About the Shower

A certain reader has been waiting for me to comment on the baby shower. First of all, it was a major success.

We initially had our doubts because so many things seemed stacked against us. For one, Kelly didn't want to schedule it or send out invites until we knew the baby's gender. As you know, that was an adventure in itself. Then, we struggled with the planning because we weren't sure who could help us out. Thankfully, some friends and Kelly's aunt stepped in when we needed it. And, my mom offered to cover the food and hall expenses. I hadn't thought to ask her for much because I still owe her for my brand new windows.

We decided to make the shower co-ed because our friends tend to enjoy getting "the group" together for big events. We also had a few friends that we thought would be happier attending if we were couple and kid friendly. We were right, apparently. Nearly everyone invited showed up, in spite of the fact that so many invites were lost in the mail!

The day passed so quickly! When we rented the hall we were glad that they gave us the whole day (noon until about 6pm), because we figured that the friends we see most often would hang around late. It's kind-of our way. I remember looking at my watch during the shower and seeing that at nearly 5pm, NOBODY had left! We really had no idea that people would stick around for everything. We both appreciated that so much.

The guest list was quite an interesting mix. A lot of my family was there, and some family friends who've known me forever. Kelly invited just a few of her friends and her aunt Cindy. The rest of our guests were friends and coworkers, a good number of them were new friends that we discovered through my blogging. I heard stories later about some of these guests, who had to explain that they met us on the internet. That always makes me chuckle a bit. We've met some really great people because of my filthy blogging habit. I'm honored that they came!

We received so many great gifts for the baby. As we were writing out the thank-you cards we noticed that hardly anyone brought the "small stuff." That made it really easy to write personalized notes! And, we were able to fully thank the handful of guests who did bring diapers and ointment because we actually felt like we might still need more after all.

What's a Diaper Cake?

This is:



And this:

Whatcha Got In There?

These photos are almost a month old now. Kelly's doctor says she's carrying the baby forward, which means it's all in her belly.

That also means that I don't expect to hear anything about "back labor". PERIOD.

Why So Slow?

I've been getting complaints about the lack of material on this blog. I'd like to clear the air a bit about the "issue." There are a few reasons why I haven't had much to post here.

1. We're busy.

By the time I have an idea about something I'd like to say here, We've pretty much told anyone who's reading.

2. I'm being censored.

I encouraged Kelly to join this blog, in order to post her own thoughts on the pregnancy. There are things that you ladies will tell each other that you won't say anywhere else.

There are actually lots of things that you'll learn during your first pregnancy. We've gone through a number of crazy symptoms, only to find out that they're perfectly normal issues that 99.9% of women get, and apparently don't share with each other until their friends are pregnant.

I was hoping that I could get Kelly to share some of the secrets here. Sadly, you'll have to pick up some of the books instead. For graphic details, "The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy" and "Belly Laughs" both come highly recommended by Kelly. They're full of the types of things you don't normally hear about.

3. There isn't much to report. You'd be amazed.

Trust me, I'm doing you a favor by not reporting every moment. You don't want to know about Kelly's enhanced gag reflex, do you? I'd love to get the sound Kelly makes when she brushes her teeth on tape, but you don't need to hear it.

You'd think that there'd be more going on in the time leading up to birth, but there really isn't. Unless there are complications it's a steady stream of doctor's appointments and shopping trips.

We've got our bags (mostly) packed and the nursery is (basically) ready. Once we finally interview a physician, we're ready to extract our little man. Maybe I'll have more to blog about then.

We Have a Name!

Completely by accident, Kelly and I may have agreed on a name for our son. He's probably going to hate hearing how we chose his name, but I think you'll get a kick out of it.

Tonight was freakshow night at Southridge Mall. We kept running across very odd and sometimes scary looking people. On the escalator, Kelly spotted a teenage boy (dressed in goth/grunge) with some very big ears. His shaved head really helped to show them off, too. Kelly asked me what I would do if our son had ears like that. I blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "I'd send him to flight school."

Suddenly, I had an idea. I told Kelly that we should pick "Pilot" as our son's middle name. The more I thought about it, the more I liked it.

Kelly likes "Cole" for a first name. I have a hard time with it. On the way home I told her we could name the kid whatever she wanted. I'm calling him Pilot, even if it is just a nickname. Somewhere in this discussion she put the two names together, "Cole Pilot." Only, it sounded like "Co-pilot" and I repeated this back to her.

For the next few minutes, I tried to convince her that "Co-pilot" was an awesome coincidence. Then she started to tell me how cute it sounded. By the time we got home, I'd made up my mind. I'm sticking with Cole Pilot unless the kid comes out and looks more like an Ethan Allen.

Kelly has already informed me that we should've made this decision sooner, because we picked the wrong nursery theme.