No need for catching up anymore!

Well wouldn’t you know it!  Sometimes things just have a way of taking care of themselves.  We had a bunch of little tales that we wanted to share with everyone.  Things like Bryon being quarantined in the camper with acute bronchitis.  Or Darlene’s multiple doctor appointments (2 ultra sounds, a 2nd non-stress test, the pulmonologist, the physical therapist).  Surely these tales from the last 5 days will make in here eventually.

But all of the little stories are currently completely eclipsed by the current news of the day…

MIKE IS HERE!!!!

The short story is, Darlene had an ultrasound yesterday and the fluid measured less than 5cm.  The OB decided that “now is the time”.  She actually came into the room with a great big grin on her face singing “happy birthday”!  So we left the OB office and walked straight over to the hospital.  Darlene checked in an we spent the night here last night.

This morning at 10:30 (we were the third c-section this morning!), the nurse came in and we made the short trek down the hall.  By 10:50, the spinal was in and the doctor was ready to go.  At 11:06 Mike was out on the scale getting weighed!  6 lbs 12 oz and 18 inches long!

What in the world is going on?  This is what I expected!  I was so nice and warm

Some short clean-up, and they wheeled us back to the room.  Mike has already had a bath (a sponge bath from a nurse!) and has been fed 4 times!  And the pee/poop machine is starting to kick in to full production.  It’s all been a fabulous experience – a real whirlwind 10 hours.

Mom and Mike are doing GREAT!

We really do hope that we get a chance to see each of you VERY soon.  We should be home in a couple of days – give us a call or stop by the house!

The “Non Stress” test…

I always wonder about the medical profession.  At first glance, it seems like they may possibly make things up to support a self-fulfilling prophecy.  At second glance, it seems like there sanity may actually need to be called into question.  But then at the third glance, it seems like they may actually have it right.

This all began with our “non stress” test at the OB office this past Monday.  Hmmm.  Just the name makes me a little suspicious.  So my “first glance” began with a question – what do you do for a non stress test?  The answer was – nothing!  You do absolutely nothing.  Now what just a minute.  This seems like a top-notch self-fulfilling procedure to me.  Maybe the good Doctor needs a little extra bacon this month and thinks she can test how good we are at doing nothing!  I’m far from convinced…

But the Doc has never led us astray in the past.  In fact, it’s been just the opposite.  So my “second glance” began with another question – who exactly needs this non stress test?  The answer?  People with diabetes (nope not in that category – the two glycol test more than proved that!), high blood pressure (115 over 60 certainly doesn’t qualify), gestation hypertension (again – 115 over 60 is out of the question), baby appears small (nope – at the last visit he was soundly in the “normal” category).  It was right about here when I began to question the doctor’s sanity.  She has obviously gone straight to the loony bin! 

But before I could raise any objections the doc (who certainly appeared sane) said, “…but the symptom I’m most worried about is low amniotic fluid”.  Uh oh – here’s the “third glance”.  Suddenly this isn’t about the Doc needing some extra coin and I had no further doubts about her sanity!  She tells us that the ultrasound was showing the amniotic fluid level to be “below normal” which in itself was absolutely no cause for concern but that it did require some additional monitoring.  So the ultimate goal of the non stress test was to evaluate baby Mike’s heartbeat and movements for an extended period of time just to make sure he is still happy in is little home.

So Monday was the non stress test.  Hooked up the monitors, kicked up the feet, click a little button every time Mike kicks – this is way better than work!  And the results were very easy to interpret.  Mike was so happy with his current living conditions that he was dancing a jig and putting on a show for all of the nurses!  Needless to say – there is no cause for concern…

First things first

A lot has happened over the past week! And I'm sure that over the next couple of days, most of it will find it's way here. But er certainly need to put first things first...

I've come to find out that there were several people following the countdown. However, once the OB scheduled the c-section 5 days before the due date, that threw the whole count off. AND - it raised a VERY important question that I hadn't considered until it was brought to my attention (thanks dad!). "What are you going to do with the leftover bottles of beer?"

