WebGoonies.com: Life of a father to be..

Sale at BabyStyle.com

2005-09-08T12:44:00.000-07:00

I just noticed that Babystyle.com is having a 40% off sale from their outlet. You must use the code SALE40 when checking out. Surprisingly, they have quite a large selection of items in their outlet. I guess I will need to hide my credit card again as my wife would have too much fun with this.

Birth Announcements

2005-09-08T08:03:00.000-07:00

Used by the European elite beginning in the late 17th century, birth announcements have been used by the royal class to announce the new member of their family. Hot wax seals were used to close the envelope and servants would hand deliver them to their recipients via horseback.

Last time I checked, I am not one of the elite and I certainly don't own a horse. My wife and I have however dedicated the past few nights towards creating our own birth announcements. While we did not handwrite them like in the past, we used a new modern technology called the computer. We are curious to see peoples opinions on our creations. Please leave a comment with your opinions. We are looking to use one of these designs if everything works out.

Click image to enlarge.

Dream Interpretation

2005-09-07T08:17:00.000-07:00

I have begun researching a dream that I had last night. I recall no more than the fact that I saw myself as a young child and after I picked myself up, my younger self began to cry so I put him down. What could this mean? Possibly that my son will bring back a bit of my child hood? Maybe the fact that my younger self cried would mean that I wont be a great father? Maybe its simply a glimpse of what my son may look like. He definitely looked cute (why wouldn't he, he is my son after all). Does anyone have any opinions on this?

Shaking Baby Monitor

2005-09-06T14:58:00.000-07:00

Everyone wants to be the best parent they can be. They also want a bit of alone time as well. This leads to one thing, a babysitter. While I imagine most baby sitters do their job just fine, baby sitting incidents do occur. A new product called the Shaking Baby Monitor [via OhGizmo] by Esche Jacobsen hopes to put parents minds at ease. The device simply attaches to the clothing of the infant and will inform the parent via their phone if any shaking happens. Now at first thought you may think this is a great idea. Maybe something you have been hunting for recently. Think outside the box and imagine this. The device attaches to the child clothing. Call me crazy, but would the abusive baby sitter not be able to simply remove it before shaking?

The product website appears to still be in development. Hopefully the design of the monitor itself is still in design as well.

How-to: Swaddle

2005-09-05T22:20:00.000-07:00

Swaddling is the technique used for soothing young babies by wrapping the infant snugly in a blanket so that arm and leg movements are restricted. Swaddling gives the baby a snug feeling that they are used too when being in womb for months. Most babies will respond to this method and quickly calm down. Swaddling is a great technique that can be used for a suggested 4-6 weeks. Below is a How-to on swaddling for those parents who are not certain on the steps. There are many different ways to swaddle a baby and this is just one of them. Click here for a Google search for swaddling techniques.

Click image for the How-to.

Congrats.

2005-09-04T21:30:00.000-07:00

A big congratulations to my buddy from high school who just had his first child. Baby Madisyn, born September 1st. Mother and daughter are both doing well. I think my wife is already planning play dates. For those interested in seeing pictures (when they become available), take a look here.

Father Figurine.

2005-09-04T19:55:00.000-07:00

It's a cold day in hell. I have made in the past, comments about how you rarely see baby related items geared towards the father. While flipping through the recent company catalog of Current, my wife found a father figurine cut out of wood. To my surprise, the figure was actually nice looking. First off, the father displayed is a younger father and doesn't have gray hair like many others I have seen. It seems that companies believe that fathers have gray hair. Maybe they know something I don't know, does a baby cause gray hair? The figurine is a 6 inch tall piece of willow wood and is something I wouldn't mind having on my desk. Here is to hoping that more companies will take notice, and manufacture some items towards new fathers.

Link: Willow Tree By Demdaco “New Dad” Figurine

Labor on the run...

2005-09-02T13:48:00.000-07:00

Pregnancy and labor is bad enough as it is, but throw in a hurricane and you have yourself a problem. There have been reports of women who had to deliver their babies while being evacuated. The following link explains that the father was behind the wheel while his girlfriend was in the back going through labor. I cannot imagine my wife and I being in this type of situation come delivery day. Lets hope the baby and family are at a safer place now.

Link: NBC6 - Baby Girl Born During Hurricane Evacuation

Psychic powers.

2005-09-02T07:41:00.000-07:00

Who says you cannot predict the future? My wife found the following picture while roaming the internet, emailed it to me and said to me, "that's what princess is gonna look like soon". Princess is our oldest cat, pictured here and here. She loves the attention and I can agree that we will likely see our baby looking similar to this picture. If you are into cats (and have a sense of humor), take a look at the website. Its good for a couple of laughs on this Friday morning.

Link

Gas Prices Soar.

2005-09-01T08:15:00.000-07:00

What can be done when the gas prices soar? Families still need to get out and do daily tasks but this has increasingly become a strain on many of our pockets. Here in Arizona, we are paying already over $3.00 at some stations, just for unleaded gasoline. The hurricane certainly wont help that either. So what can be done to help alleviate the issue? Here are some common sense ideas that many people may overlook:

Going out of your way to save money on gas is a good idea, going across town is not.

Gas stations here sometimes charge a processing fee for credit/debit cards, add this into the total amount your going to spend and compare it to the station down the road.

More so than ever, try to avoid slow traffic as that will drain your tank quickly.

Perform a tune-up on your car so its running the best that it can. Deflated tires will also assist in draining your tank.

If you have a child, use the gas prices as a learning experience. Take your child on the bus and let them see the world from a different view.

If you have any tips of your own, leave a comment for others to see.

Child birth classes: Day 4

2005-09-01T07:56:00.000-07:00

My wife and I finished our child birth classes last night. Many techniques for child birth and pain relief were taught and I learned how to breastfeed (hurray!). One of the most important things I took away from this class was how to swaddle a baby. Everything I hear says that swaddling a baby does wonders to calm it. In coming days, I will likely be putting up a 'how-to' on swaddling. Furthermore, we watched another video, this time about after the birth. The video showed as a baby would turn its head to find the mother or father by their voice. Definitely an impressive thing. I was really looking forward to my certificate of completion however when I received it, it only had my wife's name on it. I guess I didn't really attend the 4 classes and just imagined I was there. Just another thing dads are left out on I guess.

Dive bombers.

