California Dreamin'

This picture sums up our weekend in Monterey ... fun and relaxing. And what is a fun, relaxing weekend in California without jumbo, plush slippers?

It was nice to finally have a vacation that is relaxing. The perfect mix of sightseeing and nothingness. Most of our trips, we find ourselves spending each moment rushing around, and planning the next place to rush to. This weekend, we just enjoyed each moment.

We started off in San Francisco with a stay at the Marines Memorial Hotel. We woke up in the morning to a complitmentary buffet. Not just coffee and boxed pastries, I mean a complete buffet and it was delicious. We followed that up with a movie with Megan. FANBOYS. Let me tell you this movie was hilarious. I highly recommend seeing it. We then spent the afternoon in Chinatown with Megan and Cousin Robbie. We had a wonderful lunch and then headed to San Jose to see Aunt Connie. Connie made us a fantastic lasagna dinner. For dessert, we had "decoorate you own Valentine's cookie." After a little TV, we made our way down to Monterey.

The next morning, the girls made breakfast and headed off to the fabric store to pick out things for baby. Rob and I took this opportunity to hit the comic store, where i found an incredible Buffy maquette I had to have. Next we drove to the Marriott off highway 1 which sits on top a cliff to watch the waves and hoped to catch a whale, but alas it was too foggy to see out far enough, so we just enjoyed the waves crash against the shore. From there, we headed back to Monterey and walked around downtown. It was here we found the Nestle Tollhouse shop, and it was glorious. We also attended the Monterey wax museum, and managed to freak the living H E double hockey sticks out of Rob. And finally, back to Lexi and Rob's place for some video games and the biggest pizza I have ever seen.

It was great to have enough time to see everyone we wanted to see, and enjoy their company without running around like crazy people. We can't wait to go back and visit again.

One small request

It seems that at 22 weeks, we are at the point in the pregnancy that people may begin to buy gifts for the baby. While nothing is expected from anyone, and everything is appreciated, I would like to make one small request: please do not purchase anything with Winnie the Pooh on it for our baby. If there is one thing I am against in this world, it is this bear. I spent years at the Disney Store and Walt Disney World, and I know what this bear can do to a child, and I will not bring that down upon my son. Winnie the Pooh is everything that is wrong with Disney. I hope that even if you think my beliefs are a little crazy, you will honor this request.

Man at work

One of the things you get to look forward to, being a new parent, is planning the nursery: colors, themes, etc. Stacy and I are very excited to get started on our little boy's room. However, there are some things that must get done first.

We discovered after a large rain last year that we were getting water in the basement. After a big melt this winter, more water came in, so we knew there was a problem. Permaseal came out and discovered that there was a crack in our foundation that needed to be filled. Problem was, they were not allowed to get at the crack. Solution? I got to tear out the wall! My father-in-law came over and taught me to remove dry wall. Next thing you know, I have a hole in my basement that I tore out all by myself. The crack has been filled, and now I get to re-drywall the hole and refinish the area. Theres nothing like tearing out and putting in drywall to make you feel like a man. After this, the baby room will be no problem at all!

And the verdict is in...

Well, we finally made it to the twenty week mark! Half way through the pregnancy, and everything is great! Stacy is looking nice and prego now, as shown in this photo. We've started picking themes and colors for the baby room. We've also begun looking at cribs, strollers, and car seats. For this point of the pregnancy, I think we are right where we want to be and know everything we need to know.

Oh, I almost forgot. There is one more thing you get to do at the twenty week mark: another ultrasound. This time, our little baby was not being cooperative at all. After a lot of searching, our technician was able to tell us....

We are having a boy!!

We are very excited, not only that we are going to have a baby boy, but also because I have once and for all proven Brad's "Fremd High School Theory" is complete BS!

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more pictures of Stacy as the baby and the belly grow. There will also be a series of posts as we ready the nursery. We hope you come back to see it all as we get closer and closer to June 11th!

I've heard of snow days, but how about cold days?

Last night, the temperature overnight dropped below zero. Not uncommon for this time of year. What is not common, however, is that the temperature will not go back above zero degrees again for sixty hours or so. Right now, for example, it is thirteen degrees below zero, with a wind chill of minus thirty one. MINUS THIRTY ONE! That is cold. I can take cold. But apparently, the teachers and kids can't. Did you know there is a state law that if the wind chill is minus thirty, they have to close the schools? Stacy got the call this morning at 4:45 am that she didn't have to go in today, and another at 6:30 this evening that she didn't have to go in tomorrow either. What are all these kids going to do without these two days of education? Trust me, from personal experience, that nothing constructive can come from two days of no school due to extrem cold. In fact, they will be so bored that they might end up doing something that may come back to haunt them in their adult lives. Perhaps, a group of friends will gather in one of their parents' basement and grab their Dad's video camera and reenact Star Wars with a combination of action figures and bad costumes. You can imagine how embarassing that will be when it comes up later in life. Believe me, no one wants that. I say, get those kids back in school before they do themselves any more emotional damage. This all, of course, is purely hypohetical. Stay warm, everybody.

A thrill only parents-to-be can understand

We went shopping the other day, and found ourselves at Babies R Us to begin the process of picking out furniture for the baby room. When pulling in, we found the wonderful "Expectant Mothers" parking spot waiting for us. It gave Stacy quite a little thrill during our otherwise mundane shopping day. Now, if only we could find these signs everywhere we went, it would be "Rockstar" parking all the time!

