Getting Ready For Baby!!!

12/26/12

This baby stuff is suddenly becoming more real by the day!!!  Laura's baby bump is sooooo adorable...she is definitely one hot mama!!!  And...now that the baby room is painted, we're ready to start the transformation into a home with a baby!!!

 

 

Today was a pretty productive day for this daddy-to-be!  I'm on break from school for the next week, so I had planned for a while to get some stuff done to get ready for baby.  While Laura was working Christmas Eve morning, I put the first coat of paint on in the baby room.  Today, I finished with the final coat.  Of course, I'm a guy and wasn't thinking, but I forgot to take a "before" picture to compare once all the work is done transforming our old office into the baby room.  The huge corner desk is now gone.  The battleship gray walls are now tan, and the futon is now re-positioned as a couch and no longer a bed.

With the help of our family, we received some money for Christmas that will be used to help pay for the baby's crib.  Laura ordered it last night and we should have it in the next week.  It's a pretty cool crib with a changing table attached to it.  Underneath the changing table, there are some drawers and shelves to store stuff.  With any luck, this will be the last piece of bed furniture we'll need to buy our child; there are extra accessories to purchase that convert the crib into a bed for little kids and a full-size bed later in life!

To top off my productive day, I did some rearranging in our downstairs family room...all while Laura was back to work today!!!  For the first time since we bought our house, we now have a couch and TV in the main room downstairs...as we had planned to do for a long time now!!!  It's not necessarily going to stay in this arrangement, but for right now, the TV, VCR and DVD player are plugged in and we can watch movies if we want.  A couple of weeks ago, Laura found some fabric at a store and made some drapes/curtains (What's the difference, by the way?!?!) that I hung as well.  So...almost 4 years after moving in...our house, and our lives are taking shape in the way we had thought they would long ago!!! 

 

 

And my final idea for this entry...Christmas will be very different next year!!!  We had Laura's family over for Christmas...Grandparents, brother and girlfriend and their 2 big dogs, and her parents.  Next year, we'll have a little one that will take all the attention away from the 3 wild beasts...and with any luck, people will not spend as much money on us, and will spoil the kid!!!  By this time next year, baby will be almost 9 months old, so I'm curious where he/she'll be with their development?!  Will it be babbling and jabbering?  Will it be crawling all over the place?!  Will it also enjoy my experimental recipes over the holidays?!  The one thing I know will definitely happen at this time next year...Laura will be drinking champagne while helping host the family!!!

Thanks again for reading my Daddy Diary.  As always, we appreciate your thoughts/prayers/wishes you send us!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...

12/18/12

Laura and I just got home from our 25 week check up, and we're happy to report that all is going well!!!  Both mom and baby are healthy and doing great!  The heart beat is very strong (and actually sounds more like a heart beat now, rather than quick "swooshes").  I've heard it several times now since we found out we were expecting back in July, and it's still the coolest sound in the world!!!  Farrrrrr better than a favorite song, friends laughing, gun shots on opening morning of deer hunting, a cold beer being cracked open after mowing the lawn, or sweet words from a loved one!!!

The decisions I referred to in the title is our decision on whether or not we still want to find out if we're having a boy or a girl.  Our doctor brought up the topic again tonight and asked us what we'd like to do.  She said if we want, she could order another ultrasound for us.  Previously, we were told there has to be a medical reason in order for this to happen, but judging by her comments tonight we feel she would be willing to order an ultrasound just to check things out if we'd like.  Then, indirectly, we'd hopefully find out what we're having.  I think I've mentioned previously how Laura has a moral road block in the way of taking this route simply because her previous job in neck and back rehab, she saw a lot of insurance companies covering BS medical procedures that weren't necessary.  So, now that we're getting towards the end of the time window of when it's easy to find out  what our baby is, we're forced with another decision to make.  Fortunately, all things being considered, this is a very easy decision and it's not a critical decision for us to make as new parents because our baby's health is not at stake. 

This new development tonight has me thinking and getting a little bit of perspective as a new parent.  I'm now making decisions about another life besides my own.  And like I said, this first decision we're making, is not too important in the grand scheme of things.  Some day, we'll look back on this "big" decision and probably laugh because it's very small in comparison to decisions we'll be making in the future!

On an unrelated note, to wrap up this post, I'd like to revisit my last post about the Sandyhook school shootings.  Everyone seems to be wondering what they can do to remember the lives lost and to memorialize them and so on.  Tonight I saw something that is apparently growing in popularity in the last day or so.  "26 Acts" it's being called, meaning perform 26 acts of kindness for others in honor/memory of the 26 individuals who lost their lives last Friday, Dec 14.  A former colleague of mine said that she is writing 26 individual letters to students she feels she needs to make better connections with.  She has half of them complete and delivered those today, and they were met with mixed responses from her middle schoolers; some confused, some grateful, some happy, and others frightened!!!  How can you find a way to complete your "26 acts?"  I'll keep you posted on mine...

Until the next posting, thanks for checking out my Daddy Diary.  And, as always, Laura, baby and I greatly appreciate your best wishes/thoughts/prayers you send our way!

School Shooting: Perspective from a teacher and dad (to be)

12/14/12

I'll start this post by expressing my sincere best wishes, thoughts and prayers to those affected by the school shooting today in Connecticut.  If for some reason you live under a rock and haven't heard, 28 people were killed in an elementary school, 20 of those were kids.  Info is still being gathered, but so far, it's been determined that the shooter shot his mom at her home early this morning and then went to the school where she taught and and went on a spree before turning the gun on himself.

I must say that I have no idea how I would've reacted to this news if my child were here already, and I how many hugs I would've given out today in appreciation for my child being home safe with me tonight.  Something like this always creates more questions than answers for everyone involved, not to mention all Americans tonight.  Things like this always seem to bring people together, but it always bothers me that it takes a tragedy to create new bonds and create changes in a system that clearly needed some changes made prior to this happening!!!

From a teacher perspective, I can only say that this is a staff member's worst nightmare!  My parents always get upset when I say that I want to be a cop or serve in the armed forces because of the dangers in those professions, but my response a week or so ago when I brought it up to them was that, "Hey...I could get killed in school...but at least as a cop, I might have a fighting chance!!!"  A teacher friend on Facebook posted a comment criticizing those that say teachers should be armed.  My response is that if I receive propper training and I arm myself, then I give my 30 students that are locked in my room with me the best chance of survival if something like this ever happens!  Pardon my French as we move forward with this post, but I'm sure you'll all understand...I'm very passionate about guns, but especially passionate about the responsible use and ownership of guns.  It pisses me off that all of these mass shootings take place where citizens are not allowed to be legally armed.(which, by the way, why don't we call them mass killings?!  Is it really the weapon used that makes a difference?!?  Would we react differently if it were mass stabbings?!)  These sick individuals go to such places where they know there will be minimal to no real resistance from those intended targets.  For example, this elementary school, the recent shopping mall in Oregon, Columbine, Virginia Tech, the Aurora, Colorado movie theater, and the Gabby Giffords shooting...at each location, guns were not permitted.  Clearly, if those signs posted on the doors of the locations did their jobs, these killers wouldn't have done their evil acts in the first place.  But posted signs banning guns only deter law-biding citizens from carrying their legal firearms onto the premises.  I feel those signs should read, "Attention: Legal and permitted carrying of firearms allowed on these premises.  All persons with evil intent, beware!"  These killings happen only at crowded places and generally where the public is not allowed to carry weapons!!!  If I were allowed to have gun with me as a teacher, it would be used and presented only on such an occassion, and students would not even need to know that teachers have these guns. 

My schools have all had "lockdown drills" in which all occupants of the building practiced the lockdown procedures for such an occurrance as happened today.  Generally, each building has different methods of locking down; a low-level in which staff and students remain in the classroom, but continue their normal activities (i.e. a threat is outside of the building like nearby police action, or there is a medical situation in the building in which it is best to keep everyone away from the medical concern), and there is a critical-level lockdown in which students and staff duck and cover.  Both scenarios require staff to quickly clear hallways near their classrooms and lock the doors of their classroom.  How would this killing today be different if the staff member of one of those classrooms had a gun and were ready to shoot when their door was opened by another person with a gun!?!  Could more people have gotten hurt?  Sure...but I feel the number could have been significantly less than what it was. 

