60 Days To Go

Many suns since my last entry, but I have a second here at work and I figured it was time for an update. As you can see from the title it is only 60 more days until the expected arrival of Three. Three is getting bigger and bigger everyday. Usually with things being so gradual you don't notice the minor changes, but with Jennifer's belly it definitely looks larger every morning. We have officially signed up for childbirth class for February 17th. We were a bit late in signing up, but apparently they had ample space for us. Three has finally reached the size where we are beginning to feel individual body parts better, although it is still hard to distinguish the top from the bottom. At the last doctor's appointment he said the baby seems to be upside down, which is a good thing.

Mentally we are slowly preparing for the sudden upheaval in our daily lives. Every once in a while we will appear startled when we realize what is really going to happen in just over 8 weeks. The fear of something going wrong still pesters us both and I am constantly asking Jennifer how much Three moved over the course of the day and trying to compare it to its movement in prior weeks. I continue to forget that it now sleeps about 90-95% of the day and since it has less room, probably won't be moving around as much. Last night we took time out, Jen had some juice, I played the guitar and Three moved around quite a bit. It was also relatively active this morning when we woke up, which was a great way to start our day.

Besides that we have also been trying to spend the weekends resting and doing things that will not be so easily accomplished in the next few months like going out for dinner. Unfortunately I have had a tough time sleeping lately and have been really tired in the afternoons because of it. I just want to get as super rested as I can, but my body refuses to cooperate.

Work has been alright. I have accepted the fact that my primary purpose here is not writing Java code and it has made my life a lot less stressful. At this point it is just easier to focus on one thing instead of trying to relearn Java for about two weeks of usage and then forget it for two months while another non-Java project comes along and takes up all of my time. I also have been doing a little bit of project planning and using our bug reporting system for projects, which has been pretty cool. I know it is bad to get out of an engineering position once you get one, but the idea of working for the implementation team doesn't seem too bad. Bottom line is I love the flexibility here and wouldn't give it up for the world.

Besides the above stuff I have continued to go to the gym regularly (4-5 times a week). I moved from a completely cardio workout program to a cardio w/ a side of weight lifting program. So far I am relatively happy with the results of going to the gym. I haven't been as good with my diet, but I still keep in mind what I am eating and try to only eat until I am full if I am eating a non-Special K meal. I also stopped charting my weight because it was getting to be very stable and predictable. It was amazing to see how much it can fluctuate in as little as 24 hours. Now I am hovering around the 171 - 173 pound range, which is good enough for me. I think it would be pretty difficult for me to go much lower than that considering my arms are super skinny and my legs are mostly muscle. I have learned it is super hard to get rid of anything in the area of your stomach, it just likes to stick around.

Okay back to work.
Keeg

Nursery Time

As you can see from the photos it was a busy day in the Sands household. Yesterday, Jennifer's mom showed up and we went to the store to buy some paint. So today we got up relatively early and moved all the stuff out of the nursery for painting. We used exactly one can of paint for two coats and it looks phenomenal. Once the paint dried, we moved all the furniture back in, hung up some tapestry and put pictures on the wall. It was a pretty painless process fr such wonderful results.

The other thing I have been busy doing is selling things on Craigslist and I have to say it went much better this time around. On Friday I sold a tv, yesterday I got rid of a futon and today I sold a desk and some speakers. All I currently have left to sell is a storage cabinet and some electronics, but I haven't even posted them yet. Cha-ching, thanks for the $200 and space in my basement. Sweet!!!!

On Thursday we did some recalculating of the baby's progress in the pregnancy books and realized we miscalculated. So while the baby is still due on March 31st, we realized we have been off by a week in the week by week schedule. So this week we are repeating Week 29. Mentally it has been weird going over the same week twice, because as you complete the weeks you breathe a little easier. Oh well I suppose the grand scheme of things I suppose there was really no difference.

Back Tattoos?

I don't really get the whole back tattoo movement. I always see them on women at the gym and just don't understand the attraction of these things. One girl in particular really made me laugh. I was on the treadmill and these two women got on the treadmills in front of me. Apparently were friends, and while I don't know for sure they could have had their back tattoos done at the same time. The one on the right was okay looking on the top half, but she had a big butt and large thighs, which is fine we are all at the gym for a reason. The problem I had was with her choice of pants. She wore tight lycra leggings, a less than flattering look for her. So as she ran on the treamill you could see every bit of her butt and thighs jiggling around. Now the best part of this was her tatoo which was a picture of a wave and said "Try to catch me". I think the wave was a perfect symbol but a bit redundant considering the waves of fat that were created from her running.

The Year of the Three

Our first big task of the new year, as you can see, was preparing the nursery. We started by tearing up the old flooring, which was a vinyl surface on top of a relatively nice wood floor. It was easy to remove and we quickly stuffed it into the empty stroller box. We swept up next and moved some of the furniture around to make for a better nursery layout. Later in the day my mom and Jon bought the crib and dresser we had picked out at the Baby Depot in Peabody, a very generous and kind gesture. We unpacked everything, and it all looked great except for one slat on the crib, which was bowed inward. Since it was a big purchase and such an important piece of furniture, we decided to wait a day and see if we could get a replacement piece from the store. So yesterday Jennifer called the Baby Depot and they said we could bring the side in and switch it for a new one. So we hopped in the car and drove up to Peabody to get the new side and also a mattress. Once we were back home I quickly put all of the stuff together and within an hour of so Jennifer began putting the bedding into it. So now it is in a good state. The only things left to do are to remove my old white desk and to paint the room. It is all very exciting, we are both eagerly awaiting the arrival of Three.
Nursery Video

Here are some other photos from the last few weeks.
Christmas Photos
Ice Sculptures in Boston Common on New Year's Eve

Week 28 Begins

This morning marked the beginning of the 28th week of the pregnancy. Here is a link for Week 28. There are only twelve or so weeks to go and the wheels are now in motion to start work on the nursery. We will be out looking for furniture this weekend and will also be getting permission from our landlord to paint the room and remove the old vinyl flooring. Christmas was great and thankfully most of the presents were for Three, so I didn't have much stuff to put away once we got home. Some of the highlights include: a new BumbleRide Rocket stroller, the bedding set we registered for at Babies'R'Us, a new camcorder for filming every moment, an old cradle that has been in my family for over a century and assorted other goods.

