ESPN Beta

ESPN Beta has launched! I started production on this project before I had Jay. There's lots of work still left to be done and I will be jumping right in when I return to work in two weeks. But congrats to the entire redesign team for launching the beta!

Breakthroughs

We are happy to announce a few of Jay's breakthroughs over the past couple of weeks. His night sleeping has improved. Last night he gave us seven hours of sleep! What a wonderful present for my birthday today! The key to long sleep stretches is taking him outside of the house. Visiting grandma at the other condo, going to the mall, or anything like that counts and it tires him out and he sleeps well. I'm very hopeful that the trend continues and that he's sleeping lots by the time I return to work.

Another milestone is that Jay has accepted a bottle. He wouldn't have it all a few weeks ago and we had stopped trying for a while because we were busy with the move. But we tried again and he is doing great. It's another important step towards making my transition back to work go more smoothly.

The move to the new condo went pretty well. Pat did all the hard work with the help of some friends. Three of four floors are unpacked and looking pretty decent. There's a lot of work to be done in Pat's "fun room" otherwise known as our basement media room. And I'd like to create an office up in the loft. Those two projects will be completed over time. And we need to buy more furniture! The place is really empty. But it will all look great in a couple of months.

There are only two weeks of maternity leave remaining. It's going to be really tough for me to return to the office. On the bright side, maybe having a strict wake/sleep routine for the whole family will make things easier and more enjoyable for everyone. We shall see and I will report back! Meanwhile, check out the December photos. There's only a few right now but I hope to add more during the holidays.

Twins!

Introducing two new additions to our family! We're so happy to have the twins home! Flashy, fancy, quiet and large, these machines are awesome.

I have not done laundry in my own place in about eight years. Going to the laundromat in the dead of winter with two hundred pounds of sweatshirts, pants and blankets is a HUGE pain. Bringing dirty laundry to your mother's house at the age of thirty is just embarassing. So Pat and I are really giddy to have these up and running.

Open invitation to anyone who wants to come visit and bring laundry!

Two Months

Jay is two months old today! The month started out calm and relaxed and ended with a crazy week of Thanksgiving festivities and moving into our new condo!

Jay is doing very well. He eats like a champ and never says no to food. His cheeks have become wonderfully pudgy. We get many smiles and laughs throughout the day. In the past couple of weeks, his playtime has increased a lot. Before he used to play only five or ten minutes and then get tired and want to be held. Now he will play for almost 20-30 minutes on his playmat, bouncy chair, or just on the floor. He's very strong and is mostly able to hold his head up and loves to kick his legs. Blankets come flying off unless they are tightly tucked in and we have to watch him carefully when bathing. He likes to push against the sink to try and launch himself across the room!

We are still having some sleep issues: he's not a fan of napping. He needs to learn a few self-soothing techniques to help him fall asleep and stay sleeping. He enjoys napping while being held but we are putting him in his crib more often and he is not loving it. Another area with room for improvement is bottle feeding. I am going back to work in a month and so Jay needs to get used to taking a bottle. Much more practice is needed by everyone!

Jay took his first trip to MA for Thanksgiving with friends and for an engagement party. He had a great time. He was very well behaved and enjoyed seeing more people than he ever has before. He was wiped out each night and slept for a full five hour stretch which is the most ever!

Last night was our first night in the new condo. It was also the first night without grandma! Let's just say that things will run smoother once we are more unpacked and settled in with a new routine.

Looking forward to enjoying next month to the fullest. I will be heading back to work full-time at the end of it!

Simplyaboy.com

I can't remember how I found the link to this store, but Simply A Boy is a "boy boutique" that has some great-looking products geared towards the boyish look. It seems a little pricey but they have some really cute and artsy stuff. Look at these great wall art pieces! When we move into our new condo (in six days!!!), I'm looking forward to finally decorating a room for Jay. Maybe a robot theme? I'm excited!

Super busy

We are super busy. Jay is doing great! He's awake more during the day so he requires more entertainment from us. Pat's extra busy at work with a big ESPN.com project that you'll probably/hopefully see on the site in January. He's also getting his wisdom teeth out tomorrow! We've had lots of visitors this month too.

The biggest item on this month's to-do list is moving! I hate moving. Pat is working hard on coordinating the big move to our new condo coming up the week of Thanksgiving. My mom, my brother, Jay and I will probably take our first long-ish car trip to MA during that week to stay out of the way. There's a pile of empty boxes that I need to fill... we haven't really started packing! There's a thousand condo-related things that need to be checked on like insurance, down payment stuff, mortgage stuff, etc, etc. We need to go out and buy basic things for the house like a couch, bed, curtains, and so much more. Did I mention I hate moving?!?!

