26 weeks

This was the only shot without "Spirit Fingers"

Only 12 more weeks, give or take, until we're somebody's parents!  Weird, huh?  Well, it is for me at least.  I had a glimpse into the future today as I sat in the waiting room at my dentists office.  There was a guy, maybe 24, with a tiny little infant.  She couldn't have been more than a couple of weeks old because she was sooo small.  Mom must have been in the back getting her dental work done while Dad was left in the waiting room with the little girl.  Well, the little one must have finally realized that Mom wasn't around because she totally lost it and began wailing to no end.  Nothing he did was worked...no rocking, swaddling...nothing.  You could see the look of sheer fucking panic on his face as he looked around the room and then down the hallway...he had no idea what to do with this screeching pile of pissed off baby.  Mom finally got done and came up front and grabbed the little one and she instantly stopped crying.  I can only imagine what that guy was thinking.  It must have been a mix of both relief and anger.  What a little asshole!   That...that is going to be me...I can see it coming.

Anyway, Malia is feeling well so far.  She has been having some trouble sleeping lately so we went to Babies "R" Us circus on Sunday and got her a pregnancy body pillow, so hopefully that helps.  Also, she has to go back in for a re-test for her gestational diabetes test.  Something happened on the first test and they need to do it over again.  This time she has to fast for 24 hours, which seems like a pretty cruel thing to do to a 6 month pregnant lady.

She was a happy child, really.

Its looking like we've finally made a decision on the name.  I think the thing that sealed the deal is my run-in with a little red headed 8 year old girl at the hair salon the other day:  As I was waiting for my turn to get a haircut, I noticed this particular little girl because she has a spooky resemblance to Malia when she was that age.  I was trying to not be too "creepy bearded guy" about staring but I couldn't help but think that I was getting a preview of what was to come.When her Mom called "Sidney, come over here honey."  I was taken aback... You see, Sidney is the name that Malia and I have been pretty sure about for a few weeks now.  This just erased any doubt in my mind that I had about this name.  Must've been a sign, so Sidney it is!  Still working on the middle name, but the really important one is in the can.

We've also been starting to play little Sidney some music in-utero.  I tried to make mine mellow and calming so I picked lots of really peaceful music that gives me goosebumps.  I figure that's good enough of a criteria...  Malia's consists of Dead Milkmen and a couple other songs.  She was disappointed when I told her that Pantera was definitely not gonna happen.  I put together a playlist you can see here.  I'm up for suggestions too, so shoot me an email or something.

She either hates it, or loves it.  We can't decide which one becasue she goes crazy whenever we play it for her.  I'm going with the ieda that she loves it...nothing scientific, but thats what I'm sticking with.  I'm also picking back up my guitar to learn some songs to play for her once she gets here.  I've farted around with the guitar off and on for years now.  I know just enough to know how much I suck at playing the guitar.  It's fun trying to learn some Beatles songs though.



I finally returned some underwear that I tried to buy for Malia a couple of weeks ago.  You see, I was trying to be a really nice & thoughtful husband and get her some new underwear at Fred Meyer when I heard her complain about how her old ones don't fit her anymore.  So, I go to Fred Meyer (I needed socks too. It wasn't like I was just going shopping for panties.) and walk in woefully unprepared for the huge selection of womens underwear...  You see, I'm used to the very simple choices that I have to make regarding my own underwear. 1st choice - Boxers or Briefs, 2nd choice - Size: S, M, L, XL...etc.  Done.  Easy as pie.

I now know that womens underwear not only comes in 30 different styles and sub-genres, but the size...oh the sizes.  No such thing as small, medium or large, oh no!  Much to easy that way.  I had to totally guess what size to pick based off of my prior shopping trips with Malia.  As far as cut?  Well, I tried to logically think it out: "What would be the most comfortable and supportive for her...she is pregnant after all."  OK, the bigger granny ones would be great!  She won't care, she's pregnant!

Feeling a bit weird about buying panties, I bury it amongst other much more manly things like tools, camping gear and some motor oil.  Now that I think back on it, that checker must have been really confused: Tools, camping gear, motor oil and womens underwear...  In my attempt to not look like a weirdo, I think I achieved the opposite most successfully.

