that evidently no one likes but me!

Therefore, we have decided it is time to redo the room. We want to completely gut the room and insulate all four walls and put new drywall and trim back. Then Allison can decorate the room anyway she wants (maybe a Noah's Ark Theme). We have received two estimates and hope to get the thing done before the baby gets here...if our budget allows.

Below I’ve posted the "before" pictures. Hopefully I’ll be able to post the "after" pictures in a couple or three months.

"The Room" when I bought the house (view #1)...


"The Room" as it is today (view #1)...


"The Room" when I bought the house (view #2)...


"The Room" as it is today (view #2)...


"The Room" when I bought the house (view #3)...


"The Room" as it is today (view #3)...

More Free Stuff...

When I came home on Thursday night, Allison had evidently hit the mother-load...literally. She now has three big bins of maternity clothing as well as some pretty cool baby distracters...still no Blu-Ray though. :(

The Mother-load...


Baby Chair...


I really don't know what this is...but I am sure it will be useful...