2005-08-30T14:05:00.000-07:00

The past 2 nights now, my wife and I have gone swimming. The first night we watched as a bug flew up above and wham, dive bombed into the pool. Turns out it was a praying mantis. Now just last night, 3 more dive bombed in. Based on the wing designs, we think it may be the same one over and over. We are trying to find what it means to see a praying mantis. If I recall, it means something good. I just cant put my finger on it. Google comes up with a few different suggestions. One saying that praying mantis kneel when angels are near by. Furthermore, they say it is bad luck to kill or hurt a praying mantis (we helped him get to the side of the pool). Whatever the omen may be, we hope its a good one. Maybe one that promises good health, luck or fortune to our son. Maybe it just means the certain praying mantis was either intoxicated or wanted to jump in the pool to cool down. Anyone have any insight on this?

Nighttime swim.

2005-08-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

After taking 8 months to get a pool key for my community pool, we finally purchased my wife a swimming suit (she looks very cute in it). Last night we took a swim and wow it was nice. With the temperature in the day around 110F, the pool must have been at least 80F at 10:00pm. My wife loved the pool as it took all the weight off of her back. On the flipside, getting out of the pool and getting readjusted to the extra weight was difficult. I think my wife would certainly agree that swimming while pregnant is a definite must do. If not to take the weight off, at least to relax the body.

Second false alarm.

2005-08-29T06:57:00.000-07:00

A normal Saturday evening? I think not. My wife said she was having pain while eating with my parents and while we went shopping a bit later, she told me that we needed to go to the hospital as she believed her water may have broken. Seeing as we have 2 months to go, this wasn't something that we wanted to happen. As much as my wife wants the pregnancy over with, a premature baby is not what we want. After getting to the OB triage and getting some basic testing done. They came to the conclusion that the baby is just fine and that her water did not break. A sigh of relief. My wife is still a bit suspicious to what exactly happened but we are certainly happy that August 27th was not the birth date.

Childhood memory.

2005-08-27T08:20:00.000-07:00

While cleaning the house a few nights ago, I heard the Cheers opening theme music. It brought back a lot of memories of when I was a child. Before bedtime, I would make sure I heard that song and then off to bed I went. The song is likely my favorite TV theme song. I wonder what TV theme song that my son may really like. Maybe he will have a different thing that he must do before going to bed. Can the music you listen to as a child help create who you are in the future? Is the fact that the Cheers theme is slow paced the reason why I am calm and (most of the time) reserved? For now, Ill hum the theme and try to think positively about coming into work on the weekend. Anyone have any theme songs that you really liked as a child or that your child likes?

Baby bottle for less $$$

2005-08-26T07:34:00.000-07:00

Here is a great how-to on creating a makeshift baby bottle. These are the types of things that make fatherhood especially fun. Whenever you can whip out your Mcgyver skills it makes it that much better.

Link: Baby bottle for less $$$$

Child birth classes: Day 3

2005-08-25T13:06:00.000-07:00

We had a successful walk around the hospital and I was able to confirm where I need to take my wife when she is nearing delivery time. The hospital is laid out very nicely and it seems that they do their best to secure everything. It seems that they put sensors on the umbilical cord that set off sirens if the baby is taken outside a 'safety zone'. This is good news because in the past I have heard babies being taken from our hospital. It seems that times have caught up and the security is likely increased significantly. We learned a bit about birth plans and what to write, and what not to write. A sample plan that a family wrote was basically a novel. Definitely not a good thing to have the doctor reading when you are delivering. Keep it to bullets and make it easier on the yourself and the doctor. This class I observed a husband/boyfriend that really seemed like he didn't want to be in class, and furthermore, dreaded the baby he will soon have. Maybe I am just jumping to conclusions but when you don't pay attention to anything, it says a lot. Its unfortunate that a lot of men cant get over the fact that their lives have changed and they need to accept it as a new start.

Restoration Complete.

2005-08-24T08:24:00.000-07:00

The restoration of the garage sale purchased OFFI Baltic Rocking Horse has been completed. After a few coats of varnish, the horse really cleaned up well. I think that Rylan should be able to get many years of enjoyment out of it. The total cost of the project was about $20. Not that bad considering it gave me a fun project to work on and now I own a rocking horse with a story. I feel bad for the little kids who have to sit on plastic horses. They just don't understand what they are missing out on. Below are a couple further pictures. Another shot of the process as well as the final shot. Can anyone suggest any good names for the horse?

Pregnancy makes you think..

2005-08-23T07:43:00.000-07:00

My wife and I recently went out to eat at a sit down fast-food restaurant. The place was packed and I had to stand waiting for a table. I knew an older couple (maybe around 50) was also waiting for a table. When a table finally opened up, I went to grab it and the lady stepped in place. The woman had to know my wife was pregnant. Could she not have given up the seat for a pregnant woman? Did she never have kids of her own so she doesn't know how difficult it could be? Is this a manner that no one has anymore or simply, did it never exist in the first place? Having my wife pregnant seems to open my eyes to a lot of new things. Next time I see a pregnant woman standing while I'm sitting, why don't I offer her my seat? Of course, Ill probably get a beating from my wife who thinks I like her. *rolls eyes*

Yard sale find + timeless classic = fatherly fun

2005-08-21T00:31:00.000-07:00

After driving around yard sale hunting for over an hour, I finally came across a home with a few baby items. The first thing to catch my eye was an antique looking rocking horse. I figured she would ask maybe somewhere around the $10 range but to my surprise, she asked a mere $1. Without even looking to see if the item was in good shape, I snagged the horse. First thing to come to my mind was simply sanding it down and repainting it. I began that task today as well. The sanding has begun and the touch up of paint as well (thanks to my mother).

Everyone agreed that the horse appeared unique and possibly an antique. The 1930's first came to the mind of my step-father. After a bit of Googling, I was able to find the rocking horse for sale at many online retailers. Turns out, the rocking horse is an OFFI Baltic Rocking Horse Chair, imported from Europe. The same rocking horse has been in production for over 50 years and generally sells for nearly $60. The paint and general wear would lead me to believe that my rocking horse is at least 10+ years old. I hope to have this rocking horse restored in the next few days. This horse will go great with the other recent purchase I've made (Schylling wooden alphabet blocks). For now, here is one picture to show the beginning of the restoration journey. There is nothing better than sanding in the garage in the Arizona summer (wipes sweat off forehead).

Link: OFFI Baltic Rocking Horse Chair at OFFI.com

Fathering, National Lampoon style..

2005-08-19T12:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a funny link to follow out the week. Its dated all the way back from 1979 and explains how to take care of a child if you are a father. I'll let the image below and the link explain the rest. Its always good to close the week with a good laugh, this should do it.

