Kelly is 38 weeks

Tuesday (Jan. 26th) was 38 out of 40 weeks. The doc thinks she won't go past the due date of Feb. 9th, so it could be any day now! I think it will be Feb. 1st and Kelly is going with Feb. 5th. Any predictions of your own? Comment away!

Shower time

As we approach the arrival of baby Grace, friends, co-workers and family have been showering us with generosity (pun intended). We'd take a picture of her goods-in-waiting but we don't have a panoramic setting on the camera. It's been great and a tad overwhelming. Both Jason and Kelly had showers at their respective offices. Here's a shot of the rad cake we got at Jason work:


And then gifts (too many!) followed as with Kelly's shower at work.


These were lovely but decidedly more subdued affairs than the shower we threw at casa de Westlake. That power shower was a little raucous and threw in many ideas we brazenly stole from other friends. Including the Swiss import of beer sippy cup races. We went tourney style with multiple one-on-one matchups at a time to determine the ultimate champ. Some people (like your "friends" at a fraternity) will mock you for "nursing that bottle." Here, that skill was rewarded.


After a random seeding for the bracket, we played single elmination sippy until we reached the final four.


Jason reached the final four only because a far better sippy contestant had a blow out and was DQ'd for spillage. And in the semis, he was embarrassed by the eventual champ.


His technique was ridiculously good. Look at the domination!


Anyway, any good beer-swilling sippy shower needs to have BBQ, so we picked up 15 pounds of mixed goodness from Rudy's and chowed too.


Good times were had by all




So, to all our well-wishers, we raise a glass (sippy or otherwise). The last few weeks of celebration have been grand. Now we just want her out!

Our Last DINK XMAS

Here's a storyboard of our last Christmas as non parents. Jason had almost 2 weeks off straight and Kelly had about a week and a half so there was a lot of time off but not a lot of travel unlike pretty much every Christmas break before in our history. We hunkered, nested, prepared and shopped like yuppie parents should.

We kicked things off by not kicking at all...instead Jason's legs moved very cautiously and stiffly around a roller rink for the first time in probably 20 years. Who's this nervous guy?

Anyway, then we sat at home and watched all these great holiday cards come in. What a stash!


And finally the festivities hit with Christmas Eve homemade noodle preparation, tree decoration fun and one (just one dammit!) present to open.

(Jasper looking for scraps)

(ornaments are ready for the new arrival)

Then on Christmas day we gobbled up the noodles and turkey and green beans and salad and stuffing and ... Well, Kelly just had it all:


Look how stuffed she was!

I'm a Doctor not a Movie Critic!

Lest anyone thinks we fancy ourselves lofty critics of high art, I'm going to post my favorite '90s movies and be done with it. Even though I want to go into the '80s and rank "Say Anything" #1 and "Ferris" #2, I will stop. This is a family blog not Siskel & Ebert. But before we get away from the topic, here are my favorite '90s flicks. A lot are certainly emotional picks and not necessarily what would be deemed "critically acclaimed." But it was our coming-of-age decade so it's hard not to see these movies now as I did as a teenager. And when you're young these movies teach such great life lessons -- like when you're in a pinch and need to sneak out, you can always tear someone's face off and use it as your own. I used that trick so many times to sneak out of the house!

1. Dazed and Confused
2. Pulp Fiction
3. Hoop Dreams
4. Good Will Hunting
5. American Beauty
6. Silence of the Lambs
7. The Shawshank Redemption
8. Get Shorty
9. Chasing Amy
   
10. Office Space
11. Philadelphia
12. The Truman Show
13. The Matrix