Summer of 2013

Wow, it's been a while since we've posted anything. We've been so busy this summer! What have we been doing?

• Chris completed an online course about machine learning.
• We grilled out in our back yard a lot. At one such party, we played a baseball game with Luca, and I think everyone would agree it was a blast. We're so happy to have our own yard!
• Kyra and Luca took a couple of trips to Minnesota to visit Kyra's Grandma ("Grammy").
• My brother, Kenny, and his wife, Joana, announced they are pregnant!
• We had a trip to Door County. We stayed in a cabin, went to lots of restaurants, hiked a bit, played cards, and all sorts of other things. Our friend Nick set up a treasure hunt for Luca one morning, including a treasure map and all!
• Our marriage turned 5! Kyra got a little older, too... : ) So did our foster child. Parties all around!

• Luca took a trip with friends to see Thomas the Tank Engine. He had a lot of fun, and it was his first weekend on a trip without parents or extended family!
• Luca took T-Ball lessons. He's still taking swimming lessons, too.
• Kyra and Chris, along with one of Kyra's coworkers, went to see Delta Rae live in downtown Madison. It was a great concert!
• Chris's cousin Matt got married, and Luca is still talking about it. It was held at a barn converted into an event hall, and Luca had a lot of fun running around with Chris's young cousins.
• Kyra and Chris went to a Mallards game with Kyra's coworkers. We played cards and we're not sure who won the baseball game.

At some point about here, a couple of our friends saved a family from drowning! They heard some thrashing in the pool and realized someone was in trouble. Chanel dove in and pulled out a couple of kids, then realized the father was still in the pool, and pulled him out too. They did CPR until the ambulance arrived. It was amazing!

• Luca attended a birthday party at a pet store. It was fun seeing all the different animals and how excited all the kids were about it. The guide got a gecko out and let it crawl on the kids, including Luca. He wouldn't let the snake near him, though.
• Kyra initiated the "Geeky Cooking Night", where we made all sorts of geeky food, like zombie leg meat (turkey actually), Star Trek tribbles (very tasty), and 1-up mushrooms.
• Marquis, Kyra's dad, got older by some unknown amount, and had a dance party. It was a lot of fun, even with the kids in tow. Luca and Kyra danced for a bit, as well as Chris and Kyra.

• We attended a corn boil for our CSA farm (community supported agriculture). The owners have kids near our age, and it's amazing to see them grow along with our own.
• Luca had another night without parents, when he took a trip to the Twin Cities with Nana. Kyra joined the next day. They had a birthday party and saw Grammy again.
• Kenny and Joana had a baby shower. Unfortunately, one of us was sick that day, so we couldn't make it, but we took them out to dinner a week later.
• We started to do some house fixing projects, including the driveway, plumbing, and insulation. Hopefully we'll be done before we have to turn the heat on full blast!
• Kyra started a training course for foster care that we have to take within 2 years of starting foster care.

Recently, Kyra and Chris had a day off to themselves, no kids! We went out for a leisurely breakfast, went for a walk at Olbrich, and had a late lunch followed by specialty chocolate. It was a glorious day. The first symphony of the season followed two days later. It was a very nice weekend.

What's coming up?

• Luca's birthday is coming up! We're going to have a swim party, so we'll have to figure out something else for all the adults in his life. We'll let everyone know.
• Kenny and Joana are due with their baby anytime now! Looks like another October birthday!
• We have a ton of birthday parties in October... Not sure if we can make it to all of them!
• It's been almost a year since we started foster care.
• We have a Halloween party planned with a formal theme, but in any state of repair. Kyra's going as a zombie, and Chris will be a silent film villain (cape, mustache, and all!).
• Kyra's already planning for Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, with turkey and goose for each, respectively. That should be interesting!

Wow, it's been busy, and it looks like it will slow down a bit.

Stay tuned for photos from all these events!

A Long Week

As you may know, Kyra went in to the hospital again last weekend. About a month prior, she had what appeared to be an infection around her left eye, and after a weekend in the hospital on intravenous antibiotics, it cleared up. This time, it was all over her face, red, itchy, swelled, and painful. So we thought whatever she had before came back. However, it seems to me like it is actually something different, like an allergic reaction or something else no doctor could figure out, especially with the addition of pain and itching.

