Real men get pedicures!!-Ryan

Katherine and her sister Elizabeth both around 7&1/2  months

We hit a mile stone yesterday. As of the 18th of September, Katherine is officially one month away from her due date. We have burst through the thresh hold of cute and pregnant and landed steadily on over-sized and miserable. Tossing and turning, grunting and moaning, she can't seem to find comfort in any position at night. Back and forth she waddles to and fro from the couch to the bed. Of course I am not experiencing the physical discomfort she's going through, but my heart does go out to her. On our last visit to the doctor the physician told us that the baby has all but completely dropped. She even explained that she had to reach around Molly's head to check the cervix. We were told she is 50% effaced and 1/2 cm dilated, the Doc said at this rate there is no way we will see the due date, and for Katherine's sake, I hope it's true. Keep in mind, although Kat may be ready, I would like Molly to cook a little longer. I just want everyone to come out healthy and happy after this is all said and done.

For Katherine to feel a little more like a lady and less like a portal for human existence, I thought it would be fun to get a pedicure. You heard right, I thought it would be fun... don't judge me. So we headed on down to Rose's Spa. Rose's Spa is a old U-haul rental building turned spa. I know the owner from selling him a sectional, where he explained to me that the size of the coffee table is strictly determined on whether or not it could hold two boxes of pizza and a twelve-pack of beer (my kind of man.)

This was the kids version, but still cute.

We walked in and the place was lit up with finger nail polish. I was instructed by a pro (Katherine) to pick my color and have a seat. As I scanned the rainbow, I decided to go with my gut, "if these were bowling balls, what would I choose?" I thought. I picked out a nice glittery mustard yellow and had a seat. The seat themselves are message chairs with a jacuzzi at the bottom to stick your feet in. As I sat down, the non-English speaking woman set my message chair to a very uncomfortable cycle, and went to town on my feet like Paula Deen holding a cheese grater. I have to say, she was pretty forceful, but if I had to pedicure my feet, I too wouldn't be delicate.

I have to say I felt Incredibly bad for this woman. Although the picture doesn't show it, her cheese grater was chalked full of my bunions. I'm not proud, but it felt so good.

There you have the finished product.     I strongly recommend any man getting a pedicure. Women are making these things out to be feminine, but in reality, they are just a best kept secret.

Tattoo your kid to your chest!

Twenty five horrible tattoos of children's faces. Note to self, no matter how much I fall in love with my little girl and wish to cherish every moment, never, ever, tattoo her face on my body. For more of these creepy pics here is your LINK

 good friend sent me this link,

50 Rules for Dads of Daughters {by Michael Mitchell}

 This is a really well done list of rules, with things like:

24. Knowing how to eat sunflower seeds correctly will not help her get into a good college. Teach her anyway.

and...

40. She might ask you to buy her a pony on her birthday. Unless you live on a farm, do not buy her a pony on her birthday. It’s OK to rent one though.

 

I thought I would end these links with a nice video. This one is a couple coming up with a clever way to break the news to their parents they're pregnant. There are actually quite a bit of these videos out in youtube land and some are really touching. Enjoy!

No Insurance? Try this. -Ryan

One of my first blogs Got insurance?  I talk about how Katherine and I came to be pregnant with out insurance. When I first found out she was pregnant I got extremely over whelmed with medical cost. I looked all over the  internet for guidance and kept coming up empty handed. So, through trail and error, we have figured out a best practices of what to do if you are with out maternity coverage. I say "best practices," but I know no other way of dealing with it.

I wasn't planning on showing this video, because mostly I hate it. I made it off the cuff and it was all in one take, I ramble way to much, and over all I find it boring. I have been receiving some emails about it, so it might be helpful. For that reason alone, I will post it here.

Like I said the video is terrible, but here is a couple of emails I have gotten and a response. I hope it helps others.

 

 

 

thank you

Thanks so much for your post. I heard you mention "Baptist" ..are you referring to Baptist hospital in Nashville? I'm in Nashville! I currently do not have maternity insurance. Husband and I are self employed and I just found out that I'm pregnant. I have searched before on what to do about this. And have found that you can pre pay obgyn's and get discounts. I will have to review my policy. But from what I know is that if an "emergency surgery" needs to happen .. a c-section. That that is when your insurance kicks in and you get covered. I do want to re-review my policy however because I read a story and there was video on a woman who was in AZ and her BCBSAZ policy had all of these stipulations as to what fetal distress it. And she had to pay for c-section but is still fighting with the insurance company. I have researched midwifes..but get scared sometimes if I don't have a obgyn established and paid upfront. Did you decide what OBGYN your wife will use and what hospital? Did you pay the hospital upfront yet and do you know what hospital? I heard good things about Dr. Pashcall. Sorry for long message...but I'm very thankful for your video and grateful you took the time to put it up. Please let me know any tips or what ever you decide to do.
Thanks,
Ani

Another example:

i am in same boat !

