Lets play the name game

It's a boy! Those three words (actually 4 if you break down the contraction) have wreaked havoc in our house since they were said.

First of all, I lost, which is never fun. Especially if your wife is very good at not letting you forget those times that you loose...or more importantly, that she wins. Since we found out that Yegi was pregnant I have said "It's a girl". I think Yegi's favorite quote of mine from the past twenty weeks came when she asked me how I could be so sure that it was a girl. I replied, "Yegi, some people think things and some people KNOW things." I am a very strongly opinionated person and have mastered the art of making a decision and sticking with it until the end. If anyone is taking excuses I will say that I used somewhat of a "snow theory" when picking a gender. The "snow theory" started about 10 years ago when it quit snowing in Tennessee. I love snow, cold weather, etc., and every winter I hope for blizzards of the light fluffy. Since the last good snow we had was in 1993 I tell myself (and others) that "its not going to snow this year". It's a little bit of reverse psychology against mother nature. If she surprises me with snow, well, its a welcome surprise and if she does not then I don't get my feelings hurt. Yes I lost, point Yegi, but your name has an Asterisk next to it in the record book (if there was one).

We find out its a boy and I am super excited even though I had pretty much talked myself into wanting a girl the past 20 weeks with a diligent snow theory campaign (see above). It was also much easier for me to imagine what a little girl that came from Yegi and I would look like. I imagined (and really, really hoped) that she would look just like Yegi. I mean, can you imagine a little girl that looks like me or even worse...has my size (I can see the circus posters now). Its a boy so no worries about Barnum & Bailey calling. When the Sonar tech (I know its not sonar, but I can't remember the real name and Sonar sounds way cooler anyway...they use it on submarines) said in a very monotone way (probably normal vocal level but I was expecting some more emphasis, possibly some confetti, at least silly string), "Its a boy" Yegi was very ecstatic (mostly because she was right) and I was relieved because the wait was finally over. We know what it is and now we can just throw it on autopilot until he makes his appearance. BUZZER SOUND...Wrong! Lets play the name game...

I'm expecting to come home, sit on the couch, and maybe do some talking about how we are having a boy and the neat things about that. Nope, Yegi wanted to name the baby before the sun went down. She has carried a list of names that she started in high school up until about 3 weeks ago when Chaco ate it (literally...I think he was jealous, although he also ate a couple of covers off Yegi's books and as far as I know he didn't have anything against the authors?). So this day was the culmination of everything she has ever wanted and it was baby naming time! I'm more the procrastinate until the last possible moment, make a decision on the fly, and stick with it kind of guy. They say opposites attract but the only thing that was attracted to me after that conversation were things that were light enough to be thrown, but heavy enough to hurt. A couple days later when the threat level was down to Defcon 3 we started talking about names again and decided on one. I really didn't want to do this because I actually liked the name and I know Yegi will either talk herself out of it or over-analyze it until we cannot use it anymore, but if Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy! Baby name, check.

Yesterday we had the Young Life table host dinner so I came home early (...actually on time) so we could make it out to the dinner location. I walk in the door and no more than three minutes later Yegi starts asking me how I like these different names she is saying. I'm a little confused because I'm still looking at the imaginary list in my head that says...Baby name, check. Evidently she talked herself out of the decided upon name and now we were Baby name, unchecked. Me, not learning well from mistakes and past experiences did not get excited with this new development and soon I became a magnet for flying objects once again (pregnancy hormones are way overrated). Around 9 pm things finally got down to threat level orange with the help of a couple apologies about not being as "excited" about the new names.

I'm not really sure if the kid has a name or if we floated it down the River, but I do know one thing. Next time a certain someone wants to play the name game I'll be the first one in.

-- Having A Baby -- First Timers

I really don't know what to say about having a baby other than it scares the crap out of me 80% of the time. The other 20%... I'm asleep or thinking about cars. I'm just going to let you in on some of the thoughts and happenings since we saw two lines.


Day 1: I was working (see fiddle/farting) in the basement when Yegi came running down the stair with tears in her eyes screaming. My first thought was "dang it, I've only been down here an hour and I've got to get the boat running if we're going to the lake this weekend!". Then she started screaming for me to come upstairs and look at something in the bathroom...I've heard this before so I knew that no matter what she wanted to show me it wouldn't be something I wanted to see.


Sure enough, it was positive and I felt the blood fall from my head and I needed somewhere to sit...back to the basement. Gave Yegi a quick hug and a "congratulations/that's cool" type comment and went back to work wiring the ignition (which, by the way is not a good idea when your thoughts are preoccupied, I spent the next week trying to fix what I screwed up). Fortunately I'm pretty good about just not thinking about things that are scary/disturbing/unknown. So the week went by normally until I saw my sisters kids.


So my sisters oldest child J. is a holy terror. He runs around, screams, throws things, asks a million questions to which I have no answers (why?, I don't know J, it just does. Why? God made it that way. Why? He just did. Why?) and pretty much doesn't listen to anyone. Her little girl Addalee is perfect though, she just sits, smiles, looks pretty, eats when told, sleeps when told, and never complains. That's it we're having a girl, screw the namesake.


Its been about two weeks, we haven't seen a doctor yet and Yegi is dying to tell someone. We agreed we weren't going to tell until we see the doc and they say that everything looks good (however that can be since she has a freaking person GROWING inside her). Everyday Yegi tells me how I should be SO proud of her because she hasn't said a thing to her mother or sister, never mind that they all went to eat together at Nama (she knows she can't eat sushi) and Yegi pronounced that she cannot have anything raw even though she loves sushi. They didn't catch on here but certainly did when we sent out cards to our mother/sisters saying happy Grandmother/Aunt day and Yegi called her mom to tell her to make sure and be at home and to check the mail as soon as it came. Your a steel trap honey, a real bank vault, but I love you anyway.

More good news came when we found out that Emily Jenkins is pregnant and a couple weeks behind Yegs, then came Devan & Erin Accardi three weeks after them, and the most recent is Paige & Peter. So we're building up a good support group (I think we should all get leather vests with a club patch and tattoos - Babies O-10! - or at least an airbrushed T-shirt)! Matt is really trying to get he and SB on the train, so far his bribes are not working but I've been coaching him in the art of persistence (also, try the vest thing, Sara is into fashion after all?).

Fast forward a couple months and Yegi is officially in her second Trimester and now looks like she is having a baby (or twins). This baby is going to be huge! I was 9lb 7oz and Yegi was 7lbs something so i can only figure this baby is going to be around 16lbs (9+7=16).

Just before Yegi crossed the second trimester mark it occurred to me that I'm excited about this new addition. I'm not scared (in the meantime) anymore. It just hit me while I was driving back from the gym one night that I can't control this and that's okay. God is in control and he usually(always) has a better plan than I. I'm not saying that I will stop wishing Yegi would live in a big impervious bubble for the next 5.5 months or that I will unload/disarm all my weapons and countermeasures (Chaco is becoming more protective), but I am learning to let some things ride.

We find out what its going to be in a couple weeks and its a split decision...Yegi says boy, I say girl. As long as its a healthy one or the other I'll be happy.


...but its a girl.

Stay classy San Diego