Back in Michigan

Overdue Post

2009-08-15T07:54:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for the delay. No excuse really, but just haven't updated the blog in a while.

We went to Minnesota several weeks ago and stopped in Chicago to visit a German U-Boat at the Museum of Science and Industry.

Non Liam Related News

2009-05-31T21:51:00.000-07:00

With Grandma Patty

Liam and Grandpa Wayne-O

Proud uncle E-Bone Capone

Grandma Fran with Liam at the hospital

With Grandpa Bo or "Papi" if we can get him to call my dad that.

Liam's first visit with friend Lindsay and Jason (congratulation to them for recently getting hitched).

His "on the phone" pose

"Burrito Baby" or "Taco Brocko"

Liam is great. Mom is great. Dad is doing well and getting into the swing of things. We just had Bethany's folks and brother and my parents in town. We're going to try this parenting thing out on our own for a bit... and by on our own, I mean, with the help of 50 people from our church who are helping with meals and offers to babysit.

I play in a ukulele club in Ann Arbor once a month. I was interviewed for a report that is going to be aired on NPR 6-1-09. The report is a bit boring, but at 2:32 into the interview she used a brief clip of me playing the ukulele solo. My comments did not make the cut, even though, I tried to be funny.

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/michigan/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1511910/news/Ukulele.Helps.Ease.the.Pain

Liam Andrew Brockman

2009-05-17T19:48:00.000-07:00

"Taint my fault"

Glad to be here

Looking at mom

Who's this dude?

Family of three

Born at 4:47 PM on May 17, 2009. Liam Andrew Brockman weighs 7 pounds 1 ounce. He is quiet, but alert and is doing well. He stayed up for about 3 hours after he was born and then started to nod off. He is trying to decide if he wants to sleep or eat presently.

7 Days-ish to go!

2009-05-11T16:30:00.000-07:00

Nursery

39 Weeks

38 Weeks

Hi Everybody,

We have one more week until the due date. That doesn't mean it will get here on the due date, but it better (fist shaking). Bethany has been surprisingly nice to me. The ratio of niceness to dilation is probably inversely correlated. I will be sure to bring this up during labor. It should go over well.

I have a few pictures to update...

We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the baby. Bethany is feeling good during the day but the baby gets real active when she goes to bed.

We're planning on bringing the computer to the hospital so that we can post pictures.

Andy

6 weeks to go

2009-04-12T12:31:00.001-07:00

6 weeks until the baby arrives. I will post pictures of the Baby Shower shortly.

St. Patrick's Day Weekend

2009-03-15T12:22:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Bethany and I just got back from walking in the Cork Town St. Patrick's Day Race. We walked about 2 miles for the race. We had a good time and met some of our friends down there. We stayed down there for a couple of hours, but then came home to get a start on the week.

We watched a couple movies this weekend... "Rachel Getting Married" and "Nights in Rodanthe". Rachel Getting Married is dark and a bit tedious. Nights in Rodanthe was a typical Nicholas Sparks book-turned-movie.

I made lunch for Bethany on Saturday and in the spirit of learning how to make food for children, I created a weiner dog celery/peanut butter animal.

We start our baby classes on Monday. I don't remember if they go for 3 or 4 weeks. It will probably be eye-opening and I will need to keep my funny comments to myself.

Take care,

Andy

March Dawns

2009-03-01T16:09:00.000-08:00

March is here and that means only 3 more months of winter. It is in the low 30's for the highs, but today it was warm in the morning and then very cold throughout the afternoon.

We had a productive weekend. Friday we had dinner with our friends the McCulloughs. We went to their house and had a great turkey meatloaf. I had a terrible week at work and it was nice to just unwind.

Saturday, Bethany got up and went mall walking with Eden. They ended up seeing "The Wrestler" after their mall walking and she said it was pretty good. Our dishwasher broke about two weeks ago. We bought a GE because they have six sigma quality control... however, I guess we got the 1 in 6 billionth product that could have a defect, because it only lasted about 3 years. We bought a another one at Lowe's on Saturday afternoon. I went to Home Depot on Friday night, but apparently they "don't stock dishwasher" because they are trying to "keep inventory low". I wanted to point out that the whole point of mega box home improvement warehouses is that you have large appliances in stock, so that somebody can come in and say, "I need 40 dishwashers right now!" But, I'm not sure that the appliance guy would have cared or listened. Oh well, Lowe's had them in stock and we got a better dishwasher for about the same price and free delivery.

It got delivered on Sunday after church and I installed it. So, we can now do not have to do dishes by hand.

Bethany is feeling well and by popular request, we have a belly picture.

On a sad note, a friend of mine just found out that her husband has late stage cancer. They should find out this week if the cancer has spread to his blood (I'm not sure exactly what this means if 'spread to the blood' is the correct terminology, but I know it is only a matter of weeks if this is the case). They have a young son and it does not look good. Please be sure to include them in your prayers.