Hi , It's Amish from Milford NH . i am also in same boat, we found last week that my wife is pregnant . we have no insurence . we are so worried abt the cost and we can't get any insurence now. please advise what will be the best way to deal with cost . even little information will help. Thanks, Amish 

So a typical response from me looks like:

Re: i am in same boat !

Hey Amish, congratulations on your big time life change!

I'll be glad to tell you what I have done and I can only hope it helps you.

First I would say that if you can get approved for it, there is absolutely nothing wrong with medicaid. With your wife pregnant, you are already considered a family of three which will raise the income maximum your family can make per month to get approved. I live in Mississippi, I'm sure our maximum of 2,500.00 a month for our entire income is a lot less then in NH. Keep in mind they go by monthly income, so if your paychecks very month to month then pick a low income month before you apply. Medicaid will cover 100% off all your birthing cost and will also pay you back if you have already paid some obgyn medical bills before applying.

If you have already checked with Medicaid and that is not an option, then it is time for you to be a smart consumer. I would get a list of all the hospitals with in a 30 - 45 minute radius. Call them and explain you have no insurance and would like to receive an estimate on the cost of a child birth. Every hospital I called had some type of discount for the uninsured. Prices will also very from one extreme to the next, so it is important to call a lot of hospitals when pricing. My cost after calling varied from 5,000 - 13,000 for a child birth, you can double that figure if your wife has to under go a cesarean. Once you find a hospital, and you're comfortable with the reputation and distances, then they can provide you with a list of doctors the use their facility. Shop your doctors in the same manner, they too will give you discounts for not having insurance. If you have the means to pay anything all together in cash, that also constitutes another discount. Our obgyn cost ranged from 2000 - 4000. We went with a little bit more expensive doctor because my wife was more comfortable with her. Some times your wife's comfort and practicability will play over cost.

Remember you can always make payments, and as long as you pay something (anything) each month, then no interest will be added to your medical bills.

I hope I helped, your baby is blessed to have you looking after them.
- Ryan
Please feel free to give me extra input you think I may be leaving out in our comments box, or email us at allthingsdaddy@gmail.com


I will be remaking this crappy video as soon as I get a new camera, don't judge!

Strange video time!!!

Pee Pee Teepee

I've been shopping a couple of times with my expecting wife at Maternity Motherhood.
This place has nothing to do with dads, or does it?  I think you fellas will dig this.  Upon the final decision on what wonderful styles of clothes to purchase, my wife proceeds to nudge me out of my iPhone induced zone(the usual, checking sports scores, words with friends, and facebook).  We head to the register, where, again, she nudges me.  I'm not angry about this, just a little put off, I mean I know she can handle the clerk and transaction by herself, she's a pro at shopping.  I get the nudge all the same.  Then she points toward the impulse buy rack right next to the register, you know the rack, at most places it's filled with candy and gift cards and things of that ilk, but here at Maternity Motherhood they have nice little books about moms and daughters and dads and sons.  Then I realized what she wanted me to see: The pee pee teepee (I know it's spelled tepee, that's what the package reads)

We've got little rockers!

That's right, a mini teepee to cover your boys wangdoodle(that's another one, wangdoodle wigwam) to protect from the errant stream of pee that I've heard so many stories about.  These little cone-shaped pieces of felt (I'm guessing) are used during diaper changes.  We've all seen the diaper commercial where dad goes in and lays his son down on the pad on the bed and removes his diaper only to find his son is still fully loaded and blasting all over the walls.  It's a little over the top and shows that diaper is supposed to absorb so much more than it's competitors, I'm not even sure which company it is, I might need to look into that.  Knowing that it was over the top, and that, even though as fathers, we dream our sons could display such ferocious abilities(we would proudly beam, and say he gets it from me) I'm sure we're talking about a lot less power.  Which would make theses teepees very practical.  They come in all colors and designs:

Animals are always fun! Especially monkeys!

There are tons more, google them, or click here.

