In the Home Stretch...

It's been a while since we've updated the blog- so much has happened here. First and foremost the story of the past month has been the WEATHER! Holy Snow! We have already gone well over our allotted snow days and the school system has taken away two days of our spring break to make up for it. Mandy had her baby shower in the middle of a blizzard. We are so thankful for the gifts and that people actually braved the weather to get to Kathleen's Tearoom for the party! We wished everyone could have been there!!! Huge props to Andi and Lindsay for getting it together. I especially want to thank Rob and Bill for shoveling snow all morning and for not dropping dead of a heart attack while doing it. Eventually Bill was overtaken by common sense and flashed a 20 at a passing snowplow driver and the job was done! Mom and Jessica paid the price for being in Asheville during a blizzard. Their flight was delayed by about 8 hours at the AVL airport but eventually they made it back to the D. Mandy's Mom came in the next day and has been here for the past week shopping for Nolan and getting more stuff ready. Mandy is now in her 8th month and the reality is closing in. Final preparations have been made to Nolan's room and we are trying frantically to go over lists and make sure we have everything we need for the baby boy. In short, we are both very thankful for our friends and family and we feel blessed and excited for what is to come!

BIRTHING CLASS

Wow. That's pretty much all I can say after our weekend birthing class. I went into it thinking it was going to be mostly Lamaze type of breathing exercises... that was not the case. Rather than the once-a-week for 8 weeks course, we opted to cram it all into a Friday night and all day Saturday affair. I won't even bother with the details because those who have done it already know, and those who haven't will have to find out on their own. Probably the most memorable thing that I learned was the practical stuff- where do I park, where do I take Mandy, what should we bring, etc- along with a million other things to expect- the bottom line is to expect the unexpected I think.

Mandy is at 29 weeks! now and the days and weeks are flying by as we keep trying to get ready for Nolan's arrival. It seems like it is going to be impossible to get everything done by March but we are trying. UPS packages keep arriving daily with gifts for Nolan from our registry- thank you everyone! Even though Elli is not happy and would go through the window to kill the guy in the brown truck if given a chance, we get excited everyday to see what is arriving next. One day when he is walking up the driveway with a package I think I am just going to burst open the door and let Elli show him what brown can do for him...

29 weeks

Nolan Michael's room

Upon returning to frigid North Carolina we set about to make Nolan's room a reality. In between watching some bowl games the vision of the nursery came to fruition. Mandy and I spent all weekend taping, painting, and painting some more and the result is... pretty damn good actually. We are very happy with the way it has turned out so far. Now comes the hard part- putting together all of the furniture... On a side note- it is as cold as it ever has been around here and there isn't any relief in sight this week. We are hunkered down in the house with the heat on full blast and our very tough guard dog who is under 4 layers of blankets and hasn't moved for a day or two... HAPPY NEW YEAR!

BABY SHOWER!!!

A highlight of our trip to Florida was the baby shower- held at Nicole's Village Tavern in Wellington. (sight of the infamous Jake Postlewait slapping incident) The ladies all seemed to enjoy themselves in the VIP area while the men held their meeting at the bar, and Nolan Michael got enough presents to more than fill our car! The best part for Mandy was getting to see so many of her friends and family. We are so very thankful for everyone who came out to make it a special and memorable night for all of us!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Spending Christmas in 70 and 80 degree weather never seems normal to me but I was glad to do it this year! On the day we were planning on heading south to Florida- a big winter storm rolled into Asheville- we got out just in time! We were told that the interstates were all shut down a couple of hours after we got down the mountain. We spent 10 days in the Florida heat and got to see a lot people we haven't seen enough of lately. We went out on the boat on Okeechobee and on the ocean too. I got to spend some time in the pool with Callie Beth and did plenty of soaking in the hot tub. Christmas at Nan's house was great with a lot of Mandy's family there along with kids, dogs, and the presents galore!


Mandy and Elli X-MAS EVE


Patrick enjoying the hot tub :)



Mandy with Uncle Walt and Uncle Joe. They cooked a GREAT meal for us!!!

21 1/2 weeks!!!!

21 1/2 WEEKS!

Mandy is now 21 weeks in and the little guy is getting bigger and bigger. He is active too, especially after she eats pizza… unlike his father, who generally falls asleep after eating pizza. Last Sunday we spent a good portion of the day walking around Babies R Us with a gun. (The registry kind of gun) We pointed and clicked at a whole bunch of stuff that we will need for the little one. Who knew there were so many different kinds of pacifiers? There was nowhere I would have rather been, especially not sitting at home with a cold beer watching the Packers whip up on the Cowboys… Needless to say, I wasn’t much help and ended up sitting in one of the rocker / nursing chairs and pouted while Mandy did most of the work. I know, I’m quite a catch and she is a lucky lady!
We also have picked out a bunch of baby furniture and other stuff as well. (In the coming months, I will be selling one of my kidneys and donating plasma twice a week) Now that soccer season is over we are going to start putting the room together and are excited to finally get to that project. Next week we are heading north to Detroit for Thanksgiving. Look for us in the end zone of Ford Field at the Packers / Lions game! I will be the one with the big foam cheesehead on and sitting next to the pretty fat girl.

IT'S A BOY

It’s been a while since we have posted, but we wanted to have some BIG news to share first and I think that this qualifies: WE ARE HAVING A BOY!!! We are sooooo excited to share this news with our friends and family. We have had a few OBGYN appointments since our last posts, and we can report that Mom is doing fine- she has gained some weight but doesn’t really have an appetite for most things- we have certainly explored most of the restaurants in town though…
At our “find out the sex” appointment the other day, our ultrasound technician was having a little fun with us and saving the best for last. We saw a lot of good looks at his hands, face, he “waved” at us and then it was time for the moment of truth. As she panned down to the lower extremities I was sure I saw a sign of the telltale manhood. I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t really know, but then she blurted out “Well, it’s a boy!” Once you see the “money shot” there is no mistaking it. Right now Mandy is halfway through the pregnancy- hard to believe. Now it’s time to start thinking of names and get everything prepared for the little guy! Life is good!!





HI :)



BABY FEET!!!