Welcome to Geaux Baby!

As Durel and I anxiously await the arrival of our first child, it occurred to me that I could use a cool and efficient way to share information and pictures with our amazing network of family and friends.  I am not sure how reliable I would be at uploading pictures to Shutterfly (or whatever) and sending out mass emails every few weeks.  To my friends who have that level of organization, I salute you.  I am not brave enough to count myself amongst your ranks.

But, I can blog!  And have been for some time (to wit, see simpleetiquette.blogspot.com).  So, I have started this blog to chronicle the life and times of Cheeseburger Bernard and his/her inexperienced but ambitious parents.

A few things to start:

1)  Yes, we call our baby Cheeseburger.  I know lots of people have cute names for their unborn children, like Love Bug, Peanut, or Bean.  None of those seemed right to us.  However, the fact that I now eat burgers like Popeye's friend Wimpy seemed noteworthy.  Especially since I had not eaten red meat for about five years prior to becoming pregnant.  Also, cheeseburgers are delicious and gender-neutral.  A nickname was born.  Cheeseburger Bernard, we can't wait to meet you.

2)  No, we do not know our baby's sex.  We decided very early on in the pregnancy not to find out and, amazingly, have stuck to our guns.  We cruised through the 20 week ultrasound with flying colors and looked away at the "right time."  We haven't had an ultrasound since then, but our resolve is strong to look away at the next one, which should be at 36 weeks.  I mean, we've come this far, haven't we?

Waiting to find out is cool.  We've decided that the nursery theme is loosely based on trees and woodland animals.  I like trees; trees are green; trees are gender neutral.  And woodland animals, well, they're awfully cute and come with the turf.  I shy away from nursery themes that are, well, "theme-y" -- I respectfully leave the jungle nurseries and ballet nurseries to parents other than me. 

3)  We are not sharing our names.  We will proudly introduce Cheeseburger to the world and reveal his/her full identity, including name, when he/she arrives.

4)  I am currently on bedrest.  I was having some early contractions the weekend before Christmas and spend the weekend in the hospital.  The good news is that they stopped the contractions and sent me home to rest, where I have been for the past three weeks.  The other good news is that every week which passes without more contractions or Cheeseburger's arrival makes him/her bigger and stronger.  The down side is that bedrest is a bit of a challenge for me.  But, in the immortal words of Gloria Gaynor, I will survive.

5)  I know that "geaux" is spelled oddly.  But, if you are from Louisiana, it's not odd at all.  For those of you who are uninitiated to the linguistics of Louisiana, "geaux" means "go."  You tend to use it when you are cheering for the LSU Tigers, as in "Geaux Tigers!" 

Urban dictionary agrees:  http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=geaux

It seemed like a good way to welcome and celebrate Cheeseburger's unique heritage:  Half Louisiana, Half Maryland, soon-to-be a Native Texan. 

Thanks for reading.  See you soon.

-- Heather