Since the families already know and hints are beginning to surface from friends on Twitter, I went ahead and let the world know...

We broke the news to the future grandparents this weekend -- first Selina's parents, then mine. We bought two sets of Texas pacifiers , wrapped them up in tissue paper and placed them in small gift bags. Our plan was to hand it to them and kinda nonchalantly tell them, "We saw these and thought of you guys -- we hope you can use them", and then see how they reacted...

We gave Selina's parents theirs on Saturday. I was smiling from ear to ear during the few minutes of them trying to figure out what we had given them -- Selina's dad initially thought they were wine/beer toppers and her mom initially thought they were headphones/earplugs. And then it suddenly hit Selina's mom -- I've seen her happy before, but this was beyond happy. This was surprise, joy and overwhelming excitement all rolled up into one emotion. I can't blame her; this is going to be their first grandchild, after all. I really wish I could have had my camera at the ready, because it was priceless. We shared the news with Orlando (who was in the other room playing games with his headphones on, so didn't hear it the first time) and Marcos via Skype (he's in Boston right now). After lots of hugs, chatting, smiling and laughing, it was time to go home to prepare for the trip to Waelder to share the news with my family.

My parents are already grandparents (one grandson from my sister and one grandson from my brother), so while I knew they would be happy, I also knew the excitement level wouldn't top that of Saturday night. We caught them both in the kitchen getting ready to start making lunch. When my dad unwrapped the gift, he looked at it and said, "Pacifiers? Why do we need...oooooooooh!" My mom thought that we had given them two pacifiers (it was a set) because we were having twins. We're not, but twins do run in the family on my side, so it wasn't a stretch to ask. Most of the family, including Jacob, my grandparents, my aunt Becky and uncle Richard were there, too, so we kinda get a lot of birds knocked out with one stone. In Waelder, news travels fast -- and with this many people in town knowing, I'm sure the rest will know by tomorrow.

As for the rest of you non-Waelder people out there, it's only a matter of time before I unhide these secret posts I've been keeping from you...should be real soon!

Selina had an appointment with her doctor on Thursday and it's official - she's pregnant! She even came back with a souvenir picture of our little "bean". Isn't it amazing that something so tiny will eventually grow up to be a person?



We're scheduled for another appointment in two weeks -- and this time I've been invited. The main reason is to answer family medical questions and to get to know the doctor, but I've also been told we should be able to see the baby' heart fluttering by then. Wow. We're going to be able to see our baby's heart fluttering. I can't believe it. I mean, wow. It's so exciting and so scary at the same time...but mainly exciting! :)

Selina has an appointment with her doctor tomorrow afternoon, and seeing as this is our first pregnancy, neither of us really knows what to expect. My assumption is that the doctor will confirm the pregnancy and administer a regular, you know, girlie exam, plus a whole bunch of other tests that may or may not involve needles.

Ugh, needles. Probably a good thing I wasn't asked to be there.

I've noticed that Yahoo's comment section has recently been bombarded by Asian spammers looking for "a good men in my town". At first I was clicking the little "thumbs down" icon and then using the "Report Abuse" link, but I've since given up. These fools are either using an automated program or they have a sweatshop filled with kids getting paid 1 cent for every 1000 comments they submit.



Not that Yahoo's comment section is bursting with intellectual insight; most of the time it's filled with people who think the caps lock key is always supposed to be on, terrible spellers, racist jerk-offs or far left/right wackos who are about as dumb as a bag of hammers. Worse yet are the people who possess a combination of the above characteristics.

Sigh -- maybe these Asian spammers aren't so bad after all...

When Selina called to tell me the results of the at-home pregnancy test yesterday, my first thought was, "I hope she looks like her mom". My second thought was, "Did my subconscious mind just give me a hint?" I guess we'll find out for sure in, oh, 15-16 weeks, huh? Either that or I could give Paul the Octopus a call and see what he thinks.

Have you ever had one of those moments in your life where, no matter hard you tried, you just couldn't find the right words to properly express yourself? I'm struggling to find words right now, and since they say a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll just let the picture do the talking...



That's right, we're going to be parents! Well, at least that's what that amazing little piece of technology Selina used this morning that you see above is telling us. She will be going to see her doctor next Thursday to confirm this, but according to the package, this particular test is 53-74% accurate at this point in time. And don't worry, this was a planned pregnancy -- although we were still amazed it happened so quickly :)

So here I sit, smiling from ear to ear because I know a wonderful secret but can't tell anyone yet. I'm at work right now, so I already know I'm going to be completely disconnected for the rest of the day. Do you know how difficult it is to concentrate on some insignificant work-related task when you've just been told you're going to be a dad? And to make matters worse, I have to hide this post for now (at least until we make the announcement to our parents). And no Twitter, either. Gah! I find myself in a genuine pickle here, but at least it's a pickle of the good variety.