Wow! It's been too long since our last post. When I look at the earlier pictures, I can believe how much Staci has grown. It's truly amazing to see the transformation happen before your eyes. Since the last post a bunch of stuff has happened. Staci has had her baby shower, and we were smothered with gifts. I have a huge pile in the garage of the gift wrappers and packaging, all waiting in line for the garbage and recycle. The kid should be about 3 years old before I can get it all thrown away, since the garbage can is filled to the rim each week. :^) The picture below was taken in May. Staci was still carrying higher and smaller, while I was still carrying lower and larger...

The nursery is also pretty much done, although I still need to install the chair rails on the wall. I hope to have done before the kid gets here, but time is running out. We really like how the nursery turned out. Can't wait to fill it...

Here are a couple more pictures of Staci in early and mid June. The cat seems to fit around the tummy just fine...

The summer is just flying by, and before we know it the little one will be here. Staci has been doing great with the pregnancy, and the doctor says everything is going just fine. The baby has recently dropped about two weeks ago. Staci went from having heart burn after each meal to having to go pee every two seconds. Besides that and the occasional back and hip pains, she is doing great. The air conditioning in the house has been a life saver since our bedroom is upstairs. I'm not sure Staci would have been so pleasant to live with if we didn't have it... (What am I saying? How could that be true?) :^)

Our friends Kirby and Megan are also cruising right along. Here is a picture of the two lovely wives sporting the belly profile in early June...

We also took a short day trip to the coast with Marv and Linda. Watching Staci waddle across the beach was great fun. We found a cool little sand castle somebody had made. This could be a good picture for the http://oregonsandcastle.blogspot.com . I wonder how much they would pay???

Big Ultrasound Day!

We just had our ultrasound last Friday, so I thought I would add some pictures. It was a really cool appointment, since we got to see pretty clear pictures of little baby Monroe. The room was packed tight with a total of 8 people in a small dark room. (Eugene, Josie, Pili, Marv, Linda, Staci, Mike, and Chris the Tech.) The scanned pictures are not as clear as seeing the live video, but you will get the idea. The first picture is a profile shot of the baby's face, and it was looking up...

The second picture is a direct view of the Baby's face. The center of the picture is the Baby's mouth, and a little up and to the left is the Baby's nose. Stare at it long enough and you will see a face. This one was really cool, because just before this shot, the Baby opened it's mouth as if it were yawning. This is when Grandma Monroe got really excited...

The last picture is a 3D view of the head, and the baby is looking to the left. The picture kind of makes it's look like and Alien, but we still thought it was pretty cool to see.

As far as we could tell the Baby seems to be healthy and normal. We were also able to get through the appointment without finding out the gender. Staci and I are very excited and happy things are going well so far. Well, I have to get to Hockey pretty soon, so I will sign off until next time. Wish me luck, we are in the playoffs!

love,

Mike & Staci

Mommy's Transformation

Just thought I would add some "belly" pictures, so you can all see the transformation that is happening before my eyes. On the left is the first picture that we took on Feb. 11, and Staci was about three months along. I was trying to get her to pull her shirt up the rest of the way, but she was just being a big party pooper.

Then we took another picture on March 28th, and what do you know, she's bigger. Staci has been doing really well, and I have been feeling more baby movement. It seems to be pretty active in the morning when she lays on her back. It's really wild to feel little thumps and rolls inside my wife's belly. As far as I can tell Staci is still acting pretty normal, despite the hormones that are rushing through her bloodstream. I am always on the lookout for some major mood swings, but everything is still running on an even keel... :^) If you don't see another post soon, I might have been terminated by "El Prego".

We are going to have our BIG ultrasound this Friday April 6th. This is the one that takes a lot of pictures of the baby, and confirms how far along we are. We are really looking forward to seeing the baby, and hope the surprise of the gender is not ruined. Our friends Megan and Kirby had their ultrasound two weeks ago, and it sounded really cool.

We also spent last weekend up in Portland with them, and had a day of baby shopping. We spent some time at Segals Baby Store, and got to see the price range for high end stuff. Then we made the trek over to Babies-R-us, and about passed out at the door. This place is enormous! Not to mention, you will probably never see more pregnant woman in one day, than you would over there. We finished up on our registry, and picked out our crib and dresser. It was a great day, and we had loads of fun. It was great to have another couple there to talk things over with, and help with decisions on the big things like strollers, and cribs. Kirby and I golfed 18 holes the next day, just to get our manly chemistry back in balance, due to the previous day of estrogen...

Well, I guess that's all for now. I will post the ultrasound pictures soon, and hopefully I will have our new crib put together as well...

Dad Feels First Kick

I thought we should setup a page to share with friends and family. Some friends of ours are also expecting about 2 weeks ahead of us, and they created a page. Seemed like a really cool idea, so I figured, "What the heck", I should give this a try. Here is our first picture of the little one. The head is towards the left. We could see the heart beating at this point, and I was FLOORED! It was so amazing seeing it for the first time!

So Far Staci has been doing really great. She has had no morning sickness, or any other major discomforts. I'm so proud of her display of will power. She has not been eating any junk foods, and has been exercising with her mother three times a week. Me on the other hand, I think I'm picking up the junk food slack, as I have gained more weight so far, than Staci has since Christmas! (Of course, I am now drinking for two...)

Staci is currently going on her 19th week, but I think she is closer to 20 or 21st. That's why I have a bet going with Kirby on who will be a father first. Megan (Kirby's expecting wife), rolls her eyes with a smile, as her husband signs up for another bet. The odds are stacked against me, but I am going on a hunch. :^) (Anyone know what's the drug used for inducing labor?)

Staci tells me that she is feeling the baby move, more and more. When we woke up this morning, Staci had me put a hand on her growing tummy. After about 30 seconds, I felt a little "Thump". It could have been a gas bubble for all I know, but Staci assured me that is was the baby. I'm looking forward to seeing hands and feet sweeping across her belly, as if there is some alien growing in there.

We are very excited about our upcoming ultra sound. It's the "big" one where you can see everything. We are going to have to be careful, since we do not want to know the sex of the baby, so hopefully the surprise won't be spoiled. We are also going to have both sets of parents there, and take turns seeing the images. Should be really cool for them, since this stuff wasn't around back when they were having kids. I am planning on getting some good video footage of the event. Should be a lot of fun!!!

Well I guess that's it for now. I'm going to see how this page turns out, and start adding some more photos soon...

Mike & Staci