Prodigal 'Cards

With Obama's inauguration tomorrow, the entire world waits to see what changes are in store - the Arizona Cardinal's decided to get the party started early. After storming down the field with an 8 minute drive to finish the Eagles, the Cardinals are playing in the Super Bowl for the first time since even my parents were born! This equally unlikely and incredible season will end in Tampa, with a chance - their first chance in 61 years - at football glory. Decades of misery and embarassment are finally paying dividends - victory tastes that much better to those who could only celebrate the diluted success of adopted teams.

To help those unfamiliar with just how terrible the Cardinals have been, here's a summary of their 'accomplishments' from the LA Times:

"The oldest continuously run pro football franchise in the country will have a chance to win its first championship in 61 years, and its third championship in 110 years. An organization so cheap it once charged players the Federal Express cost of mailing their contracts is playing in the richest sporting event in the country. A team so poorly run it once gave players only one pair of socks per season is playing in the most popular sporting event in the country. They once lost 29 games in a row. They once lost the keys to their workout facility during Joe Montana's free-agent visit, and he never came back. They once threw a game-winning touchdown pass on the final play of the final game of the 2003 season . . . and the victory cost them the No. 1 overall draft pick. They once had to use a silent snap count because the stadium was filled with the angry roar of an opposing crowd . . . during one of their home games. In the last 24 years, they have had a winning record twice."

"Arguably the worst professional sports franchise in this country's history is going to be a participant in its biggest sporting event. "

It's a changing of guard of sorts - with Lute Olsen's retirement, the Az Wildcat basketball program is in a tailspin that will likely end the longest active streak of tourney appearances... but what better way to cope than with a Stanley Cup victory, an Az Wildcat football upset bowl win, and a trip for the 'Cards to the Super Bowl (most surprising of all)! Go Cards!

High Five

Ok. You all hopefully remember that we selected Aiden's name about 5 months ago - in fact although it may not have been 'public' knowledge, Sheri and I picked Aiden's name more than a year ago. So imagine our surprise when we discovered that it topped the list of 100 baby names in 2008 (http://www.babycenter.com/top-baby-names-2008). You're initial reaction might be to congratulate us, but hold the applause:

1. Now it looks like we tried to be super trendy and just went with the #1 name from 2008. It's like suddenly wearing an Az Cardinal's polo to work; no one knows whether you HAD that shirt before they made it to the NFC championship game or whether it still has the tags on and you're just another band wagon fan along for our ride to the Super Bowl (go 'Cards)... so it is with baby names - the general public will never consider that our early support may have helped AIDEN top the charts, and will instead default to accusing us of baby name plaigarism.

2. So how can we avoid the title 'uncreative parents'? Maybe we can attach a tab to every onesie explaining with plenty of legal jargon (care of Stanfield and Associates) that we own the exclusive rights to name our child Aiden as witnessed and confirmed by several (on a good day) blog readers, and based on an early 2008 naming agreement within the family, are entitled to full and exclusive rights given to all parents who selected a #1 name BEFORE the results were released, including but not limited to high fives, cigars, and blog comments.

3. Further Update: thus far we are happy to report that no one has tried to 'steal' our boy's name, although we're not out of the woods yet - our neighbors, who have a 4 week head start are the last couple with the power to do the unthinkable. They even hinted that Aiden was on their list - GAH! Add to that the chart topping performance that was just released and we've got a serious DefCon 3 situation.

Thankfully we did get some good news at our 31wk appointment last night. Looks like we're smarter than the doctor (love self diagnosis via the internet); Sheri's painful bulge (aka Buster), is indeed vericose veins (aka round ligament vericosity). She will not need surgery and it poses no risk to the prengancy, birth, or mama... just painful - and she's good with pain. Even though we were right and the doctor was wrong (twice), we haven't decided on a home birth quite yet... we'll use the 3 strike approach!

Our 2nd Prenatal class is tonight - and I'm hoping we discuss breast feeding so that the lady who asked about bringing bottles to the hospital gets the total Swedish Smack Down from our instructor that was hinted at during meeting #1 - it felt like when your friend raised their hand in a huge lecture hall and asked a question that was so appauling it caused everyone in the room to gasp. It's not that I feel passionately about bottle feeding (I've heard arguments for either side so to each their own in that respect), I just love any Prenatal drama that doesn't involve us!

