Right now, we are having major rain storms in Houston.  We were up before 5 AM staring at the rain (couldn’t sleep through that thunder).  It isn’t rare for our street to flood a little, but we’ve never seen the water come up our driveway, past our sidewalk.  Needless to say, we are actually quite glad that Katie is not yet in labor, as we can’t get our car out of the garage; and I do not want to deliver this baby.

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Photos taken just after 5 AM, Houston, TX

Yesterday I decided to remove the countdown from the top of this web page, as it was just sitting there saying BOB is due in ZERO days.  I’m considering selling an ad in that space.  $5000 per month… any takers?

We went to Kate’s final pre-natal visit on Monday.  The doctor says that everything looks great, but that we aren’t much closer.  I don’t feel like posting details about dilation and effacement and that stuff about my wife on a website.  So let’s just leave it at this:  we are still waiting.  Fortunately, Katie is in wonderful spirits and, besides a cold she has been trying to kick, seems to feel fine and is getting around great.  I am continuously awed at how amazing she looks.  She seems to often wear a subtle smile while she rubs her hand across her belly… that is until BOB kicks her in the rib, punches her bladder and she cringes in pain. 

Here is the new plan:  We are scheduled for an induction next Monday (5/4/2009).  Her doctor says that she doesn’t want to wait any longer than that.  So BOB has just under a week to come out of there on his own or we’re coming in after him (or her… we’ll find out soon!).  It is pretty amazing to know that within one week, I will be a father.  I have never been so excited.  Yeah, I know that I sound cheesy.  But hey, YOU are the one who keeps coming back to this cheeseball website and reading my cheesy writing, so HA!

One last bit of good news for me:  Originally, Katie told me I wasn’t allowed to make jokes during labor and delivery.  However, Sarah (sister-in-law) advised Katie that it would be best if I keep her laughing as much as possible throughout the process.  SCORE!  I now have a captive audience with whom I can try out some new material and keep hashing up my oldie-but-goodie one-liners  Yes, I am aware that she in turn can break my wrist with little effort… so I’ll have to be careful.  But consider this: when compared to listening to my puns, contractions should be a breeze. 

Last thing:  Since everyone likes it when we post pictures here (and we have no pictures of the baby yet), I thought I would share these.  Kate’s parents gave us the rocking chair that they used to rock her and her brother when they were babies.  It was a gift to them from Kate’s grandparents.  Although the paint was looking a bit worn, the chair was in great shape.  We had the paint (three layers of brown, white and green) stripped and refinished with a nice stain.  We were amazed at how nice the stained wood turned out.  My mother also made brand-new chair pads to match the other decorations in the nursery.  So here is our all-new old rocking chair… before and after:

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