Four Months Photo Update

I think it's time for some more pictures from the last month. She was four months old on January 15th. She is almost five months old now... I guess I am a little late...

Chicago Parent Magazine

6:51pm



I wanted to let everyone know that I have recently been accepted as a blogger for Chicago Parent Magazine! I am thrilled to be a part of such a great community of parents. I never thought that I would get this far.

So starting this month, you will be able to see some of my posts over on ChicagoParent.com. I will keep blogging here, as well.

Brynlee has been growing so quickly, that I can't even keep up. It's hard for us to tell, because we are around her everyday. I was going through some older pictures of her, and couldn't believe how small she was just a few months ago. Now she looks like a monster!

My wife went back to work December 30th. Luckily, we have great family that can help us with babysitting. They come to our home to watch her, and THEY DON'T CHARGE! How jealous are you, now? We are blessed.

Brit's mom takes Mondays.
I take Tuesdays.
My aunt watches her on Wednesdays.
I have her on Thursdays.
My mom does Fridays.
And then Brit has her on the weekends.

It all works out really well for us. Sometimes my schedule changes so we have to adjust, but it looks like I will be able to keep this setup pretty regularly. We aren't as concerned about how high child care costs are as much as we are about the quality of the care. My aunt spent a LOT of time with me when I was little, so my mom likes to credit her with most of my learning. I am excited for Brynlee to get the same treatment.

My wife surprised me with a fantastic Nikon D5300 (the newest camera they have!) for Christmas. So now I am able to take my photography to a MUCH higher level. Trust me, I have a long way to go, but I have been working on my skills at every chance that I get. (Not as many as I would like. We have a three month old, remember?)

We also bought a new computer, since my laptop that I used to blog from, died. I still have to recover all of the images off of the hard drive, but until then, this new computer is working great. iMac anyone?

I look forward to all of the new adventures that this year should bring! Remember to keep an eye out for me at ChicagoParent.com.

Week 38 Day 7 - Packing Hospital Bags

8:48pm

More organizing of the baby's room. Your probably wondering why it needs to be reorganized every day. I was, too. But every time we see someone, or go somewhere, we end up with more stuff for her. We are running out of room! 

It actually looks really good in there at the moment. Everything found a place and we even had the Scentsy thing going, except now the whole house smells like baby powder. I'm not a fan of that scent. 

This is her Scentsy warmer. If you aren't familiar with Scentsy, it is like a potpourri kind of deal, but the warmer melts scented wax. They work really well. You can buy all different kinds through your local Scentsy consultant.

Her changing table - 

And we are packing bags tonight, too. Here is a list of things we are bringing for the baby. 

If we forgot anything, or you have any suggestions on what to bring, or what not to bring to the hospital, let us know!

Week 33 Day 3 - Escaping Babies

2:20pm



I'm watching Steve Harvey on television right now. He is featuring a dad that spoils his daughter. Now this may sound normal, most dads try their best to give their children everything they can. But this daughter is 28 years old. He has had to work 3 jobs, at times, to support the family's bills. All while making sure the daughter gets whatever she wants.


Went to the doctor's appointment yesterday, everything is looking good. Her blood pressure was a tad high, but nothing to worry about. Probably because she was stressed all day at work, and had to rush to make it on time to the appointment. Baby's heartbeat is at 140, which is good, and has stayed pretty consistent around there for the last few weeks. She is worried about going into labor early, but our doctor told us that only 10 percent of women go into labor early. I thought it was like 50/50 early, and late. But I guess not. However, we should be prepared, just in case.


Check out these babies escaping their cribs!




What a bunch of little sneakers! I can't wait for our little one to be here. Hopefully she is funny!

Question for the readers:

Would you spoil your child late into their 20's? Or is there a point in time where they need to support themselves? How old is too old?

Week 32 Day 3 - Sumo-Baby

9:51am


We finally got a few better pictures yesterday. Still not great. Still not photo-frame worthy. But a better idea of how she looks.

We stopped at my mom's afterwards. My wife and her decided to dig out my old photo albums from when I was a baby, to compare. It is a lot of fun to see old pictures of yourself. I don't remember a lot of them, so it was nice to see them again. Actually, I don't know if I have ever seen some of the newborn photos. Maybe I just don't remember, which happens to me a lot. At first I thought that she looks just like my wife, but after seeing my baby photos, she does look a lot like I did as a baby.