Some of these statements may seem arrogant to some of you, or in sharp contrast to your belief...but, haha...this is my blog, so I get to say what I want!!!  Sorry...but gun control would not have prevented this tragedy today.  Criminal background checks when guns are purchased would not have prevented this tragedy today.  It's already tough for legal and good people to buy guns, so more laws would make it tougher for the wrong group of people to buy guns because evil people will always accomplish their goals if that is their intent!!!  What we need to do is look at how we can be more able to lock up crazy people and give cops/school officials/psychologists more leverage and benefit of the doubt when they feel someone is not stable and needs to be locked up, rather than making it nearly impossible to do so out of concerns for someone's rights...if someone is locked up and receiving additional and more scrutinous evaluations, that is time lost in their preparations for carrying out evil acts.

Back to the topic of today; the school shooting tragedy through my teacher and dad-to-be eyes.  I want my family and friends to know that my job is more dangerous that most people think.  Angry parents and students are a common sight in a school on any given day...and some of these individuals are frankly not right in their heads.  I'm also willing to bet that any teacher you may know is able to identify a student they know in the building that may be the one person that perpetrates these horrible crimes in their building.  It sounds bad... but humans are animals, and we have an animal instinct to fear and be uncomfortable around people we feel is a threat to ourselves or others.  But please know, that I am a caring teacher.  During my time at school, my life revolves around my students and I care deepenly for them, not just as learners in my classroom, but as young adults/children who I look out for as they grow up.  I am trained to hide my students away from the door during lockdowns and to never open the door until an "all clear" message has been relayed from school administration over the intercom.  But having said that, if someone comes through my door, I am the last line of defense for my students and you better believe that I'm going to put up one hell of a fight for them.  And, when the time is right, I'll share the dangers of my job with my child and I will explain to him/her what I may need to do.  But, if, God forbid, something like this ever happens in my school and I don't make it home...my child will know that dad put up one hell of a fight in order to save his students.

Until the next posting, which will be on a much more happy note.  Laura and I both appreciate your thoughts and best wishes you send our way as we await our baby's arrival next spring.  Thanks for reading my Daddy Diary!  Take care!

Registering for baby stuff, Part 1 and 2

12/6/12

Laura, 5 months Pregnant...isn't she beautiful!?!?

 

 

I love shopping...especially when I can use the little laser scanning gun!!!  It's the best part of spending over an hour in one store and not leaving with a single piece of camoflauge or box of bullets!!!

Several weeks ago, the evening after we found out our baby was too stubborn to let us figure out if it's a he or she, we started shopping/registering for baby things.  We were hoping the little devil inside Laura would've cooperated so we could've selected gender-specific colors as we registered, but instead, we're going for neutral-colored animals!!! 

That night we spent over an hour in Target, scanning the essentials...at least what we thought to be the essentials.  Thanks to some great advice (and awesome lists...thanks, Julie!) from friends, I went crazy with the laser!  Everything from alligator clips that attached pacifiers to clothes so they don't drop on the floor, to cups with funky tops that the baby can reach in for snacks but yet the snacks won't spill!  We also found what we thought could be a nice swing/rocker, but we didn't know anything about them so we skipped it for the time being...luckily we can find a million reviews on line to help in our decision-making.  We registered for bibs, socks, wash clothes, diapers, ass-wipes and sore ass paste, and other stuff that should be beneficial as well...or so we think?!?!  The most intimidating part was looking at the 1 row/shelf of car seats and a small selection of strollers.  We're not too smart about all of this stuff, but I felt we were ingenious with those things...we didn't take a chance on the teenage Target crew member that would just read the box in an effort to answer our million questions about car seats and strollers, so we waited to look at the safety/essential items until we went to a store that specializes in baby things...

...So tonight, we spent well over an hour at Babies 'R Us...and still no camo or bullets to show for it!  Anyways, we must've looked totally lost when we walked in because a staff member shouted "Hi, can we help you?!?" while we were still in the entry way, and we couldn't even see where she was!!!  Luckily, she didn't have much of an ego nor pride, so when asked about where to find strollers and car seats, she referred us to the most helpful sales lady I've ever worked with in any store!!!  She told us tons of things to look for and consider while selecting car seats, strollers, and cribs!  She clarified brand names and designs, and practical uses vs. cosmetics.  Luckily, we knew what sort of things we wanted going into the store, so she was able to narrow down our search to a few different models that would suit our needs:  The carseat needed to lift out of the base for ease of transportation, yet had room for the baby to grow into over a short period of time, yet also must be able to drop into a stroller that fits our active lifestyle of walking, hiking, an occassional jog, and general heavy use.  Thanks again to Heather for making our selection much easier and far less intimidating than we anticipated.  (Also, thanks to the couple that saw us struggling to figure out how to pop off the carseat from the base...we knew it had to be easier than what we were doing...because we didn't get it right over the course of about 5 minutes, while the guy just popped it off in a second!!!)  As Heather was walking us to the crib section, I asked her about a mysterious thing we had registered for at Target.  "Is that kinda like a baby kennel?!?!" This question definitely embarrassed Laura, but Heather reassured me the "pack and play" was essentially a baby kennel!!!  We knew they looked practical at Target, and I have seen them before and used them when I used to babysit...but never really understood the purpose of them.  Now, they have an elevated sleeper pad that is higher off the ground, yet can be taken off for later use when the baby is inside playing around in "the kennel!"

The cribs were awesome...I know...how is that possible?!  Well, let's just say the crib we registered can some day sleep any adult that comes to our house for the night!!!  This crib had a built-in changing shelf/table top on the side, and beneath that were 3 drawers, and behind the drawers and accessible to the side of the whole unit were a few shelves!!!  See...I told you it was awesome!!!  It's like a huge camo backpack that holds everything...or a holster that stores a spare magazine!!!  Yes...it's that cool!!!  Anyways...the crib can have the front wall/bars removed and have a smaller rail installed later as the child grows out of the crib and into it's first small-sized bed.  Once it outgrows that, the back of the unit can be swapped out and add a couple of side pieces and a new foot and it is transformed into a full size bed...all for less than a futon's price...well, kinda.  But, I thought it's pretty cool that it's not just a piece of furniture we'd look to pawn off on someone in 3-5 years or so once we're sick of looking at the thing!

And with our selections complete, again, I found the laser scanning gun and went to town.  Ironically, Laura wasn't accepted by the scanner, which confirms my beliefs that she is indeed priceless!!!  I still walked out of the store without camo or bullets, but I was able to see my wife pushing a stroller around, with a car seat/traveler in it...and she was looking pretty hot doing it too!!!  I'm the luckiest guy in the world because she is going to make a great mom, and I know she'll continue to be the best wife a guy could ever ask for!!!

Thanks so much for reading my Daddy Diary.  If you're still reading these things...wow!!!  I appreciate your dedication, and I hope you find some humor or entertainment in these postings.  I know some are more boring than others, but I feel compelled to share these stories with someone, rather than keep them all to myself and hope I remember to tell somebody at some point in time.  Until the next milestone/posting, we appreciate your thoughts/wishes/prayers you send our way as we continue to anxiously await the arrival of our little baby sometime around April 1st, 2013!!!

MOVEMENT!!!

11/27/12

I FELT MY BABY MOVE!!!!  Holy crap that is the coolest thing ever!!!  In an interest to avoid posting 2 separate entries within minutes of each other, the original post is below.  After writing and sharing the following post with Laura about her feeling the baby move...she's like, "Want to feel it?!?"  So she put my hand on her stomach and told me to push down firmly...and I felt it!!!!!!!!!  That is the coolest thing ever!!!  I tried again, and then she was giggling and her stomach was heaving, but after a few more tries and a few minutes later...I felt it again!!!  It was so awesome!  The first feeling was big/significant with the following tries being a bit more faint and more subtle.  I know I wasn't feeling it's heart beat, but it was just slow, slight movements!  I'm wondering now...was it an arm, leg, chest movement, head twitching?!?!  Regardless...I'm so pumped...and I'm suddenly making a habit of saying, "it's the coolest thing ever!" at each of these milestones!!! 

