Zero Station

I need to apologize for the lack of posting lately- I've been a bit lazy with the writing so my bad. We have continued the fast pace this spring and have had another busy couple of weeks. We've had 2 child birth classes, a surprise baby shower, and pretty much no pictures to prove any of this actually happened. So I guess you'll just have to take my word for it. I will be posting some new belly shots soon so stay tuned for that. In the meantime...

I'm still struggling with the concept of taking 10 hours of child birth classes over two Saturday afternoons, when the goal of the class is to give birth in 6 hours or less. Shouldn't they be able to teach you how to give birth in less time than it will take to actually deliver? Oh well, math was never a strong subject for me (thanks Professor Oden) so I'm not complaining. So for the past 2 Saturdays Kelly and I have been learning from Nurse Kathy about the wonders of childbirth. This was much better than our early child care class because our group was fortunately missing the loudmouth jokester and the super cool guy who wears shades inside. We had 5 other couples in our class who were all nice and funny. The classes covered everything from our biggest fears and hopes as future parents to variuous extreme closeup birthing videos. I can safely say we've both seen enough crowning for the rest of our lives and other than grabbing our little guy and cutting the cord I'll be up by Kelly's head coaching away.

The class was detailed but very loose and the teacher really encouraged the men more than the women. I guess the thought it that childbirth is natural for women but men need the help to be good support- I couldn't agree more. We learned the basics like what positions will help Kelly relax, how to breath, and what to do when Kelly reaches the transition stage of labor, or as I like to call it, Go Time. I think we both left feeling more confident in our abilities to go through the birthing process and in the decisions we've made about how to get there.

In between the weekends we had one last baby shower here at Convio. I got to be the setup man to surprise Kelly as her coworkers gathered for a lunch in her honor. Luckily my lame excuses worked and I was able to get her to the room on time and without a clue and she was happily surprised. The Convio folks gave us lots of cool gifts, clothing, and cards and we are very appreciative of all the Convio love :) So somehow I ended up going 2 for 3 on baby showers. I have to say I never thought that would be the case and I've been golfing for the past 2 weekends with the guys to try to prove that I'm still a man and my card should not be revoked.

This past weekend was a holiday and we spent it doing pretty much nothing. We did manage to get a few last items from Babies R Us so now we are pretty much fully stocked with gear. I say that knowing full well that we will be spending the rest of our lives collecting crap that we never thought we'd need. But at least I think we're set for now. We also got to see our friend Courtney swim, bike, and run her way through the Austin Triathlon. It was really amazing to watch athletes of all different ages, sizes, and backgrounds competing against their bodies to finish the race. Actually, nothing has ever made me feel like less of a tough guy than watching those folks so a big congrats to Courtney for finishing her first triathlon. You made us proud! Pics to come as soon as I figure out how to get them off my camera.

So that leads to this week, which has been full of Cavs losses. Hopefully they can turn it around and pull this thing off but if not I guess I can hope that our little guy gets to Witness a championship in his first year. This weekend we're out on the lake and going to see Marc and Sarah's new early arrival, Anna. And I promise I'll bring the camera.

Don't be That Guy

We've had a very eventful couple of weeks here in Austin. First our old roommate Shana came to town and we got together for dinner and had a chance to catch up. It was really good to see her and hang out again. Hopefully we will get to see her and Connie again soon.

Then, 2 weekends ago we had a going away party for Sonya and Emily. Of course, they weren't actually leaving for a couple weeks but this was the unofficial send-off. We all met at a bar on West 6th and enjoyed a perfect Austin day. It was actually the same day as the Kentucky Derby so we got to witness all the people dressed in derby garb. Apparently these people really love horses or they just love big hats and searsucker suits. Either way it was a slightly odd scene for Austin. We hung out for a couple hours before deciding to grab some dinner. And that was the end of our fun. Our party of 8 arrived at the restaurant and were told it'd be about a half an hour wait... not too bad considering the size of our party and the fact that we had no reservation. An hour and a half later we had complained enough that they gave us a free appetizer. Hooray! Now an hour and half wait for a pregnant woman is like 10 hours for a non pregnant person, so you can imagine how hungry Kelly was by the time we actually sat down. The guys did get to watch the end of the Bulls vs. Celtics series while we waited but next time we'll grab a slice of pizza from one of the street vendors.

