Nursery sneak peak

Okay so it's like 12:30am on Friday now. Michelle is up in the mountains with her mom and I am home after a busy night of restaurant magic work and a late night planning meeting with some magician associates of mine to discuss some public shows we are doing in September.

I'm a little (well...more than a little) hyped up on caffiene from the inevitable cup of coffee. Being wide awake, I grabbed the camera and took some shots of the nursery that is in the process of coming together. Here we go....



So far we have the base coat on the walls and the floor is finished. I stained and installed the baseboards myself. We also have all of the furniture in place and the closet is filling with clothing already. You will also notice the boy has a pretty large library started. That is mostly thanks to his mother conveniently having all these great books from her mural business. Look closely in the photo and you will see the cute shoe collection that is starting too.



There are bins in the closet that will soon hold diapers, toys and other baby paraphenalia. For furniture we have a changing table,(not shown but in the room already) a beautiful new crib and a late night nursing glider. I proud to say that I expertly installed the light fixture over the chair.




The only things left are finishing the window treatments, hanging a curtain door on the closet and the final murals. Michelle will be working on those soon and the final pictures will be posted then.

I could describe the murals but I think we will leave that as a surpise for later.

As I mentioned Michelle is up in the mountains with her mom at her parent's cabin. I am more than a little jealous and wishing I were up there too. There is too much work to be done still this weekend so I couldn't go. Michelle deserves the break too as she just finished another mural project. I think this is going to be her last one for a short while. She is still taking calls but putting the work off. She has some sewing work to lool forward to for the next little bit of time. I helped here a couple of days with this last job and she really shouldn't be getting up and down off of ladders anymore. That is my professional medical opinion. Okay so I'm not a doctor but I can tell you that her ankles are really big after a day of painting.
Poor girl!

We were talking earlier today about something and Michelle mentioned. "Well we still have two months more to go...etc." I quickly corrected her. "Sweetheart, we have about 7 weeks left. That is only about a month and a half." Time flies I guess.

As for me I'm ready. I have my bootcamp for new dads this next Saturday morning. I'm looking forward to it. Charlie and I have been talking regularly still about all the fun things we are going to learn and do together.

Well for now that is what I have to offer Charlie's blog. Keep coming back for more.

Pregnancy brain for dads.

Is is possible for pregnancy brain to be contageous? Seems lately like my head isn't quite screwed on straight. I am wondering if there isn't some junk science out there that could explain how a pregnant woman's hormone levels don't spill out and consume the husband as well. I can't seem to get very organized. I am scheduling meetings in my calendar for the wrong day. One thing after another.

We finished up our last "Preparing for child birth class" and now I think I know enough to keep me from passing out or going too crazy during the labor.

I found this wonderful Dick Van Dyke video that I am using to help me prepare for when Michelle goes into labor. It is a little long but worth your time to watch.
I was going to save this video for a later posting but I thought I had better do it now or my pregnancy brain would make me forget to do it later.



We still have quite a bit more preparing to do. I am taking the "bootcamp for dad" class at the end of the month.

Having a baby really does a number on you. My perspective of things is really different than it was even a month ago. I see babies now and I am trying to gauge how old they are and how big Charlie will be at different stages. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't get a little ga-ga about the process.

It's cold and rainy and I'm stuck in flip-flops

I am finally sitting down to write something so that my hippo photo isn't the first thing you see when you open this blog. It is Saturday evening the 16Th and we will be at 32 weeks on Tuesday. Less than two months until our due date. Charlie seems to be doing well. We are learning more and more about him (well, babies in general) every day. Last weekend we learned that a newborn's stomach is only the size of a small marble for the first few weeks. Amazing!
After our heat wave a few weeks ago it is a great relief to tell you that Denver has been cold and rainy for the past few days. Charlie, Dennis and I went to the zoo yesterday morning and had a very nice, although cold and soggy, time (since my feet have been puffy the only shoes that fit are my flip-flops - just a little uncomfortable considering the weather). It is fun to watch all the other families and imagine what Charlie will be like. What kind of personality will he have? I'm sure that with the frequent visits to the zoo with his grandma, Charlie will have the whole place committed to memory by the age of two. One of his first lessons will be how to tell the difference between an African Wild Dog and a Hyena if Dennis has anything to do with it.
I hope that you have all enjoyed the pictures of Charlie and me on this blog. Considering that we are still two months out, and already I look like a hippo, they may be the only pictures you get.
Take care everyone. Charlie sends his love.

A little about my parents

This is my mom!



She likes to garden, paint, sew, and listen to books on tape. You can see that I am making her belly stick out quite a bit more than it usually does. The funny doctor says that I am going to be a big baby. Mom has been taking very good care of me. I get my vitamins everyday and she is eating healthy foods. We have a really great garden to get vegetables from too. I can't wait to help mom plant it next spring. I do make her tired and her ankles have been getting a little swollen from carrying me around. She talks to me a lot and tells me jokes about dad. Mom works as a mural artist and decorative painter for people with really big and expensive houses. She has been making a really nice room for me. I can't wait to see it too!