The odd part of the story is that no specialist saw her last time or in between. I had to chew out the emergency room doctor to get him to ask the specialist to see her. Over the weekend, three specialists saw her, and the hospitalist actually gave a damn. This happened in part due to my complaints, and I think Kyra caught on and complained about it too. It's sad that patients need to complain to their health care provider to get the right care. Too bad I don't know anyone who works for an insurance company... Oh wait, I do.

At any rate, Kyra now has two appointments, one with an allergist and another with an internist. She'll get a scratch test, and maybe get cultured to see if she has colonized any antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Hopefully, one of these tests/examinations will reveal what happened.

The rest of this week we were trying to recover while I studied for an insurance exam for an introduction to insurance course. The course was offered by AHIP, America's Health Insurance Plans, a coalition of health insurance companies. I studied for a couple of hours every night this week, staying up late to do so. It was a bit draining. I had already read all of the material, but it's hard to remember all of that information, so I was reviewing it and going through the study guide. I took the test yesterday and passed, although I'm not sure what my score was - the software wasn't very clear where to find it. I'm glad it's done. Luca is just too small right now for me to be working and taking any amount of classes.

We were planning on going to Whitewater, WI, today to visit the alma mater and some friends from a music fraternity I was in during college, Delta Omicron. The group focusses on promoting music, including supporting music students through scholarships and performing music at an annual concert. It's not the usual fraternity as it's more academic than social. They were having an annual alumni reunion, but we were so tired we slept in until 9:00 am, which is when we needed to leave to get there on time. I was looking forward to it, but I was really just too tired.

We have our anniversary dance coming up, too, on May 23rd at 6:00 pm. We'll be having some snacks and lots of ballroom dances. If you'd like to attend, let one of us know or look for our event on Facebook.

Dancing with a Baby

Kyra and I took Luca to a UWMBDA ballroom dance a few weeks ago. We put Luca in a carrier and danced a couple of dances with him. Here are some photos from the dance from our friend Carla.











That night we dance a waltz and a west-coast swing with Luca. We wouldn't dance certain dances with him, like swing/jive, quickstep, hustle, or other fast or "jumpy" dances. Those dances are too fast or have too much vertical movement to be safe for him or his brain. At any rate, it is possible to dance with a baby, so long as the dance is slow and the baby can hold his head up.

I also added some more photos to our Christmas Album.





These photos are from Carla's place. We went there just before Christmas to share presents and spend some time together. Her Christmas tree was very pretty, and Luca like to look at all the lights. He was a cute little present under the tree!

A Smattering of Photos

Here's some random photos of Luca from the past couple of weeks.

Oh, it's you.

"WHAT?" - Luca

Wrapped up in a blankey

Where's the baby?! There's the baby!

I'm ready to lead. Where's my partner?

I'm ready to follow. Wait... what?

Bond, James Bond.

AH... sleep!

The photos of Luca in the formal attire were taken before attending a formal ballroom dance. UWMBDA had the final dance of the semester/year, and it was a formal dance. We all dressed in formal attire for the event, and Luca danced with us a couple of times while riding in the front baby carrier. We danced waltz and west coast swing.

The last photo shows what Kyra was talking about in the previous post--how Luca is too big for his current swaddle. Soon to be remedied, I hope!

A Letter from Auntie Carla: Dear Baby

Auntie Carla wrote a letter to our son on her site:

Dear Baby,

Hello! I thought I would take this opportunity given by your late arrival to write you a little note to welcome you to the world. Think of me as your tour guide. I'll tell you what you need to know. I am your Auntie Carla - technically no relation, but I care about your Mommy and Daddy very much.

It's almost time for your arrival, and I know that your Mommy and Daddy couldn't be more excited! Your bed is all ready, the bathtub is ready and Mommy and Daddy have had their hospital bags packed for weeks! Lots of people have spent a long time waiting for you - and you seem to want to wait even longer! I promise you'll have a great time once you get here!

First you will meet two people who just can't describe how happy they are that you are going to be a part of their lives. To you they are Mommy and Daddy, but to me they are Kyra and Chris. They are two of my very best friends, and I consider them family.

I will let Mommy and Daddy someday tell you the story of how they met, how they started dating, and how they got married, but I want to tell you I know your Mommy and Daddy love each other very much. Individually your parents are both wonderful people - two of the best people on the planet - and so their marriage was a wonderful event to witness. You should have seen your Mommy on her wedding day - she absolutely glowed. Your Daddy stood so proudly waiting for her and you could see exactly how much they love each other.