Link: Emergency Fathering via National Lampoon

Pee-Pee Teepee

2005-08-18T07:39:00.000-07:00

With a boy on the way, people always tell me to watch out when changing him. The common sprinkler statement then is told. I just came across a product which may allow me to put away my rain coat. The product is called the Pee-Pee TeePee by Urban Baby. They describe this as the ultimate diapering accessory for boys. It simply is a small cone shaped cloth that fits over the baby boys pee-pee and helps prevent the ol' faithful from spewing all over the place. This would certainly be a great item to receive from the grandparents (wink wink).

Child birth classes: Day 2

2005-08-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterdays child birth class was not as interesting as last weeks. We watched a few more videos of child birth and learned a few more massage techniques. My wife learned a few positions to help alleviate pain and move the child along through labor. We were asked to draw a contraction in which case, most of the guys seemed to draw a vise grip around the belly or a knife stabbing the belly. On the other hand, women were drawing things like an EKG readout with peaks and valleys. Its interesting to see the difference in views from males and females. Myself, I drew what I wanted to be a vise grip but it came out nothing like it. Lets hope the baby has better drawing ability than I do. Next week, we get to take a tour around the hospital. It should allow me to relax a bit and learn the area. No one wants me running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

Fetal movement chart

2005-08-17T09:37:00.000-07:00

One of the bits of information that I have learned while my wife is pregnant is that it is a good idea for the woman to keep track of her baby's movements. They suggest sitting in a comfortable place and take note of the time you begin. Simply count how long it takes to get 10 kicks from the baby. On average, 10 kicks should occur within an hour. Drinking juice or eating may result in the baby being more active. You should definitely call your doctor if you have not felt at least 10 baby movements within 2 hours. For those women who would like to easily track the baby movements, I have provided an image below which will help organize this task.

Another thing to worry about...

2005-08-16T20:38:00.000-07:00

In the past few days my wife has noticed that the baby was not kicking as much as normal. Today, she spoke to her doctor and her doctor made an appointment for a non-stress test (NST). A lot of things go through your mind when your pregnant wife is quickly told to go to the hospital. We went to her appointment this evening and while waiting, I began to get a bit nervous. I wasn't exactly sure what the test was all about but my wife had a pretty good idea. The questions that were being asked really put more bad thoughts into my mind. Basic questions such as "have you had any headaches?" and "are your feet swollen?" seemed to be asked in a negative way which caused me to worry that much more. The test was easy though, which consisted of my wife having a fetal heart beat monitor and fetal movement monitor record data for about 20 minutes. Half way through, they used a device to buzz the baby which caused him to react with a lot of movement and high heart beat. They wanted to make sure the baby's movement was normal and responsive. Overall, the test turned out good and the baby continues to appear healthy. Further information about non-stress testing can be found at the link below.

Link: Prenatal test: Non-Stress Test via BabyCenter.com

eBay at its finest..

2005-08-16T07:45:00.000-07:00

Many times in the past I have recommended eBay for purchasing baby related items [Link] [Link] [Link]. Well, this post is about eBay but from a different side of it. An 11 year old boy sold nearly all of the stuff in his families home over eBay. This included appliances and family valuables. The worst part of this entire story is that he only got $242 dollars from what is worth $60,000. I cannot imagine what I would do to my son if he did something like this. How did the kid get the idea to do such a thing? Simply amazing.

Link: 11-year-old sells 500,000 households belongings for Internet money

Beer for the kids?

2005-08-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

I have a memory of being under 4 years old and my dad letting me try some beer. I have never been a huge fan of beer and who knows, maybe that's why. A company in Japan though wants your kid to be able to experience a kids version of beer. Kidsbeer is a new product aimed at kids from a company called Tomomasu. They have created a non-alcoholic beer that they hope will catch on for kids. It mimics real beer with its color, fizz and foam. There are many non-alcoholic beers out there but this one seems to take it over the line when they market it towards kids. It seems to me that kids may later on not think about the possible outcome of drinking too much beer. For now, the beer is only sold overseas but apparently it is very popular which would likely result in it coming to our shores. The last thing we need is a drunk kid getting behind the handlebars of his bike.

Link: Tomomasu KidsBeer [text in Japanese]

How much time?

2005-08-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

With my baby soon to be here, I have begun trying to plan my schedule. This would mainly include trying to figure out how much vacation time I would like to take off during/after the birth. From my findings, a week vacation is about standard. What do you feel would be a good amount of time to take off initially after the birth of the baby. I understand situations may come up where I would really need to be there however I am trying to get an idea what others think would be a good idea. How much time did you/your husband take off? Would I be starting off on the wrong foot if I only take say 4 days off?

Scrapbooking my baby..

2005-08-13T17:05:00.000-07:00

My wife and mother are both into scrapbooking so the addition of a baby has allowed them to begin work on many pieces. My wife enjoys paper scrapbooking while my mother prefers digital scrapbooking. The image below was created by my mother and uses the 3d ultrasound picture that we recently had taken. Its quite impressive what some of these people can do with real paper or digital paper. Definitely takes an artist. I have been trying to get my wife over to the digital scrapbooking world so we don't have a bunch of scrapbooking stuff cluttering the house. The last thing I want is clutter(choking hazards) with the new baby around.

Nearly there...

2005-08-12T08:37:00.000-07:00

As of today, my wife is 30 weeks pregnant which means she is about 3/4th of the way there. As close as it may be, it is not close enough for my wife. With all of the troubles that she has experienced, I can understand why. Keep up the hard work hun, our baby will be home soon.

Dish soap in the dishwasher.

2005-08-11T10:13:00.000-07:00

It has happened many times in the past, and will certainly happen many times in the future. Someone pours dish soap in the dishwasher and all hell breaks loose. I can imagine many parents have had their kids do this type of thing and had to battle the outcome. I wish I could blame it on my unborn child but unfortunately, it was I, that poured dish soap into the dishwasher. Before moving on, look below at the images and get a good laugh. Alright, now that you have gotten that out of your system. Here are some ways to help get the suds to go away.

Sprinkle table salt onto suds.

Drop ice cubes into bottom to cool the water.

Scoop out as much water/suds that you can.

Try a cup or two of white vinegar.

You may need to run it through the cycle 3 or 4 times to get the suds out completely. After the second cycle, my suds decreased pretty significantly. The second picture below is my wife's idea of a funny picture. Who ever said getting to the back of the dishwasher was easy?

