Week 17

Here is last weeks update on baby developement. This whole thing still seems so sureal. I wonder when the reality of it will set in...probably not until the birth. Last week we were at Target and Natasha said she wanted to go to the baby section, my response was, "for what". As soon as the words left my mouth I remembered that I am going to be a dad and that we will probably need to visit this department, often.

Your baby weights about 5 oz. now and he's around 5 inches long — about the size of a large onion. The umbilical cord, his lifeline to the placenta, is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby can move his joints, and his skeleton — until now, rubbery cartilage — is starting to harden into bone. Some of it will remain cartilage for years after he's born. A newborn's skeleton has 300 parts (a combination of bone and cartilage). As your child grows, some of these parts harden and fuse together. By the time your baby reaches adulthood, he'll have just 206 bones.

My new favorite song

Mercy Me's song "No more no less" has grabbed a hold of me. I don't know why...I was thinking about that on the way to work as I was belting out my off tune version. I am not sure if it is the tune, the words...

I'm not trying to hide anything
I wear it on my sleeve I wear it on my sleeve
I'm not trying to be something I'm not
This is all I've got
This is all I've got

I'm not trying to re-invent the wheel Just trying to be real
Trying to be real
I'm not trying to say follow me
I'm not the one who leads
I'm not the one who leads

Let me introduce myself to you
This is who I am
No more, no less
I am just a man who understands
Because of You I'm blessed

No more, no less
I'm not trying to prove anything
It's all about the change
It's all about the change
I hope you stare just long enough to see

The heart that's beating here inside of me
Beyond all the things you may think you know
I'm just a kid trying to make it home, that's it
No more, no less
Lord, I want to go home

Opening Day

Wednesday was opening day of Firearm Deer Season. Sometime this summer Michigan lowered the age limit from 14 to 12 years old. This meant my second youngest nephew, Jake, who turned 12 this year would get to go deer hunting this year. This years bow hunting season turned out to be a very good one for me which meant I would be able to sit with Jake during gun season. Needless to say we were both a little excited and the anticipation built as November 15th neared.

Wednesday morning found the two of us in a blind, a stone's throw from where I spent my first opening day 19 years ago to the day...wow I feel old now. I have a lot of respect for my dad taking me that first year. After spending the day with Jake I think I have a pretty good idea of what he experienced. All the excitement, fear, anxiety, uncertainty, lack of patience, and questions...oh, the questions. My idea of hunting is relaxing while enjoying God's creation...the peace and quietness of being in nature. There was not a lot of quietness going on in that blind, but it was a blast. I enjoyed every minute of it. Especially the 7:55 minute when Jake shot his first deer. It was the most perfect opening day morning for a 12 year old...and for a 33 year old.

There were so many moments I thought I was going to lose it and bust out laughing. None more than when he had his deer and said, "I prayed all night that God would bring us a deer" or when Jake finally sat down after being sure he had his first deer and asked for something to drink or eat because he felt like he was going to puke. After that he turned to me and said, "my heart is beating so fast". Welcome to deer hunting Jake...its grabbed a hold of you.

Do Not Worry

I started reading through Matthew this week. As I think (that is code for Worry) about this kid and how life is going to change this part of Matthew 6 hit me like a ton of bricks this morning.

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^[b]?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Week 16

So I am still following a website that gives updates on what is happening with the development of ALF...alien life form that has invaded my wife's body. Here is some of last weeks update:

At around 4 inches long, crown to rump, your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 ounces. He's busy inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid, which will help the air sacs in his lungs develop. His legs are growing longer than his arms now, and he can move all his joints and limbs. That means his hands are more functional, too. Sweat glands are appearing, and although his eyelids are fused shut, he can sense light. If you were to shine a flashlight at your tummy, he'd be likely to move away from the beam. Your baby's taste buds are beginning to form now, too, and a study at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia suggests he may be able to taste what you've been eating. Researchers found that flavors from the food pregnant women ate ended up in their amniotic fluid. They also found that eating healthy foods during pregnancy may help your baby develop a preference for those foods that could last a lifetime.

It still blows my mind at how quickly things develop...16 weeks ago there was nothing, now ALF has sweat glands, can sense light, and can taste what Natasha is eating. I guess that means ALF will like a dinner of pickles, peanut butter, ice-cream, and orange/pineapple juice.

This whole thing still seems surreal. People keep asking if we have picked out names or if we will find out the gender. It seems so weird to think of those things...maybe when it sinks in a little more.

Last week I found out my best friend from highschool and his wife are also expecting their first child and due about the same time we are. Kind of funny. When we were seniors in highschool we made this huge time capsule, filled it with all sorts of junk from 1991, and buried it in a safe place. We made a pact and a map to unearth it 20 years later. Part of our thought was when we returned in 20 years we would have kids about the same age as we were at the time we buried it. Boy were we a little off on that one.