Exciting news today... We had a doctor appointment and we officially scheduled the amnio for 11/19. The amnio is a test they perform to examine the maturity of the lungs. If the lungs are mature, then we will have a c-section that evening! If the lungs are not mature yet, we'll wait a few days. This is great news because it means three weeks from tonight we might have a new little "M" running around! I'll keep you posted if anything else develops.

A good weekend... at least mostly. The good news is that Michelle came home Friday night and was home all weekend. So far no contractions and all is well. We have another weekly checkup tomorrow morning, but we expect all is well.

The best news of the weekend is that I wore a suit to church on Sunday that I haven't worn in five years! It was a little big for me, but overall it was pretty close to right. I hope to undergrow it before the Spring! The suit I've been wearing the past 3-4 years looks like a clown suit on me. :-)

The bad news is that I spent way too much time installing a garage door opener this weekend (which still doesn't work right!). Matthew must have asked me at least 25 times if I was ready to play with him yet. How ridiculous that I would lose two days of playing with my kids (who won't want to play with me forever!) to save $99 of an installation charge. I'm a wienie. Of course, as I say this I'm picking out the paint that I'll use to waste my next block of free time splashing on the hallway. I'm a VERY slow learner.

Monday was a big Mr. Mom day. Madison had dance, then we had to run some errands at Target and such. Then a late lunch at Taco Bell, some more errands, checking on Michelle, and then the matinee of Jonah the Veggie Tales Movie with our good friend Jonathan (sp?) Crisp. We got home late, but still had to clean the house before the housecleaner comes tomorrow. (BTW - what kind of crazy world is it when you have to clean the house for the housecleaner!!!!).

The other bad news... struck me when I (finally!) logged onto my computer tonight at 11pm. Today is the day I was supposed to be in Boston interviewing at Northeastern University for a position in their b-school's IS dept. What a turnaround. From being in beautiful Boston interviewing for a coveted faculty position to cleaning up for the housecleaner. I hate to think of the direction my life is moving... (said with tongue firmly planted in cheek).

The other good news... 1) The Redskins won convincingly (almost) over the Colts. 2) I had a wonderful bike ride this morning for about 13 miles through the peak of fall foilage here in Southern Indiana. It's really beautiful. I'm going to try and capture some of it with my camera Wednesday morning when I'm out. For those of you who live in non-green environments (Stan and Susan!) you are really missing out.

Thursday... Michelle was in the hospital all day. She hoped to come home in the afternoon, but they decided to keep her overnight. I spent the day there reading a few articles. Thursday night we (I) had plans for our monthly GFGT. So the Crisp's and Wheeler came over for dinner. I made Tequilla-Marinated Chicken Fajitas. Very yummy. Although I didn't have time to go to the store for skirt steak so I just used chicken. I also didn't have any limes, so I used lemon juice. It was pretty good, but I'd like to try it with lime and beef.

Friday... The kids and I went to the hospital around 10 AM and took Michelle to the dr.'s office for a sonogram. Everything looked OK so they sent us home. :-) Michelle came home and went right to sleep in her bed. The kids and I are playing on different computers. I'm working, Matthew is playing Dungeon Seige on his computer, and Madison is playing Barney Christmas on her computer. What a day to raise a family!

Tuesday... A great day. I was able to get a good bit of work done at the office while Matthew was at pre-school and Madison was with Jennifer (Thanks Jen!). Plus, in the evening I played one of my best nights of tennis yet. If ESPN had only had their cameras there!

Wednesday... started out well. A wonderful morning devotional, a great accountability group, some work, Dungeon Seige with Matthew and a bike-ride. Who could ask for more. However, around 5:30 Michelle started having regular contractions. By 8pm we were at the hospital. The kids and I came home around 10pm, but Michelle is there for at least 24 hours, and maybe more. We'll just see. I'll keep you posted. It's now midnight and I've not heard from the hospital so I assume that the contractions have stopped for now.

Congrats to Wheeler! He is now officially half the man I am! He completed his first marathon last Sunday in Chicago!

Happy birthday dear Shanon,
Happy birthday to you!

Michelle came home Saturday night and continued to have occasional contractions throughout the day on Sunday and Monday. Monday evening we almost went back to the hospital. I called my buddy Phil and asked him to come over and watch the kids if necessary. He, of course, was more than happy to. However, the contractions slowed down and we were able to have a pretty uneventful evening at home.

Monday I played the entire demo of Dungeon Seige. What a terrific game! I'm definitely adding it to my Christmas wish list, if I can wait that long!

Ok. It's been a pretty quiet week of bed rest, child-care, and home life. Things were going very well early in the week. On Monday, the Doctor told us that Michelle was doing so well she could take one hour a day out of the house. Her first day out she went to Target and rode around in the handicapped stroller! I wish I had my camera there that day! It was hilarious watching her in there. She was in heaven just practicing some consumer behavior.

Tuesday she went with me to pick up the kids from pre-school and we had lunch at China Wall. She was really enjoying being out. She was hankering for some hot and sour soup and steamed dumplings.