Well - I've been doing some checking and it seems that the answer is more complex than it first seems. It turns out that the Federal Government Family Oversite Committee imposes an early baby withdrawal tax that requires we put back a minimum of 20 bottles of beer. And the IRS (where would we be without them...) imposes an early withdrawal tax of 10 bottles and a penalty tax of 5 bottles and then taxes the penalty tax another 2 bottles (but none of that is "double taxation"). The State of Tennessee has some of the craziest liquor laws I've ever seen and they certainly like to tax their beer. Upon finding out that the Feds were taxing / penalizing us 37 bottles they informed us that the State ABC Board would impose another 13 bottle tax. The good news is that the 13 bottles would take care of all state, county, and local taxes and fees.

So it looks like we are going to have to add 50 bottles back to the fridge for having 5 bottles leftover.

I talked to our local distributor (who is WAY nicer than the tax boys) and he quoted me a price for the 50 bottles of beer. Then he politely inquired as to why I needed the extra 50 bottles (knowing that Mike wouldn't be born 50 days late!). I told him of my circumstance and we agreed that at some point in time the "boys in power" lost site of "for the people - by the people". He agreed to cut me a deal - rather than the 50 bottles of beer, he would give me a pony keg and "massage the paperwork" to make it all work out.

So the end result is that we now have a pony keg (80 bottles of beer!). The unfortunate part is that we might have to make that quick trip to the hospital at any point in time! Certainly not a good time tap the keg. So here's the plan...

Mike will be here on the 1st (maybe earlier! more to come in another post...). After he's here (you will all receive official notice of the arrivial!) everybody needs to migrate over to our house at some point in time to help drain this keg. We can make toasts to Thanksgiving, toasts to Christmas, toasts to babies, toasts to family and friends. The big thing is - this keg absolutely needs to be empty by December 31st. Because you don't want to know what the taxes and penalties will be for waiting until the first of the year...

Another OB visit!

Another day – another trip to the doctor! 

Not that there is ever an insignificant visit to a doctor – especially when a pregnancy is involved.  But this visit carried a little extra importance.  Today we had an ultrasound to determine if Mike was still breech.  If he was, then we would have a “much more definitive” due date since we would be scheduling a c-section.  If he had flipped head down then it would be in Mother Nature’s hands…

It was pretty exciting being back in the ultrasound room.  We hadn’t seen any pictures of Mike since the Sept 22nd.  He has certainly grown quite a bit since then!  In some ways, it was the same as the other ultrasounds.  They measured his head circumference, measured the size of his belly, and measured the length of his femur.  With that, they determined that he is currently weighing in at 5 pounds 12 ounces.  They measured is heartbeat (and you have no problem seeing it beating on the monitor!) and it was a strong 150 beats per minute.  They listened to the blood flow through the umbilical cord – and they can do this cool red/blue overlay where you can actually see the blood going back and forth through the cord.

And then there were some new things.  They got some good views of his face.  We could watch him open his mouth and watch his chest rise and fall while he was practicing his breathing.  And everything was so much BIGGER!  Even with the screen zoomed out as far as it would go, his face barely fit!  And a cute little face it was.  Here’s a picture of him looking straight into the ultrasound wand with his hands resting on his cheek.

 

So what’s the verdict?  Breech or not?  Is December 6th still “D-Day”?  Is Mom Nature in control or are the doctors going to take over?

After the ultrasound, we went into the regular patient room and met with the doctor.  She was pleased with how things are progressing but told Darlene that she needed to start taking it easier at work.  So she immediately decided to give up all of the 3 hour labs and just teach her lectures.  Everything else was fine.  Iron was good.  Strep-B was negative.  BP was staying remarkably low.  Blood sugar is good.  All systems go!  Just a little extra rest – because that’s what you are supposed to do!  And the OB visits have officially been stepped up to two days a week.

But the real news is…

Mike is still head up!  And at nearly 37 weeks, the chances of him flipping for a “natural” birth are essentially nil.  That means that it’s officially a “scheduled delivery” and the big day will be on December 1st at 8am!!!  It’s officially scheduled at the hospital and all of the pre-admission paperwork is complete.  That makes it a mere 19 days away…

Playing with the dogs…

Fall has arrived! The leaves are just past their prime. The weather is cool and sunny and the gentle breeze blowing through the trees brings the leaves down in a rainbow of colors.

The dogs love it. This time of year, it’s all we can do to get either of them to come inside. They spend the whole day outside, playing, wrestling, barking, napping. They absolutely love it – and we absolutely love enjoying it with them!

This morning, we snapped a couple of pictures of them playing. It’s really funny to see foxy in the 12 inch deep leaves! She’ll run and bark and bark and run and then jump head first into a pile of leaves. She all but disappears, and she has an uncanny knack for being perfectly still and quiet so that you can’t see her. It certainly is the dog version of “hide and seek”.