Now I realize that many of you might have already heard of these brilliant and practical doodads.  Yeah, I just called 'em doodads. But, for myself this was brand new.  I must say I had a healthy chuckle about them, and I also I have to say I was intrigued.  I've not been around a lot of baby boys, but this just seems like something that would create more buzz.  If you haven't checked out the link above, then you don't know how big the market is for these tallywhacker tents(I'm having fun coming up with different things to call them as well).  If this is your first encounter with pee pee teepees, then I'm glad I could show you something that I think all of us could appreciate and smile at. 

I just got a new design idea sitting here. You could make them look like little socks(which would probably work just as well) and put RHCP on them.  For those that don't know that's short for Red Hot Chili Peppers, a band that was known in their early days to perform on stage wearing only gym socks on their baby makers. 

I hope this has been informative and helpful.  I'll be sure to purchase some before Ethan makes his arrival so we can test and grade them. 

The Greatest Generation

 The Greatest Generation is a book written by Tom Brokaw. It is a book written about the generation of people born just after the turn of the twentieth century up through the 1920's (also known as the GI generation). Brokaw is quoted saying, "it is, I believe, the greatest generation any society has ever produced." He argued that these men and women fought not for fame and recognition, but because it was the right thing to do. These words epitomize my Great Grandfather, a man I said goodbye to this last Saturday.

Hubert S. Rutherford  was ninety-four and a half when he passed on the 10th of this month. He suffered a massive heart attack a week prior and had sustained tremendous damage. We knew it was a matter of time before we lost him, but you are never emotionally prepared to say goodbye to a loved one. After the heart attack, I received a very somber phone call from my grandmother that if I wanted to see him alive then I would have to leave now, or I could wait for the funeral. With Katherine teetering in the ninth month of pregnancy and my G-pa, living 700 miles away, I thought it best to leave immediately so that I could return before her labor.

I have heard some cases that certain people will cling to life until the have had the chance to say or hear goodbye from their loved ones, then, having that peace of mind, they slip away. My grandfather was the type of man who would do that. He grew up during the Great Depression, fought in WWII, earned two Bronze Stars, and raised three children. His son, Keith Rutherford, was nineteen when he lost his life in a car wreck less then ten miles from his home. When that happened, it did everything but destroy Keith's mother, my great grandmother, giving her a nervous breakdown. Hubert stood strong. He was always strong. He was the family rock, and as Brokaw said, when he did something, "he did it because it was the right thing to do."

Hubert was much more than the family "Rock," he also was funny. I mean side splittingly funny. He was one of those guys who would pop off with a joke so quickly and unexpectedly, you may find yourself too in awe of his cleverness, trying to figure where does he come up with this stuff rather than laugh. Usually, by the time I would get it, he would have already left the room & I'd be left there just giggling awkwardly, by myself. Once he was helping me install a windshield wiper motor on a old Buick. I was crouched over the engine and he would point at the different nuts and bolts for me to twist. Suddenly, a group of his buddies pulled in behind us (the whole town had him working on stuff). One of the men pointed at me, trying to score points with Hubert he asked, "who you got there with ya?" I was expecting a proud introduction, Grandpa stopped and gave me a long stare, he then looked back at the older fella and said "I don't know who he is, but I'm letting him call me Grandpa."

As most people knew him as a tough old bird, I also knew him as a sensitive man. We would usually get a chance to visit him and grandma a couple times a year.  Several times I could remember him getting emotional when it would come time to leave. The first time I saw him tear up he was talking with my mom, my grandma was having a variety of issues and had to be rushed to the hospital the night before. He was worried at the prospect of losing her and often looked to my mother for support. Seeing that man cry was as hard for me emotionally as it was watching him in the hospital this past week. He was sensitive when it came to his family, he loved us. It took a week for all of us to gather with him in his room Saturday evening, my aunt Charlotte was the last to arrive straight from the airport. She knelt beside him and spoke for us all. She was reading all of our hearts when she thanked him for being there, always being there. My grandpa and grandma were home to us and she let him know. She then called my mom and let her speak into his hear. His ear lobes relaxed and we all decided it was best to regroup at home. He passed away minutes later.

He was the type of person who would wait for us to all say our goodbyes, before passing to heaven. Up until the very end he was still there for us. He was our Rock.

I am sorry this post isn't about parenting. I needed to write it for Molly, so she can read something about him while I have him fresh in my mind.

9/11--Jake

I'm actually typing this on 9/12 but it's something I wanted to do to remember what 9/11/01 meant to me then and means to me now. 

I read a lot of nice posts about this infamous date on facebook throughout the day.  Some were about what they were doing or about those lost, about how our soldiers are still avenging/protecting us.  I had a mixture of feelings and I want to try to put into words what was going through my head when thinking about the day the towers fell.