Baby is pretty chunky already. My wife said, about me, to the ultrasound tech, "Look she has your chin!". The ultrasound tech responded, "Which one?". She already has a little double chin! My wife was pretty chunky too when she was born. She looked like a little sumo-wrestler. Don't worry, she will tell you the same thing.


My wife has had a lot more energy lately. Which is good. For a while there, she didn't want to do much of anything. That's changed and she is up to going places, and getting things done.

I think we have some 32 week baby bump stickers around here somewhere. I'll have to get those out so we can take some updated pictures!

Week 31 Day 6 - Five Reasons Why Working In Retail Sucks

7:17pm



I'm 26 years old, and I'm ready to retire. Is that bad? I would imagine everyone is ready to retire, probably even earlier than me. If you don't already know, I work for a supermarket, as an apprentice meat cutter, or a butcher basically. It's a very stressful job. I don't just stand back there and cut meat. There's a lot more to it. Every day I wear a pedometer, to measure the amount of steps I take. On a normal day, not working, I will take on average, 2,000 to 4,000 steps. On a day that I work, which is always 8 hours, I almost never take less than 10,000 steps, sometimes up to 15,000 steps. I am usually exhausted when I get home. Between waiting on customers, ordering supplies, cutting meat, filling the cases, cleaning, and taking our two mandatory 15 minute breaks, and one hour lunch, there's no time to lose. We don't have enough help either. Tomorrow for example, there are only 3 of us there until 2pm. On a Sunday, the busiest day of the week. How can 3 people keep up with a couple thousand customers? It's what's expected. Here's a few reasons why working in retail sucks.

1. My hours are all over the place. I never have a set schedule. One day 2pm-10pm, the next 7am-4pm, the next 12pm-8pm. Crazy. Not good for having a family, especially newborns.
2. Customers are A-holes. I hear everything from "Thanks, you are the nicest person!" to "Why the F don't you have any chicken gizzards?" I just work here. I don't own the place. 
3. High employment turnover. Most of the employees are kids. Just working to make a couple bucks while they are still in school. They don't care about the job, or the next person. 
4. You won't get rich. Wages are generally pretty low. Unless you are high up on the totem pole, you probably aren't going to get very far. Luckily for me, my job is Union, and it's the highest paid department in the store. Though, I could still use more money. But who couldn't?
5. Daily changes. Sales change weekly. Standards change daily. You have to relearn your job every week. That's stress. Emotionally, and physically.

Week 31 Day 2 - Crib Is Up

8:42am



Crib is finally up. It was really easy to build, actually. A few screws and that was it. I was thinking that it would be an all-day project. My wife and I had it up in about an hour.

We still need the mattress and bedding though. We registered for the mattress and the bedding is already picked out. We just don't have it yet. The baby's room is really coming along though. Almost ready now!


I put up a picture of our baby shower invitation on Instagram a few days ago. This is the response I received from TinyPrints, where we ordered the cards from!

@PregoForMenBlog What a beautiful card! Check out blog on Friday, we will feature your card!
— Tiny Prints (@TinyPrints) July 15, 2013

I thought that was pretty cool!


We are going back again next week for another try at the 3d Ultrasound pictures. Her little face is so smashed in there up against my wife's skin that it's hard to get a good look at her. We have pictures but they are pretty distorted. Either her nose is cut off, because of the ultrasound "wand" having to be pushed too hard against the skin, or their is placenta in the way. The pictures are almost scary looking so I will wait until we can get some clear ones. If the next attempt doesn't work, then I think we will just give up on them. Three attempts is enough.

Week 29 Day 5 - 29 Week Ultrasound Picture - Titus Basketball

11:26am



My wife left me a "to-do" list of chores this morning. It only makes sense, considering I left her one yesterday, and she went above and beyond and basically cleaned the whole house. She also reorganized, and de-cluttered the baby's room. It needed to be done badly. Now just paint, and set up the crib left to do for that room. I think we are going to paint the bathroom as well.

Anyways I already have my list finished for the day. Boom!


Are you ready for a new ultrasound picture? This one is from our regular doctor, that we seen on Tuesday. We are going to a 3d ultrasound place later today, for better pictures. I will post those too, hopefully. Probably tomorrow or the day after.

There she is!

Also a few photos that I edited. I think they are pretty cool looking!

Our baby shower invites!

If you aren't one of the millions of people who have already viewed this YouTube video of Titus, the baby basketball trick shooter, then you are missing out! Have a look and enjoy!

