The Final Countdown

We are in the final stages of preparing for Baby #2. The envelopes for pre-addressing baby announcements have arrived in the mail, so now it finally feels more real! We've had our choice of first names narrowed down to 2 or 3 for quite some time, but now we may flip flop back to a different version of one of the names we liked early on but had then eliminated. It may just come down to the first time we see him.

Charlie has also been preparing in his own way. He liked practicing putting his doll in the carseat when I had it out to readjust the straps back to infant size and to put on the winter cover. We also took him on Sunday to pick out a present for Baby Brother. This morning he finally got his seasonal flu shot (our pediatrician had been out of the dosage for kids under 3 until just last week).

I managed to get an H1N1 shot this past Friday, thanks to the assistance from friends Brian and Lauren. Brian sat in the line in the cold rain for Lauren and I while we sat in the car. But the early morning paid off-- we were very near the front of the line and got through long before they shut it down for the day. Brian and Lauren even got interviewed for the news!

Only a few more days of work for me, then I'm off on vacation until C-Day. It will be nice to have some time to relax and finish up things around the house that I've been too tired to do after long days at work.

Just for fun, here is a comparison of me in the final week or so before Charlie was born, and a shot from last weekend in nearly the same spot. We thought it was fitting to take another photo at the site of big moments in our life (since this was also where our wedding was held).