November photo set has been started. Visit often for updates!

One Month

Jay is one month old today! Saying "I can't believe it" would be a complete understatement. I really wish I could slow down time for a little while.

He is doing great and is happy most of the time. His favorite activity is definitely eating. He would eat 24 hours a day if we let him. His least favorite would be falling asleep. There is no warning sign between the time when he is playing happily to when he becomes overtired. Instantly he starts screeching and screaming and it takes a good effort to calm him down and fall asleep. This happens before most naps and sometimes during the night too. We're all working on improving that!

In the past week, he's been awake and alert a little longer during the day. There are certain things in our condo that he really enjoys gazing at: the big black clock, the plant, the lights and ceiling fan. I think we need to buy the kid more real toys. He, of course, likes to stare and listen to mom, dad, and grandma talk.

Overnights have been getting a little easier. He now sleeps for three hour stretches instead of just two. That's a big difference for mom and dad! The main difficulty overnight is that changing his diaper makes him wide awake and, again, it takes a LOT of time to get him to go back to sleep. But we are managing. Having my mom here allows me to take lots of naps during the day to make up for lost sleep.

Here is our first video post! Jay is enjoying playtime in his Boppy.

As usual, photos are on our Flickr site (see link in top right corner of this blog).

It's been an awesome month and we're looking forward to see what Jay has in store for us in November.

Growing up fast

Jay is now two and a half weeks old. He is doing wonderfully. He's a really good baby. He definitely cries when he needs something but he doesn't really complain for no reason. Right now we are focused on mastering the baby basics: Eat, sleep, poop, and a little bit of play.

He's doing well in the eating department. Newborns lose weight immediately after birth. They are supposed to be back at their birth weight when they reach two weeks. Jay has blown past his birth weight and is now registering 6 pounds 8 ounces. He's doing great! As a paranoid mom, it would be nice to have a baby scale at home so I could track his weight gain every day. But we will have to wait until his five week appointment. Or I might try using our home scale and see how that works. They say that newborns have one of their growth spurts between 2 and 3 weeks and maybe that explains his crazy hunger over the past few days. I've been feeding him almost every hour during the day! But when it comes to food, he's the boss right now and I'm happy to oblige.

The other end of the factory is also working well. He's a pooping and peeing machine. We can pretty much count on a dirty diaper change after every feeding.

Sleeptime is a little tough. He's not good at falling asleep even when he's very tired. He gets fussy and cranky and confused when he's tired and that makes it even more difficult for him to fall asleep. My mom has been the best at getting him to fall asleep. But it sure does take a while and sometimes by the time he's out, it's time to wake him for a feeding. Hopefully he will get a little better at regulating his sleep/wake cycle.

Lastly is playtime. Jay is alert for a few hours during the day (and sometimes night!) and we all have a blast when he is. He's able to focus on our faces when we are up close to him and he listens to our voices. His favorite voice is his dad's. He'll listen to Pat very intensely and with great concentration. After we run out of general things to talk to Jay about, Pat reads him Shakespeare. We're still on Hamlet, which Pat started back when Jay was in my belly!

Pat goes back to work on Monday after a wonderful two weeks at home. It's pretty sad because we have all been bonding during our time together at home. Hopefully things will continue to go mostly smoothly. He'll be one month old very soon!

Our Baby Jay

Jay was born October 1st at 3:11pm weighing 6 pounds 1 ounce and measuring 19.5 inches!! We are home now and are doing great!

Of course, everyone who reads this blog probably already knows. It's been super-busy since we got home and I am a week late with the blog post! Today is actually my due date as well! And it's also my brother Nimit's birthday (Happy Birthday Nimit!). Luckily he doesn't have to share the day with his nephew now.

Things in general are going great. Our biggest problem so far is that Jay has his days and nights mixed up a bit. So nighttimes are rough on us. But having Pat home for a couple weeks and having my mom here has made all the difference. We are muddling through and learning and getting better each day.

Below are links to where I will have all of his photos. Please check back often! Click Info On in the top center area of the slideshow to view the photo captions.

Month One direct link | Jay's collection for bookmarking

Hope to post more interesting anecdotes in the near future. Stay tuned!

Current Events

So much non-baby-related stuff has happened since the last time I posted. It's hard to keep up with all the news. Since all is quiet on the baby front, I thought I'd offer up some not-so-deep thoughts on the recent events.

