The song of the keyboard

Right around this time of day 2:30-3:00 I get really sleepy. There is a lull in the phone calls and the rhythmic tapping of keys that fills the office, calling out to me to crash my face on the keyboard, that tap tap tap like the sirens of Ulysses luring the ships to the rocks. I get up and walk around, grab a cup of tea, get the blood flowing but I know that the last two hours of work are going to be a fight for conscienceless.

He's holding our hearts too

Good luck Aunt Linsey

Doing Well

Nearly two weeks of being a family of four and so far so good. Henry slept for 6 hours straight last night giving Kate and I some much needed consecutive sleep. He’s a giver like that. We both woke up on our own to check on him though, it seems we can’t just enjoy the sleep; we have to check that he is still alive. Finn is doing pretty well so far sharing his parents. He is very popular with family so he is still getting his fair share of attention and having his Ta Ta and Aunt Meg here was a great for him. We have also purchased a webcam to have some Skype sessions with Grandma, Ta Ta, and Uncle Mark and Aunt Nena. Finn rubs his nose against the monitor to give butter fly kisses or ugga muggas with Uncle Mark and he asks to hold Grandma when ever we chat with her. Not sure if he gets the technology but he knows that his fans are just a few clicks away.

Kate is recovering well and looking beautiful as usual. She has connected really quickly with Henry and the two of them have been out and about a bunch. We went to my uncle Beaver’s surprise 50th birthday party and got to see a bunch of my uncles. As I have written about before it is tough to track them down but we got to see Beaver, Maverick, Pablo, Steve, and Papa. It was pretty great introducing Finn to my Papa while he held on for dear life to his own Papa. It was a classic Rohl party with a good deal of drinking and good food and Kate took it all in stride. It is a bit different world for her but you would never know it to see her interact.

I am back to work full-time today and the day seems really long. Just one week of Half days and I feel like that is the norm. Work and I have a tenuous relationship at best but this job is really great and if I have to work then this is a good place for it. My one friend at work just turned in his notice to move to California. I guess I will have to get back on the friend dating circuit to find a replacement, plenty of fish in the sea but this office doesn’t seem to be connected with that sea.

More pictures coming soon, batteries keep running out to quick so I can’t get them loaded. Thank you to everyone that sent wishes and congratulations. We got messages through the blog, gmail, facebook, myspace, text messages, phone calls, greeting cards, and flowers delivered to the door. Not sure why there wasn’t a carrier pigeon in there somewhere but there might be more kids soon

Oh Man!

Video taken by Meg.

Henry Ellis Rohl

9 lbs. 4 oz. 21 inches long born at 6:45 after 10 minutes of pushing. Welcome to the world my boy!

This is the day your life will surely change

We are at the hospital and Kate is hooked up to the I.V., monitors, and Pitocin. She is beautiful and happy and so far pain free. Unfortunately Flickr is a blocked site so I can't upload the other pictures but I will later. Thanks for the prayers and good thought, we really appreciate it.

Rest, work, rest.... rinse and repeat

This weekend was both restful and full. We got a new couch and painted the boy’s room and slept in. With Finn at Papa and grandma’s house we could work in spurts and lay around for long periods of time but we miss him a lot. Saturday we were going to go pick him up after he spent some time with my parents but snow on the passes, and Kate’s possible contractions made that impossible. So we rested and worked and enjoyed a bit of calm before the storm of two kids, family, work, and a forecast that calls for rain as far as the calendar will go. Two more days now until we report to the hospital to convince Kate’s body to let that big boy out. We have a bag packed in case of an early release that we both hope for but doesn’t seem likely. We both like the idea of rushing to the hospital as we forget our wallets at home. It’s romantic kind of.

The time between

For the last month I have been working long hours at work and getting less sleep then usual. It seems like a good warm up to the sleepless nights of a newborn but for the next few days I will be in the in-between. The extra hours at work are over and the baby is not here yet. With Finn at my parents house there is a strong possibility that I could sleep until noon tomorrow, maybe longer, and that idea sounds good. I am in no way comparing because I will always lose, but I am really tired. I feel weary and unhealthy and in need of some sun. The odd thing is that I am really happy. This busy time has been really great and Kate and I have had a lot of fun together.