Week 29 Day 2 - Ultrasound

12:56pm



Just got back from an ultrasound. My wife left work early and is already back there. Luckily I am off today and was able to go with. The coolest part that we got to see today was HAIR! She already has some hair starting to grow. That's so crazy, I think! I didn't expect to see that. But she is otherwise normal and healthy! My wife keeps telling me how much she looks like me already. She even has my big, ugly nose. Poor girl.

3d/4d ultrasounds are not included in our insurance, or at our OB/GYN office. My wife called today and set up an appointment on Friday for a special office that does them. For relatively cheap, we are going to get 15-20 pictures saved onto a flash drive in 3d. Those pictures are really cool, I highly recommend getting some taken. 28-34 weeks is the best time they told us. You can see tons of detail. So that's exciting.

My dad and stepmom are in town today so I am leaving here shortly to go get a round of golf in with them. Like I said before, I have a brand new set of clubs that I haven't even taken out of the box yet. I should probably do that instead of writing the day away!

Week 25 Day 4 - 5 Motivational Quotes To Live By, 10k Milestone

11:51am


If you look to the right of my page, you should see the "Dad Bloggers" icon. Yesterday I was honored to be added to the group of hand-selected members. Maybe this blog isn't wasting my time after all. I like to think that there is purpose to it, though my wife doesn't see one... Or I should say, DIDN'T.

If you don't already know, she was never interested in this blog, or what I was writing. She read a few posts at first, then told me I was talking too much about myself, and wasn't enough content related to being pregnant. I told her that it was fine(because I am a guy, and I know everything) and that she was wrong. Well, it wasn't really taking off, and people would view it, but wouldn't return for more. Recently, I have started to realize that my readers might want to hear more about our pregnancy rather than what I ate for lunch that day. So I have changed my writing habits, and surprise, surprise; even my wife now reads the blog daily. She said she is impressed by what I say, and that I am going to make a great dad. She is happy to see me so involved. I am not very emotional in person, but I feel like writing lets me say what I wouldn't say out loud. I believe that this is also why today, I hit over 10,000 pageviews. To many, that may seem like nothing. But to me, that's a huge milestone. Especially coming from someone who was always quiet, shy, soft-spoken, and not much of a go-getter. So a big Thank You to everyone who has stopped-by!

My Favorite Motivational Quotes -

• "A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others."
  -Ayn Rand
• "Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later."
  -Og Mandino  
• "Even if you fall on your face, you're still moving forward."
  -Victor Kiam  
• "Either you run the day or the day runs you."
  -Jim Rohn 
• "The secret of getting ahead is getting started."
  -Mark Twain

"The Tallest Oak in the Forest, was once just a Little Nut that held it's ground."

Now that you are too motivated to sit home and read blogs all day, follow me on -

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

(Did you notice, that I totally contradicted my whole post, by not writing anything about pregnancy? Way to be observant!)

 9:59pm

Just got home from shopping for maternity clothes. Not for me obviously, even though my belly is growing as well.... She got a lot of good deals, but maternity clothes aren't cheap. I recommend a second hand store, you wear the stuff for a couple months, why spend full price? Some people are weirded out about lightly used clothes, but once you wear a new pair of jeans, guess what, it's slightly used now. 

Watching the end of the Blackhawks game, they are up 3-2. They got this.

  

Week 25 Day 3 - Pregnant and She Knows It

10:02am


Today is my Saturday. I am off today and tomorrow. Just going to do some errands while she is at work. I found these videos because it defines my life almost too perfectly. Watch the first one to see what my wife's life is like. Then the second one puts it more into my perspective. They are funny!


#1. Pregnant and I Know It



#2. She's Pregnant and I Know It



And this one is good too! "She Gotta Bump" - Warning: Some explicit language!

Week 25 Day 2 - 10 Things Every Guy Should Know About Pregnancy

9:57am


I forgot to mention that my wife put on the "Prenatal Yoga" DVD last night. The one that came with the Mama Lana Box. There is a section titled "Birthing Videos" and she told me that I needed to see it. Well, let me just tell you, it was a little more than I had expected. These women were giving birth, but naturally. A few are in water, and one was even in a little kiddie pool that they set up in their living room. The husbands are in the water with them and everything. I am pretty sure that we don't plan on doing any of that, at least I know I don't. But it is really weird to watch. I'm sure there are videos like that on YouTube or somewhere on the internet if you are interested. It might be a good idea to prepare yourself for what you will be seeing in real life. But, like I said, these women were pretty extreme. I don't think it's really like that at a normal hospital setting.