Child birth classes: Day 1

2005-08-11T07:44:00.000-07:00

My wife and I went to our first child birth class last night. We will be attending four 2.5 hour classes once a week. Right off the bat, our instructor went around the room asking some general information on our baby and asked that everyone say the first thing that comes to mind when you think of labor. Many people gave a very generic answer such as happy, joy, or the all mighty pain. When it was my turn to answer, I turned to my wife and said just one word. 'Sorry.' A sincere apology for what she will be going through in future months. I can 100% say that my answer was the best out of the group. Furthermore, I learned a few techniques of massage for when my wife is in labor and just general stress relief. My wife was taught ways to control her breathing and we followed up the class with a child birth video. Overall, it was not necessarily as I expected, but it was bit informative and seeing all of the dads that seem to be freaking out assured me that I am light years ahead of them.

Naptime anyone?

2005-08-10T08:01:00.000-07:00

Before my wife became pregnant she worked a normal 8 hour day. With the increase of pregnancy related pain, my wife was basically forced to quit her job. She changed her job title from a paper shuffler to the guardian of the bed. One way around the pain, I understand, is simply to try and sleep through it. This would basically include sleeping through the day. My wife has taken this to heart and now naps(tries too) every single day. I have charted out my wife's sleeping habits for the past few days. I wish I could chart out exactly how many times she wakes up each evening/day due to being extremely hot. Besides the Arizona heat, the pregnancy hot flashes she experiences are difficult to live with. The house is normally under 75F and she remains hot while I'm shivering(yes I'm exaggerating) under the sheets. Why is it that my wife had to be one of the women who experience every negative pregnancy issue? What did she do to deserve this?

The Baby Einstein movies have arrived!

2005-08-09T18:33:00.000-07:00

The Baby Einstein movies have arrived, subtitles and all. My wife battled on eBay for a 16 DVD boxed set and after about 2 weeks of trying, finally was able to win an auction. Surprisingly, these DVD's were actually in a professional box. I really figured I would get some middle-grade pirated Chinese bootlegs. Except for the Chinese subtitles, the DVD's play as normal and show no issues. From what people tell me, babies eat these movies up. We sampled a few of the DVD's and boy are they better than watching Barney or The Wiggles. Those shows are just crazy and would certainly test my nerves quickly. These Baby Einstein movies are much calmer and seem like they may just work on soothing the baby and keeping a young kid happy. Anyone have any good experience with these movies?

My independent wife.

2005-08-09T07:15:00.000-07:00

Before my wife was pregnant, she would ask me to do all types of things for her. This would include running upstairs to get her glasses which we come to find out are downstairs right next to her (oh the irritation). Now that my wife is pregnant though, she seems to want to be miss independent. She seems to have a tough time now asking me to do very minor things such as getting a glass for her or even throwing something away. I sometimes even have to yell at her when I feel she is doing something she shouldn't be; that could put herself and the child at risk. Is this normal for the woman to become more independent? I know my wife seems to get a kick out of it that I have to yell at her, but dang, just ask me to do something. The least I can do while you are pregnant is get you a glass of water.

Should I feel jealous?

2005-08-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if I should be feeling jealous or not. It appears that my (yet to be born) son has just as many outfits as I currently have. He has clothes ranging from 0 months to 12 months. A good majority of them now have been purchased on Ebay which for a while was my wife's best friend. I think we are definetly prepared for the first bit after he is born. I would hope that it would help take a bit of the stress off and require us to leave the house a bit less.

The battle continues...

2005-08-07T14:43:00.000-07:00

As if my wife was not having a terrible enough pregnancy, the battle wages on. The first 2 trimesters consisted of the normal pregnancy pain and sickness. The third trimester however brings the battle to a new level. My wife is now experiencing the Braxton Hicks contractions. The doctor says that these contractions basically prepare the woman's body for labor. She recently went to the doctor and they assured her that it should not be an issue. In addition to the new contractions, my wife has been experiencing other pain which the doctor now says is from the baby lined up correctly and pushing downwards. As the baby continues to grow and his bones get stronger, the pain will increase. I'll continue to support my wife the best way that I can.

Belly shots.

2005-08-06T17:15:00.000-07:00

Recently I have received a few request from visitors who would like to see pictures of my wifes pregnant belly. So with no further waiting, I present to you my beautiful wife's belly.

First false alarm.

2005-08-06T14:23:00.000-07:00

Let me first off say that I'm a sleepwalker and furthermore, I get very jumpy/startled at night sometimes. A few nights ago, I awoke to my wife making some pain moaning noises and I caught her while she was starting to sit up. Being the good husband that I am, I immediately sat up and went into panic mode. The first thing that came to my mind was that she was going to have the baby. I began to rub her belly to help her through the pain (like that's going to help). I asked her if her stomach hurts and after a bit more moaning, she told me she had a leg cramp. Phew. Its funny how people get into the zone when they think something is happening. It turns out many women have leg cramps while pregnant and its something that I am now completely aware of. I would much rather lose a bit of sleep (and have a good laugh) than have my wife delivering a baby 3 months early.

What super power?

2005-08-05T07:55:00.000-07:00

In the past couple of years there have been a few movie families who are immersed in super powers. This would include The Incredibles and now Sky High. Each of the family members in the movies have their own unique super power which helps them save the day. If you had the opportunity, which super power would you give your child? Would it be super strength? incredible knowledge? super speed? Let us know.

Link: The Incredibles
Link: Sky High

Questions to Ask on Your Hospital Tour

2005-08-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

HappyHealthyPregnancy.com recently provided a large list of questions soon to be parents may want to ask on their tour around their hospital. This list appears to be extensive and helpful. Touring the hospital is probably like most situations where you have a list of questions but never remember which ones to ask. I for one will be taking note of the questions and asking them when my wife and I take our tour.

Link: Questions to Ask on Your Hospital Tour

How would you feel?

2005-08-02T20:28:00.000-07:00

How comfortable would you be to enroll your child into a school which on their website they cannot spell correctly? I recently ran across a local schools website and they clearly made multiple spelling mistakes. The link can be found here.

All Children are capabe of success, no esceptions!

The Ace of Clubs - Other caring adults to surround themselves with siginificant, positive adults - to let children know they live in a scoiciety that values them!

The Ace of Diamonds - Success breads success.

So the question is simply how would you feel about your school if they cannot perform correct spellings or even use a spell checker? Would you look down on these schools or simply let it slide? Does a simple typo make you wonder what other things the staff may be missing. I understand it may be some webmaster who made this page which is not really a school staff member but it seems that multiple people would have reviewed the content and one of them should have noticed the typos. What are your comments?

