Almost 8 weeks!

At 8 weeks, the little monster looks something like this:

So we're almost at 8 weeks, which means we're almost at our first doctor's appointment! It's strange and exciting that in only 1 week (next Monday), I'm should get to hear the baby's heartbeat and see the strange bean-like structure that is my child. The Little Kitty is still feeling pretty bad, but a friend at work told us to ask the doctor for Zofran when we go. It's supposed to really help with nausea. Actually, it's what they give chemo patients to keep their nausea down, so if that doesn't work I'm not sure what we'll end up doing, heh.

So life is pretty good at the moment for me. It's difficult to stretch myself sometimes and keep going when I just wanna stop for a while and play games or read or go to the toy store and look around, but that's what happens when you grow up, right? Life's only gonna get busier, but if I can keep putting the big rocks in first, all the small stuff will start following soon afterwards.

So here's to moving forward and moving on, and to pushing on ever towards that next level!

P.S.: I finally finished putting the apartment together! Woo! Not everything is on the walls yet, but the boxes are unpacked and put away. Finally put in a late night last night and finished up after work today, and it's all finally done.

That only took 2 1/2 weeks...ha.

My Dad

It's a double-post Thursday!

In all seriousness though, a tribute to my dad, who has been there all the way and whom I respect more than any other man out there today.

Things I've learned from dad:

1. It all centers on God

2: There are always more questions than answers

3. Not every question has an answer

4. It's important to share all the answers you can with your kids

5. It's not about climbing the corporate ladder, it's about climbing the family ladder

6. If you call your kids "little twerps!" while they're teens in a fit of anger, they'll probably laugh at you

7. A day's hard work on the farm is worth 10 days at the office

8. Respect your momma

9. Respect your wife

10. Respect your kids

11. Respect yourself

12. If you start saying "crap!" so will your kids, followed by everyone else in the family

13. Dad really did know best most of the time

14. That at some point after my teens I knew nothing and dad knew everything

15. That no matter what, come hell or high water, length or depth or anything else, that dad is there for me.

Thanks dad, and I look forward to learning a lot more from you than I already know.

Vicious Sickness (hey that rhymed!)

Beware ye that plan on pregnancy.

"Morning Sickness" is a crock. "All Day Full Body Corruption and Nausea" is a better term for what it can really be.

The Little Kitty has been feeling aweful lately. She can hardly eat or drink most of the time, and nothing seems to help. We've done cranberry juice, teas, preggie pops, ginger ale, ginger chews, you name it. This leaves me in the precarious position of trying to do what I can without: A) bugging her to death about it. B) seeming like it's not that big a deal. and C) trying to get a lot of stuff done the 5 or 6 hours between coming home from work and going to sleep.

At the same time, I'm glad it's not me who has to go through that. I hate being sick. Hopefully our doctor can give her something that'll actually help, but we have to call her first.

Luckily, I have a wife that appreciates me helping out and lets me know it. And I'm glad that I can do something to make her life easier. The problem with pregnancy sickness is that there's not really anything I can do directly that's helpful. I recognize that doing things on the periphery to make her more comfortable is a worthy task, but as someone who would rather be on the frontlines of helping out, it bugs me.

Well, I'm only human I suppose. So let this be a lesson to ye men out there trying to "fix" your wife when she has All Day Full Body Corruption and Nausea. Don't try to. Do the things on the sidelines that you can do to help her out. She'll appreciate it a lot and you'll be doing your part to keep things moving along.

Goodbye Titania, Hello Haruko!

So Titania is gone after only being on craigslist for one evening. The guy came today, paid for her, and took away the title and key (he picks her up tomorrow). Afterwards the Little Kitty and I went and went (originally) for pizza, but ended up at Chipotle because it smelled better to her. What is it with pregnant women and their sense of smell? She's like a superhero or something, ha.

So once we got back I decided I must have the camera I've dreamed of having. My big reason for it? It'll take great pictures of the baby. My other reason for it? I'm a graphic designer and I want a wicked camera. So there.

I went to Best Buy originally, and fawned over the different cameras before making my decision. When I made up my mind, it turned out they didn't have it in stock. So I went to Sears and lo and behold, they had it. Seeing as I was at the mall at this point, I picked up some preggie pops for the wife.

Preggie pops are good things. They make her feel not as sick (this is very important for everyone involved).

Anyways, back to the camera. I am now the proud owner of a Canon Rebel XTI 10 megapixel digital SLR camera.

It takes wicked awesome pictures, and her name is Haruko.

So farewell Titania, hello Haruko, and let the games begin!

Farewell, Titania

A sad day has come to pass.

Titania (my motorcycle) must be sold, ending my riding days for the time being.