This is my Dad
He is silly. I'm really lucky to have a silly dad. He is a magician too and can do amazing things. I haven't seen any of his tricks yet but I do know that he can make a funny noise on moms belly. I am sure that he and I are going to have a lot of time together and that we are going to learn all kinds of things. Dad likes hiking, camping, playing poker, inventing magic tricks, brewing ginger ale, cooking, and baking bread.
You can see in this picture his big belly. I'm not the one making it bigger. Dad has gained some sympathy weight. He needs to go to the gym more. Dad has been busy helping mom with everything around the house in getting ready for me to arrive. Dad has been talking to me quite a bit about going hiking and camping. I am so excited! I will have to do some getting bigger though before we can go.




Well, that's the poop on who my parents are. You probably know them if you are looking at my blog but just in case you are a new visitor that's our story.

Last Sunday's breast feeding class

Dennis here...
Just wanted to post a small bit about what we did last Sunday. I think I learned all I ever needed to know about breast feeding and then some. We were both happy to learn that many of the things people have told us are pure B.S. and things we shouldn't consider doing. We learned about propper latching techniques, how breast milk is made by little tiny farmers pouring buckets of milk from tiny little cows that...No wait that was what I dreamed about last night.
The whole process is really quite facinating to me. We learned about breast pumps, bottles, myths about bottles and breast pumps (FYI never buy a pre-used breast pump unless it is a hospital quality unit with a closed system...That's just gross!) We also learned what nipple confusion really is. Suprise! It isn't what I have been experiencing lately but something that the baby can experience from too many different resources of breast milk outside of breast feeding.
All in all, we are really glad we took the class. We haven't regretted any of the classes thus far.
Next Sunday is the "tot savers" class. I'm not sure why we need to save tator tots but I've already started. I guess it's just one of those foods that kids can't get enough of so you had better stock up before they are born...

Today was picture day (I'm the one in the middle)

Here are my head shots

What a morning... Charlie suprized us a bit during our 30wk ultrasound. Turns out the little guy isn't so little. His size is in the 90th percentile and he has a huge head (just like his mom). The doctor said that if we go full term he will be a nine pounder (at least). Unless he is early he will have already outgrown half of his clothes before he is even born. Maye he will be a normal size but I think we can count on a big head (literally and figuraltivly), it runs in the family.
The doctor seemed very pleased with Charlie's wiggliness and everything else that means 'healthy baby'. He is just big and, better big than small. Dennis will post some photos of Charlie and me soon and, we'll see if we can scan the printouts they gave us of the ultrasound.

Gramma Cheryl asked about Charlie's registry so, here it is so that everyone knows. We registered for the majority of the stuff we need at Babies-R-Us and for a few little things at both Target and Firefly Furnishings (a local Denver shop with tons of super cute little gifts). Babies-R-Us is the easiest to navigate on line and, I would even recommend that if you are going to go to a store you look at the stuff on-line first (http://www.toysrus.com/ControllerServlet?lastName=Vander+Houwen&firstName=Michelle&state=&target=search&userType=giftGiver&searchForPerson=primReg&whereTo=viewRegistry&x=87&y=12 ). You will have a better idea what you are looking for once you get to the store (it can be overwhelming). Also, Babies-R-Us has a great system so that noone has to pay for shipping. If you are shopping at a store in Seattle (or whereever) and pick something out, they call Denver to see if there is one at the Denver store and that store will call us and tell us that there is a gift waiting for us to come pick up. Easy as pie. One thing that we did not register for but would love is a baby carrier but not just any baby carrier, a specific one which is not sold at any of the big stores. You can see them at http://www.ergobabycarrier.com/ These carriers are apparently much better for baby and more comfortable for Mom and Dad and, since I forsee Dennis wearing Charlie for a few hours a day, at least, I think comfort should be considered (The very generous Leonard and Isabel Sherman are getting us the carrier but, there are still a few carrier accessories we could use so I have left the link on the blog. We are getting the black/ retro lining carrier). I think that sums up the baby gift info. except to reiterate that newborn sizes are best skipped - opt fot 3 month sizes (and up) just to be on the safe side.

Negative ten weeks and counting...

Dennis and I thought it would be fun for Charlie to have his own blog. Since so many of his fans are so far away this seemed like the best way to keep everyone up to date. Little Charles Nash Vander Houwen will be at 30 weeks gestation on Tuesday.... he is 3/4 of the way there and his mom (that would be me) is getting rather uncomfortable. Denver has been in the 90s for weeks and we have hit 100 the past few days. Fortunatly, I have my parent's pool... I'm swimming (or, rather, floating) more than I have in years. The distraction of the slew of classes that Dennis and I are taking this month is helping me cope as well. We are learning everything from the anatomy of birth to baby bathing and infant CPR. Oh, and Dennis has daddy boot camp too. We both realise that none of this will prepare us for Charlie but maybe it will help a bit. We toured the hospital this past Monday and WOW. Although Charlie won't have a clue, he is going to be delivered into the lap of luxury... every labor and delivery room had a spa tub, CD and DVD players and, wireless Internet access. If we can find a laptop and Dennis can think straight everyone everywhere will be able to stay informed on the big day/ days via this blog. Please do not expect graphic photos or videos... I trust Dennis' extraordinary photography skills to give you all a very 'shiny happy' interpretation of the big event.
Speaking of his photography skills, Dennis hasn't taken any prego pictures yet but I'm sure he will soon. We'll get them posted so that you all can see how round I have become.
Also, Charlie's much anticipated nursery should be getting finished soon so we'll post pictures of that too.
I'm going to sign off for the night as Charlie is kicking me in the ribs and I think it might help to change positions. I don't know much about this little guy but I know that he is going to be tough!
We love you all.