Your parents are practical people and love to have fun. Mommy and Daddy are already planning your first Halloween and your first Christmas! You have lots to look forward to!

Not only to you have your Mommy and Daddy who love you very much already, but their family and friends can't wait to meet you! Mommy and Daddy love to dance, and have lots of friends from dance who helped throw a baby shower so that Mommy and Daddy can have many books to read to you. You also have some pretty neat grandparents who are very excited! You have aunts, uncles, cousins and other relatives who also want to meet you and be a part of your life!

I know everyone who is waiting to meet you hopes you grow up healthy and happy. We want to watch you grow and work towards goals big and small. We can't wait to see what you look like, watch your personality develop, and witness your growth towards adulthood.

This world is an exciting place and I personally can't wait to help you explore it!

Lots of Love,
Auntie Carla

Heartbeats, Thai Festival, and Baby Shower, Huzzah!

Here are the latest two heartbeat samples. We just had an appointment today, but I forgot the sound recorder again! Oh well. At least I was there to hear it, and it sounded great! The midwife estimated that he was about 7 pounds!

Our Baby's Heartbeat, Sample 6


Our Baby's Heartbeat, Sample 7

Two weekends ago, we attended a university dance and took a couple of photos. We thought it would be the last dance we would attend, but we went back last weekend for a short time. It was nice to see all of our friends, and it's hard to go for weeks without seeing them. After attending the last dance, we went to Carla's and watched My Neighbor Totoro. It's a cute movie, but very strange!

Chris and Kyra

Carla and Kyra

Kyra and Baby!

Before going to the baby shower hosted by Kyra's paternal family, we went to the Thai Festival at Olbrich Gardens. Unfortunately, it was kind of rainy, so the performances were inside. We did get some shots of the pavilion, and Kyra finally got her picture with the bears!











The baby shower was fun, and not at all as embarrassing as Kyra led me to believe. We ate, played some games, opened presents, and talked. The decorations were all about bears and a picnic. Some of the games were very inventive, like the game about guessing which bear a phrase described. Players would throw a ball around, and when someone caught it, they had to look at where their thumb landed and read the phrase written on the ball. Then they had to guess what bear the phrase was about. Even though I was the only guy attending, I had fun!

Last weekend, Kyra started to have some contractions. In the last couple of days, she's had more, lasting longer than before. Tonight (Tuesday), she had a long series of contractions and decided to take a warm bath to help sooth the pain. The midwife reminded us that chances are she'll go past her due date, but I think this baby is going to come soon! Maybe next weekend! Who knows?!

Reception Videos

I've finally finished editing and uploading the videos from the reception. My sister recorded a lot of the reception video, and she decided to turn the camera on its side, which is why some of the videos look strange. I had to use software to turn them, and the video appears distorted.

Here are two clips of us cutting the cake, with a clip at the end from a different angle recorded by a friend. Both show how ignorant I was of wedding protocol. I didn't properly stuff my wife's face with cake.

Cutting the Cake

Here is a clip of the speeches made at the reception, including a speech by my dad, me (regarding our baby), Kyra's dad, and my brother (the best man), interspersed with two clips of Kyra and me kissing (one with cups on our heads). We didn't ask anyone to speak, but my parents had a speech planned, and Kyra's dad and Kenny made impromptu speeches. All of three were thoughtful and caring. Thanks guys!

Speeches

Here are two clips of our first and second dance. We told our friends to join us at a certain point during the first dance. No one was dancing during the second dance, so we had the floor to ourselves. It wasn't intended that way, but that's what happened. Instead of a traditional waltz for a first dance, we danced a night club two-step. The second dance was a rumba.

First Dance


Second Dance

Kyra really wanted her family to learn to do a samba line dance, so we played a typical samba line dance tune and recruited family and friends to dance. Here's a clip of the dance.

Group Dance

How to Plan a Wedding in Under 4 Months and $3,000

In May, we had our wedding, which was planned in under four months and with under $3,000. How did we do it? Here are some details about our wedding that may help answer that question.

