Haveababyitsagirl

So they say a baby will change you, they are right. I don't like to listen to people but I have to give it to them, they are right. Pretty much all of you were right. Even the stupid sitcoms were right. Everyone was right that already had kids. It is hard to explain how incredibly it impacts your life. One day your wife is miserable and can't sleep and the next, you both cant sleep (dad still sleeps "better" than mom.)

I don't think we could have had a better baby. I know everyone says that, but I look forward to picking up the little spittle machine everyday and listening to her "sing" along to poker face. That is, pathetically enough, the highlight of my day (I sing too.)

I use to plan my after work goals around projects on the house, now my goal is to make B giggle. I would like to know if there is anything, other than hard drugs, that can make you completely forget about your day than making a baby giggle. There is nothing. My hypothesis is that baby spittle is like the mashed potato structure in Encounters of the third kind. Once you have a baby, you can think of nothing else.

If there is anything I love more than a spittling baby, its a sleeping baby. I guarantee there is nothing better than the moment your baby puts her head down on your shoulder. It is the best feeling you have ever had. (That sentence put my brain in a weird spin but I stand by it.) When that baby connects with you and giggles at you and then puts her head down on your shoulder, done. You are done, screwed, I'm not sure how you'd get out of this one. It's gonna be costly, no doubt about it.

Plate's Full

So we now have a gorgeous new baby. She is 4 1/2 months old and I can't imagine or remember what it was like with out her. Her name is Birkley (Birks for short.) There have plenty of projects on the house to keep us busy. We have friends and family spread from Spokane to Minnesota and down to Arizona that we would love to spend time with. At this point in our life, time is commodity that is hard to come by. I am sure it only gets harder to come by.

We visited my grandparents today. After hearing them talk about how fast time goes, I am starting to get it. We have all heard this from our parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents, and great grand parents. From my "research" this is what I have found:

-The older you are, the faster time goes

-The more kids you have, the faster time goes

-The happier you are, the faster time goes

-The busier you get, the faster time goes

This must be some kind of grand joke

Many people base happiness on a relation of time and prosperity (growing old and being wealthy.) For most of us, normal everyday life means working to achieve a goal. Time is arbitrarily attached to that goal, meaning we will be happy once we reach the goal of prosperity. This has to be a "soft" goal. I don't think anyone has ever reached their prosperity goal, there is always room to improve, especially if you are successful. Here comes the punch line surrounded by an oxymoron. If you are driven enough to go 100% toward your goal, you are missing on the family time. If you are driven to go 100% toward family time, you might miss any other "goal" you may have. The key, to me anyway, is to find the right formula. Family, of course comes first, but you need to have enough drive to reach the other goals to support the primary goal of the family. At this point my head itches. Good luck.

Hadababyitsagirl

We have a baby now and her name is Birkley. She is the best baby in the world so far, Britt and I both agree (Baily thinks she's alright.) The birth went great, I slept through most of the labor. Britt started at 2 am and told Jan and I to go back to bed. At 5 we took her to the hospital and the water broke when she stepped out of the car. At 5:45 she went to the waiting room and then to triage. There we found out she was fully dialated and Britt was rushed to the birthing room (too late for an epidural.) This was at about 6:15. At 7:13 Birkley was in our lives. We were ready to go home at noon. We had to wait till the next morning. It couldn't have gone any better.

Master Bedroom pics

FUN TIMES!!!

These are the pretty ladies I am doing this for

The Labor

The first load of 60 sheets

(This sucked to pack up!)

Taking down the 8 foot ceiling

Looking into what will be Britts closet and our new bathroom

Britt's new closet and our bathroom hallway

This is our future bedroom that I was using for a workroom

The mess from taking down the ceiling

New beefed up ceiling with the new soffit for over the bed

Old windows with new walls and electrical

New windows, paint, and bed stuff (and temp. ac)

Britt peeking at ceiling mess 

Looking at my closet and chimney during demo

chimney and closet framed                                                                        chimney painted

Nursery Pics Before and After

This says it all

This is a view looking at the door

going out into the hall.

              

                                                                

                                  

    Here is a picture looking at the closet

                   

 The old closet

The new closet

The Crib

The changing table

2 Pillows 2 People

So it was our final class, we don't have to go to the 4th class.  I remembered the blanket and pillows but apparently I am still a dip shit.  I did the math, 2 people 2 pillows and 1 blanket.  We share the blanket and we each get a pillow, I was wrong.  We were in the middle of a very important breathing exercise and the "trainer" pointed out to everyone in the group that I was sitting on a pillow.  That is when I looked around and saw every other good husband/coach sitting on the floor while their pregnant counterparts were sitting on one pillow and leaning back on the other pillow.  Everyone but the idiot husband got a good laugh (Britt couldn't stop laughing.)  I tried a witty response but only made a weird nervous grunt.  I tried to give Britt my pillow but it was too little too late and she didn't want it (or didn't want to make a bigger scene.)

We got our certificate of completion so I think we are clear to have Birkley.  I didn't have to finish a test or sign anything so I kind of think it was a sham, I hope we didn't pay anything.  I now know how to breathe fast and I hope it comes in handy.  I have a feeling when placenta hits the fan, I am going to hope I read a little more and worried a little less about my piss poor pillow etiquette, but at least I can breathe fast.

Now it's a waiting game with a bucket full of horormones.  Britt has actually been awesome with what she is going through.  100+ degrees, "fluffy" feet, the water intake of a horse, me as a coach, no car, and one freak'in pillow.  It's only 6 weeks away.  I did the math, that's only 6 saturdays and 6 sundays.  

We only have a couple things left to do.  We need to finish decorating the nursery, paint a couple doors in our room,  clean house, get my motorcycle done, get a family car, and buy my monkey (Baily won't fit in my sidecar.) 

I can't wait till it's all done so I can relax and get some sleep.

2nd trip to class

I learned an important lesson at the second class.  The husband/coach is a dip shit.  We (I) forgot pillows, blanket, and book.  I thought we may look a little unorganized.  I was wrong.  I looked like an idiot, because the pregnant wife (who makes sure I wear pants during the week) has no resposibility.  So we did it without a blanket or pillows.  It has been a long time since I have been that physically miserable and I can't imagine how Britt felt.  

So we got to watch a couple of natural births and that has made me very glad that I never have to go through it.  I am such a baby, I'm kinda worried about cutting the cord.  It really gave me a whole new respect for what Britt is going to do in September.  We were watching the head go through the pinhole and all I could think about was the layers of stuff I would feel the scissors go through when I cut the cord.  Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I will be in the moment and supporting my wife throughout the birth, but while watching the birth I was watching the husband and what he was suppose to do.  I am still kind of apprehensive about cutting the cord, and this is coming from someone who wants to see the afterbirth.

Back to me being a dip-shit.  As we left, we appologized again for not remembering our pillows and blankets.  The teachers said these exact words;  well it is always his fault so it is a good thing he is cute.  Those are the exact words I tell the guys that work with me when they mess up so they get pissed and don't do it again.  When I say it, I mean it sarcastically.  I kind of hope she meant it as a backhanded compliment.  I had nothing to say to it, I just smiled, hopefully cutely.