Almost Famous

Just when we thought things were on the downturn, we found out that a picture of Joni will be published in the book Awkward Family Photos. She made front page today, check it out www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com.

Also, thanks for all the thoughts and prayers about Joni and the H1N1 situation. Turns out a lady that works at the clinic felt really bad that she had to turn her away, so she called her yesterday to say that they had one leftover. So Joni went down to the clinic and got the last shot they had left, that was very nice of that lady to do, and Joni feels a lot better now about that. Now we just have to hope I don't bring any viruses home to baby. Six days left...maybe...some of the due dates you guessed are starting to drop like flies.

A watched pot never boils.

You ever notice that when you are waiting for something to happen, that time just drips by? Joni and I are going crazy right now waiting for this little one to make her move and enter our world. Everyone says to enjoy our down time while it lasts, but how can you really enjoy it when you don't know what having a kid is like? We feel like we've had plenty of time over the last few years to do what we've wanted to do as a couple, and now we are ready for the change, at least we think we are.

I've never seen Joni so ready to get out of the house at any moment. Without work or friends out here in buffalo land, she is going stir crazy. There are no more "projects" to complete, and there are only so many episodes of So You Think You Can Dance that she can watch. I cringe when I imagine if the baby is late, due one week from Monday, but right now the baby sure doesn't act like she wants to come out. All this waiting has caused us to mumble a bit, not sure why because we feel very lucky and blessed to be where we are. But here are some things I'd like to share that are worth mumbling about lately:

1) Don't ever ask a pregnant lady if she is having twins, why would anyone be so stupid and ask such a question? It happens ALL the time. Having said that, here are a couple of zingers on this topic I couldn't resist...(used with Joni's permission of course)

Why do people always look at you as a pregnant woman and smile?

Because you are fatter than them.

Whats the difference between a woman who is 9 months pregnant and a supermodel?

Nothing, if the woman's husband knows whats good for him.

2) How can Joni stand in line for an hour to get the H1N1 vaccine, and then be turned away? 35 yr old male construction workers got it because they were there 5 minutes before she was, is this ok? Not only that, but how does one of the best labor and delivery hospitals in the US not have any yet?

3) Its not cool for anyone who is not "expecting" to park in the "expectant mothers" parking spaces, then smile at your pregnant wife as they run inside the store.

4) North Carolina has the most beautiful autumn leaves I have ever seen, and no one in our ward talks to each other. We never saw the fall in Connecticut, but we met some of the friendliest people ever. If you would have described the previous 2 sentences without naming the state one year ago, I would have totally had them reversed.

5) Our neighbor snores so loud that we can hear her through the walls as if she is in our bed. We have to blast the humidifier all night just to drown some of the noise. Payback is going to be awesome (sort of) when the baby wakes up every night for the first couple of months. Come to think of it, we're hosed either way.

6) Dilly no longer has puppy breath, now it smells like tuna and rotting feet.

Despite some of the "minor" pet peeves, we are so happy and excited to have the baby coming so soon. We may be counting down the days/hours/minutes, but we are very happy right now. I love my job, I played my best game of golf ever on Friday, we live in a beautiful place, the Fall weather is amazing, we have awesome doctors, and Joni will be able to have a little companion at home besides the current one that sleeps until noon, smells like a door mat, and loves to eat leaves.

Week 38 update

It's so weird to be spending our weekends trying to do last minute preparations for when the baby comes. We've been buying a package of diapers every week for the past couple of months because I hear you need tons and they are pretty expensive. We've been worried that we still don't have everything we need but I assume that's normal. There are so many things you don't think about that you need, and a lot of stuff we are just waiting to buy until later.

Being a typical guy, I was thinking that we could buy almost everything used, but I found out that I was way off. Just a word of warning to you soon-to-be new fathers out there, nothing will prepare you for the amounts of "stuff" you have to buy for that tiny little thing, and most of it should be purchased new. There I said it, consider yourself warned. We did find a used Medela breast pump, which sounds gross but if you think about it you are just paying for the motor and you can buy spare inserts and parts for the rest at Target.

TIME OUT!!! What is happening here? I'm talking about the benefits of buying a used breast pump?!? What is happening to me?

Joni has been seeing a different doctor every week at the hospital. Thats just how they do it here, the team of doctors "rotate" because its likely that we won't have our original Doc for the birth anyways. The baby has dropped halfway down to be positioned at a "zero". 5 means ready for birth, minus 5 means not ready at all, so she's moving right along. I still don't know what to think about being a dad so soon. People do it all the time so it can't be that hard right? It's tough to imagine not being able to do much during the delivery except to be supportive. Thats all everyone says, "be supportive" and "don't take anything she says to you personally while in labor".

I'm kind of hoping for a little more time, but I know Joni is counting down the days until the baby comes. I guess thats how Joni and I have been with everything though.
We will be sending out an email to you all soon because we want to send a prize to whoever is closest to guessing the correct weight, height, and birthday of our little girl. So if we don't have your updated email, let us know and we'll include you in the sweepstakes. We're not talking about a big prize, just more of a "you are cool" type of prize. Happy Sunday!

Charlotte is NOT welcome here.

I know spiders are good for killing pesky insects, blah blah blah. But they are scary. Paul came acrossed this eight-legged devil this morning when he was taking Dilly out. I never would have taken this picture if it wasn't for my mega zoom lens that allows me to stand 8 feet away. The wasp was curious to see what I was taking pictures of and came over to check it out. So here you go - two of my least favorite creatures in one disqusting shot.

Paul took this picture on our front porch the other day. It's probably the only picture taken of me in the last 8 months that I like - GOOD JOB Paul!

Sorry this blog was kind of random. Have a good weekend everyone!

JONI

Buyer beware at the gas pump...

Several of you have asked about the identity theft thing, and although we haven't heard much as far as the outcome is concerned yet, I figured I'd warn you about something I heard on the news last night.

Rewind a little bit. On my birthday Joni was at KFC feeding one of her cravings when her card declined. After a call to the bank we found out that someone "swiped" our card in NYC at Wal-Mart at about the same time and purchased $185 worth of stuff. Once they realized that it worked, they tried to buy another $175 worth of stuff 2 minutes later but the card was already frozen. The scary thing is that we never lost a card, and we found out that they used our PIN number. Turns out this "person" made their own duplicate card with our number and knew our PIN number just like someone would make a duplicate check or fake ID.

We have always been very careful to discard important documents in the shredder, and watch our backs at the ATM and gas stations. What I heard on the news disturbed me and I thought you should know about it.

Turns out 2 guys were arrested in Raleigh for stealing several identities from gas station pumps. They have sophisticated devices that police have never seen before to take card and PIN numbers from the pumps. You would never even know they were there. They take the card numbers and make fake bank cards, then use your PIN number at an ATM to get cash...or in our case Wal-Mart. The only thing that you can do is check your account often for any suspicious charges or hope your bank freezes the card like ours did. I try to pay for gas inside now instead of at the pump, because you really don't know when one has been "skimmed" as they call it.

I don't mean to scare anyone or cause you to spend all your spare time looking at your bank account balance. This can happen to anyone, and it is a horrible feeling when it happens. Kind of reminded me of the time someone tried to steal our car in Dallas, but since it wouldn't start, they bashed out all the windows, took the radio and tore off the dashboard. We are totally fine now, the bank should reimburse us, and we are paying a monthly fee for a little while to have our bank monitor our credit history.

On a lighter note, Joni found out she has carpel tunnel in her hands from playing Wii for an hour. Wierdest thing ever...