29 Weeks, 3 Days...Pops at the Post

We took you to your first concert tonight. The Salisbury Symphony had their annual outdoor Pops concert downtown at the Salisbury Post loading dock. The theme of the concert was Fantasy and Finance. The Symphony sounded awesome. The weather was perfect for an outdoor summer concert. We couldn't believe the number of people tailgating and families just enjoying themselves listening to the music. They even gave us this cool fan which also served as a program. I hope you enjoy music. We hope to expose you to music early. You seemed to like what what you heard because you kicked!

29 Weeks, 2 Days...Fish Tales

Started working on a new scene for your room. This one is an underwater one. I drew a whale, a crab, and a starfish. I just need to draw a few fish and then paint it all and you will have something new to look at in your room. I am most happy with it. Maybe I will even draw an oyster with a pearl inside.

29 Weeks, 1 Day...You're Invited

Got an invitation to the first shower in your honor today. It was from your Grandma in Kentucky. She is throwing you a party next saturday. We are looking forward to going to see her and celebrating with your mom's family. This is a "ladies only" old fashioned shower so I won't be going. I described some games that they would play. Like walking with a clothespin between your knees to imitate the mommy-to-be. Someone will probably give us a training potty with unwrapped tootsie rolls inside. She laughed. I don't think she quite believed me. Women really do things like this at baby showers that are "ladies only."

29 Weeks...Thumbsuckers Anonymous

According to the developmental update you can now suck your thumb. It also says that you have the ability to cry. These are both essentials to any newborn for coping with life outside the womb. We would prefer laughing over crying but realize that crying will be your chief method of communication. Cry when your hungry, cry when you need to be changed, cry when you just want to see us or be with us. Not to sure about the thumbsucking. I've heard it leads to crooked teeth. The cost of braces might make us cry.

28 Weeks, 6 Days...Dessert for Supper

We probably won't let you eat dessert for supper. Not at least until you have grown nutritionally and dentally (is this a word?). That is not going to stop your mom and me from occasionally having ice cream for supper just like we did tonight. We aren't heartless, so we won't taunt you if we do. We will just wait until you are sleeping. Or do it clandestinely and just tell you we are dieting or fasting or something. If we tell you we aren't hungry, or had a big lunch it just might mean that we are secretly going to have ICE CREAM for supper. Don't strained carrots sound just yummy right about now?

28 Weeks, 5 Days...Common Threads

All of the expectant fathers were talking about the same thing last night in our lamaze class: How much weight they had gained. The mommies to be all looked great. We thought that they might have really blossomed since it had been two weeks since we seen them last, but it was the guys who had really plumped out. Since they were the ones who mentioned it, the dads were a rather husky looking group. Glad to know I'm wasn't the only one in the room who had added a pound or two over the course of the past six or seven months. Nice to know that I'm not alone in having to navigate the closet for the best fitting pair of pants, and circumventing tee-shirts on a hanging rack that aren't too tight based on my last meal or the very necessary in-between-meal snack. I used to think that it took women longer to decide what to wear. At least the women in this group get to use those special pants with the belly-hugging material to help support added body mass from pregnancy. All us poor guys have are belts which accentuates our pot-bellys hanging over it. We may have been a little husky, but I am proud to say that none of us in our group were at the point of needing suspenders. Yet.
Another thing that the guys were all bonding over is how glad they were that the in-laws were in other cities and states. Most of the women even agreed to that one too. I'm going to miss these couples once we finish the class and deliver the babies. Maybe we can schedule a reunion or playday or group birthday party for them or something. Funny how common experiences can unite a group of strangers. Since we had these common threads going, I felt like I probably wasn't the only guy in the room who had been commissioned to paint a pregnant woman's toenails. I wasn't going there, however; some things are sacred. Even in a natural childbirthing class.

28 Weeks, 4 Days...The Pregnant Brain Speaks

We had been on the run all day. Church, Petco, Sticky Fingers, Concord Mills, Lowe's, Food Lion for a gift card for a Shower at Church, back to Food Lion for our groceries. We were so hot and tired from everything. Even in the third trimester pregnancy she could still walk faster than most shoppers at the mall. Her social skills were superb in talking with people about the baby, and she was such a trooper at the shower. We even talked about a baby shower for you from people at Church, but she definitely had a touch of Pregnancy Brain when she told me at the grocery store "I'll remember you." What she meant to say was "I'll remind you." It was sooo funny. I told the cashier that we were expecting a baby together and she tells me she would remember me. I told her I hoped that she wouldn't forget me! Then I told the cashier not to put all of our eggs in one basket.