The waiting game continues...

Last day of the year, Christmas lights are down, due date is past, and no baby yet!

You know what they say, "good things don't come easy" and since Claire is the best thing that ever happened to us, I would not expect her to come in any other way.

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On a different subject, Amy and I found out a couple of weeks ago that a lady and her daughter in our neighborhood has a tradition of awarding the best Christmas decorated houses in the neighborhood.  There are three categories:

1) Best use of white lights  

2) Most humorous display

3) Most creative & elegant

On the day after Christmas, they knocked on our door and informed us that we had won the award for category #3!  Here is our award:

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Of course you are wondering how creative and elegant our house was, so here you go:

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I'll take credit for the candy-cane like lights and Amy was in charge of the ornaments and the wreath.  We were very surprised and excited about the award and can't wait till next year!

0 days????? No, Overtime!

You know when you are watching a good ball game and both teams are playing well and so the game ends up going to overtime.  Your immediate thought is "That's fair!".  Well, Amy has been having such a good pregnancy that we decided to go to overtime.  Claire has 3 more days to do things on her own.  We have made an appointment with the doctor for January 1st, so either way, she may not be coming home this year, but she will be here this week!

I'll keep you posted in case a game-winning shot is made in the last second of regulation time...

1 day!

After 9 months waiting to see, feel, and smell our baby, we find ourselves one day away from the "D" day (at least we hope).  We are ready, here is our agenda for this coming week.

Monday 12/29

8:00 am: Open

9:00 am: Open

10:00 am: Open

11:00 am: Open

noon:  Lunch

1:00 pm: Open

2:00 pm: Open

3:00 pm: Open

4:00 pm: Open

5:00 pm: Open

6:00 pm: Dinner

PS:  Tuesday - Friday's agenda is identical to Monday's

Open = waiting for Claire to come.

Lunch or Dinner may be interrupted if Claire decides to come.

2 days left...

For all those who thought today was the day because it is my mom's birthday (Happy birthday mom!), or because there is a new moon, or because it is 65 degrees outside and it would be a good day to bring a baby home, or for any other reason, I am sorry to disappoint you but Claire is just not ready yet.

After seeing the pictures and videos from the ultrasounds, Amy really thinks Claire looks like me. Well, my mom sent me some of my baby pictures so I will let you be the judge:

Claire Oct 08 (-3 months old)

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Dan Mar/Apr 80 (a few weeks old)

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Dexter wanted to say Merry Christmas to you all!

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3 days...

Wow, this feels like the longest count down ever! Some people (specially my mom and grandma) really think she is going to come tomorrow, the 27th. There is a new moon tomorrow, so maybe the new "Luna" will come.

Merry Christmas!

We have already opened all presents, except for one, the most important one!

4 days from due date and no baby yet.

On a side story, Amy and I were driving home the other day from a St. Louis Blues hockey game and we were discussing our knowledge about the NHL and its players.  Well, let's just say we do not know much about it.  But this but this conversation triggered us to play a little game.  I bet that Amy would not be able able to name 10 NFL active players.  Although I lost the bet, it was funny to see the players she knew and why she knew them.  Here they are:

1) Peyton Manning (Peyton is a friendly guy and made appearances in several commercials and SNL skits.  Her parents also live in Indianapolis now so that helps)

2) Eli Manning (If you think that she knows him because his amazing passes at last year's Super Bowl, you are wrong.  She only knows Eli because he is Peyton's brother)

3) Tony Romo (His love affair with Carrie Underwood and Jessica Simpson made him popular in my wife's eyes)

4) Brett Favre (Her parents are huge Packers fans so that one was obvious)

5) Drew Brees (His is my QB in my fantasy football league team so she has heard me saying "Yeah Drew" a few too many times)

6) Marc Bulger (as the Rams' QB, she has heard his name being thrown around on the local news a few times)

note:  so far, all QB's

7) T.O. (Way too many times on the news for the wrong reasons.  Drama = fame)

8) Plaxico Burress (Recent events made him a known name, but again, for the wrong reasons)

9) Dante Hall (Ok, this is a good one.  A couple of years ago, he played for the KC Chiefs and had something like 6 TD's in punt/kickoff returns.  His speed and the fact that he was a short dude made him likable in her eyes.  He plays for the Rams now so she still hears his name every once in a while)

10) Brandon Jacobs (Besides the fact that he is a stud, we are SIUC grads so he makes us proud!)

So, for all the guys out there, try playing this game with your girls.  Ask them why they know them.  You'll have a good time.

 

5 days left....

For those who voted for her to be born on the 25th, it does not look like it is going to happen...but we never know!