T-Minus 6 days.......

A week from today we are heading to the hospital to coax our son out. Kate had another ultra-sound where we found out that the little guy is quickly passing up “little” and moving towards “hefty”. He is already bigger then Finn was when he was born and he is not due until Feb. 17 if you believe the first date. The ultra-sound lead the Dr. to change the due date to Feb. 6 which is when our induction was already scheduled. How about that! There is something far less magical about an ultra-sound on a full term baby. You can’t see anything really. I did get a good look at his kidneys and his spine and he looks good, seems like all his working out in the womb is paying off. We do have a name picked out but I’m not putting it up here until he is born, I want that post where I announce it. If you want to know email me or call and we will tell you. We aren’t trying to keep it from anyone I just want his name to be introduced on this blog when he is. Well that’s the news.

Curves ahead

You think you know how your life is going to change, you feel like you have a good idea what is coming up but the truth is you have no idea. That is where I am at lately with a new baby coming any day now. I wrestle around on the floor with Finn and wonder if he has any idea what is coming. He kisses Kate’s belly when we ask where the baby is and he has even learned the baby’s name, but does he know that soon that baby will be born and come live with us? Does he know that he will no longer be the sun to mine and Kate’s universe? I don’t think I even know what that is going to mean. My Friend Liz said that when she was pregnant with her second she thought she couldn’t possible love him as much as she did her first. When he was born that changed for her. I am excited for our new baby to join us but part of me is sad to have my affection split. My friend Matt told me that when his girls were first born he didn’t really like them. He loved them but they were newborns and he didn’t know them yet. He felt guilty for it and both loves and really likes his kids now but I worry that I might feel like that with the new guy. Finn is so freaking cute right now with his growing vocabulary and his tiny voice. When he hears me come through the door he yells out “Oh no!” and runs squealing into Kate’s arms to hide from me. One thing that Matt told me too was to not worry about it too much, guilt is silly. I know that’s the truth. It is an exciting time and the more I try to imagine how it’s going to feel and what’s going to happen the more I know I have no idea.

A rough day

Yesterday was a rough day. I woke up feeling nauseous but still went into work at 6 AM to get some overtime in before our baby boy joins us. I struggled through a couple of hours feeling like if I could just throw up I would feel much better. usually these morning are preceded by a night of gin and tonics and some inappropriate jokes on the Beeler's porch. Without such late night revelry I could not explain this morning sickness. Around 9:30 in the morning in the middle or a phone shift I had to run to the bathroom as that nauseous feeling was fully realized. I called Kate to come get me on her way to taking Finn to my mom's. I felt great after throwing up but then I would start to feel sick again. This pattern went in 45 minute shifts making for a terrible day. Kate went to work but was soon back home seeing my 45 minute cycle and raising it 20 minutes. We were quite a pair laying in bed whimpering like babies. Around 2 in the afternoon I stopped getting sick but felt chills and body aches all over. Kate on the other hand continued throwing up for another 2 hours until we took her to the hospital. She was very dehydrated and couldn't keep anything down so they gave her an IV and some medicine to stop the puking. She was also hooked up to some baby monitoring and we saw she was having pretty regular contractions. every two minute there were significant readings leading the nurse to check how far along Kate was. She was 1 cm dilated and 80% effaced and could give birth anytime between now and her due date. That seems like a pretty inexact science, I mean we pretty much knew that before we came into the hospital right. Anyway after 3 IV bags and some much needed non-vomiting rest we were able to go back home. We both woke up this morning feelin much better, still with flu like symptoms but infinitely better then the day before.

