Congress weekend...

Let's all go hang out with 40,000 Catholics! Matthew Kelly, Terry Hershey, Cardinal Rog and the rest of the gang are hanging out at the Anaheim Convention Center. Good times. Well, if you think analyzing your life and discovering that you have been doing things completely wrong the past twelve months is fun.

The funniest part of Congress is Friday at meal time. All the Catholics go to the snack bar and the catering staff never understands that Congress Friday always falls during Lent, yet, every year they serve specials of hamburgers, chicken sandwiches and beef soup. Hmm...let's survey the market segment and see the demand before we offer the supply...12th grade economics.

We will be buying bibles, discussing Terry Hershey topics, falling in love with Matthew Kelly again, dodging a few nuns with canes, sampling some Dippin' Dots, holding Ed as he cries off his thirties, skipping some afternoon sessions, napping, eating, singing, praising, clapping, praying, confessing, wandering, walking, tripping, falling, spending, borrowing, carrying, laughing, crying and leaving.

A full weekend. See you Monday.

The Slowest Sports Month of the Year...

Ugh...finally February is coming to a close. Baseball players have reported to Spring Training, NCAA Basketball is nailing down who is going to the Big Dance and basketball and hockey are in the stretch run of their seasons. Wow...we have to stoop pretty low to entertain ourselves in February. I went to Vegas this past weekend and had to put a bet in on hockey...Go Ducks!

Even horse-racing has taken a turn for the worse as California tracks have replaced the dirt with an artificial surface...much to the chagrin of the betting public. We have yet to make heads or tails on how this affects the handicapping.

This Thursday, the Dodgers play the Braves in the first spring training game. Friday is the first televised game...March can't come soon enough.

On another note...I've actually been reading books and talking with my wife...turns out she is a pretty nice lady.

It's Human!

Here is the latest picture of Baby Johnston. We are pushing ten weeks until the due date and we are all getting excited. Mom is getting bigger, but since I was 10lbs and she was almost 9lbs...we know Lauren is in for a big belly.

We went to our doctor a few weeks ago and she said she would not be doing an ultrasound until 37-weeks. This was much too long for us to wait and we wanted to know for sure if we were to expect extra baggage in the crotchal area. We had heard stories of babies who were thought to be one gender, end up being the other. So Lauren persuaded the nurses at Queen of the Valley to do some investigating. They did all the crotch shots and other angles to make sure we were seeing what we were seeing.

It's a boy...unless it's a girl that incredibly knitted a purse and stuck it between her legs. But, I'm going with the boy theory.

99 days and counting!

The date is approaching fast! Lauren's belly is growing and little Samuel is kicking like a rugby player. I think he sees mommy's bladder as a big soccer ball. Great job, son.

I think the education is about to begin. We bought "The Baby Book" by Dr. William Sears, which was recommended highly from friends of ours. He wrote the book from asking parents around him what they did for this and what they did for that. It looks like a pretty extensive book and I plan to use it to become the best father possible. Obviously, you don't learn to be a dad by reading a book, but at least I can learn from other people how to not completely screw up the kid. But, that is not a given either.

I will let Lauren deal with "The Birth Book", because all I have to do is pick the cigars...right?

It's a Boy!

Well...at least that is the first call. We have all heard the horror stories of doctors being wrong, particularly after all the baby clothes have been bought. "I thought you guys didn't want to know", I hear you say? Well, here is how it went down.

So, we went to our appointment for the normal checkup. The baby had gotten big enough for our doctor to do all her usual tests...checking the four chambers of the heart, two kidneys, stomach..."Oh...and it's a boy!". Lauren and I just look at each other with mouths open. Oops.

So, it's a boy for now. But, we'll check with her each visit to make sure it stays the same. I'm getting ready to sign him up for Little League. Do they accept payments for Spring 2013?

If you are having trouble seeing what the ultrasound is showing...picture the baby looking at you (you can see one eye socket) with his hand to his face in the "thinking man" pose. He might even be flipping us off.

Merry Christmas!

Hi Peter!

In case you did not know...this is the cutest kid in the world. Apologies to the rest of the civilized world, but you don't hold a candle to this one. I mean, your parents might say that you are the cutest, but I'm telling you right now...your parents are liars, only meant to make you feel better. This is Mercedes, our niece, god-daughter and practice child.

Hopefully, ours turns out as cute as this.

Doctor Visit #4

Here is the latest photo of Baby Johnston. It is not too clear since the baby was not being very cooperative, but you can see the spine pretty clearly. We were able to see the face for a split second, but it decided it was shy and turned so we could only see it's back.

None the less, we saw the heart beat again and, of course, mine stopped at that time. That will never get old.

Everything is progressing fine. There was a shaky moment when there was a mixup with the down syndrome test, but it turned out everything was fine. Phew! We didn't really want to take the test in the first place because it would not affect anything (we would keep the baby no matter what). Lauren has been sick, so the doctor gave us advice there and some more advice for her sciatica.

150 days to go!

Illinois? Seriously?

On the anniversary of Illinois being admitted as the 21st state, we find out that our beloved Trojans have to play them in the Granddaddy-of-them-all...the Rose Bowl. What a let down! I couldn't be more angry at Missouri and West Virginia for dropping trou and laying Cleveland Steamers on the football field. A USC vs. OSU matchup would have drawn a crowd and all Trojan fans would have loved to see the embarrassment of the "best" team in the Big-10 at the hands of Pete "Caesar" Carroll and the mighty Trojans.

The only thing Illinois has going for it is Chicago...deep dish pizzas, The Chophouse, the Sears Tower, Pizzeria Due, Mothers and Navy Pier...man, what a weekend!

So, apparently, the head honchos at the Tournament of Roses thought the next best choice was the "Fighting Illini". Great. Maybe the Twilight Zone marathon will be on that day.

Hi! I'm Cute!