Back in September 2001, I was just a 20 year old guy with not a lot going on.  I worked at a local mom and pop restaurant and lived in Texas with my brother.  I was to be at work at ten that morning and was on my when the dreadful events occurred.  I usually listened to my CD player, blasting out the latest tunes in my truck that could barely hold the sound system I had installed.  And I had started out doing just that, but for some reason I thought I'd listen to some talk radio that day on my way.  I tuned to the Dallas station WBAP 820 AM and that's how I first heard what was going on.  I thought they were messing around, but this wasn't a station that joked like that, not that any station would ever do that, but I knew it was serious coming from this one.  I sped to work to catch the news.  I remember standing with the few others there and watching the news in disbelief.  I felt detached, like this had to be some movie.  I felt angry too.  We had work to do, so we prepped everything and caught what news we could in between serving and cooking food.  I remember prices at the gas stations going up, and my boss asking if I needed to go ahead and fill up, and my response, no, I have half a tank and the lines are too long.  In the days following there was a group of friends that kept saying we were going to sign up for the military to help avenge the deaths and to protect our freedoms, but none of us did.  Sometimes I regret that, but I wouldn't be here today if I had done so.  I could've been killed, injured or still over there, instead of choosing the path I have taken.

Now, ten years later, I can see how young I was and how little the world was to me back then.  I know there were many people lost at the towers from different ages, but all were the same.  They were mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, friends, they were unsuspecting, and they all had there lives cut too short.  Now that I'm living not for me, but for Melissa and Ethan, I can imagine what it could be like to lose either one and it shakes me.  But that's just imagination.  Those that perished left behind many to mourn their loss, and they felt the reality of heartache.

I know I can't put into words the joy I feel knowing I'm going to be a dad.  I also know that I can't possibly know how or when my time will be up.  But I do know I will love every moment I get to spend with the ones I love.  I also know that I am thankful for so many men and women giving the greatest sacrifice to allow me to do so.   I am proud to be an American, and I hope everyone who reads this feels just as proud to live in the greatest county on Earth.

Last Summer Vacation--Jake

Hey everybody, hope you haven't forgotten about us.  Had a busy week last week, got to take a Labor Day weekend trip to Pensacola Beach Florida just in time for Tropical Storm Lee!

How exciting was that? Not very, constant winds and rain, but at least we got out of town for a few days, ate great food (mostly), and had wonderful company. And Tuesday, the day we were headed back for Memphis, it was beautiful of course. 

Friday through Monday night:


Tuesday Morning:

We did get a chance to go to the Naval Aviation Museum which was nice.  I suggest it to anyone who makes it to Pensacola and has to deal with rain or sun, it's free and can kill some long afternoon hours. 

On our way back from the museum we stopped at an old lighthouse that was built in 1859.  The sun popped out for a second so we had to move quickly to get any pictures! Melissa took this while her cousin and I went up the 177 steps to the top, it was quite the workout, and when we got to the top the workout wasn't over, we had to fight the winds that had been hounding us for our entire trip! Supposedly it's haunted, but we encountered no ghosts on this day.

Before I forget, the wind was so bad it blew up quite the jellyfish crowd, which luckily, none in our party got stung.

I know everyone is asking what does this have to do with All Things Daddy?  I'm getting to that.  On the day we were about to leave I got an idea, and I 'm glad Melissa decided to go along with this thought that I had.  I know everyone is familiar with traveling gnomes, but for those that aren't, I'll give a brief explaination.  You find someone's garden gnome, steal it (borrow) for a trip and just take photos of it at the different places you went to, returning gnome at the end with no harm done.  Well I'm applying this idea to Melissa's baby bump, without all the stealing. I have a small window of time to get this in, but here's the first, with many to follow hopefully.

Following up that weirdness, I'm going to end this blog on an awesomely high note.  First of all, I was supposed to do this earlier, when I got off work, but I procastinate with the best of 'em (thanks Pop). I feel I have a great excuse though, I just worked 1st shift after finishing up second shift from Friday night.  So, that means Friday I worked 4:00 to 12:30 am, and got into bed about 2 this morning.  Then had to be up and back at work at or around 10:00 am.  It just so happened Melissa had to go in today for on-call training so she was getting up early, and we all know when the spouse gets up, we aren't usually far behind(doesn't help the dogs wake up and proceed to lick my face too).  So instead of getting up at 9:00, like the plan was, I was wide awake at 7:00! These are good times though, we get to lay together and chat and check ipod/iphone news.  This morning was especially special though.  I got to feel the baby move for the first time.  Melissa told me Ethan was moving around, so I placed my hand, minus the Vulcan salute(see previous blog title There's a Baby in There), on her tummy and felt the little guy kick, or punch, or headbutt, it doesn't matter which.  It was just so awesome to feel him move!  I've said it before, but just like seeing him on the ultrasound, feeling him move makes it all the more real.  I love him so much and I don't even know him yet.  