6 days and 1 centimeter dilated.

Question, after living in the US for almost 10 years, can someone explain why Americans use their own temperature, speed, and distance measuring systems but they decided to go Metric system on us when it came to the dilatation of the.....uuhhh.....well, you know what I mean?

7 days......or ONE WEEK.

After 39 long weeks, we have one left!

Ah, before I forget, I wanted to give a shout out to Derek & Heather to congratulate them on the engagement!  Welcome to the club!

8 days left!

Here is to a 2008 baby!

We can't wait to see you Claire.

within single digits days from due date, it is time to make sure we packed the right things for the hospital visit:

1.  her first outfit

2.  camera

3.  car seat

4.  Amy's clothes

5.  my clothes

6.  King of Queens DVD's

7.  Bose speakers, ipod, and playlist

8.  dollar bills for the vending machine

9.  cell phone

The count down begins.....


days to due date!

Ten words that describe my current state of mind:
1. Happy
2. Excited
3. Anxious
4. Nervous
5. Expectant
6. Energized (today is my last day before my long "vacation")
7. Ready
8. Thrilled
9. Eager
10. Inspired




picture taken from freefoto.com

Scrabble...

With all the latest and greatest electronic gadgets out at the stores these days like iPhone, Wii, and Blue-Ray DVDs, Amy and I had plenty of options to entertain ourselves in the next couple of months since we are going to be spending a lot of time together. Well, we decided to go old school so we got Scrabble! We figured it was the perfect X-mas present for each other since 1) It was cheap so it fits the current economy situation; 2) It is quiet, which will probably be nice when the little one is taking a nap; and 3) It exercises our brains so it will help us to recover from the diaper fumes!
And don't worry, we won't forget about our little girl during the Scrabble matches.....this is why...

Ah, we also completed our King of Queens DVD collection so maybe we did go a little high-tech!

Fall is here!
How do I know that?  Well, when I start walking Dexter and I can barely find him amongst the leaves on the ground, Fall is here!

  
  

I would like to thank all the voters on the blog who let their voices be heard. December 27th seems to be a fan favorite, but there is still time, and I am going to leave the polls open until she comes.

Yesterday Amy and I had a child birth class, or crash course I should say. A jammed packed Saturday with eight hours of breathing patterns, signs of labor, and relaxing techniques.  Words like effacement, lanugo, and Apgar score have been added to my vocabulary now, making me sound like a pro.

Vote for Claire

Following the election theme, I decided to open the polls and find out what day you think baby Claire is coming?
As a candidate, Claire policies on the issues are:

On going Green: Sorry, I will not be wearing cloth diapers. It's not going to happen.
On tax cuts: I am really trying to make my way out in 2008 so that my parents can bank on the tax deduction.
On education: One word; Scholarship.

Cast your vote below and stay tuned for the results in a couple of months.

Love at first sight...

Yes, it was love at first sight. The 3D ultrasound was amazing and it was really cool seeing Claire move around in there. She even waved to us! (pay attention in the end of the movie she waves her hand up!).
Two more months and we'll get to hold her!

Hobbies...
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The definition of a hobby can be summarized as an activity or interest pursued outside one's regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure. Which means that it has to be something that you truly enjoy doing, something that if you have a couple of hours of free time in your life, you would do it, and not get paid for it.

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Over the course of my life, I am not sure if I could pinpoint to one specific activity that I would define as a "hobby". Swimming was always part of my life, but it did provide me with a scholarship to college (so you can argue that it was my "occupation" for a few years) and about the "primarily for pleasure" part, I am not so sure if it was always enjoyable to bust my butt in the water day after day. So swimming was not my hobby. Golf is something that I just recently started to do, and I can definitely see it becoming a hobby in the future (and I can assure you that I will never make money doing it). But I have only been playing it for a couple of years so I would not say that it's been a hobby of mine.

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The other day, however, I realized that there is one thing that I really enjoy doing and up to this date, I have never made a penny doing it. Taking pictures! I am not going to tell you that I am great at it or that I spend hours in my basement with a dimmed red light developing film, but I do feel that I have an "eye" for it. I feel like I see a good shot before it is taken. Amy can definitely vouch for the fact that I enjoy taking pictures. Self-timer is my friend and I am not afraid to use it! We have a standard digital camera with both optical and digital zoom, but it is my no means a professional camera.

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Ok, so after all that, I have to back up my words with my work. So here you go, here are some of my "pieces":

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The "biology book" shot...

(Brazil 2007)

The "creative" shot...

(Brazil 2007)

The "intriguing" shot...

(Queeny Park 2006)

The "captured moment" shot...