The following is the original post I wrote about 30 minutes ago before I felt the baby move...


THE BABY IS MOVING!!!!

Laura told me tonight that she's "feeling something moving inside there!"  This is super exciting for us!!!  I was thinking as I finished my post last night that they were getting pretty lame there with not too much excitement happening, and that I may be boring my large audience/followers away from my Daddy Diary...sarcasm...

...but now, we have movement!  At this stage, the doctor said it may just feel like butterflies inside or normal stomach feelings but that those feelings are actually the baby.  So, no kicks at this point, but we're feeling the little critter digging around in there!!! 

This is a fun milestone for me!!!  We're only half way there, yet there's been a good handful of feelings/moments along the way that let me know I'm going to be a dad soon!  I recall our first ultrasound and could see the tinest flicker of movement from the heart beating, to the first time we heard it's heart beat.  Wow...I never understood it until I experienced it for myself...there's nothing better, and words can't describe it!!!  Even though we don't know if it's a boy or girl, it's so cool taking these small steps on the path towards birth that let us know the baby is growing and developing...and it's amazing!!!

Laura's bump is getting bigger...she's not huge by any means, but you no longer need to squint or cock your head to wonder if she's showing or not!!!  I think she's absolutely gorgeous with her "glow" and everyone from my parents to some friends we met with this past week have all commented that she's looking great!!!  She's not happy with her weight gain, which I guess is natural for a woman, but the doctor has tried to reassure and I've tried to reiterate that she is doing great and that putting on some pounds at this stage of life is perfectly normal!!!

Another moment that reminded of us of how special it is to be preparing for a baby came from our 12 year old neighbor tonight.  I help her with her homework on occassion, and she sometimes brings treats over for us to eat while we work or just for Laura and me.  These treats range from Halloween candy that she didn't like, to cookies, to my favorite...beer!!!  Tonight, she brought a candy cane and a beer.  "The beer is for him and the candy cane is for you, Laura, because I know it's not easy being pregnant!"  We were laughing at this hillarious observation from her, while she tried to explain and reaffirm her viewpoint, "Well, I know I wouldn't want to be puking all the time!!!"  Ohhh the innocense of kids!  Our neighbor is a very outgoing and charming little girl, with a quick wit and fun personality...I have a feeling if we have a girl, her personality will be a scary blend of Laura and myself.  Regardless, the child will have no choice but to have a sense of humor and some tough skin for all the joking and jabbing that goes on in this house.  I heard from a co-worker a long time ago that, "it's just life...don't take it too seriously!"  Though there is a time and place for seriousness, I find myself living by this phrase often, especially in my line of work.  I could write up a million office referrals and yell at kids for saying crazy things and doing weird things each day...but I get a kick out of their randomness and their awkwardness that comes with middle schoolers...so I just laugh and shake my head!!!

Well, until the next milestone of our pregnancy, I'll leave you with a quote I've lived by and have loved since early in my childhood that I feel wraps up the special moment today of knowing my baby is moving around and Laura can feel it..."Yesterday is history, tomorrow's a mystery and today's a gift...that's why we call it the present!"

Thanks for reading my Daddy Diary and we appreciate your thoughts/wishes/prayers you send our way!

Busy Holiday Weekend...a preview of things to come!

11/26/12

Good evening family and friends!  What a weekend...and we didn't even have a kid to care for!!!  I can only imagine how it will be next year!!!

Before I get into the weekend itself, I have to fill you in on the night before our weekend when we went to the doctor for our ultrasound follow-up.  Everything went well, and we're continued to be very fortunate that both mom and baby are doing well as we are essentially past the halfway point of the pregnancy!!!  It was reiterated to us that if we really want to know the gender of our baby, she could look for a reason to order an ultrasound for us, otherwise we will not need another one if things continue to go well for us like it has gone so far.  Laura has come to peace with not knowing the sex of the baby, though I am slowly coming around to it.  She doesn't want to waste medical/insurance money on something that's not needed and have the system pay for it...especially because of all the BS she saw at her previous job.  Though I would still like to know for planning/shopping purposes...I'm excited to have the excitement and surprise of a lifetime!!!

As for the weekend itself...we could both use a vacation after our vacation!  It was very relaxing, we ate a ton of food and got a lot done!!!  We spent Wed-Sat with my parents at their lake home on Lake Superior.  Thanksgiving Day was beautiful!  It was in the high 50s and we spent the afternoon sitting around a bonfire hanging out and enjoying the unusually warm November...by the time we finished dinner and looked outside, it had turned into a blizzard!! We had 3 inches of snow over night, and the temps dropped 40 degrees!!! 

Friday was Black Friday...and boy did we shop...we came home with a car!!!  We had been looking for vehicles for the past few months and decided we'd probably be getting a Chevy Equinox due to it's size and gas mileage that will work for us as a growing family.  Laura was flipping through the car adds in the paper Thursday and saw an Equinox at the Two Harbors dealership, so my mom told us to check it out on Friday.  Well, after 5 hours of sitting in the car dealership (thanks for dog sitting mom and dad!) we drove the new vehicle home!  We traded in Laura's car (even though we didn't have it with us, so I will be returning this weekend to drop it off and pick up the new one!) for a bigger vehicle that better fits our needs! 

After our time at the dealership, the 4 of us packed into the new SUV and drove into Duluth for the night to have dinner at my favorite place...Fitger's Brewhouse...and catch a UMD Bulldogs hockey game!  It was a blast eating some food we have once in a while, and it was great reliving our memories of fun times at the hockey game.  The dogs beat St. Cloud State and it was cool to catch the game at the new Amsoil Arena...Laura didn't like it too much because it reminded her of the DECC, but I liked it for that same reason!!!

On our way home Saturday, we had lunch in Duluth with some friends and their cute, 5 month old boy.  It was fun catching up with friends we don't see too often and it was enlightening and informative to hear from new parents about the joys and challenges we'll soon be experiencing when we welcome our little bundle to the world next spring.  And it's for this reason that I was able to do some thinking...we had a great weekend!!!  It was totally relaxing and peaceful...and it's definitely going to be different next year!!!  By this time next year, we'll be "experts" at the parenthood thing, yet right now we have no idea what we're in for!!!  This year, we were entertained by Lexi and her shennanigans, but next year we'll be entertained by changing diapers and watching the little guy/girl roll around on the floor!

So, until next time...we appreciate your kind thoughts/prayers you send us.  And...I greatly appreciate you reading my Daddy Diary!

It's a .....!!!

11/20/12

I must admit...these past 2 weeks have been crazy, and I'm just now getting to this blog posting for our ultrasound from 11/8 to see if we are having a boy or a girl...

We left the appointment that night knowing that the child Laura has been carrying is definitely ours...it was too darn stubborn to cooperate and never moved for us to see if it was a boy or girl!!!  We were definitely upset that we weren't able to find out, but the mood was lightened knowing that he/she is definitely our child and is stubborn just like mom and dad!!!  We tried everything to see what it was too!!!  Laura was moving and shifting, we tried different angles with the camera/wand thing and Laura even did some jumping jacks in the exam room in an effort to get the little guy/girl to move, but it didn't!!!

I had anticipated this noteworthy event in our pregnancy would've been much more thrilling and, had it been thrilling, I would've posted this gender reveal much sooner than I'm doing now. 

We are happy to say that our baby is doing great!  All images/pictures/examinations of the baby showed it is developing normally and everything looks great on the ultrasound!  So, despite our disappointment and not knowing what it is, we are comforted knowing that he/she is doing great!

So, tonight, we'll be meeting our doctor for the first time since our ultrasound.  I'm not sure of what this check up is for, but I'm assuming it will be focused on the follow-up of our ultrasound.  With any luck, our doctor will order another ultrasound for us in an effort to identify our baby as a boy or girl. 

Until I have some more exciting news...thanks again for reading my Daddy Diary, and we appreciate your continued best wishes/prayers.