Married Vs. Dating

On our way home from a very nice holiday party the subject of Football came up. We are in the heat of the playoffs and I lamented the fact that my Raiders were no longer prominently involved. Lately when I bring up the Raiders, and it’s not that often, Kate tells me she doesn’t believe me. She doesn’t believe I am a fan of the Raiders or even of Football in general. How dare she! She must have had too much to drink at the party, why am I letting her drive in this condition? I asked her to pull over right away so I could issue a sobriety test, but she called me an idiot and reminded me that she is 8 months pregnant and hasn’t even had a sip tonight. I thought it would pass but Kate fells strongly about this subject. She said I just like saying I’m a Raiders fan for the reaction. She said I care more about story then games and being a Raider Fan is just a convenient vehicle for telling stories. She is really making me angry at this point but she is far from done. She said there is no question I love the Lakers or the Dodgers because I talk about them a lot. She repeated a lot while making an exaggerated head nod for dramatic effect. The only time she hears me talk about the Raiders is when other people ask if I’m a fan of the Colts. I still think she is drunk at this point but it can also just be the rampant hormones in her body from the pregnancy, either way she is out of her mind. She is wading into dangerous water and I am not sure she can see the shore anymore. She badgered me to admit she was right, but I will never do it. She is dead wrong. Hitting her stride she offered as evidence the Kobe trade talks with the Lakers against the Randy Moss draft day trade. Kobe didn’t even get traded and I talked about it every day for two months. She only heard that Moss was a Raider from an NFL broadcast. Please, you can’t compare Kobe to Moss, that is just crazy. She said I am married to the Lakers, I am married to the Dodgers, but I am a best friends with the Raiders. She said I’m not even dating them, I’m not even best friends with them, they are just people that I know and might have grown up with but their not in my fantasy league or anything. They weren’t invited to my wedding, hell their not even friends on Facebook. Though it’s 11 at night she demands that I give her my phone so she can call Kyle. He will agree with her. I wouldn’t give her the phone, Kyle would never agree with her and besides it midnight in Arizona. Even if he did what does that prove, no he wouldn’t agree. Kyle may hate football but he wouldn’t question my fanhood. Would he? HE DID! Kate chatted with him the next day on gmail and that Judas took her side! Et tu Sezo? He said Mark is married to the Raiders, but James is just friends. Can they be right? They can’t be right, I mean the Raiders and I have had some good times. Sure we have had some fights over money and the chores but who hasn’t? We may not be in love anymore but I made a commitment when I was 12 and 18 bad years can't erase the 3 good ones!

The Holidays are over, long live the holidays

We took our tree down and put it outside, I guess that means the holidays are officially over. It was a really great season of getting to see and spend time with family and talk with friends and there is still a couple of visits to come before and after the new baby but now it feels a bit quiet. All this month I am working overtime to take advantage of some incentives at work during our busy season. It has been tough getting in at 6 and leaving at 5 but it is only for a month and I work at a desk, my dad does this in the rain and cold putting buildings together. The overtime incentives will in just before the launch date of baby 2.0 so it will be nice to get a little extra cash and get used to being tired most the time. I don't have any New Year's resolutions this year but i'm fat and I want to change that, and we are going to track and balance our spending this year to reduce debt and be more intentional about where our money goes. I loaded some software to help with this and i am following the lead of some great financial bloggers. I won't be loading my Financial Statements up here online but if you want to see them you can. I like the idea transparency and I think that anyone who would ask would be genuinely interested.

Different but still exciting

I've had some things I have wanted to write, thoughts to flesh out and give legs to, but I haven't. It always sounds better in my mind right when i think of it, or so I seem to think when trying to recall the idea later. It's like I could be a brilliant writer if only I got my shit together and wrote when it occurred to me. That's probably not true but it's nice to think that way.

So in a little more then a month we are having another boy. I'm not sure if I have said that yet. We are having a boy for sure. He's all turtle in his last close up and from the looks of Kate's belly he is big and active. I have been awakened to baby elbows in my back more then once. The little dude seems to be leading a jazzercise class in Kate's belly. He is much more active then Finn was at this pre-age. Also Kate is much more attached to this new baby then she was to pre-natal Finn. She loves him a lot now and is super attached, but when he was in her belly she didn't know how great he was going to be. It's funny cause I think I am the opposite. I was really attached to Finn when he was in Kate's belly. I would sing and talk and generally irritate Kate with my attention to her cohabiter. Now I'm just waiting for him to come out and worried that we won't have a name picked out for him y the time he comes.