The Aiden Sweepstakes

Ok... thanks to some preliminary interest in Aiden's arrival details the Phillips would like to boost the hype:

GRAND PRIZE
Any one person who correctly guesses Aiden's birth info will receive one economy class roundtrip ticket on 5-star luxury airline Qatar Airways from Houston, TX to Doha, Qatar to visit the little guy in person. Starting today you can provide your entry via a comment on this post (please recomment to enter the contest if you already posted earlier). Your guess should include:

1. Name of contestant (that's you)
2. Date of birth
3. Official Birth Weight (to the nearest 500 GRAMS*)
4. Official Birth Length (to the nearest CENTIMETER*)
*We will have to do the metric conversions so you should have to backcalculate your guess too!

DOUBLE OR NOTHING: if you are feeling really lucky, provide one additional piece of information and if you get all 4 birth details correct you will receive 2 economy class tickets instead of 1. If you provide this DOUBLE OR NOTHING piece of data you waive any right to the single ticket if you guess incorrectly:
5. Official Birth Hour (rounded up from 30minutes to the nearest MILITARY time ie 01:00 to 24:00)

Good luck - secretly I wish you could all win. Here's hoping atleast one of you takes the DOUBLE OR NOTHING option.

Elligibility requirements:
1. Contestants are limited to folks who have previously commented on our blog (before 18Feb09) - or people that Sheri and I have both met and both like (id family and friends), but for some reason have not commented on our blog.
2. One guess per person - you only get one shot at glory, no changing guesses.
3. Entries must meet the metric requirements, english units will not be qualified for the grand prize
4. The first person to guess a particular arrangement of the 3 variables (date, weight, length) trumps all subsequent submissions, so be sure you aren't guessing details that are already taken
5. If no Grand Prize is awarded, there may be second tier prizes available for the closest entry.
6. Entries will be accepted until 7 days BEFORE we go into the Hospital, which is a moving target and could be only a week away - so avoid any drama and guess TODAY.
7. Date of travel will be determined jointly between the Grand Prize winner and the Phillips family
8. Any contestant who chooses to enter the DOUBLE OR NOTHING sweepstakes waives their right to the Grand Prize.
9. Phillips family only covers ticket price, any additional charges like passport processing, taxi, food in transit will all be paid by contestant

Houston We are Engaged!

When you first think of the word 'engaged' you may think diamond ring, wedding, but yesterday Brandon and I discovered a new meaning for the word! We were told Aiden was engaged and ready to go. After processing that statement we learned that he is in position and could come by week 38! I knew something had changed becuase my already frequent trips to the toilet had increased and my back was hurting more than ever but my stomach didn't look any different, except maybe bigger! This was great news since the previous visit the Doctor was talking about C-sections because they thought he would be too big to become 'engaged'. Thankfully Aiden followed directions and got into position! He is already such a great listener!haha
Brandon and I are soo ready and hoping for our boy to arrive the first week of March. As of right now he is about 61/2 pounds and growing and extremely active, all day and night which has made sleeping quite interesting for both Brandon and I.
Brandon has assembled all the gear and our bags are packed so we are now in waiting mode. This has got to be the hardest part of the pregnancy. Thankfully we get wireless internet at the hospital here so when the time comes we will be able to let you all at home know whats going on and post pics.

Well back to my afternoon activities: napping, restroom breaks and back to napping!

2 Down 1 to Go!

Winter Ball at the Four Seasons last week



The last week has been quite eventful in our compound. Baby 1- Ella Ann was delivered a week early to Cheryl and Derrick at 7 pounds and then last night Baby 2-Jaydon Axis was delivered on the exact due date to Mariah and Steve also weighing in at 7 pounds. Needless to say I am quite jealous that they already have their little ones here. Mostly because now they can all sleep on their bellies which I have been longing to do for 9 months. But I am still 6 weeks away from my official due date.
We went to the doctor last night and saw a new lady since my Doc is on a month long holiday! My favorite thing as a pregnant lady is to hear wow you are big! Nothing like that to help your self esteem. Luckily everyone then follows it up with but you are all belly! Nice save. So she begins the ultra sound and takes the measurements of Aiden. At this point I am 34 weeks but Aiden is still measuring close to 37 weeks on his head and leg length with a small belly. I am glad to a point he is measuring big since that is the excuse I have been using for the past month!ha But definitely concerned about those measurements for delivery. The Doc also estimated that he is around 5 1/2 pounds already which means if he gains the normal 1/2 pound a week I am in trouble!
I go back in two weeks for some tests then at 38 week they are going to assess me and Aidens size again to make sure I will be able to deliver him normally due to his size. Fingers crossed I can have a normal delivery but either way we know Aiden is healthy and very active! Let the waiting begin!

taINTed

After a 12 hour media fast, including several attempts by unsuspecting coworkers and friends to ruin the moment, I sat in front of my TV, completely silent as confetti and fireworks filled the slingbox media player. How had the Cardinals come so close, only to finish like this...

For those who watched Super Bowl XLIII, you will no doubt admit that it was a furious finish - worthy of the title 'Championship' and honoring American Football in such a way that only the World Cup and the NCAA Tournament come close. For those that watched closely you'll know there were several moment where the game hung in the balance, and almost consistently the scales tipped in the Steelers favor... unless you were counting red zone efficiency!

This is where I could complain about the blatant 2 handed clip on the taINT for a TD at the end of the 1st half (moments after the photo was taken) or complain that the Cardinals took 3 quarters to shift to no huddle... but in the midst of my misery my friend sent me a column on ESPN's page 2 that absolutely captures the spirit of Super Bowl Monday in Doha - as if Bill Simmons was watching the game from my couch while we traded sly remarks:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090202&sportCat=nfl

In lieu of writing a lengthy description of my equally painful and invigorating night, I highly encourage you to read Bill's column - paying specially close attention to the first paragraph descrition of the the taINT (was Madden seriously aguing that the rules shouldn't apply when a hefty defensive back gallops 100 yards for a taINTed TD? - we all saw the two handed clip at the 30yd line). Also take note of Bill's summary at 8:55 (Wilson's PF should have cost us the game), 9:17 (terrible CokeZero commercial), 9:37 (Gandy should NEVER play left tackle ever again after his repeated 'choke hold' blocking), 9:43 (the most exhilirating series of the game - although it had NO impact on the outcome as the 2 points from the safety didn't change the fact that the 'Cards needed a TD), next was Fitz's incredible TD scamper, then an equally impressive melt down on Defense and 'the catch' for the Steelers win... and I'm left to wonder after decades of disappointment if the 'Cards will ever be this close again?