The Life & Times Of A Boring Dad

Getting closer

2012-08-07T10:09:00.001-04:00

We're in the home stretch now, only 5 weeks to go. We have our last birth class on Thursday and Kelly's shower is this weekend and after that, it's pretty much a waiting game. I'll need to put the finishing touches on the baby's room once we see what we get and what we'll still need to buy but I think we're just about as prepared as we can get.

I know I've mentioned it before, but it completely blows my mind that I'm going to have a daughter soon. Even though I have gotten married, bought a house and turned 30, I still never felt like an adult. When you combine all that with having a baby, it's pretty much the textbook definition of adulthood though, right? Maybe it's just because, when I was a kid, I always assumed adults knew what they were talking about and now, as an adult, I still feel like I'm making it up as I go along.

Anyway, 5 weeks to go and I can hardly wait to meet my daughter.

Birthing Class

2012-07-27T08:56:00.001-04:00

We had our third birthing class last night and it was by far the worst. The first one was pretty basic, 'this is what happens to your body during pregnancy' thing, last week was the stages of birth and we watched a video of a birth that wasn't really that bad. This week, though, was about medical intervention during birth. Seeing someone get an epidural was way worse than seeing someone give birth. I don't know who first thought 'Hey, I know! Let's jam a huge needle into a woman's spinal column, then run a smaller needle through the bigger needle!' but they were clearly slightly insane. And C-Sections seem even worse. I really, really hope Kelly is allowed to deliver naturally. And I'm really, really glad that men can't get pregnant.

Next week we get a tour of the hospital we're delivering at, so that should be really cool. It really does hammer home the point that in a little over a month and a half, Kelly and I are gonna meet our little girl!

Eight weeks to go!

2012-07-21T11:38:00.001-04:00

It blows my mind that in less than two months, Kelly and I will be parents. Because of her gestational diabetes, we got another ultrasound this week. The baby kept her arms in front of her face for most of it but after the ultrasound tech showed us her legs and feet and butt, she went back up and we caught the baby yawning. It was probably the most adorable thing I've ever seen!

Kelly has to go back twice a week and do non-stress tests. The baby is not a fan. She keeps trying to kick the sensor off of Kelly's belly.

The best and the worst

2012-06-11T17:14:00.001-04:00

I don't know if you guys know this, but I am extremely excited about this baby. Putting my hand on Kelly's belly and feeling my little girl kick is some straight up life affirming stuff. Every week, I go online and read up on what is happening in that week of pregnancy (she's around 14 inches long and 2 lbs. this week!) I spend way too much time looking at baby clothes and trying to find cool stuff for her.

But I probably spend just as much time worrying. I'm sure every new expectant parent goes through this but that doesn't lessen how much I worry about things. It's extremely scary knowing that there's going to be a person that is 100% dependent on me and Kelly. For at least 18 years! What if I just have no idea what to do when she cries? How many teenage boys will I have to kill once she starts dating? What if I do a horrible job and she is constantly in trouble? In short, what if I'm a terrible father?

Oddly enough though, all of the worrying is kind of helping me. It's made me want to do my damnedest to be a great dad. I know I won't have all the answers but I will always do everything I can to figure them out. Will I be wrong sometimes? Of course. But I'll just have to take it as a lesson and try to be better next time.

Long (working) weekend

2012-05-28T15:06:00.001-04:00

So I was totally a super productive dude this weekend! John hadn't see Avengers yet so we went to go see it before we started working on the nursery on Saturday. (I really should write a review of Avengers, I haven't enjoyed a movie that much in a long time.) Once we got back, John put the molding up around the vent while I did some painting touch up work.

After he went home, I kept working and started painting the trim and doors. I finished up the first coat on the trim Sunday morning before church, went to church and did the second coat when we got home. After that, Kelly and I went to her sister's house for a Memorial Day cookout where I chased around and played with my niece and nephews and had a few adult beverages.

Today, I cleaned up the mess in the nursery and pulled up the carpet and padding. The floor itself is in surprisingly good shape! I started pulling up all the tack strips and staples but I kinda hit a wall and decided I was done for now. Now we're getting ready to go to a picnic and I might do some more work when I get home.

On a slightly different note, the baby has been moving and kicking a lot lately! It's the coolest thing and I will never get tired of watching it. I can not wait til this little girl is born even though I feel like I won't have enough time to get everything I want to get done done. As long as I get the nursery done though, I'll be pretty happy.

Ugh, so sore

2012-05-21T21:43:00.001-04:00

Didn't get too much actually done in the nursery this weekend. Pulled down the painter tape and it pulled off some of the ceiling paint so I gotta do some touch up. My buddy John (who has been helping a ton, because he's an Awesome Dude) came over and cut some molding that's gonna go around the vent. Using my new saw! I totally just wanna go around cutting things solely because I have a new saw.

Yesterday, though, kicked my butt. Our church used yesterday to go out and help in the community. We went and cut grass, pulled weeds, planted flowers for people that can't do it anymore. We're also sponsoring a house down the street from me where we're going to bring it up to code for a very nice older lady. I was part of the group working there and we did a TON of work, clearing out a bunch of overgrowth and some small trees. We're not even close to done (we haven't even started the painting or any of the actual repair work yet) but the lady said it's the first time she's seen the street behind her house in almost 30 years. I went to town on some bushes with a hatchet and now my whole right side of my body is sore as heck. But it felt awesome to do something that's gonna help somebody so much!

So cool

2012-05-15T13:58:00.001-04:00

Last night, the baby was kicking up a storm. It was the first time I really got a chance to see and feel her move that was 100% undoubtable. There had been times over the last few weeks where I thought I saw her move but wasn't sure but last night there was no question. It was honestly one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. And when I put my hand on Kelly's tummy, the baby kicked so hard it made me jump a little. I've been around pregnant people before and seen babies moving and all, but when it's actually your own kid, it's kinda awe inspiring.