Link: Ashton Ranch Elementary : Kids at Hope

Cheap (and Fun?) Ice cream

2005-08-01T10:48:00.000-07:00

The Modern Day Dad recently posted his opinion about the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. I however found another way to make some cheap icecream and give kids a chance to have some (messy?) fun as well. I cant wait until my kid can do all of the work and I sit back and reap the benefits. If anyone attempts this please post a comment and let others know your opinion or suggestions. Thanks

1 Ziploc Freezer Bag
1 Larger Ziploc Freezer Bag
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (for a lighter ice cream use half and half or whole milk)
2 Tablespoon white sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Put ingredients in the smaller Ziploc Freezer Bag and zip shut. Take the larger size Ziploc Freezer Bag and put the Ice Cream Bag inside of it then add crushed ice until halfway full then sprinkle 6 tablespoons of salt on top and zip the bag shut.

Gently shake, turn, toss and knead the bag so the mix can get cold enough to make ice cream. After 5 or 10 minutes, the liquid from the inner bag will start to harden and turn into ice cream.

Rinse off the bag with the ice cream to remove any salt residue before opening and eating. Grab a spoon and enjoy!

Tip of the day.

2005-07-31T20:11:00.000-07:00

We all know that kids love to go to McDonalds and furthermore, they all love their happy meals. The tip of the day is simply to keep your McDonalds happy meal boxes and when your child needs cheering up or maybe wont eat their food, try putting it in a happy meal box. Sure, some kids may know the difference but I imagine many of them will think they are getting a grand ol' treat. You could even add some cheap toys to the box and top it off. I am curious to see if anyone will take this tip and report back their findings.

Father Contribution: What worries you?

2005-07-30T03:20:00.000-07:00

This question is mainly geared towards father to be's or current fathers. I wonder what your greatest worry is with having a child. I know that without a doubt my fear is simply not being able to financially provide for my family. My guess is that many other men would show this same fear. What worries you about having a child? Please post your worries as a comment.

What age to kick the pacifier?

2005-07-29T08:35:00.000-07:00

I recently read an article from ParentHood.com titled Toddler Pacifier Habits No Cause for Alarm in which they go on to explain that a child should be able to suck on a pacifier until the age of 5 years old. Previously researchers suggested the age of 2 to kick the habit. When do you think a child should have their pacifier removed? I would be quite concerned with a child if they were 5 years old and still sucking on a pacifier. To me, that just does not seem healthy. Not necessarily from a TMJ issue but likely from an emotional level. Would the kid have further un-addressed issues if he is still wanting the pacifier at that age? The following image was the results of a survey performed on ParentHood.com in which they asked 'When should your child stop using a pacifier?' I am glad for once that I am considered the norm.

Thank you.

2005-07-29T08:01:00.000-07:00

I recently made a post titled Top 5 ways my baby will be similar to Google.com in which I tried to point out similarities among babies and Google. My co-worker took note of this posting and noticed at the bottom of it my comment about wanting the Google Onesie. He recently provided me with my first baby gift from anyone outside of the family. A big thank you to my co-worker. I really appreciate this gift. The following picture is the Onesie and a Google T-shirt I also have. Look forward to a picture of the baby and I wearing our shirts one day.

User Contribution: Baby Middle Name?

2005-07-28T09:39:00.000-07:00

My wife and I have decided that Rylan will be our sons name however we are still working on a good middle name. Some of the middle names we have looked into were:

Kaleb

Michael

We are looking forward to finalizing a name but we need some further suggestions. Please post any middle names you think would go well with the name Rylan. You guys were very helpful with the first name, We look forward to see what you suggest now. Thank you.

Ebay Auctions: Part 2

2005-07-27T10:32:00.000-07:00

I mentioned a month ago how I found Ebay to be a great place to purchase baby items. With about 3 months to go before the baby arrives, my wife and I have been on the ball winning a large amount of baby related auctions. These items include baby towels, clothing and bibs. I continue to agree that Ebay is a great place to purchase used/new baby items. The discounts that are there for the taking are outrageous. New clothing with tags are going for 20% of the normal price. One auction to keep your wife away from would be the Baby Einstein movies. Everyone wants these things. My wife nearly lost her sanity after losing about 10 auctions at the last moment. The unnecessary stress that the auction caused was amazing. I am very glad that we have now won an auction; well see how she handles waiting for it to be shipped. Ey Yi Yi.

The AVENT ISIS iQ DUO™

2005-07-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

It looks like Avent has a new breast pump which actually is considered intelligent. The device monitors how you manually use the pump and will then simulate it for you. I am obviously no woman, but is this truly necessary? My father in law has mentioned a few times that the stroller we purchased was a high tech tank (it has a temp and time display), but this breast pump definitely seems high tech to me. Can any women ring in and give us their opinions on this idea?

Link: The AVENT ISIS iQ DUO

Pregnancy and Toxoplasmosis

2005-07-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

In addition to yesterdays post, we also received a lot of information on toxoplasmosis. While my wife and I were already aware of the issue, we felt that gathering all of the information we could would be good. The bottom line is that pregnant women should not be cleaning the kitty litter box. This infection can be spread from the pregnant woman to the unborn child and possibly cause serious birth defects. Many cats can acquire this from eating contaminated raw meat, birds, mice and soil. (why you would have a pet cat and keep it outside is beyond me.) Further information can be seen at the provided link. Husbands, since we want to do all we can for our wives, make sure you clean out the litter box often.

Link: Our Prescription for Toxoplasmosis: Learn the Facts and Keep Your Family Together

Preparing your pet for the baby's arrival

2005-07-25T12:14:00.000-07:00

I went to an Arizona Baby Expo a few months back with my wife in hopes to see all of the latest and greatest things related to babies. While there, we approached the Humane Society booth and they had some great information about children and pets. The thing that my wife and I both took from the conversation was their suggestion to get the pets prepared for the baby's arrival.

We have 3 cats and while they are each very tame, we wanted to make sure they were going to be fully alright with the new addition. Over the past 6 months we have purchased items such as a bouncer, crib, playard and recently we purchased diapers. These large items we have been simply teaching them to stay out of. We have allowed the cats to smell the diapers so they can get adjusted to the new smells that will be in the house. Another suggestion they provided us but we have not had the ability to do, was to play the noise of a screaming baby. Like the smells, pets can be very touchy when it comes to new sounds. They may become nervous or irritated. The following links should provide some great tips to preparing your pets. Does anyone have any good or bad experiences with a newborn and pets?

Link: Human Society - Preparing Your Pet For Baby’s Arrival
Link: American Baby - Preparing your pet for baby's arrival

User Contribution: Good baby books?

2005-07-23T04:15:00.000-07:00

My wife and I have gathered a small library of baby/child books from garage sales. I was wondering if anyone has good suggestions on books. I would ask that the books be for babies under 6 months. Thanks for all suggestions provided.

