Registries....

Welcome to week 22! This has been an exciting week or two. We started with the trip to the furniture store. Who would have thought that there were so many kinds of cribs? After our trip to Babies-R-Us and Ira was denied every attempt to get something sports related anywhere close to the registry the furniture was not going to be much of a battle. Simple, classic, but Ira was not going to leave that store without the glider and matching ottoman!!!! You melt into this chair and no amount of screaming baby will get you out of it. I presume that the screaming baby will be in the chair with us most of the time that we are in the chair, but who knows.

Next it was time for the registering. Under the presumption that the baby registry is no where near as fun as the wedding registry, Ira went to work and and I was off to the store with some experienced help. I must thank my dear friend Rachelle for putting up with me during this ordeal. She and I spent a few hours at Babies-r-us and Target registering for all the baby essentials. Have to say the advice from my friends and family who are already moms and the research I did before heading to the stores really helped.

Squirt is starting to get more active, so the flutters are more frequent. We are still waiting for that first big kick. Squirt is trying as hard as a little guy in his position can to talk to us though. Mommy asks for a little activity down south and all of a sudden the little guy is moving around. We'll have to wait and see if he takes to commands this well when he is on the outside too.

I started taking a pregnancy water aerobics class. Such a great workout and I get to hang out the other moms-to-be! (I have so many comments that I could put here but all have been censored. Squirt's momma has reinforced the old adage, "if you have nothing nice to say then don't type anything at all".

Daddies-R-Us?

Like any expectant parents, this past Sunday we headed off to the local Babies-R-Us to check things out. During the almost 2 hours spent in the store I was able to make several observations which I will share with you below:

1. It is amazing how you can shop for nothing and still feel like you just spent way too much money.

2. No matter how many advanced degrees you might have (Mel and I have a combined 3 higher education degrees and 1 CPA certification) it will never prepare you for the test of collapsing a stroller in the middle of a store with other dads-to-be watching out of the corner of their eye to see if they are the only one who can't do it.

3. Don't let anyone tell you differently, they make diaper bags that won't make you look like a moron carrying it around the mall. But does it really matter...everyone sees you with the child in tow, so isn't the diaper bag expected?

4. Don't be afraid to ask the other people around you in the store for their opinion. Many of them already have children and are full of insights beyond what you would ever think about.

5. Said another way, learn from all of the extra money they have spent that hopefully you won't.

6. If one of these individuals has several tatoos and when asked about the difference between different strollers replies, "this one rocks!", you should turn and run from this individual immediately!

7. I have a feeling that we all look scared for a reason!

What am I?

Today was sonogram day. After a night of tossing and turning in anticipation for the big day, mommy and daddy headed off to the doctor's office bright and early. Almost immediately once the sonogram was started we got this picture of the baby's head. It is amazing how much the baby has grown since the first sonogram we had and Squirt was only the size of my fingernail.


(This is a profile of Squirt's noggin)

As you can see from the next picture below that Squirt has certainly grown since the last time we got a little sneak preview. Squirt is now approximately 8 to 10 inches long and weights about 1 pound. Everything is coming along smoothly and all is accounted for as evidenced below from head to toe.



(Those are feet on the left and for some reason in this shot Squirt thought that a finger in the eye was a good idea.)

At this point the anticipation was killing us so I am sure that by now you are wondering what I am. When Squirt was done swimming around for a minute the tech was able to get a good shot from below and...



(The doctor assured us that was not an arm in this shot...or as Grandpa Ray put it so eloquently...there is a stem on the apple.)

That's right, Squirt is definitely a boy as we got to see several shots of the family jewels. The doctor said that the baby is normal, healthy, and doing just great. As the machine was about to get shut down, Squirt gave a little thumb's up to let us know that all is going well down below.



(yes, that is the arm again)

Movin' around

Am now at week 20 and for the past week or so, I have been feeling Squirt making the flutter movements everyone and the books said I would feel. Tomorrow we find out if Squirt is a boy or a girl. Then, the baby planning can really begin!