Been Surfing the web -Ryan

Katherine, deep into her 3rd trimester has retired to the bed. Thus left up to my own devices, I began surfing the web today and found a couple of strange sites...

These are some pretty ridiculous shots found on ManBabies.com

As you can see, the whole web site is dedicated to swapping heads with Dad and Baby, utter genius.

Here at Cracked.com, they have a top 20 list of (some not that stupid) stupid baby specific inventions.

(some incredibly stupid)

                                    

Drum roll please.... -Jake

Ladies and gentlemen, a moment you've not really been waiting for, but a moment all the same, can I have the envelope please.  I would try to drag this out as long as possible but right now I'm too excited and too sleepy to think of clever one liners and the like.  So, without further ado, we're having a BOY! That's right, circle gets the square for the block, I know that has nothing to do with anything, but I've always wanted to say or in this case type it out in a situation where it doesn't fit at all.

The doctor says everything is progressing quite nicely.  I'm not sure I'll ever get over how awesome and breathtaking it is to see the little guy on the sonogram.,  They showed us his brain, kidneys, spine, leg bones, we even saw his eye sockets!  We got the thumbs up on everything and I looked at Melissa and said she's doing a great job growing our child.

Now I'm going to catch a quick nap, but when I get home tonight I'll add a few pictures and see if I can upload the DVD somehow.

Music by The Monkees, vocals Peter Tork, Album The Birds, The Bees, and The Monkees, Bonus Track.

Ok, got the DVD uploaded, finally, I'm learning this stuff as I go...bear with me! 

And the winner is....--Jake

I would first like to apologize to anyone that was expecting to hear/read if Melissa and I were having a boy or a girl on Tuesday.  In true daddy form, I totally mixed up appointment dates.  The big reveal will be later today, around 11:00 am.  Big news will be read here as soon as I get home, til then feel free to comment and guess who will be joining us in January, Ethan or Emma. 

On another note, Operation: Healthy Dad has been underway for almost two months now and I'm still going strong.  I've missed a few days here and there, but I usually go to the gym about five days a week.  I regret to inform that I didn't hit my target weight to this point in the op, but I'm feeling great and eating better than I have in a long time.  Needless to say, when we go to Pensacola this weekend for a last minute summer get away, I'll need to stay on point and not get carried away with the delicious foods I'm sure I'll be around.  Enough about that.

I do, however, want to get into why I even started Operation: Healthy Dad.  The biggest reason, of course, is to be a healthy dad.  I know I'm not going to be the first 31 year old to have their first child at, well 31 (Ryan is beating me to it, BTW), but the thought of being the "older dad" when school functions start up for my tyke made me realize I'm going to be doing a lot of things that most people start doing in their 20's and even earlier in some cases (mom, you had your hands full with us, and Cindy you told me some stories, and I think you both did a great job).  I feel, and hopefully Melissa feels the same way, that this isn't going to be our only child, so already there's going to be at least one, if not more, to come after baby E and hopefully, all before the age of 40.  I need to be able to keep up with the herd, therefore, I'm buckling down and getting things under control.

Another reason is to be healthier for Melissa.  Again, this goes into being able to keep up with everyone and everything, I don't want to be the dad that tuckers out and leaves most things to mom to take care of.  This is a full on partnership and it's 50/50, not 70/30, or even 60/40.  I know there'll be times when one of us needs that extra rest or long hot shower to relax and I just want to be ready to pull my weight.

And then there is a selfish reason to this healthier dad kick I'm on.  I'm doing it for me, I want to be around as long as I can to be able to see all that I can in my children's lives and to grow old and grey with my love.  I've done some stupid things in my life that weren't healthy at all, such as smoking amongst other things I won't get into.  I always heard smoking takes so many years off the end of one's life, and I always said, before marriage, that I was fine with that, those are the worst years anyways.  Well, I've had a change of heart, and I'm trying to quit smoking all together, although I still have the occasional square just to indulge myself.  Plus, a healthier me means a better me.

That's all I've got this time around, until tomorrow afternoon when I get to let you followers know what types of baby stuff you guys get to send our way.  Kidding of course, unless you feel moved to do so, joking joking joking, no seriously, send us stuff...