First up: the economy is imploding. I blame banks and overextended/greedy borrowers. I do not believe we should bail out those who made bad choices and now have bad debts. I have better things on which to spend my hard-earned dough. This has always been my position on these kinds of issues so in this case it's also pretty cut and dry in my opinion. Our portfolios have taken an enormous hit and will get smacked around some more without a bailout plan but I'm still opposed to it.

Next comes the specific failure of Washington Mutual. This is Pat's bank where we're holding some funds that will be used for our condo closing in November. Our fingers are crossed that the JPMorgan takeover goes smoothly and swiftly. I also found myself reading up on FDIC just in case.

Then comes the news that our condo closing has been pushed back a little to Thanksgiving due to construction delays. I haven't decided if that's a good or bad thing. Gives us some more time to not worry about moving but also keeps us cramped in the little condo for that much longer. The pros and cons of this cancel each other out so this one's not a big deal. If they push back again then I'll be voicing some major concerns.

John McCain and Sarah Palin are also keeping me occupied and entertained lately. They both seem like the nicest people in the world but unfortunately their recent antics have been embarrassing and amusing. Looking forward to watching both upcoming debates, especially the VP one where I think she'll get creamed. It's a train wreck and I can't help but watch.

Moving along... I am enjoying the first week of new fall tv. Grey's Anatomy was quite good last night. I'm looking forward to seeing more of that super-suave military surgeon guy. I hope he eventually accepts that job offer and becomes a regular at Seattle-Grace. I usually have trouble making it through two hour premieres but this one flew by. Pat and I have programmed our DVR to catch all our favorite shows since the baby will be arriving soon.

Not much I can say about Tom Brady's injury two Sundays ago. When I saw him hopping off the field, I thought for sure he'd be back later in the game but I was way off. I'm trying to cheer for Cassel but I'm just not feeling it. Will focus my sports energy on the Red Sox instead.

Work is going fine. I am busy on a big project but getting ready to hand it off to someone else. Also got a nice promotion and am happy about that too. It's going to be quite strange to be off for maternity leave. I haven't had that much time away from work since November 2000. I remember the exact month and day because I had just started a new job at Shoplink.com and was laid off after three days due to the company going bankrupt!

Oh and one more thing: I'm reading about a hurricane that may pass through New England this weekend and into next week??? Now that's crazy. The last hurricane I remember around these parts was like Gloria in '85 or something? This is not good timing!

All of these things are helping me stay distracted from the fact that I am due in less than two weeks! Stay tuned for the big news!

NASCAR at ESPN

Today was NASCAR at ESPN day. They brought in some cars, trucks, drivers, and the Sprint Cup trophy. Throw in some food and freebies and it was pretty fun!

A Little Bit Off

I painted my toes this afternoon. How did I do?

Entertained by Geraldo

It's a slow Friday at work and I'm watching Hurricane Ike coverage on my tv. All the other networks send out their young, strong guys to cover Ike's dangerous landing in Texas. Fox News sends... Geraldo. Who falls into the water and is now off the air. This took about two minutes to go from live tv to YouTube. Ok fine, back to work.

Emmy Fairy

So I'm sitting at work yesterday and one of our admins comes over with a big box. I immediately knew what it was, since it was the same size box as the Emmy I took home to visit for one night in May. She tells me it's for me. I said "Oh, no, I already got to take it home a few months ago, it was great, thanks". She says, "No, this is FOR YOU. It has your name on it. It's for you to keep". I almost fell out of my chair! They didn't tell me this in May but it turns out that anyone who was part of a winning project DOES get their OWN Emmy. How crazy is that! I walked by the mailroom later in the day and saw all the empty boxes, the Emmy Fairy must have delivered like 50 of them just to our building. Congrats to all ESPN winners! We have a very talented group.

So now we have a permanant trophy in our living room. It looks quite silly next to all of our non-fancy belongings.

Month Nine

Month 9 begins tomorrow! There's not much to say except WOW.

We are READY!

And well-RESTED!

And looking forward to meeting our little one soon.

Quaker Green Accolades

Thanks to West Hartford Forums, I read two nice articles today about Quaker Green, which is the condo complex we are moving into in November. Both articles had a lot of complimentary things to say about the complex, the builder and the general up-and-coming West Hartford area of Elmwood.

One is an older article from May in the New York Times.