1. Pre-Wedding Dinner. We decided to have a dinner for our family and the wedding party on the night before the wedding instead of a rehearsal dinner. (Since we were having a simple ceremony, we decided it wasn't necessary to rehearse.) We chose Pedro's Mexican Restaurant to host the dinner. They have good food that is moderately priced, and the staff is accustomed to large parties. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and it was a good way to introduce family and friends to each other.
2. Ceremony Location. The wedding was held at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. The rental fee was one of the largest items on our budget, but it was worth it. We did save a few hundred dollars by having a morning wedding. The rental fee included an indoor space in case it rained and allowed for a professional photographer. It was a gorgeous day! Our pictures are beautiful!
3. Clothing. The wedding dress was Kyra's grandmother's wedding dress, sewn by her great-grandmother during WWII. Kyra's mother altered the dress for her wedding and altered it for our wedding. (No small feat.) I wore a suit that I've had since college, and I purchased a tie that matched the dress. The groomsmen wore their own suits, with ties matching the bridesmaid's dresses, and the bridesmaids wore dresses of their own choosing.
4. Items. Our rings are made of tungsten carbide, which is one of the hardest substances, ranked just below diamond, making it low-maintenance. Kyra's mom also assembled the bouquets. The leis were shipped from Hawai'i and although they were an additional cost, were traditional in Kyra's family, as her grandmother is Hawaiian. Everyone commented how nice the leis were, too. The staff at Olbrich helps renters contact each other to share chair rental when there is more than one wedding on that day. We chose Bucky's Rentals and split the costs with two other parties.
5. People. The officiant, Peter Flessas, is an excellent speaker and sensibly priced, even though he traveled from Milwaukee. (We had a quote from one officiant for $600 who lives in the area!) My aunt Roxy was the photographer, and my aunt Beth was the videographer. Brent Darley of Madison Grapevine, a friend of ours, provided sound equipment for our wedding ceremony and some post-ceremony music. (Brent has excellent taste in music. He also helps with local social ballroom dance organization, UWMBDA.)
6. Music. We selected music for preludes, the processional and recessional, and the reception. We also DJed at the reception using Kyra's laptop, which we hooked to the sound system. We had about five hours of music picked out, which was excessive, but at least we were ready! We programed the first half-hour with songs we really liked, then populated a list to be played at random.
7. Reception Meal. Our reception was held shortly after the wedding ceremony at about noon, and we served lunch, which consisted of sandwiches, fruit, vegetables, chips, and other light fare. We purchased most of the food at Sam's Club, which was rather cheap and surprisingly good, especially the sandwiches and cakes. Kyra's family helped out by bringing in a few dishes of they cooked. Since the reception was at lunchtime, we decided not to provide alcohol at the reception, but we did provide soda. An extra item was the non-alcoholic champagne for the wedding party.
8. Reception Hall. The reception was held at Victoria's in Stoughton, WI. Having the reception outside of Madison reduced our costs exponentially. (Some of the halls in Madison were unbelievably priced for a barren, boring hall.) I delivered the food from Sam's Club on the day before the wedding, so everything was ready to go. The night before, after the pre-wedding dinner, we went to Victoria's with supplies we purchased from Party City and Jo Ann Fabrics. We decorated with our family and the wedding party. We didn't really have a plan, but it was fun and the hall ended up looking great! The staff at Victoria's helped us with everything, including setting up the food before we arrived. It was very stress-free thanks to all of their hard work.
9. Software. We used a variety of software to help us plan the wedding, including a number of online products offered by Google. See the entry about it for more information (and the update, too). Another couple had the similar ideas, as reported by The Official Google Blog.

Our plans may not be fitting for everyone planning an event or wedding. For example, if we didn't have the wedding dress and Kyra's mom's exceptional alteration skills, our expenses would have been a lot more. Nonetheless, we had a great wedding, planned with little time and money. So to anyone out there with little time and money to plan an event like this: It is possible! Our wedding video shows the beauty of the day and ceremony. Everyone involved made it a very special day. Thanks everyone!

Compliment and Parenting Styles

A week before Saturday, we were at a UWMBDA dance. We were dancing waltz, and afterward, a fellow dancer complimented our dancing, specifically our posture. Ironically, Kyra is pregnant, and she was in her 26th week and was showing quite significantly. Dancing with a pregnant partner creates a number of issues, including safety and, of course, posture. Nonetheless, apparently we looked great dancing the waltz, as other dancers noticed. He even thought we had been taking lessons! No sir, not with the wedding just a month before and the pregnancy in full swing! Perhaps we looked good because waltz is our favorite dance. Or perhaps it is because the extra space required for the baby forced us to have better posture and therefore a better "frame" (dance posture). It would be poor advice, though, to tell dancers that getting pregnant is great for your dance frame!

