The Wrench

A few times a year, public school teachers get an opportunity to say phrases that aren't normally uttered by anyone ever.

Yesterday was one of those days.

I am just about to start my lesson when an usually loud clang gains the attention of the entire class. As I look towards the noise, there is a large 18-inch silver wrench lying on the floor.  As people identity the noise, there's that super quiet moment where no one quite knows what to say or do.  C, a shy student, leans over and picks up the wrench that has fallen three feet onto the floor.  In jest, I finally break the silence with the unnecessary request, "Please try to keep the wrench inside your book bag."  

The class laughs and just before we start the lesson C, informs us, "It's for tech club... after school."

Chronicles of a Father-to-Be: Part IV

One joke I tell someone who is getting married is, "Planning your wedding is the final test of engagement."  If you're able to plan a big event together, there are few things that can stand in your path.  There is so much food to be made (and eaten), entertainment to arrange, a photographer to hire, invitations to write, and a registry to agree on.  But when it comes to building a baby registry for your first child, Andrea and I both agreed that planning our wedding seemed so much easier.

With an overabundance of products - ranging from extremely necessary to ridiculously unnecessary - it doesn't take long to get confused at what exactly and truly needed.  After hours of online research, fact-checking with friends, and a few trips to actual stores, it took Andrea and I about a month to be confident we put together a registry that best suits us.  Feel free to check them both out on Target or Babies-R-Us.

As for a house update, we are pretty much baby ready.  The only thing missing now is everything that's on the registry getting inside our apartment.  I'll take pictures this weekend and give you a tour of our lovely home... right before I put the plastic insulation over the windows.  So be patient with me.

The important thing going on around here was the month long birthing classes.  Along with the hectic that the beginning of a school year brings, the birthing classes did a good job in preventing me from doing as much blogging as I'd like.  We had four sessions at the hospital where we are planning on having Baby.  Although I was very skeptical about the entire experience, enduring the two-and-a-half hour session once-a-week was actually very informative and helpful.  I certainly won't be calling myself an expert, but I know enough to be some-what helpful during the delivery process.  Also, I finally know what entrance of the hospital to drive and bring Andrea into, which is also valuable information.  (Emergency Room, by the way, for those who are curious.)

Every week the inevitable truth becomes harder to avoid - just like Andrea's tummy.  Baby Kovac will be among us in about 10 weeks.

Vacation at the Lake

Unlike the past two years where we've tried to have an extended vacation at "The Lake," this year it actually happened.  Normally we'll spend about half of our summer weekend there, but this year we actually got to spend a week there for vacation.  Since it is a major part of the summer, I thought I'd share a few thoughts and pictures.

As seen, the cottage lies on the Eastern edge of Cayuga Lake, so in favorable weather we are treated to beautiful sunsets.  Something I've learned is the idea that no sunset is ever the same.  Having the opportunity to watch it in the same place day-after-day and year-after-year, I thought it would grow boring.  But in fact, it has turned into a favorite time of mine.  People slow down and watch the gradual change of colors in the sky, on the lake, and in the clouds.  Since the sky is different everyday, the sunset is unique as well; it is always enjoyable and is a different form of worship that I've grown accustomed to.

When you pull up to the property though, this is what you first see.  You can see the lake in back.  Although some might consider the cottage rustic, I think it's the perfect blend of modern comfort and a place to escape.  We have running water and electricity, but no cable or internet.  Cell phone reception is, at best, spotty.  In a time where culture values constant connectivity, this is place a get-away to enjoy NOT being connected.  We also have a DVD player hooked up to a small TV set, that gets used when its too rainy to play outside or start a bonfire.

After walking through a hallway, you come to a very open room.  We make and eat (and digest) our meals here.  During vacation, Andrea and Grandma (who lives here throughout summer) took turns making meals.  During the weekend though, food prep rotates amongst the different members of the family who choose to spend the weekend.  Not only am I blessed with a beautiful location to spend the summer, but everyone in Andrea's maternal side of the family are excellent cooks and bakers.  There is always a plethora of snacks and healthy dinners.

In any given weekend, the front porch is where the business is happening.  People pass the time by chatting, reading magazines, playing board games or lawn games, or sunbathing.  Although ladderball has been the game of choice for many years, this year someone bought Corn-Hole, and has become this year's favorite.  This is also where I grilled food for the first time, so this place also has special manly significance.

I believe that Cayuga is the longest and deepest lake of all the Finger Lakes.  This makes it the ideal for boating and swimming.  Although most of the adults don't swim unless it's really hot, I try to take advantage of the water as much as possible.  We have a small motorboat to go tubing with as well as paddleboat for shorter distances.  (Grandma in particular likes using paddleboat before the sunsets to watch all wildlife settle down in the evening.)  But mainly, I just really enjoy swimming and goofing off in the water.

One topic of conversation Andrea and I had last week was how much of a blessing the lake and cottage is to us.  Before meeting Andrea, I didn't have anything like this growing up, so I certainly envy the fact that she has enjoyed this since before she could remember.  Now that I've married into the blessing, I'm reminded how much God has needlessly given me.  And although the sights, recreation, and food blessings are something to be thankful for, I think it's best function has been simply to serve as a place for retreat and escape.

