Anticipation....

At T's 38 week appt, the doc said she's 60% effaced and 2 cm dilated, which is very exciting! The implication is that things are readying for baby day, whether it be weeks or hours from now. (Tracy note - yes, we know that women can walk around dilated for a long time - but a little dilated is better than not at all -which was what they said last week).

38 weeks...


37 weeks...


36 weeks...

Must be 15lbs or less to ride...

The due date draws nigh! Yet there are a few select things that need to be sorted out to better welcome our baby girl's arrival. Thanks again to your generosity, we have a baby swing where we can (gently) plop and placate baby when she feels like swinging about. Lets put this together and, like the Bob stroller, see if there are 'boy points' for Dads to latch onto.

Step 1: Unpack box. Tracy was shocked by the number of parts in the tiny box. Mainly the metal (+1 boy point) framing, a bunch of a plastic and plush parts, and a ridiculous, legal-ese filled, multi language/page setup manual (-2 boy points).



Step 2: Assemble legs, attach legs to joint, assemble plastic seat, attach seat to joint.
Poorly drilled holes = -1 boy point
Plastic bag to play with = disapproving wife




Step 3: Ensure everything is sturdy, that there are no remaining parts, get wife's approval for level of 'cuteness'.



Step 4: Find eager rider. (Thanks again to Doggy)

....then realize the swing is powered with a motor (+3 boy points) via 4 not-included batteries (-1) that are D-sized(-3)!

Fisher price has provided mom and dad a control panel with nifty buttons and knobs allowing you to adjust swing speed, noise volumes, and the phases of the moon. (+1)



And by far the most innovative feature....a button that allows you to rotate the swing 90 degrees to give you a second swinging motion. (+1) Pretty neat, huh?




At the end of our review, the swing is at -1 boy points. But the realization that this will bring enjoyment to our little baby girl represents more boy/daddy points than can be counted. We can't wait to see her in it!

Our little girl's nursery

Finally, our nursery is almost finished. (With a lot of help from all of you in the form of baby shower gifts).

The transformation of this room from a spare room/study/music room into a nursery has been an interesting process. Earlier in the pregnancy many tears were shed over the lack of space for our baby. However, some months later, it appears that Dave was correct when he said we would manage to empty the room. Items that left the room (some also left our house) include a desk, computer, piano keyboard, bedside table, a closet full of junk, 3 bookshelves (tall ones!), a filing cabinet, a large electric guitar speaker cabinet, and a hideous desk chair (Dave interjection: It really wasn't so bad). Needless to say, we are delighted to be able to show you these pictures of the transformed room. We didn't include before pictures because they are so frightening (and we couldn't seem to find them).

Some key elements you see below include the pictures on the wall that Dave made (printed on canvas and attached to wood backing). We were also especially pleased with our changing table. It happens to be the one that matches our crib, and we miraculously found it on Craigslist! This nursery has a distinct tendency towards pink, so if this little girl comes out a boy, he'll have an interesting formative environment.

Here is a picture of the beautiful pink pooh quilt that is hanging on the nursery wall next to the crib.

We decided to keep our single guest bed in the room, even though it is now a nursery. The diaper bag you see hanging on the rocker is packed!

Here you can see the piglet rug on the floor, as well as the cute cubes we are using as a mini bookshelf. We really enjoy going into the nursery and dreaming about our little girl being in there.


This final picture is of her closet and the beautiful hair bows that were made for her and given to us by Lisa, Lauren's sister. The hair bows are clipped to a decorative ribbon to display while they are not clipped in her hair (on the wall). In the closet, we organized the clothes according to age group in plastic boxes. We received a lot of clothes from a couple friends who have had little girls, and then we also received clothes from friends and family as gifts, so our little girl will be beautifully dressed.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Christmas (that's what we say in South Africa), or Merry Christmas (here in the U.S.) to you and your family. May pondering Christ's birth bring you closer to him.

-Dave and Tracy

Luke 2:10 "I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord."

Baby Shower

Shortly before Thanksgiving, we were fortunate to be thown a truly amazingly beautiful and special shower. It was made even more special by the friends and family who came and showed their support for us and our little baby girl. Here are some pictures of the fabulous event.

This is a behind the scenes peek into the shower set up. You can see my mother, Dave's mom, and Belinda working on part of the food table.

Here is the assembly line of set up workers, my mom, Dave, Dave's sister Janice, and me (Belinda and Dave's mom must have stepped away for a moment).

Here you can see how the tables were decorated. You can also see the gift table in the background.

Below is the picture of the diaper cake that my mom made for the shower. Isn't is gorgeous?

This picture enables you to see all the people in their seats, as well as some of the set up for the shower. The tables were decorated with balloons and candies/nuts and flowers.

Here you can see Dave's mom and Janice sitting at one of the tables. They drove down from San Jose for the shower. It was great to have them visit for the weekend and be a part of the shower as future grandma and aunt. They also helped with setting up and packing up, which was wonderful.

Here is my mom and some of our family friends who came to the shower. My mom did an enormous amount of work and pulled off a shower to remember!

Here are Bible study friends that came to the shower, including Danica who helped out in many different ways. It was great to see you guys! (Note that Naomi's baby, Jordan, is already here)

Here is a picture of Danica and the O'Donnell's and me. It was fantastic to have Jerilyn and Tyler and baby Jackson come down from Santa Barbara for the shower. That's quite a distance to drive with a little baby, and having them there truly made the shower extra-special.

Here is a picture of mom, Belinda, and me. My sister and mother gave little girl Fung an incredible shower. It was very special, and a lot of work for them, I know. She will be lucky to have such an amazing aunt and grandma.

Belly Pics. Only 5 more weeks to go!

We forgot to take belly pics for weeks 29 and 32. Ooops. Isn't my wife so adorable and cute?

35 weeks.....


34 weeks....


33 weeks....


31 weeks....


30 weeks.....

Hey, where'd you go?

What a bunch of slackers we are. There are a number of things we want to post but haven't found time to do it. In the mean time, lets turn it around. What do YOU want to hear about? All 2 of you who read this.