Also, over the weekend, I got the walls painted in the nursery. I think the color is going to look really dang good with the theme we picked out. Here's a small sample of what the room will look like. Don't mind the dirty trim, that's my project for next weekend.

On another front, picking a name is not nearly as easy as it seems. Oh well, we have a few more months to go.

Busy weekend

2012-05-07T07:16:00.001-04:00

Ceiling done. Wall color chosen. Now all I gotta do is actually paint the walls and pull up the carpet and see how the floor looks.

I haven't abandoned you

2012-05-04T06:58:00.001-04:00

I just wanted to hop in and let you guys know that I haven't given up on blogging again. It's just been a relatively quiet week on the baby front. I think I may have felt her move but I'm not actually sure if I did or I psyched myself into thinking I did.

Anyway, my friend and I will be doing some more work on the nursery this weekend and finishing up the ceiling.

Goodbye dinos

2012-04-28T16:21:00.001-04:00

So we initially thought we were having a boy and went a little crazy buying stuff. We found a cute/awesome crib bedding set with dinosaurs on it but it was recently discontinued. We ended up finding the whole set on Amazon and bought it ourselves since it would most likely be gone by the time the baby shower came around.

Well we found out earlier this week that we're having a girl and had to return it all today. We decided to go with the Happi Tree theme below for the baby's nursery.

We also have to start carrying around a baby doll to help get the dogs used to a baby.

Dude becomes Dad

2012-04-27T17:30:00.000-04:00

So I'm gonna try blogging again...again. "But, you've gotten bored and stopped blogging twice now!" you say (if anyone actually reads this), "What's to stop you from doing it again?" Well, my friends, this time I have a subject to write about regularly. My wife and I are going to be having a baby girl in a few months! So I will try to share my observations on my impending parenthood here and attempt to be entertaining in the process. Hopefully, I'll actually stick with it this time!

I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favorite post on this blog

2011-04-01T10:31:00.000-04:00

Recently, I've gone back and played a bunch of the Mass Effect 2 DLC that I'd bought but never got around to. I'd forgotten how fun the game is and it's got me totally hyped up for Mass Effect 3. I love how this series carries through all of your decisions into the next game. Of course the downside is that I if I want to start a new character so that my Shepard doesn't look like Delonte West, I pretty much have to start from Mass Effect 1 so I can have all my decisions carry over to ME2. I refuse to not have Wrex live, since he's totally my Krogan BFF.

Homiez 4 Lyfe!

Maybe in the run up to ME3, I'll do a complete run-through from the beginning with a jerk female Shepard so I can see the differences from my nice guy male Shepard and have the whole story fresh in my mind when it's time to continue.

Burned Out On Comics

2011-03-22T13:28:00.002-04:00

I'm a pretty big nerd. I love shared universes. That's one of the biggest reasons I get so sucked into stuff like Star Wars and especially superhero comics. I like that while I'm reading about Spider-Man fighting the Sinister Six, Captain America is out there stopping some recently uncovered Nazi superweapon while the X-Men are on a mission to rescue a mutant that just discovered his new powers. And if I want to find out what else is going on, I can go read about it. It makes the world seem alive and full. The problem I've had with comics lately is that I pretty much HAVE to read all of it in order to make sense of any of it.

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Games You Should Own: Saints Row 2

2011-03-15T21:23:00.002-04:00

I'm not as big a gamer as I used to be. I used to buy just about every big name game that came out and play them pretty much non-stop until I had them beat. Now I usually buy only a few games a year and they last me months, so there are plenty of games that just fall through the cracks that I completely miss. Every once in a while, I go back and buy one of those games if I hear enough good things about them. About a week and a half back, I bought Saints Row 2. It might be the best $20 I've ever spent on a video game.

Burning River Roller Girls Season 5, Bout 1

2011-03-12T22:40:00.004-05:00

That's right everyone, it's roller derby time in Cleveland again! Last season ended with the Rolling Pin-Ups ending the three year championship reign of the Hellbombers. There's been a lot of skater turnover since then and I'm looking forward to a pretty exciting season, hopefully culminating in another Pin-Up championship! To start off Season 5 the Hellbombers are going head to head with the Cleveland Steamers in the first game while the Pin-Ups start their title defense against the Hard Knockers in the second game.

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Well, that sucked

2011-03-11T08:51:00.000-05:00

Some kind of hell-virus has hit my house pretty hard this week. I've been in bad shape but not anywhere near as bad as the wife. On the upside, the puppies have been super adorable and spending time on the couch with her.

That's all I really have today. Assuming I end up feeling better, I'll have bigger and better stuff to write about this weekend.

More powerful than a locomotive

2011-03-08T13:10:00.005-05:00

I grew up thinking that Superman was lame. I blame the Super Powers toys I had as a kid. I had a ton of these but I lost Superman's cape pretty early on and his figure just wasn't as cool without it. I ended up deciding that he was a guy pretending to be Superman and had Batman and Aquaman (for some reason Batman and Aquaman were total bff's in my childhood mind) beat him up most of the time.

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How I learned to stop worrying and love the 2010-2011 Cleveland Cavaliers

2011-03-07T13:29:00.002-05:00

LeBron James almost killed my love of basketball. Not only am I a huge Cavs fan but I pretty much love the whole NBA. I devour NBA news. I love trying to figure out what kind of trades can work under the salary cap. I'd happily watch the Timberwolves play the Pistons in a meaningless game in February. And LeBron James almost killed it.

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