Updates...

It’s official…36 days and counting! Rachel is doing everything she can to deal with the stretching and straining that comes with the final month of the third trimester. Almost every day I hear, “I can not get any bigger.” Unfortunately, with a month left, we know that this is definitely not the case. For you folks out in California and Arizona that have yet to see the progress, here’s a few pics to show you our new pumpkin.



The Columbus baby shower pictures are also now available at Ofoto. This link should be able to take you straight to the site. Just click HERE.


The mural in the nursery is finally finished. I think I might have bit off a little more than I could chew with this one. It’s a “block-print” style mural depicting an ocean pier at night. I had borrowed an overhead projector from work to help me stencil the painting onto the wall. After about 25% of it was painted, the bulb blew and I had to change it. After the new bulb was in, I couldn’t (for the life of me) get the picture to line up again and had to freehand the rest of it. Not fun. All in all it took about 7 coats of paint and touch-ups to get the desired effect.



Please ignore the burro piñata in the crib. Now, all we have left is to get a couple of plants, some curtains, and the camcorder and we should be good to go.

We’re also super excited for the Thomas family to make their voyage out Ohio. Rachel’s mom and sister should be here on November 10th, with her brother and dad arriving soon after on the 16th. I hope baby will hold out until then. I still believe we’re going to have a Halloween baby, just because of all the recent movement. A couple of days ago Rachel had her belly exposed and I could actually see the judo chops from all the way across the house. The baby dojo is out of control. He/She has got to be a black belt by now. The Thomas family trip will also be interesting for another reason…it’s going to be OSU/Michigan week. We were scared that they wouldn’t be able to get a hotel room, but it looks like things are going to work out. 100,000+ at the stadium, with another million tailgaters outside, will definitely be a site to see. You can’t really prepare for Michigan week when you’ve never seen it before. My buddy Jared is also trying to acquire tickets for the game, but last time I checked they were going for $2000+ on Ebay. Insanity!

Speaking of which, I’m not sure how many people know the story or not, but this is a good one. After the wedding in Mexico, Jared (my best man) informed us that we needed to give him a nephew, but we had to wait until Thanksgiving. He would be in town in November and it would be perfect timing. Well, after trying for 5 months, it looks everything was panned out just right. Not only can he predict stock prices to a tee, but he can also plan humans! So the Sweitzer’s will be in from Phoenix right around the delivery, as well. Visitors from all over, family, friends and a new baby. What more could we ask for?

And last but not least, congratulations to Chris and Deena on their new daughter. Some of you might remember Chris as a groomsman in Mexico, and Deena as the Universal Life Church-ordained minister of the ceremony. Her name is Lauren Olivia, weighing in at 8 lbs. 3 oz, and 20 inches in length, with 20 hours of labor! What a beautiful baby. We couldn’t be happier for them. Now, on to getting them a playmate…