This leads me to think about the 10 things that I have learned so far about pregnancy. I mean, I have learned more than 10, but the most important ones for guys like me to realize are these:

1. Full-Term pregnancy is 40 weeks long. First trimester is Weeks 1-14. Second is 14-27. Third is 27-40.
2. She gets sick in the First Trimester. Like the kind where she throws up every day, a few times a day. But this doesn't happen to everyone.
3. Your outlook on life changes. You no longer care about getting new things, or going out partying. Your life now revolves around baby.
4. Her hormones are through the roof. The smallest things can make her really upset. I have actually seen her cry for no reason whatsoever. She didn't even know why she was crying.
5. You, as a guy, are expected to be at every doctor's appointment. If you aren't, you better have a really good excuse.
6. Don't comment on how big she looks. It hurts her feelings. But..
7. She likes being pregnant. She loves that there is a human being growing inside of her. I do too.
8. She is nervous to give birth. I think I am even more nervous. Watch the videos. You'll see.
9. Help pick names, baby registries, room decor, etc. Even if she doesn't like any of your suggestions, it's the thought that counts.
10. She instantly changes into "Mom-Mode". Similiar to #3, ever since we found out she was pregnant, she turned into a complete mom. She eats healthier. Acts sweeter. Drives more cautious. Is a lot more careful. And more family-oriented.

There is a million different things that come with pregnancy. But as a guy, those 10 should give you a little head's up of what to expect. Maybe you won't experience all of those, as every pregnancy, and person, is a little different. But that's what I have seen. Good luck!

A little early-morning blogging!

8:01pm

Rough night at work. Just lots to do and not enough time. Anyways, it's time for the Blackhawks! (And a cold beer sounds good right about now, as well!)

Week 25 Day 1 - Our 5 Major Recent Life Changes

9:31am

Wow! 25 weeks in! Let's see, what does that mean as far as time left to go?  40 weeks minus 25 weeks. We are 5 weeks past half way now, and only 15 left to go! It's amazing how quickly the time passes. I feel like she was just telling me that she was pregnant, and we were nervous and anxious at the same time. Stress levels were sky-high because we were living with family, she was working a dead-end job, and I didn't make enough money to support all three of us. But look how far we have come in the last 25 weeks.

Our 5 Major Recent Life Changes:

• She got pregnant - obviously, but still a major life changing event.
• I started this blog - every day since Week 10 Day 1.
• We got our own place - a first for me, not for her; but together, we had always lived with family.
• She landed a great job - she makes more than I do now.
• I got promoted - same company, better position, real career.

“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” 

- Joshua J. Marine

 

Week 24 Day 6 - Mama Lana Box Review

10:29am

Break time. Which means my daily donuts and energy drink. I know it's not healthy but it tastes good, and donuts are only .50 cents. 

Blackhawks play today at 4pm. First game of the series against the LA Kings. I'm a little disappointed that I will miss most of it, since I have to work til 5pm. Oh well. I should be able to catch the end at least. 

Mama Lana Review will be on here later when I get home to my laptop. These quick updates I do from my phone from the Blogger app. It's pretty handy. 

3:56pm

Hawks start in a few minutes. Might stop by my uncles after work to watch the end. Not sure yet. Have to see what the wife says. 

She said that she felt like she had two contractions earlier. I said put the phone to your stomach and let me talk to my daughter. She did and I told her "Baby, I know you can hear me. This is your dad. You just stay put in there. We still have way to much to do before you come out!" Don't worry too much though, we know they aren't real contractions. The doctor told her last week that her cervix is not insufficient, and that if she begins to feel these slight contractions, that don't really hurt, they are most likely just "Braxton-Hicks" contractions. These type of contractions can begin around 6 weeks, and are usually painless, but can become increasingly more painful as you approach your due date. You will know that they are the real deal when the contractions stay longer, and become closer in time.


 8:52pm

Mama Lana Box of Bliss

We received our first "Pregnancy" box in the mail yesterday. Mamalanabox.com offers a hand-selected "kit" that comes every month, designed for the expecting mother. The boxes cost $59 a piece, or if you buy the "full box service", which is all 9 boxes, you save a little money and it ends up being $459. 

When we got the box, immediately my wife was waiting to open it. I had to beg her to wait a few minutes so that I could take some pictures for this blog. We were very surprised with the personalized letter written to us. A nice touch and it shows that they truly care!

Welcome Letter, and Personalized Memo 

The personalized memo. 

"Dear Kevin and Brittany,

We are so excited for the two of you!

We love PregoForMen (as do our husbands) and look forward to working with you.