Emily and me and check out the big hat in the background.

Kelly and Sonya

After we finally ate we had another belly showdown. I do need to point out that contrary to this picture I haven't picked up any "daddy weight". I don't want to hear any calls for a diet!

On Sunday I decided to do something about our terrible back yard and I grabbed a shovel, some topsoil, and some seed from Lowe's and went to town. Apparently the seed I bought is not the same kind of grass as the bermuda we currently have, so now our backyard looks like some kind of crossbreeding science experiment gone wrong... but at least it's not brown and muddy anymore. I also neglected to wear gloves so my hands were blistered and bleeding for a couple days after- good times.

Kentucky Blue Bermuda

On Tuesday we attended an infant care class after work. I don't know how many of you have gone to one of these classes or even thought about it, but we both found it to be extremely underwhelming. We learned how to properly change a diaper and swaddle a baby, we saw waaaay too many closeup shots of baby genitals and full diapers, and learned all the painful techniques for circumcisions. Basically, it was like we just searched Youtube for infant care for a couple hours. All of this, of course, was happening while the Cavs were smashing the Hawks in game 1. But there was something else that annoyed us about this class... it was That Guy. You know that guy that isn't funny at all but has to make a joke about everything the instructor says and makes the class last for 3 hours instead of 2? You know that guy that isn't blind but wears sunglasses inside of an auditorium when the lights are out and we're watching movies? Yeah, that guy was there and so was his stupid friend. Kelly and I spent much of the class exchanging annoyed looks and I spent some time talking to Chewie through the belly. It may have looked sweet but I was really giving him his first father-son talk. I wanted to make sure he knew that if he ever turned into That Guy that his mother and I would be extremely disappointed and would likely send him to military school for some discipline.

On Wednesday Shae came to town. He was pretending to be professional by wearing dress pants and a button down shirt but we knew it wouldn't be long before he was talking jibberish and we were trying to translate. We got together for happy hour with Brian, Courtney, and Megan and hung out for a couple hours. Apparently Brian and Shae made it a late night and were up till about 4am. I am extremly glad I went home at 11pm. Thank you common sense!

Chris turned 30 on Thursday and the whole clan gathered on Friday night to celebrate. We grabbed dinner with him and Meghan and then headed to Union Park for a few drinks (iced tea and Sprite for Kelly). We had a great time. Kelly showed us she still has some sweet dance moves and outlasted most of the crew. At one point one of Chris's friends said to me "I'm really tired and I kinda want to go home, but I can't go home before the pregnant lady!" So props to my wife for being a trooper and hanging till 1:30am! I'm not going to lie- I got drunk. This was not wholly intentional but I didn't do anything to prevent it either. I confessed to Sonya that I'm very sad that she is leaving and I think I made her cry. Then I talked Kelly's ear off while she drove home and ate a bowl of Rahmen Noodles upon arrival. I also decided it would be a good idea to dress up Bella in my shirt- sorry Bella. The next morning I woke up and lamented both the drinks and the Rahmen. So son, when your old enough to read this, remember, all things in moderation.

Beginning of the night

End of the night

Chris was doing his best Jack Nicholson impression

Kelly breaking it down with Will

Look- a normal picture!!

Is that a hook em horns I see, Jeff? Aren't you from Boston?

Bella was embarrased

Mom and daughter- luckily the resemblance is not striking.

Yesterday and today have been much more relaxing. We celebrated our anniversary and Mother's Day by doing as little as possible. It was a weekend of movie watching- I saw Star Trek with Will and Alex on Friday night (post Cavs beatdown #3 on the Hawks) and then we both saw Wolverine on Sunday evening. Kelly got her fix of naked Hugh Jackman and I got my fix of a guy with metal claws slicing through bad guys and blowing things up. We also enjoyed a little Homeslice Pizza in the afternoon because I'm a cheap date. Gotta say I am pretty pumped about my anniversary gift so ladies take note. Kelly got me a Grady Sizemore jersey to complete my collection of Cleveland sports gear and I can't wait till the Indians start winning so I can be proud to wear it! I got her an Ipod docking station and a ticket to see Pearl Jam at ACL in October. Now she can dance around the house to her music and wake up to something besides her annoying phone alarm. So it was a gift to me as well :)

So Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! And if you're feeling lonely maybe these guys can help.