Okay I have to get back to work. In other news I downloaded some new games to the Wii, Mario 64, Sonic the Hedgehog and the original Zelda. I am more than halfway through Mario 64 after only three days, perhaps it is time to slow down.

Later,
Keeg

One More Week To Go

Here I sit in my living room with only one week before Christmas. The most recent weekend was quite busy, but very efficient and enjoyable. On Friday night, I went out with some State Street people for Marisa's last day. Yep its true she is leaving State Street and going back to New York. It was fun to see some old faces and to hear things haven't changed at all there. I also learned that the cube wall of fame is still there with the name plates of past employees.

On Saturday we went to see one of Jennifer's old dance students perform in the Nutcracker. It was a great show and flew right by. Afterwards we decided to battle the mall scene and after forty five minutes had finished 95% of our Christmas shopping. It's amazing sometimes just how fast we are able to make decisions together. We made it back from the mall and immediately hopped back in the car for a little Wii party over at Cara and Jeff's house. They were excited to try it out and I was excited to play on a giant flat panel television. It was a lot of fun, the Wii is the best.

Yesterday I pretty much stayed on the couch most of the day trying to catch up on the hours of shows I had accumulated over the past couple weeks. I know I should probably ration them out since most shows are now on hiatus until mid-January, but I just couldn't wait. In the afternoon I had made a big dent in my TiVo stockpile and decided it might be a good idea to get out of the house. We grabbed some wrapping paper and then did some major grocery shopping. You may or not know that Jennifer and I tend to keep the cupboards relatively bare, mostly because the store is a short walk away and because we never know when we will be eating at home. However, we basically ran out of nearly everything, which resulted in some major difficulties for my pregnant wife. So I decided that we were going to go crazy at the store. So $143 later and we have a bunch of food. Hopefully it will last and not too much will go to waste.

The last task of the weekend was to make some Christmas cookies. We originally planned on making a gingerbread house, but realized we just didn't have the time for it, so instead we made some sugar cookies. They turned out really well and might even be able to compete with my mom's classic cookies. Here are some photos: Christmas Cookie Making

We have another doctor's appointment today and should get a chance to hear the heartbeat. All very excited. Oh yeah and that may also be followed by a trip to visit Megan, who went into labor this morning. Only about 105 more days until Jennifer follows suit. Oh man it won't be long now.

Keeg

Busy Busy Busy

Sorry I have been so bad about updating, but I think it is mostly due to a shitty keyboard on our home computer. The space bar and o key doesn't really work well, which is super frustrating. I have been searching far and wide for a good deal on a new MacBook, our budget will only cover the lower model, which has a small, 60 Gigabyte hard drive and it doesn't have a DVD-RW drive. The next model up would work a lot better, but it is a little out of our budget. Now the reason I want an Apple is because a) it looks cool 2) it handles media (movies, photos and music) d) I really think its a better product. Hopefully after the new year I will be able to find a good deal on eBay. This is among two other electronics I would like to have in place before Three arrives. The other two things are a camcorder and a new digital camera. A few weeks ago I did all of the research on camcorders and decided to go with a MiniDV format. While it is a bit more difficult and time consuming to get it on a computer, the quality is much higher than DVD or hard drive based systems. Besides the media at least versus the DVD is a lot cheaper. I am not quite sure about what brand of digital camera to get, but I think I am focusing on getting one with a bigger lens. Only 109 days to figure it all out.

Besides that I have been playing the Wii alot lately and have even had some people over for a little demo. I am thinking of starting a business where I bring a projection tv and the Wii to people's house for a Wii party. I have also moved on beyond Wii Sports and returned to the land of Hyrule to help Link save Princess Zelda. The new game is a bit time consuming, but not so complicated that I can't figure out most of the tasks in a reasonable amount of time. I only seem to have time to work on it over the weekends though, hopefully I won't forget over the course of the week.

Last weekend we picked up our Christmas tree, which measures in at around five feet. I actually prefer the shorter trees, not only because they are cheaper but because seven foot trees are just unnecessary. The tree seems to be holding up well and has acclimated to our house. It has been using up a ton of water, which has kept me very busy, but we have decided it is a good thing. The only other thing of note was our recent attendance at Cara and Jeff's annual Christmas party. The Yankee Swap was less lame than last year, but only a teensy bit due to the fact that there was only one swap, which involved me losing the U2 singles CD.

Oh yeah, I haven't written much about the pregnancy, but I have been very excited about it. Jennifer is really starting to show now and today she went to hug me and thought my gym bag had slid in between us, when in reality it was just her big pregnant belly getting in the way. It was a really cool moment. I have started a countdown on our chalkboard, only 109 days to go. Over the past weekend I was able to hear the heartbeat for the first time, which was really cool, Three doesn't really appreciate it much and shows its disapproval by kicking me in the head. Bottom line is that the whole miracle of life people talk about truly is a miracle and one of the most amazing things I have ever witnessed.

That's it for now, I need to get ready for BowlCaNO.