(Thanks to Eugene for the compliment!)

In other news, Miss Conduct wrote about an interesting complaint she received regarding children playing on airport baggage carousels. Apparently parents are permitting their children to play on and/or around the carousels, which creates a dangerous situation for the children and passengers attempting to claim their bags. In one case, a child was hit on the head with baggage because she was too close to the carousel, and the mother blamed the passenger! I blame the parent for permissive (or neglectful, as she was talking on her cell phone six feet away) parenting.

We intend to be authoritative parents (brief overview), especially in regard to setting rules and sticking to them (although with open dialogue about what the rules mean), instead of being permissive, as these parents appear to be--allowing their children to run around as they please with few rules and little enforcement of those rules. Parents like this, in my experience, tend to side with their child, even though other, responsible, trustworthy adults (e.g., teachers) provide alternative experiences. I have a couple of teacher friends who have had the ridiculous experience of having to fight parents about the child's misbehavior because the parent trusts the child more than the teacher--often a misplaced trust with mischievous children.

One last item in today's news. I saw a short video that I think is just great. It's about how a psychologist's life changes after he hears he has six months to live. As noted by others, it's full of cliches, but still a good story.

Our Time is Up
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vso9iPIpeu8

Gummy Bears, Rumba, and Blue Eyes

A few nights ago I came home to gummy bears whizzing by my ear. That's right, Chris was throwing food at me as I walked into our apartment. Specifically fruit flavored candy, which I think is way more amusing than had he been throwing something like, say, celery. Just wanted to point out what a goofball he is. Now on to my post...

Last night, Chris and I went to our now bi-weekly UWMBDA dance. I danced quite a bit, and I thankfully haven't had to add any more dances to the list of "Pregnant Lady Can't Do These Anymore". I really miss Viennese Waltz. Quickstep should probably be on there, but I am being stubborn about that one, its my favorite. Waltz and Rumba will most likely be the last to go. Chris and I did a lot of both last night. I love dancing rumba with Chris. Maybe its just memories, Rumba has been a very significant dance for us. We met during a rumba: it was our first BBDT class and I was having serious issues with my spot turns. Chris very patiently helped me through one for about fifteen minutes after class, until I had at least a slightly better idea of what the heck I was supposed to be doing. (I know, you're thinking: seriously, how hard is a spot turn? I'm the first to admit it, my Latin has some major issues.) We fell in love over a rumba: I will never forget our first performance together, or the song "Serve the Ego" as long as I live. There is also a certain look he gets when we dance rumba, that crooked smile, those beautiful blue eyes...

I think the first thing I fell in love with was his eyes. Chris has the most stunning blue eyes. There is a certain clarity to them. Every joy, love, pain or anger shows through those brilliant eyes. It's too much at times. But when we dance, and especially, for one reason or another, when we dance rumba, I stare up into those loving, lovely eyes and everything else fades away. Its just him and I, dancing.

I hope our son has his beautiful blue eyes.

Formal Dance

Kyra and I attended the final UWMBDA formal dance last week. I ran in to Radio Shack to get some composite cables for our new TV, and Kyra took these shots while she was in the car waiting. She purchased new makeup earlier that week, and wanted to test it out for the wedding. She is gorgeous. I am so proud of my beautiful mother-to-be.





Mind you, she's kissing ME, not any of you viewers out there. : D <-- Proud look

A Long Week

It's been a long week. Last Friday, we had a UWMBDA dance after work. Saturday I woke up not feeling so well, and it just got worse and worse. I had food poisoning or some other virus, and I was terribly sick all day. Kyra and I were supposed to go help our friend Carla get to the hospital and settle in. Kyra went without me, as I couldn't really move from my bed.

We were also supposed to go to a movie with some friends from the dance community. No luck with that either. Kyra rushed home after helping Carla with her things and then waiting for hours while the hospital staff must have been sitting on their hands.

She got me some "flu" medicine that helped with the aches and pains. (It was simply liquid acetaminophen for the muscle pain, an anit-histamine to induce sleepiness, and a decongestant.) I actually couldn't believe how well it worked. I had tried some other medicine to no avail. Eventually I was stable enough to sleep and recover.

Sunday, we went to Blanchardville so Kyra could attend the bridal shower my mom organized (thanks mom!). I slept in my parents' basement. The party went well, and we are going to get so much stuff, we won't know what to do with it! (Thanks everyone!) I'll tell Kyra to write about the party since she actually went to it.