C’mon sis! Let’s go play!

You hide – I’ll seek…

Betcha can’t see me!

Where did she go?

Scared to death! (A very special thank you)

Some know - but most don't. Bryon was "invited" to some last minuted training in Nashville this week. While it was certainly not the most opportune time to be 170 miles from home ("your wife is HOW many weeks pregnant?!?!?!?!?), the only other option was to take the training at the first of the year. All things being equal, Bryon and Darlene both decided that it was better to be in Nashville while Mike was "safely tucked away" rather than traveling within the first couple of months after Mike has been unleashed upon the world. After all, the pregnancy has gone marvelously well with the exception of some issues with brushing teeth.


So Bryon packs his bags and heads to Nashvegas. Darlene's fall allergies had finally worked their way into her chest (like the usually do) and had called the doctor to see if she could get her usual prednisone prescription to clear it up before it became pneumonia. Bryon left strict orders to call immediately after the doctors visit so he would know everything was alright.


Darlene called later that afternoon and started the conversation with "you'll never believe this". The doctor was admitting her to the hospital!!! Right away - do not pass go - do not collect $200. WHAT?!?!?!!!? You've got to be KIDDING!!!!!!


You can't put into words the kind of fear stricken panic that passed through Bryon's very soul. He does a pretty good job showing the "macho man" side of the pregnancy (happy, excited, can't wait for "the boy" to get here) and hiding the not so "macho" side (nervous, scared, anxious, "what do you mean 'they don't come with instructions' "). At that very moment - 170 miles might as well have been a million.


So, what in the world had happened to Darlene? Her blood oxygen saturation (while just barely out of the "normal" range) failed to rise after a breathing treatment. Worried about low O2 levels for Mike, they decided to play it safe. To make a long story short - the OB and the Pulmonologist both agreed that it was overkill. Mike was better than fine. And a steroid shot, some Prednisone, and an antibiotic (along with some rest) and Darlene would be better than fine too! But she still got to spend the night at the hospital (for the first time EVER). And in the Labor and Delivery wing on top of it! After all, that's where all of the baby monitoring gadgets are!


The next day, she was back home and doing better. And even though she was barely in the hospital 24 hours - there are still a couple of extremely selfless people who helped out. So a big thank you to our neighbor (Todd) for taking care of the dogs - they were our first "babies" after all and we are sure they enjoyed the slumber party at your house! And also Todd's wife Maureen. Being able to ask your neighbor to break into your house and rescue your dogs is wonderful enough. When they break into your house so that they can bring clean underwear to the hospital (and then sit and visit for a couple of hours) - that is beyond words. So a big THANK YOU to Todd and Maureen!!!


And we can't forget Jim (the nearly world famous "Quad Dad"). You can only imagine what his evening is like when he gets home from work. And even with all of that, he fixed some chicken noodle soup and drove it over to the house so Darlene wouldn't have to cook. Oh - did I forget to mention that he worked to 4am doing some call testing? Talk about selfless...


And there are other countless people too - Pat Zing for find subs for Darlene's classes (and the subs themselves), the countless ears that have been bent listening to this story and the shoulders that have been leaned upon, the kind words, the "tips and tricks", the support, the relief (not just over the last two days, but over the last 8 months). We are not sure what we have done to be blessed with such wonderful friends, family, and co-workers. But believe us when we say that you are, each and every one, appreciated beyond words!

Trick or treat!

All Hallows Eve has come and gone.  Once again, the little ghosts and goblins that plague so many places were few and far between at our house. 

I remember the first year at this house (almost 13 years ago now!).  Not knowing what to expect, we bought a ton of candy thinking that several goblins from the many neighboring sub divisions would swing by our door.  That first year, we had 3 trick-or-treaters.  And they all came as one group!  Not to say that we are surprised.  If I was 7 and was standing at the bottom of our street looking up that hill, I would probably skip it too.