Soon, all your questions will be answered

Stacy went to the doctor yesterday. He told her everything looked fine, and that things were moving along quite nicely. As she does at every four week visit, Stacy got to hear Baby Lewis's heartbeat again. This time, however, the doctor shared some information with her. He prefaced this with "its an old wives tale," but at this stage in the pregnancy, if the the baby has a faster heart beat it points towards it being a girl. If it has a slower heartbeat, a boy. Faster or slower than what, I don't know. But our baby had a slower heart beat, which prompted the doctor to predict a boy.

We've had contradictory predictions recently, though. At the Ritz Carlton, we had our picture taken before dinner, and the photographer there immediately said "its a girl." Personally, I have had many dreams about the big day, and its been an even split of boy babies and girl babies. Personally, we don't care either way as long as he/she is healthy and has ten fingers, ten toes, etc. But it is nice to know that the waiting to find out is almost at an end.

On Friday, January 23rd, 2009 we go in for our twenty week ultrasound, and provided the baby doesn't have its legs crossed or anything, we will know. Stay tuned for the big announcement!

Fun from Fort Myers

Who would have known I would find something to blog about at Aunt Bette's condo on Fort Myers Beach. In looking to see where we might find a Karaoke bar on the beach (my family loves a good night of karaoke), we picked up the local beach paper, The Island Sand Paper. Looking though it to find the entertainment guide, we stumbled upon the back page.

The back page girl. If you read the description, it introduces you to this weeks back page girl and tells you a little bit about her. For example, this weeks girl's name is Stefanie. She is a student, and she works a the Channel Mark......wait a minute. It tells you where she works? This is unreal. They put up a picture of a beautiful girl in a bikini for all to see, and then tells you where to find her? Its like a guide for stalkers on the beach! Where were all these articles when we used to visit Grandma and Aunt B all those years we were single? "Here you go Patrick, here's the exact place to find this gorgeous girl. Have fun." It would have made those Spring Break trips to Fort Myers much more enjoyable.

As if that wasn't enough, if you pick up the other local beach paper, The Beach Bulletin, you can turn to the back page and once again see a beautiful girl and find out where she works. However, they don't call it the Back Page Girl....

Show us your tats. SHOW US YOUR TATS! They really put up a picture of a beautiful girl in a bikini, and label it Show Us Your Tats. Am I the only one who finds this intriguing? There is just something very wrong (and perhaps very right) about this.

To the youth of America looking for a place to find a beautiful girl for Spring Break 2010, might I recommend Fort Myers Beach, Florida. Just pick up the local paper, and you have your girls.

Christmas in Fort Myers Beach

Let me start by saying for all of you who enjoyed your Christmas in the snow and cold...SUCKERS!

We spent our holiday at the beach in the 80 degree weather. Every morning, we woke up to look out over the ocean. Every afternoon, we sat out by the pool. And every evening, we slept with the sliding doors open. It wasn't too bad for Patrick and Stacy.

Let me tell you a little bit about Aunt Bette's condo. Its called the Coquina, however due to its location, it has been renamed the Co-gina. Its down the beach from the Master Bait and Tackle, down the road from the Publix, and across the street from the Munch Box. We had three condos to stay in, and it was a blast. Walks on the beach, lounges at the pool, and games at night. It was quite the enjoyable Christmas.

However, it wasn't the perfect Christmas. Keep in mind, I wasn't able to get a photo of the following in fear for my life, but try to imagine. My dad had picked up a bottle of wine from Costco, and when Robbie went to open it, the cork crumbled in the bottle. My dad tried to fix the situation. We handed him a knife and went back to preparing dinner. Next thing we heard was my dad screaming for help. We turned around to see his eyes closed, and red wine all over his face, shirt, the walls, and the ceiling. In trying to fix the cork, he managed to splash the wine out of the bottle and all over. We all thought Christmas was ruined for sure. Needless to say, my parents owe Aunt Bette and new coat of paint in the condo.

For Christmas dinner, we all headed out to Naples for a dinner buffet the likes of which you have never seen. The Ritz Carlton, Naples, puts on a dinner with more delicious food than you can imagine. There was a bread and spread bar, a seafood bar, soups and salads. There were side dishes of mashed potatoes, wild rice, califlower. And for main courses, prime rib of beef, turkey and sage stuffing. Then the desserts. Oh God, the desserts. I cant even begin to describe the desserts, and the pictures do not do it justice. There were puddings, creme brule, cookies, key lime pie, and ice cream stations that served made-to-order bananas foster and a molten chocolate cake. Out of this world.

The rest of the trip was enjoyable. We spent a few hours at the outlet malls, and a few hours shopping in Naples. The only downfall was the travel situation. Due to the weather in Chicago, we didn't arrive home unil 4 am. Other than that, Stacy and I had a very merry Christmas at the beach.

We hope you enjoyed your Christmas just as much, and that you have a very happy new year!

Merry Christmas From Our Family

Stacy, Wrigley, and myself would like to wish all our friends and family a Merry Christmas. This will be the last Christmas without a little one running around for us, and the last one where the presents are focused on us as well. Next year, we will have a 6 month old to spoil.

This Christmas Stacy and I are joining the Lewis clan in sunny Fort Meyers Beach, FL. This is something new for Stacy to experience. The Lewis family has been going to Florida off and on for years now. While it may take Stacy some time to adjust, I know she will have a great Christmas with us there. This experience is a must if she is to truly enjoy a Lewis Christmas.

To the rest of our friends and family, we hope you enjoy your holiday wherever you may be. 2009 will bring more updates as the due date grows closer. By the end of January we should know the sex of our little one, and the updates will become more frequent. Until then, Merry Christmas once again from the Lewis Family!