I really enjoy riding, and with gas prices going the way they are, the miles per gallon (around 40) on it were killer. But, with a kid on the way, there are some things that are just more important. I have confidence in my riding skills, and my commute to work is only 4 miles now, but I do cross 2 major roads, and the off chance that some moron running a red or swerving to make that last-second turn and ramming me just isn't worth it.

When we first found out the baby was coming I didn't even consider selling the bike, but things change, as they must, and if I want to be the father I truly want to be then I don't want to tempt that fate by continuing on with something that could stop it before it starts.

So I'm selling little Titania and buying my self a sweet digital SLR camera, and putting the rest of the money away towards the house we're wanting to buy when our lease on our apartment is up in a year. And my riding days may be over for now, but in the future that may or may not change (though I tend to believe the former).

But right now, I have a little monster coming, and it's going to change a lot more things than whether or not I have a motorcycle.

And I couldn't be more excited about it.

Update: Titania has been sold after on one day on craigslist! I didn't quite get what I payed for her, but I came pretty close, and that's good enough for me.

Sleep Glorious Sleep

There is more than one reason I started these posts. One was so that, later on down the road, the wife and I (and the Little Monster) could look back on these, laugh, and say "remember when" so we don't forget all the little things that happened along the way.

The second reason is to keep our family and friends updated on the goings-on in our life because I'm terrible at keeping in any sort of decent contact with anyone (I'm off-the-charts ADHD and very forgetful, not a good combination).

The last reason is so that this might be a resource for other new fathers down the road to see a more personal view of having a kid so they might have that much more knowledge on what they might expect as things progress.

This brings us to the title of today's post.

For the record, the Little Kitty is probably about 5ish or 6ish weeks along in her pregnancy. For the past 2 or 3 weeks she's been having some pretty bad sleep. Last night we actually had to sleep in the guest bedroom because our bed suddenly turned very uncomfortable for her. After that she slept more or less ok and I was out like a lamp (again). I usually do pretty good with a minimum amount of sleep, but between work, church, moving, finding out we're having a baby, fixing the flat on the car, and lack of sleep, I have become rather worn out by the time bedtime rolls around. But I'll stay up as long as I can, because being with her is the most important thing right now.

If I could give that sleeping ability to the wife, I certainly would.

So what's the point of this post? Stay up with your wife when she needs it. It'll help her know that you are there, and with all the crazy changes her body's going through, you definitely have the easier job. So enjoy the extra time you have with her as much as you can, even if she's not exactly enjoying not being able to get to sleep. I get the sneaking suspicion (aka: every book and blog i read tells me) that once the Little Monster gets here the extra time is gonna go right out the window.

Sidenote: Little Monster is not a derogatory term at all. I look forward to the child, but have you ever seen those pictures of the baby while it's developing?! It has a tail and everything!

Big News!

Yesterday morning:

The sky is dark outside, and I'm asleep. Well, more like dead to the world, when the Little Kitty (my wife) comes in and wakes me up:

"Hun! Hun! Get up, you gotta see this!"

"Ungrhrhgrghrg...time'sit?" I say, as I look at the clock.

My mind slowly realizes that yes, the clock does say that its 4 AM, and something in the back of my mind tells me I'm not sleeping till 6:45 like usual today. As I stumble into the bathroom, my eyes, which at first were hurting by the eeeeevil light, slowly adjust. The sight of a pregnancy test comes into view.

"It came back positive!" says the wife.
"Huh?" says my mouth as my brain starts wracking me with questions and advice ("Don't say 'huh'! Your having a flippin' baby! Wake up!").

Comprehension finally settles in as the rest of me wakes up just enough to not sound retarded.

"That's great! Woo!" I say as I hug and kiss her. And I am excited. But in reality its 4 in the morning and my body hasn't finished waking up. So we talk about it for a couple of minutes and go to lay back down, her telling me to get some more sleep so that I can be awake for work tomorrow.

Ever tried going to sleep right after hearing that you're having a baby? Doesn't happen. So we layed there for about an hour, talking occasionally, the rest of the time thinking of all the things that are about to happen while at the same time realizing that we don't know anything about what's going to happen.

So we walk to HEB to get another pregnancy test, finding out that they don't open for another hour. So we do the only natural thing we can think of.

Go to Kirby Lane and stuff our faces.

So back to HEB, get another test, and take it, just to be sure.

Yup, 'Pregnant' says the test, much to our delight.

I have no idea what's about to happen to my life, but I sure am looking forward to it, even if its going to be terrifying and new and completely turn my life upside down. You know what though? I need a change. Its about time I got that push to become the man I've always wanted to be.

Update: The Little Kitty went to the doctor yesterday to get a blood test, just to be really really certain. Sure enough, doc called back this morning saying that it is officially official that she's pregnant.

Release the beast!