This year was much the same.  “Ferocious Dragon” and “Maniac Monkey”, also known as Michael and Ben from a couple of houses down, paid us a visit.   They rang the doorbell and the dogs started going crazy.  We thought the dogs might scare the kids.  However…

Ferocious Dragon stepped up to the door.  Unfazed by the growling and barking creatures that had sprung from the depths of the house, lunging and jumping, guarding the candy with their very lives.  This was going to be harder than anticipated.  Ferocious Dragon sprang forward in a most vicious dragon pose, arms in the air, head tilted back, sharp teeth gleaming in the moonlight.  Sucking in air like never before, he tilted back his head and let out a deafening roar.  It was working!!!  The barking creatures cowered back as the roar continued, shaking the very ground on which they were standing.  Trembling in obvious intimidation to Ferocious Dragon’s superiority, they fled back in to the depths of the haunted dungeon.  Ferocious Dragon peered carefully through the entry way.  Unbelievably, the Pregnant Princess was right there, completely unharmed with the Charming Prince right at her side!  Free at last!  Pregnant Princess was so grateful that she showered Ferocious Dragon with some of the finest confections in the land.

Or at least that’s how the story goes…

Ferocious Dragon lets out a deafening roar!

Maniac Monkey with his dad!

It’s BASKETBALL time in Tennessee!

Sure – right this very second we are sitting in our living room watching College Gameday (the FOOTBALL version).  We’ve watched the highlight of Tennessee nearly beating Alabama.  They’ve given Tennessee the edge today (must be the home field advantage) over number 25 South Carolina.  Lee Corso has said, “Not so fast my friend” about 100 times already.  And we are hardly paying attention to it at all.  I guess it’s sort of a “basking in the afterglow”…

Because a significant event happened last night.  Bruce Pearl officially unveiled the 2009-2010 basketball team!  And what a team it is.  Fast on offense with lots of fast breaks packed with an unrelenting defense that guards the ball for the full 94 feet.  And they let it loose last night against North Alabama last night in a 117 to 79 exhibition victory.

And that’s not all.  Obviously, in an exhibition game, you don’t have all of the pieces plugged together yet.  Bruce has enough talent this year that is having trouble getting it down to a 8 or 9 man rotation (he played 14 people last night).  And even with scoring 117 points, Bruce admitted that he only has about 10% of the offensive plays in place. 

So sure – we’ll be watching some football today.  And we’ll watch Tennessee take on “the ol’ ball coach” and South Carolina tonight.  But watch out.  Roundball is coming to a television near you!

The Nursery Is Complete!

Yes indeed.  Little Mike’s room is ready for his arrival! 

Well – ok.  You caught me.  It’s not really 100% ready – but it’s finished enough to give you guys a few pictures!  We still have two small things left to do.  We still need to hang the valance – but we need a rod first.  And we need to put the rocker in the room – but we need to get a rocker first!

So here’s the story on the room.  About two years ago (yes, you read that correctly – two years ago) we had talked about what to do with this room.  We decided that it would be a multi-purpose room.  Music for Bryon.  Crafts and scrapbooking for Darlene.  Darlene decided that she wanted it painted a calming color – perhaps a blue color.  One weekend when Darlene was out of town, Bryon decided to whip the room into shape.  Rip up carpet.  Paint the room.  Put down some laminate flooring.  Hang some crown molding.

Darlene laughed when she came back home.  “It looks like a baby boy’s room”!!!

Fast forward two years and we decided to try and have a baby.  The home pregnancy test shows the double line.  The ultrasound confirms it.  A baby is on the way!  Call it parents intuition (or the fact that we already had a blue room), but we always felt that it would be a baby boy.

So since the room was already blue – only some slight remodeling was in order.  Bring in the baby crib.  Hang up some shelving.  Put up a few decorations.

We picked out some colors based on the crib bedding.  It is primarily blue (the same blue as the paint on the walls) with some green and brown in it.  We matched the green and the brown to paint some accents.  The brown paint had a great name for a baby’s room.  “Melted Chocolate” – yum.  The green on the other hand was not such a baby name.  “Cabbage Green”. 

So mix up some baby blue.  Add a little melted chocolate.  Top it off with some cabbage green.  And viola!  A room for Mike!

The ultrasound agrees that it’s a boy.  However, Bill Cosby (who has become a parental reference of sorts) has told us that God has a sense of humor.  Here’s His chance!  A girl would REALLY throw us for a loop!

 

Notice the Smiley bank at the bottom.  That’s from Bryon’s room when he was little!  And the dresser it is sitting on is from Darlene’s room!

“M” is for Mike!