(my brother and parents, Brazil 2007)

The "Xmas card" shot...

(Dexter, 2006)

The "National Geographic" shot...

(Arkansas 2006)

The "hotel catalog" shot...

(Ft. Lauderdale 2007)

The "aahhhh" shot...

(Adam & Liz, Michigan 2008)

The "honeymoon" shot...

(San Fransisco 2006)

The "animal planet" shot...

(Home 2006)

The "political book cover" shot...

(Washington DC 2007)

Update at last......

I know..I know...I have not added anything to my blog in a long time! But work has really kept me busy and when I get home, the last thing I want to do is type.

To give you a quick update on what is going on with the Luna's:

1) Amy is doing great with the pregnancy.

2) Claire is kicking like crazy

3) Dexter is ready for his little sister to come

4) Dan cannot wait till his "time off" from work
5) Claire's room is almost ready.

Here is a picture of Amy this morning with one of the many sassy outfits that Claire will be wearing.and of course.....sassy shoes to go along with it (thanks Mandy!)

What a weekend!


This past weekend (or week I should say) was a busy one. As I mentioned on my last post, our friends Adam and Liz got married here in St. Louis. The wedding was great and everyone had a good time. Here are a few of the highlights of the week:

Thursday (the Bachelor party):

I take credit for this one. The theme? Golf! The groom and another 8 "players" went around 9 bars in Soulard (just south of downtown St. Louis) and played a round of "golf". Players took one shot (or had a beer) on each hole/bar. Any extra drinks would bring their scores under par. Needless to say, we ended the night with several eagles, hole in ones, and wasted players. This was the scorecard (designed by Amy):

Players a hole #2 (Llyweln's)

Wednesday (Rehearsal and Dinner):

Theme? Baseball! The rehearsal dinner was at Busch Statdium with lots of drinks and very nice food. The idea was great and it got the guests exicted for the grand finale: The wedding!

Players chiling in the dugout!

Saturday (the Wedding):

Theme? Love! Yes, love was definetly in the air. The wedding was beautiful and I was able to sweat off some of the alcohol intake from the previous couple of days....

The belly has popped!
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From the day when we found out about the pregnancy, Amy has asked me everyday whether she looks pregnant or not (she wants to look pregnant). And everyday, to avoid any sort of let down, my response was "Yes, you are showing" (even though my belly was still bigger than hers). This past week, things have changed, and now there is no doubt about how big our little girl is getting...

Blueprints of Claire's room have already been sketched. We have the colors picked out and even bought some furniture already. I will make sure to post the famous picture of me putting the crib together while Amy sits in a chair barking out orders (isn't that what pregnant women do?).

In the meantime, we have been enjoying the nice weather here in St. Louis. Dexter took us on a very long walk last weekend at Queeny Park and of course, I had to snap a picture of the three of us.

I end this post with a shout out to a couple of friends: Adam & Liz. They will be getting married this coming weekend and I am happy to be part of the festivities. I wish them the best!

-Dan

August 08
Claire Elza Luna
Amy and I now know that the child who is going to fulfill our lives with joy, happiness, tears, and love, is Claire Elza Luna! No doubt about it....
No hotdog on this bun!

She was very shy, at first....

...but after a while, we got to see her legs....maybe a breastroker like her mother????

I, however, already broke one of the wedding vows I made to Amy a couple of years ago. I told her she would be the only woman I would ever love....I will obviously be sharing that feeling with our baby girl.



July 21
Pentwater, Michigan
This past weekend, Adam, Liz, Amy and I went to Pentwater, Michigan for Bryant's wedding. We also got to hang out with other SIU Swim team alumni (Derek, Matt, Jenny, Ryan, etc...). Check out the pictures on the side --->
The wedding was pretty cool and we had a great time. The drive was a little long (Missouri - Illinois - Indiana (with a break at Amy's parents house, thanks!) and Michigan) but it was worth it. This should put an end to our summer traveling and a start to the getting the baby's room ready project. The next time I post here, we should know the sex of the baby, which may trigger me to reveal the name of the baby! Stay tuned.
Till the next one...
-Dan

July 10
The real heart beat!

About four to five years ago, my wife once told me that one of my best traits is that I am a man of my word. If I say that I am going to do something, I will get it done. Well, on a previous blog post I had promised to bring a recorder to our next doctor visit. As you can hear, I kept my word. The heart beat you are hearing right now (feel free to pause it cause I configured it to an endless loop) is of Baby Luna! Next month we will find out the sex of the baby, my guess? I will never tell.

Here is Amy and her growing belly! She looks so cute!