Monday I was still feeling crappy, so I stayed home from work. That night we went to our dance team's end-of-semester party. I don't think either of us realized that we will probably not be going back to the studio much now. We decided not to continue our membership this summer, but we'll probably visit class and/or practice and hang out with the team a lot anyway, if anyone's around.

Tuesday we went and applied for our wedding license. It was rather easy. Some of the questions were kind of odd, but I was still out of it from being sick, so I don't remember what they were. Something about swearing to never be a communist or something (just kidding). We should be able to pick up our license next Monday. After that we went to eat outside by the capitol.

Wednesday I had the annual performance review at my company. It consisted of the usual corporate questions. I still have my job, and I didn't even really get any feedback about my performance. Oh well. My boss is great, and I'm sure he'd say something if I were doing a terrible job.

So yeah, long week. Next week: the baby's gender!

A Full Weekend

We had quite a weekend. Friday, we had an appointment with the midwife and heard another heartbeat sample. (See previous entry for the sound file.) That night, we attended a showcase for the DanceSport dance team. Saturday, we attended a birthday party for a set of twins on Kyra's side. Then we prepared for our showcase. We danced for hours, and our showcase went very well. My parents, sister, grandma, and two of my parents' friends showed up to support us.

We prepared to head home, but Kyra's car wouldn't start. Apparently the battery died. This upset Kyra, mostly because she felt like she didn't have anyone to rely on. Her dad was out of town for a tango dance in Chicago, her mom lives in Minneapolis and was taking care of Kyra's sister's daughter, her best friend was missing in action, and the rest of her family just didn't show up. It was disappointing for her and she felt rather alone. When the car wouldn't start, it was the last straw. No one from her side of life was there for her for the dance, and no one was there for her during an emergency.

Fortunately, we were leading another car to Pedro's, where the team was going to have food after the showcase. Two of our teammates were in the car, and they helped us out. One of them, Ming, tried to help us start the car and called AAA to help us tow it. Eventually, while we were waiting for AAA, we decided to go get my car to try to jump Kyra's. Kyra and the other teammate, Anna, headed to Pedro's for last minute food. I drove back with my car to attempt a jump, and we got it going. The car battery was charged just enough to get it to our apartment and leave it.

If either of those teammates are reading this (Ming and Anna), thank you so much for helping us. It meant a lot to us and we really appreciate your help.

Once Kyra got home, we realized she forgot a bag of stuff at Pedro's. I went to get it. Once I got home, we talked for a while, and she was still upset about what happened. She felt abandoned. Eventually, Kyra went to bed after an emotional evening. She was rather hard on herself about the performance, too, although we did a lot better than she thought. She was also not as alone as she thought. She had plenty of dance friends around, and I'm sure someone in her extended family would have helped, if she could wake them up. And of course I was there, too. She didn't know what to do about the car and was rather overwhelmed. But what upset her the most, I think, was the fact that neither of her parents were there that night or available to help.

By the time we were done talking, I was wide awake. It was about 2 or 3 in the morning. (I had finally dropped of Ming at about 1:30 am.) I stayed up and played a game for a little while, then headed to bed. The next day, I did some searches, made some phone calls, and figured out what to do with the car. I jumped it again and we drove it to a place to get it tested. They charged the battery for us and couldn't find a problem. I hope that was the last of it, but it probably wasn't. We'll see what happens.

Once that was solved, we went to a park and walked around. After Saturday, Kyra really wanted to have a good day and to do something relaxing. After trying to fly a kite unsuccessfully (there wasn't enough wind, although we made plenty of jokes about it: "couldn't get it up..."), we went to the zoo. There weren't many animals out, but it was so nice outside, and it was so pleasant to spend time with Kyra. We went to Party City to look at decorations for the wedding after that, then found out my car didn't want to start either! I think I jumped Kyra's car too many times, and it drained my battery. We drove around for 30 minutes to charge it, then headed home for pizza. After pizza, we went to see our friend Carla and watched a movie with her. It was a lot of fun, and I laughed a lot. (Thanks Carla!)

Late Sunday night/Monday morning, Kyra got sick. I don't know why, perhaps it's the flu again or something she ate. We both took off work to deal with it. Kyra forgot her purse at Carla's, along with the emergency number we needed to call the midwife. So we had to look up the number online. Once she was more stable, we went back to sleep and slept in. I ran a bunch of errands, including picking up her purse, and came back home to do some work.

