New Year's Resolution

Happy New Year (and belated Merry Christmas) everyone. We just returned home from an ten day visit to Chicago where we enjoyed the holiday break. Meg's step-mother, Barb, hosted a very nice baby shower for Meg and we are grateful for all of the wonderful gifts. Papa Ryan and Brad turned out to be the only men at the party so we enjoyed each other's company and the food in the other room.

Also during our time in Chicago (the greatest city in America) we celebrated Maura's birthday at the Drake Hotel downtown, made the rounds of our favorite restaurants, and enjoyed Christmas dinner with the entire Ryan family which included 12 little kids. The experience possibly made us have second thoughts about having a baby... No not quite! It was wonderful visiting with everyone.

Over the past few weeks, many of you have made a comment about how pathetic (okay, maybe not that bad) our blog has become. So, for the New Year, we have challenged ourselves to make two weekly posts to update you on how we (and our little one) are doing.

Speaking of the baby, a big thank you is in order for Brian and Patti (Meg's cousin) for all of the baby gear. They graciously cleaned out their basement for us which filled (and I mean FILLED) the entire bed of our pickup truck. Now our little princess has just about everything she will need until she is three years old.

Mo-vember

Welcome to Mo-vember, the month formerly known as November. This month Brad is growing a "Mo" in support of Men's Health. Here is a page to get more information:

http://us.movember.com/mospace/379316

Since Brad is growing some facial hair while I am growing a belly, we thought we would track both of our progress this month and see who can change their look faster. I have about a seven month head start but he is catching up quickly.

Latest Belly Pic

Here is a pic of Meg as she enters her third trimester.

So they say its a girl

Meg is now between 19 and 20 weeks and none of her pants fit. She had her second ultrasound today and our little girl looks very healthy. She has ten fingers, ten toes, all her organs and a tiny nose (just like daddy)... The ultrasound technichian was very impressed and the little one must have sensed we were watching her. We saw her give mom an elbow and dad a thumbs up!

We are both very excited and can't wait to start getting the house prepared for the new addition to our family.

First Week of School is Almost Over!

Now that Meg is a student and Brad is a teacher we are going to have a very smart little one! Hopefully the kid will come out with a great knowledge of Accounting and Nautical Science :) It has been a busy week with homework for the both of us, but Labor Day weekend will be relaxing & rearranging the house for the new brunaugh on the way.

The Name Game

Since we don't know if the baby is a boy or a girl, we are soliciting for names. Chances are that we won't use what you suggest but it would be fun to hear what you have to say.

Pregnant on the Honeymoon... not exactly

We know that having a baby is going to be a big change, especially considering the circumstances surrounding how we found out! We were on vacation in Europe, a trip we had been trying to take since we were married. We travelled to Germany, Austria, and Italy. On our first day in Venice, I came back to the hotel room and found a red rash on my ankle that I could not explain. That night, as the sun was setting in the Piazza San Marco, and the music from the tuxedo donned string quartet was playing in the breeze, Brad went off to get some gelato (very romantic) but I started bawling uncontrollably and could not stop for 20 min because Brad did not ask me what flavor I wanted. I knew then something was going on...
The next day we went out to try and find a pregnancy test, but being Italy they did not have any over the counter test available. We drove around for a Pharmacia and after doing my best Charades (pregnancy belly and shrugging), I finally got a test. We went to a little Coffee Shop on a secluded canal, and although the instructions were in Italian, and the bathroom was very tiny, the pink plus sign translates across all situations. :)

Welcome

Welcome to our Blog! Brad and I started this webpage to share with family and friends the crazy changes that come with having our first baby. Read on, and enjoy!