Birth of a baby bump

10/23/12

Houston, we have baby bump!  It's official, Laura is starting to look pregnant...and I'm beginning to notice that "glow" that is often associated with a pregnancy.  Of course, I'm biased, but I think she is the most adorable and beautiful of all the pregnant women I've come across in my years!

My apologies that it's been nearly a month since my last post, but there has been little developments for us regarding baby!  Tonight we had our first visit at the doctor's in nearly a month, and I'm happy to report that everything is going well!!!  Laura was shocked when she stepped on the scale, but the doctor had some very comforting words letting her know that her weight gain has been right on target and is perfectly  normal and healthy for this stage of our pregnancy.  We'll officially be 17 weeks along this friday, and I can't believe how time flies!  It seems like just yesterday we found out we would be parents, but that was already 3 months ago! 

As for her appointment tonight, we were comforted to know that everything is going well and both mom and baby are healthy at this point! The heart beat for the baby was very strong, and I again found myself in awe listening to its heart beat...it's the coolest sound in the world!!! Laura also got some blood drawn tonight for some basic screening for the baby to determine if there are any spinal/neural concerns to be aware of at this point or if there is an increased chance for Down Syndrome. This is a bittersweet opportunity for us because we'll find out if there are any "increased chances" of something wrong with the baby and yet these tests only indicate a chance at this stage with no certainty. For us, this could be great to know everything is looking good or that something is going on...but it's also nerve-racking to wait for the results, which could take a couple of weeks. Regardless, we will love our child unconditionally when it's born, but a healthy baby is the hope of every expecting parent.

Laura has continued to feel better each day, though she is still finding herself quite exhausted most days and can't seem to get enough sleep, no matter how long she sleeps.  Over the weekend, while I was hunting, apparently she had her first bouts with being sick to her stomach, and I felt horrible that I wasn't there to comfort her or help her out when she wasn't at her prime!

As for us, our preparations for baby's arrival have been in the form of car shopping.  With the two of us and Lexi, our car is jammed whenever we hit the road.  Hell, there's barely enough room for a fly to fart in the trunk with the dog's kennel and a few bags.  So, we're looking to upgrade to a SUV.  We've test driven a few, eliminated others, and have found a couple of front runners in our few short visits to several car dealerships.  Laura always liked the Toyota Rav4, but we realized there just isn't enough room in it for our needs since we'll quickly be outgrowing it and it's limited space.  We've found we like the Dodge Journey (it's cross-over vehicle, though it closely resembles a mini-van...I'm not sure if I'll be willing to surrender my man card so early in my fatherhood!) and the Chevy Traverse.  The Traverse is a large SUV and may be too big for us, and that we may fit just fine in a Chevy Equinox, so we'll try to look closer at the Equinox in the upcoming weeks.  The Traverse is out of our price range, but we loved the unique layout of a bucket seats in the middle that could fit 2 kids (potentially) and room for the dog to lay in between, while saving the entire back for cargo with the ability to flip up a 3rd row of seats if we need it them in a pinch.  However, the Equinox could fit our family for the next 5-7 years or so, and if I need my car replaced by then, we could consider a bigger vehicle.  And, for more fun stuff, after I wrap up this post, Laura and I will begin looking at maternity leave forms as we start to plan for our little one's arrival next Spring.  Sorry to bore you...back to the good stuff...

In 2 weeks, we'll return to the doctor for "the" ultrasound...yes, the one where we can determine if we'll be welcoming a baby boy or girl into this world in April!!!!  So, some of you may want to know while others will want the surprise; I'll do my best to not "spoil" it for you through these blogs.  Perhaps I'll post 2 similar entries with one indicating the sex and the other keeping it hidden?!?! 

And with that, I'll wrap up this post.  Again, I'm sorry if you've felt out of the loop over the past month.  The posts should pick up their frequency as we'll find ourselves with more frequent doctor visits in the upcoming weeks, and we'll be noticing more signs of baby pretty soon.  Our doctor says we could be feeling kicks in the next couple of weeks!!!  WOW!!!

Thanks so much for reading my Daddy Diary.  I can't thank you enough, on behalf of Laura and myself, for your best wishes and continued thoughts/prayers you send our way as we await the birth of our baby in just over 5 months!!!

Payday!

9/26/12

Hey everyone...great news...I'm now a full-time teacher!!!  Today I signed my first full-time contract.  It's been 5 years in the making, but it finally happened!  Some of you are probably wondering, "How can you be a part time teacher?"  Well, as I'm now a 4 year veteran, let me explain!  In most school districts, if you teach 5 classes each day, you're considered "full time."  My first year teaching, I was a sub and did a couple of long-term subbing jobs.  The following years I worked as a .33, .40, .61, and up until today, I was a .84 this year.  Basically, think of those numbers as cents of a dollar.  Once you get "a dollar" you're full time with 5 classes.  Prior to that, I only taugh 1 class, or 2 classes, or 3 classes each day, which made me a "part timer."  Though I'm only teaching 4 classes this year, they're counting my "5th" class as time spent coordinating my beloved AVID program between the two schools I work in during the school day.  If this info went in one ear and out the other...no worries...I have to explain this to my parents all the time!!!

This may sound complicated and not a big deal, but for my family, this is a huge deal!  With each class a teacher teaches, or each fraction of the "dollar", we get paid more...significantly more.  Granted, I didn't become a teacher to become rich; I did start teaching to make a living and provide for my family.  I'm super excited today because now this will make it much easier to provide for my lovely wife, and our baby!!!  In addition to the salary, I can now get benefits from the district, so I won't have to pay for my own health insurance out of pocket like I've done the past 4 years I've taught.  Imagine a part time job with a full insurance payment to pay out of my pocket!  This is a huge help to us...now that money can be thrown in the bank for our little one!

By no means am I bragging about all of this...hell, pro athletes make my annual salary in a single game!  But this is great because this provides us with a better cushion to plan for our future and provide for ourselves and our little one in 6 short months!

As for us, this is a big weekend...this is Laura's first weekend home (without me) as a mom!  Of course she isn't handling the baby this weekend, I won't be around due to my sacred hunting season.  Thankfully, her mom will be heading to the cities Friday afternoon to keep her company and hang out while I'm away (yes, she's a big girl, but her mom had some time off work so they're getting some bonding time!).  I love hunting, and she definitely married a guy with a hunting problem.  Imagine you being only able to do your favorite hobby for 4 weekends each year, and you need to drive 5 hours to do that hobby for a short period of time!  I'll be taking the mutt, Lexi, with me to walk in the woods, so she'll enjoy the solitude and chaos-free house without me!

On that note, I'll wrap this one up.  Thanks so much for reading about my big day!  I hope you enjoyed reading my Daddy Diary.  As usual, your thoughts/best wishes/prayers are greatly appreciated!  Take care!

Letting the cat out of the bag (slowly)!!!

9/23/12

Hey everybody...and for some of you, welcome to my Daddy Diary!  Laura and I have started to tell more people about our exciting news this weekend!!!  Laura called her grandparents last night, and I visited my grandparents this morning to tell them the news.  They were all pretty excited, though I think her grandma was just plain shocked..."ok...that's exciting" were her words!!! 

As of now, our families know...we plan to make some calls to Laura's aunts and uncles in the upcoming days when we have a spare moment (this will be a busy week for us!) in the next couple days.  Needless to say, Laura and I got a few hugs today when we told my grandparents and KeeKee!  For Laura's side, this will be the first great grandchild, while this will be the 5th great grandchild for my dad's parents, and the first for Granny!!!  Laura sent word to her aunt Brenda last night, and my parents will be letting aunt Ruth and Eleanor know by the end of the day today.

We haven't spread the word to everyone yet.  Laura and I still have some friends and coworkers that don't know, but will be finding out in the next week or two.  So for those of you that have known for a while or just found out today, we appreciate you not spreading the word via Facebook.  We'll let the rest of the world find out soon enough, but we don't want our friends and family to find out through the stupid website!!!  However, with that being said, please pass along the address to my blog to anyone you feel may be interested in following our pregnancy, or to anyone interested in knowing more about how pregnancies progress through the guy's eyes.

