Can a human belly really do this?

I'll let the picture speak for itself:

Life's Twists & Turns

Son, I've been reawakened to a hard reality of life: sometimes it stinks. Yesterday, my boss told me that they needed to make some changes. That I needed to choose to come into the office everyday or transition to contract employment and work from home everyday. For the past 3 years, I have helped build this company from 2 employees into nearly 40. We did it side by side, busting our butts, sacrificing time with our families, and having fun along the way. Part of my employment agreement from the beginning was to work 2 days a week from home. I've built my schedule around that arrangement, and take advantage of the days at home to get allergy shots on those days. I also have enjoyed being able to take your mom to lunch on those days most weeks. There are many many intangibles that I'm losing by losing these 2 days at home. On the other side of things, I *could* take up his offer to move to contract labor. It would afford me many positive things, mostly a flexible schedule. However, it's incredibly daunting to take that leap...I would no longer have any of the benefits I now enjoy such as 3 weeks paid vacation, paid insurance for myself, and being part of a team of pretty good developers. Plus the paid training and conferences that we go to are nice. All of that would be my financial responsibility if I go contract. My nature is to prefer feeling uncaged, and left to work in an environment where productivity is valued over appearances of productivity. We recently got a new Chief Operating Officer (COO) that is taking away some of the benefits of my job such as wearing shorts to work. Believe me when I say, I LOVE wearing shorts, and over the past 3 years have worn pants very little (even to church). This COO guy is proving to be full of hot air - promising that our dress code wouldn't change, then changing it. Let me take a moment here to let you know that we don't *EVER* see clients in our office. So this change is just gratuitous. The COO thinks that he has to make a big splash apparently in order to prove his worth. The hard thing for me is that I like some of the changes that he's making but this one really affects a few of us that hinge part of our reason to work so hard on the fact that we're trusted with the freedom to dress in a way that is comfortable to us. It is a BIG disincentive for me (and other colleagues I've spoken with). Go figure - we're an "Incentive Management" company. Needless to say, I have some trust issues with my boss and this COO. Also, I didn't mention that it really hurts me that my boss (with all our history) is ready to cut ties so easily - "Off the team"... So sometimes life goes from sweet, sweet smelling aroma to a really awful stench. And this is what I've been dealing with for the past 30+ hours. I'm stressed, I'm inconsolable, and nothing takes my mind off this worrying. Until I think of you...innocent and pure, curled up in Kendra's belly. That gives me a peace that is hard to explain. I can't wait to see you. Thinking of you makes me think that I can endure these awful changes to my dream job, and stick it out. At least til the next good offer comes along. I love you so much already son, and we're going to have a great time getting to know each other starting in just a few weeks.
~Dad

Inheritance

Son, we may not leave you any money, land or other property. Don't get me wrong - we'll try to set you up as best possible. But today, we learned about some of the physical characteristics that you have inherited. Here's what today's ultrasound showed us so far: you've got my nose, my lips and my toes/feet. That's all that the nurse could show us. It was really neat to see these features so early. But then again, you could be born any day. You're still due in 5 weeks, but you already weigh 7.6 pounds. Your mom is really worried that you're going to be too big, but I'm excited. We're both thrilled about one thing: being that weight means that you're healthy in there. Sorry I don't have any pictures for you here. I will try to have some for the next entry. We've been stressing and working hard to get everything prepared for you. The house seems like a mess, though it's not that big of a deal.
I love you, and so does your mommy. Good night.

Quick update on the past week

I've been hobbling around for the past 10 days with the gout. Ugh. It pays to watch your diet son. On a good note, I've gone without any soda since Monday, July 4th. That's HUGE for me.
I finally got all the photos from our family reunion on my website.
Here's what I've been working on for the past 2 weeks:

UCA's The Bear Den. By the time your old enough to see this, I'm sure it will be long gone.

I-Hop at 10pm

On our way out the door, your mom and I stopped to take another picture. You're really growing, and it's amazing. We went to a company event last night (Perks.com) - Fantastic 4 at the Rave cinema in Little Rock. It was good to see the families of the rest of my colleagues, and for Kendra to see them. Kendra didn't think much of the movie, but I liked it. The ending is a bit anticlimactic. The effects were amazing, but the story line was a bit lacking. So we came back home to Conway, and your mom really had a craving for I-Hop. I don't know if it was pancakes or what, but we went and ate. Then we came home and tried to watch "Batman Returns" which was the 2nd movie where Michael Keaton plays Batman. It's not nearly the movie that the first one was. We both fell asleep half way through it...partly because of exhaustion and partly because the movie is so pathetic. Anyhow, it's Saturday now and we slept in a little bit. We stopped at a few garage sales in the morning looking for a changing table for you and a dresser for you also. I keep telling your mom that we can use some of our existing furniture to make a really nice baby room for you, but she wants something different. Only time will tell what will happen. I'm sure you won't care one way or another. Love you buddy!

Back from the beach

(Listening to the Dave Matthews Band as I write) We arrived back home safe and sound around 5:30 this evening. We said our sad goodbyes to the new faces and familiar ones this morning, then got in the car for the slow drive back to the Norfolk airport. The road into Nags Head was much busier than the one leaving, especially on July 4th weekend. Son, we had a really wonderful time this past week. You were having a really good time around the beach. I hope you love to swim, then we can hit the ocean together when you get big enough. Your aunties hosted a family baby shower for your mom, and we recieved a lot of really neat gifts and had a fun time playing a few "shower games". ;) We stayed in a beach house with your mom's immediate family: Nana (Chickie), Pepere (Ken), Terry, Chris, Kelly (and your cousins Brandon & Zach), Tiffany & Lance then also Pepere's brother and his family: Jackie, Susan, Arienne, Damon, and Brendon. Jackie lives in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida which is 20 minutes from Miami. They were a whole lot of fun, and made our week all the more enjoyable. The rest of the Pelletier family stayed in a different house about 2 miles away. They had around 20 people staying there. We went to their place for dinner 3 different nights. They were a lot of fun to get to know. There are a lot of different personalities in our family, and we all have a lot of fun. We played a LOT of pool over the past week!
I have a lot of pictures that will be on my website from the trip. Your mom took a bunch one day at the beach. I think it was Wednesday or Thursday, and the weather was perfect. The waves were coming in pretty consistently, and to top it all off we saw around 8 dolphins swimming in pairs. It was the best beach day of the trip for us. On our last night, we took family pictures on the beach. Each family had different colored tshirts so maybe that will help to clear some things up. :) After the pictures we went to the Pirate Cove putt putt. Your mom and I shared a round (alternating turns), and played with Brendon, Brandon, Zach and Kelly. We tied with Brendon shooting 46 and Kelly had 45. She did great. Brendon, Brandon, Kelly and I all got a hole in one during the night - sweet.
I think your mom & I both missed certain things from home, and those things came out quickly when we got home. I was (and still am) craving a sandwich from Firehouse subs, and your mom was having "American Chopper" withdrawal symptoms. I didn't get my sandwich, but she did get to catch an episode of the show...tragedy averted.