Letter from the trenches

Hello friends and family! Well it has been quite the time since I last posted and my experiences so far have been quite interesting. Firstly, I have seen hell and it is plush and it smells of cleaning supplies. Yes, readers, I have been to Babies R Us. After the three hours spent setting up our registry I was left a broken husk of a man, dead inside. Who knew you needed all this stuff? Laura being the thorough person she is, of course, had the latest reviews of every piece of baby raising equipment there is. We were given some advice from the sales associate that most registries have anywhere from 70 to 90 items….we only got to 40. At least I wasn’t alone in my pain, many an expectant father who was in the store had the same sunken eyed look that I must have had. One of the observations I’d like to share is why is everything so stylized? I mean it’s not like a newborn has any self-esteem that might be hurt for not having the BMW brand stroller with the heated leather seats. It seems to me that all this stuff is simply to make the baby a more attractive fashion accessory. I digress however, this in no way means you out there in family and friend land should not buy our child plenty of things, (I need the best dressed kid on the block.)
I’d like to share a little tale from my school days. I was completely traumitized in my sophomore year of high school by my biology class’ child birth video. The things I saw there were things I thought no man should see. It has stuck with me to this day. So it was with some trepidation that I went to our first birthing and parenting class, realizing that I would most likely have to watch a similar video. Well, I faced my fear and I am still just as traumatized. Putting aside scary videos and distrubing charts depicting the female anatomy I am getting very excited. Strange to think that in a few months Don Juan will be out in the world. Hopefully Laura and I will be able to keep up with this child of ours, because if the intesity of the movement is any indication this is going to be a rather energenic little monkey.
Well I am off to get some rest while I can. Hopefully the nightmares of labor and delivery will not haunt my sleep tonight.
(Please note that most of this is just for fun...except for that video part...that freaks the poo out of me.)

Dad at 24 weeks

(lookin' dead sexy)

The Grillmaster is back in action!

Janet & Chris

Mmmm...is it done yet?

The expert at work

It could be on the food network.

And since it seems every Strand takes pictures of cakes here was the happy birthday DQ blizzard cake. Yummy! (Oh, and that's our new outdoor furniture that Chris put together earlier today)

Ahh...Memorial day weekend...for us this means it is Chris's birthday which almost always includes a great grilled dinner and a blockbuster movie. Last year he unfortuately was not able to grill, but now that we have a house he got to play with fire again. Aunt Janet bought Chris a Weber for his birthday, and Chris gave us a delicious surf and turf dinner. Don Juan fully enjoyed it. Tomorrow we will be seeing the new Indiana Jones movie so it will be a complete birthday weekend for Chris.

23 Weeks

This weekend Chris was in NY visiting his family for Laura's graduation and to give a high five from the future Don Juan to his/her future cousin Chester. Even though I travel away from home quite often, this was the first time for Chris and he was extremely worried. I had to assure him that I would not forget to eat, would remember to lock the doors and would walk the dog. He came home to find that my friend Lacey and I worked a whole day in the yard. After a great breakfast we headed over to the farmer's market and got flowers for the windowboxes and veggies for the backyard. It was a beautiful day. We rewarded ourselves with some very yummy gelato from Big Lorenzos. I think I will be going back there again soon!



Lacey at the farmer's market

The flowers in the windowboxes. Hopefully they will survive!

Lacey attacking the very unruly hedge in the front

Brushing Cece--how can she produce this much fur?!

On Saturday night Cece was very loving and rested her head on my tummy. I was upset I was home by myself and couldn't take a picture. When Chris came back this afternoon we tried to reenact it, but Cece obviously does not perform on command as these pictures show.



Chris still got to enjoy some of the beautiful weather when he returned on Sunday. This is the West River Parkway where I took pictures on Easter. No confusion over what season it is in MN! I love the lilac bushes. They are everywhere and smell wonderful.

I'm teaching Don Juan how to climb trees at an early age. Chris had to help me up and down. I don't think I'll be doing this again any time soon, but the tree in the front yard is a great climbing tree.




These are the gnomes Pam and Eddie gave us for Christmas. Aren't they great? Guess whose gnome is the one with the book and whose has the beer? :)

So for all of you out there who felt that 10 days was much too long between blog updates I hope this will satisfy you! Now I'd like to see pictures of Chris's, Laura's and Mom's graduation so all of you get to it or else the next blog will be held ransom.

Congratulations Christopher!!

Dear Uncle Christopher,

Congratulations!! I hope to be an amazing college grad like you some day. Maybe now that you know Spanish you can teach me and then I can get scholarships. I wish Mommy and I could have made it out there. I really enjoyed the postcard you sent me. My first correspondence and from another country no less! Hopefully, I'll get to meet you in the fall...as long as you get rid of those icky Guatemalan parasites. I can't wait to hear all your fun stories, but Mommy says there are many that you can't tell me untill I'm much older.

Give Mema and Grandpa Henry a hug from us.

Love
Don Juan
P.S. Do you make the VAPoly shirts in maternity? I don't think Mommy will be able to wear this one much longer.

Visit from old friends

This weekend Chris's roomate from college, Matt, visited with his 6 month old baby Will. Matt's wife Dorothea was in town for a conference so Matt stayed with us and got to meet up with Dorothea for lunch. Will is an excellent baby! I am hoping that Don Juan was quietly observing. We went a little camera crazy because Will was all smiles.

Will in his train hat

Chris and Will

Dorothea, Matt and Will

Me, Chris and Will




Chris, Will and Cece

Will enjoying the car ride

Mmmm...breakfast

Me and Will

Poor guy...I was having fun with his hair. I don't think he appreciated it.




Chris's hair can stand up too! Recuperating from a weekend of baby in the house.