Laura had a rough night last night.  She came out of the shower not feeling well and vowing never to eat McDonald's again!!!  She fell asleep before 10 last night and didn't wake up until almost 10 this morning!!!  Needless to say, Lexi is providing some great training for me in taking care of a youngster without the help of mom and especially trying to do so with as little noise as possible!!!  I must say, Laura has been quite the trooper!  Her strength and endurance have been amazing!  She powers through bouts of nausea and extreme exhaustion on almost a daily basis...if it were me, I'd be rolled up in the fetal position and whining for my mom and sympathy!!!  I knew she was an amazing woman when I married her over 3 years ago, but I never knew how amazing she'd be in keeping our little baby nourished and well-taken care of during our pregnancy!  I love you, Laura Jean!

I need you all to be a witness for me and support me on this one...My grandparents said that I should take the kid hunting and give mom a needed break in the future...and Laura said "YES!!!  Go hunting often!!!"  So please, when I need someone to vouch for me, I expect you all to help me out as September comes around each year!!!  If it's a boy, I'll be so excited to take him hunting and pass along all the great BS my dad has passed along to me over the years.  If it's a girl, I'll still drag her along for a few years before she gets her own opinion!!!  Regardless, I'm just pumped to become a dad in just over 6 months away! 

Well...I think that's it for this one!  Thanks so much for reading my Daddy Diary!  For everyone reading this, whether it's your first read-along or not, Laura and I appreciate your thoughts/best wishes/prayers as we continue to look forward to our growing family!!!  Take care!

The greatest sound in the world!!!

9/20/12

Hello friends and family, and a special Happy Anniversary wish to my parents who celebrate their 32nd year of marriage today!!!  I'm looking forward to celebrating that milestone with my amazing wife in just 29 short years!!!

Two nights ago, Laura and I went to our doctor's appointment.  After some chit chat with her and seeing how everything was going, we got to the cool part of the visit!  She picked up this microphone device and placed it on Laura's belly.  We heard this wooshing sound, which I thought was Laura's dinner...but it turns out it was the blood rushing through her body.  Then came the cool part...we heard a very rapid "thump thump thump thump."  The doctor asked, "Do you hear that quick thumping?  That's your baby's heart beating!"  It would've taken 12 morticians to wipe that smile off of my face!!!  It was the absolute coolest sound in the world.  Over a month ago, we saw the baby's heart beating for the first time...and that was so awesome...but this took fatherhood to a whole new level of reality!!!  I had been anticipating this appointment for weeks!  I even thought that hearing the heart beat for the first time may bring tears to my eyes...but I was smiling too much for tears!  I could've listened to that sound for days, but we only had a short minute or so to hear that heart beat!  Thankfully, our doctor told us if we ever wanted to hear it at future appointments, we just needed to ask and she'd be happy let us hear it again!!

As for us, we are approaching the end of our first trimester.  The first 12 weeks officially ends tomorrow, however, counting backwards from our April 1, 2013 due date, October 1st will be the end  of our first trimester.  Don't worry if you're confused...I'm barely keeping it all straight in my head anyways!!!  Regardless of our progress, over the next couple of weeks, we'll begin informing people of our exciting development that we've been keeping to ourselves (and you selected few so far)!!!  I told a few of the guys at school yesterday.  They were thrilled and had some typical guy-insults to throw my way.  One of the smart asses asked if I'd be on the business end during the delivery to catch the baby in a 3-ring binder!!! (The class I'm teaching this year is the same as last year in which I'm preparing kids for college by helping them develop various skills, including organization.  The cornerstone of our organization in class involves the "extreme" use of a 3-ring binder to carry all school supplies with the students all day long.  So, fittingly, around school I've become the "binder guy", the "Cornell Notes guy" and my favorite, the "AVID guy!")  Last year I joked with my students that my first born son will be named "Cornell", so I'll have to inform the students at some point, but not just yet.  (Cornell Notes is the second cornerstone of my program that is a unique and specific note-taking method that makes it more efficient and a better study tool).

On a very positive note, Laura has been feeling much better lately.  She still has her times where she isn't doing so good, but they are becoming much more infrequent, and she is sleeping better at night.  She may not agree with those thoughts, but I definitely notice my wife's personality is slowly coming back to normal!

Until the next update, we appreciate your continued best wishes/thoughts/prayers!  Take care and thanks for reading my Daddy Diary!

...a heart beat away!

9/17/12

Hello everyone, and welcome to the shortest blog I'll ever write!!!  Tomorrow night, we have a doctor's appointment where we'll hear our baby's heart beat for the first time!!!  I don't think I need to say anything else about how awesome tomorrow night will be!  It's a late appointment, so I may not post tomorrow, but I'll be sure to provide the details within the week!

As usual, thanks for sending us your best thoughts/wishes/prayers.  And...thanks for reading my Daddy Diary!

School Perspective

9/6/12

Though I don't have any exciting news to relay on this blog, I am happy to report that Laura has been feeling much better lately than she had felt for a few weeks!  The past few days, she's been doing really well.  Tomorrow we're 10 weeks along, so hopefully her improvement means that she may be moving out of the "morning sickness" period of our adventure!

As for this post and the title, being back in the classroom has given me more perspective and how much I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a healthy baby.  As I've walked through the halls the first week of school, I've noted several kids sitting in the halls...already kicked out of class.  I've noticed Special Education students having meltdowns, and struggles with their new schedule/routines that they need to adjust to.  We will love our baby unconditionally, but it will be a huge relief to have a healthy "normal" baby born!

I'm also reminded, too frequently, how difficult it will be to potentially raise a teenage girl.  Seriously...I don't think I'm going to let my girl out of the house until she's 30...it just might be easier!!!  I can't believe the outfits some parents allow their girls to leave the house in...and if they "don't know" what they're wearing, then they need to do their jobs!  Let's put it this way, college girls aren't even wearing those kinds of shorts!  It's definitely a difficult, and awkward occassion to help students with homework/assignments that are wearing outfits that are in clear violation of the dress code!!!  Needless to say, any girl I may have will be dressing in Amish attire IF she ever leaves my house prior to her 30th birthday!!!!

Our next doctor's appointment isn't for a week and a half, so I won't have any new developments between now and then.  However, should I have something to share, I'll be sure to keep everyone posted.  And if for no other reason than just getting some ideas out there that are swirling in my brain (much like today) I'll be sure to post those goofy thoughts too!  Until next time, we appreciate your thoughts and/or prayers for a happy and healthy baby sometime around April 1, 2013!  Thanks again for reading my Daddy Diary!

Welcome!

7/25/12

Welcome to my 2 newest adventures in life; blogging and being a dad! My wife and I are traveling down the road of bringing a new person into the world and we're looking forward to the adventure and happiness our baby will bring us!

Before diving into the new daddy stuff, I thought I'd at least give a quick background on how my wife and I made it to this point together in our first (almost) 9 years together.

We met in the first couple weeks of college in the fall of 2003 at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Laura was the cute blond that I immediately took interest in after being introduced by a high school classmate of mine that lived down the hall from her in the dorms. Our first date was a dinner at Grandma's restaurant in Canal Park followed by a UMD Bulldogs hockey game. From that moment on, I was hooked! We still debate whether she wasn't smart enough to run away from me or if she just didn't run fast enough when she had the chance, but needless to say, she's been my best friend, sweetheart, constant companion and my life ever since!!! Here are a few pictures of us from college:

First picture of "us", Halloween, Freshman Year, 2003

A New Year's Eve at the Lake

One of my favorite pictures of us!

 

We married on the shore of Lake Superior on June 13, 2009 in front of many family and friends. The wedding day was beautiful, complete with sunshine and a rainbow that showed itself after a short rain shower during dinner. A few months before our wedding, we bought a house in South St Paul, MN and have continued to work on making our house a home for over 3 years now.  I hope you'll enjoy some of these highlights of our wedding day:

 

This was taken shortly after I saw my beautiful bride for the first time prior to our ceremony



Our wedding party of our lifelong friends and some close family members.