2, 3, 1000, and 3

2009-02-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

We're back from Indianapolis and Cincinnati. The class I took was excellent and proved to be very helpul. Technically, I was on vacation for two days last week (Monday and Friday). I spent a portion of each day doing work, though, which is annoying.
The company paid me to drive on Tuesday and Thursday. I had the class on Wednesday, so I worked three days this week. We drove about 1,000 miles throughout the week, but it was broken up well. It took forever to get to Indianapolis because they had a big snow storm the day we arrived and we got stuck in traffic for 2 hours just outside of the city.
We got back early afternoon on Friday and I had to do a little work and then I went and met friends from the old insurance company. Matt told me about a great new musician, Andrew Bird. It is very good. The new album is called "Noble Beast". I went and purchased it today with Bethany.
Bethany and I woke up this morning and she went to collect Pickle (who was staying at Eden's house while we were gone). When she got back, she wanted to know what we were going to do. Apparently, my intention of doing nothing was not alright, so we turned the day into a movie day. We watched, "He's just not that into you" which was funny in parts and fairly good for a Drew Barrymore movie. I then watched "the Namesake" which was very good and then we went to Blockbuster and rented "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" which was enjoyable.
Tomorrow we will be attending a weiner dog play date with about 80 other weiner dog lovers. We'll try to remember the camera so that we can get some pictures.

Bethany's First Post

2009-01-30T09:27:00.001-08:00

I am taking ownership and writing my own post. Andy and I just went to our 24 week check-up and everything is normal. Next time I have to do the gross glucose test for gestational diabetes and bloodwork (not my favorite either). I am also taking a pre-natal exercise class which has been surprisingly fun and makes me feel normal and "less" pregnant if that makes sense. I need to incorporate more of the exercises into my everyday routine instead of only once a week. Andy and I both have colds right now so we are taking it easy before our vacation starts next week where we will travel to exciting Indianapolis (for Andy's work) and then a short visit with my parents and family.
We have alot of nursery room stuff accomplished which is really nice to have done with and my mom is busy making all the cute bedding, curtains, etc. which makes things much more real to me. Next to figure out is baby registry stuff which I do not enjoy so far. We will show pictures once we get some of the decorations/accessories up.

Cut it out Michigan!

2009-01-16T14:09:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been hovering around 0 degrees for the last couple of days. My poor little car heater is not able to keep up, so I can see through my windshield and that is about it. We're supposed to get another 3 to 6 inches of snow. The snow doesn't bother me as much as the bitter cold. Wind chill that is well below zero feels like a knife cutting any skin that is exposed. I'll put a plug in for Eddie Bauer here... I bought a down coat from Eddie Bauer this year... why? Well, last spring I told my wife, "I won't need any of my winter things anymore, just sell it in the garage sale." So, I spent about a week in the mid 40's in which I didn't have a good winter coat. Bethany took mercy on me and let me buy the Eddie Bauer coat (which wasn't expensive compared to North Face or other name brand stuff). So, I have the huge, heavy coat from Eddie Bauer and it is supposed to be good to -20 degrees. I find that it is very comfortable from both -20 to around 40 degrees. It hasn't failed me yet and Bethany said that I haven't complained nearly as much about the weather as I used to. If I had bought this jacket ten years ago maybe I wouldn't be so angry all winter.

Well, Michigan appears to heading for more economic disaster. The big three got their bailout money which means that they should be asking for a second bailout in the next few weeks. Since it doesn't appear that we will be able to leave Michigan (and we don't particularly want to leave) we are trying to refinance our home. This should help give us a little breathing room when Bethany is on maternity leave.

No new baby news. It is just floating around growing skin, or whatever a baby is doing at this point.

Bethany's parents are coming to visit this weekend and we're going to paint the nursery. I think after painting a nursery we will need to do something manly, so we'll probably see the new Clint Eastwood movie. I plan on ringing a cow bell every time Clint scowls at someone. It is probably good that there isn't a drinking game involving shots everytime he does something awesome, because everyone would be dead. I'm fairly certain that Clint Eastwood is Chuck Norris' father.

Take care.

Ultrasound and Baby furniture

2009-01-05T16:52:00.000-08:00

We went for the ultrasound on the 29th. Everything was fine and we got to see the baby rolling over and stretching his/her legs.

They said that all was well and within the normal ranges. It weighs about 10 ozs. now.

We spent all of last weekend going baby shopping on Craigslist. We were able to get about $1,000 of baby stuff for less than $300. Our friends, David and Carol, let us use their SUV so we were able to get everything home.

Above you get to play the fun game called: Which picture is our ultrasound and which one is the Loch Ness Monster?

We put Pickle and Lupe in the crib to make sure it was put together properly. This is the last time they will be allowed anywhere near the baby's stuff.

Bethany then told Pickle that he was too fat and would probably break the crib. This was Pickle's response...

Have a great week (or month) depending on when I update this again.

Andy

Merry Christmas

2008-12-21T08:53:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

Bethany and I are doing well even though we got about 12 inches of snow in the last 48 hours. I've been constantly snow blowing and shoveling, but the snow isn't wet so it isn't too bad. Our neighbor (Carol) and I have a good deal worked out. I take care of the maintenance on her snow blower and she lets me use it. I take care of her driveway as well, because using the snow blower saves soooooo much time.