With love, Anna and Lauren, Mama Lana"

What it looks like when you open the box! Neatly organized. 

 www.mamalanabox.com

Prenatal Yoga DVD. My wife was just talking about starting yoga. She was really excited about this!

Blank Assorted Stationary

All Natural Mount Sequoia Granola Dark Chocolate Bar - She will be lucky if she gets to this before I do.

Adorable baby socks, looks like custom crochet. We will add these to her growing clothes collection.

Inspirational Cards

 Traditional Medicinals Organic Pregnancy Tea. My wife LOVES tea, so this is another great addition! She said that she has heard a lot of good things about this brand's complete product line, as well.

Coconut Oil Sugar Body Scrub. I know myself, the many benefits of coconut oil. And for your skin, it is great. She is worried about stretch marks and this should help with that.

I have to say, we were very excited to open this box. Every detail is thought through, and even the box's exterior is good looking. I wish we would have come across www.mamalanabox.com and their boxes a lot  sooner. The boxes start at 3 months and go to 9 months. There are 2 more boxes after that as well. 40+ Weeks "Ready for Baby", and after the baby is born, "New Mama Necessities". They are pretty cool to order for yourself, but I would think that these would make even better gifts. We can't wait to get our next box, for month 7. I am a little curious now as to what we missed in the 5 previous boxes! Be sure to check them out. Like I said they make GREAT UNIQUE GIFTS. They are truly one-of-a-kind and sure to bring a smile to any expectant mother's face.

GUYS = GET THIS FOR YOUR WIFE... IT WILL MEAN A LOT TO HER, AND SHE WILL NEVER EXPECT IT! YOU CAN THANK ME LATER.

http://www.mamalanabox.com

http://www.facebook.com/mamalanabox

http://www.twitter.com/mamalanabox

EXCLUSIVE OFFERS to my readers!

Save $10 off ANY order with promo code - pregoformen10

Save $25 off your order of 3 or more boxes with promo code - pregoformen-go-big

Save $50 off the "Full Service" subscription with promo code - pregoformen-go-all-the-way (BEST DEAL!)

10:09pm

Well, the Blackhawks won. So that makes me happy, and my wife, she likes that stuff too. I missed the first two periods because of work, and travel home. We stopped at my uncle's house to watch the last period. My wife especially likes to go there because she loves children, and my little cousin is only 4 years old. She is too funny. I think she really likes my wife because every move she made, she would copy it. Kind of gives us a little preview of what's in store for us! I enjoy it, and so does she. We are excited.

Afterwards, my wife decided she wanted some ice cream. I couldn't say no to that! We attempted to go to small local mom-and-pop ice cream shop but they had closed right before we pulled up. So we settled for some Baskin-Robins. Chocolate Peanut Butter and Pralines n' Cream for me, Pistachio Almond and Pralines n' Cream for her. Oh, and some donuts for tomorrow!

Week 24 Day 5 - Onesie Pizza

7:24am

Up a little early before work. My wife is already gone to her job and I have to start getting ready in a minute. Every morning I say bye to her, and I say bye to the baby. She is sure that the baby knows my voice now, and when she hears me she kicks and moves around like crazy. I felt her moving around again for a little bit yesterday. 

Also I am getting tired of the Miami Heat already, I wish the Pacers would just eliminate them already!

As I'm writing this, the news on tv is talking about a mother in Chicago who stabbed her 5 month old to death. So gross, how could anyone do something so brutal, and especially to something so innocent. People are so dumb, hope she rots in jail. 

I found this "Onesie Pizza" online some time ago and I don't think I have ever shared it on here. If I did, sorry, but you are seeing it again. It's pretty cool how they folded them up to create that pizza effect. 

2:03pm

Ugh, another day at work with too much to do! I'm at lunch now. My wife called me earlier and was upset because he hurt her ankle somehow. She thought she tore her Acheilles Tendon, or however you spell it. I told her she would probably be on the ground, screaming, if that was the case. I'm pretty sure the pain is intolerable. But she seems to be better now. 

And I am a little mad at myself for brining a nice grilled chicken salad for lunch, but forgot to bring any dressing. Wonderful. Have you ever eaten a salad without dressing? Well, I have. Just now. And it sucked. 

10:55pm

Ran and got some groceries. My wife made veal patties for dinner. They were pretty good! Pan fried with some fresh lemon on them, yumm!

Got a special package in the mail today. You will see more about it tomorrow. 

http://www.mamalanabox.com

Here's a little preview: