Power to the People!

Yesterday was kinda nuts. Our pastor, Mark Aduddell, had a generator and an idea: hardwire the garage to the generator so we could get a car out. We loaded up the generator and some curious church staff and headed to the house. With the staff standing a safe 30 feet away and me nervously handling tools to Mark as he knelt by our breaker panel, we made a connection and started the generator. I pushed the opener and up came the door. We then ran an extension cord down the basement steps to the furnace and plugged it in. Nothing. Our furnace would fire up and then shut right back off. We made several more attempts before giving up and heading out.

Two hours later, my neighbor calls and tells me the power is on. I'm thinking what does it matter if I have power but my furnace is busted? I rush home after work to check on the house. Sure enough, power is on. Praise the Lord!!! I figure it's worth a shot to check the furnace again while I'm there. I plug it in and it works! I leave for the Christmas party and we return home to our warm and cozy house and sleep in our own bed for the first time since Sunday. It was awesome!

Power Out: Day 4

Well I didn't sleep at the house last night. We ended up back at the Bottomly's for lasagna, pie, the finale of America's Next Top Model, and a little Tiger Woods on Nintendo Wii. We did drive through our neighborhood after work to check on the house. The trees are starting to assume their usual shapes and the house is a chilly 47 degrees. The neighborhood did have some random street lights on and I heard power was restored to Mesta Park, the neighborhood to the west. I'm praying for power tonight so we can return home... although we will miss the Wii.

Power Out: Day 3

Michelle and I loaded the dog in the Bottomly's Civic and met my folks in Tulsa to hand him over and pick up a car. It is one thing to have the power go out at your house, but the inconvenience is kicked up a notch (Bam!) when you also lose transportation. Having a car and a dogsitter makes it way easier to be flexible and makes us appreciate our home more than ever.

The Bottomly's are great to have us stay with them. Michelle and I tiptoed and whispered around the house this morning trying not to wake them but think we made more noise trying to be quiet than we would have just walking around normal. I might wake up tomorrow and strap a couple pots to my feet and drag their Christmas tree around with me from room to room to create some white noise.

Pics are of other trees in our yard. NBC News and the Today Show were live from our neighbor yesterday morning. That's not a good sign. We were told by OG&E that the historic districts will most likely be the last neighborhoods to get power restored. An optimistic estimate is next Tuesday. That's 8 days without power.

I'm loading up a friend's generator today and plan on sleeping at the house tonight. Wish me luck.

Winter Mourning

When it comes to predicting storms, weathermen are typically more dramatic than necessary. They get everyone worked up to think the world will be shut down for weeks, sending frantic old ladies to the store for 9 loaves of bread and all the water they can grab. However, we found out this weekend that weathermen are sometimes right on.

We woke up at 5am this morning with no power and no heat. I got up to assess the situation when I heard what sound like an iceberg breaking apart outside. I looked out the front window to find our beautiful tree split into 3 and laying in the yard.

Our cars are in great shape, though, due to them being in the garage... which is detached from the house and has no way in except the garage doors... which don't open without electricity. So the Bottomly's came to our rescue and we are hold up in The Village.

Big Baby

Time is flying and we can't believe a baby will here in 10 weeks. February seemed to be so far away...now it's right around the corner. Our nursery is awaiting delivery of the changing table tomorrow afternoon to be complete. Paint is on and approved. Drapes are hung. Baby clothes and accessories are organized. Diapers are stocked. All that remains after the changing table are pictures for the wall. That is dad's department.

Brooke (Watkins) Brann told us about a cool OU calendar she saw at one of those mall kiosks. It is pretty sweet. Each month has a vintage OU program cover from the 1920's and 30's. They are 11"x14" and pre-perforated for framing. The perfect compromise between Michelle's cutesy decor and my desire to start the Sooner brainwashing early.

Michelle's appointment went well last week, but for the second appointment in a row she is measuring 3 cm larger than normal. Dr. Huff said it could be the way she is carrying him, or he could be big. We have an ultrasound scheduled in a couple weeks so pics of the baby will follow. If the baby is big, we'll track his growth and maybe move the due date up as many as 14 days.

February is going to be wild. We'll get to see those of you who need an excuse like a birth or emergency surgery to visit us. And for others who are apparently no longer with us (i.e. Hartsocks, Grigors) we will remember you as we celebrate. We invite all friends and family to visit us any time and share in our new joy... and the changing of some diapers.

And His Name Shall Be Called...