It’s hard to see in this picture – but above the bed is a quote that says “Every good and perfect gift comes from above…”

 

And for those of you following along with the countdown – Forty bottles of beer on the wall.  Forty bottles of beer.  Take one down.  Pass it around.

To be continued…

Birth and Babies graduation

We’ve done it.  We are trained professionals.  Five weeks of grueling training.  10 hours of actual classroom experience.  We’ve graduated and are completely planned out and prepared for the birth of this baby.

Ha!  Not in our wildest dreams!  While it’s true that we have completed the class (and we have the “diploma” to prove it) – not even the two of us are naive enough to believe that!  At best, we’ve learned that we need to put together a plan (which we’ve done) and that we need to be prepared to throw the whole plan out the window!  We’ve heard that babies don’t always do what we plan for them to do…

So our course was called “Birth and Babies”.  The first four classes were all about “birth” (and the planning and then why you might need to throw it out the window).  The last class was “babies” and some fundamental care (did you know you have to feed these things?).

So we get to class and check out our assigned “baby” – ours was a girl named Diana.  We covered all of the basic creams, lubes, ointments, sterilizers, umbilical cords, circumcision (poor little fella), pacifiers, bottles, formula, milk storage, etc, etc, etc. 

Then we moved on to the actual baby.  We learned how to swaddle.  It certainly was easy with the plastic doll.  I’m certain that Mike will be just as still and cooperative.  We got to undress and dress the baby.  Again – we excelled at this and we are both positive that Mike will lay still and allow us to change his clothes at will.  We got to change diapers.  This was yet another easy task and again, we are certain that Mike will lay still while we wipe his butt, lube him up, and put on a fresh diaper.  And our practice baby didn’t pee on us or puke on us.  Again, we have talked with Mike and he seems agreeable to this.

Look at that expert swaddling! 

Then comes the more humorous part of the class.  We got to give Diana a bath.  “Sure”, you say.  “What’s the humor in that?”

Well – Diana had something sticky on her belly.  We had our little tube of water with a little bit of soap in it.  We washed her up, but the unknown sticky substance remained.  In an effort to be nice to the next couple to “adopt” Diana, we decided to try a little more diligently to remove the substance.  More soapy water.  Scrub a little harder.  Little did we know that we had began to draw the attention of Nurse Nancy who was running the class.

The unknown substance was being rather stubborn.  We decided more soap was in order.  We opened up the bottle and poured a little directly on Diana.  That was when Nurse Nancy (with a look of disbelief on her face – after all, we had been star pupils) decided she had better intervene.  “Ummmm – you really don’t need to scrub quiet so hard.  Babies skin is pretty sensitive.  And you should put the soap in the water and not directly on the baby.”

We started laughing which made Nurse Nancy a little more nervous.  I could see that she was beginning to doubt our abilities!  So we quickly showed her the unknown sticky substance and she gave a huge sigh of relief!

And all was good in the world again.  Class ended a short while later, and Nurse Nancy handed us our diploma.  Ahhhhhhh – already a successful parent and Mike isn’t even born yet.  Good thing that he has already agreed to be as cooperative as our plastic training baby!

Are you following the countdown?  If you are – here it goes!  “Forty-four bottles of beer on the wall.  Forty-four bottles of beer.  Take on down.  Pass it around.”

Yikes – it’s getting close now.  Less than two cases to go…

We’ve been busy!

Yes.  It certainly has been a while since we posted.  But there has certainly been a lot going on!  Rather than run it all together in one long post, we thought we give you a little teaser.  A preview of coming attractions if you will…

First – we have officially graduated from our birth and babies class!  Now we are trained professionals (ha!).  Once again, Bill Cosby comes to mind.  We will fill you in with all of the details very soon!

And we have been working on the baby’s room.  It is now 99% done.  We have just a little to do above the crib.  It would have been finished this weekend, but Bryon made a small mistake that requires a trip to the store.  Oops!  As soon as we get it done, we will snap some pictures for you all to see.

But we don’t want to leave you completely empty handed (so to speak).  Darlene’s sister had a beautiful baby girl!  We put a quick blurb about it in a previous post but there is so much more to tell.  It was a scheduled cesarean and mom and baby are both doing well.  Here’s the story.  Darlene’s sister, Diane, had placenta previa.  It’s a condition where the placenta blocks the cervix making a normal delivery impossible. 