The other is in... My Midwest Inflight Magazine! Why in the world are they talking about this in My Midwest Inflight Magazine? Must be a slow newsday in the midwest or in-flight or something.

I will miss my current condo tremendously but I am starting to get excited about moving to West Hartford!

Mustache Discussion

Chat now with the executive director of the American Mustache Institute!

I'm sure you have some burning questions but could never find the right person to ask!

Beach Day

Pat and I were at the beach today celebrating the last long weekend of the summer. Hammonasset Beach State Park was pretty good. The sand was rocky and not very soft but that was my only complaint. Good beach choice for when we don't feel like driving to Rhode Island or the Cape.

Quickie 4-picture slideshow (click Info On at the top for captions)

ESPN Picnic at Lake Compounce

Lake Compounce is a small amusement park across the street from work. Every year they rent it out for our company picnic. Free rides, food, and games amounts to a lot of fun for all ages!

Quickie slideshow (click Info On at the top for captions)

Two Seconds Of Fame

In honor of my ESPN anniversary, I went searching again for the SportsCenter commercial in which I was an extra about five years ago. Pat was in it too but he was off-screen, unfortunately. I hadn't been able to find it on the internet until now! I am hidden directly behind the referee the WHOLE TIME except for the last two seconds when he moves away completely and you can finally see me eat my chip! Enjoy!

Dear ESPN

Dear ESPN, Today begins the seventh year in our relationship. We've grown a lot together and have had so many great experiences and opportunities. I'm proud of what we've accomplished. You've introduced me to some amazing people. Here's to another year of fun, wackiness, challenges, and excitement. You make me crazy sometimes but I love ya! Happy anniversary.

BabyGap Home

I recently read about the new BabyGap Home section of BabyGap. Pat and I are Gap fans so I perked up at this news and spent some time browsing the website. I'm pretty unimpressed though. It seems they are basically partnering with other brands and selling that stuff. They only have a few original items. The selection is tiny: just a handful of bath items, blankets, and some toys. Will have to give this a thumbs down and just stick to buying cute clothes from regular BabyGap.

Month Eight

Month 8 begins this week!!! Isn't that the craziest thing? Two more months but maybe even less since my mom tells me my brother and I both came a smidge early. I am due on my brother's birthday and I think it would be cool to hit that date.

This past month was quite productive. I crossed off most baby-related things from the to-do list. Many thanks to my mom who went nuts shopping and took care of all the miscellaneous purchases on my list. My friend Karen has loaned me a few useful items as well. There are a two or three big things left to purchase but that's kind of it. My favorite "mommy" purchase so far is the diaper bag, I love it! I can't tell you which one it is, it will definitely give away the baby's gender! Pat rearranged our bedroom to make room for everything. I thought it would be a really tight squeeze but it's actually looking quite organized and more spacious than I imagined. I also stocked up the garage with "adult" stuff like shampoo, toilet paper, water, etc, to minimize the need to buy those in the fall. I feel like I'm preparing for a hurricane. We have meetings set up with two pediatricians that were recommended to us and hopefully we'll like one of them.

Baby class is going well. The best part so far was the hospital tour. That made everything seem very real. The maternity ward is totally renovated. Four of the post-partum suites have full size beds and flat screens and internet access. Pat and I have to snag one of those rooms! The nurse told us to have our baby on a Sunday which is their least busiest time. But she also said that autumn was their most busy time anyway so we'll see. The normal, non-suite rooms are nice too.

I'm doing well physically. Not getting much sleep but I'm kind of used to it now. It's good practice for later. I bought my first maternity clothes this month which are super comfy. I had been using the AWESOME Bella Band up until now.

New house is doing well. We met with the condo association lady who went over the rules and regulations and insurance and warranty info. BORING. We were supposed to get a "gift" at this meeting and we didn't even get that so Pat was even less impressed. Ha ha. We will get a pre-sheetrock tour in September. Hopefully it'll be early September so I can go too.

I think that's it! Going to try and take it easy for the next two months. Didn't do any new-house-related packing but... oh well. Will leave that up to Pat I guess.

Two cool photos from our recent ultrasound:

Noshing on its toes:




Talking or singing or making bubbles or something:

In Full Bloom

At week 30

Veto

I've warned Pat that these are the types of baby names I will veto. This is just the kind of thing he would come up with.

West Hartford is 76th

The town we're moving to in November was named the 76th best place to live by Money Magazine. Nice to see it on the list! Might make the sky high tax rates more bearable.