Who knew naming a human being was so darn hard. Michelle and I have considered just about every name in Christendom. We've even made some up. Seen street signs and added Boyd after it (I was really pulling for 2nd Street Boyd). Michelle was ready to name our little guy a couple weeks ago but the finality of the moment hit me. I mean , it's a person's name. His identity. The word little punk kids at his school will make rhyme with some other word to form an insult (instantly takes Tucker off the list). But, after much thought, we've decided. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the next great quarterback of the University of Nebraska, David Crew Boyd.

Belly Update and a Shower!

It's been a while since our last post but we've made a new commitment to keep it more up-to-date.

Michelle is doing great and the little guy (yet to be named) has taken control over her stomach. Evening seems to be his busy time when he moves around the most. It is so much fun to feel him jab and poke from under her skin and cool when you can actually see it, although at this point you have to be watching pretty close.

Still no major cravings or discomfort. Although last week was the first time Michelle said she wasn't as free to roll over during sleep as she had been. She woke up to roll over but felt like her belly was sewn to the bed. She literally had to reach her arm under her belly and pull it with her as she rolled. Last night her stomach was lopsided cause the baby was positioned so that his head or butt or something was sticking way out to one side.... that, or one of Michelle's kidneys is about to explode. I sure hope it's the baby.

We hosted a shower for the Zak & Jessica Bottomly at our house last weekend. It was a lot of fun and great to see friends bring gifts to help them get started. What would any of us do without friends or family? The Bottomly's are due 10 days ahead of us but I'm not sure Michelle will make it to her due date. Her sister, Mariam, was early and Michelle was 2 months early. It would be way awesome to have the babies on the same day!

Tonight we bid farewell to Canary Grass green and welcome paint color #4 to the nursery walls, Macadamia. Please God, make this be the one.

Toile is OUT!

We are trying to get our house in order and get ready for the arrival our new miniature roommate. The nursery is currently clothed in its third color of paint awaiting a fourth whenever Michelle decides what new color will go best with the baby bedding... which, as of yet, we do not have. A set was ordered from Pottery Barn kids and returned a week later. Our neighbors (parents as of Thursday) picked materials and had a lady make the bedding custom. Michelle decided that was a great idea and came home with some material swatches. I was on board with the whole "pick-your-material-and-find-a-nice-old-lady-to-sew" thing... until Michelle pulled out the blue toile swatch. Toile? Boy? Just knowing how to spell toile knocks me down a peg in Man-dom. Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't think we need to rub the walls in dirt and clothe the baby in animal hide... but toile is out. If you are at the store to get us a gift, and you've seen the most precious little thing you think would be perfect for our baby, and it's toile... keep walking. Please. You can return to buy it when we're pregnant with a girl.

We did get our crib put together yesterday. So much fun to walk in the room and see something for a baby. Though we now realize how much we have left to do since the crib is the only baby thing we have. Michelle has a great plan for the room and our baby boy will love it... but no toile.

Getting ready for baby.

Things to do:
1) Name baby
2) Paint nursery green
3) Assemble crib we got from Griz & Gramz (you guys rock!)
4) Register for stuff
5) Repaint nursery after Michelle decides green is out, beige is in
6) Have shower
7) Rename baby
8) Return stuff we shouldn't have registered for and get stuff we didn't know to register for
9) Repaint nursery, beige is out, chocolate brown is in
10) Have baby
11) Rename baby when it doesn't "look" like name we picked
12) Return stuff we thought would fit for stuff that actually fits the baby
13) Have baby help tape off nursery so we can paint it green.
14) Teach baby to make our decisions for us

IT"S A BOY!!!

And here are the pictures to prove it! Our incredible 7 oz. baby boy! 10 fingers, 10 toes, 1 face. Everything looks good. Such an incredible experience. The day was every bit as exciting as we thought it would be.

Our nurse told us she could tell the sex so we studied the screen to find a clue. I saw what I thought were girl parts and said, "Wow, it's a girl!" Michelle replied, "Are you crazy, can you not see his thingy?" I moved my eyes to the other side of the screen and saw it immediately...his thingy. Boyd grand kids: 6 boys, 1 girl, 1 fetus.

Rick asked me how we are celebrating...I told him probably by spending the evening arguing about names. I'm holding out for Krog.

Belly Update

Michelle's belly is growing. She's been worried that people will think she was developing a gut because it wasn't completely obvious she was pregnant. She is more comfortable now...and looks pretty amazing.

THURSDAY! THURSDAY! THURSDAY!