June 18
Hearted win!

As I sit here in a hotel room in Tupelo, Mississippi, I finally get to watch my team win a championship. It seems now that the Celtics purposely lost game 5, just so they could set up this party at home against the Lakers.
Yes, the Celtics have talented players; yes, they have experienced players; yes, they have the tradition; and yes, their payroll account is not a small one. But the Celtics won this title because they have HEART. Players like KG and Pierce are so passionate about playing ball that they brought some of the purity back to the game. Times when the NBA title meant more than the MVP one.
I cannot think of 4 better NBA professionals to crown than Pierce, KG, Ray Allen, and Doc Rivers. A classy group of guys who I hope can hold up to these words and not dismantle this team by leaving for better contracts.

Go Green
-Dan

June 12

Heart Beat!

Ok, looking at the first sonogram was awesome, but it was really hard to make anything out of it. This week, Amy and I made another trip to the doctor and now things are starting to get interesting. We got to hear Baby Luna's heart beat! Much like in the video on the right side of the screen (not of Amy), we heard it pumping it away. Baby Luna's heart was beating at 170 bpm, which leads me to believe that he/she was doing sit ups in there.
Unfortunately, we forgot to bring a recorder along to capture the moment (I know, sorry about that, we are not experienced at this yet....this is our first kid). But I do have one now and will make sure to bring it along during the next doctor's appointment.

On an unrelated subject, the Celtics are doing great! Although we have had some injuries, I am sure the big-3 will pull it through! Prediction for tonight's game: Celtics are stealing this one. Pierce will go big!

Later
-Dan

June 05
St. Louis, MO + Hot Weather = Pool time!
I have lived on both sides of the hemisphere and I have visited a lot of places there too, and I can tell you without a doubt that St. Louis, MO is the one place that manages to stretch the extremes of the temperature scale to the max! In the Winter it gets cold, very cold. I am talking frozen ponds and snowy Xmas (sometimes) cold. In the Summer, it is hot, green house hot, desert hot, and on top of that, the humidity is a constant reminder that you will get home from work with a shirt that needs to go directly to the hamper.

But there is nothing better than fighting this weather with a refreshing splash. Amy and I enjoyed a nice weekend at the pool which will be seeing the strokes of Baby Luna in the near future!

Pregnancy update: She is 10 weeks along today! The baby is basically fully formed including toes and fingers. From now on is nothing but putting on some pounds and making mommy feel huge! Amy has another doctor’s appointment this coming Monday and I will let you know how it goes.

Talk to you soon.
-Dan


May 21
Drink wine and say cheese!
...and that we did. Kelly, Liz, Adam, Amy and I enjoyed one of the few sunny weekends in St. Louis this year at Sugar Creek Winery. we had plenty of food and lots of wine, and don't worry, our designated driver, Amy the mom to be, drove us home safely.

Today (May 20th) is our 2-year anniversary. Since we both agreed that the last two years were the best of our lives, we decided not be selfish anymore, and so from now on, we will be sharing the rest of our years with our kid!

Love you tweets!

May 13
Baby Luna!
That's right, baby Luna is on the way!
About two weeks ago, I was flying back from Arkansas on a Friday (April 25th) and Amy called me as soon as I landed asking me if was coming home soon. I told her yes, but traffic set me back a good 20 minutes. When I got home, she quickly dragged me to the bathroom and handed me the pregnancy test. "What do you think?" She asked staring at me with a smile on her face. The positive sign on that stick could not have looked more fainted, but the instructions clearly stated that any smidge of a "plus" sign signify the test was positive. The conclusive results were yet to come.

Amy ended up going to Chicago that weekend with some old friends. A trip that was planned for a while and could not had been put off. She had fun, but had a hard time dodging the questions to why was she not drinking. The fake sipping of an endless beer did the trick Saturday night.

When she got back on Sunday, Amy bought another pregnancy test, only this time, a digital one. Results? No fainted plus sign. "PREGNANT", clear and in bold letters!

The very next day Amy was able to go to the doctor and it was confirmed. Our lives have now changed forever and I would not change it for anything in the world.
Now, two weeks later, we got to see our kid for the first time! Sure, it looked like a white blur on a black and white screen, but seeing the heartbeat definitely made me feel like a proud a dad. The "I made that" feeling is indescribable, and it shows by the fact that not one hour goes by and I don't think of the baby. The expected delivery date is December 29th 2008.

Stay tuned for more updates from the growing Luna family!
-Dan (& Amy)


April 30

Welcome to my photoblog!
I promise this time I will stay on top of the game and post pictures as soon as I can.

Have a good day!
-Dan