Distractions, contractions and contraptions.

Well. Here we are. Once again in the middle of the night. Obviously things aren't too crazy, or I'd be in the hospital, not blogging, but if we're reading the signs right, and there are a ton of them, we're heading into labor within the next few hours.

Sarah's contractions are about 10-15 minutes apart. Some less than that, but on an average, 10-15. They've been that way for a few hours. Seemingly getting a bit stronger. She's had every sign in the book, short of her water breaking, so we're pretty excited. I got about 3 hours sleep, and woke up around 10:30. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a few more minutes rest before we need to leave for the hospital. Sarah's been resting as best as possible, and drinking more water than Robin Williams on broadway.

We've been trying to remember everything. Charge the camera battery. Remember the iPod and cds... Pack our toiletries... We have changes of clothes in our bags, and snacks for me.

We ended up in the hospital for a few hours on Tuesday. Sarah went in for her checkup, and the baby's heartbeat was a bit fast, so the doctor sent us over to Memorial to have Sarah monitered for awhile. It gave us a chance to see the facilities a bit better. We've been on two tours, but I got to see the little kitchen area, where I can get water, juice or popsicles for Sarah, and coffee for me. We weren't sure what was going to happen, but we had brought our bags, so just in case they needed to induce her or anything... we were ready. But after two hours, they let us go home, and told Sarah to drink as much water as possible. That his heartbeat was fast, but still acceptable. He's just active they said. Which is funny. He seems like a quiet baby for the most part, with active moments.

He's probably just getting ready.

I got an email from a dear friend, and while I think he was joking, I can see how some people would actually think that the name "Kiah" is somehow tied to a certain Korean car company of a similar name. I then realized that I don't believe I've ever explained the reasons behind the name in the blog, and if there were ever a time, I guess it's now.

If indeed we are having a boy, and not just an incredibly devious girl with athletic sonogram abilities, we are naming our baby Hezekiah Immanuel. We'll call him Kiah for short, but the name Hezekiah is one that I've grown up loving, and that Sarah has fallen for as well.

Hezekiah was the name of a king of Judah in the old testament. His father was an evil man, but despite that fact, when Hezekiah took over at the age of 25, he didn't waste a day turning the country around. Within 3 weeks he had instigated a complete turnaround. He brought the people back to God. Back to where they should be. Under his kingship, the nation of Israel withstood some of it's heaviest attacks and continued to prosper. In his entire reign, he only made one serious mistake, the consequences of which, he'd never even see. When we think of the things we want for our son, we think of leadership. Wisdom. A heart for the needs of others. And the name Hezekiah is a fitting one for someone with those qualities. Kiah seems like the best shortening of the name, and is kind of fun to say.

Immanuel means "God with us." If there's been one all encompassing statement that's surrounded us this year, it's that God has not, and will not forsake us. No matter the circumstances of life. We've been so encouraged by all He's seen us through. Plus, a short name after Hezekiah would sound stupid. "Hi, I'm Hezekiah Joe!" Sounds like a forty niner or something... "Hi, I'm stinky Pete!"

Well, I'll keep you updated. Hopefully we'll have a picture post soon that won't consist of internet humor, but will instead having a healthy baby boy. Not to mention, that if we have him today, my brother Ezra will be insanely happy. I mean, insanely happy. He turns 11 today, and has been pushing us to have the baby on his birthday since he found out the due date.

P.S. Sarah and I went to the mall yesterday and saw baseball caps on sale. 2 for $14... so Sarah got her Cubbies hat, and I got a Sox hat. So now we can represent! Nice. Jim, don't give her too hard a time. Her grandmother was a fan, and Sarah's love of her grandma clouded her judgement growing up. We can't all be St. Louis fans...

Middle of the night.

It's the middle of the night. Or the beginning, depending on one's perspective. Either way. It's 12:30 am.

I went to bed at 7:30, having been up since 3 as usual. I wanted to try to get a full 8 hours, but when I woke up to get a drink about 11:30, Sarah was in bed too, and still awake.

I asked her how she was doing, and she has been having contractions. Not steady yet, but we're getting there. I'm so excited right now, I just can't sleep. I should be trying... if today is the day, we've got alot ahead of us, and being rested will help a ton. I got up and finished a mix cd for Sarah during labor. (They let you bring your own cds...) I will go to work at 4 if nothing is steady, but I'll be ready to run home if she needs me.

In other exciting news... I GOT THE JOB! Pretty awesome. They made me an offer yesterday, which I accepted. I start on the 30th. So just a few more days of being a valet. I'm very excited. All these changes at once... feels, well... feels like normal. I won't be starting in the restaurant like I first believed, instead, I will be starting in the front office/desk area. My least favourite area, but who knows? I may end up loving it. I can't wait to wear a suit to work.