Well, this is it! The week we've been looking forward to for months. The week the name game starts. The week the nursery gets planned. The week we find out if we're having a boy or a girl! Thursday @ 3PM is our ultrasound. We are so excited to see our baby and find out what it is. We have no gut feeling either way, although everyone we talk to seems to know and give us some crazy reason why we're having it. Things like, "Ooh, you crave salty? It's a boy." or "Hmm, you don't feel nauseous? It's a girl." Michelle mentioned that she was hungry and someone replied, "You're hungry? It's a boy. I was always hungry when I was pregnant with so-in-so." Like a pregnant woman isn't hungry all the time anyway.

Michelle is doing great and has had no significant discomfort so far. Some husbands I know complain about how crazy their pregnant wife has become...I'm very lucky...other than the previously posted Gatorade fiasco, Michelle has been her peaceful ol' self.

Check back for pictures and the big announcement on Thursday.

European Vacation

Our trip to Europe was awesome but we discovered that 2 weeks is probably a week longer than our limit. Michelle did great with all the walking but craved food we couldn't always find.

We hit Paris first and really loved it. Tons to do, easy transportation, very clean, and nice people. The food in France is not great. Though we loved our ham & cheese baguettes the first day, we loathed them the fifth. Can someone please tell the French about MEAT!!! I will hand it them, crepes + Nutella + bananas = Happy Dagen. The crepes were so good we bought a crepe maker...yeah, we're those people.

We hit all the major attractions, including a day trip to Versailles. The gardens were great, the castle was crowded, and the Queen's Hamlet was a trip favorite. Marie Antoinette built a replica peasant village in the back of the grounds. Almost looks like Disney designed it. Paris rocks and gets 2 enthusiastic thumbs up from the Boyds.

We were pretty tired when we got to Rome but were ready for some pasta and hopefully some MEAT!!! We arrived to warmer weather than we enjoyed in France and a crazy shuttle driver. Michelle leaned over to me on the ride to the hotel and said, "Dagen, he's going 140!" I reminded her that he was going 140 Km/hour...even still, that's almost 90mph! We loved our hotel and enjoyed some good ravioli the first night. We hit all the major sights in two days and had some down time the last 2. We saw Disturbia at an English theater and enjoyed McDonalds 4 or 5 times. I got the McChicken since it had MEAT! Fries were awesome! The best part about Rome... GELLATO!!!

Man Law: Part 2

Assembly Without Instruction

Houston...we have a belly!

We were just sitting around after work Monday...minding our own business...when suddenly Michelle looked down and said, "Holy cow! I have a belly!" (I've always imagined those words coming from my mouth a few years from now) I grabbed the camera and took this picture. Doesn't she look great? Michelle says this picture makes her look bigger than she really is. I played it smart and told her I would take the camera in and get it fixed.

Dallas & Business Time

A great trip to Dallas to check in on the Hammacks and Shipleys. Blake's car was towed from Chuy's but he handled it gracefully and was a great example to all of us. We also hooked up with David Penuel and his wife, Alli. They are expecting their first baby in September. We also watched this video like 10 times...cause it's funny.

Yard of the Month: The Article

In a previous post, I announced we had been selected as the Edgemere Park Yard of the Month. Well, to make it official, we now have a sign in the yard and an article in the newsletter. Don't call us for gardening tips, we have no clue what we're doing. Click below to read the newsletter.

Incinta!!!

Telling people we are pregnant has almost been as exciting as finding out we are pregnant. I called one of my best friends, Chris Pregler, to let him know we are expecting only to find out he and Jennifer are also expecting and due a week after us. Michelle had told all of her friends except for Jessica Bottomly who had been in Rome with her husband, Zak, for 6 weeks. They are the friends we hang out with the most and the girls have been friends since they were very young. We met them at Chili's the day after they got back from Rome and played a game to tell them we are having a baby. I tested their Italian vocabulary by asking the English translation of several Italian words. The last word was "Incinta" and Zak said..."Pregnant? You guys are pregnant?" We tried our hardest to convince them to hop on the baby train too...they did a good job skirting the issue. In the parking lot they gave us a gift from Italy...a bottle of wine from the Chianti region. The bottle had the above picture attached. Kudos to the Bottomlys for playing it cool in the restaurant. The only thing better than having a baby, is sharing the same experience with some of your closest friends.

Baby Bottomly - Feb 3
Baby Boyd - Feb 13

Baby Pregler - March 1

DUE DATE UPDATE

It could be a very Happy Valentine's Day! Our due date has been moved to February 13.

Too Much Gatorade!

Disclaimer: this is Dagen's account (the actual account) of the Gatorade fiasco.

