Two showers and a graduation

The last two weekends have been very busy, so here's a pictorial to update you on what's been going on...

Shannon's friends from work threw her a shower on the morning of Saturday, May 9th.  We had a great time with several creative games for the competative types...  Thanks to Kat, Nina and Melissa for hosting!

Then later that afternoon, the Rose Medical Center laboratory threw David and Shannon a shower at the Tavern at Lowry.  Many thanks to the lab, especially to Linda and Mary for organizing the party!

Finally this last weekend, we drove to Norman, Oklahoma to attend Valerie's graduation from the University of Oklahoma.  Congratulations to Valerie and her boyfriend, Jeremy!  They are now off to Grad School at the University of North Texas to study art.

Play at home Dad

So we wrapped up the baby education with a class on Tuesday that was just for dads.  As I made my way to the class, I wasn't really sure what to expect.  What could possibly be covered that wasn't touched on in another class?  Quite simply, there was nothing new, but it put everything into dad friendly terms with sports metaphors and old cliché's.  It reinforced the need for preparation but to "expect the unexpected".  The instructor talked about how we dads would need to sometimes be the coach, sometimes the pinch hitter, and sometimes the MVP.

The class started off with a funny video about dads changing diapers.  It was supposed to be an icebreaker but I don't think it got anyone psyched about changing dirty diapers.  Then a REAL first time father talked to us about his experiences starting from his wife's labor, to bringing his daughter home, and how everything has changed in the last year.  He had some good advice like making sure that you give your wife time away from the baby (apparently his wife relaxes by going to the neighbors house to drink) and also to take time for yourself, which he uses to mow the lawn.  The looks on some of the other guy's faces was priceless.  Other than that though the guy was very helpful and I liked that he gave honest answers on what to expect.

After he left we worked on swaddling and changing diapers.  My practice baby was gigantic and was actually probably supposed to be a toddler doll.  It was pretty funny trying to fit a newborn diaper on it, but I think that the baby looked a little gangsta with its sagging diaper and "Tiny" (thats what I called him) totally gained some street cred.  And all that practice with Brady has paid off because I was awesome with swaddling.    

Generally speaking though it was a pretty good class.  It told everyone to be as prepared as possible and stock up on sleep.  We're almost ready as soon as we get the nursery painted and the furniture in the room.  And I guess that a new parent can expect to lose on average 550 hours of sleep in the first year.  But the good news is that usually a sleep cycle for the baby will be established before 9 months.  So by this time next year we'll be getting our 8 hours of sleep.

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Another round

Here's another round of pics from our latest ultrasound.  We went to get one last ultrasound before the big day.  The ultrasound tech said that he weighed approximately 3 lbs 15 ounces and was measuring about 6-7 days behind schedule.  BUT, they incorrectly had our due date as June 19th instead of the 26th, so actually he is right on schedule.  It doesn't matter much because it is just an estimate.  Shannon would like for him to come a little early if possible anyway.

We also had another round of baby education on Saturday.  This one was an Express Childbirth class.  Shannon was upset because she thought that they would teach you how to go through labor quicker.  However, it was called express because it was taught in one day.  David was upset because he thought there was going to be nap time since they asked that you bring a pillow and blanket.  Actually there were some very graphic videos about the birth and epidural.  It was pretty shocking even though it was "supposed" to make you feel more comfortable about it.  The best part was the tour of the birth center.  University Hospital is pretty new and the facilities look great.  Very reassuring.

We've been having these "we're so old" moments lately.  "Another round" used to mean something completely different...