Baby Ultrasound. It's a.. ... ... (keep reading)

On Friday, Jen and I went to her doctor for the baby's first ultrasound and to find out whether it was a boy or a girl. Now for those of you who would shun technology and say you would prefer not to know what you're having... I say bullcrap. People have been trying to find out the sex of their baby for millennia. That's why you have all of the other lovely devices to predict your baby's sex at an astonishing 50% clip - you're carrying high, you're carrying low, heartbeat is fast, heartbeat is slow, you dangle a needle over the belly and it spins clockwise, etc, etc, etc. Besides, if you dislike technology so much, what are you doing on a computer in the first place? Shouldn't you be reading a book by candlelight? :)

So, seeing the baby was really an amazing thing, but a bit surreal. I *knew* that what I was seeing was right below Jen's belly button but there sure still seemed to be a disconnect in my brain about the reality of it all. It was like I was watching a weird science experiment and I didn't get really excited about what I had seen until about 2 minutes after it was over. The baby didn't cooperate at first about letting us see what it was. It was laying on its belly with its back toward the ultrasound machine and in the classic fetal position... so we couldn't see where we needed to see. So the nurse checked all the other items that she needed to check... and it was still in the same position. So she started jostling Jen's belly saying, "C'mon, move, move" and after what seemed like forever the little guy decided to roll over and show us all he had... It's a boy!

The first picture is what we saw on the ultrasound. However, for clarity, since people always have a hard time picking out detail on ultrasound pictures, I have also provided a "rotated" view AND a photograph of Peyton Manning in approximately the same pose to help you visualize..

We honestly would have been happy with either, but it is nice to have a boy for a couple reasons. Number 1, my grandpa wanted a boy to make sure the name "Halsey" keeps getting passed down. All of my male cousins with the name "Halsey" have thus far had daughters. Also, Jen's parents presently have 6 granddaughters and only 1 grandson. So 1 more grandson will even that out a bit and give Jen's dad another boy to do boy things with.

And, not to forget about Sanders, we'll leave you with this sad little picture. It happened about 2 weeks ago when Jen trimmed his nails. Afterward, we walked into the kitchen and saw BLOODY PAW PRINTS everywhere!! So Jen got out some corn starch and I poured it on his little paw to stop the bleeding. It was quite the site after he tried to eat the corn starch off the floor.

Also, in the mail the other day we got a pair of doggie snow boots Jen ordered for him. Let me let you in on a secret. DOGS DO NOT LIKE SHOES! We put them on him on Thursday night when they arrived and trust me... hilarity ensued. Here's a funny video of him walking in them!