Having a scheduled c-section is a little scary when you had a “normal” delivery with your other two kids.  Darlene made the trip to Stanton to be with her sister while the birth was taking place.  She was prepped.  The spinal tap was inserted.  The tent was raised.  The doctor walked in and gave her a little pinch on her belly and asked “can you feel this?”  Much to his surprise, she said “Ouch!  Yes I can feel that!”. 

The doctor was a little surprised by that.  They made some adjustments.  Turned some knobs.  Pinched again.  “Ouch!”

The doctor then explained that since everything was already prepped, the only thing to do was to use a general anesthesia.  Poor Diana.  She was already nervous enough just having the c-section.  She had never had any sort of surgery in her life and this had now turned in to a full blown major procedure with a general anesthesia. 

Fortunately, there were no additional complications!  Amber Penelope was born mere minutes later and Diane was awake and holding her a short time after that.  They are both home and doing great! 

And here’s an opportunity to make a good ending even better.  As you can imagine, Darlene’s mom was very excited that both of her daughters were pregnant.  It’s a special bond between mother and daughter.  And it’s just as special between sisters.  But when both sisters are expecting, those bonds grow in a way that is truly spectacular.  Unfortunately, Darlene’s mom didn’t get to see those births.  But this is not a sad story!  You see, her middle name was Penelope.  And we we know that she is looking down and smiling and that the bond between Amber Penelope had her mom will be every bit as strong.  Isn’t life truly beautiful…

 

And if you are following the countdown, we are officially past the halfway point!  Here it goes…  Forty-eight bottles of beer on the wall.  Forty-eight bottles of beer.  Take one down.  Pass it around.

To be continued…………………………

Dogs, acorns, and the National Anthem…

If you live anywhere near Knoxville, you have undoubtedly realized that we have had more rainfall than a typical this year.  In some ways, the rain has been nice.  Especially after two years of officially classified “drought conditions”.  Here it is, the second week of October, and most trees still have green leaves while the fruit trees and flowering trees are just starting to turn red and orange.  The fall colors should be spectacular this year.

The fantastic part is that we can enjoy those fall colors just by sitting out on our deck.  Not only do we have the woods behind the house, but our own backyard has several Sugar Maples that provide beautiful pinks and reds.  And the gigantic Pin Oaks and White Oaks in the yard put on a fantastic show of yellows and oranges.  When they are all in full color, you can walk upstairs on a sunny day and it looks like pink lights are on in the rooms.

Yesterday, we noticed something else that the rain has provided for (other than the occasional frog getting trapped in our garage).  You see – yesterday was a fairly windy day as a cold front was sweeping through.  Our smallest dog absolutely loves being outside chasing squirrels and birds and yesterday was no exception.  Even our bigger dog, who prefers more to be inside, couldn’t turn down the great weather.  The weather was so nice that we just left the door open and let them come and go as they pleased.

Then suddenly a gust of wind started blowing and looking out the window it appeared that large brown hailstones were falling from the sky!  The dogs were ducking and running for cover – scattering everywhere with cartoon like motions.

I realized how odd it is that hail would be falling on a relatively sunny day.  Not to mention that they were brown.  Some investigation is in order here!  Carefully stepping out onto the deck (and staying under the protection of the eve of the house) I reached down and picked up one of the “hailstones”  Turns out it was an acorn!

Now these aren’t the normal “pea sized” acorns that normally fall from these trees.  These acorns are larger than quarters and there are hundreds – even thousands – falling from the trees.

The dogs enjoyed the rest of the day from the safety of the house while looking out the window on to the deck.  After being caught in the “storm” they had little interest in being outside.  The hickory nuts aren’t quiet ripe yet – there may be another storm brewing…

 Under attack by monster acorns!

On a completely separate note – a family member sent us a video of some very talented little girls singing the National Anthem and a Texas Tech basketball game.  Some of you may have seen this already – but if you haven’t, take two short minutes out of your day to watch (and listen to!) this short clip.  Sometimes we get too caught up in red states or blue states, being liberal or being conservative, or advancing the party (or worse – ourselves) rather than advancing our country.  24 hour news programs and talking head pundits with radio shows who are more interested in “sensationalizing” a story to boost ratings or promote an agenda.  Underneath it all, we are ALL Americans.  And we live in these UNITED Stated of America.

So for two minutes, listen to these 5 young girls sing and don’t think of yourself as a republican or democrat.  Think of yourself as proud to be an American.