I triumphantly make my way to the house to deliver my most thoughtful of gifts to the pregnant one only to be thoroughly disappointed in her response:

Me:     "Hey babe, I remember you complaining about your underwear the other day so I picked you  
            up a  package while I was out."
Malia: "Oh wow, that was very (opens bag) sweeeeet of you....  What the f*ck is this?"
Me:    "I know its super granny, but hey...they'll be super comfortable!"
Malia: "Yeaaaah, I'm not wearing these.  Are you crazy or something?  (Looks over package) How big, 
            exactly do you think I am?  These are HUGE!"
Me:    "Uh, I don't know....I just guessed.  Thats close to your size of jeans isn't it?"
Malia: "Uh, no.  Not, not even close."
Me:    "Oh....I'll take them back."


So there I was on Sunday: In the return line at Fred Meyer, panties in hand.  I'm just lucky it wasn't the same cashier.

25 weeks and counting...

Sorry for the late post this week...I've been feeling rather non-motivated to do much of anything lately.  It doesn't help that this week has been particularly busy either.  Not that its been all that busy, I'm just a lazy ass and anything outside of going to work and coming home to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation reruns leaves me completely exhausted and a bit cranky.

Malia is feeling well so far, although she'd beginning to outgrow the new shirts we bought just a week or two ago.  The little one is not so little anymore either... She's gotten a lot more active, too.  When she gets in a mood, we can actually see her doing somersaults in there.  Very weird, but very cool at the same time.

We go to the doctor again on Friday for our monthly checkup, but as far as we can tell everything is looking good!  I think the doctor wanted to screen Malia for gestational diabetes on this visit, but again, everything is going swell so far.

I have to apologize about the poll.  It doesn't seem to be working and I can't figure out why.  I'll try to get it fixed soon and maybe even add an option to submit your own name suggestion for our little bundle o' joy.  I'm split at the moment between Bathsheba and Jermajesty...

This last Friday, April 1st, was our 7th wedding anniversary.  I wanted to make it really special since Malia is pregnant, so I bought us tickets to Teatro ZinZanni which is a crazy dinner-circus-theater-show thing. Now, if you live in the Seattle area and haven't done this yet, do yourself a favor and put this on your to-do list.  The food was great and the show was even better.  Our faces hurt afterwards from laughing the whole time.  Its pricey, but worth it.

A camera so awesome, it takes its own picture.

We got a new toy this last weekend, too: A Nikon D90.  I've been a bit of a photography nerd for some time and have had a couple of really nice film SLR cameras, but nothing this nice in the world of digital.  I got a smoking deal on it through craigslist to boot.  I was a little leery about carrying that much cash to meet some jerkwad from the interwebs, so I made sure we met in a very busy Starbucks on a Sunday morning in Kirkland. All went well and I got myself and my shiny new gadget home safely.  It's been fun learning how to use it, but its gonna take me awhile to master the damn thing.  Its got submenus of submenus of submenus of options, settings and other customizable wizbangs.  Oh, and its heavy, too.  Heavy means good in electronics, right?

Spring is definitely here.  It hit me as I was outside on Sunday, mowing the grass with a jacket on...  Now, I grew up in the South where there are two seasons: Hot and Not-So-Hot.  So I thought the idea of mowing with a jacket on was pretty damn funny considering I grew up having a heat stroke while mowing.  We finally got the shed organized, too.  That thing has looked like the aftermath of a lawn & garden center explosion ever since we got it.  The funny thing is that it only took 1 Saturday's worth of time and about $60 to get it organized.  Must be all those Star Trek reruns...

$4 a gallon? That means I can have gold plated lavatory!

I got to take a super cool tour of the Everett main
plant on Tuesday with one of my old coworkers
from Kenmore Air.  He got a job there as a Manufacturing Engineer about 3 months before I did!  He took me on one of the infamous 787's being built right now.  I know that it is made from mostly composites, but I was really surprised how much of the airplane was composite.  Pretty much the whole damn airplane, with the exceptions of some high stress parts and the engines, of course.  Next, we went over to see the massive new 747-800 Intercontinental.  That thing is seriously freaking huge.  I wish I could have taken pictures to show you guys because it was really pretty impressive to think that that thing actually flies.  The one we saw happened to be one being built for a member of the Saudi royal family.  It was getting decked out with a wicked custom interior: showers, hot tub, bowling alley...you name it.  The base price for the airplane alone without engines and interior is around $380 million......  Just remember that next time you fill up you gas tank.