We're expecting!

Chris and I found out fairly recently that we're expecting a baby. My brother Scott, who has written blogs to document various adventures in his life, suggested I keep a blog. I didn't know at first if and how much I wanted to share with a public venue like a blog, but I realized that aside from mass e-mails, a blog is the easiest way to share updates and my thoughts with family and friends. For those who only care about when the baby is born - I will send out the mass e-mail with that news - but for the rest of you, I hope you enjoy reading the blog. I will try to keep posts friendly for all audiences and will spare you the intimate details.

The name of the blog was inspired by the idea that Chris and I starting the next generation in our families. His father, Dan, is one of seven and his parents are already great-grandparents a couple of times over. However, Chris's maternal grandmother, Bea, has been knitting baby booties and bonnets for years in anticipation of great-grandchildren. Chris is the first of Bea's six grandchildren to announce he's now having a child of his own. After raising Chris and his brother, Andy, I suspect that Chris's parents are as ready and excited to finally transition to role of grandparents as Chris and I are ready to transition to becoming parents.

My side of the family, meanwhile, desperately needs rejuvenation. My parents were married nine years before I was born - my grandmother had nearly lost hope that she'd see grandchildren - and with my brother's arrived two and a half years later, the two of us would remain the only grandchildren for both sets of grandparents. Both my paternal grandparents were only children, and my dad's only sibling, my Uncle Gary, is divorced with no children. Added to that is my mom being an only child and you can begin to understand that my brother and I had no first cousins and are part of a family tree that seemed like it could eventually peter out if a new generation doesn't come soon.

For those of you who made it through the family history section, you're probably still concerned with the big question, "When is the baby due?" The extremely guesstimated date is October 14, 2009. We may get an updated due date when I go in for my nine-week ultrasound on St. Patrick's Day. However, even if the due date changes, it will still fall sometime in October, a time of year I love. I also quickly realized that there are advantages to giving birth before winter sets in in Minnesota. Dealing with winter can be challenging when you're not eight months pregnant, and I'm relieved I won't be pregnant and trying to shovel out my car or take a walk on icy sidewalks.

I may be disappointing some of you (or maybe not!) when I say I don't want to know the sex of the baby. Chris isn't on board yet with the idea of keeping it a surprise, but I'm very comfortable without not knowing. I realize I'm probably in the minority. I only know two couples who didn't want to find out the sex of their baby. When it's so easy to find out, then why not? I actually thinks it takes some of the fun out of it to find out beforehand.

We're also going to keep the name a surprise until the baby is born. Again, I think it's more fun to keep it a surprise, but we're also doing this to protect our choice. Before the baby is born, people are apt to tell you why your choice in a name isn't a good idea, but most people choose to keep their mouths shut once the baby is born.