NEW HOME FOR BABY

A big part of welcoming the new baby will be turning away from my preferred lifestyle of cheap dirty apartments in bad neighborhoods. We have agreed on a new house and had our offered accepted by the sellers. It will mean that we're going to be busy moving in the first weeks that the baby is here but I'm not worried. No matter how busy we are I'll be extremely happy to be moving into a place of our own.

Both grandfathers made the trip down to Rochester today to help us monitor the inspection process which made me feel much more confident. No big suprises were found and we hope to be moving sometime in the middle of July. The house is on Atlantic Ave and is only a two mile drive to work for Jamie.

ROCKING BASSINET

Thank you to our friends at the Potsdam School District Business Department for sending over a new bassinet. This was the easiest item to put together so far and it has wheels that quickly convert from standing bassinet to rocking bassinet.

It also comes with blue and pink sheets just in case the doctor was wrong about her prediction. (I like to tease Jamie that we might still have a girl but I will admit that the evidence from the ultra-sound showing we had a boy looked very convincing.)

In other news, Jamie had some very early and light contractions Tuesday night. We were scheduled to see the doctor Wednesday morning anyways and she said that Jamie is dialated to 1cm. Which really means nothing other than that everything is still on track.

While Jamie was having those early contractions she bet me $10 that she would be having the baby within one week. I will collect on that bet 1pm next Tuesday and probably use the money to buy something that really annoys her.

GOODNIGHT MOON

Jamie has been reading this book to herself some night before going to bed. I'm sure a whole bunch of you have read it many times.

In the great green room

There was a telephone

And a red balloon

And a picture of-
The cow jumping over the moon
And there were three little bears sitting in chairs
And two little kittens

And a pair of mittens
And a little toyhouse

And a young mouse
And a comb and a brush and bowl full of much
And a quiet old lady wo was whispering "hush"
Goodnight room
Goodnight moon
Goodnight cow jumping over the moon
Goodnight light

And the red balloon

Goodnight bears

Goodnight chairs
Goodnight kittens
And goodnight mittens
Goodnight clocksAnd goodnight socks
Goodnight little house
And goodnight mouse
Goodnight comb

And goodnight brush
Goodnight nobody
Goodnight mush
And goodnight to the old lady whispering "hush"
Goodnight stars
Goodndight air
Goodnight noises everywhere

After Jamie stops crying she normally falls right asleep so it must be an effective bedtime book.

BIRTH PLAN

Jamie was filling out her "birth plan" yesterday and I remember that our birth class instructor had made it clear that we are welcome to have music playing in the delivery room. She said that many mothers find it relaxing to have music they enjoy playing while going through the stresses of birth and that we could play any music we like.

I've suggested that we should put the song "Push It" from Salt N Pepa on repeat. As a birth coach I think it has incredible value as it really has everything you need to remember when giving birth. Take a look at some of the lyrics...

"Ah, push it.
Ah, push it." - Breathing techniques

"Oooh, baby, baby
Baby, baby
Oooh, baby, baby
Baby, baby" - Focus on the baby

"Ah, push it - push it good" - Push

"Ah, push it - push it real good" - Push harder!

"Hey! ow!
Push it good!" - May feel pain, keep pushing

"Better make it fast or else Im gonna get p****d!" - We'll forgive foul language in the face of extreme pain

"Yo, yo, yo, yo, baby-pop" - A bit graphic but seems about right

"So all you fly mothers, get on out there and dance." - Not sure how soon you afterwards you can actually dance but I think this conveys excitment and relief

OUR ZOO

We have deveolped a large zoo of animals over the last few months.

• 5 Polar Bears
• Brown Bear
• Rabbit
• Sheep
• Panda
• Gorilla
• Monkey
• 2 Giraffes
• Elephant
• Kanragoo
• Koala
• Emu

And finally, a zoo keeper.

HEALTHY MOM UPDATE

We visited our doctors yesterday who gave Jamie a check. The first thing they noticed was Jamie was "vertically challenged" and appeared to be "all baby." OK, tell us something we didn't know.

Everything looks very healthy right now and the estimate is that the baby currently weighs about 5lbs. That would put us on track for a normal 7lbs baby.

The doctor did agree with us that the baby has started to drop and Jamie is noticing that her ice cream shelf is getting a bit lower.

