The Blog Formerly Known As "The Bunty and Buck Belly Blog"

Baby Shower

I'd like to take this moment to thank everyone for their fine gifts.  I never imagined the outpouring of generosity M. and I would receive for completing our first course at Birth University.  Truly, truly overwhelming.  I can't wait to see what we get when we officially graduate.  Huh?  What's that, honey?  Shower?  I don't need a shower.  What?  Baby shower?  Oh...

Well, I apologize, folks.  But surely you can forgive my mistake given that I wasn't even invited to the shower.  Bitter?  Me?  No.  Never.  Never.

In all fairness, the shower was a big success.  For us, suckers.  Look at all that loot!

Okay.  Okay.  Enough jokes.  Seriously, I did hear that the shower was a big success and fun time.  I even saw an email from a friend of ours (who shall remain nameless so as not to offend our other mutual friends) who commented that it was the most fun baby shower she ever attended.  Not a bad review given the tales of woe one sometimes hears regarding such events.

The highlight that sticks out in my mind (as relayed to me by M. - I wasn't invited after all) had to be the baby food tasting contest.  Apparently there were ten, random baby food samples laid out and brave participants sampled each one, venturing ten guesses as to what the flavor/ingredient was in each.  This reminds me of an old fraternity game we used to play, but I digress.

Anyway, a few contenders rose above the rest to produce a three-way tie.  Given that, as they say in Highlander, there can be only one, a tie-breaker ensued.  And the winner, by correctly guessing the most popular newborn boy's name in the U.S. last year (Jacob), was none other than M.'s sister Marcy.  Shamed second place finishers were our friends Julie and Amy.  Almost had it, ladies.  Better luck next time.  Losers.  Nice job, Marcy.  I'm proud to be related to you.  Enjoy the hand cream - you earned it.

Muchos thanks to everyone who could make it and to those who were there in spirit.  We really appreciate everyone's generosity and support.  No, seriously, we do.  And special shout outs to M.'s sister (Alison), mom (Nana Gail), and Godmother (Nora) for pulling the event together.

Finally, I just HAD to post this picture of our niece, Caroline.  (Those of you following the blog closely, all three of you, may recognize her from a previous post.)  That popsicle sure hit the spot on a warm Marin afternoon.

Week 29

Here we are at week 29.  M. is looking as beautiful as ever and things are going well.  She's feeling good and is in good spirits.

This past weekend M. and I attended our first class at Birth University - Course 101: Childbirth Preparation.  For those of you who recall my previous posts on Birth U., no dice on the open bar.  Catered lunch wasn't too bad, but not too great either.  However, after some initial skepticism, I'm convinced that I'm better prepared for the big day than I was before.  Plus the instructor, Sara McMoyler, had lots of energy and made the experience entertaining.  And I learned lots of new things, not the least of which is that many women are very distressed at the idea of having a bowel movement during labor.  Okay, maybe that is the least thing I learned, but who woulda thought?

What I liked most about the course was the even-handed treatment of natural birth versus using epidurals.  Sarah stressed that the decision about which way to go is a personal one and I really appreciated that.  So often out here in San Francisco if something isn't "natural" it's automatically considered bad.  In this instance I firmly believe that the choice is up to the woman and I'm going to support M. in whatever she decides.

Speaking of M., she claims that some of you are getting tired of just belly shots and want to see how's she's looking from head to toe.  Even though this is the BELLY BLOG people, I'll oblige you.  So here's my lovely wife/mommy-to-be in our kitchen.  Unfortunately she wasn't barefoot at the time.

July 4th Hilarity

During a weekend of comedy, the belly delivers a classic.  Here we see Uncle/Godfather B. getting in close for another hilarious punchline.  Damn that belly is funny!

Uncle B.'s trip to SF was a great success.  M. and I got to spend a lot of QT with him and were very sorry to see him go.