The classy city of Pontiac, Michigan only took two whole days to come out and plow our street. We got stuck coming back from the church Christmas party. I was able to dig the car out without getting hit by anyone else coming down our street.

The dogs are enjoying the snow, but they have to stay in certain parts of the yard or the drifts are over their head. It is real cold for the first time this winter. With the wind chill it is hovering around 0 degrees.

The baby is doing well as far as we know. We go in on the 29th of December for the big ultrasound. We aren't going to find out the sex of the baby, but they do all sorts of tests at the big ultrasound.

We're glad to be surrounded by good friends in Michigan, although, when I look at the temperature in Harlingen, Texas, it makes me a little sad. I remind myself that working the midnight shift at a federal detention center probably isn't much fun regardless of how nice the weather may be.

We want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Andy

We heard its heart beat

2008-11-24T06:12:00.000-08:00

We went for an ultrasound nearly two weeks ago. Blob had done quite a bit of growing. Blob weighed 3 ounces. You could clearly see its head and body (or tail as I referred to it and got in trouble). We were able to hear its heartbeat (158). The technician said that the heart rate is not an indication of the sex of the baby. The old line of thought is that if the heart rate is over 140 then it will be a boy.

Bethany and I are in the early stages of planning a trip to Mexico. She said that she wants to Mexico before the baby comes and with her possible travel restrictions (I think that she can't fly a month before the baby is due) we are looking at going in early February.

I will try to get my scanner hooked up so that I can get a picture of the baby on the blog.

Second Post

2008-11-02T11:19:00.000-08:00

Nothing too exciting has been happening these past two weeks. The baby is, apparently, 1/2 ounce.
Bethany has been feeling better, but a bit moody. The good thing about a bit moody, is that she has been funnier than she has ever been. But, the bad thing about a bit moody is that she gets very angry with me sometimes. On occasion, it is angry for a good reason (i.e. I called her "Preggosaurus Rex"), but on other occasions it appears that Bethany has opened up a factory to begin manufacturing fake reasons for being very upset with me. The factory has a lot of output... they might be running a double shift. Who knows?
I am enjoying my job and will continue training through the end of 2008. Bethany's work has been going well, but some days it is hard to get out of bed in the morning.
We raked leaves in Friday for several hours and we were half way finished with our yard. On Saturday, we were both sore and I remembered that it isn't nice to make your wife do yard work in her delicate condition. So, I hired one of the teens from church to help me with the yard work. We finished the leaves and then spread mulch. It looked great until I woke up this morning and saw that about 5 more bags of leaves fell last night. We did about 20+ bags of leaves on Friday and Saturday.
On Thursday, I had several friends come over while Bethany was at work. Like the cool, hip, awesome people that we are... we played Jeopardy on Playstation 2. I only made it to final Jeopardy on the last game (I think we played 4 or 5 total), because if you get the "daily double" and don't risk it all, you get berated. I risked it all and lost.
Other than that, we have a doctor appointment on the 13th (I think) in which they are going to perform the in office ultrasound. We're still not sure if we're going to find out the sex of the baby, but if it is only 1/2 an ounce, I doubt very much that we'll see anything other than a little blob. Blob Brockman will be its name for now.
Take care.
Andy

First Post: Back in Michigan

2008-10-22T13:27:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I decided to start a new blog for all the news and updates regarding our return to Michigan.

After our eventful summer, we decided that it would be best to come back to Michigan. The economy is such that selling a home in Michigan (for any price at all) is nearly impossible. There is a house a block from us that has been on the market for several months and it is for sale for $9,000.00!!!! There is nothing special, but it isn't a burned down house, either.

So, we're back in Michigan and very excited to see our friends again. I was able to get a job with another insurance company and it has worked out great. I will be working from home, which will save money and time. The company is taking very good care of us and paying for many of things that I will need to have a home office. I have included a picture of the new home office. We had to supply the furniture, but they are handling the phone/fax line and cable modem.

The best news that we've had since coming back to Michigan is that we are going to have a baby. We believe the baby is due in late May or early June. We don't know what it will be yet, and it appears that Bethany doesn't want to find out. That being said we already have several outfits for our gender unknown baby. Of course, the majority of clothes are wiener dog themed. Bethany has made a rule (she loves making rules) that I am not allowed to dress the wiener dogs in the baby's clothes. I have agreed, but only because the dogs are so filthy and smelly! We went to the doctor a few days ago and had the preliminary appointment. They said Bethany is doing fine and in 4 weeks we go in for an ultrasound.

Last night, we had dinner with our friend Lindsay from Minnesota. I've known Lindsay for 15 years because we went to school together in Mexico City. She and Jason (hubby to be) gave us the first gift for the baby. Jason went and picked up a baby t-shirt from the University of Minnesota. Bethany loves it because she is from Minnesota. I suspect that the baby will be coming home in that t-shirt from the hospital.

Tonight I am going out for dinner with a group of friend from Rochester College. Our friend Chris is back for a visit from his second tour in Iraq. We're glad that he is back safe and hopefully he will be back for good soon.

Take care and I will try to keep this updated as we have more news.