Newborn + Chiropractic Therapy

2005-07-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

"Life for the newborn depends on the preservation and healthy functioning of the brainstem and upper spinal cord." - Towbin

I am a firm believer in the benefits of chiropractic adjustments. I had the opportunity to get many years of therapy and found it to be very helpful. The overall feeling I had was much better during that period. The topic though relates to newborns and the benefits of chiropractic therapy. I have seen many newborns go into my old chiropractors office and get adjusted and many of them appeared much happier.

The babies skull and spine are exposed to injury as it is forced through the birth canal. The birth process are also capably of disturbing the normal function of upper cervical spinal segments. An untreated spine can interfere with normal function of the nervous system and may cause serious health issues through the child's life. Below are some signs that your child may benefit from a chiropractic doctor.

Experiences Colic

Unexplained crying

Lack of appetite

Frequent ear infections

Link: The International Chiropractic Pediatric Association
Link: Upper Cervical Trauma and the Birth Process
Link: What Patients Want To Know About... Pediatric Care
Link: Children need chiropractic too!

Early sex selection test raises ethical concerns

2005-07-21T13:15:00.000-07:00

This article from CBC states that women can now find the gender of their unborn child as early as 10 weeks. The ideas behind this can be helpful and harmful though. Many parents (including my wife) wanted to know the sex of the child so we could prepare better. This would include purchasing clothes and other gender specific items. Now the problem occurs when the mother wants a specific gender. If she was to find out that she is having a girl rather than a boy that she has always dreamed about, what may happen? Would these results cause her to think heavily about abortion? Would early detection give her enough time to become ready for the outcome? Could this test help reduce post-partum depression in women who did not receive the baby they have always wanted? This is definitely going to be a hot topic in months to come as this develops. What are your opinions?

Link: Early sex selection test raises ethical concerns from CBC

Why newborns look so funny

2005-07-21T12:05:00.000-07:00

Here is a great article I came across that explains why babies look so funny after birth. It has some helpful information as well as some answers to questions that new fathers may have. Definitely a good read for this slow Thursday.

Link: Why newborns look so funny from MSN.com

New dads and finances

2005-07-20T07:40:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest worries that many men have relating to a new born child is the money issues. I have always been one to worry about our financial situation and with the pregnancy, it certainly has been exaggerated. I am always trying to find new ways to help save a penny so I have been researching ways to do so.

Link: Slash High Electricity Bills
Link: How To Make Your Garage Sale A Success
Link: Developing a Family Budget
Link: Frugal Ways to Dine Out with your Family

Many financing books will flat out tell you to pay yourself first. This simply means putting a portion of your money into a savings account, stocks or other alternatives. This idea can also bleed over to the new child. Creating a saving account for a young child and contributing to it slowly will give you a safe place when your child grows older and you need a large amount of money for a car, wedding or other events. My father created a mutual fund account for myself and since then, I have been contributing to it. I believe these types of ideas also can help gear a child into a financial mindset which should help them succeed in the future.

Book Recommendation: Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money--That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!

Thinking about my child's future, I have decided that all funds from advertisements will go directly to my child's savings account. This would include any money that I receive from ads, associate links or general donations. Hopefully I can give my child a good head start into financial freedom.

Back from the checkup..

2005-07-19T17:48:00.000-07:00

I just returned from my wife's checkup meeting with the doctor and boy do I feel strange. I walked into the waiting room after getting checked in with my wife to only be looked/stared at by every woman there. I don't know if they were simply shocked that a guy would go to a checkup, or maybe they were so irritated that their own boyfriends/husbands wouldn't come with them. Now this is only my second checkup with my wife so I can understand some guys not being able to attend due to work. It just seems that my soul was being sucked out of my body by these women. Can any women explain to me what they are thinking when they see a man in the waiting room with their significant other? Why do men need to be glared at with hawk eyes? Furthermore, why is it that this pregnancy thing is entirely geared towards the women. I understand fully that its the women who have to carry the child and then go through the delivery but if women really wanted their husbands to attend more meetings and just be into the pregnancy more, why don't they make them more comfortable? Everything seems to be geared towards the baby and mother. Someone please explain this to me.

FYI: The baby checkup was a good one.

User Contribution: Name suggestions needed.

2005-07-19T11:38:00.000-07:00

My wife and I are trying to narrow down our name choices for our newly discovered boy. We have a few names picked out but we are curious to see what other people would suggest. Please post a comment with your favorite boy names. We will take each of the names into consideration. Thanks.

100+ activity ideas to do with your child.

2005-07-18T17:05:00.000-07:00

I came across on the Huggies website a section that provides over 100 activity ideas that you can do with your child. It appears to be activities for all sorts of ages. Definitely a good link to check out when you have a free moment from the kids. :)

Link: Baby Activities via Huggies Activity Playhouse

Question of the day. Cord Blood.

2005-07-17T02:29:00.000-07:00

In recent years, there has been alot of talk about storing newborns cord blood stem cells. The medical positives certainly seem to outweigh the negatives. My wife is due in a few months and we are trying to get some opinions on cord bood. Has anyone had this procedure done? What are your opinions?

Link: Cord Blood Registry

A dad's delivery-room anxieties

2005-07-17T00:31:00.000-07:00

MSNBC.com recently ran an article about a dads view of the delivery of his daughter. The comments he makes are quite funny however I imagine are very true. I also wonder whether or not I will be able contain myself or if I will simply faint at the first sign of pain/blood/fluid. I hope that I can be the best I can for my wife at her most needed times. And furthermore, I hope that I don't have the "thousand-yard stare". I will save that for after I haven't gotten any sleep in days.

I learned that the placenta looked like the biggest, rarest steak imaginable.

Link: A dad's delivery-room anxieties from MSNBC.com

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

2005-07-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

I imagine many blogs will post their reviews/comments on the latest Tim Burton movie. I will follow along and try to stay clear of simply opinions. I was able to see this movie on the opening night. Many parents seem to want to know if this movie would be safe for kids. Overall, I would say yes. There are some very strange scenes that may scare a few kids but the majority of kids would probably find this movie funny. The reason I am making this post entry is simply because of the underline moral story of the movie. Throughout the movie, Willy Wonka has flashbacks of himself as a child and his father not allowing him to eat candy/chocolates. This turned him into a candy nut in addition to being afraid of family. Charlie shows him how important family truly is and eventually Willy Wonka goes to see his father. Charlie ends the movie with everything he could want, his family and his wonderful chocolate factory.