Chronicles of a Father-to-Be: Part III

Part I: The Announcement
Part II: It's a Girl

Half way through the pregnancy!  Only three things I want to cover this time through.

1.  To my delight, I got a few responses to this statement I made in part II:

As for myself, I'm definitely not as excited as Andrea, but I think that just stems from not knowing what a girl actually does.  I mean, I know it plays with dolls, has tea parties, likes shopping and all of that stuff.  But when it comes to the daily life of a girl, I don't really know how it's different than being a boy.  That part makes me a bit nervous.  Good thing I still have another five months to figure it out.

To my delight, two friends shared with me part of their childhood by telling me what they enjoyed when they were young girls.  The list included blocks, musical instruments, crayons, books, music, cars, Ninja Turtles, playing with caterpillars, and digging in the sand.  I was pleasantly surprised and grateful to be revealed to such exclusive information, especially the part about blocks.  I grew up an only child and Legos were a constant companion of my imagination.  Of course, I was also told there was also dolls and stuffed animals, but I was expecting that already.

So thanks for sharing!  If anyone has anything else they'd like to share about what they did as a girl or a young teenage girl, I'd love to hear it.

2.  Something that's been confusing me is that a lot of people have expressed immense amounts of joy and excitement upon discovering that we're having a girl.  I'm wondering if this is a reaction to knowing the gender or if they genuinely wanted us to have a girl more than a boy.  At the very least it would be interesting to see if people's reactions would have been any different if we were having a boy instead of a girl.  Hmm...

3.  Andrea has finally gotten her pregnancy blog up-and-going.  Although she probably won't update as much as I do, you can keep track of her progress both visually and through writing HERE.  It's also connected to her photography website as well so if you you're feeling generous you can buy a few Fine Art prints as well.  :)

If you're in a hurry though and just want a picture, here she is at 21-weeks to close us out.

It's crazy to see how fast her tummy has grown
in these last few weeks!

Chronicles of a Father-to-Be: Part II

To the day, Andrea is now 19 weeks pregnant - well into the second trimester.  After a stressful beginning, everything has been going tremendously well since last I wrote five weeks ago.  One thing that Andrea has been doing is track her progress visually through a series of pictures.  Here she is at 16 weeks.

Once Andrea gets the series posted on her picture blog, I'll provide a link for everyone.  In the meantime, you'll have to deal with my blabbering.

Last Tuesday, we went to Andrea's 18-week check-up.  The visit as a whole was delightful and encouraging since Baby and Mommy are completely healthy.  To our surprise, we found out that Baby is growing at about one or two days ahead of schedule, which means the due date is now being pushed up a few days.  Interesting fact about due dates - there are a few different ways to measure the length of a pregnancy.  So depending on whose date you go with, Baby is expected now between December 8 and December 13.

Another something we found out was that Baby is a girl!  Turns out that when you're looking at ultrasounds, determining gender pretty much boils down to the question, "Does it have male parts?"  The ultrasound technician, who claims she has never misdiagnosed a gender, said that clearly our child is missing male parts, so it must be a girl.  Here are some pictures to prove it:

Did you know that hospitals have 3D ultrasound now?

Between seeing the technician and doctor, Andrea and I had to sit in the waiting room.  While looking at their beautiful salt-water fish tank, it finally hit me.  I'm going to be a father.  Before knowing the gender, I had a tough time understanding the gravity of it all.   Internally, I had been playing this "what if" game where I could envision what the child would do, how it would grow up, and what life it was going to have, as I'm sure most first-time parents do - but there was always two different "stories" playing in my head.  But knowing knowing the gender has prompted me to stop thinking about the child as an idea, and start thinking about it as a reality.  It's hard to explain, but it's definitely one of the more pivotal moments thus far

 

Baby is looking right at you in this picture. 
You can see it's developing skull and hands really well.

As for our reaction on Baby being a girl, Andrea and I were just as excited about it either way.  Andrea actually thought she was carrying a boy the entire time, but was just as excited to find out it was a girl.  As for myself, I'm definitely not as excited as Andrea, but I think that just stems from not knowing what a girl actually does.  I mean, I know it plays with dolls, has tea parties, likes shopping and all of that stuff.  But when it comes to the daily life of a girl, I don't really know how it's different than being a boy.  That part makes me a bit nervous.  Good thing I still have another five months to figure it out.

Nice profile picture.  The nose and jawline are very well defined here.
I think this is where she was hiccuping as well.

The time between 14-19 weeks marks a number of important milestones.  The baby is measured about six inches and can perform intricate movements due to the brain, nerves and muscles being better connected.  This was apparent during the ultrasound.  Last time we saw it was just moving her legs, but now she can "swim" away so that the ultrasound technician has to play a chase game with her.  Because our baby is a girl, her ovaries (already) contain all of her 3 million egg cells, which will last the rest of her life.  (This means Andrea is also carrying half of her grandchildren from this child as well!)  Additionally, Baby can also distinguish between sweet and bitter flavors inside the amniotic fluid.