Well, I'm gonna go try sleeping. Before I go, here's the playlist to the cd I made Sarah for labor. If you want a peaceful, but inspiring mix... look no further. I'm real happy with it.

Labor Day (ha ha) mix

1. The Golden Age, by Beck
2. Switching Off, by Elbow
3. Bob Dylan's 49th Beard, by Wilco
4. Gravity, by Vienna Teng
5. The Princess Bride, by Willy DeVille & Mark Knopfler
6. Baby Mine (Dumbo cover), by Allison Kraus
7. Tomorrow, Tomorrow, by Elliot Smith
8. Boadicea, by Enya
9. Bothered, by Over the Rhine
10. Time After Time, by Cindi Lauper
11. Halo Friendly, by Damien Jurado
12. I Didn't Know About You, by Karrin Allyson
13. Miles, by Over the Rhine
14. Lullaby, by Pedro the Lion
15. Rest Easy, by Audio Adrenaline
16. Fade Into You, by Mazzy Star
17. Sleeping In, by the Postal Service
18. Let Down, by Radiohead
19. Tell Me How, by Rosie Thomas

Fridays are weird...

Well, Friday was no exception to my incredibly strange week. I mean, last week was like a script from a new sitcom. One of the ones that hasn't gotten it's feet under it yet. The writing is choppy, and the acting is sloppy, and this sentence is starting to sound like a song. It isn't... but it could be.

Friday morning, I checked to see if Neil Armstrong had checked in. He was in room 1202, and was due out on the 13th, so I was pretty sure I'd at least see him. Growing up a total space geek, I went over scenarios in my head to make sure that I didn't attack him when he came downstairs. I rehearsed "Mr. Armstrong, how are you this morning? How was your night? Do you have a car downstairs that we can bring up for you?" things like that.

Needless to say, that the morning went on fairly normally, and he did not come down before 6. One of the other navy officers from his squadron, however, did come down for breakfast. And as he was sitting alone, I struck up a conversation while he waited for the restaurant to open. We talked about the state, and where he was from, and he asked me where I was from. I said Ohio, and he commented that Neil was from there too. I said that Stryker, where I grew up, wasn't far from Wapekaneta, where Neil was born. Now take into account that while they are spry little guys, all of these navy officers are pushing 80, if they haven't already fallen into it. For those of you who don't know many 80+ year old men, they get excited easily, and then forget what they were excited about, and spend the rest of their day perpetually excited, but they don't know why. That's why they sleep like 3 hours a night. They are so excited about something or other. (Note: Sometimes, this can also translate into crankiness. Insert the word cranky instead of excited into the rule above, and it will account for about 1/3 of old men days per year. The other two thirds they spend mysteriously excited.) Anyway, he got very excited, and then ended up looking a little confused until the rest of his party came down for breakfast. I went back to work, and forgot the conversation for the moment.

About two hours later, I had just returned from bringing up a car, when I saw the navy squadron gathering outside to get on their bus, and get on with their busy and mysteriously exciting day, when I spotted Neil in the center of the group. He was wearing a light pink dress shirt, and was looking very healthy. The last few pics I've seen of him haven't done him justice. Anyway, he's a very private man, and I didn't want to scare him, so I took my look, and went inside. Just in the doors, I was accosted by the little old gentleman from earlier, and he said "Have ya met Neil yet?!?" I said no, and he hauled me out the door and toward the group. "Neil!" he yelled as he flung me in front of the first man to step on the moon... "This boy's from Ohia! (pronounced correctly, I might add.)" Neil asked me where, and shook my hand. I told him I was from Stryker, and he said he knew where that was. (Almost unbelievable, but he gave a reference town that established that he did indeed.) I told him that it was an honor to meet him, and that I hoped he had enjoyed his stay. I wished him a good day, and took my leave.

I was in a bit of shock. Introduced. How much better was that then pushing myself at him and saying something like "I'm glad ya made it back!" or "Way to beat those ruskies!" or something ridiculous like that. I was so happy, that I told a couple of coworkers before returning to the front to get back to work. As I approached the front desk, I noticed a slightly dishevelled customer waiting to be helped. I went up to ask him if he needed help, and possibly tell him about Neil Armstrong getting into the bus outside when he turned around. It was Ron White. Ron "Tater salad" White of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. He looked slightly drunk, which is, or course, his look. "Mr. White. How are you this morning?" I asked. He said he was ok, and I told him I loved his show. (He is easily the funniest part of what can be a thoroughly disturbing look at america.) He was simply looking for a place to buy socks, preferably where there was a pretty salesgirl, and I directed him to the right place. He went and ate breakfast, and spent the morning wandering around looking for something to do. Unfortunately... there IS nothing to do in Colorado Springs at 9am on a Friday morning. So he went over to the spa and flirted with the girls there. Avoiding the random "TATER SALAD!!!" screaming fan with grace. Needless to say, I was pretty shocked. Armstrong, I saw coming, but a week of naked old men, half drunk celebrities, and new shoes... it was a bit too much for me. I needed a few days to process it before bringing it to you my faithful readers.