Dream Meadow

2005-07-15T12:14:00.000-07:00

Here is an item that I can count on my wife wanting. The appearance and functionality are certainly not lacking with this product. It converts from a bed, diaper changing table or even a see-saw/rocker. It definitely is a colorful and playful item which isn't too tacky like many other baby toys. I was simply blown away the first time that I stepped into a baby store and saw all of the outrageously colored toys/items. I understand the items are for functionality rather than matching my house colors but still, some of the patterns out there are just terrible.

Link: Haba Dream Meadow.

Batteries everywhere..

2005-07-14T09:54:00.000-07:00

With recent purchases for baby toys and other items, it has come to my attention that the amount of money spent on just batteries is amazing. I wanted to try and figure out how much money I may spend on batteries in the first year of the babies life. I tried to be very conservative with the numbers and based my research on peoples opinions/reports of battery usage with the toys that we currently have. This is certainly no where near a scientific calculation but fun none-the-less. These numbers will likely increase significantly in time when the amount of toys needing batteries increases. For now, I expect to spend at least $74.25 on just batteries in the first year.

Items Include:

Einstein Neptune Toy Bar

Flutterbye Dreams Lullabye Birdies Soother

Fisher Price Kick N learn Piano

HP PhotoSmart 635 Digital Camera

Update: Recalculated after adding batteries for digital camera.

Eat as a Family, Lose Weight

2005-07-12T15:41:00.000-07:00

A recent article on WebMD points out that family who eat dinner together, will commonly eat healthier. Studies have shown that families who eat together will eat more vegetables and fruits. According to the article, "they also tend to eat less fried foods, soda..." More information with the following link.

Link: Eat as a Family, Lose Weight

Baby's first year can cost dear

2005-07-11T07:52:00.000-07:00

The Seattle Times recently ran an article titled 'Baby's first year can cost dear'. The article points out that the average first year of life will cost anywhere from $7,000 to $14,600. The article goes on to provide some helpful tips to keeping that amount as low as possible. Many of these tips we hope to do with our newborn.

Link: Baby's first year can cost dear

The results are in. It's a BOY!

2005-07-09T21:45:00.000-07:00

The day has finally come when we were able to find a definite answer that we are having a boy. We had the opportunity to get a 3D ultrasound which showed a much clearer picture of the inside of my wife's belly. It truly is an amazing technology and I would highly suggest it to anyone who is capable of purchasing a package. Below is one of the many pictures that we received as well as a short video. For those interested, Geddes Keepsake was the company who performed this ultrasound.

Movie: Click here.

3 ways a baby is like a computer program.

2005-07-08T23:12:00.000-07:00

Many visitors to the website may not find the humor in this post but the ones who know a bit about computers certainly will..

3. There is always something that can be fine tuned.
2. There is always the need to be on the lookout for buffer overflows (poop).
1. No matter how well the program is written, it will eventually spit out junk.

Top 5 ways my baby will be similar to Google.com

2005-07-07T22:28:00.000-07:00

5. Always will have something new for me to be shocked and amazed about..
4. Continues to absorb new information everyday.
3. The space capacity (belly) will continue to grow and grow..
2. Retrieve large amounts of data (food), archive it and spit it back out..
1. The speed at which it processes content (food) will be amazing..

On a side note, the following onesie is for sale at the GoogleStore. Purchasing this, should be the start of my google baby.

Women carrying girls are more forgetful?

2005-07-07T21:02:00.000-07:00

I came across the following link which in a nut shell says that women who are having a girl tend to be more forgetful. A short but interesting read..

The researchers said they found evidence that women who gave birth to boys consistently outperformed moms of girls in tests that specifically taxed memory in areas of listening, computational and visualization skills.

Link: MSNBC.com

The minivan debate..

2005-07-06T19:55:00.000-07:00

One thing that seems to come with starting a family are the thoughts of purchasing a minivan. It seems that many people buy one even though they only have a single child. Is this really necessary? From all reports that I can see, minivans never seem to go over 45mph. They are always extremely slow to respond to any road incidents and general are a pain to be stuck behind. I hope the day never comes that I have to go minivan shopping. I hope that my large sedan will keep the (soon to be) three of us with plenty of space. I just cant imagine having to face myself while I make car payments on a minivan for the following 3 years. Lets hope my wife's desire for a minivan doesn't outlast my dislike for them.

<rant> why oh why?

2005-07-06T12:06:00.000-07:00

I believe we can all agree that every pregnancy is different in some way or another. My wife has been sick since nearly day one and ever since, I have been hearing "it will go away soon." I am getting this from nearly every person I talk with. My wife is over 5 months pregnant and into the 3rd trimester now and still the sickness/pain continues. While the sickness appears to have gone down a bit, it is still commonly there, in one way or another. If people truly understand that every pregnancy is different, why do they keep telling me that her sickness will pass soon? Maybe it will, maybe it wont. Furthermore, the women who flaunt that they had a great pregnancy with no sickness/issues need to quiet down. This only makes women who have a more difficult pregnancy all the more annoyed. I can see why many women only choose to have one child. Not necessarily because they don't want too, but simply because they cant imagine going through the sickness/pain again. Hopefully for my wife's sake, the sickness will pass before the end of the pregnancy. </rant off>

Saturday is the day...

2005-07-06T11:20:00.000-07:00

Because we were not able to see our child's sex at the last and final ultrasound, we decided that it would be a good time to try out a 3D ultrasound. The images that these devices produce are much clearer (creepier) than your normal ultrasound. They basically show a big blob with a baby's body/face in it. Its an extreme difference than your normal image and they state that it will be very unlikely that we will not be able to find out if we are having a girl/boy. My wife and I want a girl but the gut feelings are pointing to a boy. Possibly a name of Rylan? Either way, its going to be an interesting time. Anyone have any suggestions for boys and girls names?

The Daddy Difference

2005-07-02T19:19:00.000-07:00

In the recent June 2005 Edition of Arizona Parenting they had a section relating to daddy information. They go into talks about how dads should be given alone time with the child(ren) and how fathers should attend doctor visits, ultrasounds and certainly the birth of the child. According to a recent National Center for Fathering report, nearly 40% of fathers between the ages of 25 to 44 did not know the name of their child's teacher. A more staggering number is that they say 33% of fathers have never attended a child's class event or school meeting. These numbers truely blow me away. I cannot understand why you would not want to see your child succeed in school/life. They go onto say that in another study that mothers and fathers who are highly involved in their childs education, earn much higher grades and generally enjoy school more. There is much more reading to be had... I would suggest picking up a free copy of this magazine at baby stores, and for people out of state, try this link.

