Peanut Met Kenny Chesney

Last Thursday, Kenny Chesney played Bloomington; tickets sold out in three minutes. We bought floor seats and went backstage. It's kind of a big deal because he's not going to tour next year.
Mary's camera was the star of the show: Backstage, Kenny's road manager used her camera to take our photo. As he pushed the button, the battery died. So I made chit chat with Kenny while she swapped out the battery. Then, a security guard came up during the show and tried to confiscate the camera because it has a detachable, telescoping lens (but everyone else in the building can take high quality pics and video!?!?)
The show was great - we got back to Champaign at 12:30pm. Rather than go to bed, I stayed up all night; I went in to work early. I ended up being awake 32 hours straight!

Back to the morning show

It's official. I'm waking up at 3:45 each morning to be on the morning show permanently. I was asked if I would be willing to return a few weeks ago but took three weeks to consider the change.

Pros: Done with work around 1 every day
We might be able to do a half-day of daycare

Cons: lack of sleep
My alarm wakes Mary every morning.

It was waking Mary that I was most concerned with. So far so good - as long as I don't hit the snooze button, Mary falls right back to sleep.

First Ultrasound (Rob)

Today, we had our first ultrasound! It lasted a lot longer than I thought it would, but, at the same time, it didn't last long enough :)
They measured the size of the head, zoomed in on the kidneys, the heart, the leg bones, arms, feet, hands... everything is completely normal.

(click pics to enlarge)

Where To Bathe Baby

I took last Monday off and surprised Mary with a new sink, complete with new faucet and garbage disposal. She had no idea it was coming; the parts had been hidden beneath my mess in the garage. Why a new sink?
1) Mary's wanted a garbage disposal for some time.
2) The sink is deeper, an ideal place to bathe the baby.
3) The faucet has a detachable hose - good to get into those hard to rinse cracks (if you catch my drift).
I finished the project Monday (same day), but not correctly. The first day, we could only use the left drain. Tuesday night after work, the right drain was cleared for use.

I'm not saying it's "up to code" but it works!

Pregnancy Update

Saturday is a big day! Mary will be 20 weeks along. That's halfway!
The baby is the size of a canteloupe. The belly is starting to get a little bigger. And, Mary's been feeling kicks!

We're anxiously awaiting our first ultrasound on the 24th- still a week and a half away.

There's still 4 1/2 months to go, which is a long time, right?

Meet Ellie Wallheimer!

Rob and I had the privilege of meeting Dot and Brian's baby girl, Eleanor Anne, last Saturday. She was just five days old, and she is absolutely precious and adorable! Here are some pics I took from the weekend, but you can see more at their blog (link to the right).

Baby's First Concert

Luke Bryan came to CU on August 1st and we got to go backstage and meet him. So here's the deal - we all line up along his bus. Luke's manager tells us the two rules - 1) no touching Luke's butt and 2) have your camera ready. Mary and I were last in line.

When we got to the front, Luke's manager took a picture with our camera. He forgot to push the button halfway to focus. You can almost make out the baby bump; actually, all you can see are Luke's teeth!