Michelle and I were watching TV in our pajamas one evening when a craving hit. "Would you like to go to OnCue and get yourself a drink and get me some Gatorade?" I didn't want a drink but I did want to be a good husband so I grabbed the keys and headed off to get Gatorade. I headed to Wal-Mart so I could maximize my Gatorade dollar and stock up. I grabbed 3 gallons: 1 Lemon-lime and 2 Orange...nothing more. I proceeded to the checkout where I stood...and stood...for more than 25 minutes I stood. There were 2 cashiers for over 15 people. I returned home frustrated at Sam Walton. I put the Gatorade on the kitchen counter and headed to living room. Michelle pops her head over the couch and says, "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!? You've been gone like 40 minutes." I said I had been standing in the checkout line. "Did you get Gatorade?" I told her it was in the kitchen. "Well, can I have some," she asked. I went back to the kitchen, grabbed a glass, filled it with Gatorade and brought it to her. One sip..."It's warm!!!" She jumps up from the couch and heads to the kitchen. She turns the corner and sees the 3 gallons on the counter. "That's TOO MUCH Gatorade! I just wanted small bottle of it." I tried to explain the economy of purchasing in bulk but she wasn't up for it. "I asked for a bottle of Gatorade from OnCue, why did you buy so much? This will go bad before I can drink it all." I didn't argue with her that Gatorade doesn't go bad, I just wondered where she had found my bottle of crazy pills. We woke up the next morning and Michelle said, "I'm sorry I went crazy last night. I knew I was being crazy during the conversation but I just couldn't stop." Great...8 more months of crazy. Imagine how bad it would have been if I had told her I was considering buying a case of Gatorade powder.

WE"RE HAVING A BABY!!!

That's right...we are pregnant! We are so excited. Our baby is due Feb. 20, 2008. Michelle is doing very well but is tired a lot. When we used to ask people if they wanted a boy or a girl and their reply would be, "We don't care as long as it is healthy." I'd be like, yeah right, that's what you're supposed to say. But now that we're pregnant, that's all we want...a healthy baby. The picture is of our June 27 sonogram where we saw the heartbeat. Such an awesome thng.

Dagen turns 30.

The Dagen is old. Michelle threw me a surprise party in my own backyard...which explains the inordinate amount of yard work I did that week. She pulled off the best birthday party I've ever had. Special thanks to Cullins and the Preglers for coming in from out of town, and to Deren for helping get the sweet t-shirts.

Rufus and Induced Vomitting

We eat lunch at home most days. One afternoon Michelle was rolling solo for lunch and when she got home discovered our dog, Rufus, had eaten a bottle of vitamins off the counter. And when I say a bottle of vitamins, I mean the vitamins and the bottle. Michelle called our vet in a panic to see what she should do. He suggested bringing Rufus in which meant a 20 minute trip to Norman. Michelle throws the dog in the car and hits the highway. The vet offers two options: 1. Pump his stomach, which is not good, or 2. Induce vomitting with a pill. Michelle chose option 2 with the vet's advice. The pill takes effect in a few minutes and vomitting can last a couple hours...so the vet suggested Michelle take Rufus home to give him the pill. After she pays and starts to head out, the vet pokes his head out from seeing his next patient and says, "Oh, you need to put the pill under his lower eyelid. Thanks." and ducks back into the room. WHAT? DID HE SAY UNDER THE EYELID?!? WHAT?!? So Michelle calls on her way home to fill me in on the details. Since I did not expect Rufus to enjoy the procedure, and use every bit of his 100 lbs to fight it, i thought I'd better go home to help. About 10 minutes later, as I'm packing up to head home, Michelle calls. She's balling. "I got it! I just saw an opening and I went for it! He's throwing up everywhere! It's awful!" As she explains more about Rufus' experience I can picture him looking at her between hurls with a weak, lowered head as if to say, "Why?" bluuh "My God, why? bluuh. When I got home I found Michelle sitting on the floor, Rufus lay next to her with his head in her lap. Of all the things I could say...I blurt out..."Why were vitamins on the counter?" Looks like another year gone without a Husband of the Year Award.

Yard of the Month!!!

After a significant amount of mockery aimed at previous recipients of our neighborhood's "Yard of the Month" award...we have been selected as the July 2007 winner. Our house/yard will be featured in the July newsletter and a large sign announcing the honor will be installed in the yard. I was excited at first... then it hit me, when you have sign in your yard that says "Yard of the Month" on it, people expect to see a perfectly kept lawn. I guess I'll be mowing every other day and picking weeds and watering when I get home from work. Basically, the honor will only increase yardwork and make me part of a group I made fun of out of envy. So much for being a winner. Look for pictures in July.

Man Law

Churches have WAY TOO much time for the absurd. These are two of several spoofs filmed for Journey Church's "Red Hot" series on relationships.

Loofahs

All Dates Day