Still waiting... but staying "busy"

For those of you who've mentioned that we haven't had a recent post for awhile, here are some pictures of Beka to make up for lost ground.

Beka relaxing (waiting), going through clothes, and posing for the camera.

Beka reading, looking at baby toys, and posing for the camera (again).

In case you haven't figured it out (or in case you thought I may have 3 pregnant wives who look a lot alike), I've been doing a lot of work at home lately. These are examples of some of the latest Photoshop tricks I've added to my repertoire.

On a more important note, Beka is obviously still pregnant and quite ready to fill up this "busy" nursery. We visited the doctor yet again yesterday. We've set a date for induction next week in case nothing happens before. Beka is of course still hoping to go into labor on her own before then, so please pray to that end. Hopefully, the next post will include pictures of Dean.

Cheers!

36 Weeks

For those of you craving a new photo, this one was taken this evening (8/19) in the nursery.



Cheers!

Hurricane Dean

Let's start with a bit of family history...

To this day, my parents claim I was dropped off by aliens in a sort of "baby exchange" program. The proof? The night I was born, there were several UFO sightings over Hood River (the town I was born in). Also, a storm called Hurricane David was making headlines during the summer of 1979. Clearly, all signs point to alien activity. As the story goes, they were supposed to pick me up on my 18th (or 21st) birthday, but a Y3K catastrophe on my home planet prevented this. No joke!

Now, fast-forward twenty-eight years. Beka and I are eagerly anticipating the arrival of our first child, Dean. Imagine my surprise when my dad gave me this bit of news.

Cheers!

32 Weeks

For those of you who have been waiting, here is the newest "profile" shot of Beka and Dean. This photo is over a week old, but you get the idea. He's punching and kicking as much as ever, which is very entertaining for me (though it gets a bit uncomfortable for Beka at times).

We started our childbirth classes a couple weeks ago. It has been educational to say the least. We also toured the hospital, which was fun. Now I know where it'll all happen. I was excited to see CD players in the room and to hear them encourage people to play music during labor. Unfortunately, I don't think Beka will be too keen on Chinese rock... oh well. They do say to play music the baby has already heard (because he can hear the stuff we're listening to now). I guess that means we'll be listening to Boston!

As many of you know, we recently finished painting our living room. The vaulted ceiling over the staircases posed quite a challenge, but it's done and it looks great! You can see a little bit of it in the background of this photo. We're also getting closer to having the baby room set up. There's plenty of furniture to build and things to organize. When we're finished, our house will be quite clean and a lot of clutter gone... for a little while. We'll see what having a baby does to the "clutter factor."

Cheers!

5th Anniversary Vacation

Ok, so it's been a while since our last post. What can I say... it's been busy! The Lord continues to bless us in many ways as we eagerly anticipating the arrival of Dean. In preparation, we've been working hard to make sure our project list is as close to done as possible. In fact, I spent the last few days of our vacation (last week) painting the family room and entryway of our house. It's looking much better and I hope to finish the job by tomorrow night! On top of that, we've been getting the nursery ready, including a crib and changing table we found for a great deal at Baby Depot.

The first half of our vacation last week--before the painting started--was a blast! We kicked things off with a day trip to the Portland Classical Chinese Garden and saw some amazing Chinese architecture, foliage, and bonsai trees. I never would have thought such an oasis existed in the midst of downtown Portland (notice the tall buildings in the background of the photo). They even have a Tao of Tea in the garden which we visited for a mid-afternoon snack and some great loose-leaf tea (Beka opted for the mango nectar).


On Monday, we left for Newport and stayed a night at the Sylvia Beach Hotel, a bed and breakfast with various rooms themed after different authors. It was a very relaxing time and we'd love to go back and spend a few days doing nothing but reading (someday). Then we drove to Ashland for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and saw two plays: The Taming of the Shrew and Romeo and Juliet. Both were incredibly entertaining and well worth the trip. It'll probably be our last vacation for a little while considering the new addition to the family, but that's a whole new adventure in and of itself.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:3

28 weeks down 12 to go

Well, I've currently hit the 28 week mark, which means I am beginning my 3rd trimester. It's sometimes hard to believe I'm going to get even bigger! I just noticed this morning that if I am standing up straight I can no longer see my toes. How sad, since they are a pretty red.

The baby boy is as active as ever. He is regularly kicking, punching, and stretching. So far it hasn't kept me awake much at night, but I have a feeling that will be changing soon as he gets stronger.

School is now out and I've moved out of my classroom. That was a bit sad, but I'm so thankful that I don't have to be on my feet all day during the end of my pregnancy. We just bought an air conditioner, so in the heat of the summer expect to find me with my feet up reading the last Harry Potter book. I'm so glad the series is ending before the baby arrives. I doubt I'll have much reading time with a baby.

Finally, the announcement many of you have been waiting for.... the name! We have come to a decision, and although we reserve the right to change our minds, no more input is necessary (unless of course you like the name we have chosen). The new addition to our family will be known as:

Dean Howard Hardy

Flash Mob