Welcome BOB!

Well apparently 2009 is the official BABY BOOM. Everywhere we turn, friends are announcing that they are expecting. Our friends Mike and Kari (Portland) are due in February, Matt and Rach (Seattle) are due one week after us and we just found out that Seph and April (San Francisco) will be welcoming their baby in mid- April. I think it’s great, the more people to compare war stories with the better! So, if you were on the fence about having a baby, you still have time to make it into 2009.

Big news of the past week, we made our very first baby purchase – a stroller. Some people start small with pajamas and bibs but we went straight for the big ticket item but, it was a battle from the beginning. I first noticed that REI was having a sale and realized that we could get 20% off the stroller that I really wanted. I casually emailed Kerry, alerting him to the potential savings. His first response, “No.” Ok, I was down but not out. That night we had dinner plans with friends, a few of which have, or are having, children. I knew this was the crowd that could beat Kerry down. I nonchalantly mention that the stroller we want is on sale and Kerry opted to not make the purchase. It was downhill from there. By the end of the night, I could tell Kerry was worn down.

The next morning, I knew it was time to go in for the kill. As we were milling about the house early Saturday morning, I casually mention that I think it’s a big mistake to not make the purchase, that if we have to pay full price months down the road- it’s going to be painful. Kerry paused, thought for a minute, then continued sipping his coffee. It was time to pull out all the stops; my final sales pitch went like this.

“Look, I know this is a big purchase but with the discount, I think it’s a perfect time to get this stroller on sale and before the new models come out. Besides, if we find it elsewhere for cheaper, we’ll just return it!”

Kerry pauses again, puts down his coffee and casually asks, “What’s the return policy?”

Aha! I knew I had him now, “REI has no time limit. We can keep the stroller in the box until we are 100% confident in the decision.”

“Fine.”

I won! It took me exactly 24 hours but I had managed to wear him down with numbers and rationale or as Kerry refers to it- “Data Driven Decisions.” (Keep in mind, he is an engineer). So, without further adieu, I would like to introduce you to the latest addition to our family: BOB (it really is called the BOB jogging stroller)

Other than welcoming BOB to our family, things are cruising along. We received all the screening results back and the baby is healthy and growing at a good rate. I am still stuffing myself into my regular clothes but I can see that in a few more weeks, I will have to embrace elastic-rimmed pants (bring on the moo-moo’s). We set the date for the BIG ultrasound, where we find out the sex of the baby, for November 7th. I can barely stand the wait but the consensus in Portland is that this little bean is a little boy. Of course this isn’t based on scientific data, it’s just that of the four pregnant women we know, ALL are having girls. There has to be a boy thrown in there somewhere, right? In addition, Kerry’s family is dominated by men. Lastly, I have said that I was going to have a little girl and dress her in tiaras and tutus since I was six years old, my friends think it will be hilarious if I am surrounded by a troop of little boys for eternity. I’m happy with either sex BUT if I am surrounded by little boys, they may be forced to take ballet.