And now for the Halftime Entertainment

As the party responsible for half of the genes in this little "bundle of joy", I figured that I should add my two cents at some stage.

First and foremost, I'm incredibly excited about adding another male to the family and evening out the genders - sometimes Jenna and Ruby take sides against me and it can be pretty tough.

I'm looking forward to weaning junior on Vegemite and pushing Jenna to the point of dry-heaving every time our son is crying and can only be sated by the salty awesomeness of yeast extract.

Now that he has developed ears, I have been working away at an "In Utero" play list. I'm trying to keep things pretty mellow as I'm sure that the whole gestation/birth process is traumatic enough. Thusly, I will be steering away from Nirvana's In Utero album despite the obvious connection (by my basic calculations, Scared baby = more likely to end up at Hot Topic as a teen, and that is the last thing that we want) The track listing is yet to be finalized, but rest assured that it will lean more towards The Flaming Lips or The Beatles than the timeless work of Ms. Gaga.

Other than that, things that I'm looking forward to, in no particular order are:

- Ski lesson #1 (I'm guessing less-than 6 months is probably a little too young, so it may have to wait until the 2012-2013 season. You never know though...)
- The inevitable flood of Florida Gator merchandise - within our household they will now be referred to as the "Florida Crocodiles" for obvious reasons. RIP Steve Irwin.
- Getting drunk Jenna back
- The US/Australian diplomatic tug-of-war over the undeniable sporting talents of Junior Tully.
- General imprinting of my rash and often completely unfounded opinions on all facets of life.
- Grandparents that are all too happy to babysit

Things that I'm not looking forward to:

- My 31st birthday. If the doctor's predictions are correct, this "milestone birthday" may be completely overshadowed :)
- Having my light-sleeping tendencies exploited by a mother that hibernates nightly

Other than that I can't tell you how excited I am. Half way there.
MJT

A Little Over Halfway There...21 Weeks

So we have hit the mark...we are a little over halfway through the pregnancy until we meet our little guy.

So here is my belly (and Ruby wanted to join the pic too) - not really sure if it counts yet, just kind of looks like I had a huge meal and a few beers, but Nordly is growing.

Honestly, pregnancy hasn't been too bad - let's see what I am saying in 10 more weeks when the uncomfortableness comes into play.

The pregnancy "do's" are pretty easy for me
Get lots of rest

* I love to sleep, so not a problem
Take your vitamins

* I ended up having to buy gummy vitamins because the other ones were like horse pills, but they are actually quite tasty and the doc says they work as well!
Exercise

* I am still doing my pregnancy miles....for those of you that don't know, I told myself that everyday I was pregnant, I had to walk one mile, which totals to about 220 miles from the day the doc confirmed that I was actually a preggo. Yes, the organizer inside me has an excel sheet set-up to record all my miles and I wear a pedometer on each walk. I think Ruby enjoys this more than anyone, and Michael definitely likes to enforce it.

* We have also been trying to go to Yoga every other week - not the easiest thing because I don't have great balance to begin with, but challenging for sure)
Eat your fruits/veggies

* I have been craving fruit and salad, so this is covered

The part of pregnancy that is a little tough is the "don'ts"
Don't play sports, such as skiing, kickball, softball, etc.

* If you know me at all, I hate sitting on the sideline
No hiking above 8,500 feet

* We live in the mile high city, and enjoy going up the mountains, but due to the lack of oxygen the higher you go, little Nordly gets less oxygen which doesn't help him grow - this one is tough
No soft cheese

* I find this one a bit odd, but it just seems like recently when we go somewhere, there is a soft cheese on what I want to get - guess it will have to wait 4 1/2 more months
No alcohol

* It is what it is, but man, it would be nice just to have a cold drink on a hot summer day. I have already requested champagne for when Nordly arrives

Most people say the second trimester is the most "enjoyable" - not really sure what that means, but I know I am feeling great yet already starting to get antsy.
We aren't ready for a baby at all, but am already hoping it was November so we could meet him.
I guess God gave us 9 months so we learn patience before becoming parents.

Oh Boy Oh Boy!

So today we got great news and found out we are having a BOY! So our family is now even - Michael and Nordly as males/Ruby and me as the females....it must have been destiny.

Here is a pic to prove that Nordly is for sure a boy - fortunately, the technician pointed the "Boy Parts" out for those of you who don't understand ultrasounds (including me) - yep, how about that angle....from underneath.



This pic is a little creepy - yes, that is Nordly's eye staring at you at the top middle of the screen.



I like this one - he is laying at the bottom and you get to see his profile. His legs are flipped up over his head (but those are in the picture - he is a flexible little fella).
He looks pretty tight in there, and I am guessing my belly will pop out soon.



This was the coolest appointment we have been to so far because we got to see Nordly for 20 minutes while the technician did measurements - just helps it become more real everyday. Looking forward to him getting bigger and coming out to meet us in November!

The Nicknames Have Begun…..

So Michael and I have a bad habit of just randomly picking up things we see or hear and calling each other by that. And now, it is no different with a baby on the way.

The first thing I thought of when I saw the ultrasound was a lima bean. But I have heard “bean” a thousand times, and if you know me at all, you know I like to be a little bit different. So after the appointment and a bit of thinking, we came up with “Lil’ Nugget”. I thought it was cute, and nugget is a fun word to say!

So we have a nickname! At least that is what I thought……..

On our trip to Florida, Michael and I started to discuss names. We have decided not to seriously talk about names until we know the sex because that will be a LONG discussion, so we pick out the worst names we have ever heard and put it with “Tully” to see how it sounds. Anyways, we were sitting behind a group of middle schoolers who had shirts on with their names on it. As we were reading their names, Michael got a big smile on his face…..TA DA….he had found the name of our child “Nordly”.

I mean, who would seriously name their child “Nordly”? The poor kid is destined to be made fun of! Well my family heard Michael calling our child Nordly, and decided to join in on the fun.

Anyways, so my cute nickname of “Lil’ Nugget” has now been taken over.

Everyone, please meet Nordly.

Our Furchild...Happy 1st Birthday!

On August 7th, 2010 we adopted the cutest, sweetest puppy in the world……and named her Ruby Soho Ruby Ruby Tuesday Tully! She is a bit of a mutt with Husky, Border Collie and Australian Shepherd in her (Michael insisted on getting a puppy that had a bit of his heritage.)

She has enthusiastically taken to our outdoor lifestyle, but, as all puppies do, causes a little bit of trouble here and there.

But we can’t stay mad at her too long – look at those ears!

She even graduated from puppy school - top of her class.

(Please disregard Michael's mustache - it was Mo-vember)

She has made some great pals in Chaco, Rhody and Cooper - hiking in the snow and working as a team to try to catch a squirrel.

Happy birthday to the best puppy in the world!