16 Weeks And Counting

I had my 16-week appointment today, and everything was great. Baby Brant's little heart is beating away at about 150-155 beats a minute now. Apparently he/she was swimming and flipping like crazy, because he/she kept moving when the nurse was trying to get the heartbeat. She was laughing, and said, "That's one slippery little one you've got in there." Hopefully that's not a sign of things to come!

Okay, only a month to go before the big ultrasound on November 21st. Everyone keep your fingers crossed that Baby Brant cooperates and shows us his/her stuff. I can't wait to start decorating the nursery in blue or pink!

Concert Crazy

Sunday when we got back from Austin, Baby Brant and I left Mike at home and joined a bunch of my girlfriends to have dinner and attend the New Kids on the Block reunion concert at American Airlines Center.

I know I should be embarrassed about this (as Mike has been telling me for months), but I have to say, they put on an amazing show. The singing and dancing were still great, and they rolled out all of their old hits for the occasion. I'm not sure which was my favorite, but Hangin' Tough, The Right Stuff, Please Don't Go Girl and I'll Be Loving You Forever were all awesome. They did, however, go a little crazy with stuff off the new album. New Kids, I love you, but this concert should have been 75% old stuff, 25% new stuff. It ended up being more 50%/50%.

Mike was a little horrified to learn that this was the first week Baby Brant was able to start hearing, so I'm sure he/she was treated to the sound of thousands of screaming women in their late 20s and early 30s, as well as the amazing falsetto (even after all these years!) of Jordan Knight.


On Tuesday night, Mike, Jana and I went to see my favorite band, Weezer at Nokia in Grand Prarie. It's hard to believe, but I had actually never gotten a chance to see Weezer in concert before. Because I am a member of the Weezer fan club (yes, I am a dork), I was able to get us really great tickets in a pre-sale.

I wasn't expecting anything less than awesome-ness from them, and they delivered. They did lots of old stuff, as well as some great songs off their new album (totally acceptable in this case, because their new album is really good). I was a little sad that they didn't play more from the Pinkerton album (my favorite album of all time), but they did play El Scorcho and Pink Triangle.
The highlight of the concert, however, was the "hootenanny" portion. During this tour, they had been soliciting musicians of all types (accordion players, sousaphone players, spoon players, etc.) to learn a couple of their songs and come on stage and play with them. Then they selected about 20-25 of them to actually come onstage and play a couple of songs with them during the concert. most of them looked straight out of their high school marching band, and it was an absolute riot. They played Island in the Sun and Beverly Hills, two of Weezer's most recognizable hits, and the whole audience sang along while the band played. It was a riot. The best part was the accordion solo that substituted for the guitar solo in Island in the Sun. Hilarious, and the accordion player did a great job!

They closed the show with a very cool cover of Nirvana's Sliver (amazing how obvious it was when they played that how influenced they were by Nirvana) and Buddy Holly. A great end to a great show.

I purchased Baby Brant his/her first article of clothing, a Weezer onesie. How cute is this?

Trip to Austin

Last Friday, Mike and I drove down to Austin to spend the weekend and enjoy the Longhorns game against Mizzou. We definitely expected the Longhorns to win (naturally), but I don't think even Mike anticipated what an awesome game it would be! The Longhorns looked totally dominant, and we had an awesome time.

The defense looked incredible in the first half. They completely shut-down Mizzou's supposedly stout offense, and basically made Mizzou look like a bunch of chumps. Colt McCoy was also unbelievable again. It's really amazing how much progress he's made from last year.

Baby Brant is still holding out hope that he/she will be born into a world where the Longhorns are the National Champions. Each week it looks more and more like it might actually happen!

Baby Brant's First Football Game

Okay, I guess it won't really count until after Baby Brant is born, but what a game it was anyway! We are convinced that Baby Brant brought our sweet Longhorns good luck and helped them power past OU.

Mommy and Daddy came home a little sunburned, but it couldn't have been more worth it. I've sat through several bad Texas/OU games (2000 springs to mind), but it's games like these that make it worth it! Baby Brant also got to enjoy his/her first Fletcher's Corny Dog, and I'm pretty sure BB enjoyed it!

Look out Missouri - Baby Brant will be down in Austin next weekend as well! Hook 'em!

Baby's First Horoscope

Okay, one of my pregnancy websites sent me this horoscope for Baby Brant. Aries covers two weeks before and two weeks after my expected due date, so it's fairly likely that this will be accurate. Check this out...does our baby sound like a jerk, or what???

March 21 - April 19 Planet - Mars Element - Fire

The Rambo of the play group has arrived! With an Aries baby around, you can
expect lots of action and activity in your midst. Don't expect this tot to sit
still with a rattle -- it just won't happen. The Aries baby is one who makes a
lot of noise and will definitely be heard. There's really no choice!

As a Fire sign, the little Ram will be dynamic and always up to something.
Will this be a tough baby to deal with? More than likely. To that end, parents
would be wise to show this child how to work with other babies early on. Things
such as sharing won't come naturally, they must be learned. Even where siblings
are concerned, the Aries child won't be a walk in the park. What the Aries baby
may want most of all, however, is attention, so parents be well advised.

In a play setting, the Aries tot will easily get the attention of others on
their own. This baby will also start many things early, the better to get to the
finish line, so to speak, in a hurry. To sum up, the Arian baby can be quite
independent but enjoys interacting with others. This baby is a fairly physical
child and craves constant stimulation. They will be ready from day one!