What a weekend.

Saturday Ballroom Showcase

Kyra and I will be performing a Quickstep at the Badger Ballroom Dance Team showcase this Saturday. Here are the details:

• What: Badger Ballroom Dance Team Showcase at the UWMBDA Ballroom Dance.
  
• Where: Tripp Commons in the Memorial Union on the UW-Campus, Madison, WI.
• When: 9:00 - 9:45 pm, with social dancing from 7:00 - 9:00 pm and 9:45 - midnight.
• Who: Chris, Kyra, and the Badger Ballroom Dance Team. Kyra and I will be dancing a Quickstep to a big band tune called Hornet.
• More details are available here.
  

If you can make it, we'll see you there!

Week Thirteen: Closing Out the First Trimester

Well, here we are at the end of the first trimester. The baby is now growing rapidly, although most of the development (organs, skeletal structure, etc.) is already complete. Basically from now till the end of the second trimester the baby is just going to get bigger in a hurry. Right now the baby is about 2-1/2 to 3 inches, about the size of a peach (again with the food references, I know). The baby's weight is around 13 to 20 grams (my weight is not a topic of discussion).

Life has been quite busy of late, what with the new job, planning the wedding, and getting ready for our dance team showcase. (Quick plug: Madison Memorial Union, Saturday, April 19th, 9pm. Be there or be square!) And yes I am going to do a quickstep in heels four months pregnant! Life seems to be on an upswing though: after getting over this cold I am sleeping much better, I feel like I'm getting into a solid routine at work, and as wedding planning is getting easier as Chris and I get more things sorted. I think its a positive way to start off the next thirteen weeks.

Late Breaking News

It's been a while since either of us have posted, especially Kyra. She's been busy with her new job, and hasn’t had as much access to computers as before. (I think she hasn’t even checked her email in the last couple of days…) When she gets home at night, we usually have dinner and then we go off to dance practice or we do something to prepare for the wedding. Our weekends have been packed lately, too, and it looks like they will continue to be packed. Last weekend, Kyra’s mom visited from the Twin Cities, and she brought the wedding dress to work on. We also finished and sent invitations to the wedding.

Kyra was sick last week with a cold, and I caught it this week. Her morning sickness is gone now, but her hips have been hurting more. It’s been difficult to sleep lately, with coughing, chest pain, and hip pain, for one or both of us. We finally figured out she can take guaifenesin, a cough suppressant/expectorant, and that seemed to help last night. I’ve been taking something like NyQuil used to be, made by Walgreens, including the ever-so-effective pseudoephedrine, which is no longer in NyQuil because of the rise of meth production with pseudoephedrine. Actually, I probably wont’ be able to find this mix once I’m out, which is really unfortunate. It works really well on my colds.

Last Friday, Kyra and I both had the day off. We went to brunch with Kyra’s mom, and headed to Target to scan some stuff for the wedding registry. It was fun walking around zapping things, although we were all easily distracted by this or that. Kyra and Linda were distracted by baby things, like this beautiful crib that converts into a toddlers bed and then a normal bed. I reminded them that baby things would have to wait for a baby shower. I was distracted by TVs. (It would be nice to have a new one with something other than a cable attachment so I can connect my DVD player, VCR, and games to it directly… although the picture is nice on the one I have.) Later that day, Kyra had an appointment with a nurse from the nurse midwife group.

At the appointment, we talked about sleep problems, chest pain, and what to take for a cold. The most exciting part, however, was hearing the baby’s heartbeat! Yes, there was only ONE heartbeat. Kyra’s family thinks we’re having twins because all of the pregnant or recently pregnant women had or are having twins. They teased us that the heartbeats were probably synchronized. At any rate, I recorded the heartbeat, and I’ll try to post it on here when I get a chance.

On Sunday we both had Easter meals with our families. First, my maternal family met outside of Hollandale, WI, (near Blanchardville, my hometown) for dinner at my grandparents’ house. I announced that Kyra is pregnant, to the applause of my family. They were happy because, as the firstborn grandson on this side of the family, I will be having the firstborn great-grandchild. There were a number of other announcements, too, including the sale of a house, an 18th birthday, and the loss of a driver’s license. Kyra slept for some time at the party. She was very tired, and had slept for 2-3 hours each day Friday through Sunday. After that, we were off to her family’s party in the afternoon. Other than eating and gabbing, not much happened there. We did hear that one of her cousin’s pregnancies was not going too well--they found a nodule on both of the twins’ brains, which may indicate trisomy 18, a usually fatal genetic disorder. They did some tests and will found out later if that’s what it is. Before we left, we had a picture taken with one of the sets of twins. Her uncle said, "I want to see what it will look like when you two have twins." There can be only one, John!