Update: HUGE shout-out to NIMIT who sent me this link first!! (He's complaining about lack of shout-out in the comments).

Month Seven

My seventh month and third trimester starts today. I've gotta say that the past month was definitely more challenging. Aches and pains are cropping up. By the time I figure out a trick to alleviate a problematic area, the issue goes away on its own and a different one appears. I can't keep up!

Baby is doing well though. Kicks are getting more powerful and often cause me to yelp out loud because I'm startled.

Not much else to report. Just taking it one day at a time and hoping it all falls into place in October.

Two Year Anniversary

We got married in Manhattan on this date two years ago. Although we had a huge hoopla in Billerica a week later, we like to celebrate July 3rd since we had a very fun and memorable long weekend in NYC. We stayed at the uber fancy Sofitel. Appropriately, we had our wedding day dinner at Tabla: a fusion of Indian and western flavored food. Other activities included the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, a ferry ride around NYC, a visit to the top of Rockefeller Center (which is cooler than the top of the Empire State Building, in my opinion), the Central Park Zoo, and of course a Fireworks show just for us (and partly to celebrate Independence Day). A good time was had by us both!

Muskrat

Snapped this photo from our living room window today. Haven't seen this guy before. We think it's a muskrat? It's cool to see new animals at our lake. We've got swans, geese, ducks, turtles, and all kinds of fish, birds and bugs. Once, Pat even saw a hawk swoop down and grab a poor pigeon for lunch. Other/older condo photos here.

Overbooked

The best word to describe the last couple weeks would be "overbooked". Work is getting busier as the Olympics near. Believe it or not, football season is on people's minds and projects are starting up. Spent about a total of ten hours over several days with the house designer to pick out and check over all our selections. Setting up appointments to tour the inside of the house while construction progresses. Taking advantage of our gym at work and meeting with a trainer three times a week. And of course the baby is keeping me busy with general planning, appointments, tests, shopping, and getting ready for prenatal class. The third trimester starts in two weeks! There are no more trimesters after that!!! No, I'm not panicking but time really is going by amazingly fast.

Champions!

Congrats to the Boston Celtics! A great comeback year and a well-deserved championship trophy. What made it a million times extra special was that the biggest Celtics fan I know, my brother Nimit, was at Game 6 last night. Awesome! That experience hopefully makes up for the sad fact that Nimit had season tickets LAST year and sat through so many of those horrible games while they were in last place. Yay Celtics!

House, Pool And Belly

The condo is being built pretty quickly. Pat tells me outside construction goes fast but inside stuff takes longer. His dad built houses for decades and Pat would cause trouble and get in the way "help" onsite when he was a kid. So he knows these things. Anyway it's nice to see things coming together. We met with the designer to pick out our stuff. Pretty much blew the budget we had set but hopefully the place will look nice in the end. We also got the key to the recreation areas just in time for a quick dip during the heat wave. Baby enjoyed its first "swim" in the kiddie pool as much as I did.

Adrian Peterson

I was finally able to get these (fuzzy) pictures I took off of Pat's cellphone. 2007 Rookie of the Year Adrian Peterson was here a few weeks ago to shoot a commercial. Some interesting prop photos and a "real" Viking seen here. Manny Ramirez was here also, but I must have missed seeing him by a minute or two. His entourage was packing up by the time I made it down to the second floor to casually investigate.

Month Six

This week begins month six of the pregnancy... at least according to my math. The weeks/months calculation thing is kind of confusing. Anyway, last month flew by faster than I can believe. Feeling good and things are moving along. Pat felt the baby kick from the "outside" for the first time. Now it kicks several times an hour and more often in the early morning at like 4am. No complaints from me though, I really enjoy it. I have finally put on some weight: five pounds total and all in the last month and a half. Good thing it's sandal season because I'm having some trouble putting on socks and shoes.

There are so many things to do but I think we're on top of it. We are signed up to start childbirth classes in July. Although I haven't bought anything except cute clothes and booties, I have a list of other things to buy and which brand I want and where to buy it from. We have some semblance of a plan of how Pat, me, baby and my mom will live/squeeze together for a month in our tiny condo while the new house is being completed -- I've figured out which things need to be packed and put away to make room for baby things. Hopefully my plan will work. I'm not sure if "mentally packing" counts for anything but I think we're on track as long as we do one or two little things each day and don't slack off!

Spelling Bee

Aside from days one and two of the NCAA Tournament, the Spelling Bee is our biggest in-office event. There's an office-wide pool going to pick the winner. I can't bring myself to root against any of these kids! It's tough to watch sometimes. To make matters worse, ABC/ESPN keeps showing "The Fainter" in its tv promos.

