03/27/2003 Newsletter

Profile of baby

baby's foot View pictures from Hannah's Birthday Party

3-27-03

IT'S A BOY!!! This week we found out that the new addition to our family is a little boy. James and I thought that we wouldn't be finding out for a few weeks still, but when I went to my new doctor on Tuesday, they wanted me to have my ultrasound right away. They set up an appointment for me that afternoon. It was amazing to watch as the ultrasound technician pointed out all the body parts of our little baby. He was in a pretty good position so we got to see just about every part of him. He kept moving around while she was trying to get a heartbeat reading. James and I were pretty quiet throughout the ultrasound and finally the technician hesitantly asked if we'd like to know the sex. She said that she's always afraid to ask in case she inadvertently causes people to change their mind at the last minute. Needless to say, James and I were very eager to find out so that we could start getting everything ready (and to appease the anxious grandmas). The technician found a perfect shot of the baby's underside (imagine if a naked baby was sitting on a sheet of glass and your were looking up at it from underneath, that's how it looked) and she announced without a doubt that it was a boy. I think James got a little emotional when she told us, but he says it wasn't too bad. I was in a little bit of shock, because for some reason I was thinking it was going to be a girl. (So much for maternal intuition.)

After the ultrasound we immediately called various members of our families and began trying to think of names. We think we've come up with a pretty good one, but we are going to wait a little while before making up our minds for sure and announcing it. We feel pretty good about it though so we'll let you know when we decide.

The last few weeks seem to have flown by. So I'll quickly recap the highlights for you all. James is finally done with school!!! He finished his last class on Wednesday the 19th. Commencement exercises are on the 3rd of May sometime in the morning. You should be receiving an announcement in the mail soon, so keep an eye out for that. We've paid all the fees and we even have his cap and gown sitting in our front room right now, so we are all set for him to get his diploma. Every night this week James has mentioned the fact that he doesn't have to go to class anymore (I think he's excited to be done).

We also have done some minor stuff on the house lately. We dug up some really ugly tree/bushes that were marring our front flowerbed and we also dug up the stump of an old peach tree that was in a perilous spot on our front lawn (both James and I have almost twisted our ankles by stepping near it). I painted the bottom half of our dining room a dark shade of red in anticipation of getting our molding and a chair rail up in the next week or so. The red adds much needed color to the room. We'll put a picture of it up when it is all the way done.

We are busily making plans for our house and how we are going to get James' office and the baby's room done without breaking our backs or the bank. We've decided to put James' office downstairs so he won't have to move it any time in the near future and so that we still have a guest bedroom upstairs. The major issue with putting it downstairs is how we are going to get sufficient power to that room. We also want to carpet and paint all of the bedrooms upstairs and also the office. It looks like we have our work cut out for us - Again.

Well, I think that's enough for this week. We love all of you.

Love, Miekka and James