Latest wedding plan news: We finally found an officiant to conduct the wedding ceremony. His name is Peter Flessas, and we heard about him through some of Kyra’s relatives, who had him as an officiant at their wedding. From what I’m told, he’s a doctor (although he might be a lawyer, according to my searches), and he gives a great speech.

Busy busy busy

What a busy weekend! We've been so busy, we haven't had a chance to post anything...

Last Thursday, Kyra left on a Greyhound bus to Minnesota with her grandmother's wedding dress. I was worried about her being alone on the bus, but she made it to Minnesota just fine. I heard it was a cold night. That night, and the night after, I missed her sorely. Friday night I went to the UWMBDA dance, although parking was terrible and I didn't feel like going without Kyra. I felt extremely out-of-place without her. Even though we dance with other people when we attend, it just didn't feel right without her around.

I left for Minnesota Saturday morning with my brother Kenny's truck. I went to pick up Kyra and Kyra's mother's queen-size bed. Kyra hasn't been sleeping well on my bed, so we decided to ask her mother for her bed that's been sitting in storage. It's bigger than mine and has a pillow top. I have yet to decide if it's more comfortable... (We didn't sleep too well last night, but Kyra has been very uncomfortable during the first trimester, and it may just be that.)

Kyra went to Minnesota to deliver the wedding dress for her mother to modify and to work on curriculum. Her mother, Linda, is a former teacher, so she has a wealth of experience to share with Kyra in terms of curricula, materials, and child psychology. I arrived after they fitted Kyra with the dress, and here's a preliminary photo of what the dress looks like. Mind you, it will be modified quite a bit to allow for Kyra's expanding waistline using an empire waist, or as Linda said "umpire" waist. (She apparently thought it had something to do with baseball!)



We were staying at Linda's first husband Valdi's house. He has a nice place, although a bit out of the way. We did some work Saturday afternoon, had dinner, and watched a movie. Sunday, we went to Kyra's grandma's house and "played reversed Tetris" with Linda's stuff in the basement bedroom, trying to get the mattress and box out. (We had to move things out of and around in the room to get to them. In that sense it was like Tetris, but in reverse.) We headed home as soon as we got Kirby some food. (This is one of my nicknames for Kyra, since she eats a lot without seeming to get full. Like Kirby or the less-popular-to-Kyra Yoshi. Another nickname is "my little incubator," since she gets really warm.)

Hippy

Kyra and I went to the UWMBDA dance on Saturday night, and we were able to stay for the entire night, which is unusual since she became pregnant. She usually gets too tired, and we leave early. We stayed late into the evening, leaving when she started to get hungry. (She was craving a McDonald's hamburger or two.)

Starting that night, her hip started to hurt. We slept terribly Saturday night with Kyra tossing and turning from the pain. We woke up early Sunday morning because the power went out and the alarm on my UPS battery backup for my computer went off. I tried to figure out if a breaker in the apartment or in the complex tripped, but I couldn't find anything. We got up, had breakfast, and waited for the power to come back on. Mid-morning, we decided that we really hadn't had enough sleep, so we went back to bed.

Upon waking at 3:00 pm, we both felt groggy. I had a headache the rest of the day, and Kyra was in pain from her hip. We think she pinched a nerve, perhaps the sciatic nerve. We didn't do much that day, and Kyra stayed home on Monday. She didn't go to dance class either, which is rare even with all of the "morning" sickness she's been having. (It's more like "all-day" sickness, or "feed me, feed me, Seymour" sickness. She needs to eat to keep it at bay. The new variation is "ugh, now I'm full" sickness.)

We're going a little batty (well, at least I am) trying to plan this wedding in under six months. We've considered catering, locations, tents, dance floors, and on and on. We're probably having the reception at Kyra's aunt and uncles house, but I have my doubts about the capacity. So we're thinking about a tent. Then there's food. So far, Cousins has been the cheapest option. I'm okay with sandwiches at a lunch reception. We'll have other finger food, too. Anyway, time for bed. G'night!