Laugh and Learn

2005-06-30T10:47:00.000-07:00

MSN.com recently had an article about parents most embarrasing mistakes. Definetly a great laugh for this thursday morning. My wife can agree that I sometimes spaz out so I can only imagine the things that I may do once the baby arrives. I am all about using what is available around me so that worrys my wife too I bet.

My newborn daughter would spit up occasionally, like all babies, but one day when she was just 3 weeks old, she began to projectile vomit. I swear it shot from her mouth 4 feet across the room. Ironically, I had just watched 'The Exorcist' the night before, so I was positive she was possessed. I couldn't believe a tiny baby could have the ability to do this naturally. Hysterical, I called my parents, the emergency room, and a priest. When I got to the emergency room, the doctor explained it to me, and told me I was probably just overfeeding her. My priest laughed so hard he had to sit down.

Link: Laugh and Learn

Pregnancy injuries increase during summer

2005-06-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

I found the following link while surfing around today. It is a great read for any pregnant women especially in Arizona.

When the temperature goes up, so does the risk of serious injury for pregnant women, a new Canadian study has found.

Pregnancy injuries increase during summer
Thanks to: www.bloggingbaby.com

The Crib Tent does its job.

2005-06-29T10:00:00.000-07:00

We have 3 cats and wanted a way to make sure the cats were going to stay out of the baby crib. The only solution it seems is buying a Crib Tent from Tots in Mind. We bought one of these the other day and immediately put it up(Its worse than putting up a normal tent). Anyways, yesterday it seems that while talking to my wife on the phone one of our cats decided to try to jump into the crib and made direct contact with the new found tent. We had already introduced her to the tent but she must have not realized it was there because she smacked right into it like an accordion and fell to the ground. My wife says it was like watching a real life cartoon where the character runs into a wall. The picture off their website shows a cat standing on top of the tent and from what I can see, I believe it. It seems to do a good job keeping the cats out and should help keep the baby in when it grows bigger.

Mr. Clean makes me Mr. Happy.

2005-06-26T12:20:00.000-07:00

Like many dads I assume, I do a majority of the cleaning around the house. This doesn't exclude the kitchen where I do the dishes, clean up and sometimes even cook(when my wife lets me). One thing that I have found that makes the cleaning much easier is the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. I have received a few of these free from sample websites and they are extremely useful. They seem to clean up all the stains on the kitchen counters in no time. I haven't found anything in the past that can take care of Kool-aid stains and these seem to do a great job. One of the best things is this doesn't leave a chemical smell in the room. I haven't used this for anywhere else in the house but I assume it would work well elsewhere. Definetly a big daddy thumbs up for this product.

Cat tested, Father not-approved.

2005-06-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

Months ago we were given a suggestion to get the kitties ready for the new baby by slowly bringing in new baby toys, crib and other supplies. We have had this bouncer for over 2 months and today we found that it is getting usage before the baby even has arrived. Our oldest kitty tested the bouncer and approved of it. She seemed very comfortable which I guess is a good sign we picked out a winner. We figured the kitties would attempt this and tried to keep them out by putting a doll in it so they would stay off of it and to also get them used to having something in it. Guess we need to hide it away until the real baby arrives.

Anxious wife

2005-06-23T14:13:00.000-07:00

As you can tell in the following picture, my wife is a bit anxious for the baby to pop out. She has attacked the kitty cat once again and put clothing on her. The baby clothes this time. I don't know what the both of them are going to do for the next 4 months or so..

EBay the place to buy baby related items?

2005-06-22T18:00:00.000-07:00

Recently my wife took the chance to search on eBay for baby clothes and other related items. It certainly appears that there are bargains to be found within this category because we were able to find a lot of 14 baby sleepers and gowns for only $22 shipped. Now I have to admit these were used but from the picture and now that I have them in my hands, they are still in great quality. I think the average parent can acknowledge that this is a great deal. Larger, more expensive items are also sold at low prices it seems as well including new breast pumps which I found selling for $25 shipped rather than $40 in the store for the same item. Now you may be thinking, when you buy online, Its difficult to return it if you don't like it. Well that is also the case in the store, they refuse to let you return a breast pump even if it has never been opened.

First Fathers Day, sorta

2005-06-19T17:00:00.000-07:00

I experienced my first real 'Father-to-be day' in which I received 3 cards. A card from my mother, my 3 kitties and the other from my beautiful wife. They were all great cards and I certainly am looking forward to many more years of them. A friend told me that I have a few more years before chocolate pancakes are served to me in bed, but I cant wait. I guess I need to train my wife. :)

Happy Fathers Day.

ABC News: System Lets Parents Spy on Kids' Lunches

2005-05-31T18:19:00.000-07:00

ABC News: System Lets Parents Spy on Kids' Lunches

Three school districts in the Atlanta area last week became the first in the country to offer the parental-monitoring option of an electronic lunch payment system called Mealpay.com, created by Horizon Software International of Loganville, Ga.

Second Ultrasound Pictures

2005-05-13T11:45:00.000-07:00

The day has come where we hoped to know if our child was going to be a boy or a girl. Unfortunately it did not turn out that way. The women said she believed it was a boy but it seems that it is all a guessing game when it comes to these ultrasound pictures. We hope to get a 3D ultrasound in a few months so we can get a better picture of the baby and hopefully be able to start buying some clothes that arent green or yellow. The frustration continues as we wait to know what we are having..

Babies first trip to Disneyland, sorta

2005-04-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

My wife and I are huge fans of the Disneyland resort and we figured that because we have the baby on the way, life is going to get hectic and my wife wont be able to get to her favorite place on earth near as soon as she would want too. We decided that before she got too far along, we took our last Disney trip alone. Well, the baby is about 3 or so months along at this point so in reality, it was the babies first trip. We certainly stayed away from all of the violent rides but still were able to have a great time. I cant wait to see the kids eyes light up when we take it to Disneyland for the first time. Talk about a photo opportunity.

Baby Registry

2005-04-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

My wife and I took the time to create a baby registry today. This is nearly one of the most frustrating things every designed. How is it that 2 people who both want to pick out items can only have 1 barcode scanner? Must we stand arm to arm looking at the same thing, at the same time? Now I love my wife and enjoy being with her but that doesn't make it any easier to understand why I cant have my own scanner. :) Overall I think we picked out a great list of items. Only time will tell whether or not the registry will be used.

Click here for the registry.

First Ultrasound Pictures

2005-03-10T17:00:00.000-08:00

Here is the first ultrasound pictures we received. If you look at it the right way, it looks like a monkey head. I guess I'm going to have a monkey for a baby. This will certainly be interesting.