On Your Mark, Get Set, Diapperrr

I was lucky enough to have my first and only Baby shower yesterday. It was hosted by my friends whom I had given a shower last year at this time for myself, Mariah(preggo with a boy due Feb3) and Cheryl(preggo with a girl, Ella, due Feb1). I have to say I haven't opened so many gifts since I was a little kid at Christmas. It was very overwhelming and extremely thoughtful of everyone who came. After living overseas you start to see everyone as family since you are so isolated, so people whom I had never met brought me gifts and well wishes. I am very thankful for having such a wonderful group here. So after unwrapping all the gifts, while wiping sweat from the forehead(a pregnancy symptom) the husbands were summoned into the house for what would become the Daddy relay!
It started out with the dads sucking down beer in a baby bottle then the wives were to bib and feed the husbands spinach and carrots followed by diapering stuffed animals. Once it started the dads became quiet humbled when they were only able to drink 1 oz out of the bottle in 1 minute! Kudos to Brandon, the only Dad who ate the baby food. He is a Champ! But the biggest surprise of all was when they began diapering the animals they were immediately replaced with real babies!!!! Each father was given a baby that would represent their future child. Two boys and a girl! Amazingly all were diapered without any mommy interference or accidents! But, Brandon wasn't the winner. He was one snap away. Still a winner in my eyes. Luckily just like little league everyone was a winner, and recieved a safety kit for the baby. It was a lot if fun and something I will remember. I wish I could share all of the goodies with you guys back home but hopefully Aiden can showcase them in his pictures when he makes his appearance.

Doing Our Prenatal Stretches

Occasionally in life there are those moments when laughing outloud is entirely justified but not at all appropriate...

Sheri and I attended our first of six Prenatal classes last night. We had a vague impression of what to expect from some of our neighbors who had taken the same curriculum. Anticipating a large group we arrived early, and as any other activity within our hospital we were directed to a payment station where we traded a large sum of money for a small piece of stamped paper that once obtained is never asked for again.

We walked into the 'lecture hall', nearly tripping over the yoga mats and associated exercise balls. Were it not for the middle school arm-desk chairs and the instructor welcoming us to the class I would have thought we had interrupted a pilates class. Being early left several minutes for our instructor Ana to hardsell Sheri on the idea of sitting on an exercise ball in lieu of the arm-desk chair. Fortunately she elected to stay in the desk, important because as we would discover later sitting on the exercise ball would have left Sheri in the center of the room, fully exposed to hands-on demonstrations.

When all five couples had arrived (and yes they take roll), it looked like we had assembled a U.N. peace keeping envoy: the USA, UK, Nederlands, Venezuela, and Japan all joining hands in the name of making babies. Not to mention Ana, our instructor, a certified Swedish midwife with over 25 years of experience... fresh off of delivering 38 babies back in Sweden over the summer. Being expats we've become accustomed to cultural differences, but I have to admit that the combination of thick Swedish accent, frequent staring contests, and disregard for personal space took some getting used to. The "We're not in America anymore" award goes to Ana for giving the 35 week pregnant lady an over the closes, torso and back massage in the middle of the room... only moments before she would pinch that same gal's knee to demonstrate how systematic breathing can overcome pain - insert innappropriate school boy snickering (both of us!).

The information we covered in session one is readily available at home (books, internet, friends), the difference is that my learning style allows me to absorb so much more in a classroom/lecture environment than quietly reading at home - in hindsight I absorbed a lot of information. To spare you the details I've summarized the key takeaways from session 1 so you can play along at home - especially those who have been to these classes or may be headed to similar ones in the future:

* Personal music player Good One CD on repeat for 12 hours of labor Bad
* Mucus plug secretion Good Several packs of adult 'mess pads' Better
* No marriage certificate Bad No credit card Worse
* No microwave in the hospital Bad McDonalds delivery Good
* Uncontrolled pooping on the delivery table Bad Enema at home Good???

Additionally we got a sneak peak at next session - "Dealing with Pain" when we reviewed several Kama Sutra-like posters with dozens of different positions to cope with the 'contraction action'. We also practiced our breathing techniques, which are far more sensible than the movies make them out to be - although the exercise can lead to random outburts of laughter that are quite embarassing when everyone else seems to be taking things very seriously.

Bottom line - I like our instructor, she's forcing us out of our comfort zone and giving us a perspective that will better prepare us for Aiden's delivery. Two comments that seemed to resonate most with me:

* "Everything that happens in the pregnancy, no matter how disgusting or painful is good news - it means you're that much closer to having your baby boy in your arms"
* "It's not easy to sit beside someone you like very much who is in pain"

Last night's prenatal class, while awkward and drawn out at times, brought the reality of our upcoming experience to the forefront of my mind... personalizing the situation and reminding us just how incredible the miracle of life truly is.