Wednesday she stayed home all day, but her friends came over and they all washed and put away baby clothes for Marcus while I was at accountability group. It was fun for them, and it kept me from having to do it! Thanks a million, Krista and Jill!

Thursday she stayed home while I dropped the kids off and ran errands. New tires on the car and, thanks to Bort and Brent I got a manicure! Ohmygoshwasitterrific! I've never felt so pampered. I mean how nice can it be to have a hand massage! Holy cow.

Friday we had plans to join the Crisps for dinner. However, at about 4pm Michelle started having contractions. We went ahead to the Crisps, but by 8pm she was having very predictable contractions. We went to the hospital around 9pm. She was admitted and spent the night there.

They immediately gave her some tributalene (sp?) which stopped the contractions. I picked up the kids and come home.

Saturday began with a phone call from the hospital. She continues to have contractions so they will keep her there throughout the day and probably tonight. Ooh well. I think she'll be home tomorrow. We're just hoping she doesn't require magnesium again. The good news is that she is officially thirty-two weeks now so we can have the baby in Bloomington and they can keep it here. That's a BIG improvement over daily trips to Indy!.

As always, I'll keep this posted with the most recent info.

Thanks!
A great big THANK YOU to my friends Scott and Cindy Newland who watched the kids Tuesday night so I could go play some tennis. It was GREAT to get out and get some exercise. I need to figure out a way to keep riding my bike despite my new home responsibilities. But in the meantime, a greatly appreciate all the help from our wonderful friends.

Bedrest Support for MEN:
On the advice of some good friends, I decided to start a section on my web for expressing my thoughts, observations, and advice for men who have a wife on bedrest. You can check it out at here.

Thursdays RULE!
On Thursday both of my beautiful children have preschool. That means I get to actually go to the office for a few hours and pretend to be a working professional! It's been wonderful to be here at the office today. I've met with co-authors, finished editing another round of a research project, and read some articles. All those things may sound mundane, but it's incredible exciting to me considering I've not had anything like a professional life for the past few weeks.

Kingdom Parables:
I wrapped up the Kingdom Parables class at Sherwood Oaks last night. It was a lot of fun for me, and I hope for the rest of the class. It was a perfect group, very small (about 6-8 per week), pretty talkative, and very interested in the subject matter. You can find my notes and handouts here.

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted an update. I'm keeping very busy being Mr. Mom. Michelle is doing fine and we have the best friends and family in the universe! My folks came and picked up the kids and kept them for a week (Thanks Mom!). Our friends have sent tons of flowers and plants, helped watch the kids, keep us enteretained, cleaned the freaking garage! and generally have been terrific!

Michelle continues to have occasional contractions, but nothing major or frequent. The doctor thinks we'll be fine as long as she stays in bed. I met Mom in Cambridge, OH Sunday to get the kids. They are doing GREAT and had a terrfic time at Mimi's. Here is a link to some photos of them playing in Uncle Mark's new boat.

In other news... How about them 'skins? I'd say the QB controversy is clearly over for now. :-)

Official nickname change TMQ, who has been calling Dan Snyder the "Owner/Menace to Western Civilization" for a year, feels it is time for a name change, if only because Western civilization seems determined to undo itself with or without Snyder's aid. His new nickname: Lord Voldemort.


Sinister, scheming, power-mad - just like Lord Voldemort. Loves to fire people -- just like Lord Voldemort. (OK, Lord Voldemort loves to kill people, but it's the same premise; Snyder takes pleasure in firing those faithful to him, Lord Voldemort takes pleasure in otherwise disposing of those faithful to him.) And that can't be Snyder's real body, can it? He must be capable of taking over other forms - just like Lord Voldemort. As the world braces for release of the next Potter book, Harry Potter and the Global Marketing Campaign of Doom, Dan Snyder will become Lord Voldemort to TMQ.

She's home! The sonogram revealed that her cervix was in good shape and the Dr.'s agreed she could go home if she chose. She's on orders to stay in bed or on the couch, but she can get up as neccessary. We made it home about an hour ago and she is getting all settled in. Now the work begins. She's already asked me if "bedrest" includes cleaning out the closet or the pantry, or the cabinets. That girl...

Thanks for all your prayers and support. It has clearly made a major difference. We feel very supported and loved by all of our friends and family. I'll keep you posted of any further developments.

Mike

I just got a call from Michelle and she had a great night. No contractions! The Dr. on call is ready to discharge her, but her Dr. wants a sonogram first. If the cervix is less than 2 inches long he wants her to stay in the hospital. If it's more, she can come home this morning!

I'll keep you posted.

Michelle had a great day today. She has been off of all medication (other than Tylenol) for about 24 hours now. Assuming that she doesn't take a turn for the worse, the doctors will let her come home tomorrow (Tuesday). She is feeling pretty good, and I'm sure it's going to be a full-time job just keeping her in bed for the next few weeks. You know how she can't stand to sit still!

We talked to the kids today and they are being spoiled rotten by my folks. :-)

I'll let you know when we bring her home (assuming she'll let me come upstairs and get on the computer!) Thanks for all the support and encouragment. She loves all the visitors, kindness, flowers and gifts. I collect all the emails and print them out for her to read each morning in the hospital. You guys are the best!