The Last Vacation

We just returned from Disney World and had a great time as always. This was probably our last big vacation before the baby arrives. We had been averaging at least one Disney trip per year for the past five years so we're definitely going to miss it! Pat says the earliest we can go back with the baby is at age 3. But I'll do my best to convince "dad" to let us go around age 1.5.

People ask me why we always choose Disney as a vacation destination. I have three reasons. One: it's different each time. There's just too much to see and do and by the time you see most of it, they change it all. And if you go during the winter versus the summer, it's all done up differently for the seasons. Each hotel's theme makes it a new experience with every visit. Dining choices are endless. I don't know how they do it and I'm beyond impressed each time at the effort that must go into creating the Disney experience.

The second reason it's our favorite: it's the same each time. The parts that stay the same are the parts that are so convenient. We know we just have to pick a hotel and go. No other planning needed. When staying at a Disney resort, transportation to and from the airport, and between the parks is a piece of cake. The service level is top notch and that never changes. The park policies and rules and little things you have to figure out at new vacation destinations is eliminated when visiting the same place. You just show up at the parks and they keep you busy all day.

And the last reason, of course, is discounts. Disney Cast Member discounts are fantastic and anyone who works for the company and doesn't use these to the full potential is missing out!

Don't forget us Mickey, we'll be back soon.

Captioning on NBC.com

Pat started bouncing around on the couch the other day and when I inquired about what was going on, he showed me his discovery of a "closed captioning" button on some of NBC.com's full-length online tv shows! Here's an example with 30 Rock. This is the first example I've seen of a major network making a sincere effort to caption their online programming. I've been trying for years to get this on the priority list for ESPN.com's video content but no dice so far. Go NBC!

Under Contract!

We are under contract for a new condo in West Hartford! It's a four level townhouse and it's really quite beautiful. Amenities include a big pool, kiddie pool, jungle gym area, and a fancy community room that can be reserved for parties and events. The complex is next door to a public park. We're really excited about it! The only downside is that our unit doesn't actually exist yet and will be ready pretty much exactly when the baby is due. Yup, we're nuts. We have 15 days to chicken out of the contract but hopefully we'll stay brave and forge ahead.

RH Baby & Child

One of my favorite home stores, Restoration Hardware, is launching a Baby & Child line this summer. New and not-so-new mommies: start saving your pennies!

"This is a severely under-served category in the top shopping centers," said Gary Friedman, president and CEO. Noting that the top 100 centers "have only one offering – Pottery Barn Kids," he said. Restoration Hardware Baby & Child will be positioned slightly higher in pricing strategy.

Say What?

Looks like we'll be walking home from the hospital because this makes no sense.

"...Plug the latch plate into the buckle, then, using your weight, tighten the belt. Make sure all the slack is taken out of both the lap and the shoulder. Typically, using a locking clip will give you a more secure installation. A locking clip is an H-shaped piece of metal that comes with all new car seats or can be ordered from the manufacturer. To use one, plug the seatbelt in, make it as tight as possible, then unplug it again while holding the belt very tightly. Wind the locking clip around the belt as close as possible to the latch plate, then plug it back in. You may have to bounce down on the seat a few times to get it closed..." from Edmunds.com, Installing a Car Seat

Emmy Comes To Visit

As an associate producer, I had a teeny tiny miniscule microscopic part in the Ray Of Hope E-ticket project. This feature recently won an Emmy. I got to bring Ms. Emmy home to hang out for a night. Here are some pictures. Check out Ray Of Hope, it's a very moving piece.

Wimp

Well that's pretty wimpy. Even for a Yankee.

Alex Rodriguez passed out during the birth of his first daughter. "The one nurse had a cold cloth on his head. The other nurse had the blood pressure on his arm. And my mother was like rubbing his back. And he is passed out on a couch. And I am there, in the middle of labor," Cynthia Rodriguez, wife of the New York Yankees star, said.

First Baby Picture

There couldn’t be a more appropriate first blog post than this ultrasound picture from yesterday. Isn’t that the cutest baby you’ve ever seen? This ultrasound was a detailed anatomy scan where the technician and doctor checked and measured all kinds of baby features. Many of them she pointed out, such as the bladder, just looked like little blobs to Pat and me. But seeing the head, face, arms, legs, spine and heart was beyond amazing.

Today begins week 19 which is pretty much the halfway mark!