My beautiful wife, and soon-to-be mother of my child!

I am a teacher.  I'm licensed in Social Studies (history, geography, political science, psychology, sociology, etc).  This fall, I will begin my 5th year of teaching, and 2nd year as an AVID teacher in the Inver Grove Heights school district about 10 minutes south of our home.  AVID is a class that prepares average students for college; and I couldn't be happier as a teacher!  I'm living my dream each day by working with kids and as a member of a fun staff.

My wife has recently switched careers.  She now supports computer software for medical clinics and is enjoying her new work...she just doesn't like the 45-60 minute commute to the other side of the metro in Minnetonka.  She graduated from UMD with a degree in exercise science and worked for 4 years in a neck and back physical therapy clinic.  After a few years of lousy treatment by the company and reaching the highest rung on the ladder with the company, she was ready for a change!

As for her and I, we have always discussed having kids since we were dating.  I've always loved kids and being around them.  As a teenager, I babysat for several families in my neighborhood.  Laura had the complete opposite experience with little exposure to younger kids.  I laugh as I write this because she has held a baby 1 time in her life, and has never changed a diaper!  She always said she was scared she'd "break" whichever little kid was around us at the time and wouldn't hold them!  Apparently, she'll have a lot to learn in 9 short months!  Before we got married, we knew we'd want kids and that we'd have them when we felt the time was right.  Until this year, I had always been cut from my teaching position due to budget changes in whichever district I was employed with.  In addition to the cuts, I was always a part time teacher or had subbed.  As of this moment, I'm still waiting to hear if I'll be full time or not next year, though as I've experienced each of my previous teaching jobs, this fall I'll have another class added to my workload.  Throughout many conversations we've had with older family members and friends with kids,  we learned that "you'll never be totally ready to have kids."  We've always wanted to provide ourselves with a stability in our home and life that would provide the best foundation to bring a baby into this world.  I had always wanted to get tenure as a teacher before having kids; but with the teaching/political climate in MN, I don't know if tenure will be around for much longer, but more importantly as a social studies teacher, I'm not sure how long it would take me to stick around a district for the 3 consecutive years to get tenured anyways!!!

A month ago, our lives started to change when we rescued a puppy at a local adoption. Laura and I took a walk and decided we'd "just stop by" the adoption tent at our city's town square and see what kind of dogs were up for adoption that day, thanks in large part to our neighbors telling us about the adoption that day. I must admit that at first, Lexi didn't catch my attention nor stand out from the rest of the dogs and puppies there. She was calm, didn't bark, and was not jumping on any of the little kids running around and poking at the puppies. Laura was hooked almost instantly by her nice black coat and white feet. We took her for a short stroll to get away from the crowd and sat with her on the boulevard to discuss bringing her home. She was laying down and looked up at me and had such cute puppy eyes, I was hooked as well. Our neighbor arranged for us to bring "Annie Oakley" (as she was then known as) home with no commitment for a few hours that afternoon. Within a couple hours, we knew she wouldn't be going back to the adoption place nor her foster home! In the past month, Lexi has melted our hearts a little more each day. Within a couple days of having her, we began calling each other "mom" and "dad" and adjusting our schedule and routines to care for another life besides our own. We began joking with family and friends that she would be great "baby training" for us!!!

Though our lives will be changing within the next year, we've enjoyed doing many things together over the past 9 years. I live for Laura. In college, I passed up on going to the same keg parties on the weekends because I enjoyed her company and conversation in a quiet place. Since then, our conversations have continued during our long car rides to North Dakota to visit her family, on flights to far away destinations to share our passion for travel and during the cheering (and my swearing) during hockey games! We've always loved being outdoors together; whether it's camping, hiking, hunting or 4wheeling at one of our cabins/hunting shacks. I learned very early on in our relationship that Laura and I make a great team! We compliment and contrast each other at the most appropriate times. We are there to think of things the other would not have thought of when important decisions need to be made and in the most simple of ways that others may envy, we both share each others' chores around the house equally (except, I do not clean toilets! If it was up to me, we'd have an out-house!) She's my life, she's my love, she'll soon be the mother of my child, and most importantly, she's the most amazing, best friend a guy could ever ask for!!!

Laura's first Wild game, December 2003

(when telling her friend about this upcoming game back then, her friend replied, "You're going to a Wild game?!?!  What's going to be so Wild about this game?!"...apparently, ND folks don't watch much hockey!)

Chipmunk Falls and Laura's first trip to the Big Gun Lodge, Fall 2004

Camping, 2008

(Many people are shocked that my wife loves camping.  She replies, "well, I bought the tent!")

I'm not sure how often this blog will be updated, but as my life begins to transform into that of a dad, I will be sure to update this as I have no clue who will read it. I'm sure my mom and mother in law will enjoy the updates, but I'm not sure if any friends will check this out nor how often others may "check in" on Laura and I, but the least I can do is scribble some thoughts down. At the very least, this will be a new way to relax and relieve some stress and anxiety as well as share some happy moments over the course of the next 9 months, and the foreseeable future after our baby is born.

Now, we are ready for a baby!  I'm very excited, yet it still hasn't hit me that I'll be a dad.  I'm looking forward to starting the next phase of our lives together with my amazing wife and soon-to-be mother of my child!  She is an amazing woman whom I admire and respect so much!  I never understood it until I was married, but it is entirely possible to spend every day with someone you love and still love them a little more each day!  Needless to say, I've officially been a daddy for 7 hrs and 15 minutes now, and the next chapter of my life is just starting...

A rare pregnancy!

8/28/12

After I re-entered the exam room, Laura told me the doctor said, "You have a rare pregnancy in the fact that you have a 'low-risk' pregnancy!  You're healthy, you're active, your family histories and your baby all look very good!!! " 

I hope you forgive me for giving this post such a catchy title, but I was so pumped to hear that that I had to share it with you!  We had our first OB appointment tonight.  We're officially just past the 9 week stage, and things are looking great.  Keep your fingers crossed and your thoughts and/or prayers coming our way that things stay the way they are!!! 

I won't go into too many details about our appointment tonight as it was awkward for me at times...heck, when the funky looking equipment came out, I left the room!!!  Nope...none of that crap for this guy!!!  While we were waiting for the doctor, Laura made a comment that her arm still hurt from her flu shot the other day.  I said that my arm (and it's matching flu shot) was feeling better and that I was proud that I didn't cry.  About that same time, an infant in an adjacent room began crying...presumably from getting a shot of some short...I could tell he/she was in pain.  Laura told me that I'd be horrible and would be uncomfortable when our baby has to get its shots.  I quickly agreed...and realized for the first time that seeing my child in pain will hurt me more than it will hurt it!!! I have to admit that I might get a couple tears in my eyes when baby has to get its shots because I hate shots, and they hurt like crazy, so I know it's going to hurt her/him!!!

I also made an observation (and shared it with Laura)...that the next time she was waiting for the doctor to come in and she was on a table with stirrups, (no worries, I left before any of the action started!) that I would most definitely not be on the business end of the stirrups!!!  Ha...seriously...I'm staying in the Northern Hemisphere on delivery day...none of that for me...otherwise I'd be flat out on the floor.  And...if that were the case, Laura would not be able to shout "YOU DID THIS TO ME!" as is expected from wives in delivery!!!...and I figured I should at least give her the opportunity, when the time comes, to shout that at me!!!

And with that attempt at humor, I'll wrap up this latest post.  I wonder if many people read this!?  (Well, technically, only a handful of people are aware of this blog at this time)  And with that, I wonder if many people will read this once the word is out?  People are publishing a lot of junk these days (some may think this is junk) but perhaps there is an audience out there besides our friends and family that may enjoy this Daddy Diary.  I enjoy updating you all when I have something worth while, so I hope you enjoy reading it.  Of course, when the word is out and we've moved beyond the danger period of the first trimester, I'd appreciate you sharing this blog with anyone you feel may enjoy this; whether it's your family/friends...or just some distant contacts you occasionally email.  Until then, we appreciate your understanding in our desire of not wanting the world to know about our developing little one and we greatly appreciate your respect of our privacy as we nurture our growing little baby.  As of today, he/she is slightly smaller than your thumb!  By 19 weeks (2.5 more months) we will be able to tell the sex of the baby, even though we're unsure if we want to know or not.  In 3 weeks, at our next appointment we will be able to hear its heart beat for the first time.  Just for your information, I will probably let a tear or two roll down my cheek when I hear my baby for the first time!  Until then, I'll keep you posted on any noteworthy developments.  As always, thanks for reading my Daddy Diary and we appreciate your continued thoughts/prayers.