Jamie also got to choose (because we go to a group of several doctors that work together) the doctor who she prefers to have deliver the baby. That will be doctor Perry.

PERSONAL TOUCH

We've received some great gifts that have a special spot in our minds because they were made by the person giving.

Kathy Demo made our new Gecko blankie and as it turns this matches the room great because we have several green items.

Kathy Christie knitted our Bundle of Love blankie. Great to finally see it in a photo because I normally have to hold it up for Jamie to see and I don't get to look at it myself.

Carol Cooke knitted a sweater, booties and doll for us all the way back at Christmas time. Carol was one of the first people to find out I was having a baby and remained supportive and excited for me although it meant I would have to stop working for her company.

Betty Bouyer made our Sesame Street blankie. Jamie is picturing the baby and I sitting on this while we watch Sesame Street. Actually, I do that every Saturday morning anyways.

Aunt Beverly made a fantastic blue quilt for us. Right now I have the quilt hanging up above the crib and I think it looks great.

ROCHESTER BABY SHOWER

A huge THANK YOU to Shelly Moerschell for hosting a great baby shower at her new place in Webster.

Both of my sisters, Mairin and Caitlin, were able to make it which I thought was great.

We also had a visit from grandma and grandpa (GG) Regan. The next time we see them they may very well be grandparents!

Click here to see photos from the Rochester Baby Shower

POTSDAM BABY SHOWER

On May 2nd all of the ladies in the North Country got together for Jamie's first baby shower. I thought it was especially nice that three of the four great-grandmothers were able to make it to the event. Great-grandma Holmes (Merna) lives in Herkimer and wasn't able to make a trip that far but I know she is looking forward to the new baby boy as much as anyone.

The food set out for the party was so plentiful that even I couldn't finish off the leftovers. That's a sign of a job well done.

A special thanks to Marta Whalen and Donna Hall for their extra help with the shower.

Click here for Baby Shower Photos

The now famous baby-carriage watermelon.

TEMPORARY SHELF INSTALLED

I think there are more positives about being pregnant than the new mother has actually admitted to. For example, the new ice cream platform has done wonders for more effectively browsing the Internet, while simultaneously cooling the belly and conveniently feeding the mother all at the same time.

OUR BABY PHOTOS

As we progress I promise to provide you all with the latest and cutest photos possible. (If you have any of Jamie in her current state feel free to send them in and I'll post them too.)

To get to our photos you can click this link. Click here for photos.

I'll keep updating this photo page as I take them over the next few months and in the future you can always get back to that page by clicking the "Our Baby Photos" link over on the left hand side of this screen.

THE NEW RECLINER

Last night we put together what is always a very important item in any man's life, his favorite chair. This swinging recliner has two features that I absolutely love and am already jealous of.

The first is a mobile that features three white bears. Although they have the shape of the classic teddy bear I will be refering to them as the polar bear mobile. Some of you out there may know that I have an over-the-top love for polar bears. In fact I promise to post on the blog again soon with photos of all the polar bears already waiting in the crib for the baby to arrive. Anyways, I'm a huge fan of the polar bear mobile.

The second thing that I love about this swinging chair is that it has a bird call button. An even lesser known fact about me is that I love bird calls and my love for bird calls is only rivaled by Jamie's hatred for them. Unfortunately we know with 100% certainty that the bird call button will be broken within the first few months for one of two reasons. Either it will break when I press it for the 958th time or it will be broken when Jamie presses it for the first time, with a hammer.

Thanks to Cara and Jamie for the gift.

PHOTO SHOOT

We recently had a student from RIT working a photo project stop by to photograph our family. This is some of her work.

BABY UPDATES

Today Jamie is 39 days away from her projected due date June 20th. I had been planning to start a blog so that I'd have any easy place to point people to for updates during the birth.

I thought about starting the blog with one month to go until the due date but with babies being delivered all around us Jamie is becoming increasingly nervous about an early birth. The last few days she has spent preparing as if it will happen this weekend.

Therefore, I'll begin with my updates now and the first order of business is to welcome Katherine Averie Morley and Carter Howard Schermerhorn. Katherine lives just down the road from us in Rochester and Carter is the newest member to the family up in the North Country.

Both Katherine and Carter will be someday be able to say that at birth they already had more hair than Uncle Colin.