Well. On to something else. Here is a montage of Sarah pics from this, our ninth and final month of pregnancy. Below it, you will find a desktop picture of Sarah's 9th month. (I'm a dork. But a freakin proud one...)

Hoist that rag

I feel like a pirate today. I am listening to the ultra-awesome song by Tom Waits "Hoist that rag" off of his 2004 album Real Gone. It's gotta be about being a pirate. At least a little.

Things have been going very well, but busy. Real busy. It's kinda nice, because now we won't fly into babyhood straight from boring, slow, lonely life. We have had alot of events at church, doctor appointments, and good times with new friends... which balanced with a really weird new schedule makes for a very tired little duo.

Sarah's been having a harder time lately. She pretty uncomfortable. Cute, but uncomfortable. Here's a picture.


I've been working 4:30 am - 1 pm. It's got advantages, but I'm just bushed when I get home. It's hard to get to bed before 8, and so most days I get 5 hours sleep. Sarah's dealt with it, and we've been making the most of our time together, but she's tutoring 4 days a week now, as Halie needs to catch up on her studies. So I get home, we get a few hours, and then she's off to tutor, and by the time she's back, I'm in bed, or getting there.

I am so excited about the baby. He's almost here! It's so cool to see him move, and know what he's doing. He's had hiccups the last few days. It weirds Sarah out, but it's pretty funny to me.

I'm almost to the point when I can announce our cool new news. It's just not all together yet.

Well, that's it for today, oh, and for the gullible out there, that was not a picture of our church event. It just looked funny, so I put it up.

cya.

Back in black.

Well, these last two weeks have been exhausting. I've switched to a 4:30 am to 1 pm shift. It's nice because I'm off work so early, but it's been taking a toll on my body. Once I get adjusted to it, I'll be fine.

Needless to say, I've been too tired to write, and I couldn't think of anything when I did have the energy. Since I was needed at work last Sunday, I have a three day weekend this week. My boss has been great about scheduling me what closely resembles a regular work week. Next week, I'm Monday through Friday, all 4:30-1. That's the most reliable and regular schedule I've had in years. It feels nice to not have to worry about working a night here, and morning here, and midshift here... It lets me adjust, and build up a routine.

We've been doing a bit of shopping with the gift cards we received from the shower. We got a carseat the other day. It's very safe, and looks nice. I think we got one that will be easy to manuever and easy to clean. We never did get that camera. The offer expired, so we'll get one when we find another offer as good or better. But it'll be hard, that was a great deal. It's disappointing, but it's more important to pay bills right now.

We started parenting classes at the hospital last week. It used to be called Lamaze (sp?) and has to do alot with being informed along with relaxation and breathing techniques. We had fun, and met some nice couples. I am so excited about the baby, it's not even funny. I've been working on my sign language, and studying up on baby signing. It's really neat... Babies can understand you, and communicate with you using signs long before their vocal chords are mature enough to handle language. Signs like "More" "All done" "Pain" "Where?" and "Milk" are just a few of the everyday signs you can use with your baby. They generally start signing back around 6-8 months old, not to mention that they're essentially learning to be bilingual.

This week at work, we had several conventions in. One of which was a space emposium, which brought astronauts, mission control specialists, rocket scientists, and folks from every aerospace company you can imagine to Colorado Springs. Buzz Aldrin was here yesterday. I didn't get to meet him, and he wasn't staying in the hotel but was out to eat in the downtown area with friends who were staying at the hotel. I met the mission controller who was in charge of the flight directly following the Colombia tragedy. It was so interesting to spend time hearing what happened from a man who was in mission control when it happened. His office is across the hall from the mission controller of the Colombia, and he was very involved in the efforts to have NASA investigate the damage before reentry. He went to school with Onizuka of the Challenger tragedy back in 1986, and works in Houston. Today, I met a teacher from Florida who runs a space simulator camp for teens. She has a mock-up shuttle and mission control. She gave me a tee-shirt. I think I'll send it to my dad. He'd love it. It's named Challenger something or other. Needless to say, it's been a pleasure having so many intelligent people around. Just listening to conversations has been fantastic. Let alone the ones they've had with me. They're so excited about going back to the moon. There are so many natural resources that they're ready to start evaluating, and habitation... it's gonna be cool.

Well, tonight we're going to a party for a bellman who's moving to Georgia. He's been real cool, and it'll be sad to see him leave. It's at a Jamaican bar in the area. It's run by a waiter from the restaurant in the Antlers, and is called "Irie." (For those of you who are not familiar with the term, it's Jamaican for "alright.")

Hopefully, I'll be writing more. Thanks for hanging in there.

Peace.