Big Weekend!

8/26/12

We had a busy/big weekend...well, kind of?!!?  Friday night we had a couple of our good friends, Adam and Shana, over for dinner (us boys had a few beers!).  While they were here, we told them we're expecting and they were excited for us and had all sorts of questions.  Shana was tipped off when she was here for 5 minutes hadn't yet had a glass of champagne...which is definitely out of the ordinary when her and Laura are together!!!

Saturday afternoon saw the arrival of a good friend of mine that I used to teach with for a couple years in West St. Paul.  Julie brought her 2 month old and bundle of joy, Dominick, to visit us for lunch.  We grilled burgers and had an easy lunch.  The 3 of us had a blast catching up and talking about baby stuff, but the poor little guy wasn't happy about something and fussed for a while.  I must have a way with kids...he was fine until I picked him up!!!  From then on, he wasn't a happy camper!!!  Julie was nice enough to bring me a growler of Fitger's beer (my favorite brewery on Earth!)  With that, she gave us nice card and our first outfit for our little bundle of joy:

 

I don't know if Julie knows we're huge fans of "Deadliest Catch",  or if she just has impeccable taste for cute baby clothes, but regardless, we love them and can't wait to throw our baby in them!!!  Throughout our conversation over lunch, we were able to come away with quite a list (literally, a nice list) of things to avoid buying for the baby, and things we should register for that they hadn't thought of but have on hand all the time.  Julie, thanks for the wisdom and we look forward to many more conversations with you in the future (but not all of them will be about baby stuff!!!)!!!

 

Today was an exciting day as well as Laura's brother, Brett, and his longtime girlfriend, Carissa, stopped by for a visit on their way through the cities back to Fargo after a weekend in La Crosse.  It was nice seeing them for a short time; even though they didn't bring the dogs with!!!  It was Carissa's birthday today, so she got a little card and a Caribou card from us...unfortunately for her, she wasn't feeling well and was stuck inside the car with Brett for a long day of driving!!!  Of course, while they were here, we told them we're expecting in April!!! 

 

I don't know why, but Laura doesn't get excited about telling people (especially family members and close friends) good things that are happening in her life...and honestly...it bugs the crap out of me!!!  Hell, the night I proposed, she called her mom, her dad, and her grandparents to tell them.  However, she only told them the exciting news (at least I thought it was) after a good 5+ minutes of mindless small talk!!!  Seriously?!?!  And with her brother today and with Adam and Shana on friday...she was in absolutely no rush to tell them the exciting news, and only seemed to do so after I gave her a few looks!!!  I'm sure this is an entirely different experience for her since she's the one carrying the baggage, so to speak...but I'm biting my tongue to not tell people this awesome, life-altering development in our lives, and she's just fine with having small talk!!!  I love her to pieces...and it's things like this that remind me daily...as much as I think I know this remarkable woman I love dearly, I'll just never figure everything out about her!!

 

And for the time being, I don't think there's too many more people we'll let in on our "little secret" until the next month or so goes by and we're "out of the woods" with the first trimester being wrapped up.  We have another Dr. appointment on tuesday.  I honestly don't recall what this one is for, and since Laura is in the shower, shouting the question just won't work!  I'll keep you all posted later in the week!  Until the next time, thanks for reading my Daddy Diary and we appreciate your best wishes to the 3 of us...especially those for mom and baby!!!

 



Happy Grandparent's Day!!!

8/19/12

Today was the day both Laura and I have been anxious for since we found out we were pregnant...we told our parents they would be grandparents!  Laura's parents came into town a few days ago to spend a few days of vacation with us at our house.  In our minds, we knew before we became pregnant that we'd want to tell both sets of parents at the same time...considering her parents live almost 6 hours away in North Dakota, and my parents live 10 minutes away, we didn't want one set of parents to know before the other. 

We arranged a dinner at our house tonight with the storyline of celebrating Russ and Laura's birthdays (Russ's is today, Laura's is wednesday).  My parents came over a while before our grilled chicken was ready, so we all moved to the deck to chat for a while.  Laura told me she was cold and wanted me to go get her sweater and than she wanted something to drink.  When I came back out to the deck I was carrying this cake:

When I set the cake down, they were all confused and not quite sure what was going on at first.  After the fact, they had all indicated that to some degree, they thought the cake was in celebration of our dog Lexi!!!  Once they looked at it a bit more closely and figured it all out, there was an abundance of happiness and a few tears on the deck!!! 

We had talked about how we wanted to tell them, and somehow we came up with the cake idea.  So I called the bakery my family has gone to for years (Thanks PJ Murphy's on Randolph Ave. in St. Paul!!!).  The lady asked what occassion the cake was for and I replied, "It's for the kind of occassion when you tell your parents that they're going to be grandparents!"  She was super excited to be making our cake.  I told her what we wanted it to say and then she asked what we wanted it to look like and I said, "I don't know...babyish?!?!"  She asked if we were alright with letting them be creative with the cake and I was more than thrilled to let my lack of creativity rest at ease!!!  I picked it up yesterday morning when I went to get some rolls for breakfast and was extremely surprised at how cool it looked...hell, I'll say it...it's a cute cake!!!

After our parents found out and a few pictures were taken, we sat back down on the deck and the moms started to piece together parts of the puzzle as to how long Laura had been pregnant by figuring why she hadn't had a drink, or why she didn't seem like herself, or hadn't felt well, etc...

Needless to say, the night was a huge success! 

After dinner, Laura opened a couple of birthday gifts: several candy cane Hallmark Christmas ornaments missing from her collection and a Zach Parise Wild jersey.  As thrilled as she was, I think the big winner for the birthday gifts was my father in law, Russ.  I'm sure he won't forget the gift he received (or learned that he would be receiving later) on his birthday today.  So, by early April next year, we'll be parents.  Laura's super thrilled that our child, who will undoubtedly become a big smart ass like it's parents, could potentially be born on April Fool's Day....while I'm curious if the baby will arrive a little late on my mom's birthday (April 8th) or on mine (April 9th).  Perhaps we'll make a streak of birthdays in April with 3 consecutive birthdays?!?! 

With that, I'll wrap up this post.  Thanks for sharing in our special day with our parents and ourselves today.  Thanks again for reading my Daddy Diary...and I'll leave you with another picture from our night:



Good Ultrasound!

8/15/13

Laura heard back from the Dr. yesterday evening that everything looked great on the ultrasound from last week!  It made us feel much better knowing that the first (of many) test came back with positive results and that all is looking good and normal so far!  This friday, Laura will be 8 weeks along, which means we're 2/3 of the way through the most important/scary part of the pregnancy known as the first trimester.  Neither of us were aware of it before, but we soon learned through some books we've accumulated that the first tri is the time period where most miscarriages take place.  It's because of this that we aren't telling many people during this first trimester.  Heck...we aren't even telling our parents until this weekend when her parents come visit and my parents come over for dinner when we'll all be together. 

This is the most uncomfortable time period for moms in regards to their changing bodies.  Laura has been pretty sore, exhausted, and having a few bouts with nausea lately.  Again, I feel worthless because I can't do anything to help her feel better or bring her comfort.  It's funny though...she caught on pretty quickly that back rubs and shoulders rubs REALLY help her feel better!!!

Well, until we make our announcement to our parents this sunday, I don't anticipate anything too exciting happening on the baby front!  I'll be sure to share the "announcement" story in its entirety in a few days.  Thanks again for reading my Daddy Diary and we appreciate your prayers and/or best wishes!

A tiny, beating heart

8/9/12

I saw my baby's heart beat for the first time today!!!  Nothing means life more than a beating heart, and nothing means parenthood more than seeing the heart beat for the first time!

We went for our first ultrasound this afternoon after Laura got off from work.  We were surprised to work with someone without interacting with our doctor at all during our visit.  We went into a tiny room with a bed, a couple chairs, and a cart with an A/V cart with a huge screen a sweet looking control pad that might make for a sweet video gaming experience if it weren't in a doctor's office!!!  The process was quite easy (not that I thought it'd be difficult)...at least for me it was easy.  We did two ultrasounds today.  Since we are fairly early on in the pregnancy, the technician said we'd have to do an external and an internal ultrasound to be sure of the measurements and such.  I won't go into details, but Laura wasn't a big fan of one of the ultrasounds!!! 

Throughout the whole process, I had my eyes jumping back and forth between my wife and the screen.  The room was dark and I was trying to gauge Laura's reaction and comfort while constantly shifting my attention to the big screen on the "video game" cart!  I must say, our baby doesn't look like much now, but I was able to recognize it right away!  I've only looked at ultrasound pictures of others about twice in my life, so I had an idea of what I would see...but that little pea-sized, white spec of a bundle of joy anchored to the wall in Laura's tummy was easy to spot against the black void of the baby factory!!! 

At one point the technician said, "this is the fun part!  We get to measure the baby's heart beat!"  After a few seconds, she gave us the good news that the 137 beats per minute of the baby's heart is good and normal!

At the end of a bunch of different measurements and observations, the technician printed a strip of 4 pictures of our baby.  I must say, I have the cutest baby in the world!  I know it definitely is not what it appears to be, but the our baby kind of looks as though it's standing, facing the camera and waving with it's right arm with a smile on it's face.  Don't think I'm stupid...I'm not imagining this...I know it's not what it's doing, but it kind of looks like it!  See below... (To imagine the baby standing and waving as described above, directly left of the arrow appears to be the neck, the eyes and mouth are black specs, and the right arm is the thing to the left in the image)

And with the exciting news that we could see our baby's heart beating, I'll wrap up this latest post in my Daddy Diary.  The technician said the doctor would review the ultrasound and would call us in a few days with the results.  I'll be sure to keep you all posted!  Until the next update, we appreciate your best wishes/prayers for the continued healthy development of our little baby!!!

Lies and Deception

8/8/12

Laura and I are continuing to live our lives with lies and deception amongst our family, friends, and neighbors as we await the day to tell our parents.  Once our parents know, then we'll make it known to everyone else as well.  The most obvious sign we have to cover up when we're with others is Laura's lack of drinking.  Though she typically does not order a drink while we're out, she has been gathering a lot of attention over the past couple weeks.  We had a trivia night at Old Chicago with our neighbors last week, and we celebrated National Night Out last night...both of which, of course, she didn't drink.  Those that know us best, know that she doesn't drink too much...a glass of wine or a cocktail here or there!  So coming up with an excuse is increasingly made more difficult as we encounter some people more frequently and have to have an excuse ready.

This deception we're involved in totally sucks!  We'd love to just "shout it from the top of a mountain" in the words of Ron Burgandy, but we're holding back until we can let both sets of parents know at the same time...we don't want to have to tell one set why the other was told first!!!

Until then, we'll continue with our lies and deception...something we hate doing!  In the end though, I think it will be worth it, and I suspect people will be very understanding in hindsight.

Tomorrow night we have our first ultrasound!  Apparently, they should be able to more easily give us a due date at that time, and we should be able to do a preliminary test to ensure there is proper fluids visible behind the baby's neck, which will tell us if there is an increased chance of the baby being born with Down Syndrome.  My worries as a dad officially began when the doctor told us about this early ultrasound and the reason behind it a couple weeks ago.  I haven't lost sleep, by any means, but it is definitely on my mind.  As I said in an earlier post, since I've been working in schools, I've prayed for healthy and normal children.  Now that our baby is growing and taking shape, I'm hopeful my prayers have been answered.  I can't wait to end the lies and the deception so I can ask his/her grandpa to put in some good words for her with the Man upstairs!!!

Until the next post, possibly tomorrow night, take care and thanks for reading my Daddy Diary!!!

We're Pregnant!!!

7/25/12

When Laura and I first started trying to get pregnant some time ago, I told her I wanted to be surprised when we got pregnant.  Well, I got that surprise this morning at 6:15 when Laura woke me up by turning on the lights in our bedroom and saying, "Sweetie, look look!!!" as she held the pregnancy test in her hands, "We're pregnant!"  Needless to say, I was shocked!!!

When she came into the bedroom this morning and was speaking to me, I knew something was different by the tone of her voice.  I was expecting her to be carrying our puppy into the bedroom to cuddle!!!  Instead, I opened my eyes to see the test with a little blue "+" sign!!!  I'm sure this little symbol indicating something positive will become the first of millions of positive things I see and experience as a dad; and I must say, I'm looking forward to it!!!

The first few hours of being a dad have been a mix of emotions as I've been inundated with tons of thoughts about the future; some happy and some scary!  I've always loved being around kids and babies!  I love holding kids and playing with little kids, and especially teaching kids...but now I'll have my own!!  It's sort of funny...whenever I held a baby before, if it cried, I could hand it back to the mom and I could forget about the baby crying and let the parents deal with it!  Now, if I hand my baby to it's mom when it's crying, I could potentially get slapped for not pulling my fair share of the weight!!!  Before, if the kid smelled, the parents would change the diaper and I would secretly giggle if there was crap everywhere when the diaper was opened...now, I'll be the one wiping the ass!!!

Last November a good buddy of mine that I used to teach with welcomed a baby into the world with his wonderful wife.  Since then, we've seen them a handful of times when they've visited from out of town and I've been able to hold the little guy and make funny faces at him!  In our frequent emails we exchanged, he always updated me about his son, Henry's, progress as a growing baby and how much joy the baby brought to his life and his marriage.  I'll be honest, I was often jealous to hear of his stories of laying on the couch and watching TV with his son laying on his chest or reading  a book with his son in his arms.  Now, I'll be experiencing that soon myself! 

A couple of months ago, a girl I teach with across the hall from me found out she was pregnant.  Her and I had discussed babies before as we realized during our brief passing time conversations in the hallway that our lives, marriages and futures were on very similar paths and timelines. 

Earlier this week, we met up with another buddy I used to teach with and had dinner with his wife an 11 month old girl.  It was fun catching up with him and his wife, but it was really entertaining to watch his girl during dinner and to watch how our friends' interaction with the baby throughout the meal:  A parent's 6th sense is amazing!!!

Of course, it's still waaayyy to early to know whether our baby will be a boy or girl.  My wife, who wants to know how the movie ends before it starts, will probably want to find out the sex of the baby before birth.  Whereas I like a good surprise, I'm not sure if I'll want to know ahead of time or not, though it would be nice to have an idea of what the baby is ahead of time.  I think every dad hopes for a baby boy and I'm no different.  There's nothing I'd love more than to have a boy and take him hunting and teach him how to play baseball and chase him around the yard playing with water guns.  However, over the past year, I've had lots of "baby dreams" in which Laura and I were parents of a little baby...each of those dreams involved a baby girl!!!  Over the past month, Lexi has shown me that I'm very receptive to daddy's girls!!!

I'll end the first chapter of this blog with some words of hope and optimism.  As I enter my 5th year of teaching this fall, I've met and worked with over a thousand students.  I've been priveledged to teach some wonderful young individuals, but I've also worked with some kids that have unfortunate things wrong with themselves or in their lives.  I'm not a very religious guy, but since I became a teacher I've often prayed for my wife and I to give birth to a healthy baby and for them to live a healthy and safe life, especially during childhood.  I'm frequently reminded of how precious kids are, and how special they are and I'm looking forward to bringing a child into this world with my wonderful life.  If you're a religious person, please keep our new baby in your prayers as he/she begins to grow.  If you're not a religious person, keep us in your thoughts and feel free to silently send your best wishes our way!  Thanks for being a part of my first day as a dad by reading my Daddy Diary!!!