 

And for those of you who are joining in on the countdown – here it goes!  “Fifty-seven bottles of beer on the wall.  Fifty-seven bottles of beer.  Take one down.  Pass it around………”  To be continued!

Another “Birth and Babies” class under the belt…

Today was the fourth installment of our birth and babies class.  Four down and one to go.

We completed our “birth” portion of the class tonight.  We now have no disillusions about natural birth, induced birth, birth with “pain relief”, and even cesarean birth.  We’ve even had the opportunity to “watch” each type of birth (obviously on video) and I have to say – the cesarean procedure, while relatively safe, certainly looks scarier than the others!  Who knew that skin (and the abdominal muscle!) could stretch like that…

And tonight we moved on to the “babies” part of the class.  We learned about some of the more “gross” aspects of the few days after birth (as if moms haven’t gone through enough up to this point – I guess a little more “humble humility” gets poured on).  We also learned about the color of poop (who knew?).  And we learned about car seats!  So I guess with one more class to go – we are nearly experts!!!

And if anyone believes that – please watch the following clips regarding experts in childbirth (here’s part one and here’s part two).  Boy, I wish I had that $17,000 Ferrari…

 

Here’s our little “practice” baby – safe and secure in it’s car seat!

 

We hope you enjoyed the comic relief!  And if you happen to be following the countdown – Sixty bottles of beer on the wall.  Sixty bottles of beer.  Take on down.  Pass it around……

To be continued!!!!!

Family and friends are the most beautiful thing…

What a big weekend we have had!  I don’t even know where to begin.  It’s easy to say “start at the beginning” – so let’s give that a whirl.

The first big event of the weekend was - Darlene’s sister had her baby this past Friday.  Darlene was actually there in the delivery room and got to be the first person (after the doctor of course!) to get to welcome little Amber Penelope into the world.  It was a wonderful experience that put many of the concerns and fears and anxieties and questions about delivering babies all at ease.  And the reward was a beautiful new niece that will only be a few weeks older than Mike!

Then it was off to Evansville for the weekend.  And an action packed weekend it was!  Saturday, Bryon’s mom (with some help from the special hostess Kiersten) had a baby shower for Darlene.  It really was a wonderful time.  It was enjoyable enough just to see all of the friends and family all gathered under one roof!  We could have sat and visited with everyone all night long.  And the wonderful gifts?  Well that was just the icing on the cake.  We truly love you all!

Of course, we couldn’t see everyone on Saturday.  And those of you who couldn’t make it – we tried to get around to see you all on Sunday.  We made it to a few stops.  But not nearly everyone!  When it was 7:30 (that’s pm - our time!) and just leaving Haubstadt – we decided that we should probably head for the house. 

We really wish the weekend could have been longer and we could have spent long hours with everyone.  But we didn’t get home until 1:30 (that’s a.m.!!!!).  Wow – that made for a really long Monday!  But rest assured that even if we didn’t get around to see everyone in person we were thinking about each and every one of you.  And we consider ourselves the luckiest people in the universe to have the friends and family that we do!!!

And if you are following the countdown…

61 bottles of beer on the wall (Only sixty-one?  Are you kidding me?)  61 bottles of beer (I’m sorry – you must be mistaken. Only sixty-one? ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh…).  Take one down.  Pass it around.

To be continued!

Two women, two guitars, two mics, one great evening.

This past Friday, we had a wonderful opportunity to get out of the house for an evening.  There was a band – the Indigo Girls – playing in Knoxville.

It was a reunion of sorts for Bryon.  He first saw them at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver way back in 1989 and has been a fan ever since.  Twenty years later, it was at the historic Bijou Theater - built in 1817 which makes it the fourth oldest building in Knoxville.

The great part about their Knoxville show was how much it was stripped down.  The stage was completely empty with the exception of two microphone stands and a small set of speakers.  No drums.  No bass.  No keyboard.  They (the two “girls” that make up the Indigo Girls – Amy and Emily) came out on the stage carrying two guitars.  The music began.  Beautiful music that made you want to sing along with wonderful words filled with emotion.  All from two little guitars and two lovely voices.

And the played and played and sang and sang in the old historic theater.  It was music that makes you feel good with words that touch your heart.  We clapped and cheered and cheered and clapped – not just from the enjoyment of the music, but also because of the fascination that it all came from two little guitars and two women with extraordinary talent.

 

 

The Indigo Girls – live at the Bijou Theater!