20 Weeks and 1 Day...

So, we're down to the wire on finding out if "baby b" is a boy or girl. Finding out if Team Heather is co-ed or "no boys allowed". And finding out if I'm going to be a Dad or a Mom... Wait a minute...

Heather and I have both been extremely excited about it since we made the actual appointment over a month ago. It seems like it's the single most important thing that's happened so far, and a couple of days ago we realized why. Up to this point, we've been calling the baby "baby b". I didn't realize it but it put us in the position of thinking of the baby as a thing instead of a person. But suddenly on Monday, it's no longer an "it" it's Braeden or Brooklynn. Suddenly "it" is a person.

So be advised, we're now accepting applications for flower girl/ring bearer for weddings starting in 2012.

-Rob and Team Heather

18 Weeks and 1 Day...

I've discovered recently that I'm being "groomed" for fatherhood. Heather has a cat aptly named "The Iz". Her real name is Isabella Josephina, shortened to Izzy Jo, shortened to Izzy, shortened to "The Iz". Those of you lucky enough to have met her know that somehow the strange name fits the strange cat.

I say I'm being groomed because I've been warned the soon to be arriving child will be leaving messes for met to clean up from the day she arrives. (Please note that at this point I've abandoned the he/she and am going only with she until we know for sure.) Whether it be a poopy diaper, spilled milk, or a random not good enough teenage boy she brings home, I will be in clean up mode for the next 18+ years. Which brings me to "The Iz". We both lovingly refer to her as our daughter, but in reality "The Iz" has become nothing more to me than a walking hairball factory that occasionally acknowledges my presence when she can see the bottom of her food bowl. Otherwise she ignores me unless she's peeing on my cloths.

It still gets on my nerves but I've learned to walk into a room expecting to see a mess that needs to be cleaned up and only to be thanked by finding another one tomorrow. The same will be true with baby "b", the difference being, I will get the reward of watching her grow up and become a great person, hopefully keeping me close by along the way.

By the way, if anyone's looking for a well mannered cat with a sweet disposition, let us know.

Rob and Team Heather...

17 Weeks and 5 Days...

For those of you wanting to see pictures of Heather's tummy, I am sorry, but I seem to have lost the little USB cord that connects my camera to the computer. Turns out that's a pretty important piece of the puzzle, who knew. But I promise to start posting those as soon as possible. In the mean time, please scroll down to the bottom to see a drawing I did to represent her expanding waist line.

Made you look right? I'm not an idiot, I know that's the last drawing I would ever make. Things are progressing nicely here. We've been watching closely online to websites telling us what state of development baby "b" is in. Currently his/her eyes are moving to the front of the head and the lungs are beginning to develop. Until we find out the sex we're kind of in a holding pattern. We don't want to decide on colors for the nursery until we pick out bedding, and we don't want to pick bedding until we know boy vs. girl.

In the mean time I'm studying what cartoons my new baby and I should be watching. I can't help but think someday our child's future success will be attributed to watching Spongebob with Daddy on Saturday morning. Plus I look less strange if there's a kid enjoying cartoons instead of a 28 year old adult watching them by himself. That's about all for now. Happy holidays to everyone and we look forward to hearing from all of you.

-Rob and "Team Heather"
P.S. for those of you wondering, I've started referring to Heather and the baby as Team Heather since they have a tendency to out-vote me on everything...

17 Weeks and 2 Days...

Hello everybody:
We decided with all of you spread around the country, this would be the easiest way to update. So welcome from Colorado, California, and everywhere else.

We got to hear baby b's heart beat on Thursday. Nice and strong and the doctor told Heather that she should start feeling movement any day now. Heather's tummy is pooching a little now so for those of you who know about "kiss the baby" thankfully that is a thing of the past.

We are anxiously awaiting January 7th since that's the big sonagram when we see if baby b stands for Brooklynn or Braeden. We'll be sure to update everyone. Hopefully she (or he) or she, is in the mood to pose. According to the Chinese gender calendar that our neighbor swears by we are having a boy (or girl)... so thanks for that Jana!

Morning sickness has been a big learning experience for both of us. Heather has learned just how much strain the human stomach can endure, and I've learned how fast I can go from a dead sleep to running blindly into the other room with a trashcan. Thank you to everyone that gave us the home remedies. We had an interesting time discovering what did and didn't work. By interesting I mean a lot of saying "well, that worked for one day, what's next?"

Crib shopping was also a lot of fun. We spent an entire afternoon driving around Kansas City visiting a lot of furniture stores only to discover that the crib we wanted was just like our neighbors crib and that it's available at our local Target. Man... do I love to shop! That's it for now (17 weeks and 2 days along). Check back often and see how things are going!

- Rob and Team Heather...